Peter was making his way through the Waverider where he came across the guys down in the docking bay. He walked down and joined them, wondering what was going on.
"Hey, Pete." Ray greeted him, wearing his ATOM gauntlet. "How's it going?"
"Oh, you know, explaining the whole Weirdmageddon story to my family was a bit of a pain," Peter said with a sigh.
"I'd imagine," Lane scoffed. "A whole lot went down."
"Okay, so, uh, where are we?" Ray asked as he got back on track. "I was saying I reverse-engineered the Time Bureau tech that Mick stole from Rip. Now, we can locate anachronisms too."
"Nice work, man," Nate said.
"Also, check this out," Ray said as he raised his gauntlet. "Our run-in with Caesar got me thinking. What if there was a way to contain the anachronisms that we pick up, and not have them causing trouble on the ship or taking things they shouldn't?"
"Yeah, that's what we got the brig for." Lane reminded him.
"Well, what if we have another LA situation? Try putting a dinosaur in the brig. Huh?" Ray reminds them. "Not going to happen. No. Unless it's an Aquilops."
"Or a Compsognathus," Nate said.
"Or a cute little Oviraptor." Ray continued.
"Okay, so just, how do we contain them?" Lane asks, wanting to continue the conversation.
"We make it smaller," Ray said, showing off his gauntlet. "Whhshhh."
"You built a shrink ray." Peter started to get it.
"I'm not particularly fond of that name. I'm calling it the hyper-molecular compressor." Ray proclaimed. "It's a more powerful and portable version of the tech from my suit."
"So... it is a shrink ray?" Lane clarifies.
Ray seemed annoyed by the question and shrugged. "Essentially." He then backed off, aiming his gauntlet over towards a vase on a desk. "I perfected it using some tech that I... saw while dealing with Weirdmageddon, and even some tips I got from Stature."
Then Ray started to aim the gauntlet, shooting a beam that reached the vase and watched as it shrank. It went down to a molecular level to the point it looked almost like a toy model of a base.
Lane nodded. "Nice."
"It'll return to normal size in 24 hours, or, if you don't want to wait..." Ray then aimed his gauntlet again and they watched as it grew back to normal size.
"All right," Nate commented.
"Don't let Felicia see this, she might get some ideas," Peter warned him.
"Noted. Let's gather the rest of the team and check out the new anachronism map." Ray said as they headed back to the common room.
Examining the anachronism map, they noticed numerous timelines had been obliterated. This devastation was not only a consequence of their own past alterations creating a time rip but also due to the cascading effects throughout the multiverse unleashed by Weirdmageddon.
"We really messed up time," Sara commented.
"Looks like we gave time acne," Mick commented.
"Okay, someone breaks down what I am looking at, it ironically looks like a giant bundle of webs to me," Lane commented.
"Each of these dots represents an anachronism we created by breaking time," Ray explained to them. "Rip's Bureau rates them on a scale of one to ten according to their magnitude of impact and potential difficulty." He then shrank everything down into a small hologram ball and tossed it onto the screens. "Gideon, can you analyze this data?"
"Certainly, Dr. Palmer," Gideon said, scanning all of the data.
"Look at all these, " Nate said with a sigh. "It's going to take a lifetime to clean up this mess—maybe several."
"Where should we start?" Ray wonders.
"What about the Great Wall of China, - level six anachronism?" Lane offered.
"I had Chinese last night," Mick stated. "Where can I get a steak?"
"How about the North Atlantic Ocean? April 1912?" Ray offered. "I hear the Titanic had amazing food."
"Absolutely not," Peter stated. "I am not setting foot on the Titanic." He then saw another one of the blips. "Ooh, how about 2099? Hear there's even a Spider-Man in that time?"
Lane suddenly felt cold as he shivered. Felicia looked over him in concern. "You good?"
"Yeah, I just... felt a weird chill..." Lane said as he rubbed his shoulder. "Don't know what that was about."
Sara was confused and shrugged it off. "Anyways... I'm sure Little Miss Time Bureau would love to see us mess this up, so let's find something easy. A nice slam dunk."
"How about Wisconsin, 1870?" Lane offered. "It's a level one."
"Oh, I do hope you choose that one," Gideon said with almost glee. "The anachronism is located at the grounds of P.T. Barnum's Roving Museum of Freaks and Hypnotic Hippodrome. Although he is erroneously credited with the phrase "There's a sucker born every minute," in truth, Mr. Barnum would have never belittled paying customers."
Sara and the Legends found themselves amongst the crowd of circus people. They were roaming amongst the circus folk searching for their anachronism. Of course, they were all dressed in the style of the time period to not stand out.
"Perfect," Sara said with a sigh. "We're bringing the circus to the circus."
"This is a classic slice of Americana," Ray said as he walked around. "The air is thick with the smell of popcorn, candy, and wonder.
"If I see a clown, I'm outta here," Mick warned them with a growl.
"What? You afraid of clowns, Mick?" Peter asked almost in disbelief.
"No," Mick stated. "I just don't like their stupid faces and funny shoes and... razor-sharp teeth."
Peter froze when he heard that and looked over towards Mick. "Their what?"
"All right, guys." Sara got their attention. "If you were an anachronism hiding in the circus, where would you be?"
Felicia looked around and gestured over towards the circus. "How 'bout in there?"
They wandered amongst the crowd of people and artifacts "collected" by the circus. Freaks and random things that ironically could have come from different places and times across time and space.
"King Tut's tomb?" Sara asked when she saw the small artifact. "No way."
