Countdown To Zero Hour

I sometimes find it hard to think. I’m not talking… migraines… I’m talking… Sometimes my head fills with static. The woes of time travel. I’m not immune to the trauma of piercing the dimensional walls. Not like Booster and others. But I deal with it. Sometimes not as well as some people. But I deal and I live and I travel.

I’m losing thoughts to time. To history. I worry that I’m becoming splintered. Lost.

I write down ideas and thoughts and concepts on paper. If they’re on paper, if they’re in my hands, they’re real, aren’t they? Seeing them right now, thought to finger, finger to pen, pen to ink, ink to page, I can see my ideas form.

They’re real.

I think. I focus on the past. Firsts. Things that are important.

First sighting of Extant on Earth-1^*. Think. Before the first crisis. Before Apokolips. I hold onto that thought. Extant. The anti-thesis of everything I fight for. I fight for the preservation of time, and he… He… What does he fight for? Or against? Good. I know that. I focus on it. He fights against good. Therefore I fight against him. The cosmic balance. Karma.

The first time I met Superman^**. My rescue of The Champion. I took him to a different place. A different world. If he stayed on Earth-1 the dimensional wall would have frayed, the multiverse would have leaked in and washed away the continuity of that place. The Champion. He lived a life. A grand life, on Earth-1000. I flaunted my power on Earth-1. My responsibility. Took people from their home dimensions to places where they wouldn’t hurt anyone anymore. Superman’s brother, for one^***. Taking him from Earth-1 and dumping him where he couldn’t hurt anyone, on Earth-76.

The first time I realized… there was more than one Rip Hunter running around. I saw him. I saw him interacting with Booster Gold. Everywhere. I saw Rip Hunter, his eye replaced by some kind of laser device, I saw him banish Booster Gold^**** from the time stream. Forever. For apparently destroying his home time line. Then I saw Rip Hunter recruit Booster Gold into a team of time travelers^*****. Two Rip Hunters. Seen by another. Me. I don’t know what this means. Are they my future? They’re not my past, I would remember doing that. I would remember replacing my eye with a laser device. Wouldn’t I?

I’m losing thoughts to time.

I see now. I see things. I see events. I realize… Earth-1. The balancing point. The focus of everything. Everything relies on that place. If that domino falls, the rest of them topple, and I realize…

The universe knows this.

And the universe is letting Rip Hunter know.

All of them.

-- From the diary of ‘Rip Hunter’; recovered from the Mesozoic Era



^* The Flash #9 // July 2006
^** Action Comics #6 // September 2006
^*** Action Comics Annual #2 // November 2007
^**** Powers, Inc. #5 // September 2006
^***** Booster Gold #1 // August 2007



FROM THE JOURNAL OF RIP HUNTER

Time.

Nothing is easier to take for granted.

And nothing is more impossible to get back once you’ve lost it.

That is, unless you know how to bend the rules.

Something has been wrong for a while now. Just how long I cannot say. Time is funny that way. It’s not something you can measure as easily as one might think.

I first noticed it recently. The timestream started acting... funny. A hiccup here... a blemish there.

Then the Linear Men just up and disappeared.

One second they were a thriving group policing the timestream... the next... they didn’t exist.

Oh, all the members still existed... we all did. Myself, Waverider, Ryder, everyone.

Only it was like we never got together.

Most of them didn’t even realize something had happened. I’m sure I shouldn’t have either... but I had protected myself against the possibility that someone might mess with my past.

I’ve gathered a few agents to help me, but things are progressively getting worse. As much as I hate to admit it, I think I know why. It’s not a pleasant story.

Every step I’ve taken has been for a reason. Every single last step leads towards the plan I’ve managed to come up with. I had to do it all in the dark. It’s been risky. If my plan falls into the wrong hands I fear it’ll be the end of everything.

Now I’m sitting here hiding out until my renforcements arrive.

I couldn’t just tell anyone where I’d be... I needed to be invisible. And I have been. A lot of people have been looking for me... both friend and foe.

You see, I’ve been gone for weeks.

Only, as far as I’m concerned, if they figure it out right... it’ll only be a day.

Why? Cause I know how to bend the rules.



ENTER THE ROGUES - PART ONE: CHRONOS



David Clinton hated everyone.

He had been Chronos for a while now, and had his head handed to him every time he had ventured out.

Every. single. time.

