Scene 1

Setting - Vanishing Point, The End of Time

The normally mostly empty space around Vanishing Point's one building is littered with corpses. The building itself is silent, both inside and out. Vanishing Point is no fortress anymore. It has become a mass grave.

There are no marks on the bodies to indicate what killed them, but a waxy film covers (has become?) their faces. An observer might think they were mannequins, posed as superheroes in a Halloween store or museum. But there is no observer in this lifeless place.

They are all versions of Matthew Ryder / Waverider, Rip Hunter, the Flash, Booster Gold, most members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and other time travelers and speedsters from various places in spacetime. More than a few Kryptonian bodies are present. (Yes, even the ones you're probably thinking of.) Villains are represented also: Time Trapper. Chronos. Vandal Savage. Even the Anti-Monitor.

A few big names are conspicuous by their complete absence: Hourman, Linear Woman, and the Reverse Flash. Could one or all of these people be responsible? Or has the real culprit just not gotten around to killing them yet? Why do they (whoever "they" are) need all these metahumans out of the way? What are they going to do, once no one is left to stop them?

Scene 2

Setting - Takron-Galtos Penal Colony, the 30th Century, inside a maximum-security state-of-the-art level XVII temporal prison cell

The Eobard Thawne of Earth-1 is sitting on the metal bench in his cell. His shoulders bob up and down as he clasps his hands to his face, sobbing, inconsolable. Today, he awoke and realized he could no longer remember how many years he has been here. He has long since run out of clever schemes for escape. He's going to die here, one day, decades from now. It wasn't even Allen who put me here, he thinks, grinding his teeth without noticing he's doing it. What a waste.

The flash of light comes so suddenly, and fills the room so completely, that Thawne doesn't notice its source. When the guard comes to collect his tray, the cell's occupant is gone. The guard sighs, pressing a small blue button on the implant in her forearm. "Security, we have a successful escape. Cause indeterminate, pending further investigation. Notify the Legion immediately."

Scene 3

Setting - Same penal colony, next cell over, right after the guard leaves

The Rick Tyler of Earth-37 and his father Rex are playing poker. On their Earth, the dominant life form is not homo sapiens but ailurus sapiens. In other words, the species that evolved speech and civilization on Earth-37 is the red panda. Rick's fur is still a bright and luxurious orange. Rex's has gone mostly gray around his ears and chin.

Rick lays his hand down on the table. "You owe me your next two puddings, Dad. I knew he'd be the next one."

Rex lets out a long and pitiable sigh. "That's true. But you and I both know we probably won't be here that long. Son, we have to consider the possibility that no one outside this containment unit, of this prison, in this universe will notice enough speedsters and time travelers disappearing from the same universe, until it's too late. Where else could the pattern be visible from?"

Rick nods his agreement, continuing to listen. While he thinks out loud, Rex scratches his chin with one paw. "Whoever's doing this, there are certain people they might not think of first, when it comes to time travel abilities. Anyone powered by magic, seems to me. When you say 'time travel', people think of technology only it were as easy to contact the Spectre as it used to be: just talk to him at the next team meeting. But we could try Nelson, or one of the Strausses. In theory, any sorcerer powerful enough might be able to do it. How can we smuggle a message out of here?"

They sit in companionable silence, pondering, while they finish their hand of poker. After a moment, Rick smiles. "I have an idea. You're going to hate it, but I bet it will work."

Now the old man is smiling too. "How many puddings?"

Scene 4

Setting - Nowhere, no-when

Linear Woman is dreaming, unable to wake. The dreams are far from pleasant. First, she is a fawn being pursued by a hunter, through a dark wood with ancient, looming, twisted trees. Their limbs and roots scratch and grab at her, causing her to stumble. She falls through the floor and everything spins for a moment.

Now she is standing in a bright, colorful carnival that at first seems delightful, if a little over the top. Then one of the clowns smiles. He isn't even trying to conceal those razor sharp teeth, and he's licking his lips now. She turns and runs the other direction, past a stand marked "Corn Dogs" that instead sells oversized human fingers on a stick. She runs until her chest is burning and her legs about to collapse. Then the world turns inside out and upside down.

