Interval #4
Volume 1. Story 3.
A Parents Privacy (Part 2)
Crossover: continued from Iota #4
Chronology:
Pre-Young Justice #1
"Answer the question," the firm monotone voice of Interval further terrified the young lantern, Deryck, whom laid sprawled out on a dust filled floor of an old barn that moments ago, he had been whisked off to from a prison cell on an alleged military base that he can't remember even going to.
"What does that question even mean?" Deryck spat out a clump saliva and watch it soak up little particles on the cement floor of the barn house, "is this the only place that is dirty," he mumbled to himself as he took a deep breath of the musky air, "what am I doing here?" he lightly asked himself before jumping into a full on shout "You brought me here!" Deryck, in the full lantern garb of long form fitting finger less gloves, hard cased boots that bolted into pad around his knees and the lantern logo, those two white triangles aimed inward upon another, on his chest, propped himself up to his knees with the tip of his toes bent behind him. He looked up at his tormentor with a hefty amount of distrust flowing throughout the room, "mind you, you seem like the most sensible twip I've met all day," the edge of his boots fell back to their soles as his knees bent upward into their natural straight orientation; he was at full strength now and this speedster standing before him didn't even flinch.
"You certainly don't belong in this world," Interval continued in his dry tone, "so I need you to give me some clear cut answers if I'm to make it out of here."
"You?" Deryck spat back, "I don't belong here either."
"I thought that perhaps you would have information regarding my current predicament," Interval dropped his intimidating posture, settling for a light footing and hunched shoulders, "When I was investigating you, I found some irregularities with the persona you had assumed."
"Persona...Like what?" Deryck coughed up, licking away at the excess saliva.
"You look nothing like Hal Jordan," Interval firmly stated as he took to staring the fellow young hero down, "and yet everyone I had spoken with believed that whom they were witnessing was indeed Hal Jordan."
"You've been following me?" Deryck responded in evident disgust.
"Since mid-day, although I believed myself to be quite aware of the situation that was developing upon first interactions at the hotel in the early hours of this morning; what you were apparently doing before the hotel and after the hotel would suggest two completely different people, acts that are very inconsistent with being called Hal Jordan."
"Yeah..." Deryck wrapped his right hand to the back of his head combing the hair down gently, "I woke up and...I was under some sort of telepathic control?"
"It would appear so since you do not appear to be knowledgeable of your activities committed early this morning."
"Are you always this cold?" Deryck questioned, "and who are you anyway?"
"I've told you already," Interval stamped his feet into the ground and readjusted himself into an action ready posture, "I'm Interval."
"No man," Deryck smiled and throughout a soft hand gesture. He looked away and started nodding his head, "are we from the same world or something?"
"Most likely."
Deryck motioned to sit back down on the floor, clasping his hands around his bent up knees, he held his eyes shut for a moment to alleviate the tiredness that was slowly taking him over now that the rush of adrenalin was coming to an end, "Where are you from?" he looked up with a smirk.
"I don't see how that's relevant."
"Well, if we're from the same place, then perhaps we have a mutual obligation to ensure that we return to it...maybe there's something more to this 'kidnapping' that first appearances, something about who we are."
"Fine. I'm not from this planet but I am quite familiar with it," Interval relieved himself of the intimidating posture and turned his back to Deryck, "this time frame that this world seems to be in, its very foreign to me," he paced lightly in a looping circle, and turned his head slightly seeing a strange reaction of Deryck, "I'm from the twenty-eighth century..."
"Hmm..." Deryck's eyebrows bounced at the notion of a future entity, "yeah, good ol'2046 for me..." he started laughing more so in his tired state but came to an abrupt stop when he saw that Interval had stopped pacing and assumed a shocked expression on his face, eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar, which he proceeded to try and cover from the teen lantern by blocking with his fully extended right hand, "what's wrong with that?"
"I was in 2046 when I was 'taken'," his head raised as the pacing came to a stop.
"So you're a foreigner and a time traveller..." Deryck retorted with a snappy cynicism in his attitude.
"It's practically normal thing," Interval snapped back looking across at Deryck in a sneering fashion, "for a Flash."
"Alright."
"I've been thinking through the possibilities since I arrived here; its a possibility that we're linked together in all this."
"Well, if that's the case," Deryck attempted to get a happier reaction from his new colleague, "perhaps its best that we work together on this one."
"Very well," Interval responded with a slap to the side of his own head, keeping himself conscious in not regretting the decision to do so, "I trust that you've encountered the same obstacles that I have?"
"Obstacles?"
"I ran in all directions, but I couldn't find a way out of Central City and Keystone, not until I was given authorization to travel to Coast City in which case the pathway to there just opened up somehow," Intervals breaths grew solemn as he gazed with empty eyes upon his ally, "I don't remember anything existing in between the two cities, not when I ran the distance, I was in one place and then I was in the next," he placed a hand underneath his chin to cup it which resulted in the lowering of his head near to his chest, "I was thinking of this world as holding some kind linear storyline where we've been brought to perform."
"In which we're the only changed factors..." Deryck interrupted finishing Interval's thought.
"Precisely," Interval took a big gulp and continued, "so it's possible that we're finishing a story that was set up prior to our arrival here."
"But how do we get out of it?"
"Finish it?" Interval gestured with a loose sense of certainty, "what have you encountered here?" he returned to his seriousness curving his arms against one another behind his back.
"This place doesn't seem to run on energy, like conventional energy..." Deryck spoke with the uncertainty that had followed him around all day, "cars that didn't need fuel, power lines that don't use electricity, power plants that don't make electricity."
"Stuff I would have otherwise not have noticed since my knowledge of this time is abysmal...that's why you went to there."
"All the more surreal was the way in which I came to notice those things," Deryck continued spiking a reaction in Interval that could only be defined as one of interest, "when I pointed out these small things to the people they seemed completely ignorant of it...like it wasn't common sense to them...a power line system I used to knock out some robot didn't react until after I had verbally pointed out its faultiness..."
"Suggesting of course that this world is somehow loosely attached to our perceptions."
"Whoever's watching us, or whatever is setting up this world," Deryck grabbed hold to a serious tone in which he felt comfortable in dominating the conversation, "it's just learning itself...operating on a level that appears to be working in our favour."
"Anything to keep the story running," Interval clarified.
"These cops that were chasing me," Deryck continued, "got me cornered in a gas station that was never there...but somehow I got out, I escaped...moments later I'm walking down an alley way behind it..." he shook his head with a wide glare, "it was never there when I first arrived...and I don't even know why these cops were following me in the first place...something about plans..."
"It was technology that the Thinker wanted and used on the rivers...that's who you were fighting against on the beach head..."
"Yeah that's another thing, why were you following me? How do you fit into all of this?"
"That..." Interval paused in his words as he looked away from his new ally, staring blankly into the darkness that the barn provided, "is another story..."