"No way indeed." Lane scoffed. "They covered it in flour to make it look old. Ask me, dragging it through the mud would have done better." He then gestured over towards the random people across the circus. "Bearded lady: hormone imbalance." He then saw their excuse for a caveman. "A Wookie would make a far more convincing caveman."
"Evans, you can't look behind the curtain," Ray said with a sigh. "It spoils the fun."
"Fun?" Lane asked as he looked around. "Tricks and freaks are all I see, and these uneducated rubes come here in droves, begging to be fooled."
"No." Ray defended. "People want to live in a world where anything's possible. They wanna be amazed."
"Yes, and amazing as this is, we're wasting time," Sara informed them. "Let's split up."
"Ladies and gentlemen!" They heard who they guessed was Barnum. "Welcome, one and all, to the Best Show On Earth!" There was a crowd coming along, cheering and applauding. "That is a working title. My roving show of wonders has the most remarkable of oddities in store for you today. Is it beautiful? The very definition. Is it deadly? It can take your head from your shoulders in a single bite. What makes this creature such a marvel is that it has been extinct... for the last 10,000 years."
"Are you guys hearing this?" Felicia asks.
"Could be our anachronism." Peter nodded as he and the boys snuck behind the set.
"Or another humbug." Lane scoffed.
"Check it out, just to be safe," Sara reported.
"This exclusive, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could be yours, for only a nickel," Barnum said.
Peter gagged when he smelled something. "Yikes, what's that smell?"
That was when they came across a giant pile of dung inside of a wagon. "Where there's poop... There's a prize." Ray said as he walked over to it, checking out the bucket. "Check it out. Well, do we have to? This is definitely feline feces, but unlike any I've ever seen."
"You've studied a lot of poop, big guy?" Nate asks, clogging his nose.
"As an Eagle Scout, I can interpret 175 different droppings," Ray stated with pride.
"Okay, it's official, I am going to get you a girlfriend," Peter said with sorrow. "You need one."
"The color and viscosity indicate a carnivorous diet, but this movement took a long time to pass," Ray said, trying to figure it out. "The meat looks like it was tough like a rhinoceros or elephant hide."
"I speak of a creature that comes to you from the distant past!"
Ray then finally put it together as he looked through the pile of dung. "I know what our anachronism is."
"Contain it, quick," Sara tells him. "We can't let these people see the anachronism. We don't want this to get any worse."
Ray rummaged through the crates in the back before coming across an animal crate. "Oh! Bingo!" He then approached the crate and grabbed the tarp. "Gentlemen, may I present to you... the saber-toothed tiger!" He then yanked off the tarp, revealing it was indeed a sabertooth tiger underneath resting. Ray then began to sneeze, getting the others' attention towards him. "Oh..." He then coughed at the cat hairs flying around. "Did I mention that I'm allergic to cats?"
"Seriously?" Peter asks.
"Please tell me you brought your shrink ray," Lane asked.
"Molecular hyper-compressor." Ray corrected him. "And yes."
Peter groaned as he walked over and crushed the lock to open the cage. When he did, it caused the tiger to stir, getting Peter concerned for what is about to happen. Looking back toward Ray, he was readjusting the settings on the gauntlet.
"Ray, you might wanna hurry," Peter warned him.
"Shrinking a vase is very different from shrinking an extinct tiger." Ray defended what was taking so long. "Okay? I have to account for speed, lifespan, gender you think it's a male or female?"
The tiger then began to growl, standing up, getting them worried. "I think it's awake," Nate said in concern. "Ray, shoot it!"
"Shoot it!" Peter cried, seeing it was beginning to strike.
"A few more adjustments..." Ray began to stress out as he was trying to keep up.
Then that was when he sneezed, activating the gauntlet, and causing the sabertooth tiger not to shrink but rather to grow. That caused the crew to jump back in fear at the giant creature. Peter tried to close the gate, but they failed and he slammed into the side of the cage. That was when Lane drew his blaster and set it to stun. But when he shot the blaster, the hit missed as the sabertooth ran off into the woods, causing the blast to rather hit Ray.
"Are you guys okay? I heard a roar." Sara said.
Lane tried to shoot off a few more shots before the sabertooth got away through the thick woods. "Looks like our problem got a whole lot bigger..."
To say Sara was upset with them was an understatement when they reached the Waverider Sara saw that the problem got worse since they interfered. "Let me get this straight. You three released a giant saber-toothed tiger."
""Release" isn't the word I'd use," Ray stated.
"Yeah, more like, uh, "didn't contain"," Peter stated.
"Gideon, what's the status of the anachronism?" Sara asks the computer.
"The anachronism has elevated - from level one to level four," Gideon said.
"What? How is that even a thing?" Nate asks.
"We made it worse, that's how." Nate groaned as he leaned back. "We can't just get one easy win."
"Okay, so we just get Shrinky some allergy medicine and go back out there," Felicia tells them.
"None of us even have experience with animals," Sara said, but then she got an idea when she said that. "Stay on the ship." She then started to head for the Jumpship. "Stay out of trouble."
"Where the hell's she going?" Nate wonders.
Turns out Sara was heading for the past, looking for an old friend of theirs who had experience with animals and even could communicate with them.
"Hey, girl." Sara greeted Amaya. "How 'bout one final mission for old times' sake?"
Back on the ship, the guys were passing the time with Felicia playing a game of cards. Felicia was already cleaning them out, getting them shocked at how fast she was capable of beating them.
"I raise the pot one - dishes duty," Ray stated, placing a piece of paper into the middle.
"All righty, Ray, I will raise you one..." Nate then looked off to the doorway. "Amaya?"
"Can't bet what you don't have, pretty." Mick mocked, not turning around.
That was when everyone then looked to the doorway and saw Amaya was standing there. "Hello, Nathaniel. It is good to see you all again."
