Issue 4: 2525

Sometimes life doesn’t quite work out the way you’d want it to.  Sometimes things just get away from you, and slip through your fingers, even if your grip is as firm as steel.  If you are wondering who I am, I’m the narrator.  I’ll be walking with you for the rest of this story.  If you are wondering how on earth I am aware of what Superman and the others are going through, well, all will become clear in the end.

Diana’s invisible jet was swift as it cut through the skies.  Clark looked out the window and could see she was flying directly into what appeared to be a massive storm, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint where on earth they were.  Slicing neatly through the clouds, the jet was buffeted by hurricane force winds and lashed at with terrible lightning.  Then it parted as they entered the storm’s eye and approached a pristine island.  Diana spoke in Greek, ancient Greek as Clark understood the dialect, advising them of their approach and that they were carrying wounded.

The jet’s vertical takeoff and landing mechanism allowed them to set down on the stone tarmac like a feather.  The back opened and women entered.  They were dressed in armor that was reminiscent of ancient Sparta but with modern twists here and there.  They were tall and had the build of competitive athletes, but none were as tall or as defined as Diana.  “I will speak with my mother.” She said as she exited.  Two of the women carried Kara out of the jet and a third nodded clearly intent on giving the message.  As they exited they were met by a contingent of more warrior women.  “Follow my lead, Jason.” Clark said as he followed Diana out of the jet.   Diana led the men through an open air path past buildings modeled after the Greek style of architecture.  Jason took everything in, while Clark seemed more intent on the road ahead.  Finally they reached what Clark assumed was an infirmary.  There a beautiful woman in flowing white robes with a white cloak and golden crown stood over Kara as she lay comatose on a bed.  “You have brought men to our home, Diana.” The queen’s voice cut with a knife’s edge.  “I have brought the kin of Kara Zor-El, mother.  This is the one they call the Superman.”

Clark stepped forward and bowed his head.  “Please pardon our intrusion into your home.  Clearly you have taken great steps to not be found and we will not violate that level of privacy.  We are concerned for Kara.  She is the only family we have left.”  The queen nodded.

“We have heard of you, Kal-El of Krypton, as of you Jason Lane.  We understand what it means to have few in numbers.”

“Its devastating to realize that one hundred and four is, population wise, very close to three.” Jason muttered.

“What did you say?” the queen asked.  “I, apologize, your majesty.  I just…super vision and all, I couldn’t help it.  There’s only one hundred and four of you.”

“One hundred and five.” The queen corrected.  Jason looked at Diana. “Of course.”

“Since you seem to versed in our people…young man…” The queen crossed her arms, annoyed.

“Please, your majesty, I again do apologize.  Themiscyra is relegated to myth in our world.  The home and hold of the Amazons, the fiercest warriors of the ancient world, capable of turning back even the famous Spartans.”

“You are a scholar?” The queen seemed intrigued.

“A reporter, of sorts, like my father.  Its…something you do when you are alone.  You look for others like you, even by way of legends.  Greek gods, ancient Egypt, the mysterious Wonder Woman who aided allied forces in World War 2…”

All eyes went to Diana.  The queen led them out of the hospital “I told you your rebellious youth would come back to you.”

“As interesting as all of this is…” Clark interjected “What about Kara?  Will she be alright?”

“The attack that injured Kara, while similar to the one that has drained some of your powers, is much more pervasive.  I must commune with our oracle to divine a means to heal her.  Maybe both of you.  The Nuclear Man cannot be allowed to live, he will cost this world too much before he is done.  As much as you are this world’s savior, Superman, Nuclear Man is its doomsday.”

The queen led them to the top of a hill, Jason quietly mused that this seemed ridiculous. Clark whispered back “You are the hybrid of an alien and a human, I am an alien launched to this world from a distant planet who’s exposure to yellow sun allows me to lift a battleship one handed.  We are on an island hidden from the world by a perpetual hurricane, and we are battling a super powered entity that is a partial clone of myself and Lex Luthor.  We can go with this.”

Atop the hill was a small altar.  The queen motioned for the men to stand back and she and Diana knelt before the altar and chanted in Latin.  Suddenly a bolt of white lightning shot from the sky and everything went white.

A pale light and mist filled the sky and Clark felt himself floating.  Through the light images appeared, a man dressed as a bat, Diana and a blond man battling unholy hordes of monsters, Lois crying out for help, and Clark, as Superman, cradling Kara’s limp body as Jason looked on.  Then, an explosion of lighting erupted, casting the world into black.

                Clark struggled to his feet, his vision slowly returning, his skin stinging.  The smell of old smoke and stale air filled his nostrils.  He blinked a few times before his vision finally returned and looked on with horror.  The altar of Zeus was destroyed.  Scanning the horizon, the grass was gone, left as barren dirt and dust.  The mighty structures were reduced to rubble, and no one was around.  The sky was still and red with thick black clouds looming overhead.

“What happened?” Clark asked to no one in particular.  He began to walk.  Heading back to the temple he found it abandoned.  The hospital too was long deserted.  The tarmac was dotted with destroyed planes and alien aircraft.  Diana’s own plane was slumped to the side, with some surface damage.  “Where is everyone?”  He tested his strength, finding himself able to lift the aircraft with ease.  “How…”  He propped the aircraft up using a fallen tree and entered.  Thick dust covered the control panel but he found the computer still able to power up.  The calendar readout made his heart stop.  “Its 2525?”

“That’s only the half of it…” I said from behind him.  He was, understandably a little shocked to see me.

                Superman shot to his feet tearing the chair free of its bolts.  “What’s going on?!” he demanded.

I raised my hands “A lot, and I’m sorry to startle you, but you need to hear what I have to say.”

“Who are you?” he said closing the distance on me.  I reflexively backed up and in the time it would take someone to blink we were outside the jet.  “My name…” I explained “Is Barry Allen.  Folks call me the Flash.  In reverse order of your questions, my powers come from a thing called the Speed Force.  I channel it and it allows me some…I’ll admit some pretty damn amazing abilities.  Anyway, I’d been tracking Nuclear Man across the globe, using the Speed Force to limit the range of the nuclear fallout he causes.”

“You’re the red blur that shows up when he’s around.”

“Yes.  I’ve actually been working with Jason for months now.  He found me in Central City.  He’s been reaching out to a lot of super humans.”

“So what happened?  Why are we apparently in the year 2525?”

“That’s a little more complicated.  My powers allow me to, under certain circumstances, travel through time and dimensions in space…relatively.  I was tracking Nuclear Man and he was tracking you.  He attacked Amazon island with the force of a nuclear blast, at the same time I tried to move you out of the way.  The resulting energy output launched us apparently over five hundred years into Earth’s future.”

“How do we get back?  Nuclear Man is still a threat.”

I couldn’t agree with Superman more about that.  The evidence was all around us, this post-apocalyptic wasteland stretched as far as I could see, across the island and probably much further.  However we weren’t going to get there conventionally.  We needed a little help.  “Well, shy of detonating another nuclear bomb, which I’m pretty sure was a one-time thing, we need a quantum burst stabilizer.”

“You know where to find one of those?”

“STAR Labs was working on one, well two actually but one blew up in California.”

“I recall.”

“So their main lab may still have the original prototype, depending on a lot of factors.”

“Five hundred years of factors.”

Still, this was our best shot at getting back home.  Superman crouched down and launched himself into the air. “You need a lift?”

I smiled and took off across the water straight for the American coast.