Our time traveler expands on his quest to better the world and a champion is called upon to restore order.

Chapter 4: Making Changes To Everything

The alley was dark and cool as a winter breeze blew through the streets of Gotham. Not quite cold enough for snow, yet that wind had the ability to seemingly pierce right through clothes and skin down to the bone. John thought about how fortunate he was on the selection of a ski mask to cover his facial features from anyone. He also didn't realize just how numb he'd been on the day that his sister was lost. While that morning had been around the freezing temperature, as the day moved along, it warmed up into the mid forties. As night fell upon the city though, the temperature followed along as it begin to plummet back down once again.

Being here on this night had given John another glimpse into just how long he'd been out of it when he initially went back in time to save her. Then again if he'd have simply taken the time to peek out a window of the hospital, he'd have seen that the entire day had been lost to him thanks to hypothermia. It also explained how he easily he could move around without being noticed. It was when the nightshift staff had been at the hospital, meaning there weren't many people among the non medical staff there. Visiting hours had long since passed, janitors were off duty for the most part, and the nightlife of Gotham City always took up the majority of the medical staff's attention. In thinking back to that night, he was surprised that the hospital could pull two nurses to prep the room for the Wayne's in the first place. That line of thought brought him to the realization that not only would he be saving the Wayne's, but also he'd be freeing up the medical staff so that they could better focus on the other patients in need of assistance. What he was doing was indeed a good thing, better than he even initially realized. He wasn't sure just how great an effect his actions could have, but the potential for great things was right there in his grasp.

To help pass the time, John brought with him photographs of Thomas and Martha Wayne, as well as the man that had been eventually caught and convicted of the murders, Joe Chill. When there was less than an hour left until the suspected time of death, John made sure that he was as prepared as possible. He scouted out the entire alleyway where the crime was going to take place as well as traced the path that the Wayne's were going to take from the movie theatre to that point. He knew that as just a man, he couldn't simply follow the Wayne's and pounce when Chill showed. Instead he had to focus on where Chill was and follow him. It took quite a bit of searching, but eventually he was successful in locating the soon to be murderer.

John made certain to use the dark color of his tactical gear to stay hidden in the shadows as Chill wandered around. It was plain to see just how desperate this man had been. He looked like he rarely was afforded a decent meal and certainly not a steady and secure place to live. Had he not known just what this man was capable of, he might've found that he almost felt sorry for Chill. But he was acutely aware of not only what Chill was capable of, but of what he was about to do and that couldn't be permitted. The Wayne's were too good of a quality people to be taken from the world when they held such potential to help out the world by continuing to be in it. John would stop this heinous act from happening, he just knew it. He was looking to time his move exactly right. He wanted to allow the confrontation, but then to immediately stop it before it could escalate. This way the Wayne's would all realize the danger that even they might place themselves in if they weren't diligent with their surroundings. He then looked to his watch and pulled out his weapon of choice. It was 10:30, and the Wayne's would be exiting the movie theatre at any moment.

~~ Outskirts of Olympus ~~

Hades was storming away from the Mount of Olympus. Those other pompous gods and goddesses had dismissed the question from the Fates that he had brought up to them. One miscalculation wouldn't result in them taking any action, they'd said. Fools. The lot of them. So full of themselves and their divine powers, they were at times blinded by the happenings within man's world. In the countless decades upon decades, never once had the Fates miscalculated on the length of a mortal's thread of life. Something was amiss and it appeared that only Hades could see it. Not even Ares, who thrived on conflict and murder, was able to be swayed. They would all regret this day.

Hades remained silent as he traveled by chariot back to his realm of the Underworld. He never was able to leave for long periods of time. If he did, then the lands would certainly fall into chaos and discord. He simply would not permit that in his realm. Unfortunately for him though, upon returning to his palace he was met immediately by some of his underlings. "My Lord." One of the creatures called out. "The Fates have requested your attention sire."

"Has there been more examples of mortals outliving their scheduled deaths?" Hades asked as he dismounted and began marching in the direction of the Fates.

