Hub City – Circa 2003

Many think of time travel as it exists in fiction. A method for traversing time, both forward and backward though of course many also believe time travel is not without consequences and rules. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern all saw the time traveler known to them as both Chronos and David Clinton. The first time they met him he is attempting to steal one of Batman's spare utility belts and naturally Chronos might ramble on about how nobody is supposed to see him during his trips to the past/present as he is from the present/future. Chronos opens a portal and disappears into the time tunnel. His passage is likely smoother than it is for the trio pursuing him though they do not know they have gone into a time tunnel.


The Founders' previous experience with time travel had come when the six who went on a deep space mission finally made it back after a long battle. It is either coincidence or fortune that Lantern's ring still had enough power to insulate them from the shock wave that they saw coming up from the surface. The most glaring change that comes in the wake of the shock wave is that the Watchtower is gone yet a space station of its size cannot so easily vanish from existence. The disorientation does not end there yet the five aboard the Javelin Seven during that event were made into temporal 'orphans' due to the Lantern Ring unknowingly making a temporal barrier around the ship. The barrier also contains Green Lantern, so he and the others witness the outer edge of the time line shift.


Gotham City - Circa 2000 - (STE)

There is no other alternative except to land somewhere to gauge the full extent what the shock wave did to Earth. As they descend, it becomes increasingly obvious that something is more than just wrong from their perspective and they land in Gotham because Wonder Woman suggests finding Batman ought to be a priority. Superman privately recalls a conversation he had with Lois as Clark some years before when she spoke of transferring to the Planet's bureau in Gotham, but that never happen, particularly after she had become privy to Bruce being Batman.

Her discovery of that is purely accidental as his cowl got caught in a printing press at the Metropolis main bureau of the Daily Planet. He admits to himself he had been briefly jealous of Bruce due to the attention Lois was showing him until the two of them separately found out Bruce Wayne is Batman. Lois's attention is later drawn back to Superman and Clark though there is little doubt that she probably feigns not knowing the connection between her Smallville partner and her Kryptonian rescuer. Superman had already taken tentative steps towards a romance with Lois, and she continues to reciprocate and so he felt confident that he finally found a way to have a love life despite or in spite of the costume.

Superman and Batman knowingly had to partner up as Joker was working with Luthor at the time, but the intentions of their association never came to fruition as the heroes manage to foil the purpose entirely. The two went their separate ways though would continue to cross paths over the years prior to forming the first roster of the Justice League. Superman had his first run in with Ra's Al-Ghul, which led to him having some of his life force taken in a ritual by Ra's though Batman's intervention kept Ra's from draining too much. Whereas Bruce found himself under the control of Brainiac as the twisted machine kept coming back like a mechanical cockroach and again the said Rogue's plan does not succeed.

The present is not as they remember it, but again the consequences of time travel related events. Superman likely notices that the familiar Saturn shaped globe above the Daily Planet Gotham Bureau is now instead that of a hand gripping a globe.

It is the Daily Planet G.B., just not the Daily Planet G.B. he remembers, and then there are the banners hanging from lampposts. They soon find a poster with an unfamiliar man's face on it. Flash draws the attention of men who look like they are police officers, but again the uniforms are not those of the GCPD uniforms that Superman knows. Their attempt to defend themselves only draws more police to the scene. Their escape route is brought to them by a man who sounds and acts similar to Batman, but again this is not the Batman the six have dealt with before. His intervention is timely and they withdraw back to an underground sanctuary.


This version of Batman had grown up in this alternate time line, which began with the Allies' defeat at Normandy as the countless troop transports, paratroopers, and other military assets were fully wiped once they made landfall. The Regime had them technologically outmatched and with that edge they drove the Allies back to the brink of defeat and then the Regime turned its sights on the Americas though in particular North America. The invasion force broke through the cordons by air and sea as again the Regime proves its technological prowess as the aircraft and naval assets obliterate the American's defenses within weeks. It is the biggest defeat in American military history and so America had to give up the Pacific in order to shore up their numbers yet even this cannot stave off total defeat.

The General as his operatives call him reminds the six that since the defeat at Normandy, the Regime occupies North and South America as well as most of Europe. Russia and Japan divide the Far East between themselves whereas Italy dominates the bulk of nations closest to it by geography, which includes several nations that border the Mediterranean Sea. The four superpowers still jockey for position, but again the Regime is still ahead of the curve thus keeping the other three in check with the fear of nuclear annihilation. However there are those who resist within all four nations and this sanctuary here houses one of several cells that operate out of both Gotham and Metropolis.

