Issue 6: "Ripping the Future, Part Two"

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Booster Gold
Issue #6: “Ripping the Future, Part Two: Crawling From The Wreckage”
Written by Patrick J. Nestor, Jr.
Cover by Sylvain Swimer
Flats by Michael Edwards
Edited by Mark Bowers

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EARTH ORBIT - JUNE 19^th, 2109 – Thirty Seconds ago

Michael Jon Carter had regrets.

Most people looked at him and saw the showman.

No one really KNEW him. Ted Kord came the closest… but even with Ted, Michael was not always comfortable admitting his regrets. Regrets that reached back over the years.

Everyone thought they knew Booster Gold. They didn’t. They saw his mask. They saw his act.

They didn’t see him.

Power Girl called him shallow and vapid and those were two of the NICER things she said about him.

Steel had called him brainless. He really thought that Michael didn’t consider his actions and words beforehand.

Looker called him selfish. She, like everyone else, thought he only thought of himself.

The funny thing was, that none of them would most likely ever know that, at the end, Booster’s thoughts had nothing to do with himself.

Even as the planet below them exploded, Michael knew they had to move. He tried to reach for Supergirl with one hand, even as his other went to punch in an emergency jaunt out of there. His mind had just enough time to wonder how to save Linda AND Mister Miracle and get back to 1964 to save Ted and Skeets from Brother Eye.

Not once did he think about himself. Not once did fame, riches or glory cross his mind.

Just the thought on how to save everyone.

He didn’t come even close. He heard Mister Miracle shout, “Booster! Linda! We have to get out of here before-”

Then all Michael heard was the loud boom.

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Linda Danvers was out of time.

Linda was a member of the Titans. Along with Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern), Donna Troy (Darkstar), Danny Chase (Phantasm), Loraine Reilly (Firestorm), and Tara Markov (Terra).

The Titans had been tracking a mystery man who seemed to be able to travel through time. A mystery man who had attacked and killed an important scientist… one that had done more for time research than any other person alive.

They had enlisted the help of Booster Gold and his team, The Conglomerate. The two teams traveled into the future, hot on the trail. Since Linda had the ability to travel through time on her own, she had gone on ahead to scout.

She found the mystery man in space, examining some sort of satellite. She attacked.

They fought, but he was too powerful.

She thought he would kill her, but he did not. He defeated her and held her captive. He then sat and waited for her teammates and picked them off one by one.

But he didn’t kill her. He seemed to enjoy telling her how he killed off every member of the Titans and the Conglomerate. He became interested in her planet. He told her things and taunted her that she could do nothing about them.

Then she was rescued, by a man she thought was dead. Only it turned out to not be the man she knew, but one from another universe.

Now Linda, out of time and out of luck, watched her home explode. She had already lost her friends and she didn’t know how to save those who had just saved her.

She saw Booster reach for her. She heard Mister Miracle shout.

Then she heard the boom, and knew she was dead.

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Scott Free lived on the edge.

Being brought up on a dark and deadly place such as Apokolips had prepared him for a life that was filled with nothing but danger.

His rebellion against the teachings of Granny Goodness and the rest of the sick and twisted “values” that Darkseid’s minions tried to pound into his head had made him an enigma. A being born of the light New Genesis yet raised in the dark of Apokolips made Scott unlike anyone he knew. Everyone on Apokolips wanted him dead. Everyone on New Genesis was wary of him… even Highfather.

Orion, son of Darkseid and raised on New Genesis, kind of understood him, but Orion had demons of his own to feed.

There was only one person who seemed to accept him for who he was.

Barda.

Barda, who had escaped the shadow of Apokolips with him. Barda, who waited for him to return.

Scott thought of Barda even as the planet below them exploded.

Then all Scott Free could think of was the boom.

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SOMEWHERE IN TIME

Extant watched Brother Eye disappear through time. Soon it would return with Buddy Blank, either dead or alive.

He then turned his attention to the figure that had just walked in.

Chronos cleared his throat and walked up to Extant. Out of the recruits that Extant had gathered to perform some work for him, Chronos had somehow found himself in the role of reporting back to him.

