# 215
The All-Star Legion of America in "The Secret Emperor, Part Five"
By Mikel Midnight (suggested by, and with additional prose and dialog from, a plot and novel by Dashiell Hammett)

The doorbell rings. "I'll get it, Astrid." The heavyset man rises from his chair, walking over to the door, which he opens to reveal a man on a bicycle. "Mister Ames?" the man enquires.

"Yeah, that's me, is that my pizza? Wow, that was fast."

'U.S.' Royal nods encouragingly, "Feel Good Now pizza delivery service is the fastest in the city."

Ames takes the pizza and gives the deliveryman a generous tip, "Don't spend it all in one place, y'hear?" He shuts the door as 'U.S.' Royal nods a "Thank you, Sir," and counts out the change. He sighs, that was the last delivery for the evening, time to meet up with his teammates. He gets back on the road, jetting out to a camouflaged house deep in a wooded area of Hoboken.

R.C. rises up to greet him as he enters. "How's the Captain," 'U.S.' Royal enquires.

"I'm fine, Royal." Captain Tootsie smiles, as he walks in from the back room, followed by Marybelle and Sweetie who follow after him, fussing. "Just about recovered from the treatment Travers gave me." He grins at his entourage, "The prettiest nurses a man's ever had don't do any harm, neither." They blush accomodatingly.

'U.S.' Royal grips his hand firmly. "It was a good night," he said, taking out several bills from his wallet and handing them over.

"Good. The money we made when I sold my spaceship the Rocketeer is almost gone, and we still have to keep the Legion active and Ted Shane on the payroll." Captain Tootsie sighs. "Hootin' zoots, I can't believe we're dependent on things like you delivering pizza and the boys running paper routes ... maybe I ought to start begging on the streets."

R.C. shrugs, "Old Nick isn't answering our phone calls, either."

"Unfortunately, he may be the one behind my losing my job as a United States deputy." 'U.S.' Royal purses his lips. "He's never done us wrong before, but something or someone has sure gotten to him."

"You can say his name," Captain Tootsie says. "Leonidas Doucas."

"Are my ears burning?" 'Old Nick' Talbert walks into the room, leaning on his cane.

Captain Tootsie tousles Marybelle's hair. "Sorry girls," he says to the distaff Secret Legionnaires, "Grownup talk." They pout slightly, but wander to another part of the house.

R.C. reaches for his bat. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face here, Nick."

Old Nick shifts his cane upwards in his hand, and then in a lightning motion swings the hooked end down to catch R.C.'s bat and toss it aside. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you people have been causing me? I've been calling in every favor I have owed, just to keep you out of jail again. Doucas' tendrils have dug deep."

Captain Tootsie glances at his fellow travellers, "You certainly deserve a hearing," he says to Old Nick. "What do you have for us?"

Old Nick takes a seat, folding one leg over the other. "I don't know what you have. I can tell you that for fifteen years now, Doucas has been collecting information about moguls, so that he may make them his tools. He has a chain of private detective agencies, as well as hirelings in banks, in hotels, and apartments. I'm sure you're aware of his scandel sheet, Capital Whispers."

R.C. nods, "All too well ... it's not pleasant reading unless you have a taste for yellow journalism and society gossip."

Captain Tootise leans back, "That's all old news."

"Some people do," Old Nick shrugs to R.C. "Sometimes Doucas may be bought off, sometimes not, as in one case where he ruined a presidential aspirant who had millions to offer him. Doucas' usual way of getting hold of a politician, is to get something on his secretary or other intimate who will know secrets, and use that as a wedge into those secrets. He has also employed adventuresses."

"I think we've had a run-in with one of those," Captain Tootsie says dourly. "He's set his daughter on us, code-named Miss Wonderly. We've kept her distracted by sending her adventuring with Volto and Ted Shane."

R.C. looks thoughtful. "There's a shifty fellow named Michael Gira who works for Senator Jarboe ... he must be one of those secretaries or intimates you've mentioned. That explains a lot."

Old Nick nods, "That is helpful, R.C. We'll put a finger on Gira. Doucas also has tendrils in Congressman Haldorn's campaign, as well as Senator Rushton's."

"We knew about Haldorn ... Dolliard was involved with him ... but Rushton's name is new to us." 'U.S.' Royal raises an eyebrow, "Wait a minute ... isn't he running opposed to the Jarboe / Haldorn ticket?"

"Yes he is," Old Nick agrees. "But what Doucas' ultimate plans are, we haven't been able to discern. They run a tight ship at Capital Whispers."

Captain Tootsie narrows his eyes. "You've come here because you want us to do your work for you, but without any official support."

