Control Freak stepped back into the television as he thought about what Xander had said. He really hadn't been using his ability to its full extent, barely even scratching the surface as he screwed with the Titans to help stabilize this branch of reality.

Sure it was an important job, but there were better ways to go about it.

Though admittedly being a comic villain who had great powers and bumbled around seemed to suit him, it certainly offered the greatest reward for the least amount of effort.

Plus, villainous rants were a lot of fun!

He took a seat in a 50's diner and ordered lunch.

"You're in my seat."

Control Free looked up and saw four middle class suburban teens, it was still too early in the timeline for them to be called preppies.

It was a standard opener, extending the clenched fist of friendship as they marked their territory and checked to see if he was worthy of respect. 'I've watched way too many animal documentaries,' Control Freak thought to himself.

"I don't have the patience to deal with this crap right now," Control Freak said, staring their leader down, "try it some other time."

The owner delivered Alex's lunch before they could respond and the teens backed off, not wanting to get an adult involved who would call the police if he felt it was needed.

"Smells great," Control Freak said, his mood instantly improving. 'They knew how to cook back in the Fifty's!'

"Dig in," the owner said, smiling widely as he returned to the grill, happy to have his hard work appreciated.

"This is my booth, but I don't mind sharing," a young man in a black leather jacket and a white undershirt said, sliding in the seat across from him.

Control Freak looked up from his meal. "Thanks, Fonzie, I appreciate that."

Fonzie took a second look at Control Freak, taking note of his manner of dress which in no way fit the locale. "You wouldn't happen to be friends with a guy named… Mork, would you?"

"No, but I have heard of him," Control Freak admitted.

"So you're not here to do anything freaky?" Fonzie asked cautiously.

"Just came here for the food and a chance to think about some things," Control Freak replied.

"The food is good," Fonzie agreed before his hand. "Arthur Fonzarelli, call me Fonzie."

Control Freak wiped his hands on a napkin before shaking Fonzie's hand. "Alexander Weston, call me Control Freak or Alex since it fits this place better."

"Alex it is," Fonzie said, snapping his fingers.

The owner of the diner, Al, set a glass of milk in front of Fonzie before vanishing back behind the grill.

He took a large drink of milk before asking, "So, what's on your mind? Anything I can help with?"

"I don't know if you've got the frame of reference to understand it," Alex said, "it's pretty out there."

"So waste a breath telling me and let's see," Fonzie suggested, legs stretched out on the seat as relaxed as a great cat on a tree limb.

Alex chuckled. "Alright, there is a tribe of Amerinds who have this giant stone clock that is powered by water and they believe that if they ever stop keeping it running, time itself will end."

"Amerind?" Fonzie asked.

"American Indian," Alex explained. "In the future we use the term Amerind because Indian is considered offensive."

"Like we use the word colored since that other word was used disrespectfully by some heinous people," Fonzie said, letting the 'future' bit pass without comment.

"Exactly," Alex agreed, "of course the term colored is going to be considered disrespectful in a couple of decades since those same people will still put a sneer in it like they were saying the other word and in the end they'll simply change it every couple of decades to something new. Anyway, back to my main point."

Alex stopped and took a drink of soda. "Imagine that they actually did keep time running by doing that."

"Heavy," Fonzie said with a nod as he contemplated it. "Are we sure they don't?"

Alex smiled broadly. "Actually, they do, but they aren't the only ones. The beams that support reality usually have a lot of backups, so it's not all on one group… unless that reality has 'moved on' due to age or because of breakers. Time of course is one of the main beams of any reality."

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die," Fonzie quoted with a shudder.

Alex sighed. "The destruction of that reality echoed through over half of creation."

Fonzie froze. "That's… real? Cause I gotta tell ya, I only heard that poem once, from this college girl I was seeing, and it creeped me out and stuck in my head ever since."

"It was real, but it's best not to think about it," Alex said. "Anyway there are groups and sometimes individuals that support the beams and keep the worlds turning. Now I know a group that is just starting out and I encourage them by pretending to be a bad guy and letting them defeat me after putting them through their paces."