"Amaya!" Felicia said with cheer as she walked over and hugged her.
"Hey, it's been a minute," Lane said as he approached her.
"Yes, and... I heard about the professor," Amaya said with sorrow. "I am truly sorry."
"How have you been?" Peter wonders as he hugs her.
"I missed you," Mick said as he hugged her.
"Ship's not the same without you," Ray said.
"I have been told. I leave you guys for five minutes, and you already have one big adventure without me," Amaya commented. "And now there is a giant sabertooth tiger?"
"Haircut here "embiggened" an extinct tiger." Mick proclaimed, pointing the blame towards Ray.
"Which Amaya and I are going to catch," Sara stated.
"And then I have to return to Zambesi," Amaya explained why she was there.
"We're going to need your shrink ray, Ray," Sara tells him.
"Well, I-I thought we talked about not calling it that," Ray said.
"And don't you need the rest of us?" Peter wonders.
"We can handle it," Sara promised.
"Really? You don't want us to come along and mess things up?" Lane asked as a joke.
"Enjoy your night," Sara said as they walked off.
The rest of the crew, feeling the weight of their tumultuous journey, decided it was time to escape the confines of the Waverider and seek solace at the nearest bar. They hadn't had a genuine moment to pause and reflect on everything that had unfolded since their fateful encounter with their alternate future selves. It had been an overwhelming whirlwind of events—first, they grappled with Rip's departure from the team, a blow that left them feeling unmoored. Then came the unpredictable chaos of Weirdmageddon, a cataclysm that rippled through the multiverse, throwing their lives into disarray.
The grief of losing the Professor weighed heavily on their hearts, compounded by Lane's departure. When they finally returned to their Earth, it was to find their home engulfed in turmoil, a stark reminder of the repercussions of their actions. Each challenge had piled on top of the next, leaving them no time to breathe, to process, or even to grieve. As they made their way to the bar—a place that they hoped promised distraction and perhaps a semblance of relief—they desperately craved a moment of stillness to confront the chaos they had endured.
"Our lives are so messed up," Nate said with a sigh. "I mean, two months ago, I was just some random historian, who found a few ripples across time, and now, here we are, I am a Meta, your history was rewritten," He was gesturing to Peter. "And we went through two apocalyptic universal ending events at once."
"You should have seen what it was like living amongst the Warriors," Lane said with a sigh, reaching for a glass. "Thanos, Ultron, Alice's grandmother, the Anti-Monitor, we dealt with a whole lot of stuff."
"Okay, forget what I said about him," Peter said, gesturing towards Ray. "You need a girlfriend."
"Me?" Lane asked with a laugh. "Yeah, I don't know about that."
"What? You say you're not interested?" Felicia asked with a brow raised. "Or is it girls you have no interest in?"
"Oh, no, I am into girls, trust me, I had a whole lot of fun back in my universe... before the universe was reset and I became a fisherman," Lane muttered to himself. "Captain of the Millennium Falcon... reduced to a fisherman."
"What, so you just don't want a girlfriend?" Nate asks but then notices the look. "Wait, have you ever had a relationship?"
"A lasting one?" Lane considered his answer. "Uh... no."
"What?!" Ray asks.
In the woods, Amaya and Sara walked around looking around to try and find the sabertooth. Amaya noticed there were a bunch of claw marks on the trees, getting her to caress the tree.
"The tiger's heading east." Amaya noticed. "It looks like he stopped here to sharpen his claws."
That was when Sara panicked and quickly placed the gauntlet on her hand.
"Don't tell me the infamous Sara Lance is scared of a big cat." Amaya laughed as she looked around.
"Giant tiger." Sara corrected her.
"Don't worry," Amaya said as she strolled around. "To animals, humans are the predators. Even to other humans..."
They then heard the sabertooth growling and noticed it approaching from the woods.
"Whatever you do, don't run," Amaya warns Sara.
Back at the bar, Barnum, the bearded lady, and the strong man were at the same bar that the rest of the team was at.
"I spent my last greenback on that feline oddity," Barnum stated with a sigh. "Circus is shuttin' down."
"You know I'd rather die before going back to Salem, Phineas." The bearded lady said.
"There's some small-minded folk back there," Barnum stated with sorrow. "Small-minded folk everywhere." He said, looking around the bar at the people laughing and dancing and drinking. "Even the most retrograde ingrate wants to be entertained. The human spirit... longs for edification and delight. We just need a show-stopper to edify and delight 'em."
"Are you on Upswips?" Peter asked, seeing that Nate had just signed Lane up for a dating app.
"Connected through the Waverider," Nate stated, showing off one of the people. "This is Cindy. 5'9". Profession: weather reporter."
"Okay," Ray said.
"Loves kale." Nate listed off. "Says she wants to meet up."
"That's nice," Ray commented.
"Okay, give me that," Lane said, snatching his phone back. "Look, if I am going to start dating, then there are some ground rules. One, she can not be a member of the crew as of this moment."
"What makes you think we are getting more?" Peter asks.
"Our track record," Lane stated. "And she needs to at least be able to handle herself." He listed off his desires. "I don't want some damsel that needs rescuing."
"Good thing that you mentioned that team thing, you are almost referencing Sara one hundred percent." Peter joked.
Lane laughed as he took a drink. "God, no. Sara is a nice girl, but I don't date other captains."
"Right, I keep forgetting you used to be a captain," Peter admitted as he took a chug of his drink.
One of the attendants purposefully bumped into the bearded lady, shoving her against the bar. Nate, drunk from too many drinks, stood up and approached.
"Hey, hey, hey! Hey! You owe the lady an apology." Nate told him.