Jace's consciousness woke up suddenly, his body contorted to a lying down position for what must have been a few hours judging by his exhaustion; shirtless, he felt the smooth covers wrap around all soft and comfortable and though be that as it may, he quickly recognizes that this was not his bed. Eye lids, as tight and tiresome as they were, became propped open by his and strength revealing the the ugliness of the room he now laid down in. The ceiling was comprised of two by two foot white squares with an assortment of chicken scratches upon them for decorative purposes, a wooden like trim firmly separated each square from being continuous with one another. The walls were a pale green that matched the floor and its grass like texture; one wooden door was in the distance past the head of the bed a good four metres, closed, another to his right, closed also. A single shelf line proceeded all along the walls interrupted only by the presence of the two doors, underneath were dressers, long and furnished as a strong oak, one notable that rested up against the wall to his left near the doorway. His first instincts told him to arise and search through the photographs that remained stationary on the dresser's top but he was unpleasantly surprised to feel the smoothness of skin slap down onto his bare chest instigating a sudden sickness in his stomach.
Turning his head to his right side, facing the two sliding glass doors which provided the sole source of illumination, Jace encountered a small head popping up through the bulky white covers, the beings shoulder revealed to be in connection with the arm. He closed his eyes once more, took a big gulp as he felt the phlegm crawl up his throat. He looked upon the covers, a human form creating a bulge underneath them, curved in its form, legs bent, upper body twisted to lean up towards him; the nightmare unfolding within his head was unbearable. He traced his fingertips up his legs, bumping along the cotton shorts he wore, till he was certain he could pull his hands up above the covers and reveal the extent of this damaging emotion. With delicate care, he took the bulk of the forearm that had fallen on his chest and lifted it up slightly, tearing away at its attachment to his own flesh, and tossed it carefree into the bundled up body of the person he laid with. Upon the sound of the the arm hitting the soft mattress that buttressed their bodies, the fullness of the head of the other person became visible to Jace whom immediately set to viewing the features seeking for some recognition and insight into just how he had arrived in this predicament; a redhead at the very least, much darker than the traditional orange hue, with such soft features, perfection in every facet of her face, a purity of the human skin tonal value that stretched across her even nose and surrounded the luscious lips of a smile she possessed in her sleep. And though of all these things he understood there to be some respectable admiralty, he nonetheless saw limited interest in such areas and fought back against any preconceived notions that others might have felt in a similar instance which was further clarified when he came to recognize just whom this was; "Iris?" he muttered under his breath.
Calm and Collective, Jace planted the palms of his hands into the sheeted mattress and propped himself up, leaning ever so slightly against the back wall. He turned to look at the glass doors seeing the picturesque scenery of mint grass and a wooden fence that surrounded a small perimeter; it was a neat suburban backyard not much different from that of the West's home. A flip open of the covers revealed his barren legs with a pair of black under shorts being the sole article of clothing. A quick twist of the body to bring his feet to the floor and Jace was up pacing away from the bed towards the dresser nearby. One by one, he lifted the photographs in their holders and examined the souls trapped there within; the woman in the bed, Iris, being cradled and hugged by a larger muscular man with short blonde hair, Barry, another photograph with Iris and and younger boy, his own age perhaps, red head like her, gentle green eyes and a smile: must be Wally.
"Is there something wrong..." a tired moaning voice croaked snapping Jace's sensible thoughts as he dropped the picture frame to the the dresser top with a thud. The sound of the spring bound mattress bending and conforming revealed her bodily movements without him even looking, "its your day off honey...thought you'd love to sleep in for once."
Jace, hunched over the dresser that reached to his stomach level, turned to face the bed with his side, head tilted ever so slightly to catch the appearance of Iris in the glow of the sunlight which made her hair blossom despite its tangled state, "are you OK?" she questioned him as she shook her head slowly reshaping the bones to an upright position of full alertness, "Barry?" her voice broke clean as she leaned forward on the bed, invading his side, to take a closer look at the confused Jace, "is there something wrong?" she clasped to the covers pulling the bulk of the top up to cover her body, her hands coming together under her chin.
"Nothing," Jace's emotionless tone broke his silence. Taking steps backwards, he placed his right hand along the dresser and felt along its smooth surface till his left hand came into contact with the door. The awkward stare between the two of them possessing groomed an awareness of something not being entirely proper. A quick flick of his wrist unable the turning of the circular door knob probing for the door to open inward to the room. Short breaths dominated him as he pulled back on the edge of the door, wide enough for his body to stretch through the frame and out of this nightmare the room presented to him.
"Barry?" she pleaded loudly this time unable to strip her eyes from him.
A heavy gulp, one last good look and Jace was outside of the room and into a familiar environment. He brought the door to a close and leaned his back up against it, knees bent. Thoughts of multiple possibilities regarding the circumstances to his existence here began to form and develop. He brought his hand to his mouth as his eyes appeared to become teary; something was very wrong. Time Travel again, but in his sleep? Why did she call him Barry?
He looked around the area he has just entered, the main living place of the house, the familiarity of which resumed within him when he found he had been brought here before by the real Barry Allen; this was his home. A small hallway leading inward towards a door leading outside, a spacious assortment of green reflex couches, the third person longest one against the wall while three individual seats made up the square like figure with one to the adjacent side nearest to the door and two opposing the longer couch. To his right was the table, its curved edges, where Barry had brought him and Wally to sit to discuss the issues at hand when he had found himself here. While beside this set up, at the centre of the long house was the entrance way connected to the wall that stood at one side of the table with an square opening that revealed portions of the kitchen, the wooden panelled cupboards that ran around the upper regions at exact eye sight. And to his left, white doors, three of them, all leading to their individuals rooms that served their own purposes.
Jace regained his posture and stepped slowly towards the table seeking out the sliding glass doors that were placed at the outer head of the table; he ran his hand up against the glass allowing for it to stick and cause its noxious sound. Ahead, blocking out the sun, was the the horizontal brown panels of the bedroom he had left, below was a delicate stone pattern set up that stretched ahead of the door a few good feet forming a small and quaint patio. The grass was in full flourish with an large assortment of plants, red ones, bright blue one with white mixtures, that formed islands of sorts throughout the playing field; it was the ideal scene for one whom had found the absence of plant-life so incomprehensible in his own time.
He clasped his fingers together as he venture across the rugged green carpet towards the metal like door which flowed the afterthought images of the outdoor arena through the circular blurred glass that was at its top centre. The taps of his fingers where rhythmic with his steps as he came to notice a particular add onto his finger that he was just getting used to; the golden ring, the one with the lightning bolt that all Flash personnel carried with them. He came to a stop just as he reached the short ebbing hallway and pulled up his right hand carrying the ring and examined it closely. His left ventured down to his shorts and twanged the waistband that was tightly bound to his body, but he did not waver in his perception of the ring; had his costume remained in the ring when he ended up in the peculiar world? With a tap of the ring, the flowing scarlet and black suit shot out with a pop catching Jace's eyes in their illustrious blue for just a moment before the instincts that came with super speed drove him, compelled him, to fit on the uniform distributed.
The the short dark red gloves firmly attached to his forearms by two large black straps, the hard cased boots that stretched just short of his knees, the bright yellow logo enfranchised upon the black circle on the chest of the standard scarlet body suit that reached down to his waist at a triangular point allowing for his leggings to be black. He stretched out his legs, lifting his left and then to his right, flexing his fingers all through the gloves feeling its leather like structure mesh with the flesh of his hands. Conscientious of the possibility of nosing neighbours, Jace took to the familiar speed attached to the Flash legacy as he bolted out through the door, down the small rock laid steps and on the firm concrete conception of the road along the suburban street, no time to analyze what lay before him and behind, only the opportunity to look ahead at the tall structures that formed the manmade horizon line of Central City.