This network of cells has been in place for almost fifty years though it is only in the past decade that the General and other cell leaders have had the means to conduct mission strikes against the Regime, but their successes have been few and far between from the start. It is however likely not in the General's nature to give up on freeing Gotham from the Regime, which made him just a little more like the Batman they know yet all the same he is not the Batman they know in their present. He shares with them how his parents were murdered by an officer who led a squad of Regime Stormtroopers into his home. Similarities of the Batman's past and the General's past are hard to ignore for some who know what happen to Bruce Wayne's parents in their present. He also tells them that family assassinations are not uncommon to this day thanks to the secret police alternately known as the Gestapo.

It is agreed that they will go to investigate the source of the disturbance. The General's team goes ahead of them while the General sticks close to them. The General's confusion at why they fail to recognize Savage's name is natural to him for he is a part of this time line why they are not. Savage is unknown to them simply they did not encounter him in their time line though they would meet him soon enough. The six with help from Batman's team, the Outsiders, breach the research facility's interior. It is no mean to infiltrate a place like this and it is a great risk for the General as like his operatives are definitely sought after by the Regime's agents. The General had the longest running survival streak of any Regime target, but this is attributable to the extent of his training, which he made sure to pass onto each of the Outsiders.

They discover a temporal vortex and the window for travel is only two days in length so if they could not return before the second day ends then they would be stuck in the past, which is likely something that none of the six look forward when they stand read to dive into it. The General insists upon remaining because he believes in the event that they do not succeed someone must remain to continue the push towards liberation from the Regime. Wonder Woman takes a long look back at him before diving in after her teammates and it is clear that this might have another link in the chain to Diana learning the identity by the man under the cowl.

As for her and the others they drop out of the vortex in the ruins of a train station somewhere in France. There is no doubting when and where they are though one had to wonder why they had come of the vortex here as well as what being here meant.


On the one hand, time travel means traveling through space and time from one point to another with the intention of arriving at a destination in the past yet how does the traveler determine where or when they will arrive at the end of the time jump?

On the other hand, time travel like any form of travel is not terribly precise so the traveler might not end exactly where or when the traveler intends to go, which means the traveler could arrive earlier or later than the traveler intends by way of the jump.


Caen, France – June 1944

Whatever the case is, the six had come out of the vortex and into the midst of Operation: Overlord, which in the time line they belong to is the military operation that eventually led to downfall of the Regime in 1945. However the present they just saw is the result of someone altering the past so that Operation Overlord fails thus enabling the Regime to secure its grip on Europe then move on to occupy the Americas. The six join the battle yet that is also when they first glimpse of what history will call War Wheels and inside them J'onn discovers computer technology, which is inconsistent with the hardware level of the nations fighting in World War Two.

It is clear evidence of future technology being put to use to turn the tide of war, but still they had no lead on who is responsible for this occurrence. J'onn decides to head for Berlin and Wonder Woman goes with him leaving Superman, Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkgirl to bolster the defenses that are providing the cover for the Allies to fall back to the beach. The withdrawal is already not following the events as they happen in the previous time line, the time line that led to the present that the six had seen briefly only hours earlier from their perspective.

[+]

Berlin, Germany - June 1944

Word of costume heroes with supernatural abilities had already gotten through to the heart of the Regime yet Savage dismisses it as Allied Propaganda. There are several explosions nearby and then in a nearby airfield an agile man leaps a fence then proceeds to 'borrow' a Messerschmitt after decking a soldier guarding the hangar. He is quickly in the air except more Messerschmitts start to take off after him and a dogfight quickly ensues. The spy manages to gun down one of his pursuers, but the other riddles his wings with bullets setting his plane on fire. He pulls the burning plane upward then curves back down towards the other fighter and jettisons out with a parachute.

Both planes explode when his recently ditched plane collides with it. There were other enemy planes nearby, but for some reason their pilots had to abandon them after J'onn took vital parts of them by phasing said parts out of the inside of the planes.