"That's not a lady." He stated, gesturing to the bearded lady. "That's a freak."
The piano stops as everyone turns their attention towards the two of them.
"Are you trying to pick a fight with me?" Nate wonders. "Because I would love to get into a fight right now."
He then went in to punch Nate, but he steeled up, causing the man to scream as he felt the pain. He then went in for another strike and kicked Nate, only for the same result to cause him to scream.
"If she's a freak, what am I?" Nate asks, getting a round of cheers from everyone.
"That was marvelous! A round of drinks, on me!" Phineas said as he approached.
"It's, uh, actually, it's time for us to be going," Ray said, seeing that they had given their powers away.
"No, no, come on, hey, we just met," Phineas said. "Please. Oh, you got to tell me, where did you learn a humbug like that?"
"Well, that's no humbug, P to the T," Nate stated, not realizing what he was saying. "You see, people like us, we gotta stick together." He said as he was talking to the bearded lady. "And by the way, your beard, it's beautiful."
"You're so sweet." She replied.
"She said I'm sweet," Nate whispered.
"I'm sorry, "people like us"?" Phineas asks.
"Yeah," Nate said as he gestured toward the others. "My friend Pete here can crawl up walls."
"No, no, that's, uh, that's just the whiskey talking," Peter said in worry.
"Right, buddy? No, it's true." Nate started. "And my friend Ray here - turns teeny-weeny."
The others were filled with nervous laughter.
"Teeny-weeny."
"That's very funny, Nate," Peter said as he gave his friend a pat on the back. "Come on, you're gonna feel this tomorrow."
"But if you want to know a real freak, P. T. It's our friend," Nate told him. "She can summon the power of any animal. And our friend here dresses like a cat."
"It's a uniform," Felicia gritted through her teeth.
"Is that right?" Phineas asked, feeling an idea sparking. "I have an idea, fellas. How 'bout we meet, and retire back to the circus, for a little private show where I guarantee I've got the most beautiful And flexible Acrobats you've ever seen?"
"Acrobats, you say?" Lane felt an urge. "I could go for a night of fun."
"You had me at "circus," Ray admitted.
"I think I will meet you guys back at the... place," Peter almost said ship in front of the wrong people.
"Oh, yes, we will," Felicia said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Well, I'm glad you decided to try and get out there, even if it is with me because everyone else turned it down," Ray said as he and Lane were heading to the circus.
"Yeah, but they are about to miss out," Lane chuckled. "I haven't-"
That was when they turned the corner and the strong man managed to knock them out before they knew what was coming.
"I thought we needed the tin man." The bearded lady said.
"In due time," Phineas said. "We have his friends. Oh, smile, Hildy, we just might save the circus yet."
The next day, Peter was walking down the halls of the ship with Felicia. The two of them giggled as they wandered the halls, seeing they were quiet, and figured the guys must still be at the circus.
"That was fun," Felicia giggled. "Where did you learn to do that?"
"Oh, you learn a thing or two when you have sticky fingers," Peter said as he leaned down to kiss her neck.
That was when they felt a gust of wind and got them to look downward and see that the downstairs door hatch was still open. "That's odd."
"Well, the ship is still cloaked, right?" Felicia asks.
"Gideon?" Peter called.
"Apologies, Mr. Parker. "But Mr. Haywood fainted on the stairway."
"What?" Peter asked as he and Felicia headed down just as they saw Sara and Amaya returning with a shrunken Sabertooth. "Looks like you got it."
"Yep, all done," Sara said as she looked and noticed Nate. 'What's wrong with him?"
"Apparently he drank too much." Peter guessed.
"Yep," Mick said, causing them to shriek and turn back to see he was sitting on some crates. He was drinking some coffee to their surprise. "been there all night."
"And you were just watching?" Felicia questioned.
"Just woke up," Mick corrected.
"Well, if he is here..." Peter looked down at him. He then leaned down and snapped his fingers in Nate's face. "Nate? Man, you good?"
Nate groaned as he moved his hat from his face. "What are you doing in my room?" That was when he looked around and realized where he was. "Oh, this is not my room."
"Where are Lane and Ray?" Felicia wonders.
Nate shushed her. "Yelling. I'm going to die. I don't remember."
"What's the last thing that you do remember?" Amaya asks.
"Ohh. Whiskey." Nate gagged. "So..." He gags. "So what's..." He ran over and retched up. "Ugh. It's all it's all coming back to me. We were headed to a circus for a private show."
"Yeah, ran into Phineas," Peter remembered.
"And then what?" Sara wonders. "You decided to peel off and sleep in the cargo bay?"
"How could you abandon your own team?" Amaya asks.
"What?" Felicia asks. "They weren't abandoned. We know where they are, we can find them. Besides, who are you to tell us about leaving your team? Didn't you literally abandon your team to chase after us? And then abandon us the minute you got your revenge?"
"I'm sorry, aren't you a thief?" Amaya asks as she approaches her.
"Uh, reformed," Felicia said as she stood tall, preparing to draw her claws. "Can I say the same for you? Last I heard, Sara found you in the jungle. Far away from your team you already abandoned twice.
"All right, let's stop wasting time." Sara stopped before they began to fight. "Let's go find the guys."
Phineas was looking at Ray and Lane as they were trapped in one of the cages. They were smart to take Lane's blaster he always carried, even if he had it disguised to fit with the times, it was still capable of much damage.
"The loss of my saber-toothed tiger was indeed a blow," Phineas said. "But the fates have smiled on me again because the "Superpowered Man" and "The Incredible Shrinking Man" have joined my troupe."
"I think we've had a slight misunderstanding," Ray said.