Cars, pedestrians, things he had never seen throughout his travels, all blurred into lines of colour and design as the speedster stepped up his terminal velocity, stretching the contours of his body to the maximum level he knew that he could reach without dissipating into the fabric of reality that the powers of the speed force kept him from. At his speed, the voices of the people were just jeers of compliments or approval as his wake resulted in the disruption of the otherwise boring episode of their life and while the the building tops, their brick laying manifestations, grew to blur into one seamless structure, there was something not quite right about this world and it wasn't just that it was a time he was less familiar with than the one he had become accustomed to living in. Up the streets he ran conveniently turning the speeding wheel bound cars into stone as he easily manoeuvred around them all the way to the Mississippi river, making his cross over to the twin city of Keystone.
The trail of water that rose behind his heels was of a pure snow white that burst into small bubbles upon reacting with the air at the extreme speed, a quick glance down at his feet, though a long second in his mind, revealed there to be a clarity that was unrecognizable in the stream of his time, a reflection visible of his being and though it was indeed him in this uniform the fact that he could see himself at all was of troublesome, the water was so terribly clean that he swore he could make out the bottom of it, the sandy features that layered the floor and up to the beachhead which too did not exist in his time. His feet bolted down together in front him with his soles just slightly above the water while he leaned back, hand positioned upward in the air to steady himself in the long stop that sent splashes of the fine water ahead of him; he looked up at the city before him incredible awe; gone were the steel and glass structures that defined the essence of the city, replaced by large block constructions made of brick and plastered with the soft coat of white and cream coloured additives to make their appearance more unique. Ledges to every building top produced delicate patterns of curves and bends which further took to the furnishings that surrounded the window sills; they were images that could only be found in a book on classic architecture. The largest of these buildings, reaching no higher than the necessary twelve stores, dotted the coastline with a one of their four corners facing outwards towards the river. A light assortment of green shrubbery surrounded the edge of the beach head further enticing the young speedster to stretch forward from his placement. His knees immediately bent, his head darted forward as the running went back into its session but only for a short moment as he came to stop upon the shore, his feet coming to sink into the sands. Bringing his body into sync with the normalcy of speed, he turned around to look upon the city he had just passed through at his blistering speed and immediately developed short held breaths and a gawking expression as he found himself witnessing a near mirror image with the only notable exception being the sun rising above the city. He raised his arms to the side of his head and bit down hard on his teeth, his logical mind breaking down finding it incomprehensible, the words in his mind, when it came to regarding this bizarre world he was in.
"It's the Flash!" Jace dropped his arms as the shrill of a young voice broke his uneasy concentration from his back side. He turned slightly to witness a young boy stumble through the shrubbery at the top of the beachhead and make his way along the sands towards him, "this is so cool!" Jace let his shoulders slump and viewed the boy awkward manner, as though he were seeing right through him. He was a plain boy, this fan, light hair, slate eyes, wearing a white shirt and jeans; he was the closest to plainness that Jace could ever comprehend anyone of being and yet that was really all he could discern of him, "what are you doing in Keystone?"
"Keystone?" Jace prodded the boy with his preponderance over confusion, "this is really Keystone...and that's" he waved a hand towards the city he had passed through and nodded his head a little to look back at its uncanny appearance, "Central City."
"Are you alright Flash sir?" the boys voice became more puzzled then excited than puzzled while physically the boys hands came to rest upon the bulbs of his waist.
"No..." Jace muttered under his breath before a proper sentence in his mind could be spoken, "I'm sorry," he looked down to the boy and attempted a smile that came across as an usual tooth filed opening, "I have to get out of here."
"But I heard the Thinker might be loose in Keystone!" The boy immediately shouted with the excitement in his voice resulting in Jace falling back in an unusual bit of horror, "aren't you here to show him what a good guy does the villain," the boy lowered his head and threw out his small clenched fists like he was in a boxing match.
"I don't know..." Jace continued in a stuttering pattern, "Kid, I've got to get moving," his head flowed around in all directions analyzing the facets of every building and the cars, though firstly seldom in number, slowly grew to dominate the streets. One last quick look at the kid in all its awkwardness, and Jace was off once more, first slowly up the sand hill leaving a small storm behind him, but with a leap over the lush green bush on the outer trim and he was back on the hard streets dodging the vehicles and whatever pedestrians might come his way.
Heart beating once every ten steps, Jace had reached his maximum level once more while traversing Keystone City never once stalling to question of any further similarities that may have existed between this such environment and the one behind him back in Central; his hief priority was to leave, to be free from these two cities and venture into the world to see how wide spread this 'cleanliness' was. "This can't be..." he spoke between deep breaths as he came to a stop. On a suburban street where houses of similar tastes only unique in colour dotted the sides of the road as Jace responded to a shocked sensibility that crept up his spine and made his legs numb. At the centre of the street he stood and looked upon a single house not too unlike the others that surrounded it; black panelled roofing that formed triangular stride over a long side of brown horizontal panels while a larger more extensive feature that stood to the left of aforementioned was small in its length but nonetheless appeared large with its particularly wall sized window with white curtains unfurled in front of it and the triangular piece of the roof facing outward towards the street. Ahead of this particular section was a long driveway comprised of small stones formed together in a concrete mixture, jutting from its side was a pathway that circled around on the grass and headed towards the door, that recognizable door at the centre of the home's two sections which he had left only minutes before to commit to his run; he had returned to Barry Allen's home.
He looked up around the streets, committing to a full three sixty turn to look upon the soft blades of grass and serene homes and came to hear only the chirping of birds as the day became more present in its early hours and although peacefully serene and possibly ideal even in his own time where this culture had already been lost, he know deep within his machine like conscience that something was terrible wrong with this street, these two twin cities, this world, it was much to clean. No matter how far he had travelled back in time, he had never encountered such a beautifully scenic existence as this one presented.
Jace found himself unable to handle it, the numbness that threatened his body became to much to bear and thus he sought to work himself straight, pulling his fingers in tight to his palms and strengthening his toes with miniscule movements in his boots, he stamped down his heels and felt the pain and power that came to him from the mystical Speed Force and he shot off like a bullet. Along the cold streets once more, now ignorant of obstacles that the civilians represented in their iron caged vehicles, Jace propelled himself further and further reaching the river and then across Keystone once more and although the world had blurred around him and the physicality of the Speed Force and its unearthly glow became more and more present in his perceptive senses, he immediately felt the urge to stop, to bring himself to the reality of normalcy and question his presence once more. A quick glance at that one building, the house that Barry Allen lived in, and right away Jace knew that there was no way he was getting out of this easy, he would have to play along for the benefit of his alleged tormentor if one existed.
Jace took a quick look around the street once more, tipping his head to look over top fences and through the windows of the other decorative houses the lined the street before he felt comfortable enough with the privacy to venture indoors in his full heroic garb. It became difficult for him to think, the slow pace now, his first steps onto the rocky pathway, while his head bowed down it quickly became evident in his short life that this was the second time he felt completely powerless. Although the time travelling capabilities of the treadmill may be operational, he swears to himself that he will never touch that power again and more importantly, with the knowledge of what this world appears to be, there is no telling where he would end up if he attempted to use it. Placing a thumb upon the pedal of the door handle, a small click sounded off as he pressed down alleviating the door socket of his closed state. He stepped inside the home, shoulders hunched, quiet and aloof.