"That is what they've indicated sire." The creature answered.

When Hades reached the chamber of the Fates; he burst through the door leaving his minions behind in his wake. "Lachesis." He called out. "How many more mortals have received an unwarranted stay of execution?"

"Two my lord." Lachesis called out. "And I've already seen a third occur as we've awaited your return."

"Who is responsible for this?!" Hades boomed loudly enough so that all of Tartarus could hear. The Fates remained silent in the face of a visibly irate Lord of the Underworld. Hades was virtually seething as he fought to regain his composure. "We must find a means of stopping this from continuing. Perhaps the names of the mortals that have been gifted their stays of execution."

The sister spinner of the threads took each of the three threads and examined them closely. "We know not of the mortals name Lord Hades." She replied. "Only of their life's beginning and projected end."

"Find me something of use." Hades demanded. "I'll see to discovering a means of correcting this as well as confining the one responsible to an incredibly tortured end with an eternal stay in the pits of Tartarus."

~~ Crime Alley ~~

Thomas led his wife and son from the entrance of the movie theatre that evening. It was late and cold, but their son had begged and begged to see this movie, and he'd done more than enough to have earned the privilege of going. Bruce was such an intelligent young man, Thomas thought to himself. His son was intelligent well beyond his years, and as a father he couldn't be more proud to watch as his son was growing up before his eyes. He wasn't sure what it was, but deep inside he just had this feeling that Bruce was destined for great things. He just hoped that his eight year old boy would spend time enjoying being a child before he had no choice but to grow up. Tonight seemed to be one of those times. Bruce loved the movie, and was up just ahead sword fighting an imaginary villain in much the same way that the hero had during the movie. He couldn't help but to allow a smile to grow on his face as he watched. Martha looked up to see the smile on her handsome husband's face, and that was all it took for one to grow on her face as well. She knew that Thomas was watching their son and enjoying getting to see him having fun. Bruce always seemed to want to impress his father, and that made it rare for moments like this where Thomas could see Bruce just being a happy child. Having more free time she was able to see this side of Bruce on a much more frequent occurrence, but that still never took away from the enjoyment she felt at the knowledge they were raising such a happy child. It wasn't until she felt Thomas draping an arm around her that she realized she too had become enthralled from watching Bruce as he played in front of them. However he was getting a little too far ahead of them in the alley as they were heading toward their car. "Bruce." She called out to her son. "Don't get too far ahead of us."

"He'll be fine Martha." Thomas responded. "The car's just around the corner there anyways. Let him have his fun."

At the other end of the alley, Joe Chill saw a punk kid dancing his way up in his direction. The boy had a nice coat on him, and just off behind him was a well manicured woman and a well groomed man that had to be the boy's parents. This was going to be an easy score indeed. He might get lucky and get enough from them to last him the rest of the week. From looking them over quickly, he just knew that they had more than enough to spare what he'd need. It would be quick and clean. The wealthy were easy to scare into submission. All he'd need to do is flash the gun at them and they'd be throwing all their money at him. As they came closer, he rubbed his hands together to get a little feeling back in them from the cold air and then reached into his waistband to pull out his gun.

John knew that the time was now. He watched Joe Chill as he began to scope out his potential targets and slowly move into position to block their way from getting out of the alley. John had to be careful here. He had to be sure that he wasn't heard or seen. He didn't want to startle Chill into doing something stupid or running off. The only thing he was going to change was the fact that Thomas and Martha lived. Everything else had to be the same. So he sat back and watched silently as Chill stepped out from the shadows and began approaching the young boy that had to be Bruce Wayne. Chill kept his hands in his pockets even after he'd been spotted by Bruce who stopped dead in his tracks as his parents quickly closed the gap between them and their son. It wasn't until both parents laid a hand on Bruce's shoulders that Chill finally drew his gun. "Wallet, jewelry, all your valuables." He demanded.