"And I am truly grateful that you have not used your special abilities to try to escape."
"Special abilities?" Lane laughed. "Dude, that was just the liquor talking. I am not a super-powered guy."
"He's right," Ray stated. "Okay? My friend and I are just regular, plain old folk from 1870."
"That's not helping," Lane replied.
"Dishonesty is not your strong suit, my good man," Phineas told Ray.
"It's the face, isn't it?" Lane asks. "He's got that innocent-looking face, doesn't help."
"What?" Ray asks.
"Come on, tell me one successful lie you've told in your life," Lane dared him.
"It's also useless because I saw what your friend did," Phineas said. "That was no trick. And he says you two are capable of wonders just as marvelous. So chop-chop. Don't be shy."
"We can't," Ray stated.
"Oh, poppycock." Phineas scoffed.
"But he's right," Lane stated. "He can't shrink without his exo-suit."
"And he also doesn't have any powers," Ray admitted. "So you might as well just let us go, 'cause we are obviously useless."
"Don't worry," Phineas said as he began to leave. "I'll make marvels out of you yet."
"Okay..." Lane looked at Ray in confusion. "So, who wants to break out?"
"You can get out of here?" Ray asked in surprise.
Lane scoffed as he walked over and began to get to work. "Please. I escaped Imperial prisons. A lock and key are an insult to my abilities."
The others returned to the circus and looked around, wondering what was going on. Mick, not liking clowns, didn't join them. And the mission didn't entirely require his presence so it wasn't necessary to bring him along.
"You said Ray and Lane would be here," Sara told Nate.
"They're probably eating breakfast sandwiches and eating a handful of aspirin." Nate guessed as he wore a hat to block the sun.
"Or, maybe they're in trouble," Amaya said.
"Here? This place is harmless." Peter stated.
"Then why are we being watched?" Sara asked, getting them to look over towards her. "Guy in the hat, six o'clock?"
Everyone understood her, except for Nate who looked back and saw the guy. "That guy?"
That gave the man away, and he turned to leave. Sara and Felicia quickly gave chase as Felicia went right for him and chased after him. Sara quickly took another run to find where he was running to. When he turned around some bushes, he turned back and was met with Sara attacking from behind. She smacked him by the throat and knocked him down, revealing his face and confusing Sara.
"Gary?"
Mick was in the kitchen of the Waverider before looking over to see the Sabertooth in the cage. He was making a sandwich with meat which got the creature's attention.
"Oh. You like meat, huh? Yeah, all right." Mick decides to give some to the creature and opens the cage to drop some meat. "There we go."
The saber-kitten snarls and bit at his hand. Mick groaned as he took his hand back, seeing the creature leap from the cage and run down the halls.
"Come back here, you little rat bastard!"
Down in the brig, Sara was chaining the squirmy guy in glasses. Peter was watching as she cuffed him to a chair.
"Who is this guy and why have we taken him prisoner?" Peter asked her.
"Peter, meet Gary," Sara said.
"Please don't kill me," Gary begged.
"I won't if you tell us why you were tailing us," Sara said.
"You two know each other?" Peter was confused.
"Gary here works for Rip's Time Bureau. We met him during the tour while you were taking the call from your dad," Sara explained as she reached down into his pocket and found a device. "And I'm guessing Agent Sharpe had her little stooge spying on us. Isn't that right, Gary?"
"Well, I'm not at liberty to discuss the nature of my-" Sara was quick to prepare to threaten him with just a look. "All right, yes! Uh, she sent me to spy on you." "Good thing, too. Since you arrived here, the anachronism has jumped from a level one to a level six."
"We found the saber-tooth, and it is safe and sound in its cage, so I don't know how we could have made the anachronism worse," Sara stated.
"My guess is we can thank our two drunken teammates for that," Peter mumbled.
"Nate, Amaya," Sara called in. "Please tell me you found the Hardy Boys."
"Let's just hope they had the sense to try and stick together," Peter said.
"Oh, they're stuck together, all right." Felicia said as she looked at a poster on "Conjoined twins" with the two of them.
"P.T. Barnum has them dressed as conjoined twins." Amaya laughed.
"They should be around here somewhere, let's take a look around," Amaya said as they headed into the tents.
Looking inside, they found an open cage and two unconscious men on the ground. "Looks like we found where they were," Nate guessed.
"Guessing that Lane must have stunned them," Felicia said as she tapped one on the cheek, seeing he was unconscious. "Just trying to escape, and not damaging history."
That was when Nate was smacked upside the head, followed by someone shooting Amaya with a dart, and Felicia only managed to turn before she was also tranqed. The two were the clown and the strong man, followed by Phineas walking out.
"Well. Look who joined the circus." Phineas said, seeing the three, and sighed when he saw the others had escaped. "We're gonna need a bigger tent."
Ray and Lane returned to the Waverider with a sigh as they approached. "Never fear, we have returned!"
Sara ran down to see if they were perfectly okay. "Wait, where are the others?"
"We thought Felicia and Peter came back," Lane said.
"No, Felicia, Nate, and Amaya were out looking for you," Sara explained.
"Oh, boy..." They said together.
Nate began to awaken and saw he was in a cage with Felicia and Amaya. She was chained up by her hands to keep her from picking the locks and Amaya was chained and already tried to use her animals to escape but something was wrong.
"Hello," Felicia said. "Wanna get us out of here, tin man?"
Nate nodded as he tried to steel up and groaned. "I don't know what's wrong." He admitted, trying to steel up. "Something isn't right. I must be... dehydrated or something."
"Have you tried to summon your animal powers?"
"Believe me, you do not want me using this totem right now," Amaya warned him.