"Where did you take off in such a hurry?" the flustered voice of Iris pierced Jace's ears. A quick glance showed her to be tying tightly to light blue bathrobe that fell just short of her knees and further exemplified her feminine figure, "the neighbours better not have seen you, I don't want to have to contemplate moving...again," Jace however choose to ignore her attempts at a proper discussion instead opting for a more pleasant footing of solitude, taking at a normal pace towards the kitchen area but coming to a stop at the head of the table facing inward, "Barry? Are you all right?"
"Shh," Jace said just audible enough for her to hear, "I need to think this through."
"You've never been one to be silent about your thoughts," Iris continued with her prodding, speaking more softly but with more concern as she approached Jace, "is there something going on that's so important that I be excluded from it?"
Jace rose his head and looked across at her, he licked his bottom lip, "no," he shook his head, "not at all...but I'm not certain if you fit in at all," his hands fell to the table to steady himself as he hunched over them resulting in the widening of Iris's eyes at the mere thought that her husband could be dealing with an immense amount of pain.
"Should I call Wally?" she spook quickly and much louder but there was no response, "whats wrong with you?"
"I don't know..." Jace muttered out followed by a deep prolonged expulsion of air. A moment of intense silence soon clouded allowing for the two to regain there thoughts, but just as Iris was beginning to form words in her mouth, the silence was struck with the sound of a ringing phone, repeating at two second intervals. Jace's head rose and looked to his right towards the shape the couches formed; the individual couch nearest to him by the front door had a small wooden structure like table right beside it with its plateau coming on par with the arm rest. Upon it was a box like cord connected phone, "will you answer it?" he spoke in the traditional monotone voice as his thoughts continued to waver seeking for the absence of any other beings in his perceptive filters.
"It's for you," Iris looked up to face Jace, clutching the receiver of the phone to her chest.
Jace pulled his head up in acknowledgement and immediately placed the fingers of his right hand underneath his cowl near his nose to pull upwards upon it revealing his all too familiar features. He pressed firmly onto the table and pushed off it allowing for his body to regain its natural form. Stepping lightly towards Iris, Jace raised his hand, extending it towards Iris to accept the phone though upon clutching the black receiver he was uncertain as to how to approach it properly, feeling blessed privately that this phone had a cord as otherwise he believed he would have great difficulty in determining which end was to be placed near his ear.
"Yes, I'll be right over." Jace spoke into the phone while a Iris, with evident fear in her face, clutched even more tightly to her robe. He pulled the phone down from the side of his head and placed it back onto the box where it was perfectly articulated to accept.
"What was it?" Iris beckoned in her weakened state of mind.
"The Central City Police Department."
"Work?" Iris questioned. She looked up at Jace from her lowered position but could not gather his gaze which appeared to aim outwards towards the glass doors at the head of the dining table.
"Work..." Jace responded firmly, "I must go see where this lead...it should be quite interesting."
"Sorry for calling you in on your day off Barry," a polite voice rang out. Jace, stepping through the double metal doors looked upon a taller man, in full officer's uniform; a dark navy blue jacket that reached down just past his waist and tied down to his chest by six buttons as well as a officers cap with a black brim that gently rose above his eyes blotting them out from full view. Jace increasingly found himself distracted by the officer's bubble like nose, "but you know how our kind of work can be."
"It is of no issue," Jace firmly responded. Respectably, he had dropped his Flash inspired costume, adopting in its place a suitable white collar shirt composed of a rough fabric which was tucked into a pair of loose fitting jeans all of which he had gathered from a convenient department store on the way over, "where is she?"
"Waiting for you in your office," the officer lifted up his strong right arm and motioned back down the hallway with his thumb. Jace nodded slightly and curved his head around the Officer's large upper body to look up the way. The floor was the checkered with black and white squares, the walls being an odd teal colouration with various doors every so often on either side with some distinctions being that of large locker systems that extended from the floor to the roof. The hallway stretched quite far downward resulting in the return of the noxious feeling in his stomach upon realization of what difficulty may await for him down the line especially as it became painfully obvious from the bright lighting system which revealed a turn down another hallway at the end of this one.
Jace waded around the officer assuming a pace of walk that appeared quite loose and at the very least nonchalant; however, when it became evident that the officer was not watching him, his legs became stiff and harder with every subsequent step, pulling the jeans up slightly to keep them upright. His head looked around the hallway searching the names of the doors and their square glass windows that proudly displayed the occupying officers first initial and last name in bold black print at the top. Quite fortunately, he came upon the B. Allen door one room short of the end of the hallway. He pressed his hand around the gold looking knob and turned it slightly till it became obvious that the door could be opened with the smallest of pushes.
For whatever reason, the office space light was not lit, instead primarily relying upon the lone window near a direct distance from the door but the daylight that would otherwise be shining through was partially blotted out by the straight blinds. He stepped inward immediately encountering a desk that ran vertical to the door. Metal shelves stacked with brown paper folders layered the walls. It was a small place but nonetheless seemed quite suitable for the working purposes of a police scientist, at least in the filing department.
In the corner of the room stood a slender woman in dark, the basic features revealed in the meagre lighting being the multi-pocketed jacket, her hands of which slipped into the two side pockets at stomach level, "Barry?" a feminine voice jumped out to him.
"Lights," Jace was quick to command as he let his hand go of the door allowing it to close properly.
"What?"
"hmm," Jace groaned as he looked back at the door, the wall space nearby where small switch lurched out from the wall. With a quick notching up, the room became illuminated revealing the tall slender figure of the woman standing before him; her raven hair that tied back into tail, her penetrating dark blue eyes and the authoritative strength in her feet, "Carol is it?" he looked up at her as he straightened his back.
"Yes," she said with a stern puzzlement. Jace barrelled down his eyes, scrunching his eyebrows at the notion that she might know just whom Barry is, "there's something wrong with Hal," she turned to pleading, "I think he used the powers of his lantern ring to steal some classified information."
"Ring?" Jace muttered to himself, "Green Lantern?"
"Yes," Carol responded sternly once more, "Are you OK?"
"Quite," Jace continued with a monotone statement, "its my day off apparently, my mind is not all together...why don't we start at the beginning and I can work it out from there."
"Alright," Carol smiled with her lips shut as she nodded slightly in affirmation, "Every so often the high military command stores some confidential files airfield, usually in transmission to get somewhere more secure but," here eyes quickly turned to look to the floor, "it seems that Hal intercepted the files in his Lantern persona..." she looked back up at Jace and assumed a more thoroughly intellectual position, "I've done everything in my power to prevent the military from pursuing the case, promising that we have the files somewhere at the base, but I could really use the help in finding Hal, you're the best hope that I can think of."
"What kind of files?"
"Technology for water control," Carol spoke with reluctance, "something about dispersing water molecules at an elevated rate with a source..." she shook her head from side to side, "I don't know a lot about it except that it could be dangerous...if someone's taken control of Hal we could all be in trouble," Jace nodded in a acknowledgement of his understanding, "I know you two are good friends, if there's anyone that can stop him...save him...then it would be you." Jace simply groaned as silence enveloped the room, "Please Barry, we need your help."
"Alright," Jace threw out his hand approvingly, "do you have any idea where he might have gone?"
"I was planning to go to his home in Coast City, but I'm a little frightened for myself going alone, especially since I can't bother with calling help from one of my own because they'll recognize Hal and expose him..."