The Atom. Blue Beetle. Walker Gabriel. Booster Gold. The Justice League.

Nothing he did seemed to work out. All of the power of time at his disposal yet he couldn’t pull off a single simple robbery without some spandex-dressed do-gooder screwing him up.

Clinton sat in his hideout and stewed. He stared at his costume hanging up and contemplated just giving it all up.

He didn’t realize he wasn’t alone until a voice behind him spoke.

“It hasn’t been working has it, David?” the voice said. Clinton almost screamed. He leapt up and scrambled to grab a time-status ray.

The figure behind him just kicked the chair into Clinton’s way. He stumbled over it and went sprawling to the ground.

“You don’t need that, David,” the voice told him. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Chronos turned over and looked at the figure. He was dressed from head to toe in black, red and purple. Something about the man was powerful.

“Who the hell are you?” Chronos whispered.

“I’m the end, David,” the figure said softly as he crouched down, closer to Chronos. “I’m the twilight of the Gods. The final countdown. The last few ticks of the clock about to expire. You can, for now, call me Extant.”

“Extant?” Chronos asked.

“Yes. You haven’t had the easiest time with your endeavors, have you, David?” Extant asked him. “You have a brilliant mind, yet you keep running into a bunch of costumed boy scouts who just won’t leave you be. Don’t you wish that wasn’t so, David? Don’t you wish your genius was rewarded instead of blocked? Aren’t you ready to take your place among the royalty that a man of your talents so much deserves to be a part of? Aren’t you ready to crush the gnats, that have dared to stop you, under your foot?”

“Yes.” Chronos exhailed. He had been holding his breath.

“Then get up and come with me,” Extant said, standing up. “And you can help shape the time that will be, even as we dash the time that is.”

Chronos got up and grabbed his costume.

“Will... will there be any...” Chronos couldn’t seem to finish.

Extant seemed to know what Chronos was asking. He grinned a horrible grin. One that had no warmth at all.

“Oh Yes, David. There will be blood,” Extant said as the two faded out. “THERE WILL BE A LOT OF BLOOD.”



ENTER THE ROGUES - PART TWO: INERTIA

Earth-Seven

Thad Allen was quite unstable.

Thad had a problem sitting still. He knew it wasn’t just because he was the fastest person on earth. He was always fidgety. Even before his powers had kicked totally in, he was always moving and weaving and bobbing.

His uncle Wally had said he had ants in his pants. That was a few years before Thad had ripped out his uncle’s lungs.

Oh, Wally never even suspected Thad was going to do it. If he had, he might have been able to stop it. You see, Thad wasn’t ALWAYS the fastest person on Earth.

He kind of inherited the title... after he slaughtered every speedster on his planet. One by one.

Now, however, Thad bounced from foot to foot as the weird strangers in front of him made their pitch. They had just appeared and approached him with a proposal.

“You’ve done quite well for yourself,” the one that seemed to be the leader was saying. Thad had to concentrate to slow down enough so there weren’t long gaps between each word. “But what now? You’ve wiped out the speedsters on your Earth. You have nothing left to do.”

“Of course I do,” Thad grinned. “I have an entire world to screw with.”

“Ah. You see, Thad, that’s where you dream way too small,” the leader told him. “You need a guiding hand to show you the way.”

“Oh, really?” Thad replied. He then shot at the figure with blinding speed. He never made it to his destination. The figure held up his hands and Thad froze in his tracks.

Thad was unable to move or speak. His eyes bulged at the realization that the stranger had stopped him effortlessly. The figure’s companions chuckled.

“Do we really need this one, Extant?” the one dressed in green and white asked.

The one called Extant turned and looked back.

“Did I ask you, Chronos?” he said. The tone of his voice was enough that Chronos looked down and moved away.

“You like getting rid of other speedsters, don’t you, Thad?” Extant asked, his attention returning to the young man. Thad suddenly could move. He took a breath and looked up.

“Yes,” he replied simply.

“Then I can use you, and, in return, I’ll give you a hell of a lot more than one lousy planet to screw with,” Extant told him. “Only, you need to understand... you will do what I tell you. No deviation. No ad-libbing. You will follow my every command. Only then will you get what I offer. Understand?”

Thad smiled. Maybe he had been thinking small.

“What the hell,” he told Extant. “Beats hanging around here anyway.”