"What does that mean?" Felicia asks, wanting her to explain.
"I am sorry, Felicia, I have been hard on you and the team because..."
Gary was now in the Captain's quarters with Sara as his device began to beep. She was waiting for the device to go off and when it did, she demanded he answer it.
"This is agent 1-0-6-6," Sharpe said. "You failed to turn in your status report, Gary, and then you ignored my attempts to contact you. And somehow, during all of that, the level one has escalated. To a level eight." That was when she recognized the background. "And where the hell are you? Is that the Waverider? I told you to keep an eye on the Legends, not to join them."
"Um Turns out..." Gary looked over to see Sara was pointing a loaded gun at his head. "...the Legends had things under control. Uh, it was my interference with their, to be honest, expert handling of the situation which caused things to, well, escalate."
Sara had to admit that he was pretty good at this.
"Uhhuh." Sharpe felt something was off. "Gary, if you are in over your head, I can send in backup immediately."
Sara cocks her gun, preparing to shoot.
"No, no, no, no, no." Gary tried to stop her. "No, no, uh, no backup. Uh, like I said, the Legends have things under control." Sara saw that time was running and that she needed to head out, so she tried to make it clear to him. "Uh, nice chatting. Gotta go."
"Gar-"
"How'd I do?" Gary asks.
"You were great," Sara said as she then punched and knocked him out.
Sara met up with everyone else as they made their way to the changing room. Peter was there and getting his clothes changed as Sara walked in.
"We all good on the Time Cops front?" Peter asks.
"Don't worry, they won't be bothering us," Sara said as she prepared to head out. "We just have to rescue the team and get back on the ship before that saber-tooth embiggens."
"At least we know why the anachronism keeps climbing," Lane said as he checked his blaster. "P.T. Barnum with real superheroes in the time period without them. He'll expose Nate and Amaya to the entire world if we don't hurry."
"Don't worry, if I know Felicia, she is working her butt off to get out of there as we speak," Peter stated.
"I'm detecting increased chronometric interference, Captain," Gideon warned them. "Agent Sharpe has boarded the Waverider."
"Get Rory," Sara told the two of them. "You three have to save the others."
"Wait, wait. The three of us?" Ray asks.
"I have faith in you," Sara said.
"Why?" Ray wonders.
"Ah, just go! I'll hold her off as long as I can." Sara demanded, shoving Ray off as they headed out.
"I'll grab Mick," Peter said.
Sara marched down the ship and found Sharpe on the ship. "Sara Lance, on behalf of the Time Bureau, I am placing you and your team under arrest."
"Took you long enough." Sara scoffed. "I've been expecting you for hours."
"Pursuant to title 16, section 3053, of the Global Treaty on Time Travel, I have the authority to bring you and your team in," Sharpe tells her.
"Which arm?" Sara asks.
"The Global Treaty was negotiated between Director Hunter and the United Nations," Sharpe said.
"No, I mean, if you try to bring me into the Bureau, I'll break your arm," Sara explained her threat. "It's up to you. Right or left?"
"Your threats may work on demigods, assassins, the Darkest Knights, Fifth Dimensional demons, and speedsters, but you don't scare me," Sharpe promised. "I've spent the last five years watching your screw-ups. I know everything about you. Now, where is the member of my team - that you've taken hostage?"
"You mean Gary? This ship is probably like a vacation after having to answer to you." Sara stated.
Sharpe then drew a baton. "Last chance. Come quietly, and I'll make sure you get a comfy little job at Sink, Shower, & Stuff."
Sara drew two batons and prepared for a fight. "When did a Legend ever go quietly?"
Peter, Lane, Ray, and Mick reached the circus and began to look around to try and find out where the others were. Mick was looking at the stage area, which got Peter's attention as he approached his friend.
"What are you looking at?" Peter asked, recognizing the clowns.
"Clowns..." Mick said.
"Get a grip, Mick," Lane said as he gave him a pat. "We gotta find our missing members."
They hear a fanfair and watched as Phineas came out of the tent. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Greatest Show On The Planet!" Ray and Lane backed off whilst Lane got an idea when he saw the tent where a clown went into. He got an idea as he reached for his blaster as he approached the tent. "My roving museum of freaks and hypnotic hippodrome has traveled this great nation, and, I must say, I have never seen quite a good-looking and, dare I say, astute audience as the one gathered before me here today." But a word of warning before we begin, for the jaw-dropping spectacle that you are about to see is not for the faint of heart."
"We can take this chance to make it to the-" Peter was saying when he
"You're on your own," Mick stated as he rushed off. "Clowns."
"Okay, so that happened," Ray said as he came back shrunken down. "What's the plan?"
"We're going to sneak into the back," Peter said as they walked off. "Cover me."
Phineas walked into the back where he found Nate tied to a knife-throwing target with Amaya and Felicia in the cage.
"So, you ready for your debut?" Phineas asks.
"Kiss my ass," Nate said.
"Don't have time to convince you of the creative joys and lucrative appeal of being my show-stopper," Phineas stated. "Those hayseeds out there are going to burn my circus down if we don't give them their money's worth. Let me make it very simple for you. Become the "Man of Steel" That is very catchy, make a note of that Or get shot."
"I don't respond well to threats," Nate promised. "I'm not one of your freaks."
Phineas asked as he aimed a gun at Amaya. "Would you steel up for her?"
Nate sighed as he should have known that he would threaten the girls. "Fine. I'll do it."
Shape and Sara continued to fight throughout the ship. They seemed evenly matched, which is surprising to say considering everything that Sara went through and it seems Sharpe learned all of this through watching Sara fighting.
"Rip should have recruited you to the Time Bureau," Sharpe told her.