"Easily solved then. Take one of my guys then, they certainly won't know Hal Jordan. I need to stop back at home for a minute...let the accompany officer know to call me when you find something and I'll be in Coast City within the hour."
Jace stepped inside Barry Allen's home for what he would hope to be his last time. Within mere feet of the door he encountered the hostile tone of voice present in a young, and familiar, speedster like himself, "Barry!" Jace's glare shot down the movement of a character whom stood to him at a similar height; the boys fiery red hair that laid flat upon his long face with green eyes that matched those of Iris whom stood nearby now fully clothed in something more a standard to persons of this world, "What's happening?" the boy continued to plead with concern from the centre of the living space. Jace came on par with him instantly allured by the boys red t-shirt which emblazoned a Flash logo upon it.
"Barry," Iris, standing beside the younger speedster with her hands firmly around her waists, spoke with eloquent concern as she had done early this morning when Jace had first puzzled her, "you have to explain what's wrong, your scaring us?"
"Scaring you?" Jace spat back with sips of sarcasm and a smirk which blew off some internal steam, "I'm surprised I've been able to keep it all together within the last few hours."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Iris dropped her intimidating posture and stepped closer to the edge of the hall way leading to the door where Jace wobbled on his toes with a hand clutching his forehead.
"I'm not Barry Allen," Jace's hand dropped, "and yes, I'm serious," he looked the two family members directly attempting to convey the message as clearly as possible, "I'm not certain as to what happened yet, but I need time to figure it out."
"What?" the boy looked upon Jace with a scrunched eyebrows, "then who are your?" he stuttered to get out of his mouth.
Jace nodded his head while looking at the hall way wall, he clutched his stomach with both his hands as he prepared himself mentally for any form of backlash he might incur, "I'm Jace Allen," he looked up at both of them as he did before with his conveyed seriousness, "I'm a relative of Barry yes, a direct descendant in fact from your line, but I don't exist for another six hundred years...at least I think so...I'm having difficulty concentrating."
"What are you doing here?" Iris bellowed, "In his body?"
"I don't know," Jace quickly retorted, "It's become apparent that when anyone sees me they're seeing Barry Allen, but when I look at myself I do not see any difference in who I really am...I fear you may just be seeing an illusion...or..."
"Or what?" Wally spoke up, hands clasped together under his chin with a mind growing with increasing concern.
"Or you might just be all the illusions I've created."
"How does that work?" Iris prodded, "you're from the future then...why would any of this...of us, matter to you?"
"Because I've been here before..." Jace looked upon the boy and examined him more thoroughly recognizing the base essence of his character, "Wally, do you remember when I came here, I was young speedster, around your age and I needed to use Barry's cosmic treadmill."
But despite what Jace was hoping for, Wally shook his head negatively, "I don't remember that ever happening...no. I certainly would remember someone wanting to use the treadmill."
Jace reverted back to a silent mode allowing for his thoughts to recollect. Iris and the young Wally looked upon him with some contempt unable to fathom how they had lost Barry to this imposter, this body snatcher whom claimed to be someone they had before and yet they do not recall anything of him, "It's a possibility," Jace opened up, "that this is different world that I've been brought into...one with a linear perspective..." he pulled up his right hand and shook a fist triumphantly.
"A what?" Wally questioned with his assumed puzzlement.
"A linear path, like a story," Jace continued with enthusiasm creeping in on his every word, "this morning, I tried to leave Keystone but every time I did so I always ended back in Central City where I first started...like I couldn't leave. It was like I had something to do here...something to complete...the moment I returned here I got a phone call to come to the station where Carol Ferris told me to hunt down Green Lantern..."
"I don't think I like where this is going," Iris commented but only interrupted Jace for a mere moment.
"At first I thought I would come here as a distraction, a detour in the course of events where I would perhaps have this epiphany about how to get free from this nightmare."
"Nightmare?" Wally proceeded to question once more.
"But, maybe I have to complete the story...I have to turn Green Lantern in for justice..." Suddenly a phone ring broke the developing tension in the atmosphere of the room. All three of the occupying heads turned sharply to look at the black cord connected phone that sat pleasantly on top of the small desk near the individual seated couch, "I bet you that's for me," the phone continued to ring, "Carol has found Green Lantern somewhere...and now I can leave this city to pursue him..."
Iris proceeded to pick up the phone blindly, never taking her eyes from Barry's alleged imposter. With the receiver clipped to the side of her head "hello?" she spoke softly into it, "yes one moment." She rose up, straightened her back, and held out the receiver to Jace with trembling in her hand, "your right."
Jace took a deep breath as he collected the phone from her, never touching her hand in the transaction, he stepped closer as he placed the receiver to his ear, "what have you got for me?"
'We've found him,' a voice barrelled through the static of the classic phone apparatus, 'corner him at Coast City Hotel on Granville...Carol wants you here pronto...'
"Tell her I'm on my way..." Jace let the device slip from his ear and down to his stomach before placing it back on the holder with a tap, "the story must go on."
"Maybe I should go with you?" Wally stepped up closer with a wide eyed glare.
"No," Jace firmly responded, "I don't know where you fit into the puzzle...I don't know if any one of you do...I have to handle this on my own if I'm going to bring Barry back..."
"And you better!" Iris shouted lightly as he clasped her lips together tightly. Jace looked upon her with some mild fear, a sympathy that he had never felt before as he came to realize the important of Barry within the woman's life.
"I'll bring him back..."
"So where is he then?" Jace burst through the hotel's glass panneled doors, reaching through the small entrance where plain grey lockers two feet in height, stacked on top of one another reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Entrenched in a small cubicle was a older gentleman in a suit sans jacket, preferring the brown vest over the straight blue tie. The man, the dark features of his pudgy face and a crow of white hair radiating in the glancing sunlight through the doors, leaned over the counter to glance across the a the lone door at the other end of the entrance way where Carol, and a rather hurt and disgruntled police officer stepped out of.
A look of disgust was upon the officer's face as he attempted to regain his footing in the presence of Allen but was forced to settle on placing his hands on his bent knees and wheezing deeply, "he went up the stairs...broke right through the wall," a look of evident disgust came upon the clerk as he turned to Jace but even in then he had the feeling that the clerk was more shocked than anything, "shot something right through the door, his hand? How is that even possible...?" the officer moaned out between hard breaths, "broke a night table on me."
"You're a bit late for someone whose so fast," Carol spoke up as he grew to a close proximity to Jace whom continued to scan the officer and the surrounding area for any noteworthy clues. "He was acting really weird Barry..." she whispered quietly as she glanced back at the confused clerk, "he kept claiming that he wasn't Hal..."
Jace inhaled deeply and raised his chin up in the process, "really?"
"Someone really must have worked a number on his head..." Carol narrowed her eyes on Jace's as he looked back to her, "he didn't have the plans with him any more...he doesn't even know about them..." she nodded with dissatisfaction, "but that just means he's already passed it off to someone else...we're still in trouble here."
"I bet," Jace raised a hand up to cup his chin and proceeded to consider all the options available to him.
"What should we do now?" Carol spoke with the emotional uneasiness that resulted from the possible loss of her close friend and confidant.
"Gather some more officers and take to the streets," Jace stated with his monotone, completely ignorant of the feelings that Carol now possessed, "it might be able to catch him when he powers down."
"What are you going to do then."