“Welcome aboard, Thad,” Chronos said. “You’ll be joining me and Timeflux here. Put this on.” Chronos handed over a weird device that looked like a wristwatch.

“Don’t call me that,” Thad said, putting the device on his wrist. “You can call me Inertia.”

“Let’s go.” Extant told them. “We have other Earths to visit and a lot more to recruit.”



ENTER THE ROGUES - PART THREE: FORCES GATHERED

Earth-66

Chronos stood at the doorway to the room and watched the ‘teams’ interact. A plethora of super-powered beings from a bevy of alternate universes milled inside the room and conversed. Many of them had flammable personalities and looked ready to argue or start a fight, but all were aware that Extant had enough power to snuff them all out easily.

Chronos was amazed at what had transpired in his life the last few weeks. He had been just the first that Extant had chosen, and that seemed to have bought him some respect among the mass of villains united here.

He loved the feeling.

He also marveled at the thought of the wonders of multiple universes that existed. Chronos had never suspected. The things he had learned from Extant were mind-blowing. Extant had a plan, but he needed someone to assist in carrying out that plan. That’s where he came in. Him and the others.

Timeflux from Earth-1. Inertia from Earth-7. Sinestro from Earth-13. Major Force from Earth-19. The Weather Wizard from Earth-22. The Weapons Master from Earth-26. Lex Luthor from Earth-27. The Persuader from Earth-31.

And more.

Chronos shifted his attention to the room that Extant used as his mission center. Right now, Extant was talking to a huge robot-like thing that was shaped like a gigantic eye. It gave Chronos the creeps.

He walked down the hall and came to the doorway.

Extant was watching something on a view screen. Whatever it was, it had just exploded.

“Three down, just a couple to go,” Extant said. “Wherever and whenever you are, Hunter, you’re too late.”

He stood up and turned to the giant eye.

“Brother Eye, you have the information you need. It’s time to retrieve your partner,” he said. “Kill the rest.”

“As you command,” the giant eye replied.

Chronos stepped back and went towards his own “office”. He didn’t want to be accused of eavesdropping, although he had been doing so on a few occasions. He had once caught a reference about two people that he really wanted to kill, however he wanted to be careful to not risk Extant’s ire. He retrieved the mission log Extant had given him and went into the room where everyone was gathered.

“Inertia, Major Force, Timeflux, get yourselves ready. We’re moving out on retrieval mission #1 as soon as Extant gives the word,” Chronos called out.

“Why can’t we just kill the putz?” Inertia asked, for what was most likely the hundredth time.

“Because Extant has plans for him and for ALL of them.” Chronos sighed. Inertia was a bloodthirsty little psycho. “You know that, Thad. Stop asking.”

“Plans? What plans exactly again?” Luthor asked, a grim look on his face. “What are we looking to accomplish here?”

“That’s not for you or me to worry about, Luthor,” Chronos replied. “We have our orders and they will be followed to the letter.”

“Or what?” Sinestro asked, sounding rather amused.

“Or Extant will just reverse time inside you and turn you into protoplasmic slime,” Chronos said and smiled.

The room became very quiet.

“Yeah, I thought you’d all see it that way,” Chronos chuckled. “Get ready. I’ll hand out team two and team three’s assignments after we get back.”

Chronos walked back towards Extant’s room. He hesitated and saw that the giant robot eye was no longer in there. He stepped inside and cleared his throat, to let Extant know he was there.

“Extant,” Chronos said. “I have the first team ready to go.”

“Good,” Extant replied. “I trust they totally understand what they need to do?”

“Yes, we’ve gone over it a number of times,” Chronos told him.

“And they know that the target is NOT to be harmed in any way?” Extant asked, sounding almost distracted.

“Yes. No killing, no maiming, no damage to him at all; especially his legs,” Chronos agreed.

“Or?” Extant asked.

“Or you’ll turn them into protoplasmic slime,” Chronos answered.

“Oh, I like the sound of that. Very nasty there, David.” Extant smiled. “Who’s on this first of many missions?”

“Inertia. Major Force. Timeflux,” Chronos rattled off the names.

“And you?” Extant inquired.

“And me,” Chronos replied.

“Good. Don’t screw this up, David,” Extant told him, a gleam of menace sparkling in his eye.

“We won’t,” Chronos said. “Sir… I couldn’t help but overhear you talking to the robot before…”

“Satellite,” Extant corrected him.