Old Nick says, "I've done the best I can from my end ... but yes, we need the All-Star Legion of America."

'U.S.' Royal sighs, and walks over to look out a window into the dappled green sunlight. He turns to face his teammates. "I think it's time to end this farce with Miss Wonderly."

Captain Tootsie hides his wince. "Agreed."

Later, a familiar golden bubble descends near the house. As it hits the ground it explodes silently, revealing Volto, Miss Wonderly, and Ted Shane. Old Nick having since departed, not wanting word of his continued involvement with the Legion to find its way back to Leonidas Doucas, the other three adult members of the team greet the new arrivals as they enter the secret house.

Ted Shane removes his fedora and unties the belt of his trench coat. "You know, I don't think I''ve ever been to this hq before," he says. Shane's jaw is long and bony, his chin a jutting v under the more flexible v of his mouth. His nostrils curve back to make another, smaller, v. His yellow-grey eyes are horizontal. The v motif is picked up again by thickish brows rising outward from twin creases above a hooked nose, and his pale brown hair grow down -- from high flat temples -- in a point on his forehead. He looks rather pleasantly like a blond satan.

Captain Tootsie nods, "You'd have had no reason to."

Miss Wonderly approaches Captain Tootsie, giving him an affectionate hug. She pauses there, holding the position a moment longer than necessary, and he can feel the lithe contures of her body as she presses against him. "I've missed you, Thomas," she whispers into his ear, "it's been a long time."

His smile in return is pained. "Yes, it has been," he replies quietly.

Volto coughs, breaking into the awkward moment. "This is the first time the team has been called together since the battle with the Swans. What's the occasion, Captain? Will the boys be arriving soon?"

Captain Tootsie shakes his head. "They're been under orders to distance themselves from the organisation for now. They actually investigated Dr. Power against my authorisation, though to be fair, he is one of Thom McAn's arch-foes and so the boy has discretionary rights. And the information he and Bazooka gathered was valuable."

'U.S.' Royal stares levelly at Miss Wonderly. "It's been a convoluted process, but we have managed to put together a picture of the controlling force which has been behind the scenes of most of our recent troubles; a secret emperor who rules over an empire of corruption."

R.C. says, "Miss Wonderly, have you ever heard a scandal sheet titles Capital Whispers?"

She leans back in her chair, crossing her legs in a graceful motion. "Of course I have."

R.C. says, "It's your father's, isn't it? Leonidas Doucas?"

"I've never denied it. I could have just given you a false name, you know."

'U.S.' Royal says, "You're aware that he hired Dr. Power and Dr. Narsty to destroy our headquarters, and that they were also behind the kidnapping of Anthony Travers, who has now become mutated into that same monster whom you helped us defeat, and who later assaulted Captain Tootsie? You're aware that he was probably behind our arrest?"

"My father is a scrupulous editor and businessman. I don't know about any of those other activities." She quirked a smile, "Where did you get this story, from the mouth of some mad scientist or other? I've been on your side since we met, and you'd take accusations from a source like that seriously?"

'U.S.' Royal says, "It was a quite a coincidence that you showed up when you did, sister."

Ted Shane reaches down and strikes a match against a chair leg, using it to light a cigarette which he lets dangle between his lips. "What made you think we heard about Travers from a mad scientist?"

She shrugs, a sour expression on her face. "Who else were you talking about, other than those scofflaws you were chasing outside the Continental Options Bank? I usually operate in the Baltimore environs, and when you showed up it attracted attention."

'U.S.' Royal waves his hand dismissively. "Yes, I'm sure you have an answer for everything, but we're getting off point. If Powers and Narsty didn't destroy our headquarters, then the next obvious suspect is yourself. Even if you didn't, we have every reason to believe you're here to gather information and report back to your father."

"If you expect me to denounce my own father to you, you're mad."

"Hootin' zoots!" Captain Tootsie rises to his feet. "All of us have suffered because of Leonidas Doucas, lost our homes or our jobs or our good names. I might have been killed by that monster he keeps on a leash. I curse your father, and I curse you too, if you can't see the evil that he does, or refuse to act to prevent it!"

"Oh Thomas," she says quietly, with a sigh. She stands and walks towards the door.

"Tamar!" He reaches out and grabs her by the arm, pulling her to him as he plants a bruising kiss on her lips. She gasps and spins away. "I'd best be leaving now," she says.

They watch silently as she departs. Captain Tootsie grinds his teeth, his expression actuated by hate and love mixed.

Volto walks over to stand by his side. "Old friend," he says quietly. "It was perhaps an error in judgement to approach Doucas alone. It is time for the All-Star Legion of America to work as a team once again. It is time for a reckoning."

TO BE CONTINUED ...