DC Comics Presents: Killing Roy Harper
Chapter 4: Speedy and Extant
By Christopher W. Blainee-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: Speedy™, Extant™ and all other related characters and situations used in this story are ©2002 by DC Comics Inc. and are used without permission for non-profit, fan-related entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2002 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in any form, in part or as a whole, without the express permission of the author.
"I'm not really a bad person," the man in black armor began, a sincere tone to his voice. To Extant, it seemed to him like someone making a confession.
"Do tell," was Extant's response.
The man sat down and looked out at the landscape through the large glass window of his cottage. They were in the Rocky Mountains, circa 1985, in an alternate reality where humans simply never appeared. "This is the world God forgot; the perfect place for someone like me…the man God turned his back on."
Extant hated to admit it, but the way that the man, who bore a striking resemblance to Roy Harper, the hero known as Arsenal, spoke about his woe, he couldn't wait to hear the whole tale. What was it that drove this man to want to destroy every trace of Roy Harper that ever existed anywhere? "Funny, you never struck me as the religious type."
The man laughed. "I was raised Catholic, went to church every day, despite being raised by Indians."
"As I said, I never would have guessed," Extant said. "Am I to assume that you are Roy Harper, the real one?"
The man said nothing, but looked out at the snow. "Do you believe in God, Extant?"
"No. If there were a God then people like you and I could not exist. We can manipulate time, warp reality…those should be abilities left to God. Despite all of our talk about noble purposes or wanting to put things right…deep down inside we both know that we are only serving our own selfish interests."
"Then, I guess that makes us God, doesn't it? And if that is true, then nothing that we do could be considered wrong."
Extant considered the philosophy for a moment. "Right and wrong are meaningless; all that matters is power."
The man had removed his armor and was clad in a red and yellow costume. Extant immediately recognized it. "Cute outfit? Trying to torture yourself?"
The other man's hatred for Roy Harper was beyond measure, and to find him standing there in a Speedy costume was unbelievable. Quickly, Extant briefly ran over the details of Roy Harper's life as he knew them.
Harper's mother had died when he was an infant and his father tried his best to raise the boy on his own. His father was killed in a forest fire and a tribe of Native Americans took in young Roy. There, he excelled in archery and eventually developed hero-worship for the Emerald Archer himself, Green Arrow.
A chance meeting between Harper and Oliver Queen, who was secretly the Green Arrow, resulted in Queen taking the boy in as his ward and continuing his training in archery. As Speedy, he was not only Green Arrow's partner, but he had also helped form the Teen Titans. When Queen lost his fortune and decided to spend his time bringing down the "fat cats" of society, Roy was simply tossed to the side. In response, Roy had turned to drugs as an escape.
Though Queen found out and did what he could to help Roy, it was really the support of Dinah Lance, the second Black Canary and girlfriend of Queen, which got Roy through the rehabilitation. After kicking the drugs, Roy finished school and formed a rock band. When that didn't pan out, he went to work for the United States government as a special operative.
While undercover for the government, he encountered the terrorist Cheshire and fell in love. Together, they had a child, Lian, whom Roy raised after he left government service to become a super-hero again. When that occurred, he changed his name from Speedy to Arsenal.
Was it possible that this was a Hypertime duplicate of Roy Harper? Hypertime was the catch phrase to describe the little creeks that flowed away from the river of time. Major events that could have more than one outcome would sometimes, though not always, create an alternate reality…
"Do you remember the Crisis, Extant?" Speedy asked.
"Of course I do; it was a defining moment in time. The Anti-Monitor attempted to destroy reality…"
Speedy began laughing. "No, no, no…let me rephrase the question: do you remember the make-up of the universe prior to the Crisis? Not the history, but the make-up…the physical design of it?'
Extant thought for a moment. He had traveled to the beginning of time, millions of centuries prior to Crisis, and so the history of history was like an open book to him. He knew what Speedy was getting at, though. Temporal beings such as them, as well as those who traveled time regularly, such as the Flash, could, with enough practice, actually start to get to know the boundaries of creation. It was much like the way someone would feel around a darkened room to find their way and will eventually memorize the position of every piece of furniture.
"It's the same now as it always has been. When the heroes of Earth defeated the Anti-Monitor, time returned to normal. The anti-matter he had used flowed back to its own universe and everyone was happy."
