LLH 3.5

“The Memorable Sound” by Roentgen

It was early in the morning on Saturday. Ten A. M., which was too early in Daria's eyes. Jane had caught a ride with Trent to City Hall, which left Daria and Quinn to the mercy of their father. Jake desperately searched for a way to make conversation. Unfortunately, the only thing he could think of was the fact that Daria had recently failed a driver's test.

"Gee kiddo," said Jake, trying to console Daria. "Too bad you have to wait until next month! Although, when you get to be eighteen, I guess driving somewhere isn't going to be a problem, not with all that Quest money! Of course, there is always hitchhiking...there was always something free about hitchhiking...just letting your freak flag fly...!"

"Dad," asked Quinn, "what's a 'freak flag'?"

Jake blushed. "Uh...never mind!" He looked in the back seat. "Kiddo...did you sleep well last night?"

Daria looked flattened. "No. But I chalk it all up to the excitement of meeting the mayor of Lawndale in person." She yawned, loudly.

"Did you bring a speech?" Quinn looked at the papers Daria held tightly in her hand. "Because I think it has to be cleared by the Media Advisor!"

"Media Advisor!" squawked Jake, unhappily. "I'm an advisor! I can be an advisor!"

"You're a consultant," muttered Daria.

"Consultant's the same thing, dammit!"

"You can take that up with Linda Griffin," said Daria. "She shoved her way in."

Jake gritted his teeth and shivered. "Evil....ev-illllll...!"

(la la LA la la)

The five members of the Legion met, in uniform, inside the City Hall Building. It was Saturday, and local functions of city government had been shifted to the Annex. They had the place all to themselves on a slow Saturday.

Linda Griffin met the five with a smile on her face. "At 12 noon sharp, we meet the mayor, who gives us the key to the city. Local news will be there, and the meeting has made the front page, so I want everyone to look sharp!"

"I'll try," said Daria. She waited a few seconds, then twitched a muscle in her face. "How's that?"

"Terrible," said Linda Griffin. "You look like you haven't slept all night!"

"I can only congratulate you on your perceptivity."

"Fellow Legionnaires," said Sandi, "after this necessary social function, I would like to call a meeting of the Legion."

"Concerning what?" said Jane.

"The future, and the leadership of the Legion, per the discussion of the last meeting," said Sandi. Linda Griffin could barely hold back a smile.

Daria raised a hand. Sandi reluctantly acknowledged her. "Yes...uh...Daria?"

"Sandi, from my limited understanding of the last meeting, it was decided that there was no procedure for voting members out or in. There wasn't a procedure for naming a president, or appointing a Legion Media Advisor, or anything. From my limited understanding of Robert's Rules of Order, all of these decisions must be considered as 'ad hoc' decisions."

"Right," said Sandi, "and the purpose of this meeting is to...uh...." She looked to her mother for help.

Quinn interrupted. "I think the purpose of this meeting is to 'un-ad-hoc' them!"

"Fine," said Daria. "I would like to propose a working document for a Legion Constitution." With that, she handed over the typewritten pages.

Before Sandi could even read the header, Linda Griffin rudely snatched them out of Sandi's hands. "I'll take a look at those!" She began to read. " The Legion shall be a youth organization dedicated to.... " Quickly, she skimmed through the pages. "Did your mother help you with this, Daria?"

"No. It's a solo effort. Just one lone Legionnaire, trying to be helpful."

My ass. , thought Linda Griffin. "I think I'll read through this...just to be safe-uh, I mean, to be sure that it holds water!"

"But Mo-omm!!" cried Sandi.

"We can vote on this later...after I've read it, Alexandra! Then, we can hold the elections." Linda smiled. "I'm just trying to be helpful!" Sandi did not look in the least amused.

"Now, ladies, it's make up time! You'll all have to look your best for the camera!"

Tiffany slightly slumped in her chair. Jane whispered, "are you okay?"

"Yeah," said Tiffany, "just a little dizzy. I can make it." Tiffany's pallor matched the color of her all-white uniform.

"We'll do Jane and Daria first. Then Tiffany, Quinn, and Sandi last," said Linda. "Jane, are you ready?"

Jane reached into her pocket, and pulled out a mirror, and her crimson red lipstick. "Yep."

"I hope you have plans for more than that!"

"Not really," said Jane. "I'm still Interim President of the Legion. And my style stays."

"All right, then it's Daria's turn. Daria, time to get made up!"

"Let me help!" squealed Quinn. "I want to help! A make-over at last!"

"Warden, you're not sending me to the chair," said Daria, indicating the make-up chair. "My style stays. No make up."