“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 anyway?” 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…”

“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.”

“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 come-uppance 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 out of the room.

“Idiot,” Extant hissed. “To think I once…” He broke off and walked to look down upon his almost finished device. Far below him it sat.

“This is just the beginning of the end,” he said out loud to no one.

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UNKNOWN – PRESENT TIME

BOOM!

Booster Gold heard everything around him explode. The loud ringing in his ears was testament to that. He felt himself ripped backwards so violently he was sure he was being torn apart.

His momentum stopped as suddenly as it had started. He hit something with extreme force. Then everything went black.

The next thing he knew, Booster came to, lying on his back. He could hear two voices above him.

“… so suddenly!” a female voice he didn’t recognize said. “It must have been quite a jolt to their systems.”

“Couldn’t be helped,” a familiar voice responded. “I didn’t exactly have time for anything else. You alive there, Booster?”

It took Booster a few seconds to realize he was still alive and was lying on what felt like… grass. He opened his eyes. Standing above him was Mister Miracle and a brightly dressed and extremely tall and well-built woman.

“I don’t think so,” Booster responded carefully. “We exploded.”

“Yes, we did,” Miracle replied, reaching down and offering a hand. “What’s the matter, you never blew up before?”

“How the hell are we alive?” Booster asked as Miracle pulled him up. His eyes drifted to Linda Danvers, sitting up and hugging her knees… a distant look on her face, then to Miracle’s female companion.

“Boom tube,” Miracle said simply. “Never leave home without it.”

“You mean you managed to use that boomy thing to transport us out of there?” Booster asked incredulously. “How the hell did you manage to do that so fast?”

“I’m not the world’s greatest escape artist for nothing, Booster,” Miracle smiled at him.

“You know, I would normally say that Thaddus Brown holds that title, but after this…” Booster breathed, “you deserve it.” He turned to the tall and beautiful woman next to him and grinned.

“And you are?” he asked.

“I am Scott’s wife,” the woman responded. “Big Barda.”

“Of course you are,” Booster replied.

He walked over and hunched down in front of Linda.

“Linda…” he said softly. “We’re okay, Linda.”

She looked at Booster as if she hadn’t noticed him.

“Are we dead?’ she asked.

“Not yet.” Booster grinned. He helped Linda up and explained what Scott had done.

“Incredible,” she replied. “I… I have… well… Thanks.” Then she walked away.

“What the...?” Barda said, surprised.

“This has been a hellish day for her,” Miracle said. He explained the situation to his wife about the destroyed Earth and Extant killing her friends.

Barda nodded. “Let me talk to her.” She followed after her.

Booster watched her go, then turned back to Miracle.

“We’ve got to get back to Beetle and Skeets,” he hissed. “Extant is sending that killer satellite to get Supernova!”

“I know,” Miracle replied. “Got a plan?”

“Actually,” Booster smirked, “I do.”

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POLO GROUNDS, NEW YORK – APRIL 29^th, 1964

Ted Kord hunched over Rip Hunter’s hard drive, humming The Police’s “Truth Hits Everybody”. He did it subconsciously whenever he thought he was close to discovering the truth about something. Skeets hovered over Ted’s left shoulder.

“Careful, Ted,” he warned.

“I know, Skeets,” Beetle replied, “…but this safeguard you put on here is the last part of the puzzle I needed. I’m about to crack this thing wide open.”

A second later, the drive crackled and a strange sounding ‘pop’ came from it. Beetle fell backwards and sprawled onto the ground as a hologram came from the drive.

Supernova rushed over as Ted jumped up. A holographic image of Rip Hunter formed.

“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi; you’re my only hope,” Beetle said under his breath.

“Huh?” Supernova questioned Beetle. His inquiry went unanswered.

“Booster, Skeets, I can only hope the two of you have found this,” Rip Hunter’s voice came from the hologram. “By now you must have an idea what’s going on and hopefully I’ve had enough time to get my plan into motion. There’s a lot to tell you, but I can’t take the chance that this has fallen into the wrong hands. So, Skeets, listen carefully. ‘The Time Traveller, for so it will be convenient to speak of him, was expounding a recondite matter to us.’ Do you understand? Booster, listen to Skeets and I pray you’re ready for this. Hunter out.”