The spy falls rapidly towards the ground though a piece of debris hits him before he can pull his cord yet luckily for him Wonder Woman goes into a dive after him. She catches him before the sudden stop at the end of his plunge literally made a dig into the earth. J'onn joins Diana below with her new friend who identifies himself as Steve Trevor. Trevor also claims he has in his possession the means to alert the Allies to the specifics of the invasion, which means someone has to get him away from this to the rendezvous with a code breaker as all messages are sent in codes. The one being used by Savage in particular is very difficult to break though not impossible.

Diana decides to see Steve safely to his code breaker while J'onn continues alone to Berlin.

[+]

Regime Headquarters, Berlin, Germany – June 1944

J'onn slips into the central structure with ease as his phase changing and shifting power is like having access without keys. He eventually finds a laptop hidden deep within the stronghold and also discovers a human male in what resembles cryogenic stasis. Savage clearly must have had to remove any opponents to his plans, which must have included this man. The Martian however too mindful of his discovers does not realize someone knows he is here and all he feels next is an electrical shock. He passes out instantly.

The laptop is how Savage had done all this, but to what end?

[+]

France – June 1944

Lantern's ring eventually goes dead and Flash is unable to locate him. Flash likely displays signs of loyalty to Lantern, but Hawkgirl while still upset to leave Lantern behind, reminds Flash that the casualties could have been higher without them here to assist the withdrawal. Flash still protests though not as much as he had earlier, not that the Thanagarian and the Kryptonian could blame him for not wanting to leave Lantern behind at a time like this. It would be cliche to say it comes with the 'territory' of being a costume hero. The commanders among these soldiers both able and hurt daily involve having to make life and death decisions.

The next crisis is an inbound flight of enemy fighter planes so Superman and Hawkgirl turn their attention to them. The two make short work of them though one pilot nearly gets a lucky shot on Hawkgirl. Before long a flight of red planes with bird emblems dive into the mix and provide cover for Hawkgirl as she continues to attack enemy fighters and eventually the remaining planes scramble out of the zone. Superman likely made some sort of sentimental comment about their airborne backup and Hawkgirl likely had something equally cute for a response. Their relief is the Blackhawk Squadron, which compromises of pilots from countries occupied by the Regime. Their flight leader calls him self Blackhawk and he appears to impress Hawkgirl the most.

Together the trio and the Blackhawks had given more than enough cover fire to prevent the Regime from wiping out the landing forces at Normandy, but still they had lost considerable fighting strength. The trio offers up their assistance to Blackhawk and he is more than open to taking it so they turn their attention to what latest reconnaissance believes is the origin of the Regime's new war machines as well something worse if the rumors be true. The Blackhawks, Superman, Hawkgirl, and Flash head for Blackhawk Island before organizing a tactical forecast for a two prong assault on the factory.

[+]

Easy Company, Mission: S&D, France – June 1944

Elsewhere Green Lantern John Stewart is again finding that his Marine training is coming in handy. The field C.O. of the squad unofficially recruits Stewart and then they head off to find an enemy airfield. It is however a long trip on foot for Easy Company, but their mission as Allied Command put it is one of many that are of the utmost importance to victory. Sergeant Rock and his commandos understood the significance when the briefing officer told them this is where we believe the invasion is launching from and they were quick to volunteer for it. Rock took getting to and disabling the airfield to be more important than fighting Regime infantrymen, but still they had plenty of defenses to bypass.

It might be fortuitous or foolish that he chose to bring the Marine into their unit, but he realizes he needs all the bodies he can throw at this plus Stewart had been able to knock down Bulldozer, which is next to impossible for anyone. However Bulldozer does not have a high opinion of the new guy considering that he fought off Regime with nothing more than what Bulldozer calls a fancy ring. Rock sends Wildman to grenade the machine gun emplacements ahead of them, but a sniper hits Wildman just after the commando pulls the pin. Rock races over knowing leaving a man next to a live grenade to be a serious screw-up and he closes the distance yet hears the crack of a rifle behind him.

Stewart shot the sniper, Bulldozer probably wants to deck him for not shooting the Nazi before he shot Wildman, but at this point not having to worry about the sniper is a relief. They continue while the squad medic tends to Wildman. There are one too many hills in the region ahead and according to the crudely drawn map the airfield is somewhere in the hills so they had to be quick given that the airborne invasion force is going to be leaving by tomorrow morning if not sooner.

The heroes had they somehow found ways to unknowingly place themselves at critical pathways? If so then the Allies could find the routes that would lead to a future where they would win the war.