"Daria, don't be unreasonable. This is television. You have to look your best for television. You're going to need a little pancake make up at least!"

"No."

"Stop being cross Daria, and get in that chair!" Linda Griffin expected to be obeyed when she gave a command.

"No! You're not my mother!"

Linda glared at Daria, as if she were a rebellious child. "Fine! Then you'll sit in the back, far away from the cameras! Is that what you want, Daria?"

"That's what I prefer ."

Linda was left non-plussed. With no snappy comeback, she ordered Tiffany into the make-up chair.

Jane looked at Daria. "Oh boy, this is going to be fun. Leaving the Legion might not be such a bad idea after all."

" Now you tell me. After I spent all night writing that Constitution."

"Your Mom didn't help you?"

"No. I wrote two copies. One with a strong leader, if I think you can win. One with a weak leader if I think Sandi will win. Unfortunately...I brought the strong leader one as a prop. And that's the one Sandi's mom has."

"Great."

"I replaced 'Fuehrer' with 'Leader', if that makes you happy."

"Well, this is going to be the worst day of my life," said Jane.

(la la LA la la)

Linda Griffin herded the Legionnaires outside. At the last minute, Linda sprung her plan into action.

Jane stood up front at the cameraman's mark. The cameraman coughed. "I'm getting a lot of glare from her face. Isn't she wearing make-up? This is sunlight, you know?"

"She decided she didn't want to wear any," said Linda Griffin. Griffin smiled. "Jane, honey, maybe we should let one of the more... photogenic girls take the key from the mayor!"

Jane looked at Linda Griffin as if the insult meant nothing. "Fine with me."

Quinn was about to step forward when Linda called out, "Sandi! Please come to the mark, sweetheart! Darling, that gold top looks fantastic!"

Petulantly, Quinn sat down between Daria and Tiffany as Sandi stood up. Daria whispered, "thank God we have someone photogenic. Today would be a disaster otherwise."

"Oh shut up," pouted Quinn.

Mayor Mike Dunlap walked over to the camera setup, finding Linda Griffin, the only other adult other than the cameraman. "Hello, I'm Mike Dunlap!"

"Linda Griffin, Mister Mayor. I'm the Media Advisor to the Legion!"

"Great! And I see that you have the camera here, too! It's great to have a chance to get Lawndale in the local news, and it's great to have the opportunity to help the Legion."

Linda smiled.

"Heh...did you know that in my five months as mayor, I've never given a key to anyone. My first time. Hope I don't drop the key!"

Linda laughed, perhaps a bit more than necessary. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Mayor Dunlap, the girls sitting are Jane Lane, Daria Morgendorffer, Quinn Morgendorffer, and Tiffany Blum-Deckler. The girl standing is my daughter, Sandi Griffin."

"They all look very nice. And I'm sure they're all great teens."

"You'll stand here, Mister Mayor, and my daughter will accept the key in the name of the Legion."

"Very good. Do I look okay?"

"You look okay." Linda didn't care as long as Sandi looked better than all of them.

The cameraman signaled to the others. "On my mark, we'll do our first take. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

Another technician adjusted brilliant side lights. Daria was surprised by how incredibly bright they were. Everything was immediately cast in harsh artificial light, even in daylight.

"On my signal...three...two...one." The man cued to Linda Griffin to start speaking.

"This is Linda Griffin, in a special report for the Legion News Service! The Legion is only a few weeks old, and already, Lawndale's civic leaders are recognizing the Legion for its philanthropic service as Mayor Mike Dunlap prepares to give the Legion an honorary key to the City of Lawndale."

"Young teens of Lawndale," said the mayor, remembering his speech. "It is with great honor that I give the founding members of the Legion the key to the city of Lawndale "

(la la LA la la)

Sandi heard the mayor gasp something instead of Lawndale. She would always remember the sound she heard for the rest of her life.

kkkkeeeeeeeeeee-RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

She knew she had heard the sound after the man stopped speaking. She looked at Dunlap, who had a red spot over his right breast.

There was another

kkkkeeeeeeeeeee-RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

And another spot. Bloody, bloody, bloodily bloodily. Spots dripped to the pavement.

Dunlap slumped down to the ground, dropping the key, a bloody punctured mess.

A wave of panic struck the assembled Legionnaires as they finally realized what was happening. Their first instinct was to duck and run, even Linda and the cameramen.
Everyone, Jane, Daria, Quinn dived for cover. Tiffany immediately dematerialized.