The hologram disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.

“What the heck does THAT mean?’ Ted hissed.

“We have to get Michael,” Skeets said, turning towards Beetle and Supernova’s direction. “We’re in more danger than we realize and we have to get out of here now. I know how to find Rip Hunter.”

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RIP HUNTER’S LAB

Booster Gold materialized into the lab and looked around. He was jaunting totally blind and had no idea what time frame he had appeared in. Rip’s fail-safe kept the lab moving throughout different parts of the timestream at random, so no one could happen upon it. Using the time-band Rip had given him, Booster was always able to home in on the ‘current’ location, but with some modifications by Mister Miracle, Booster had attempted to access the lab at an earlier point in history. He wasn’t sure if it had worked.

He walked over to the main Time Data Computer to do what he was there for, when he realized someone was phasing in. He immediately flew up into the rafters and hid in a dark corner of the roof area.

Below him, Booster saw himself appear in the lab. He stifled a chuckle. He watched his past self step off the receiving platform and look around.

“Skeets! I’m back! We forgot about Chronos!” the past-Booster called out. “I need those time/space coordinates for where we left him!”

Booster watched his past self look around and search for Skeets. He knew that he wouldn’t find him.

“Skeets? Buddy?” The past-Booster walked into the hallway. A minute later he came back into the main lab. “Great. Just…. great,” the past-Booster sighed. He moved to the Time Data Computer and punched up what Booster knew was the last recorded mission log from his jump to 1879. Once again, it was weird being on the other side of something he had already experienced.

“Dammit, Skeets… where are you?” the past-Booster asked out loud to himself. He punched the coordinates into his watch. “One thing at a time, Mike… get Chronos and come back and look for Skeets. FRACK!”

The past-Booster faded out.

A second later Booster emerged from the shadows of the rafters. He landed on the floor and looked at the information his past self had called up on the Time Data Computer. He pulled up files on the computer, stopping a few times to punch information into a wrist device.

Booster wanted to remove some information about Supernova’s whereabouts from Rip’s Time Data computer at a point in time BEFORE Supernova revealed his identity to him, Skeets, Miracle and Ted. That would make it harder for Brother Eye to know something important about Supernova’s secret location back in 1964, which might give Booster a chance to fake him out.

He hoped.

Booster found every mention of Supernova in the computer and began to delete them. He finished and hoped his plan would buy them some time. At least one mystery was solved. When he had gotten back with Chronos he had realized someone had been at the computer… now he knew who it had been. It had been HIM. The thought was funny, despite the seriousness of the situation.

With a last look around, he faded out.

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POLO GROUNDS, NEW YORK – APRIL 29th, 1964

Blue Beetle and Supernova stared at Skeets.

“What do you mean?” Supernova demanded. “You’ve suddenly remembered?”

“Yes.” Skeets said simply.

“Hunter programmed a memory code into you,” Beetle surmised, “and that phrase was the trigger.”

Before Skeets could confirm, the room shook as if something had hit them. A loud crashing sound came from above.

“What the HELL?” Beetle shouted.

“NO!” Supernova shouted. “HE FOUND ME!”

As if answering him, the roof began to peel back, exposing a giant unblinking eye.

“Hello, Buddy,” Brother Eye said. “Eye’ve been looking for you.”

Booster Gold and Mister Miracle suddenly materialized in the middle of the room.

“Yeah, pal?” Booster hissed. “Well look at THIS!”

A split-second later, a wrecking ball came out of nowhere and smashed into the side of Brother Eye, knocking the satellite away.

“What was that?” Beetle shouted above the crashing sounds of the building coming apart.

“We removed the time loop that set the place for a few seconds before it was demolished!” Booster shouted back, moving forward and grabbing Beetle’s arm.

“That hit won’t have hurt him much!” Supernova yelled. “He’ll be right back and he’s got a chrono-trail reader so he’ll be able to trace any time jump we ma -“

Even as Supernova was saying it, they could hear the satellite moving back into position.