"Rip knows I'd never leave the team." Sara proclaimed as she continued the fight.
"Your mistake."
The two of them then tackled one another on top of the holo-table and groaned. They were becoming exhausted from fighting across the whole ship.
"You want to take a break?" Sharpe asks.
"I could use some water," Sara admitted.
The two of them were sitting in the kitchen area taking a drink to try and calm down. However, neither of them was letting their guard down against the other. The saber-kitty came walking past them, getting them to look down at it.
"Hope that thing's potty-trained," Sharpe said.
"Probably not," Sara guessed. "Cats are jerks."
'Let me guess. You're a dog person." Sharpe guessed.
"I like 'em dumb and loyal," Sara stated. "Speaking of, we should probably check on Gary."
That was when they heard the saber-kitten growling get deeper and they saw the creature was turning to original size.
"Whatever you do don't..." Sara was saying when Sharpe ran off. "Run."
Sharpe ran across the ship with the Sabertooth chasing her down a dead end. Looking back at the Sabertooth preparing to pounce, that was when a breach opened and Sara came leaping in, tackling Sharpe as they flew through another breach and ended up in the brig where Gary was still tied.
"Where did you get a Time Courier?" Sharpe asks.
"Uh, would someone mind untying me?" Gary asks them.
"That is stolen government property," Sharpe tells Sara.
"It's just that I have really bad circulation." Gary continued to be ignored.
"You're just mad 'cause I saved your life, again," Sara stated.
"Captain Lance," Gideon called in. "I hate to interrupt, but I thought you'd like to know that the anachronism has reached a level nine."
"My team's on it," Sara told Sharpe.
"And if they fail, maybe Rip will finally give up on the ridiculous belief that your team could actually defeat..." Sharpe stopped herself, which didn't ease Sara. "You know what? He's going to take your ship away, Ms. Lance."
Back at the circus, Lane came out of the tent dressed as a clown and approached the stage while Peter and Ray were sneaking around back. They were watching in confusion at what they were seeing.
"Uh, is that Lane?" Peter asks.
"Yep," Ray confirmed.
Lane then began to do some tricks, drawing some flowers from his sleeve. They weren't sure where or why he knew how to do this, considering he seemed to despise the circus earlier. But he must be doing it for the role.
In the back, Phineas began opening fire on Nate who was struggling to keep his form. "Son of a gun, it worked." He continued to shoot. "Whoa! You really are quite marvelous."
"No more," Nate begged.
Amaya was beginning to become furious while Felicia was working on her cuffs. "I almost got out, we just gotta-"
Seems Amay wasn't waiting anymore as she used her amulet, causing her to take the powers of a bear. She then punched the door, sending it flying off its hinges. Felicia got herself free as she watched Amaya approaches the strong man and toss him away easily.
Back with Lane, he was beginning to do balloon animals while Ray and Peter were too distracted to even try to continue. That was when the clown that Lane stunned came out and looked around.
"Gordy!"
"Well, the gig is up!" Lane said as he drew his blaster, ripping off his hat to then toss it and shoot, causing it to distract them enough for Lane to stun one. Few others came out and that was when Mick returned and tackled one of them
"Die, clown!" Mick cried.
"Looks like they could use a little help here," Peter said to Ray.
"I'm on it!" Ray flew in and grew large to shoot to stun the clowns, sending them flying.
Peter came leaping in with his Spider-Man attire as he shot two webs, spinning to smack the clowns against one another. He slid and shot another web at the face of a clown and then stood back to back with Lane.
"Balloon animals? Really?" Peter asks.
"I was a clown for parties to get me through college," Lane admitted.
"Oh, that's why-"
"Why I hate the circus!" Lane stated as he opened fire again.
Ray came flying past a boy and slammed into another clown. "This is amazing!" He cheered.
That's when Phineas came running out of the tent with Amaya coming past.
"Ah! Guys, Amaya looks like she's going to kill him." Ray said as he prepared to shoot. "Should I-"
"Stop her!" Peter said, shooting webs at her.
Amaya grabbed the webs and pulled Peter, sending him flying. Lane prepared to stun her, but Peter came flying and smashed into him, causing them to groan. Ray came flying in to try and stop her, but that was when Amaya turned and punched Ray so hard, and sent him flying and damaging his suit.
Amaya prepared to kill Phineas when Felicia and Nate came running out of the tent. "Amaya, no! Amaya, no, no, no." He cried.
"Amaya, no, no, hey, hey, hey, you can fight whatever this is." Felicia tried to stop her.
"You're Amaya Jiwe. You're a member of the Justice Society of America." Nate told her. "You're the most courageous person I know. That totem makes you a protector, not a killer."
Amaya started to try and calm down. "Sorry." She said as she backed off in terror. "Sorry."
"I'm right here," Felicia said to her friend as she showed comfort to her. "I'm right here. I got you."
Phineas then jumped up and saw the crowd. "And that's a grand finale, folks. I told you it wasn't for the faint of heart. We had it all. We had action, we- we have friendship. We had flying things in the sky. You wait until next week's show."
Lane groaned as he got a little sick of him and shot to stun Phineas when Peter stopped him. "No. Not worth it."
"Come on, just one," Lane begged as Peter dragged him off. "Just one shot."
"Come on!"
The Waverider was taking off with the Sabertooth dealt with thanks to Ray's tech. They approached the brig and opened the doors to let them out.
"Well, Mr. Sneezums is now a more manageable size," Ray told Sara.
"Mr. Sneezums?" Sara asks.
"Yeah," Ray confirmed he named the cat. "You like it?"
"The more important thing is we put on one hell of a show, and Lane might love the circus again," Peter said.