Sandi saw the pathetic look in Mike Dunlap's eyes as his life was ebbing out of him. She was filled with outrage. Looking back, it was the stupidest thing, she would later tell herself. But she was embarrassed ...Sandi felt she looked like a scared fool! As if she was just going to stand there and let some creep take away her moment of triumph!

Immediately, Sandi acted .

Two ghostly forms of Sandi separated from her body and solidified. Sandi 2 and Sandi 3 grabbed Dunlap and pulled him out of the area as Sandi 1 began to look for some assistance. She screamed, "Help!! Someone, help!!"

Jane snapped out of it. She knew what was going on. She stood up and extended a field outwards.

kkkkeeeeeeeeeee-RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

went the sound as Jane felt a small wave of pressure countering her own. A bullet was trapped in Jane's field.

"Over there!" shouted Sandi 1. "He's behind that car!!"

Jane had to make a decision. The City Hall grounds were sparsely populated. It was a weekend. No one cared what went on in a sleepy town in Lawndale. However, she was being filmed, and chasing this bastard would blow her cover in a humongous way.

Last time we kept our cover, and an asshole got away. Not again. **** it.

"Daria! Find this guy if he gets away!" Jane levitated herself in the air, and began to fly in the assailant's direction, uneasily.

The cameraman followed Jane with the camera as she flew overhead. He didn't know what was happening, but he suspected that this might be the story of a lifetime.

(la la LA la la)

Lou Cypher figured it was time to flee. He figured two shots for the mayor, and one for any other Legionnaire stupid enough to get in his way. Jane Lane might have become the first notch on his gun, if she had acted a little slower.

He dropped the rifle. Reaching into the folds of his overcoat, he pulled out what appeared to be a handgun.

Covering the distance quickly (if clumsily), Jane found herself overhead of Cypher. "All right, creep, go ahead and try it!"

Cypher took careful aim. Chest shot.

BANG

Jane figured the magnetic field would protect her.

It didn't.

Jane immediately felt a stinging sensation in her chest, as if a hammer had knocked the air out of her. Her magnetic field dissipated, and with that, Jane began to tumble out of the sky, falling from eighteen feet right to the cold hard asphalt.

Daria and Quinn ran behind them, with Sandi 1 trailing in the distance. She watched Jane fold over as if she had the bends, and then watched her uninterrupted fall.

"JANE!!"

Daria reached out with her mind. She was going to find out who the hell this guy was and who sent him!

She reached...reached...and....and....

(.....................................)

...nothing!

"Daria!" screamed Quinn. "Daria!"

Daria heard Quinn loud and clear.

::- DUCK!!! -::

Daria almost tripped over trying to reach the ground. Above her head she could hear a sharp KRAK! and the smell of burning ozone.

Quinn fired a lightning bolt at Cypher. Quinn didn't want to blow the guy into pieces, but she figured this would be enough to stun him.

The force of the blow knocked Cypher off of his feet. She could see Cypher shaking his left hand rapidly, and the hem of his overcoat starting to smoke.

However, the electricity did not seem to impair Cypher at all after the initial shock She could see the arcs of electricity crawling between Cypher's teeth and behind his eyes. He glared at her with cold blue-dead eyes, and begin to walk forward, towards her.

Sandi 1 rushed forward. "Get out of here!!" she screamed at Cypher.

Cypher did not figure on a FOURTH Legionnaire. There was no telling what this one could do, and he figured that he'd rather not fight off four Legionnaires and scores of policemen. Better to fight instead on his own terms. He ran. He had sent the Mayor a message, and he could save the Legion for later. Cypher had no intention of leaving Lawndale without a bevy of fresh graves sporting new tombstones. He'd find his Black Beauty Trans down the street and drive off.

Sandi 1 turned around. Quinn and Daria were tending to Jane.

"Jane!" shouted Daria. "Jane! Say something!!"

The three girls heard a mumble. "What the hell...did he hit me with...?" said Jane.

"Don't move! You might have broken bones!" said Daria.

"Well...I don't feel like it...." Jane slowly stood up. "Although I feel like someone beat me up. Damn, that stings, whatever he hit me with." She dusted off her red togs as if nothing had happened, and staggered forward uneasily. Jane didn't appear to be bleeding, but was injured in some other way.

"We'd better check it out," said Daria. "Let's get you to the hospital!"

The three girls tended to Jane. At City Hall, two of the Sandis and Linda Griffin tended to the Mayor who was still hanging on to life as sirens could finally be heard. Tiffany Blum-Deckler waited for Daria to come back and tell her how to rematerialize herself. And Simon Muncy, a cameraman, hoped that the satellite feed had sent the story of the millennium to his editors. He just needed to make one phone call first....