"No effects from Zero Hour?" Speedy said offhanded. That was a sore subject with Extant. During the Zero Hour, which took place some five years after the Crisis, Extant had partnered with the insane Green Lantern Hal Jordan and attempted to remake the universe. Though Jordan and Extant were eventually defeated, there had been a few effects to the time stream, none of which had benefited the villains.
"Nothing of worth," Extant said, an edge to his voice.
"Shows what you know…"
"My life began just before the Great Depression, on a world that was erroneously named Earth-2," Speedy began. They were standing on the edge of a lake in a reality where the dominant life form, humans, had been wiped out by a virus brought by scientists from Mars. Speedy threw a rock into the water. "My mother died giving birth to me, and my father…"
Extant noted that, for the first time, he saw actual emotion, other than hate, cross the face of his companion. He was familiar with the term Earth-2. It was the designation given to the prime universe by the members of the Crime Syndicate of Amerika, a Hypertime group of villains similar to the Justice League.
"My father," Speedy continued, "was killed when the plane we were flying in crashed in a place called Lost Mesa. Only my father's servant, an Indian named Quoag, and I survived. We were isolated far from civilization and the only way to survive was by learning archery skills from Quoag."
"Gosh, how fascinating…can we go now?" Extant asked from his sitting position on a rock.
Speedy gave him a menacing look. "One day, Oliver Queen arrived, looking to collect Indian relics for his personal collection. We met up and encountered some criminals. Ollie and I held them at bay using only bows and arrows. Afterwards, Ollie made me his ward and he decided to become the Green Arrow. He gave me this costume and the name of Speedy. Only this was during the prewar years…"
"You mean World War 2? Impossible," Extant said, "I know for a fact that Speedy wasn't around for at least another fifty years. Remember, I used to be a Titan, too."
"Ah, yes, well that was a different universe, my unknowing friend. You see, I did in fact fight with the All-Star Squadron during World War 2 and I was a member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, or Law's Legionnaires as some people called them…"
Extant stood up and brushed off his haunches. "You're a loon, you know that? You're so obsessed with Roy Harper you even think that…"
Speedy's face turned dark and Extant actually saw blue lightning crackle around his eyes, a manifestation of his powers. Extant couldn't even do that. "Understand something, Extant, that I am not obsessed with Roy Harper; I do not believe I am Roy Harper; I do not wish I was Roy Harper." He walked up to Extant, and even though he was at least six inches taller than Speedy, Extant was still intimidated. "I…am…Roy…Harper!"
"How?" was Extant could muster. He could feel the power coming off of Speedy and he realized that there was more to him than simple time-altering ability. There was a scent of something beyond reason about him. Extant's powers were based upon set physical laws, yet Speedy's appeared to be transcending such things.
"The Crisis was not as you remember it. I have found that there are many, many beings able to travel through time…beings who would spend eternity studying it, yet no single person or being I have encountered understands everything about it.
"Except me."
Speedy backed away a few steps. "All of this," he said sweeping his hand to take in the horizon, "was nothing before the Crisis. It didn't exist; at least, not like this. Before the Crisis, the universe was of a different order. There were no alternate realities; there were only different existences. God's experiment with life had reached its climax with the multiverse!"
"The multiverse? That's just a theory! It isn't true," Extant said, suddenly feeling very stupid. The multiverse was an idea that the universe was made up of different dimensions, all existing in the same spot, but separated by thin dimensional barriers. Instead, the universe was actually made up of one reality, with small splinter universes ranching off like the limbs of a tree.
In the multiverse theory, the dimensional barriers were so strong that a person could literally travel from one dimension to another, and there would be no adverse effects. However, Extant was fully aware that if someone from an alternate time stream were to spend any substantial length of time in the prime universe, it would cause the dimensional boundaries to break down. The person would act as a magnet, and the two realities would attempt to merge. Physics indicated that two universe could not exist in the same space, which made the multiverse theory a little absurd.
"Oh, but it is, as I came to find out. You see, I was destined to live out a normal life, but the Crisis came and changed that. The Anti-Monitor's Crisis Wave tore through the dimensional barriers of the multiverse, eating up whole dimensions. It came to my home, Earth-2, in 1942, when Green Arrow and I were working with the All-Star Squadron."