“It didn’t have to hurt him!” Booster screamed. “Just distract him for a few seconds! NOW, SCOTT!”

“STOP!” Brother Eye was saying. “I MUST-“

BOOM!

The deafening boom overloaded Brother Eye’s circuits for a moment. As the sound faded away, Brother Eye found itself looking at an empty room. It took a second to retrieve an item that was partly covered in rubble, then, a second later, it faded from sight itself, leaving some confused workmen to wonder what it was they had just seen.

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NEW GENESIS – PRESENT TIME

BOOM!

All of them expect for Mister Miracle came tumbling out of the boom tube and sprawled onto the ground.

“JEEZ! WHAT THE HELL WAS TH-“ Blue Beetle’s shout was cut short as he turned over and vomited.

“Oh, c’mon Ted!’ Booster yelled at him gleefully. “Maybe you don’t have the stomach for time travel!”

Supernova stood up and looked around. “Wh… what is this place?’

“New Genesis,” Miracle told him. “This is my home. We’re safe here.”

“Brother Eye knows how to look for me now,” Supernova said. “Eventually, he’ll find me. No matter where we hide.”

“We’re not going to hide,” Booster said, pounding Blue Beetle on the back as he retched. “It’s time we stopped re-acting and started acting first.”

“Booster!’ Skeets flew over and hovered in front of him.

“Hiya, Skeets.” Booster grinned. “How’d ya like that escape plan?”

“That was PLANNED?” Beetle said a second before retching again.

“Yep!” Booster beamed proudly. “I figured that Brother Eye was tapped into Rip’s Time Data computer, from when he had tried his computer takeover attempt when Rip first found you guys. I went back and took out the information and data about the time-loop Rip placed on the Polo Grounds. That way he’d know your location but not the safeguards. Once he materialized, we undid the loop and he took a helluva shot from that wrecking ball! Then we just had Scott boom-tube us out so he couldn’t trace our escape path!”

Beetle stood up and looked at Booster with a quizzical look on his face.

“Booster,” he asked, “why didn’t you just delete the location information altogether? Then he wouldn’t have known where to go at all.”

“‘Cause… ‘cause…” Booster stammered. “‘Cause…. Ah, FRACK!”

“The plan was a solid one, Booster,” Skeets said. “I suspect Brother Eye would have found us anyway eventually. This way we clearly escaped.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Booster smiled.

“Tell him about the hologram,” Supernova said.

“What ABOUT the hologram?” Booster asked.

“I know where Rip Hunter is,” Skeets told a shocked Booster. “Or, more to the point, YOU know where he is.”

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SOMEWHERE IN TIME

“DAMMIT!” Extant screamed . He smashed in the screen he was standing in front of and glared at the floating satellite. “How could you let them get away from you!? AND HOW THE HELL WERE THEY EVEN STILL ALIVE?”

“Eye was unprepared for the tactics Booster Gold used,” Brother Eye explained. “The unorthodox nature of his attack caught me unaware. As for their continued lifespans… eye do not have enough information to process an estimation.”

“Unorthodox? The man is a bloody idiot!” Extant ranted. “Why, he even had to be removed from the…” Extant stopped himself. And closed his eyes.

“Alright.” he said, sounding calmer. “So there IS a reason that Hunter recruited that dolt. Maybe he’s not so ‘fuzzy’ after all.”

Just then, Chronos came into the room.

“We’re back,” he said, looking smug.

“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.”

“But Eye was not able to trace their escape trail,” Brother Eye said. “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.”

Extant walked over to a huge window and looked down. Below him, he could see Inerta placing the prisoner onto Extant’s ‘device’. Things were not going exactly as planned, but no matter… he could deal with an insurgent such as Booster Gold.

“Get Inertia, Major Force and Timeflux,” Extant told Chronos. “We’re going on a trip.”

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NEW GENESIS – PRESENT TIME

“Me?” Booster asked, surprised. “How would I know?”

Skeets explained about the message from Rip’s hard drive and the trigger for a memory code that Rip had programmed into him.