"I don't believe you," Sharpe said.
"Oh, it's true," Ray admitted. "He said that without it, the world has lost one of its last true places of wonder. But he warned us that if he had to do that again, he would shoot us off into space and leave us."
"Yeah, he said that if we also told the Warriors what he did, he would do the same thing," Peter warned them.
"I mean I don't believe that the anachronism has been dealt with," Sharpe stated.
"Believe it, Agent Sharpe," Gideon said. "As I've already communicated to Director Bennett, 1870 Wisconsin is anachronism-free."
"Ah, even our AI doesn't like you," Sara said with pride.
"Yep. My foot is definitely asleep." Gary said. "And my leg. Could be permanent."
"Wait. Who is this guy?" Ray wonders.
"That's Gary," Sara said as she looked at Sharpe. "Can you give him a hand? I need to speak with you. In private."
They walked into the Captain's quarters and looked around.
"So..." Sara wanted answers.
"I suppose congratulations are in order. You get to keep your ship, for now, but-
"You will be watching us," Sara said with a sigh. "Yes, yes. I've heard this before, so why don't you cut the crap and tell me what we're facing here?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sharpe stated.
"You said, "that Rip will finally give up "his ridiculous belief that your team could actually" and then you stopped yourself," Sara explained. "So let's have it." She was sick of being in the dark. "Who are we facing?"
"That information is need-to-know, and all you need to know is that you and your "ridiculous" team could never handle it," Sharpe stated as she marched off.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Sara asks. "Gary."
Felicia found Amaya in the hallway and chased after her. "Hey. Do you want to talk about what happened back there?"
"Not especially," Amaya said.
"Look, it might help," Felicia said. "One animal to another. Talking helps. I was actually surprised about that myself."
"In that case, I think the whole team deserves to hear this," Amaya said as they gathered everyone to the kitchen area. "It, um it started a month ago. Whenever I would tap into my powers, I could feel myself losing control. As if the animal was in charge, not me. One day, Belgian soldiers came to my village. I told them that Zambesi was under my protection, and when they attacked, I killed them all."
"Well, sounds like you didn't have a choice." Lane shrugged.
"No, you don't understand," Amaya said in terror. "These soldiers were just boys. When they tried to run, I hunted them down one by one by one and I ripped them to shreds."
"That's the real reason you came back." Peter guessed.
"I needed a place to think," Amaya confirmed. "This- this totem is my birthright and my sacred duty. Something's terribly wrong. What if I lose control around my village? I'm sorry. I I wanted to tell you. All of you But I was too ashamed."
"Well, we've all done things we're not proud of," Sara assured her.
"Except Haircut," Mick stated as he gestured to Ray.
"Well, no, actually, I'm actually really bad at returning library books," Ray admitted.
"I can't go home, not yet, but I'm not sure that I can stay here either," Amaya said. "You saw me earlier. You could all be in danger."
"You are one of us," Peter assured her. "And it's not like we can't handle ourselves."
"Besides, we're really going to need your help now," Sara said with a sigh. "We got a new problem. Rip has been hiding something from us. There's a greater evil coming. Something even the Time Bureau is afraid of."
Everyone took in the information for a quick second before all bursting out into laughter.
"What can be worse than an immortal Egyptian demigod?" Ray asks.
"Or an evil speedster?" Felicia asks.
"Or evil Batman variants from an evil Multiverse?" Peter asks.
"Or a literal Demon of Chaos?" Labe continued.
"Well, I'm afraid of the time boogeyman." Ray mocked.
Whatever lies ahead, they were going to face it together. Because they were always going to stand together. No matter what.
2042:
In the dim light of the vast warehouse, a woman hunched over her keyboard, her fingers dancing across the keys in a hurried symphony of clicks and clacks. Shadows clung to her figure as she worked, her concentration broken only by the sudden crackling of a loudspeaker from outside.
The authoritative voice echoed through the empty space: "This is A.R.G.U.S. Anti-meta-human curfew is in effect. Citizens, please stay in your homes."
She let out an exasperated sigh, frustration flickering across her features as she continued to monitor the stream of code illuminated on her screen. Everything was progressing perfectly according to her calculations; she was on the verge of a breakthrough. But before she could indulge in her moment of triumph, the heavy door of the warehouse swung open with a resounding bang.
The clamor of boots against concrete filled the air as a squad of armed A.R.G.U.S. agents stormed into the facility, their silhouettes ominous in the dimness. "Agent Durrand, down on the ground!" barked the lead agent, his voice a commanding growl that echoed through the cavernous space.
For a moment, she appeared to comply, raising her hands as if surrendering. But as she crouched, her knees bending slightly, a surprising transformation began. With a swift, practiced motion, she activated a mechanism hidden within her tactical backpack. Instantly, sleek wings crafted from a high-tech metallic fiber unfurled from her back, glinting as they caught the little light that filtered in.
With a powerful flap, she soared into the air, defying gravity as she ascended toward the ceiling, creating a gust of wind that sent the troops toppling. In one fluid motion, she gripped two pistols that had been holstered at her sides, aiming them down at the agents who were now struggling to regroup. Her fingers squeezed the triggers, releasing a volley of stun shots that sent several of the agents tumbling to the ground, incapacitated but unharmed. Her mission was one of justice, not blind vengeance — she had no intention of taking lives unless necessary.
With the agents in disarray below her, she soared through an overhead window, the cool night air rushing to meet her as she broke free into the starlit skyline. As she gained altitude, she left the chaos of the warehouse behind, her heart racing with the thrill of escape. She was determined to continue her fight against the injustices imposed by A.R.G.U.S., and the night was hers to navigate.