"I heard stories that the universe was different…"
"Oh, yes, it was quite different. You see, my friend, you actually began life on a planet called Earth-1. That is where you started and when the Crisis was over, when the super-heroes triumphed, everything changed. To this day, they don't even remember what it was they did. Very few persons do."
Extant sat down, suddenly overwhelmed by the information he was receiving. He began to wonder if he could even trust his memories anymore.
"When the universe was first created, billions of years ago, there was only one timeline, one dimension. God, like any good builder, started with only one." Speedy held up a single gauntleted finger. "One of the first races to appear were the Guardians of the Universe, but that isn't what they were called then…"
"Yes, I know…they were called…"
Speedy cut him off. "Who cares? The important thing is that one of their number, Krona, wished to be like God and so he built a machine that would allow him to peer into the past, all of the way to the beginning of time. Then, just as he saw a giant hand with the stars held in it, his machine exploded. The ripples of temporal energy created the multiverse. Imagine an infinite number of Earths, existing in the same space, but vibrating at different speeds!" Speedy clapped his hands together. "Oh, how proud God must have been when He saw all of His little toys spread out before Him.
"And so, life did prosper in many shapes and forms on the many worlds and God created this and that, and when He found something He liked, He duplicated it. In the end, you end up with an infinite number of Supermen and Batmen and so many others."
"So? We have that now."
"Oh, no you don't. You see, in the multiverse, you could actually have exact duplicates. In Hypertime, you cannot. The multiverse was created from one action; Hypertime is created by many actions. The infinite universes were always there; in Hypertime, they are constantly being created. Not as orderly, but I suppose when God saw how easily the Anti-Monitor ripped apart His sandbox, He decided to make changes."
"You have a real problem with God, you know that?" Extant said.
"Says the man who doesn't believe! Oh, yes, I have a real problem with Him. I was raised a Catholic, as I said before, and I loved God. I became a super-hero and risked my life not for the fun of it but because it was the good thing to do."
"How noble."
"But, when the universe is remade, when the operating system of reality is given the reboot and God has to pick only the best toys…He – left – me – out!" Speedy began trembling and there was a long silence before he spoke again. "When the new universe was made, was I chosen? The young man who followed the Golden Rule? The one who never got a chance to go on a date? No…my life was ended in the Crisis wave and the Earth-1 Roy Harper, the drug addict who sleeps with foreigners outside of marriage gets to live! I was the first Roy Harper! I was the one who should have lived!"
Extant's eyes widened. "I get it…the universe was remade so that there could only be one…starting out…of everything. One Superman, one Batman, or at least, like in the case of people like the two Atoms, two entirely separate individuals. You didn't get picked…"
"And I was the very first Roy Harper to exist in the entire multiverse," Speedy said slowly.
"How did you survive? If what you say is true, then you should have been completely wiped from the continuity. You should have never existed…"
"Yes, completely abandoned by God," Speedy said quietly. "Do you recall the time I sent Abra Kadabra to the 21st century to put the bad luck spell on Dick Grayson so that Roy Harper would die?" He saw Extant nod. "A bolt of lightning was about to strike young Grayson when it was moved out of the way through the use of magic by the sorceress Zatanna. That magic lightning bolt broke through time and space. As my world was ending, back in 1942…on Earth-2, I saw a portal open up. I thought old Doc Fate had whipped it up and I jumped in it. Ollie…Green Arrow…was already dead.
"When I came through the other side, I found that I was intangible, a phantom. I was so scared…" He looked off into the night sky. They were in the prime universe again, this time in the 28th century. "I traveled the world for years as a phantom, learning all I could…imagine my surprise when I discovered another Roy Harper living his life. I thought I had died and gone to hell. In a way, I suppose I did. Many believe that hell is simply being forsaken by God, and that is what I was. When Roy Harper finally died, I became whole again."
"The two of you cannot exist in the same dimension at the same time!" Extant cried, snapping his fingers. "So, you've been trying to kill him…"
"So I can live my life! The life that was stolen from me! I should have been the Teen Titan! I could have helped Ollie out on his mission to find America…I would not have turned to drugs and rock 'n' roll! I could use my powers to make things better!"
"Your powers are the result of your expose to magic!"
"Plus I believe that some of the loose temporal energy of the Crisis was absorbed by my body. I am literally immortal. I lived until the end of time, amassing as much knowledge about time and space and anything else I could learn about, just so I could come back and set things right. In all of that time, I aged only four years, physically. I am over 9 billion years old, and I have the body of a 17 year old.