Booster frowned. “So you’re saying that it was RIP who erased your memory?” he asked.

“Yes. Until the proper time had passed I suppose,” Skeets replied.

“There was some sort of failsafe on the drive,” Beetle explained. “I think you had to view the files you guys looked at. That set off some sort of timer. Once that proper time passed, the message was waiting to be triggered.”

“So… what am I supposed to listen to you about?” Booster asked.

“He said I was to tell you to go to the beginning, but take into account what you lost,” Skeets said.

“Of course!” Booster exclaimed.

“You know what it means?” Supernova asked, sounding excited.

“Of COURSE I don’t!” Booster yelled at him. “It makes no fracking sense at all! It’s another one of Rip’s little riddles! CAN’T THE FRACKING GUY JUST SAY WHAT HE MEANS ONCE AND A WHILE!?”

“Whatever it is, it’s supposed to mean something to you,” Beetle said.

“Yeah, great,” Booster grumbled. “This entire thing has been one big-”

He was cut off by a laser bolt hitting the ground just inches from him.

“Ambush!” Mister Miracle shouted, running towards them. “We’ve been found!”

“Found and about to be DEAD!” Major Force shouted as he rushed right at Booster.

Booster stepped closer to Beetle and activated his force field. The timing was good, as a second later a bolt hit the field with a resounding sizzling sound.

“Wow! That was close!” Beetle shouted.

Supernova started to fly straight up, but Inertia buzzed directly into him and dragged him back down.

Timeflux appeared over Mister Miracle and landed directly on him.

“Who the heck are these guys?” Booster asked as he grabbed Beetle and lifted into the air.

“I recognize Major Force, but that’s it!” Beetle responded. “Drop me over on that hill then get in there!”

Booster swooped over a hilly area and let go of Beetle as Major Force headed toward Supernova and Inertia, who were grappling on the ground. Booster then went into a nose dive right at Major Force.

“Time to die, you red, white and blue frea-OOOOOF!!” Major Force’s threat was cut off as Booster slammed directly into him.

Inertia looked up, distracted by the collision. Supernova took advantage of this to blast him and send him reeling away.

Timeflux slammed his fists repeatedly onto Mister Miracle’s back, taking advantage of his surprise attack. Miracle attempted to defend himself but something was slowing his reflexes.

“Feeling a little sluggish, Escape-boy?” Timeflux taunted. “I’ve slowed the timeframe around your body. You might as well be standing still for all the speed you’ll be able to move at! Now I can-WHAT THE...?!”

Timeflux didn’t get to finish his thought. Big Barda grabbed him from behind and lifted him over her head. Before he could react, she threw him into the ground.

“No one touches my husband!” she yelled at him and kicked him into the air as he tried to get up.

“But what about you, my dear?” Chronos asked as he blasted Barda with a time status ray. Barda was frozen to the spot. He began to advance on her.

“Hey! Time-freak!” Blue Beetle shouted as he flipped into Chronos’s view. “Betcha can’t catch me!”

“Kord,” Chronos hissed. “OH I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” He lifted the ray and pressed the trigger. Beetle bounced out of the way and flipped backwards. Chronos fired again, and again. Each time Beetle rolled or leapt just out of the blast.

“We have to get out of here!” Supernova shouted to Booster.

“E… Easier said than done, pal!” Booster hissed as he and Major Force grappled. “Hey, a little help here?”

“Supernova can’t help you, golden-rod,” Major Force said as Inerta jumped up at Supernova again. “He has his own problems.”

“I think he was actually talking to me,” Skeets said. A second later, Major Force screamed as a white-hot laser struck him on the behind. He leapt away, leaving his defenses wide open for an uppercut from Booster.

“Skeets, I have a bad feeling these guys are with Extant!” Booster called out to the flying robot.

“I fear you’re correct, Michael,” Skeets agreed. “We should get out of here as soon as-”

Just that second, Extant appeared in the middle of the fray.

“None of you are going anywhere,” Extant growled, his voice dripping with menace. “You’re going to regret the day you took that time machine into the 21^st Century, Carter. I’ve had just enough of you messing up my plans.”