[+]

Regime Headquarters, Berlin, Germany – June 1944

J'onn awakens to find himself face to face with Vandal Savage. Savage refers to him as the Übermensch yet likely expresses surprises at the appearance of the one he perceives to be the Übermensch. He plays a recording from the laptop and learns that an older Savage had sent this technology to the Savage standing before him. It is noticeable to J'onn that the two look practically identical and he likely says as such to Savage who probably saw that one coming given Savage's secret. J'onn learns why the older Savage sent the laptop and the schematics as the older one made the conclusion that World War Two is the last opportunity for Savage to achieve world domination.

It is probable that the Martian found Savage's agenda to be petty or at the very least he knows he must prevent Savage's plan from succeeding as it had in the previous time line. Savage leaves as another man enters, Savage identifies the newcomer as Josef, a Regime interrogator, but it would be too late when they learn that Josef's efforts to torture J'onn were the man's undoing from a psychological standpoint. It would his screams, not J'onn's that they heard a short time later. J'onn had to disguise himself in order to escape the building after destroying the laptop. J'onn left an extra 'surprise' by leaving Josef in the shackles that Savage put on him. The Martian also knows he must hurry to catch up with the others now that he knows what Savage is using to provide the speed for the invasion force bound not for England, but something much bigger, say the Americas starting with the Northern continent.

[+]

France – June 1944

Steve Trevor and Wonder Woman turn an ambush into an ambush, but that is likely more attributable to Wonder Woman given her super powers, but Trevor surprises her more than a few times since diving out of a plane. One had to wonder who is he reminding her of especially when he kisses her, but Steve is quite the charmer too if the ladies back home could say anything for him. They learn of the code breaker's location so they go by air as she carries him. They eventually reach the prison and break the code breaker out, but he warns them they put him here in order to ambush Trevor because of him stealing the communicator.

Wonder Woman takes the outer shell off the communicator then leaves it out in the open before having Steve and Ernst hide under the mattress while she will be holding up the rubble that is sure to fall on them once the War Wheel are done with pulverizing the prison. The searchers take the bait and after they depart Wonder Woman extracts herself with the men from the wreckage. Ernst is a German citizen, but as Wonder Woman is bound to learn that even in wars there are objectors on both sides. The trio finds a bunker with a working radio setup and Ernst starts working through to break the codes with his cipher.

The kicker is Operation: Endgame is Savage's final thrust to occupy not England, but the Americas because it is the United States that bolsters the Allies' drive to Berlin by the liberation of France.

[+]

Blackhawks, War Machines Factory

Superman, Hawkgirl, and Flash arrive on site ahead of the Blackhawks. Superman while being bullet proof, still felt the surge of metal rounds hitting his chest while Hawkgirl pulverizes the machine gun emplacements with her mace. Flash slips into the factory and slams the evacuation alarm before imploring the workers to leave to the factory immediately in order to minimize civilian casualties from the impending bombing run. The factory is quickly leveled not long after and they discover what exactly they were building here, which unsurprisingly accounts for why the Regime made such a rapid foothold in the U.S.

Flash makes a long dash out to the naval vessels off the coast of France in order to warn them of the troop transport planes that would be heading across the Atlantic to invade America. Superman and Hawkgirl take flight with the Blackhawks not far behind them. The fact that battle is turning back in favor of the Allies is owed in Blackhawk's mind to the appearance of these costumed heroes, but then to those in the air or on the ground they might seem larger than life. However to Blackhawk, he could tell they were doing this because something bigger than them was riding on the outcome of this operation. He might never know how right that assessment is, but then the only that matters to him is to keep flying, keep fighting, and not leave the squadron until all their homelands are free of the Regime.

Allies Battle Group, Atlantic Ocean

The ships scramble into formation in order to maximum the firing spread. Flash undoubtedly worked up quite an appetite after running about all night and the crew is more than willing to provide a meal to the scarlet speedster.

[+]

Easy Company, Mission: S & D, France

Bulldozer falls through a weak spot in the camouflage and it proves Stewart's theory about the artificial hill as it is not on the map drawn up the search area. The squad advances towards the hidden runway to discover the Paratroopers and the War Wheels are already loading into massive cargo planes that have afterburners built into their wings, which to Stewart is definitely technology in the wrong era. As the squad prepares to attack a government car enters and out steps Savage. It appears he is on hand to personally lead the invasion.

