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"We jaunt back to 2099, stop Kang from killing your buddy before it happens, and none of this has to take place!" Ted guns the engine, and jumps into a custom-made wormhole. "Next stop; the future!"
"Not according to these instrument. They can't calibrate on Off-Fist's chi-powered warps. We could be headed anywhere! Or AnyWhen!"
Or NoWhen...!
Picture the opening sequence to The Twilight Limits TV show, and you can vaguely imagine the visual input Ted and John receive, traveling one hundred years into the future. "How we doing, Goldie?"
"I told you, the instruments can't read this warp hole! We just have to trust that Off-Fist knows what he's doing." The turbulence shimmies through the van constantly, making it impossible to make any adjustments that might help. "How much time did he allow for this plan of yours?"
"No idea. Didn't have time to ask. But I'm sure he wouldn't let us down."
"Why not? We're the reason Young Heroes For Hire lost its funding from Oracle! You don't think it's possible he's holding a grudge?"
The question is never answered, thanks to their timely return to real-time. The gauges on board still aren't reading properly, but the Chronometer does confirm the date: March 21, 2099. "Here we are, Ted. Welcome to the future!"
Ted Reilly rolls down the window and peeks out. "Why is the sky red?"
"After World War III we had to erect shielding over much of the continent to compensate for the lack of ozone. Texas has been slow in replacing the bio-domes with filter fields."
"Texas? Last time I checked St. Louisville was part of--"
"Texas annexed a lot of the Mid-West after they seceded. The history lesson can wait, Ted. We gotta get moving if we're going to make this crazy plan of yours work!" Ted Reilly and John Carter leave the van, finding themselves inside the storeroom of the Donovan Scott Museum of Action and Adventure. In costume as the Scarlet Scarab and Golden Torch, they look like museum exhibits themselves, among all the various devices and waxworks of superheroes and mystery-men from years gone by.
"First thing we gotta do is get to Project Morituri. That's where they grow us 'Subbers'. Got your rocket pack in the VW? It'll be less suspicious if we travel by air."
Ted does indeed have the wing-pack he salvaged from the Crimson Cricket suit he wore last Summer, but he neither hears John nor replies to him. His attention is fixed somewhere else.
"Oh, man! I can't believe they have one of these!"
John Carter looks over at his easily-distracted teammate. "Have one of what, Bug?"
Ted Reilly holds up a silver-plated Web-Shooter, the exact design originally used by Spider-Boy (or an incredible facsimile of one). "You can see the tiny nicks in it made by Dr. Octavius' cyber-tentacles. This must be one of the originals, maybe even a prototype!"
John sighs. "That's great, Ted. How about you put it back now so we can save Mister Elastic? You can play with it later if we make it back."
Fortunately the museum is closed for the night. Only a lone security guard and a highly advanced security system stand in the way of their exit. "Standard procedure, Ted. You run interference while I get us out of here."
"What do you mean, 'standard procedure'? I do more than..."
"How much do you know about 21st Century technology? We're on my turf, so follow my lead." The Golden Torch says while looking for a layout of the museum, hoping to find something to make his task easier.
The security guard, Dexter O'Donald, settles into his chair behind the security console and enjoys a cyber-feed video jacked directly into his cerebral cortex. Such entertainment is highly restricted, as it has been known to negate a person's senses completely, but the same kind of thing was once said about video games, television, radio, and comic books. Dexter sets the alarm panel to emit a psychic frequency he assumes will be enough to rouse his attention should anything require him.
Something does, snapping his brain to full alert, and terminating the interactive video at a most inopportune moment (no, I ain't gonna tell you what it was! -- Ivan the Terrible). Dexter focuses on the monitor screen, which has become a holographic projector for the purpose of providing a detailed image of whatever's going on. The Dark Claw exhibit glows with feint iridescence, highlighting a gaudily-dressed intruder. The imaging enhancer kicks in; increasing the holo resolution until Dex can make out the form of...
"Aww, shock! The power's out!" Dexter O'Donald scrambles over to the manual alarm and slams the button down. Nothing's ever happened on his shift before, and he has no idea how long it will take the police to arrive. Hopefully whoever broke in will be more interested in the museum displays than they will the control room!