John saw how Thomas attempted to keep everything calm and collected as he tried to inform Chill that they'd do as he wanted, only to accidentally drop his wallet in the process of handing it over. It was then that Chill noticed the pearl necklace that was not being removed from around Martha's neck. "I said jewelry, and that means the pretty pearls." Joe instructed.

Now was the time. "Joe Chill." John called out calmly from the shadow. That was all it took to gain the mugger's attention. As soon as the gun was turned far enough away from the Wayne's, John acted. He fired projectile barbs directly into Chill's chest and then squeezed the trigger on his taser gun, sending a massive amount of voltage into Joe's body. He shook as the electricity coursed through him until John finally released the trigger momentarily. That only allowed his muscles to relax so that he could collapse onto the pavement before he felt the electricity again begin to flow through him and he convulsed uncontrollably until he lost control of his bowels. The pain was incredible, and it seemed to continue even as he felt the electricity cease coursing. All of his muscles still seemed to be seized up, and he knew that he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. His once believed to be easy score had just turned into nothing, and it was because of this stranger that decided to step into his business.

Thomas was quick to pick the gun up so that it was safe from being used against his family. He'd never been mugged before, and the fear it brought to him was unimaginable to say the least. For a moment, he even believed that the mugger might have been thinking of shooting them. Thank goodness for whomever it was that was there to intervene. "Who….who are you?" He asked in the direction of the shadow.

"Leave the mugger enough money for food and some clothes and then be on your way Mr. Wayne." Came the voice in the shadows. "You and your family were all very lucky tonight. Very lucky."

"You're a hero." Thomas responded as he complied, not wanting anything unfortunate to happen after what they'd narrowly avoided. "I'd like to thank you properly for what you did tonight."

"To thank me Mr. Wayne, I just ask that you and your wife continue doing the good things that you've been doing for this city." The voice said. "And be there to raise your son." Once that was said, they could hear the sound of footsteps running away from them. Thomas looked down upon their would be assailant that was still laying on the ground for a moment before he grabbed his family and headed straight for the car. Once they were safely inside, he grabbed his cellular phone and called the police to report the attempted crime. It took a while for the adrenaline to subside and his mind become more clear, but as it did, he recalled that their savior had called their attacker by name. He just had to recall that name so that he could provide it to the police when they arrived because the attacker had his chance to escape up until the police arrived. It was up to him whether he would slink away with the few hundred dollars that they'd left him or not. Hopefully this savior would make that man think twice about trying to mug someone, but if not then the police would know who to go after and arrest.

John ran through a few alleys and streets until he found a spot where he was alone. He'd done it! He'd saved the Wayne's from their deaths, and at the same time he was enjoying the rush of adrenaline as it continued to course through him. There was excitement in experiencing what he'd just done. Aside from some soiled pants, he hadn't affected anything except for the saved lives of Thomas and Martha. It was now up to them to live their lives to the fullest. It took John a full ten minutes to cool down from the rush he'd been feeling, and when it finally subsided he found that he wanted to feel it again and again. With that thought in mind, he pulled out his list of candidates and decided to jump over to the next one right away instead of heading back. His feeling of accomplishment had his confidence growing by the second and he didn't want to wait any longer, so he made certain once again that he was free of any onlookers, focused his thoughts on the next place to jump to and waited until the light of the artifact took him away from the streets of Gotham.

~~ Two hours later ~~

Thomas and Martha were watching their son as he had finally drifted off to sleep. Both knew that the other simply wasn't going to leave their son's room for the rest of the night, and so did their faithful butler Alfred. He took it upon himself to gather some extra pillows and blankets for the couple so that they could be more comfortable in the young man's room. It was a relief to Alfred that all of them had made it back safe and sound to the mansion. He'd established a great relationship with Thomas and held a deep respect for him as a man and father. Alfred also absolutely adored Martha. She seemed to bring a natural light to any room that she walked into, and she was very loving toward her husband and son. Bruce had grown to be a very important part of Alfred's life over the years. The boy held such promise and anyone could see that from just being around him. He had a good head on his shoulders and wonderful parents to look after him. Each of the Wayne's also never treated Alfred as though he were an employee either, but rather as family, and to see any of that taken away would certainly be heartbreaking to say the least. He too stayed behind for a few extra moments as he just watched Thomas and Martha snuggle in to the bed with their son sleeping between them before he finally slipped out of the door to retire for the evening. With all the activity that had been flying around having the police there, it was nice to hear the sound of silence once again.