The squad attacks and one of Savage's underlings is gun down in the process along with a few Stormtroopers. Savage rushes up the ramp and orders the crews to begin the launch immediately. The massive planes begin the roll to take off. Stewart 'borrows' a motorcycle to propel himself towards the retracting landing gear of the plane that Savage is aboard. The squad covers what could be considered a suicide tactic, but somehow former Marine John Stewart is on his way to sabotage the invasion's lead plane.

Regime Airborne Invasion Night-flight, France

Stewart works his way through the plane's innards while breaking everything he saw, which would likely draw attention before long, but anything to slow down, maybe even take Savage's plane down with him. He would only get so far before the Stormtroopers drag him all the way up to cockpit and to waiting Vandal Savage. He had no idea how much damage was done before they found him, but he hopes it is enough. Savage comes at him with a metal gloved hand and all he knows next is intense pain in all the nerves in his upper body. All these tools and technology from the future could not prevent where all the pathways had been converging for the past day and a half.

The plane rocks as the crewmen on station notice shelling coming from naval vessels below. The damage to the plane brought it low enough to be vulnerable to shelling because while the designs may be from the future, the material in its construction is still circa 1940s, which is handy to say the least. Savage and Stewart trade blows as the troop transports sustain blows from the artillery barrages.

Blackhawk, Mission: Pursuit & Destroy R.A.I.N

Superman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn all continue to push themselves to limit though for Superman traveling at high velocities is not as difficult. Hawkgirl's ability to keep up is half her wings and the other half her determination to ensure the present-future returns to its previous state. The three of them are however not enough to bring down all of them, but soon enough Wonder Woman arrives ready to crush some planes. The naval barrage and the four of them manage to destroy more than half the planes heading across the Atlantic and the stragglers turn back only to be shot up by the Blackhawks.

However it is in the midst of all this that J'onn discovers John Stewart is aboard the lead plane, which is plummeting rapidly towards the water. He takes a direct blast from weapons fire, but Hawkgirl catches him on the way down. He alerts her to the fact that Lantern, that Stewart is still alive so immediately she does a swan dive towards the lead plane and smashes the forward window. She and John barely make it away from the plane as it crashes into the water.

Caen, France

The six return to the train station where they had come through from the future and chose to leave as anonymously as possible though their departure is seen by the Blackhawks and the Easy Company though neither group knows what to make of it. As for Steve Trevor, he would have to wait another sixty odd years before he would see his 'Angel' again. Operation: Overlord succeeds and so begins Operation: Cobra, which is a prelude to all the operations that will follow and lead to the Regime's defeat or so the Allies are hoping for such an outcome.

The Regime begins to reject much of Savage's technology in the months that follow and they even bring Hitler out of stasis to once again lead them, but all he will do is lead them to their own destruction.


The future is mutable? It is doubtful because it is suspect that the time line is self-correcting.

The Allies' success at Normandy is a paradox? Savage sends laptop back. Overlord fails due to Savage's future technology. Green Lantern's ring barrier isolates the six from the time shift. The six discover the vortex and use to travel back. Events on every level proceed differently from how they did in the previous time line, which the six were not in as they were still in the alternate present. The presence of the six reverses outcomes across the board though most critical of all is preventing the success of Operation: Endgame and preserving Operation: Overlord.

The present-future is not as it was two time lines ago, but in returning to the present the six travelers' probably memories shift to account for the variant time line they made by preventing Savage's success at Normandy and assisting in the destruction of his airborne invasion deployment planes.


Maxwell Lord's Office, Lexcorp Main Office, Metropolis - Present Day

Question and Huntress broke into Lord's office with relative ease, but it is after hours. The paper trail with Twilight Corporation indirectly led back to Lord, but then it didn't too much digging to find it. The riots were brought to an end only hours ago, but still undoing mental tampering is no easy feat even for J'onn J'onzz. Destiny had a hand in the riots by triggering the nightmare manifestations of thousands though he also had help from Scarecrow and Mad Hatter for starters too.

Huntress takes her time finding a way to unlock the safe in Lord's office and she pulls out an old leather bound book. He opens it to find the paper within in remarkable shape for its age, but then treat a book right and it could last forever or at least a few centuries. Pulp paper is an entirely different story though. The book is a journal written almost a hundred and thirty years ago and its author is a man named David Clinton.