When the room does dark, Johnny Carter instinctively flares up an aura of flame around his head for illumination. He immediately thinks better of this and extinguishes his glow. What's going on, he thinks, Texas Power & Air hasn't had a brown out in over 40 years!
The artificial cave serving as a mock-up of Dark Claw's legendary Burrow lights up again, suddenly. Carter ducks behind the Clawmobile, not knowing where the security cams are located, or how long it will take the enforcer-bots to arrive. "Don't worry," a voice calls out to him, "I sent them to the control booth. They think the security guard is the intruder."
Ted enters the faux cave, wearing bits and pieces of various costumes: Iron Lantern's chest plate, Super-Soldier's shield, Amazon's lightning lariat, Apollo's helmet, the strap-on claws of the golden age Dark Claw, Hellcrawler's preserved stone hand, and a few other gadgets. "What do you think?" he asks the still-nervous John Carter. "I'm thinking of calling myself 'Amalgam'."
"Needs a cape. How did you by-pass security?"
"The computers here are amazingly user-friendly. The password was 'aaaaaa'. Right now this is the only part of the museum with power, and we have twelve minutes before the silent alarm summons the police. So what's the plan?"
"We activate the teleporter in the Burrow, and set it for Morituri Mountain. If the Substitute Four aren't there, we should at least be able to track them from there."
"As long as we come back for the van. I put a few souvenirs in the back."
"You're stealing super-hero parts from a museum? Not exactly code-approved conduct, is it?"
"Hey, if this works and we stop Chronos-Tut from offing Mr. Elastic, this whole timeline will alter, and none of this will have happened. No sense letting all this stuff just cease to exist, is there?"
Rather than argue ethics, the boys get to work on programming the teleporter. The only setting stored in memory is the JLAvengers Moonbase, now established as a monument to the premiere super-team of the 20th Century (tours to the Moonbase are run from the Donovan Scott Museum). With four minutes to spare, they find the coordinates for Morituri Mountain (formerly Mount Logan) in the Yukon province. They make the trip after Ted ditches the extra gear (except for the Web-Shooter of course), and arrive in the Transportation Room of D.O.M.E. headquarters.
"I had no idea the Canucks were so well armed," Ted says, momentarily stunned by the vast array of aircraft, spacecraft, and more esoteric vehicles. "These guys put Cadmus to shame!"
"Of course they do, you're comparing apples to hundred year old oranges. D.O.M.E.'s Morituri Project has amassed more alien devises for analysis than anyone else in the western hemisphere. But right now we need to--"
"Freeze, before I blow your heads off!" Six maintenance droids circle Ted and John, aiming their welding torch accessories at them. They are immediately joined by four costumed figures, also prepared to fire.
John recognizes them immediately. "Work Force: Morituri! Metas produced for domestic use, rather than planetary defense. Much more prone to violence than the Substitute Four," he informs Ted.
Hard Part, leader of the WFM, steps up and generates a projectile weapon from particles in the air. "Give me a reason!"
"Hold up, guys! We're on a rescue mission. It's vital we reach the Legion of Substitute Four before--"
The only female of the quartet powers up her psionic aura, ready to fire her crippling psychic shards at them. "Shock you! We already know who you are! The Golden Torch has been on our hit list for weeks! Think you can swipe a time buoy and just waltz back in here like nothing happened? Radept, what's the word on the other guy?"
"No word yet, Firesnap. My memory banks can't find a match on him. He may be from Europa or..."
"Doesn't matter," Back-Off interrupts. "We know one's a fugit, and we caught them both breaking in. We can retina-scan the other; I'll be sure to leave one of his eyes intact."
"May as well get this over with," the Scarab mutters. With a click of his boots the wing-pack roars to life, propelling him several feet into the air. "All right! This," he screams, holding up a silvery sphere, "is a thermal detonator! I brought in the Torch so I claim the bounty, fair and square!"
A pure particle stream shoots through the hangar, pulverizing the device. Hard Part sneers. "This guy's been watching too many old movies! Scope the TREK WARS gag!"