“Right… satellite,” Chronos replied. “In any case, did I hear correctly that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are involved in all of this?”

“I know all about your history with those two, David,” Extant told him. “However, Gold is dead and Blue Beetle is soon to follow. You’ll have to be satisfied in knowing your revenge was served for you.”

Gold was dead? Chronos felt cheated. He remembered how Gold had totally humiliated him years ago when he had first started out.

“Well, I could always go back in time and-” Chronos started to say.

“You will do NO SUCH THING!” Extant roared, rising suddenly to his feet. “If you mess up ONE SINGLE IOTA of my plans with your petty need for comeuppance I will make you wish you were NEVER BORN! Is that understood? My plans are universally more important than the fact you need revenge because they bitch-slapped you a half a dozen times!”

Chronos stumbled back, surprised at the outburst. “Y-yes, s-sir,” he managed to stutter.

“Get out of here, Clinton, and if you mess things up, what you wanted to do to Gold and Beetle will be nothing compared to what I will do to you,” Extant snarled.

Chronos actually saluted, much to the amusement of Extant, then hurried to leave the room. Just before he did, he turned.

“Big picture,” he said to Extant.

Extant smiled. “Yes, David. Big picture.”

Chronos hurried out and stopped in the doorway the teams sat in. He waited a second until his pulse had returned to normal. He didn’t want this first mission to fail under any circumstance. Best to add one more player.

“Persuader, you’ve been added to the mission,” he said.

Persuader nodded and picked up his axe. Just the sight of it made Chronos gulp. He faced the team, who had walked towards the doorway.

“Let’s go,” he told them. “Time to start burning the universes to the ground.”



ENTER THE ROGUES - PART FOUR: SPEED KILLS



Bart Allen stood outside in his backyard with his eyes closed. He tried to stay perfectly still.

His desire to burst into a run and speed up and down throughout the city was tremendous. However, Bart was trying to temper himself.

“Faster isn’t always better, Bart,” Jay Garrick had told him on more than one occasion. “Even for us. You need to think and prepare for every situation. You can’t just count on your speed to get you out of every piece of trouble that comes your way.”

As much as he hated to admit it, Bart knew Jay was probably right, but the desire to run and laugh and zoom was always there. Despite the fact that Jay would be happy to hear that Bart was actually considering his words, he still liked being impulsive.

He liked his name. He liked who he was.

Carol understood. Besides being his best friend, she seemed to have quite a grasp on Bart’s nature. Sometimes it was almost like they were... well... connected.

Bart smiled, thinking about it.

A second later, he heard a crackle and a rip of thunder.

He opened his eyes... his head tilted back. The first thing he noticed was the sky. It was a deep crimson.

“What the heck?... Red?” he said out loud.

That’s when something hit him.

A blur whizzed past Bart so fast, he would have thought it was his Uncle Wally, The Flash, had he not also been hit so hard. Wally liked to mess with him sometimes, but he wouldn’t have done that.

Bart shot to the side, trying to track whoever was buzzing him.

A figure appeared to his left, but disappeared a split second later. The figure seemed to be in green and white.

Something slammed into him again. He took a hard hit to the head. Bart fought to stay conscious. He stumbled and took off... looking to run as fast and as far from the house as possible. He dug in, trying to get to full speed.

Figures appeared in his path and disappeared a nanosecond later. One was a huge hulking figure with a purple-ish metallic body. Another was dressed in a mix of blue and gold... a star on his chest and a nasty expression on his face. Another held a huge axe. The axe was swung at him. Bart dodged but the figure had already disappeared.

One of the figures reappeared. The blue and gold one. He stood in front and shot some sort of blast from a wristband. Bart dodged the blast, lowered his shoulder and body checked the figure. His attacker went flying and hit the ground, then rolled over and disappeared.

They had veered him away from the house. He turned to head back towards it. That’s when he realized something was moving as fast as he was. Another speedster? He could make out a green costume that looked almost like his own.

Then his pursuer came into line and Bart could see his face. It was like looking into a mirror. The other speedster winked at him and grinned a horrible grin.

Bart twisted and turned, trying to shake him. His heart was thumping in his chest like a jackhammer. That guy... he... looked like him! Who was he? WHAT was he?