Alfred's mind was still dancing around all of the happenings though when he laid down and closed his eyes. He couldn't help but to go over everything again. The Wayne's had all rushed into the foyer of the Manor without having taken the car back to the garage. Bruce was clinging to Martha as Thomas made his way over to the phone when Alfred came up to him. "Is everything alright sir?" The faithful butler asked.

"Yes Alfred." Thomas responded quickly as he was dialing the phone. "We just were involved with an attempted mugging that went wrong. The police asked that I call once we returned to the Manor so that they could send a detective over to file the report."

"Oh my word sir." Alfred gasped upon hearing the news. "What of the madam and young Master Bruce? Is there anything that they require?"

"Umm, no Alfred." Thomas started before pausing. "Well, perhaps some tea for Martha would help to calm her down. They're both still fairly shook up over what happened."

Alfred wasted no time in heading to the kitchen where he poured water into a tea kettle before setting it on the stove top. Within minutes, he reemerged from the kitchen with a tray in hand holding the kettle, tea cups with tea bags, and a mug of hot chocolate for Bruce. He set the tray down on a coffee table in front of the three Wayne's before pouring the piping hot water into each tea cup, and adding a cube of sugar to Martha's cup before adding three to Thomas'. He then picked up the mug of hot chocolate and handed it to Bruce. "Here you are young Master Bruce." He said. "Hot chocolate with marsh mellows to warm the appendages on any young boy that comes in from the wintry weather as well as to help cool the nerves."

Thomas smiled faintly upon hearing Alfred's words to help sooth Bruce. It amazed him at times of all the things that this man who carried himself as the most proper of butlers could still show such a warm and caring heart when it was most needed. It was that reason alone why he and Martha had discussed and then amended their wills to have Alfred become Bruce's guardian should something disastrous ever occur to the both of them. He snuck in gathering the tea cups and handed one to Martha while Alfred was busying himself with Bruce. Certainly under normal circumstances he'd almost be slapped on the hand for doing such a thing, but at the moment Bruce was the main concern for all of them, and Alfred had no choice but to let Thomas retrieve his and Martha's tea cups.

It wasn't long before the door bell rang to announce the arrival of the police officers that had been sent out to them, and sure enough Alfred had returned with two detectives following behind him. "Master Thomas." He called out. "Detectives Flass and Gordon have arrived sir."

"Thank you, Alfred." Thomas said as he stood from his seat and approached the detectives before extending a hand to shake. Gordon took it gladly and confidently gave a firm shake before Flass haphazardly bypassed it and approached the rest of Thomas' family.

"So we were told that you were involved in an attempted mugging." Flass said as he inspected the tea kettle by lifting the lid to peek inside.

"Umm, yes detective." Thomas answered. "He was able to get a few hundred dollars from us."

"How were you able to get away with all your jewelry like that pearl necklace around your wife's neck?" Flask asked as he continued pacing slowly around the room. "Unless you decided to put it all on after you got home that is."

"No detective." Martha stated. "We were saved by a stranger."

"A stranger?" Flass questioned. "What'd he do?"

"He had some type of weapon that subdued the mugger." Thomas responded. "I've never seen anything like it."

"And what did this…weapon do exactly?" Detective Gordon asked.

"For lack of a better term, it seemed like it electrocuted him." Thomas explained. "But it wasn't strong enough to kill the mugger. Just enough to subdue him really."

"Anything specific you can tell us about this hero of yours?" Flass asked.