"Follow him as Flash, there's something more to this case than just brainwashing; I'm sorry," he spoke with his clean edge but hoped that it would be taken with some sincerity to alleviate her current state of mind, "but I think I might be best if I just observe him for now...shouldn't take me to long to catch onto him...we'll try to corner him back here!"
"Here? Why?"
"You, clerk," Jace leaned around Carol and caught the attention of pudgy man behind the counter whom in turned looked over the counter top to get a good look at Jace, "there was a man here, Hal Jordan, you remember him when he checked in?" the pudgy man nodded his head in compliance of an affirmative, "good, could you please notify his colleagues here when he returns...they'll pay for any damages done."
"But why would he come back here...?" Carol intruded.
"If I'm right...he'll have nowhere else to go," Jace locked eyes with her, "leave your information at the table with him and be on your way...try to find him on foot if possible."
"That'll never work," she pleaded in a sarcastic tone, "he'll found a way out of anything we try."
"I know, but someone needs to be applying pressure on him, he has to feel the necessity to come back here."
"I got on to your trail when you came into conflict with the Thinker."
"How strange," Iota rose up from his sitting position and scratched his back side while stretching out his other arm, rotating it on its socket, "I don't suppose you know who punched me then?"
"Yes," Interval solemnly replied, "are you searching for an apology on that?"
"Maybe," Iota exhausted himself of the pent up steam within, "now I know how your gloves feel against my face..."
"Had to be certain that we were both in the same predicament," Interval continued in his intellectual rant, "although I have to say the real clinch was your discussion with yourself outside the department store window...you sure talk to yourself a lot."
"I think best out loud..." Iota sought words to defend himself, "so lets just ignore my eccentricities for now and focus on the task at hand; how do we get home?"
"From what I understand of linear story telling, it would probably be most beneficial for us to seek an end to this story which I suppose would entail clearing the name of Hal Jordan regarding those top secret files he stole under the control of The Thinker."
"Well, that doesn't seem so hard, lets deal with it now..."
"It's also a possibility that this story is an ongoing one," Interval stammered out bring Deryck's line of thinking to an abrupt stop.
"Oh great, now what does that mean?" Deryck pleaded.
"It could be that even if we achieve this 'simple' objective, then the story just moves on to something else, a new story with new characters and villains...very must like the real adventures of Barry Allen and Hal Jordan..."
"What?" Deryck snapped his head straight with confusion, "Hal Jordan was real?"
"One of the first Green Lanterns of Earth...I thought for certain someone like yourself would be aware of that as I am familiar with my own families past..."
"Well no," Deryck tapped his toes into the ground as he attempted to regain strength in his tired muscles, "to be frankly honest with you, I'm kind of new to this whole thing...I haven't even received the call up to the guardians to discern whether I deserve to have the ring in the first place...and judging from this incident, I'm thinking they'll have no problems with stripping me of it."
"That would be a great shame on their part," Interval quickly responded to the proposed notion, "from what I witnessed with your encounter with The Thinker's machine and your deductive reasoning of this reality, I believe you are more than able to handle your own in a battle and within your mentality."
"Well it's nice to have a fan," Deryck said happily with sarcasm.
"And to be honest with you myself, I am quite new to this life as well, and although I've experience much in my short time, I'd not to quiet about contemplating doubt when it arises about my abilities."
"You're telling me," Deryck resonated with dissatisfaction as he raised up his ring hand, "thought this ring could take on a guy who runs fast without much problem...totally wrong."
Jace nodded in acceptance of the compliment provided, then abruptly turned to start taking steps towards the barn door, "its best we started moving quickly...I've had about enough of this place."
"Yeah, that's another thing? Were you able to leave Coast City after you entered it?" Deryck picked up his feet and proceeded to follow Interval towards the door.
"Not exactly," Jace placed his hand on horizontal wooden beam that held the vertical holding wood panels together that comprised the door and pushed lightly upon it feeling it creak lightly, he looked back slightly at Iota, "this place was only difference I could find..."
"Yeah, I must say," Iota wobbled his head around looking upward at the curved roofing and the beams that outlined the inner barn holding upon them the roof and a balcony above, "this is nothing like I saw in Coast City...its dirty...its more normal save for the fact that its a barn; haven't seen one of these old things in years...what is it?"
Jace pushed the solid door open curving on its hinges, shining dust particles into the air along with the noxious noise that results from an old door being opened, "the Kent Farm...as to why its here, I am not certain...perhaps a part of another story that we're not full realizing yet."
"Cool," Iota commented as he came on par with Interval. They stared out momentarily at the ranch that they had taken solace in, the sky was a delicate glow, with the lightest of black weaving in around the clean stars that brightly shined upon them giving ample lighting for the scenic appearance they had now attended. A fence running along their left, painted white but now chipping away to its rustic brown, connected from the barn to a short distance down where a large single floor farm house stood maintaining the ascetic appeal of a more nobler simple time; dark and seemingly empty, there was no one home. Further along their left side, blocked by the fence were open fields of long grass that swayed lightly in the breeze over top of the hills and dirt foundations, the boys could not help but stare and admire what they had come across.
"Shouldn't take us to long to get back to the airfield..." Interval finally interrupted the moment reaching for a pass as his feet started to pick up energy of speed that propelled him down the deep trodden path that ran alongside with fence.
"Alright," Iota broke away his vision from the gentle glass and allowed for the emerald force powered by his lantern to engulf his body and raise him upward from the ground, floating, then flying as he flattened his body and reached out his fists to dive towards the distant Interval whom had already reached on par with the farm house up ahead, "what exactly is our plan?"
"Carol will be at the airfield...she'll know where they took the Thinker."
"Yeah, who is this guy?"
"High level telepath," Interval shouted back his response over his shoulder, "powers developed through technological gains...perfect adversary for the two of us to handle. We'll need him to clear your name and finish the story."
"Hal's name..."
Interval burst through the double doors pressing onward to get inside the lone prison wing at the Ferris airfield, "Hal? Your back?" Carol's voice rang out as Deryck, dressed up in the uncomfortable blue suit and brown leather shoes stepped in from behind Interval.
"I've come to clear the name of Hal Jordan," Interval quickly stated as he came to a stationary position within the prison complex. Deryck shuddered as he saw the black iron bars that circled out from the cinder block walls. The prison wing of the complex airfield had been brightened up with the red light in an off position but nonetheless produced a shining glow that Deryck's eyes magically caught on to as he paced forward, uncomfortably, inwards towards the cage. The glistening grey cinder bricks that comprised the walls further exemplified what a dreary place this would be locked in. Immediately to their left was a counter that squared off against the wall, Carol pressed off from its top to greet to two intruders, "Carol?"
"Hal? Have you got your mind back...?" Carol reached out her hands sympathetically, attaching them to Deryck's shoulder's and clutching down on them hard. She attempted to get a clear look into his eyes but Deryck bowed his heads and shook his shoulder's a slight bit resulting in Carol losing her grasp and resulting in her feigning from him in shame.
"Not exactly," Deryck said as calmly as possible attempting to muster up the strength to prevent empathy from taking away the best of him.
"Carol," Interval interrupted the conflicting forces, "we don't have much time to explain, we need to establish a connection between the The Thinker and Hal Jordan...close up all the loose ends."
"Well then it's a good thing you came here first..." Carol started.
"Where are the authorities keeping him?" Interval interrupted.
"Keeping him?" she looked upon the two of them shocked, "he escaped no more than two hours after you had taken him down in Coast City."