Whatever he was, he ran with him. Before Bart could kick it into top speed, his pursuer tossed something over his head and around his neck. Pain jolted through Bart’s body. He skidded into a tree and hit hard.

The last thing he heard as everything went black, was a voice he didn’t recognize.

“That was easy. Let’s get him to Extant.”



ENTER THE ROGUES - PART FIVE: THE MISSIONS



Chronos couldn’t suppress a huge grin as they appeared back at Extant’s lair.

“You know where to take him,” he said to Timeflux and Inertia as he headed to inform Extant of their success. “And Timeflux... don’t leave Inertia alone with him. Just in case.”

“Awww, c’mon!” Inertia hissed.

“Sorry, Thad, but I know how you feel about other speedsters,” Chronos sang back. He was in a great mood. The mission could not have gone smoother.

“Hey what was with those red skies?” he heard Inertia ask Timeflux as he walked away.

Chronos walked in on Extant and the giant eye in mid-conversation. Extant had sounded furious.

“We’re back,” Chronos informed him. He hoped he didn’t look as smug as he felt.

“Successful, I take it?” Extant replied. “You got him. Or odds are you wouldn’t have had the nerve to come back.”

“Yes, successful,” Chronos told him. “I cannot believe there are so many others out there. I mean, when you told me who Inertia really was, I was skeptical, but seeing what I saw today… I don’t have the words.”

“Forget your words. I have another mission for you,” Extant said. “And this time I’m coming. It’s high time we ended Booster Gold’s interfering once and for all.”

Gold! Alive! Chronos couldn’t believe his good luck. First the mission went perfectly. Now he was going to get a chance for revenge after all. Life was good.

“But Eye was not able to trace their escape trail,” Brother Eye was saying to Extant. “They didn’t time jump.”

“I know. You told me,” Extant said. “But they couldn’t have known that I would realize how they escaped. It was a boom tube, and odds are they’re on either Apokolips or New Genesis. I would guess no one from Apokolips would be helping them, so it has to be New Genesis. We’ll start there. Besides, Miracle is most likely still alive.”

Chronos didn’t know what Extant was talking about, but he was excited.

Extant walked over to a huge window and looked down. Below him, he could see Inertia and Timeflux placing Impulse from Earth-5 onto a giant treadmill.

“Send out teams two and three. I want more Flashes and I want them quick. Then get Inertia, Major Force and Timeflux,” Extant told Chronos. “We’re going on a trip^*.”



^* For the results of that trip, check out Booster Gold #6!



TIME OF THE SEASON



Booster Gold had finally found Rip Hunter. After weeks of time hopping throughout different time periods and universes, the search was over.

However, Booster had a feeling things were just beginning.

Rip Hunter had been hiding out using Booster’s identity in 2461. Booster had never noticed it before, but there was a fairly strong resemblance between the two.

That wasn’t the strangest part though. The strangest part was that according to what he had been told in the past by Rip, his time period didn’t even EXIST anymore.

So how could Rip be here hiding out? How could THEY be there with him?

When he had figured out what Rip’s little puzzle that had been implanted in Skeets had meant, he’d figured it would be a dead end. However they had experianced no trouble at all getting to 2461.

Nothing was making sense.

Rip was pulling off the museum janitor outfit. The “Michael Carter” nametag dropped to the floor. Booster stared at it for a moment, then looked up and stared at Rip.

“Let’s get going,” Rip Hunter said as he pulled his regular clothing on. “The little bit of a head start we had is practically gone. Extant will eventually figure out when I’ve been. We have to move.”

Booster didn’t budge. He crossed his arms and stared hard at Rip.

“Booster?” Blue Beetle questioned.

“Hold on, Beetle,” Booster said.

Rip opened a locker and took out a black satchel. He slipped it over his left shoulder.

“Okay, c’mon... let’s move,” he said looking at Booster.

Booster still didn’t budge.

Rip and Booster stared at each other for a few seconds.

“Booster,” Rip said, sounding impatient. “I know you have questions, and I will give you answers, but right now we have got to-”

“No,” Booster said simply.

Rip sighed. He realized this was one argument he wasn’t going to win.“What?” he asked.

“Rip,” Booster hissed, attempting to keep a lid on the anger he was feeling. “When you banned me from time travel, you said my time had been... changed. That the timeline had been altered. That certain people didn’t exist anymore. Including my sister! But…”

“Boo-... Michael,” Rip sighed. “It’s not that simple.”