Okay, so Ted didn't expect it to work anyway. Truth is, John pegged it right when he accused him of being the distraction king. Let your opponent underestimate you, and you almost always catch them off guard.
When the foil shell shatters, a glass capsule falls to the floor, breaking on impact. Inside it is a white-noise generator made almost entirely of vibranium. Upon contact with air, the 'Sonic Disrupter' activates, spilling ultra-sonic frequencies into the ears of everyone and everything within a 40-meter radius. The four members of Work Force: Morituri writhe in pain while the droids, unable to filter out the overlapping harmonics, enter a self-diagnostic mode to assess the malfunction.
"The case said S.H.I.E.L.D. designed this baby to take down Dr. Doomsday! Should hold you for a minute of two." The Scarlet Scarab knows that not even the Golden Torch, who is wearing audio dampeners like his own, can hear him. But the urge to make some kind of remark is too great for him to let the moment pass.
The Golden Torch is busy remembering the few details Brick Boy gave him. Kang is due to attack the team, very likely soon, and steal a database for somebody in the twentieth century. The Morituri Files, presumably, but who would want them a hundred years before they were compiled? Hopefully some of the answers lie in the computer system.
Johnny goes for a wall terminal across the hangar bay, only to realize his own equilibrium has been messed up by the white noise. Still he manages to stagger over to the console. His concentration is strained, and he discovers that his security clearance has been removed in his absence. "Shock!" he mouths, unsure if he ever forms the words. He can get to the database, but cannot access it.
The Scarlet Scarab is meanwhile busy incapacitating the droids. Radept begins to make a recovery, using his awesome mental discipline to block out the Sonic Disrupter. Having no blatantly offensive powers, he is still a skilled fighter and approaches the hero, ready to fight. Caught off guard (and unable to hear his approach), Ted is struck in the back and falls. He braces himself on the floor and sweeps his leg out, taking Radept down as well. The Scarab quickly bounces back onto his feet and reaches for Radept's arm in an effort to pin him. The Work Force members may be ruthless by his own standards, but they are still heroes.
Radept moves to block, and suddenly begins convulsing. The strain of overcoming the effects of the vibranium pushed him too far, triggering the suicide gene. His skin begins to smolder and his costume busts into flames due to the radiation his body gives off.
Ted witnesses this, and fires a blast of Silly String at John to get his attention. Rushing to the scene, John signals for Ted to pick up the dying Radept, and haul him into a spacecraft designed for long-range exploration. Inside the Maple Spirit IV, the Golden Torch open a cryogenic chamber and helps the Scarlet Scarab place Radept in the cell. Within seconds his body is frozen in suspended animation.
Back-Off staggers into the ship. "Put him down!" he shouts, then realizes what happened. "Okay, what's going on? Are you working for the Horde?"
"We're trying to save some lives!" Johnny Carter scolds. "This should preserve Radept until a cure can be found for the burn-out. Right now we have to stop Kang! He's due to attack the Subs any second!"
"They're in the Beta-Wing, indoctrinating their newest member, Spider-Girl. The monorail shut down as soon as the alarms sounded so there's no way to get there right now. Besides, you'll be attacked on sight. You get out of here, we'll see to Kang."
"He's right, Torch," says the Scarlet Scarab. "We've already changed future history by coming here, we have to hope that will be enough. I don't want to be around when security gets wind of our location."
"Okay, but you have to promise to get warning to the Legion. If Kang can't take them by surprise maybe they'll have a chance." Outside the Maple Spirit IV the Sonic Disrupter has already used up it's charge, and Hard Part and Firesnap are on their feet. Back-Off explains what happened to them and they grudgingly agree to help Ted and John escape.
Before we go," Ted says, "we have to keep the database out of Kang's hands. If he gets here and finds out the info is gone he might not even bother with an attack."
"We'll transfer the info to our lunar installation and erase the local hard drive until after we deal with Chronos-Tut," Firesnap assures them. "Thanks for grabbing Radept," she adds, "He means a lot to me."