"Like a trainer," Fonzie said in understanding. "And this helps keep the world turning?"

"It does," Alex agreed, "but a… friend of mine," he smiled. "A friend of mine pointed out that I could do so much more. What I'm doing is just scratching the surface of my abilities and I realized I could support the world a lot more if I just manned up and got it together."

Fonzie nodded. "Sounds like you've already made up your mind on what to do. So, what's the question?"

Alex opened his mouth, paused, and then laughed. "I have made up my mind, I guess I just had to talk it through with someone who understood."

"Not sure I understood, but thanks," Fonzie said with a smile.

Alex grinned and stood up. "It was good talking to you, but I gotta go get my butt kicked now."

"You need a hand?" Fonzie asked.

"Nah, you can't be a man if you're afraid of a little rumble now and then," Alex said. "Besides, it's a good way to clear my head."

"True, but you aren't exactly…" Fonzie tried to think of a nice way to phrase it.

"I'm shaped like a potato," Alex said, amused.

"Yeah, a bit," Fonzie agreed.

"That's why I'm going to get my ass kicked," Alex said as he stretched, "which will help encourage me to do something about it."

"I'll just make sure they keep it fair," Fonzie promised, getting up.

Alex exited the diner and found the four teens waiting for him in the parking lot, but they stopped and looked nervous as Fonzie followed him out. "Relax, he's just here to make sure it's fair, in other words no weapons."

The four looked offended.

"I don't know you guys well enough to know if you're stand up guys or not," Alex explained, causing the teens to relax and getting several agreeable nods.

"OK, there are four rules," Alex said soberly, "to Fight Club!"

5 Minutes Later

Alex hit the ground hard, but rolled over and pushed himself back to his feet. Chad was wavering on his feet and he was pretty sure he could take him before facing Mark.

"You don't hit for shit, but man can you take some punishment," Craig said from where he was leaning against his car, nursing a split lip.

Chad swung, telegraphing his blow, Alex deflected it with a mental 'wax off' and rabbit punched him in the kidney.

Chad collapsed with a groan. "I'm done," he announced after he tried and failed to get back up.

"I told you, stop with the long wind ups, it's a dead giveaway," Alex pointed out, wiping the sweat from his eyes and flinching from brushing his swollen left one.

"Yeah, got it," Chad said, not moving from the pavement as he tried to catch his breath.

"Next," Alex said, looking at Mark and Steve.

"I don't know," Mark said, "I mean you look pretty worn out. It wouldn't feel right."

"It's to help motivate me to get in shape," Alex said. "Now, would you mind helping kick my ass?"

Fonzie laughed and the other guys quickly joined in.

"How can I refuse to help a guy in need," Mark said rhetorically. "OK," he passed his jacket to Steve, "let's do this." He three a quick jab towards Alex's face.

Alex threw his arms up to protect his face, but it turned out to be a feint as Mark's fist nailed him in the stomach and knocked the wind out of him and everything went grey around the edges as he sank to his knees.

"When he gets back into shape he's going to be one hell of a tough," Mark said with a grin as Alex slowly fell sideways to collapse on the ground.

"How do you feel?" Fonzie asked as he looked Alex over.

"Like I just got my ass handed to me," Alex said, making no move to rise.

"Nice one," Chad said with a grin.

"You motivated now?" Mark asked curiously.

"Oh, yeah," Alex agreed, still too weak to move. "I haven't felt this motivated since the orphanage I was in was gassed."

"You're an orphan?" Chad asked. "Tough break."

"Who would gas an orphanage?" Steve asked in horror.

"A complete lunatic," Alex replied, recalling the Joker's mad laughter. "And in a complete change of subject, thanks for the help, I really do appreciate it."

"Any time," Chad said as he and his boys got ready to leave. "You know, I like that Fight Club thing."

"Rule one," Alex said, nodding to some approaching teens.

"Gotcha," he replied. "See you on the flip side."

Three younger teens approach cautiously.

"Hey Fonzie, do you need any help?" one of them asked nervously, clearly afraid but not letting it stop him.