"We never got a good look at him." Bruce chimed in to the surprise of everyone.

"What was that son?" Jim asked.

"We couldn't see him." Bruce reiterated. "It was dark, and he stayed in the shadows. Even after he'd saved us, but I thought heroes were supposed to be celebrated, not have to hide and run away."

"He left before we could even thank him." Thomas added as he came over to Bruce's side while Alfred stood up to gather the now empty cups and mug. "Honestly I almost felt like it was a miracle that he was there to save us. I don't know what would've happened if he hadn't shown up."

"Sounds a little convenient, don't you think Mr. Wayne?" Flass questioned. "That's a nice case of right place, right time it seems."

"Whatever it was, I'm glad he was there." Martha stated.

The detectives continued gathering the details of what had happened and one thing became abundantly clear to the Wayne's. The more that they discussed what had happened, the more it seemed Detective Flass was mostly just interested in their hero rather than the man that had attacked them. Eventually they all just started answering Detective Gordon's questions and only giving Flass one word responses until he became irritated and called for Jim to make their leave. As they approached the door though, the name struck him. "Wait, detectives." Thomas said to halt them. "There's one more thing. I remember hearing the man that saved us saying something to the attacker. I think he knew his name."

"What name?" Gordon asked.

"He got the mugger's attention by saying the name Joe Chill." Thomas answered. "After that's when he hit the mugger with his weapon. I don't know if it's the mugger's name or not, but I hope that it will help you."

"Thank you, Mr. Wayne." Gordon said as he wrote down that final detail. "We'll be in touch if we find out anything. Have a good night."

Alfred could only hope that the police would be able to focus on and catch that Mr. Chill before he attempted to rob someone else instead of on the heroic man that had intervened so selflessly on the Wayne's behalf.

~~ Present time ~~

A fist slammed into the metal wall causing it to cave in ever so slightly. Diana released a growl as Batman had once again slipped under her attack. Even though she'd asked for it, she couldn't help herself from becoming frustrated by sparring with Batman. He'd been like fighting a ghost for the most part. She'd had a hard time even landing a glancing blow at times even though she could sense that she'd been getting closer as time moved on. "That was a good counter Princess, but you're still telegraphing what you're doing a little." Batman explained from behind her.

Diana spun around to face Batman head on again and saw that he was already in a defensive stance waiting for her to attack. She'd learned much from the times before when sparring with Bruce to know that when he was in a defensive stance, she had to be especially cautious with each move she made. He would watch her every flinch or adjustment and would move around accordingly until he had her where he wanted and could take her down. In the beginning she instantly would lunge in, but then the battle would come to an abrupt end with her on the ground and him standing over her. Today was going to be different she decided. Instead of attacking she was going to read his body language, and she did just that as they circled around each other. She knew that patience was her Achilles heel, and he'd been exploiting that weakness whenever it would give him the advantage. Not this time though. Now she was looking for an opening to exploit rather that attempting to create one. She switched her pattern of movement back and forth to see how he reacted, and one of those switches was when she spotted her chance. He'd stopped mid step, leaving one foot behind the other for just a moment, but that was all that it took as she lunged forward with a feint to get him off balance. Batman stepped back quickly and attempted to counter with a hook shot, but Diana was ready for it as she caught his arm and yanked back toward her. She'd successfully gotten him off balance enough that he wasn't going to be able to land on his feet, and only had a slim chance to avoid being taken down, but that was dashed as Diana stuck out her leg to further trip him up before she spun around and followed him to the ground.

Diana had Batman pinned and she was mounted in full control position over his hips as she worked to pin down his arms and officially subdue him for the first time without using her powers at all. She even eventually managed to position her arms so that if he attempted to struggle any more, an elbow could be released to smash against the bridge of his nose. Both combatants were breathing heavily from the amount of effort they'd already expended as they stared back into each other's eyes. That was until he caught sight of her licking her lips ever so slightly while fighting to catch her own breath. After a few moments though, she leaned in closer to him until her nose was almost touching against his cowl covered nose. "Submit." She said simply, yet confidently.