She finds herself in a parking lot that stretches as far as she can see, in every direction. It is mostly empty. The sky is cloudy, and the only birds she can see are five or six vultures, circling above her. "Vultures are patient", says a little mouse who scurries out from under a car, "But they haven't eaten in years. Probably waiting for you to sit down. I'm too small for them to bother with, but you... they'd all get a good meal. I'd better get out of here, just to be safe." And then the mouse disappears under a different car.

Something is holding her here, some malevolent force that's terribly powerful and entirely alien. Even though she's still asleep, she can feel a coldness in her bones. No, not cold... an absence of something. Somehow, impossibly, time does not exist in this place. Even at Vanishing Point, it's possible for one event to happen after another. But not here. If not for the wellspring of chronal energy within her, this lack of time would prevent her from even having thoughts here. It's the perfect prison for someone like her.

The next nightmare is set in a meat packing plant. Oh, this is just great, she thinks. There are a thousand and one ways this could go badly. But then, she hears a voice.

The voice is soft, kind, and authoritative. This being sounds like they could be a great leader, a beloved head of state, or an experienced teacher. She hears their voice in her mind. "Liri Lee, you appear to require assistance. Who has imprisoned you here?"

I don't know who stashed me here or why, she thinks. But I'd appreciate an assist. Someone needed me alive, but hidden away until I'd be useful. They must be powerful. Where even are we?

She begins to perceive a shimmering at the edge of her vision, on the right. White light, streaming into this dark and empty place. As the light moves toward the center of her field of view, the parking lot bleeds away, revealing the nothingness beneath. Now she can see the source of the light: a pale man with shaggy hair, wearing a long white robe. His eyes burn like an endless starry night. Do I know you?

"We have met before, but mortals seldom remember. I am Dream of the Endless. It is time for you to wake... but not yet."

He takes her hand in his own, and her body instantly unfreezes. She still can't speak - there's no air - which makes her wonder how she's even still alive. Best not to dwell on that. Escape is more important.

As Dream continues speaking, Liri shakes out her limbs and begins doing stretches. "I agree, it is time for you to leave this place. These nightmares are not of my making, nor are they from my homeland. Theyey are not even true nightmares but an imitation, granted a sophisticated one. They are delusions of persecution, in point of fact. Troubling. The Dreaming has been tampered with. That is unacceptable. Reparations must be exacted. I must investigate."

Dream waves his hand. A shimmering, scintillating portal opens. As Dream leads her through it, he issues an official invitation. "Come, avatar of time. You do not deserve this torture, and I require your assistance. You need only ask for asylum in my realm, and we will both be free to leave this place. Yhen shall dine on whatever fills your mind with wonder and joy, and you will tell me the last thing you remember."

Scene 5

Setting - Marvel Universe, Earth-616, a smelly steamy alley in Pittsburgh at 2:13 AM

Axel Asher is retching into the gutter, and he doesn't entirely know why. Sure, he got drunk after a long day at the factory. That isn't unusual, it happens all the time. But he hasn't eaten anything in hours. Where is all this sticky green gunk even coming from? It just keeps coming and coming, with no sign of stopping any time soon.

First as a slow trickle and then all at once, a tsunami of memories smashes into Axel's consciousness from below. It overwhelms him and he trips, overwhelming that he trips, catching himself on a dumpster to keep from slipping. Someone must have needed him not just distracted, but completely off the board. Stranger still, when he thinks back to the last thing he remembers from his life as a superhero, there seem to be an infinite number of conflicting memories. But that can't happen, unless...

Oh no, he thinks. Somebody must be screwing around with the timestream. I don't think anything else makes sense. But who could alter history in every universe, at the same time? Who can even comprehend that level of power?

And then he allows himself to think the next thought, the one lurking like an assassin beneath the last. And more importantly, how could anyone hope to defeat someone like that?

Another round of vomiting ensues when he tries to open a portal. He is grateful it doesn't last long. This is going to be more difficult than it seemed.

Exhausted, Axel makes his way to his favorite subway sleeping spot, from many a night out drinking past the last late-night bus. As he drifts into unconsciousness, one last question flits through his mind:

"How many years did they steal from me?"

-Stay tuned for Issue 2: Doctor Manhattan's Deepest Desire-