"It's cool Cunningham, this was just some friends demonstrating a little lesson in self defense," Fonzie said as the four left and he helped Alex to his feet.

"Looks like he failed," the red head with the big ears said.

"Ralph!" Cunningham exclaimed.

"What? He's got a point," his dark haired friend agreed.

"Yeah, but it's rude to point that out, Potsie," Cunningham said.

"He took out two of them, so I think he did OK," Fonzie said with a grin. "Let's get you cleaned up," he told Alex.

"He took out two?!" Ralph exclaimed in disbelief. "But he's a potato!"

"Ralph!" Cunningham exclaimed again.

Alex laughed. "I am a potato, but I'm a potato who has had lessons in karate."

"I'll take you back to my place," Fonzie said. "You good to ride?"

"I'll give him a ride Fonzie," Cunningham offered.

"Thanks," Fonzie said, leading Alex to a mid 50's red Ford convertible.

"Try not to bleed on the seats," Ralph said.

"Ralph!" Cunningham complained.

"What?" Ralph said cluelessly. "Richie, I'm the one who has to clean them and you can't get chicks in a blood stained car."

Alex laughed. "You I like," he told Ralph. "I'll try not to make a mess. Besides, my nose stopped bleeding a minute ago."

Fonzie revved his motorcycle and Richie pulled out to follow him.

"So what was the fight about?" Potsie asked curiously.

"Just the typical pecking order behavior," Alex replied. "They didn't know me and wanted to see what I was like."

"Seriously?" Ralph asked.

"Pretty much," Alex replied. "I proved I was man enough to take what they could dish out and gave back some in return and next time we run into each other they'll probably buy me a drink."

"Looks like a lot to go through for just a soda," Potsie said, shaking his head.

"So they'll respect you now," Richie said.

"Exactly. Fight once, earn their respect, or cower away and get hassled all the time," Alex replied. "It's a simple system, but it works."

"I think they would have pounded me flat if I tried that," Ralph said.

"Probably, but as long as you kept getting up, they'd respect you," Alex replied.

"Well, I'm a lover not a fighter," Ralph said.

"Fighters get the chicks," Alex said, as Ralph's friends laughed.

Ralph was silent for a moment. "So… how hard is it to learn karate?"

Alex grinned. "Exercise, work out, and learn boxing," he suggested. "It works better for one on one and is easier to find a trainer for."

"Sounds like a lot of effort," Ralph said slowly.

"How much is your self respect worth?" Alex asked.

"A pint of blood tops," Ralph quipped.

"How much is getting chicks like Fonzie does?"

"And suddenly I feel the need to train," Ralph said brightly.

"It'll help with the ladies?" Potsie asked seriously.

"Definitely," Alex said, thinking about Starfire. "Women love warriors."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"He really rang your bell," Mark told Craig.

"Yeah, he was fat, but he had some moves," Craig agreed cheerfully.

"That Fight Club thing…" Chad trailed off, causing the others to look at him. "I don't know, but it really spoke to me."

"Yeah," Craig agreed. "I mean, how often do you get a good fight without some bozos interfering or hassling you?"

"We could start our own," Steve said.

The guys began to grin.

"Invitation only, out at the old quarry," Mark said, warming to the idea.

"Yeah!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Fonzie handed Alex a wet washcloth to clean the blood off his face as Alex looked around his place.

"TV?" Alex asked.

Fonzie opened a cabinet revealing a 19 inch rounded green tinted cathode ray set. "Got it from a guy for fixing his jalopy," Fonzie said. "It had a short in the plug, but the girls seem to like it, so I fixed it."

Alex finished wiping off his face and returned the washcloth to Fonzie. "Want to see something rad?"

"Rad?" Fonzie asked curiously.

"Cool," he explained.

"I'm always up for something cool," Fonzie replied easily, still a bit distracted by what they'd talked about earlier.

Alex turned on the TV and waited for it to warm up. "Trust me, you'll love it," Control Freak said with a grin as he heard the theme song from I Dream of Genie come through the speakers.

Typing By: Abyssal Angel