Elkhorn, Oklahoma – January 18, 1879 – David Clinton Journal

Time travel isn't science fiction though it has always been written as such, but I found out people were experimenting were crude time machines or portals in the past yet they hit upon some sort of technological limitations. I used up all my connections to gather materials to construct my own portable time machine, which is how I began building the chrono-suit. My first tests were to travel back a few minutes, then a couple hours, next a few days, and from there I went back further though I always made certain to return after I left to avoid my anxiety about paradoxes.

I started leaving the future to build my collection using the chrono-suit. I would store what I took in the garage, but I was starting to run out of room. Enid as usual got into her condescending mode after I told her that indeed I had the means to travel through time. I made a point of insisting that I could not use the suit for financial gain and that's when I start to think why on Earth could I be basing my collection gathering method on the theories about time travel put forward by a film trilogy made back in the 20th Century. However it did strike me as sound principle even if could be total nonsense. I took things that wouldn't be missed, but of course she had to drag me down like me lacking spine.

Sometimes I wonder what I saw in her all those years ago, but then she was less bitter then and my career possibilities had such potential. Of course when I finally got to the point where I could make tenure they shut me down and said my experiments to design a functional time machine were 'crazy'. Next she brought up that lawyer I had to compete with when we were dating, and then she mentions he remains the favorite of her. She really piles on the insults and I finally had enough of her putting me down so I left via time portal to resume gathering for my collection.

My attempt to snatch that spare utility belt only brought the attention of its owner to me along with Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. I made a portal by inputting a command to take me as far away from them as I could get except I had a feeling they might follow me, but so far they have yet to appear here. However I think I could have chosen a better place to send myself back to because of course now I am stuck handling all this technology that Tobias Manning has been taking from the future. I can scarcely recognize myself anymore with all this facial hair. It looks as if my dependence on creature comforts of my own time has gotten the best of me.

February 11, 1879

Whenever Tobias doesn't need my assistance he locks me in a cell in the sheriff office's backroom. He had run the real sheriff out of town not long after he got my chrono-suit's belt. The inventor of a time machine stuck working for a 19th Century criminal and I have to wonder if time doesn't have a sense of humor though there I go attributing human qualities to something that's not tangible.

I thought Gotham winters were bitter, but out here in the past without so much as a heater it is colder than I ever thought possible, but then in order to keep me alive and healthy they had some amenities made available to me as well clothing suitable to the weather. There isn't much chance of overpowering Manning or his buddies so I believe I will be waiting for Batman to come looking for me if he and the other two did indeed follow me into the past. Batman is historically known to be relentless, but then decades of absence did little for the facts. All most people knew is that he just stopped turning up after foiling the attempted murder of Bunny Vreeland.

I couldn't believe the shake in my voice when I was speaking to the Batman just after I got my hands on one of his spare utility belts. The guy did little more than demand an answer out of me and I barely managed to concentrate long enough to punch in the command to activate a time portal to 1879 as I had some items I though of taking from the late 19th Century. This however led to be me being robbed by Tobias Manning. In a way I was already something of a thief though I was 'borrowing' from the past, not gaining by exploiting knowledge of future events or stealing wealth from the past either.

April 14, 1879

The town's people are little more than slaves nowadays and so far no law enforcement types of this time have tried to take Tobias down. However there's some redhead making quite a 'ruckus' at the saloon as he appears to be trying to work his way up to a card game with Tobias. He just might get it, but then few people ever survive their first encounter with Tobias unless you have something he wants that only you can give him. This is why I am still alive after spending much of the last four months in this damn cell, but of course my entries vary or so I can tell though most days I feel lucky if I can think straight, get something to eat, and also get water. Anything else in this town is disgusting to me, but again my taste in alcohol was never very strong even with drinks that were imitation alcohol in the future.

Four months here almost makes me long for the future even if it means going back to my nagging wife, but first I had to get my suit back as well as the belt. So far Tobias has not taken enough to pollute the time stream, but I am beginning to wonder if any of that Back To The Future hokey is true anymore. He has taken three times as much as I did before ending up here and so far like I already said nothing has happen to destroy the space time continuum.

I am academic, not a fighter so if I am to ever get my technology back I have to bid my time, but how much more time could I just waste sitting on my hands. I begin to pray of all things for Batman to appear and get me out of this mess. I almost 'stole' from him and now I am expecting some future costume hero to save my sorry self. The sheriff was thrown out of town so that excludes getting local law help so that's where a time tossed hero becomes my only salvation. Enid would be dying of laughter if she could see me now, but I'll show her, I'll show them even the Batman.