“MAKE IT SIMPLE!” Booster shouted.

Rip looked down and seemed to gather his thoughts. Then he said the last thing Booster ever expected to hear.

“I didn’t ban you from the timestream,” he said.

Booster had a comeback for just about anything Rip would say.

Except that.

“Yeah, well... well... HUH?” Booster stammered.

“The Rip Hunter that ‘exiled’ you was not me,” Rip explained, as if he was a teacher explaining a math problem to a student. “There’s more, and I’ll explain... but we HAVE to get out of here first.”

Booster froze, unable to speak as his mind raced.

Ted looked down and then up at Booster. “Come on, Michael, it’ll be okay.”

“No,” Booster answered. “My sister…”

“Listen, there’s a lot I CAN’T tell you, Michael,” Rip said gently. “But I can tell you this. When this is all over, your sister will be alive,” Rip explained. “I can’t tell you when or where... but you will see her again.”

“Can’t?” Booster asked. “Or won’t?”

“Can’t,” Rip replied softly. “If I knew for sure, I promise I would tell you.”

“Michael,” Skeets interjected. “From what I know... he is telling you the truth.”

Booster looked at Skeets, then back at Rip. Rip looked directly into Booster’s eyes.

Booster wiped his brow and looked around. “You know, sometimes I actually miss this old museum,” he said. Then he focused back on Rip intently. “You’re sure that my sister will be okay?”

“All I can tell you is that she still exists... and you will see her again,” Rip said. “And for now, that’s all I can be sure of.”

Booster nodded. Blue Beetle clapped him on the back and smiled.

“Good news,” he said.

“Now...” Rip said, his impatience showing again. “Can we go?”

“Yes,” Booster responded.

Rip nodded and pulled a number of devices from his satchel. He handed them over to Booster and Beetle.

“Time watches?” Booster asked, puzzled. “I have one already.”

“Not like this. These are special,” Rip told them. “I have a very specific mission for you both... and when we get to the lab I’ll show you what it is.”

“Um... the lab has been kind of... compromised,” Booster said as he and Beetle put on the time-travel watches.

“I have more than one hidden location, Booster,” Rip explained, taking hold of Skeets as he spoke. “And you might be surprised at when and where some of them are. Now, lock onto my watch and follow me.”

With that... they faded out.



TIME, TIME, TIME, SEE WHAT HAS BECOME OF ME



“And so it begins,” a voice stated, looking at the two other figures in the room.

“It began a long time ago,” Figure #2 said with a wry smile. “We’re just finally getting to the real meat of the situation. Finally.”

“When I was approached by... him... I would never have imagined that this could all be true,” Figure #3 told them. “I mean... I had my suspicions... some scientific theory... but... this is too fantastic to believe sometimes.”

“You had BETTER believe it pal. Even if you are younger than the rest of us,” Figure #2 said.

“You both realize that we’re all in danger. He is after us all,” Figure #1 said, sounding grim. “Right now all we can do is stay alert and hope this plan works.”

“Do you think it will?” Figure #3 asked.

“No,” Figure #1 replied. “In fact, I expect that this is the not really the beginning... but actually the end. Of everything.”

“We’ll see,” Figure #2 responded. “One thing we know for sure... after this... everything changes.”

The three figures nodded and took their leave of each other.

And somewhere... the skies turned red.



IF I COULD SAVE TIME IN A BOTTLE



“Goog, that was a close one! I hope Rip and Skeets got out of there!” Booster Gold stumbled into the locker room at Ferris Air, Blue Beetle following close behind. He covered his mouth. “Nass. Gotta watch my mouth.”

“Where is it?” Blue Beetle took a small device from his belt and began waving it around. “Damn it, can’t get a signal--”

“That isn’t a cell phone, Teddy, it’s an energy detector... and pass it here, we’re on a schedule.” He snatched the device from Beetle’s hand, and put it up to his goggles. “Come on, you worthless piece of…”

“Amazing. You’re not going to make an ‘all the time in the world’ joke?” Beetle shot at him. “Because I thought that was our thing right now. Making jokes about how we’re got an eternity to save the world. Worlds I mean. Multiple worlds. Oh God, I’m stuck in a convoluted comic book plot!”

