Time, Love and Armageddon
PROLOGUE
Feb 14, 1999
Dick Grayson felt a strange compulsion as he walks past the Bludhaven Museum of World History. He ignored the weird feeling, scurrying past the city landmark in an effort to make it on time for his lunch date with a certain Nina Williams, a lady who has given him much to wonder about during the past few days. An hour later, on his way back to his apartment after being stood up by his mysterious date, the police academy student who is secretly Bludhaven's resident crimefighter operating under the guise of Nightwing, again felt the unusual drive to enter the museum. He then walks through the door Feb 14, 1599 A young and lovely peasant woman quietly attends to her chores as a weaver in a small and dainty Japanese village. While nearby, a rich yet still youthful nobleman watches her intently. Enchanted by her beauty, the kind-hearted feudal lord approached the girl and politely introduced himself to her, expressing how he was disarmed by her gentle charm. Flashing a wry smile, the 26-year old peasant girl suddenly unsheathed a shimmering psi blade and aimed it at the man's neck. "This is Jutte" hissed the suddenly fierce woman as she brandished her deadly weapon. "And she is nigh-indestructible. Throw your pitch at me again and I will make your neck flash a bloody smile from one ear to the other." The nobleman, startled by the unexpected display of savagery by this seemingly gentle soul, withdrew from her presence and vowed never to bother her again. Mar 17, 1999 The Justice League received an emergency summons from NASA Command Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, alerting them of an immense meteor cluster on a direct collision course with the earth. The cluster, measuring in excess of seven thousand miles across, is composed of gigantic metallic rocks each measuring at least one hundred miles wide and weighing in the vicinity of thousands of tons. Traveling at half the speed of light, the meteor cluster is only ten days away from hitting earth when it was detected. The world's mightiest heroes scrambled to intercept the cosmic threat. But despite their gallant efforts, two huge chunks slipped past the blockade and slammed into the earth's surface with such tremendous impact, surpassing the force of one thousand nuclear bombs going off simultaneously. Tens of millions of human lives were instantly lost in the impact, while millions of tons of dust and debris were blown into the atmosphere, which soon blanketed the earth with a thick and impenetrable cloud of dust that completely blocked the sun's rays. The end of the world is now imminent. Dec 14, 1957 Japanese-American technician Robert Hiroyuki, working from an observatory in Matterhorn peak in Switzerland, received a cable message from a group of scientists at the other side of the world. Hiroyuki, himself a part of the worldwide scientific exploration project known as the International Geophysical Year (IGY), read the missive, containing an instruction to point the large radio telescope at the coordinates given. He accomplished his task accurately and without delay. The time-stream, a river of chronal energy which bridges the gap in all time and space Waverider, stalwart constituent of the Linear Men, a group of self-styled guardians of the time-stream, frantically forms a force field to fend off the relentless attacks of his opponent, the insane cosmic criminal called Era. A former time-keeper herself, Era went mad after her devastating battle with a being known only as Lkz, an omni-potent energy creature believed to have originated from the 5th dimension, whose campaign not only consisted of defeating this upstart cosmic being, but also included putting the shackles on the mighty Spectre himself during the short-lived war with the 5th dimension. Seeing that she had become a deadly force that threatens the space-time continuum, the powerful Linear man had no recourse but to imprison her in the Still Zone. Era recently broke free from her bonds and made her way back into the time-stream, staging an attack that almost caught Waverider by surprise. Now locked in battle with the powerful cosmic being, the time guardian wonders about what could she possibly get with his demise. Meanwhile, a simultaneous attack by the two protagonists brought them crashing into the 16th century. Feb 14, 1588 A woman stands, profusely weeping, near the edge of a tall cliff over-looking a Japanese fishing fleet. Her melancholy was interrupted by a strange noise and a bright flash of light. When she turned around, she witnessed a scene that nearly made her freeze with fear: two bizarrely garbed beings who seemed to possess the power of gods, ferociously battling each other. Waverider only became aware that they were seen by the woman when his enemy fired a deadly chronal blast towards the helpless bystander. Unmindful of his own personal safety, the time guardian raced to snatch the woman away from the line of fire. To his utter surprise, Era suddenly disappeared after her energy blast missed its target. After making sure that the frail witness is safe and has no memory of the things that she saw, Waverider promptly departed back into the time-stream. Feb 16, 1588 The woman who witnessed the battle between Waverider and Era had no recollection of the bizarre events that took place two days ago. However, the cause of her sorrow is still very much fresh in her mind and heart. Lying on her bed, the distraught damsel tearfully drank a deadly fluid that she extracted from a poisonous plant. She was discovered a half hour later by her niece, who tried to revive her, albeit futilely. As she breathed her last, the dying woman weakly faced her beloved niece Taki, and made her vow never to fall in love with a man. The young Taki, who was told later of her aunt's sad experience of being abandoned by her husband, made the vow as her guardian expired. This event spawned the neophyte ninja's fiery hatred towards men. Vanishing Point, a satellite located beyond the confines of time and space which serves as headquarters for the Linear Men Upon reaching his base, Waverider was shocked to witness the event that laid waste the entire world during the year 1999. Having knowledge from his endless work of cataloging history that this was not supposed to happen, the time guardian realized that somehow, history has been altered as an effect of his battle with Era. Cross-checking his vast database, the stalwart time-keeper further realized that the woman he rescued was supposed to die on that day, in a suicidal attempt to fling herself down the cliff where he pulled her off from. However, he was faced with the unnerving realization that he is not allowed to undo the actions that he himself did, lest he risks the possibility of setting off a chain reaction that could unravel the existence of space and time. Waverider is now faced with the difficult task of rectifying time with an event that will not have other reverberations in history, other than undoing the chain of events that he started. He sets off into the 20th century to find allies to help him with his mission.