May 13, 1879

"It is my town and my rules." – Tobias Manning

Manning has all the tools, the weapons, and the means to uphold his only rule, which is what a lot of people find out the hard way in Elkhorn.

The less than shrewd redhead from out of town is now in the cell next to mine. He appears to be under the delusion then he can escape Tobias' intention to have him executed at dawn tomorrow. Manning has no use as he would put it to keep the redhead alive, but somehow it would take a miracle to save that kid's life. I have been here five months and my first almost cellmate is someone who got cheated out by Tobias, but again not surprising. Manning cheats and uses everybody even me, especially me.

I told him the window bars are cheap pig iron and nothing breaks that unless you got something to melt it with or better yet tear it clean away from the mortar. I kept reminding him of how pointless it would be because all my attempts, random as they were never got me any closer to freedom or my belt, but the kid is young, thinks the impossible is possible.

May 13, 1879 (cont.)

Manning's stooge had come around telling us to shut up, but then a green ghost basically spooks him. I had seen that kind of special effect too many darn times in the future to know it was a trick and probably Green Lantern John Stewart doing it. The fool ran himself into a mortar brick wall, which knocked him out cold. The dark haired man looks like the old holo-images of Bruce Wayne before his company got taken over by that snake Powers, which meant one thing Batman is Bruce Wayne though how many others before me have thought that?

Plenty I'm sure and the woman that took the cell door off its hinges is unmistakably Wonder Woman.

The redhead slated to be executed calls himself Bartholomew Aloysius Lash aka Bat-Lash.

As for my time traveling pursuers they provide a 'hokey' story about where they are from instead of obviously wrecking history by exposing when they are from, but of course the so-called the 'criminal' were after is me. I told them about how I got here six months ago, how Tobias stole my technology, how he used future tech to take over Elkhorn.

Tobias had seen the advantage of installing security cameras in his 'places', which includes the sheriff's office and the cells behind where I have slept for the last six months.

I was literally living a western shoot out, which is far more authentic than any film reproduction, but again decades distort reality and so the fiction that replaces it is taken as genuine even when its probably way off in most respects. However one thing they occasionally got right was the timely save at the last possible moment.

Wayne already knocked the 'deputy' who regained consciousness just after we started on our way out. Bat-Lash's 'cavalry' took down Manning's goons outside with precision that could rival the Justice League. It didn't matter what century I was in as heroes could always impress me, but it didn't mean I had qualms about exploiting them to get my belt back, which I did quite well.

May 14, 1879

The team of heroes past and future managed to defeat Tobias despite all the hardware he had amassed, but again no great surprise to me. Sheriff Ohiyesa Smith personally takes down Tobias given that Manning personally drove him out of town in the process of taking it over. Before that as I found out Smith quite regularly drove Manning away because he had neither tools or brains to beat Smith. This fight merely levels the playing field again and soon enough I will be returning to my present-future. It has been a learning experience, but I am done with living the past, I am about to own the past through my even larger collection.

Jonah Hex is the only one from this time to suggest that the three lawmen from back East that were after me were not from back east, but rather they were time travelers though Wayne admits nothing. You could expect that from him, plausible deniability and all that.


Vic Sage's apartment, Hub City - Present Day

There are two different accounts about the six month period starting in 1879. One portrays a rather almost typical day to day life in Elkhorn while the other portrays a long path of struggle for law enforcement to retake Elkhorn from Tobias Manning. The second account technically should not exist in accordance with the idea that preventing the traveler from making the trip in the first should erase the time line that took place that led to the second account. The only problem is that many could attest later to encountering three unidentified lawmen from back East and there was the matter of a man called David Clinton. However there are no records of a David Clinton living in Elkhorn in 1879.

Question closes a journal written by David Clinton back in 1879. He had been skimming entries tonight because he felt as if he had little time to waste considering that Maxwell Lord had so far been ahead of him at every turn. It becomes imperative to unravel where the next move will be made before it is too late to at the very least catch up to the alleged renegade Illuminatus. Clinton's last entries all center around duplicity, around getting the belt back, and resuming his collecting, but then being stuck in a Midwestern town in the 19th Century had clearly begun to bother Clinton. The man was from the future, he didn't belong there, but he was there and all the same his journal remains as well.