“Yeah! And he would’ve gotten away with it if wasn’t for us meddling kids!” Beetle shouted as he flipped over Extant. A split-second later, the time-status blast meant for him struck Extant.

“OH CRAP!” Chronos screamed. “I didn’t mean to do that!”

“Oh, but I meant to do this!” Mister Miracle said as he waded into Chronos and sent him sprawling with an upper-cut. The time status ray-gun went into the air. Miracle caught it, turned to his wife, and freed her with a quick blast.

“Twenty-first century…” pondered Booster, recalling Extant’s words. “WOWZER!” he shouted. “Skeets, Ted! I know what the message means!”

“You do?” Beetle asked as Miracle and Barda rushed up to them.

“Yeah! I can’t believe I actually get it; we have to-”

“ENOUGH!” Extant shouted. A wave of energy burst from him, knocking almost everyone to the ground.

“Um… shouldn’t he be like… frozen?” Booster asked Skeets.

“That PATHETIC little toy cannot effect ME, you senseless CLOWN!” Extant exalted. “I am a TRUE Master of Time!”

“What you are...” a voice came from above, “… is dead.”

Extant began to look up. Before he could react, Linda Danvers flew directly into him. They both crashed to the ground. Linda rolled on top of Extant and began pounding at him with her fists.

“I will make you pay for every life you snuffed out!” she screamed at him.

Supernova rushed to Booster’s side. “Booster, we have to get out of here! This isn’t getting us anywh-OH NO!”

The air above them crackled. The form of Brother Eye materialized.

“Hello, Buddy,” Brother Eye said. “No more delays. It’s time that you and Eye were reunited.”

Supernova tried to reach for his controls to jaunt into the timestream, but a thin laser came from the center of Brother Eye’s… well… eye, and struck Supernova in the chest. He seemed frozen to the spot, his arms flung out to each side.

“Do not resist, Buddy,” Brother Eye told him. “Eye know what needs to be done.”

Booster let a laser blast fly at Brother Eye, but it bounced off a sort of force field that seemed to wrap around the satellite and the form of Supernova.

“Is there anything we can do?” Beetle shouted.

“You can die!” Inertia yelled as he rushed at them.

Before he could reach them, Mister Miracle stuck out his arm and close lined Inertia to the ground.

“Booster! Grab Beetle and GET OUT OF HERE!” he shouted as Barda turned and met a rush from Major Force head-on. “We’ll hold them here! You have to follow Hunter’s instructions!”

“But we can’t just leave you guys!” Booster argued.

“DAMMIT, BOOSTER, THIS IS NEVER GOING TO END UNLESS YOU FIND HUNTER!” Miracle screamed as Inertia pulled him down. “GO, DAMN DARKSEID’S EYES! GO!”

“I… I…” Booster stammered. He saw Linda slamming her fists into Extant again and again, Barda and Major Force trading blows, Miracle and Inertia struggling... and Chronos and Timeflux beginning to recover and pick themselves up.

A scream from Supernova pierced the sky. The beam between him and the satellite burned so brightly that both Brother Eye and Supernova disappeared in its glare.

“I hate the idea of leaving them too!” Beetle hissed, grabbing Booster shoulder. “But Miracle’s right. This is all for nothing unless we find Rip.”

Booster gritted his teeth. He couldn’t leave them. He prepared to leap back into the fray when Linda caught his eye.

“Go,” Linda mouthed to him silently. “Please.” A moment later Extant blasted her off him.

“You presume to think you can hurt ME?” he hissed at her. “You’re nothing but a gnat! That ‘S’ shield on your chest has you delusional!”

He started to get up, but Linda dragged him back down.

“BOOSTER! GO!” she shouted.

“FRACK, FRACK, FRACK!” Booster screamed. He grabbed Ted’s arm. Beetle grabbed onto Skeets.

“STOP THEM!” Extant shouted, trying to peel himself out of Linda’s grip. .

Timeflux rushed at the trio, but was too late. Booster, Beetle and Skeets faded out.