"You may think I am insane, but I assure you I have already gone through insanity several times and right now is one of my better periods." Speedy brought up his bow, notched an arrow, and let it fly towards a target. Extant noted that while it hit the bull's-eye, it seemed to be a little off-center. He filed that knowledge away for later use. "So now you know why I must kill Roy Harper. I intend to take his place, despite the plans of the Almighty or whoever. It is my right as the first."
"Going up against God is not a good idea; seems to me I read somewhere that He doesn't cater to rebellion. Wouldn't it be easier to just live a good life…?"
Speedy launched another arrow. It struck next to the first one. "Settle for second best? Like all of those poor Hypertime alternates? Do you know why I must kill them as well? Because they are spawned from his timeline, and that makes them impure."
"But the entire thing is nothing but a lesson in futility, Harper," Extant said, finally using Speedy's real name. "You've tried to kill your so-called counterpart three times already, and each time you fail. Despite your abilities and planning, Father Time beats you at your own game."
A third arrow raced towards the target. "I have been thinking about that, and I believe it is due to not taking the battle directly to Harper. Being subtle is getting me nowhere, and that is where you come in, my friend."
"Me? I don't think so. Our working relationship is fine the way it is…I don't interfere with you and you don't interfere with me. I have plans in the works right now and they don't involve taking on the Titans."
Speedy lowered the bow. "So, you're afraid of them?" The question had the hint of amusement in it.
"I was one, as I told you before. None of the super-heroes are pushovers; at least not the ones in the prime universe. It's one thing to go after, what did you call them? Impure duplicates; it's entirely another thing to go after the real deal." Extant smiled to himself. The truth of the matter was that he did not have a plan in the works at the moment, but he hardly wanted to let the competition know that fact.
When the two of them had first met, they had been easy rivals. Over time, however, they discovered that they could help each other achieve their mutual goals and possibly share the wealth and power. Extant wasn't sure how far he could trust the mysterious stranger at the time, but after getting mixed up with Hal Jordan, he had decided anyone else would be better.
"Actually, it makes no difference to me, since I am refraining from looking into the future. Ollie always told me to go with my gut instinct." He paused and then carefully let loose a fourth arrow. "It's funny that after billions of years, I can still remember the words of a man who technically never existed.
"All I really need from you is permission to pursue a Roy Harper in variant sector 198743-S."
Extant thought for a moment. The Linear Men, the so-called protectors of time, had devised the numbering system of alternate realities. Extant very rarely ever referred to realities in such a way. He would normally pick out some detail about the reality that would catch his eye and that would name it. If Speedy was asking for his permission, it must involve a reality that he had previously staked a claim on for some reason. He didn't really care as it was; and if he agreed, then he would get to see what Speedy's ultimate plan would be. "Sure, so long as I can watch."
A fifth and final arrow was let free. "Of course."
Speedy was not in his armor, but remained in a modified version of his original red and yellow costume. "The armor was to protect my identity, but it is no longer necessary," he explained when Extant asked.
They had arrived in the variant reality on a bright and sunny spring morning. Judging by the buildings, Extant reasoned they were in New York, or this world's version. He still had no idea what his connection to this reality was and he began to press this issue with Speedy. "Just wait, and you'll see," was his reply.
Seconds later, a blur of movement caught Extant's eye and he became aware of where he was. He had completely forgotten about this place, with it's single solitary super-hero. So boring was the world that he had considered conquering to save it from itself. He never really considered Kid Flash much of a threat; but it was obvious that Speedy did.
Kid Flash, however, was normally found to be a variant of Wally West, the current Flash of the prime universe. Speedy's war had been declared on Roy Harper, an entirely different super-hero.
Unless…
"Let me guess…Kid Flash is actually Roy Harper in this reality?" he asked.
Speedy nodded. "Imagine what it would have been like of Barry Allen had found Roy Harper being raised by Indians? "
Extant said nothing. For all of the evil things he had done, going so far as trying to reshape the universe, he still felt a grudging respect for Barry Allen. Allen had been the second person in the prime universe to take the name of the Flash, and he had willingly sacrificed his life to destroy the Anti-Monitor's anti-matter cannon during the Crisis. Had it not been for Barry Allen, there would be nothing in existence except anti-matter.