"Escaped?" Deryck scoffed at the idea, "he took a pounding in that cage of his...there was no way he was getting out of there..." his voice trailed off as the sudden impact of the alternative notion came back to him, "its an ongoing tale."
"Possibly," Interval responded turning his partner from Carol.
"What are you two talking about?" Carol attempted to break into their company but was met with cold shoulders as the two headed back for the doorway.
"This may be just an extension of the current story," Interval attempted to reconcile the state.
"This should have ended right then and there, when I punched the sucker into the river," he looked away from his new found friend as he pushed onto the metal bar that opened the door back into this fictional world's environment, severe distaste clambered on to his lips, "this is never going to end is it?"
"Then we'll just have to search alternative means of bringing it to an end."
"Where should we start?"
"Where else but only city we can stay in? Coast City."
Carol watched in puzzlement as the two heroes, friends that she believed she knew, stepped out of the prison wing talking and jeering over dialogue that she'll never be able to fully comprehend; for her, the quest to find her boyfriend Hal Jordan had ceased to be a realistic objective when he, at least in the most physical of senses, walked out those doors.
Panic screams of the plentiful stock of human civilians rang through the air instantly drawing the two heroes out from their respective positions to investigate the source of the panic brewing. "What's going on here?" Iota came to stop in his flight, finally catching up to his much quicker colleague Interval, whom had come to a abrupt stop at the centre of slightly flooded street way leading towards the long endless river, "how is that even possible," the young lantern tipped his head up and dropped his mouth open as he came to witness the wall of water, its darkness and its hatred fuming, reaching taller than the buildings all around them but never once coming into contact with them; a wall composed of the rivers water had sprouted up on the meagre beachheads blocking all view, all contact, with the world on the other side, held back by an invisible wall "alright so what do we do now..." his head swivelled while his body hovered around the streets looking onward at the people whom had abandoned their twisted vehicles and took to cowering on building steps and passing doors, anything to get away from the inevitability of the this invisible wall collapsing to flood into the street and wipe them clean from it, "gotta put up a wall!"
"No Wait," Interval attempted to wave down his cohort but found himself much too late as the stream of green light bolted up into the air, reaching for the tops of the building, ring arm strong and stretched outward prepared to make its saving grace known. Interval, when his new friend was lost to him, stepped around in a small circle, head raised and analyzing all the people and their forms of transportation which had been brought to a stop at indecent places on the roadway. Their faces were sullen and scared, not one brave soul having stepped forward to witness the majestic appearance of this deep wall of water which blended perfectly with the star less skies that became dominate with the clouds of wrath, no others souls but one.
Iota, higher than the nearest building tops looked along the wall more clearly, following its lining and indentation into the shores of Coast City where it effectively divided the city from its other half, attempts to figure out this impossibility by physical matters proved futile even from his vantage point; the higher he went the more difficult it became to see an ending in the wall, the ceiling of which appeared to be the black covered skies and even further, "I have to do something at least..." he hovered down to the tallest building, a perfect stone construction where he proceeded to step along its hard black tar roofing towards the two foot high ledge that ran around its perimeter. His right foot raised and planted itself on the ledge as he brought his ring hand forward and prepared to extend his will power to the strongest extent. A shock of energy burst free from the top of the circular lantern ring, aimed entirely at the wall ahead of himself but rather than pierce through the impossibility that was this watery foundation, the Lantern constructed a barrier, a dam of sorts to the relief of all whom were watching. It was bulky and thick, reaching from the ground floor and upward what he felt was a few kilometres but as he pressured onward to make it go further beyond the wall of water he quickly discovered that his dam grew increasingly smaller, indenting towards him. Sweat fell down the sides of his cheek as he felt the pressure of being so young and temperamental with the most powerful weapon in the universe at his disposal and not being able to use it effectively, "I won't be able to contain it all when it collapses!" he shouted but to no avail in reaching his colleague as a familiar metal clanking sound made itself known.
Iota body shook with every pulsating movement of the the Thinker's metal contraption, the smashing of the three prong metal claws sharpening through the soft stones that comprised the building he was standing on. His heart began to race as he saw the circular popped up head of metal beast reach up past the top and seemingly narrowed down its visual receptors on the young hero, "that's new" he quickly commented to himself as he came to witness the yellow hues of the machine as it moved towards the centre of the street.
"Lantern!" the Thinker bellowed out from the machine once again leaving a permanent face resonating within the young heroes head, "you will not defeat me!" A claw propped itself on the ledge, its three sharp prongs cutting away just a foot short of where Iota's leg stretch out over top. It became plainly obvious to him that this was the furthest hand of the mechanized creature as its long spanning chested body continued to move forward around the building to the street, it bent down on its tentacle like legs, curving on every interval of metal binds that comprised it, its head seemingly turning to examine the street and whatever occupied it, "and you've brought my scarlet rival! What a blessing!" the shouts became more maniacal, stretching to extreme joyousness on the behalf of the Thinker believing himself to have the upper hand in the battle waiting to commence. The clanking body shot back up to its full strength, "how long do you think your shield will hold?"
"Long enough to defeat you!" Iota shouted back as suddenly he felt his hand feel unsteady; the pressure of the water seemed to come upon the dam he had forged from his own will power.
"Then try your best Lantern, I have longed for the death of your friend," suddenly the invisible wall that held the water broke free lashing out its waves at the side of the dam where it could not protect it. Iota looked on in a panic as he saw the water creeping in on the sides, high volumes of the liquid substance that shot down into the city breaking the building tops and smashing in to the roads, "come on!" he shouted to himself working all his will power into keeping at least this street clean from the tremendous force that the source of life, water, would have upon the people and his new found friend below. Sweat poured, his feet turned to mush, all while he attempted to tense the muscles in his body to keep the damn from collapsing, to keep his mind focused on the lone objective just long enough for his quick friend to work out a plan to defeat their collective foe.
"And then this is where Green Lantern reaches into the very deep recesses of his consciousness and pulls out all his will strength to push that wave back into the river and take the Thinker right with it!"
The youth filled voice broke Iota concentration just long enough for him to look over his shoulder and view before him that familiar plain face that had seemingly been following him, taunting him, available when all trouble broke loose, "that kid!"
"What are you doing here?" Interval turned his back from the wall and looked upon the plain boy, his perfectly clean white shirt and those jeans; the darkness of the sky above appeared to do little as the boy appeared to glow as though the unseen sun was glowing upon him with massive ferocity.
"I came to watch my two of my favourite superheroes save the day!" the boy excitedly responded bending his knees and pulling hands into little fists, "this is so rad!"
"You just can't expect us to play along with your little games..."
The boy suddenly brought up his bottom lip and snarled at Interval, "Your my toys, you'll do as your instructed!"
The sound of sharpening claws against stone caused Interval to turn and face the dam that Iota had built as a protective force but instantly his eyes were drawn upon that of a mechanical creation that dominated the street form with its free claw flapping across the street screaming upward against one building breaking its foundations of brick and the panes of glass before ramming across to the other side breaking in to the same assortment of damage all of which left the young speedster unphased. A scream, followed by panic running ensued as people left the buildings and made distance for the city's back side away from the Thinker, away from the dam of protection that saved them from certain doom. He turned once more back to the boy, "you should know that my lantern friend won't be able to hold that wall up long enough to save the city..."