“Quiet, Ted, I’m concentrating,” Booster said, ignoring Beetle’s rolling of the eyes. “I want to save the multiverse while I’m still in my physical prime. I, unlike you apparently, care about my appearance.” He clicked his fingers as the device began to beep. “Score!”

Beetle went rigid. “Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means your costume is bulging in all the wrong places,” Booster said, walking slowly in the direction the device was pointing him. “What have you been doing anyway? Stress eating? Saving the world is hungry business and what not, but this is ridic-”

“Jerk! Listen, let’s just get a sample of what we need and go, okay?” Beetle hissed. “We’re in a locker room and I think they might be communal showers. I do not want to be in here when they’re getting used by all those homo-erotic pilots.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Booster grinned. He pointed to a locker. “That one.”

Beetle walked over to the locker marked ‘Highball’ and began working on the lock. He span the dial awkwardly, his head pressed against the cold metal, and then froze suddenly, a grin forming on his lips. The locker wheezed open.

Booster was impressed. “How did you do that?”

“I’m a genius, Booster. Pass me the watchemagoog,” Beetle said, reaching out, with his eyes on the locker.

Booster took a device from the back of his costume and handed it over. He watched as Ted went to work.

Beetle waved it about the locker and there was a flash of green light as something became visible. “Pocket tesseract,” he smiled. “Nice.”

He took the Oan Power Battery from where it sat and then took another device from his own belt. “Kind enough for Rip to allow us to kit out for this one. Time Point is a very snazzy place.”

Booster tapped his foot and looked at the new time-bracelet he’d been given. “Race against time and stuff, Ted. Come on…”

“I’m almost done, Michael,” Beetle said as he took a small box from his utility belt and opened it up. “And we have a lot more things to go after we’re done here. This is only the first item on the list.”

He stopped suddenly, as if a thought had just occurred to him.

“Hey,” Beetle asked Booster, glancing at him sideways. “How do you think he was able to come up with this list anyway?”

“’Cause the guy has no life,” Booster replied, folding his arms and looking impatient, “... and all he does is study weird crap that could have some sort of effect on time or chronal energy or what-not...”

“Yeah... but still...” Beetle said. “He must have had some connection to these devices... some exposure so that he knows what to expect from it.”

“Teddy, Teddy, Teddy...” Booster chided his friend. “This is Rip Hunter we’re talking about. Who the frack knows the plethora of information he has in that noggin of his.”

Beetle was staring at Booster... a strange look on his face.

“What?” Booster asked.

“Plethora?” Beetle replied, not trying to suppress a smile. “Wow. An honest-to-goodness grown-up word. You’ve been using Skeet’s dictionary files again, haven’t you?”

“Oh, shut up, you egghead,” Booster shot back. “If you c-... Hey! Look!”

A sparkling white diamond twinkled in the emerald light of the power battery’s center, and then suddenly a spark and a swirl of energy shot into it. After the short light show, things returned to normal.

“Okay, we have the power source sample,” Beetle said. “Let’s go. We’ve got a lot of things to get and we have to get them to Rip quickly.”

Booster replaced the power battery, and then reset the settings on the device. The battery faded into its pocket dimension. Beetle slammed the door shut and activated his time bracelet. “Time to go.”

“Time,” Beetle said, shaking his head. “You just couldn’t help yourself.”

“Bwa Ha Ha.” The duo faded from existence, and vanished to points unknown.



TIME HAS COME TODAY



It had started when the dull, dark slate gray of morning was broken up by the orange and reds of the rising sun. The colors were vibrant and led many early risers to expect a glorious day out.

The problem became readily apparent when the red glow of morning never faded into a golden sun and bright blue skies. The problem became readily apparent when the red of morning swept the skies with its crimson color, flickers of lightning skittering across that monochromatic slate above the Earth.

”Shazam!”

”Marvel!”

“What the hell is all that, Cap?” Kid Marvel asked as he soared up into the skies at the side of his friend. He stared up at the angry red skies and felt a chill run down the back of his neck.

“Beats me, Kid, but we’ve got to figure it out fast, and make sure that everyone stays calm until we get to the bottom of it,” Captain Marvel answered quickly, as he strained the Wisdom of Solomon to understand the phenomenon above them. They streaked up high into the crimson air and could see nothing causing the effect, and the Captain frowned as they hovered amid the flickers of electricity and the ominous blood-red glow.

“This is bigger than just us, isn’t it?”