Extant laughed silently. Apparently even super-villains had heroes. "How do you intend to kill him? Shoot an arrow at him?"
"I'd hit him," Speedy said. "I'm the best."
That forced Extant to raise his eyebrows. "So, what do you intend to do?"
Speedy watched as Kid Flash stopped at the edge of a pond. Extant reasoned that Speedy had watched this particular moment in time for centuries, getting the timing down perfectly. He knew exactly where everyone and everything was going to be at any given nanosecond.
He reached into the bag he was carrying; a non-descript black one and pulled out what looked like a common hand weapon. Extant wanted to make a snide remark. He found Speedy's need to use weapons almost childish. Extant could, if he wanted to, use his powers to age Kid Flash right here and now; age him until he was nothing more than dust, or go the opposite direction and turn him into a costumed sperm cell. He knew Speedy could do similar things.
Yet, Speedy always relied on weapons, always fell back to that basic training he must have received in his reality…if his story was to be believed. Extant still found it fantastic, amazing even. He wondered if Jordan had known all of this…had he gleaned the information about what the universe had been when he had absorbed the energy of the main power battery on Oa. Did taking enough power to make you a god allow you to understand things like one?
Extant didn't know, and again reminded himself that there could be no God if he could do the things he done. "Laser gun?"
Speedy looked at him like he was a moron. "78th century Rannian energy state transformer. All the rage in the Great Humanity War. You see, because a Flash can move so fast, you have to know exactly…and I mean exactly…when to fire. This will convert his Speed Force energy into a destructive force, wiping out the planet."
"I still don't see what this has to do with me…"
Speedy slapped his forehead. "Silly me; you conquer this planet five years from now. I'm changing that, of course, so I wanted to let you know so there would be no misunderstandings." Speedy smiled and Extant saw the faintest hint of blue sparks around his eyes.
Speedy took Extant's silence as an indication that he understood, drew the pistol on Kid Flash, and pulled the trigger. As the beam left the muzzle, Speedy realized he had made a mistake. He could sense that the reality had changed since the last time he had been here. An event in the prime universe had diverged the time stream again. Just as the beam was about to make contact with Kid Flash, another blur intercepted it.
Lady Flash, the newest super-hero and lover of Kid Flash immediately felt the Speed Force leave her body. Without it's protective aura, her atoms were scattered to the four winds as her planet exploded immediately.
"And that did what?" Extant asked as they walked along the time stream.
"That was the last of the Roy Harper Hypertime variants," Speedy said. "I didn't expect the inclusion of Lady Flash…it has been awhile since I studied this world, but the end result was the same."
"There are no more variants…at all?" Extant asked, amazed.
Speedy smiled and said nothing more. It was then that Extant began to wonder just how far this man would go to get what he wanted.
Kid Flash kept running, vibrating his molecules at the same time, trying to find a frequency that would allow him to materialize out of the time stream. He had less than one millionth of a second to escape into time when he realized that his world was doomed.
As a speedster, his perceptions were accelerated beyond comprehension. In the time it took him to run like a coward, he had witnessed the death of the woman he loved at the hands of some person in a red costume holding a gun.
Kid Flash wiped a tear away from his eye, and he noticed that he had been doing that constantly. His grief was almost overwhelming in that he had no idea who the mysterious person was, though he thought he had recognized his companion. If he wasn't mistaken, that had been Extant, a time-villain.
Roy Harper, the young man behind the Kid Flash mask, knew a whole lot about Extant. He had encountered Walter West, a Flash traveling the lines of Hypertime. In the short time Walter had been in Roy's world, he had taught him everything he needed to know about Hypertime, time traveling and people to look out for.
The thought of his dead Kory made Roy even angrier and he raced on trying to find someplace he could go. His body was hot, almost as if he had absorbed Kory's Speed Force energy when he had run.
He would run for now, he told himself, but one day he would stop running and he would see to it that justice was served.
Ace Silvermane, Time Cop, looked at the assembled beings before him. Some of them belonged in prison; others were professional rivals. All had intent looks on their faces.
"You've all heard Extant's report?" he asked, flashing a glowing smile.
The Lord of Time was fiddling with his goatee. "This man is insane; he must be stopped!"