"Don't worry," the boy spoke sternly placing his hands on his waist and assuming a strong smirk of superiority, "all you gotta do is do what you do best, let me handle the clean up..." then he peaked up in his shrill happy voice and smile, "I can't wait to do this all again!"
"You will die this day Flash!" the Thinker's machine boasted once more as its claw reached closer to the paved cement of the road tearing up shreds of his composition thereby leaving its mark, but the Speedster stood there, no fear in his eyes and yet no willingness to proceed to armaments either.
And so the moment came, that special moment to determine the outcome of this lone battle. The colliding claw of the Thinker's monstrosity reached ever so closely to Interval, but he stood there, looking upon it, a face of stone unmoving in any facet of his being. Then suddenly he threw his arms out to his sides, palms at waist level and looked up at the metal hide of the monster barrelling towards him as he found the calm monotone word he was searching for: "OK."
"Interval man," Iota shouted out as loud as he could, "What are you doing? I can't hold this thing forever!"
"Come on lantern, you can do this where your friend fails," the voice of the boy continued to press upon him. Within short notice, Iota felt the boy over top his shoulder, his hands firmly creeping up his sides, "you can be the hero today!"
"Shut up!" He yelled out before biting his teeth down.
"What are you doing Flash?" the boy on the street proceeded to prod at Interval's backside.
"Kid, I am not the Flash..." Interval retorted without once breaking posture to turn and face the boy down, "I'm no hero of yours...and I sure as hell am not going to play for no one!"
"You can't give up!" the boys voice grew louder and menacing as if a feral nature had engulf his essence, "I'll destroy this city, take the lives of millions if you do not play along."
"You sound very sinister for someone whom treats superheroes like gods..." Interval reached deeply into a sarcastic tone he was unaccustomed to, "there's only one way to end a heroes story...death! And I embrace it openly!" he closed his eyes and pulled his head back raising his hands above his head in anticipation of the oncoming storm.
"I Can't hold it any longer!" Iota shouted as the cracks within the dam, the whiteness that defined the unearthly green glow, became all that more noticeable as the details of his construction became absent resulting in a simple sheet of green energy between them and certain death...but all was lost as the cracks became too much to bear and the will of the young lantern gave in; the wall collapsed and the storming flood of water was upon them in seconds. Although difficult to make out, Iota looked below to the streets and swore he could hear the laughter of the speedster as he took the destructive power of waves head on.
"Well this is certainly different," Iota spoke in a eloquent joking manner, "I'll take the fake Coast City over this any day."
"Patience..." Interval quickly responded, "Someone's brought us here for a purpose."
The two heroes found themselves standing upon a rock, if it could be called that, a large boulder of a light purple hue that was only large enough to support their beings. The universe around them, for that was what it was, consisted of simple lights, stars in the far off distance that shone perfectly through the emptiness of space, "I mean how are we even breathing...space sucks like a vacuum doesn't it?"
"I don't exactly think we're in space," Interval looked down to his feet as he kicked them into the asteroid kicking up a small storm of dust that reacted accordingly to the gravity that he was comfortable with, "the laws here are fine...I wouldn't advise jumping though."
"Why couldn't you just play along," the angry voice of the boy suddenly spike their interest. In the distance the two heroes watched as a small swirling cloud of dust particles reached up to them; a small galaxy like entity that was above them, "I was having so much fun!"
"You just can't expect that people would just play along, not after you've kidnapped them," Interval looked up towards the galaxy formed entity admiring for a brief moment its lighting up with every word that it spoke.
"But it's not fair...I made this world for you...its your adventures!"
"That's not us," Iota stepped forward, "I don't even know who Hal Jordan is..."
"You were admiring relics of another time...although I doubt even their worlds were as clean as the one you fabricated for us."
"We must apologize," Iota and Interval jumped in shock as they heard even more of a thunderous voice appear from behind them, "for the actions of our son, we were unaware that he would pull up sentient figures." The two heroes turned around and saw before them two larger mixtures of gas and particles that glistened into their galaxy like formations, "he is young and temperamental at times."
"Now son," a lighter, yet still strong, voice bellowed out from the other second mixture formation that shone a bright red at its centre with every word, "you must go to your room now."
"Yes, mother," the sad voice of the boy returned as it dissipated into thin air leaving the two heroes baffled for words.
"We had given him some stories to him," the evident father with his commanding voice spoke out, "stories about great heroes from a parallel universe to yours, it was no harm at first but we underestimated the boys powers...he must have grown bored so quickly that he sought out new variables for a fuller experience..."
"We apologize for not discovering this much sooner, it was his violent outburst that got our attention," the soft glow of the mother radiated upon the two humans as they stood in awe of the gods atop of them.
"I hope that you will accept this apology," the father continued, "and to remedy this incident a simple wish granted to you whatever that may be."
"Accepted," Iota quickly blurted out immediately with unhinged glee.
Interval however took the moment to scratch his head moving the pressed down hair around his cowl piece, "I accept it, not like we have much choice..." he dropped his hand and shirked his shoulders, "I guess all we'd really like is to go home," he turned his head up to look at the approval in Iota eyes.
"You are by far some of the most nobler creatures we have encountered from your world," the father complimented them, "I am most impressed that our son would have held you in such esteem...I shall grant you such a request."
A jolt to senses shook the core of the two heroes as suddenly they felt the universe, its stars, the lone asteroid they stood upon and the gods above them suddenly turned to black without warning. Pain or pleasure, they were uncertain of either feelings as the felt themselves tossed around in this darkness unable to control its path or ending.
"Please tell me this is earth..." Iota questioned his cohort, "This is our earth right?"
"It looks as much..." Interval replied with a less than normal enthusiasm associated with a person returning to his base of existence. The two heroes, firmly on the ground of which they found so cumbersome, look out across the short grass field, out across a river and the more so grassier hills that preceded it where trees roamed freely.
"Hmm," Iota moaned out, "this looks a lot like Coast City...you know save for the buildings, roads and child gods..." he looked to Interval with a smile but he was not amused by the Lantern's deduction.
"This is Coast City," Interval firmly responded, "well it was."
Deryck's eyebrows scrunched up, his hands becoming limp at his sides, "what do you mean?" he stuttered out.
"I thought this whole experience was unusual because of it..." Interval turned from the river and looked Iota in the eyes attempting to gain some realization amongst their confusion, "Coast City was destroyed decades ago...it hasn't been on a map in several years."
"What?" Deryck said in shock.
"Hal Jordan went mad just trying to rebuild it..." Interval looked back to the river and admired the moon as it cascaded its image along the small ripples of water, "I knew I had read about this place when I first arrived in this time, I didn't know how to rationalize it when we were in that kid's world..." he shook his head, "it's an open park now..."
A moment of silence passed as the two heroes looked out together at the expanse of the river, the swaying trees in the light breeze, and the blades of grass, so plentiful, that dominated the ground, "guess someone wasn't happy that we jumped to the conclusion of the story...although you know we probably could have wished for something a little more than just a return trip home," Deryck's voice intruded upon the moment but resulted in good graces as Interval raised his head upward with a smile holding back a laugh, "Either way, I hope we don't have to ever deal with a god child again..."
"Yeah," he looked at Iota and nodded his head slightly up and down, "I hope not also."
"Excellent," Deryck stretched out his hand which Interval accepted, smiling in approval of their new partnership.