“AFTER THEM!” Extant screamed as Linda slammed him to the ground.

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RIP HUNTER’S LAB

The three materialized on Rip’s time platform. Booster tensed himself, as if expecting an attacker.

“Can they follow us?” Beetle asked.

“Yes,” Skeets replied. “Any time traveler leaves a chrono-trial that can be traced if one knows how to. However, Rip’s lab has a failsafe that-” The little robot broke off as Timeflux appeared in front of them.

“So much for Hunter’s failsafe! Extant has enough knowledge to overcome that little problem!” Timeflux taunted. “You can’t get away from me, Gold!”

“We’ll see about that,” Booster hissed. He was already prepared for someone following them. He leapt onto Timeflux and grabbed hold of his time-band. “Let’s go for a ride!”

They faded out.

“Booster!” Beetle shouted. He turned to Skeets. “We have to help him!”

“I’m afraid Michael’s on his own, Ted,” Skeets replied, a hint of concern in his metallic voice.

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GETTYSBURG, JULY 1^st, 1863

“Get the men into position,” General John Buford told his captains. “We need to-”

Suddenly two figures appeared in the middle of the Union army camp.

“Die, Gold!” Timeflux shouted, throwing a punch.

“Eat me!” Booster countered as he blocked it.

The two faded out as quickly as they had appeared.

“G… General?” one of the soldiers stammered.

“Perhaps,” Buford replied. “We should have gotten some more sleep last night.”

[Admin]

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, OCTOBER 12^th, 1991

“I’m sick of it, Bill! Campaign or not!” Hillary Clinton hissed at her husband in their spacious backyard, secret service agents just around the corner. “How do you think this makes me feel?”

“Well, I have to tell you that you’re making a big deal out of noth-” Bill Clinton cut off as two figures tumbled out of the sky.

“I can take anything you dish out!” Timeflux said, blocking a kick.

“I doubt that!” Booster replied, thrusting an elbow at his face.

They faded out a second later as the secret service agents rushed around the side of the house.

“What happened?” one of them asked.

“I… I don’t know.” the Presidential candidate replied.

[Admin]

CENTRAL CITY, DECEMBER 22^nd, 1989

“Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!” the dime-store Santa Claus chortled, much to the delight of the children around him.

Two young teenagers walked past, smiling.

“Ah, Christmas is just so-” The girl stopped as two figured suddenly burst out of the manager’s office.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Timeflux taunted, taking the elbow thrust to the chin.

“There’s more where that came from!” Booster shouted, grabbing the front of Timeflux’s costume. Booster seemed to noticed for the first time that Timeflux’s costume was very similar to his, only with an alternate mix of yellow and blue. “Who the hell are you? Where did you come from?”

“Idiot! You don’t know?” Timeflux sneered. “I’m here because of YOU!”

The two faded out.

“What the HECK was that?” the girl asked her friend.

“I don’t know, Iris.” Barry Allen replied. “But that outfit was rather cool.”

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SMALLVILLE, KANSAS, AUGUST 6^th, 1972

“Okay, Jonathan, I’m about ready!’ Martha Kent called out as she walked toward the pick-up truck.

“I’m coming dear,” her husband called back.

On the other side of the house, two figures burst out of the kitchen window.

“What do you mean because of me?” Booster shouted.

“Your stupid meddling helped create me!” Timeflux hissed. “And you’ll die never realizing how!”

The two rolled on the ground. Booster tried to hold his opponent’s arms down.

“I’ll break your fricking neck!” Timeflux screamed, trying to fight off the hands wrapping around him.

“You’ll try!” Booster shouted back, tightening his grip.

Jonathan and Martha Kent ran around the side of the house to see what had come out of their kitchen, but the two figures were already gone.

“What was that?” Martha asked.

“I don’t know, but we have to add glass to our supply list!”

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NEW ORLEANS, SEPTEMBER 13^th, 1879

“I said,” Jonah Hex growled, “the WHOLE bottle.”

“Y…yes, SIR, M…Mr. Hex!” the bartender stuttered.

Hex turned, the bottle in his hand as two figures slammed into the bar right next to him.