"I guess we better head back to the museum, so we can get the van," Ted says as he checks the coordinates on the teleporter.
"What good will that do?" questions Johnny. "There's nothing on board that will initiate a time trip. I thought your whole plan was that once we fix things reality would shift around us and we'll never have made the trip?"
"You're right. But we can't get to the Substitute Four right now. Next best thing: let's hop up to that lunar installation and make sure Kang doesn't get his hands on that data!" They reprogram the coordinates to send them to the D.O.M.E. complex on the Moon. "Should we let them know we're coming?"
"NO!" the three remaining members of Work Force: Morituri cry out.
"I'm wanted for stealing a time buoy and possibly corrupting history." The Golden Torch ponders the situation for a moment. "We'll have to use disguises."
"I can handle that. Ready, Stick?"
"After you, Neuron. Let's go!"
As the duo enter the teleportation chamber Ted senses a change. Hopefully, he thinks, it is the timeline being altered by their efforts. With luck Mister Elastic will remain alive now, and their jaunt to the moon will be replaced by a trip home.
They materialize on a hard steel floor, no teleporter in sight. "This can't be right!" exclaims a shocked Golden Torch. "They can't have remodeled the Lunar Base THIS much since I've been gone!"
"I don't think we went to the Base. But the nausea I'm feeling makes me think we did make it to the Moon. And that pretty much cinches it!" Ted indicates a wall panel that can be red between the flashing alarm lights: SEA OF TRANQUILITY ASYLUM FOR THE CRIMINALLY INSANE DETENTION LEVEL THX
To be continued in Mercury #6!
Amalgamations:
Legion of Fantastic Substitutes
(a.k.a. the Substitute Four) - Legion of Substitute Heroes / Fantastic
Four 2099 -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Brick Boy - Blok / Thing 2099
-- Created by Crazy Ivan
Mister Elastic - Elastic-Lad
/ Mr. Fantastic 2099 -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Infectious Woman - Infectious
Lass / Invisible Girl (Woman) 2099 -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Spider-Girl - Spidergirl (of
Work Force) / Spider-Girl (of MC2) -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Work Force: Morituri - Work Force
/ Strikeforce: Morituri -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Back-Off - Blast-Off / Backhand
-- Created by Crazy Ivan
Firesnap - Inferno / Snapdragon
-- Created by Crazy Ivan
Hard Part - Particon / Hard
Case -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Radept - Radion / Adept -- Created
by Crazy Ivan
The NoWhere-Men -- Created by
Crazy Ivan & Donovan Scott Dempley
Scarlet Scarab - Blue Beetle
II / Scarlet Spider -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Golden Torch - Booster Gold,
Fire Lad / Human Torch 2099 -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Department Of Metamutant Employment (D.O.M.E.) - Dome / Department H -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Young Heroes For Hire - Young
Heroes In Love / Heroes For Hire -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Off-Fist - Off-Ramp / Iron Fist
-- Created by Crazy Ivan
Chronos-Tut the Time Pharaoh, a.k.a. Kang the Time Conqueror - Chronos / Rama-Tut / Richard Nixon / Time Trapper / Kang
Hellcrawler - HellBoy / Nightcrawler
-- Created by Green Archer
Crimson Cricket - Superman Red
/ Hornet, Scarlet Spider -- Created by Crazy Ivan
Spider-Boy - Superboy / Spider-Man
Iron Lantern - Green Lantern
/ Iron Man
Amazon - Wonder Woman / Storm
Dark Claw - Batman / Wolverine
Super-Soldier - Superman / Captain
America
Apollo - Ray / Cyclops
Vibranium - MU
Sonic Disrupters - DCU (non-continuity)
Dexter O'Donald -- Original character created by Crazy Ivan
All character owned by Amalgam Comics (property of Marvel & DC Comics) except as noted above. This fan fiction is created for non-profit, entertainment purposes, and is an original intellectual property of Crazy Ivan (although I do use the term 'intellectual' pretty loosely).
---
Ron Schablotski <[email protected]>
There Came A Time When The Old Gods... Changed!
-- THORION AND THE NEW ASGODS #1