Batman felt something strong inside of him that urged him to respond. He fought against that urge, but before he could squash it away, words managed to come out before he could stop himself. "And what if I don't?" He asked in a husky voice that even he'd never heard coming from himself before.

Hearing the tone of Batman's voice at that moment brought all of Diana's thoughts and recollections about her dream with Bruce to the forefront of her thoughts at that very moment. She felt a shiver that was running down her spine. Batman was a colleague and trusted teammate. He'd made it clear that he was more than alright with them being nothing more, even as just Diana and Bruce. But now there was some doubt about just how certain he was. She couldn't help but to wonder if he was trying to remain professional despite perhaps his own feelings. Perhaps he didn't want to go against her Amazon beliefs even though she had to admit that she herself was finding a desire to do so. Maybe he just needed to be shown that she was wanting him to take this action with her. So she inched ever closer to his face and closed her eyes just before their lips were about to meet. She stayed there for a moment as she attempted to collect her composure before closing the remaining distance to find nothing there.

Diana's eyes snapped open wondering just how and why Bruce would've evaded such an intimate moment only to see that he was still there underneath her, but in a sense wasn't at the same time. He was fading away into nothing, and before she knew what was going on, her bottom fell through from where she'd been sitting on top of Bruce to down on the cold floor of the training room. He'd completely disappeared from her view. "Batman!" She yelled, fearful that something awful had just happened to him. "Batman, respond." She quickly ordered through the communicator, hoping to reach him wherever he was. When she received no response, she left the training room and headed directly for the Monitor Womb only to find that the entire Watchtower was slowly beginning to fade away as well. It was then that she was blinded by a flash of light. When she could see again, she quickly realized that she'd been transported to Mount Olympus where all of her Gods and Goddesses were seated before her. She kneeled immediately and bowed out of respect. "What do my Gods and Goddesses require of me?" She asked.

"Diana, we have a mission of great importance for you to take on." Hera informed. "Zeus' brother Hades has discovered that someone is tampering with the lives of mortals, and in doing so, they are also hastening the end of the world."

"Who is this person my queen?" Diana asked.

"We do not know." Hera responded before a ball of flames appeared behind Diana. She turned to see that Hades himself was now in attendance.

"My Diana." Hades started, much to Diana's dismay. "The Fates have had their life threads of mortals tampered with by an outside entity. It will be your requirement to find this enemy and restore the order of man's world. If you don't, then the potential for even Themyscira to fall victim would become likely."

"How do I find this being?" Diana asked before another question came to her. "Would this be the cause of one of my Justice League colleagues disappearing right before my very eyes?"

"We believe so." Apollo answered. "It appears that whoever this being is, they are traveling through time and changing the past. This discovery is only recent as I can now see future being changed in a constant state of flux. There is only one ending for the mortal world however if you do not find this person and stop them. Also, you should know that as of now there is no Justice League for you to return to. The changes made in the past have seen to that."

"Then why is it that I can remember all of them?" Diana asked, pushing for more details.

"We've shielded your memories from the changes so that when balance is restored, you will be able to validate it as such." Athena answered. "If you wish to have your friends brought back to you, then you will take on this mission."

"I will gladly take on this mission as you have requested of me." Diana stated before Aphrodite patted her on the shoulder and motioned for her to rise.

"This will be an incredibly difficult task to complete, even for our champion." The Goddess of love whispered. "When you return, you will see things that might be difficult to handle, but you must complete this mission Diana of Themyscira. It is of the utmost importance. Also know that this mission can only be taken on by you. No one else in the world will be the wiser of the past being changed, even those that had been closest to you up until this point."

"I understand." Diana responded. "Thank you for your council." She then turned to face the rest of the Gods and Goddesses. "I'm ready to be returned to Earth so that I can find and bring this person before you all." With that said, Zeus clapped his hands together loudly, and a thunderous sound was all she could hear before everything in her world went dark.