“What the?!” Hex shouted.

“This isn’t going to get you anywhere!” Timeflux hissed, breaking Booster’s grip.

“We’ll see about that!” Booster said

“You again!” Hex said.

“Hiya, Cowboy! Here! Catch!” Booster shoved Timeflux in Hex’s direction.

“I’ll kill this pathetic little-” Timeflux’s words were cut short as Hex smashed the whisky bottle over his head.

“Sure you will, boy,” Hex growled.

“Thanks, cowboy. I owe you one!” said Booster, grinning as he grabbed the stunned Timeflux and they both disappeared.

“Dang-blamed time-travelers,” Hex hissed. “HEY! BARKEEP! Give me that OTHER bottle!”

[Admin]

GOTHAM CITY, JANUARY 28^th, 2003

“... hate it when he does that,” Commissioner Gordon sighed as he switched off the Bat-Signal.

The two figures seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Y… you can’t get away from me…” a groggy Timeflux stated.

“Sure. Whatever you say,” Booster grinned. He then slammed Timeflux into the Bat-Signal. “But I think someone else here can help me out. See ya, Timefreak.”

Booster faded out.

“TimeFLUX, you moron…” Timeflux said, slowly getting to his feet as he glared at a startled Gordon. “You should know… you’re responsible for MAKING ME Gold. It’ll just take a second to trace your chrono-trail. As for you, cop... did he think YOU could keep me here? I’ll burn the flesh from your bon-”

Timeflux suddenly was slammed in the face with a large black object shaped like a bat. He tumbled backwards and crashed to the roof.

“No,” Batman said, coming out of the shadows. “You won’t. You okay, Jim?”

“Yes, Batman,” Jim Gordon replied looking down at the unconscious Timeflux. “Although I have NO idea what just happened.”

“Neither, “ Batman said thoughtfully, “do I.”

[Admin]

RIP HUNTER’S LAB

Booster appeared in front of a startled Blue Beetle and Skeets.

“You’re back already!” Beetle exclaimed. “Where’s Timeflux?”

“Being delayed, if not more,” Booster grinned. “But let’s get out of here just in case.”

“Where are we going?” Beetle asked.

“To the beginning,” Booster said simply.

They faded out a moment later.

[Admin]

METROPOLIS, APRIL 19^th, 2461

The three appeared in a room filled with objects.

“Booster…” Skeets said. “Is this?”

“Yep, Skeets, you should recognize it,” Booster replied. “It’s the Metropolis Space Museum.”

“What the heck?” Beetle wondered.

“This is where I came to the past from, Ted,” Booster explained. “It’s a long story, but this is where I first became Booster Gold.”

“Rip said to go to the beginning,” Skeets remarked, “but to also take into account what you lost. What does that mean?”

“What have I lost?” Booster said. “I lost a year of my life. So taking that into account, we’re here exactly one year after I left.”

Booster walked over to a screen in the wall and punched something into a keyboard.

“What are you doing?” Beetle asked.

“Looking at the employee work schedule,” Booster replied. “And finding what I’m looking for. Let’s go.”

He walked down a hallway. Beetle and Skeets followed.

“What did you find?” Skeets asked.

“That Michael Jon Carter is on his shift in the records room,” Booster replied.

“Wait!” Ted said. “You want to see yourself? Isn’t that a bad thing in time-rule stuff?”

“Usually, yeah,” Booster replied as he opened the door at the end of the hall. “Only I can’t be here. I left remember?”

They walked in and came face to face with a figure wearing a museum janitor outfit. The nametag on his chest read “Michael Carter”

“Hello, ‘Mike’…” Booster said, wryly.

“It’s about time you got here.” Rip Hunter said, a sly look on his face. “And you already have Blue Beetle with you. Excellent. Let’s go, gentlemen, we have a lot of work to do and the only thing standing between life and the end of the universe is the four of us.”

Booster and Beetle looked at each other.

“Oh boy,” they said together.

[Admin]

TO BE CONTINUED IN ZERO HOUR #6: THE PARADOX

[Admin]

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