Everything else about Clinton's six month stint in Elkhorn ceases to exist except the journal and that scar on John Stewart's head that mysteriously appeared in the middle of a commissary meal that he was sharing with Batman.

Question also had to wonder how did John get that cut, what did Batman say to cause him to smile for no apparent reason, and why did it feel like déjà vu when he thought back to that day, which happen before he found himself up to his neck with Cadmus. He recalls experiencing a headache, which is not uncommon for his sleeping habits yet the pain felt more like conflicting memories of the same scene.

In one instance Bruce and John appear to be chatting about the women in their lives, the ones they love, but won't pursue at that time.

In another Bruce and John talk quietly of having won something, but everything precedes differently than 'before'.


Shayera leaves without a glance at John. Shayera glares at John for gawking at her then turns to leave without looking back. John is laidback and drinking his coffee. John's forehead is cut and he gawks at Shayera. Diana appears after Shayera leaves, she flirts with Batman, but the three of them run off because of an intruder alert. Diana sits down first, notices John's head injury, and goes on eating before Shayera leaves the commissary.


The only other evidence of a trip to the past and then to the future is when he accidentally overheard Shayera and John talking about a mission that he and Batman went on that eventually led them to the future where he met their son. Shayera sounds incredibly excited until John announces he is staying with Vixen because he holds no interest in being destiny's puppet. The Absorbacron experience had left Stewart shook up though Question could imagine it might be equally or greater in its emotional intensity for Shayera. She didn't invest in Carter Hall's tales that she is his reincarnated lover and the Absorbacron experience had made Hall abandon his initial overtures towards her because of Chay Ara's romance with Bashari.

He found out the names from Carter Hall who was more than willing to discuss the events because the other people that knew about the memories would likely not wish to discuss those events nor would he ask this of them.


Time travel takes the mysteries out of life. In our search for answers, we believe we have found all answers except the ones to questions that we are bound to ask until the end. The questions of why am I here? What I am doing? Where am I going? Who I am?

They are all as daunting as the one that troubles those of who wear costumes yet still try to lead lives outside of them, which into the question of how do I do anything in life?

I find no constant answers to them, but then I look at her and they disappear from my mind for a time.

"She sleeps so soundly, but I doubt it is too peaceful except maybe she say I have that effect on her."

Helena's eyes flicker open and she sits up then makes a gesture with her index finger as if saying to him to come back to bed. He follows her wish.


Captain Atom hovers crossed legged on the moon.

Nightshade visits her mother's grave only to find flowers already there.

Blue Beetle repairs the 'Bug' in the underground garage.


Something else would 'answer' the tangent that involves the next stage of the plan set in motion with the murder of Ted Grant.


What nobody knows is that further north a beam blazes into the heavens and lights up the darkness of space. In space, the tower crumbles, there are no sounds except klaxons, there are no smells except smoke, and there is no time for friends with lives going out like candles that had their flames blown out. The dragons or rather the Javelins take flight with full passenger loads yet there is no relief to be had as not all can escape before the cold takes hold. Gravity drag tower shards from space to sky. There are untold many who quietly rail that this is not how they are to end.

The Watchtower is no more.

The League is more than it.

All the same the hour still approaches as clocks keep ticking.

The light flickers in the dark where bodies huddle together for warmth.

Javelins like dragons now carry their riders through space to Earth.


A/N 1: This chapter alternates between a bit of Rorschach journal and a bit of Under The Hood, which accounts for minimal dialogue. Plenty of internal monologues though. This is again not the first version of this chapter.

A/N 2: The Savage Time/The Once and Future Thing bear some relevance to the final moments of this chapter. More so with The Once and Future Thing (Watchtower's fate in that future). I admit the destruction sequence is abrupt and not very specific, but that's it (think Flashpoint).

A/N 3: Time travel has loopholes? Characters remembering time lines that technically didn't happen? A journal kept by a time traveler who never went back in time? I'll admit the third question is far fetched, but too often have time travel stories left any of us with headaches (be consistent?).

A/N 4: No idea while this chapter was based of events from time travel episodes, maybe due to my story based on The Savage Time. Also mentions of events from The World's Finest, Demon Reborn, and Knight Time, which were crossover episodes for StAS & TNBA.