The Time Trapper nodded ascension from behind a purple hood. "It is one thing to control and conquer, but this Speedy…"
Per Degaton, clad in his Gestapo-like uniform cut in. "He calls himself Time-Guardian now!"
Rip Hunter threw an empty can of soda at the red-haired villain. "You shut up! Why is he even here? He stole the ability to travel through time!"
"As I was saying," the Time Trapper started again, turning a hooded visage towards Hunter, "is that this Time-Guardian is nothing more than a cheap Anti-Monitor."
"On that we all can agree," Waverider said.
"Then I can count on your help?" Extant asked. "If we don't work together, then we are all doomed."
Shaking his head, the Lord of Time spoke. "I don't see how we can. All of our abilities are technology based, but his abilities are magical in nature. None of us understand magic."
"We have access to people that do, though," Per Degaton said, rubbing his forehead. A red welt was forming. "I've worked with Wotan…"
The original Chronos, who was walking behind Per Degaton, smacked him in the back of the head. "Shut your yap! The only thing you ever accomplished was screwing up!" He then took his seat and opened the beer he had gotten from the refrigerator. They were currently inside the original cave headquarters of the Justice League of America, only a few weeks after the team had moved in. Currently, they were away on a mission. "The Lord of Time does have a point, though. None of us know anything about magic. Then there's him," he said, nodding his head to the figure in the corner.
The Spectre ignored the criminal. He had been silent since the meeting had begun. The only reason he was here was because of the statements that the Time-Guardian had made about God.
Deep inside the Spectre, the host soul of Hal Jordan, the former Green Lantern who had once tried to rewrite history himself, was worried. When he had been Parallax, and been determined to change what was, he had learned about the truth of the Crisis. He had shared some of that information with Extant, but not all of it. Now that the truth was out there, he wondered how some of these villains would use it to their advantage.
The immediate problem was the Time-Guardian, however. While many thought he could simply ask God why the Earth-1 Roy Harper was chosen to be the seed for the new reality and the Earth-2 was to die, he knew that God would not answer. The plan was never revealed to anyone.
"What about it, Jordan?" Extant sneered. "I thought you worked for God…"
The Spectre looked at him, death in his eyes. "Be wary of your words, unbeliever; you do not wish for me to judge you summarily."
"Bah! Go ahead, if you dare. You are a fraud, a magician; you may inspire fear in these guys, but I worked with you once, Jordan. You're a wimp."
The Spectre side of Jordan's new identity bellowed to be set free, to render judgment upon Extant. Surely he was deserving of it, but Hal Jordan knew that Extant still served a higher purpose and for the moment his existence was vital to the overall scheme of things. "You are the one who came crawling to us for help."
"You haven't spent the time with this freak that I have! Once he gets rid of Harper, like he has all of the rest…"
"That's not entirely true," the Time Trapper said. "I've created a small pocket universe and put many of the Hypertime duplicates there for safekeeping."
"Aw, hell…not another pocket universe!" Rip Hunter said, smacking his forehead on the table. "Ace, isn't there some sort of law against doing that more than once?"
Ace Silvermane shrugged. Though his job was to enforce time laws, he was not of the prime universe and therefore had no jurisdiction here. He was only here to offer an opinion.
"This beer sucks," Chronos said, crushing his can. "I bet this is your beer, isn't it Jordan?" Hal Jordan had been an original member of the Justice League. The Spectre did not answer, again. "Jerk!" The criminal got up again to get another beer.
"How do we stop him? Can we stop him?" Waverider asked the assembled body. There were shrugs and grunts, but no definite answers. "Then why are we here?"
"Suppose we have him assassinated?" the Lord of Time asked.
Rip Hunter was the first to shoot the idea down. "No…if we sanction something like that, what's to stop someone like the Linear Men from hunting down all of you criminals?"
"Like you'd care, Hunter," Chronos called from the kitchen. "You Linear Men are just itching for a chance to take us out."
"But what happens when this guy kills this Harper fellow? Will he then decide that some other person needs to die to keep the universe pure?" Per Degaton asked.
Nobody attempted to chastise Per Degaton this time. Chronos opening his beer broke the silence. Finally, the Spectre moved out of the corner and headed to the doorway leading out of the meeting room. The gesture was symbolic, since he could have simply disappeared had he wanted to.
"Where are you going, Jordan?" Extant called after him.
The Spectre did not reply.