Captain Marvel nodded and looked around them. “Okay, you get Mary, Bulletman, Captain Triumph...anyone else you can scrounge up, and make sure that things stay calm. I’m going to see if the wizard can shed some light on this.”

With a nod and a blur of blue, Kid Marvel was gone as Captain Marvel dropped back down toward the ground and sped into a long-abandoned subway entrance. He zoomed through the empty subway tunnel, and pulled up to a quick stop near the haunting idols of the Seven Deadly Sins, alighting on the platform that led to the audience chamber of the Wizard Shazam.

“Beetle?” Captain Marvel stared at the scene before him with disbelief and his question was immediately responded to by a loud clang.

Blue Beetle looked up from where he’d begun to lift one side of the brazier used by Captain Marvel to summon the ghost of Shazam. The edge of the ancient brass brazier slapped into the stone floor and left an echoing sound that rattled the two men.

“Ted!” Booster Gold scolded his partner in crime, his hands still clutching the rim of the ancient device. “Don’t be a klutz! We gotta get in here and outta here before...” He caught the look in his partner’s face and pursed his lips in annoyance. “Oh. He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

Ted nodded slowly as he stared at the powerful figure of Captain Marvel. “Hello?”

“Why are you doing this, Ted?” Captain Marvel asked his old friend as he walked up to them. “Who is this? How did you get over here? This never happens, Mary and I always go over to your world.”

“He knows you, Ted,” Booster hissed in surprise, staring incredulously at the increasingly confused Blue Beetle.

“I kind of noticed that, yes, thank you,” Beetle shot back and looked up at Captain Marvel, while he knelt down to grip the edge of the brazier again. “I didn’t think there was a Blue Beetle on this Earth.”

“There isn’t. You know that.” Marvel took a closer look and then glanced over at Booster Gold, before returning his stare into the Blue Beetle’s amber-colored goggles. “You are Ted Kord, right?”

“Right Ted, wrong world, and I think we’re done talking, right, Booster?” Beetle said nervously, taking a deep swallow.

“Yeah, done talking. We’re really sorry, Cap. Hope you don’t mind, we promise to bring this right back, as soon as we can,” Booster Gold said in a hurried voice before activating the recall in his circuit. Suddenly, the pair vanished from sight, along with the brazier.

“Holy Moley!” Captain Marvel declared as he found himself alone in the chamber suddenly. “Did they steal an item, or kidnap the Wizard? Have to figure out how to follow them, but how?” He lifted up into the air and soared back out into the open air of Fawcett City. “Maybe Ibis, if I can figure out where he’s hiding.” He stretched his fists out ahead of him, to pour on his incredible speed, only to notice they were blurring, then slowly fading. “Or maybe I’ll just go with...”

As the World’s Mightiest Mortal faded out and went missing from Earth-S, the problems for the beleaguered world grew.



GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME

Vanishing Point

Rip Hunter knelt down and rummaged through his satchel. Skeets hovered next to him, turning in a perfect circle, looking for any danger.

“This is crazy, isn’t it, Skeets?” Rip asked as he rummaged.

“You are talking to a bot that spends a majority of his time with Booster Gold, Mr. Hunter,” Skeets replied. “Crazy takes on a whole new definition after that.”

“Good point.” Rip nodded. “But this plan of mine. It’s stretching that definition to new limits.”

“Indeed, it’s a long shot,” Skeets agreed.

“No choice though,” Rip said as he found what he was looking for. “Extant is moving fast now. Despite the fact we have time at our disposal... the finite clock is going to keep us honest.”

“I know you must be concerned about the abilities of Booster and Blue Beetle, but I believe they are up for the task,” Skeets said.

“You know Skeets...” Rip said thoughtfully. “I do too. Almost despite myself... but I do too. I only wish that things could be done differently.”

“Even if they knew what was to come, they would still do what is needed,” Skeets replied. “Despite the way they are perceived by some... they are heroes.”

Rip looked at the unstable environment that Vanishing Point was becoming.

“Well, we need heroes, Skeets,” Rip said, tossing the satchel back onto his shoulder. “Now, let’s get out of here. We have work to do.”

They faded out, unaware that if they had stayed just a little longer, they would have witnessed the death of Rip Hunter.

TO BE CONTINUED IN ZERO HOUR #5: THE PARADOX


If you wish to comment on this issue, please CLICK HERE to visit the letters page.