They are the precursors and mentors for the new age of heroes. Having fought for humanity since WW II, and some even longer, they are the ultimate example of truth, justice, and the American way. Their ranks have fallen into disarray in the last several years, but a new threat is looming, one which will not only reunite the old guard, but bring together new heroes to carry on the proud tradition of… Issue #2 Plot by Mike Hintze and Jason Brice Written by Mike Hintze   Faux-DC Presents: "The More Things Change"-Part II

Vanishing Point, Outside the Timestream Waverider looked at his monitors and frowned. The chronometric scanners the Linear Men used to oversee the balance of time were showing the same aberrant readings every scanning cycle. The computer history log showed that the aberration had initially been so small that the alarm system simply ignored it. Now, however, it had snowballed to the point of concern. "What's the location of the anomaly, Waverider?" asked the Linear Man known as Hunter. "Is Extant's prison still intact?" Waverider frowned. "Yes, it is, Hunter, and no, it's an entirely different one than he. No, this one seems to be radiating outward from... let's see... yes. Here it is. Somewhere in July 1947, on Earth. It's still pretty fuzzy, but the chronal filters are trying to get a better fix. They should be finished ten minutes ago." Hunter looked intently at the screens before him. "Let me know what happens. I have a chronal disruption to deal with yesterday." With that, he faded away from Vanishing Point. Waverider turned the monitor to a different setting, and began to observe. Sure enough, the anomaly from 1947 was compounding itself, distorting the timestream in increasing waves of temporal instability. Finally, a chime went off, signalling the computer's scan of the anomaly. The results that were yielded horrified Waverider. "My God-it can't be!," he exclaimed. Suddenly, a wave of pain washed over Waverider, and he fell to the ground, unconscious. Behind him, a mysterious figure approached, his hands emanating energies from his assault upon Waverider. "I'm afraid you were getting a little too close to the truth, my friend. There is much to be played out from this little sliver of time... much indeed." The mysterious figure reached down, and touched Waverider. Immediately, energy flowed outward from him to the mysterious stranger. When it was done, Waverider was an insubstantial phantom, quivering on the brink of existence. The stranger laughed. "Now, to complete my plans for this wretched reality... " Washington, D.C., Now The President pressed the button. Somewhere, five nuclear warheads were being launched towards five major American cities: Metropolis, Gotham City, Gateway City, New York and Los Angeles. Steel immediately went into action. This is Steel on a priority one telepathic JLA alert! All members respond! Immediately, a voice was heard in Steel's mind. This is J'onn J'onzz, Steel. What is the situation? Superman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and myself are en route to your current location as per your previous alert. Scratch that!, thought Steel, Just enter my mind and give coordinates to all the Leaguers! Those missiles are top priority! A second later, J'onn communicated back to Steel, Understood. But we can only take on four of the five at the moment. Can you--? Steel looked up at the President, in a globe of flame with Sentinel maintaining it, with Wildcat and an army veteran in another. He knew what he had to do. I've got Gotham! Let's move! Activating his boot jets, Steel then rocketed to the sky. Leaving a very confused Rick Tyler, a.k.a. Hourman, and Todd Hayden, a.k.a. Obsidian. "Where the hell is he going??", exclaimed Hourman, "He just stood there like he was thinking really hard, and now he flies off?" "He's gone after the missiles, Rick! He's probably got the JLA on it.", replied Obsidian. "It won't do him or them any good!", said Sgt. Max Hailey. The old war veteran floated down to the ground on a green energy platform. His eyes exuded malice. "Nothing will stop my ultimate revenge on the Justice Society." Hourman looked at Hailey. This man's insane, he thought, but who is he? What kind of grudge did he have against the JSA? What is his agenda? Hailey then produced what looked to be a hand held weapon of some sort. He fired it into the sky, and a shimmering portal appeared. "Now", Hailey screamed, "With the Justice League occupied, I shall reap my just reward! For you see... I didn't come alone." With that, a dark figure began to emerge from the portal. Indistinct at first, he gradually came into full view. Then, emerald energy flowed from Sentinel to the dark figure, like a green tidal wave. The figure glowed like a small sun. And Rick Tyler, the reluctant Hourman, saw someone he had only seen in pictures and been told about. The man who murdered his father. "EXTANT!", yelled Hourman. As energy crackled around the man, Extant began to laugh. Finally, he looked down at the assembled heroes, with a look of utter contempt on his face. "I am going to kill you all." July 4th, 1944, Washington, D.C. "Look out!" A bolt of emerald energy struck the White House lawn, vaporizing the earth to a depth of several feet. Just missed by the bolt, stunned at the identity of their attacker, were Johnny Thunder and his magical Thunderbolt, Wonder Woman, Hourman, Hawkman, Hawkwoman, Dr. Mid-Nite, the Atom, Wildcat, Dr. Fate and the Flash. The Justice Society of America! Green Lantern looked at his teammates as if they were vermin to be expunged, and raised his arm to fire again. This time, an equal force met him. "Say you!", yelled Johnny Thunder, "Thunderbolt, take him down!" The magical Thunderbolt rocketed up to the air above them all, and constructed an energy cage around Green Lantern. Momentarily, he seemed confused, not sure what to do or how to do it. It was in that instant that Dr. Fate entered the picture. "Thunderbolt, on my command, drop the energy cage... NOW!" The Thunderbolt paused, and looked at Johnny Thunder. "Do it, Thunderbolt! Do as he says!" The cage disappeared, and instantly eldritch energies emanated from the hands of the Lord of Order. The energies seemed to swirl around Green Lantern, getting faster and brighter, until finally, Green Lantern was no more. "What the hell did you do to him, Fate??", Wildcat demanded angrily. Dr. Fate floated to the ground. "I have sent him to an alternate dimension where he can do no harm. As I did so, I detected that his mind was not his own. He is under mental control, similar to hypnosis." Wonder Woman stepped forward. "I think it is safe to assume that whatever force has befallen Green Lantern, has befallen the rest of this country. Is there anyway to reconstruct what he was doing before our arrival here?" Everyone was silent, as they all pondered how this could be done. Finally, Dr. Fate spoke. "I will journey to the dimension where Green Lantern is, and attempt to probe his mind. In the meantime, do what you can to halt the populace from breaking through the Flash's barricades." With that, Dr. Fate disappeared in a flash of light, leaving the others to take care of the insane American citizens. "All right, Justice Society," bellowed Hawkman, "Let's do this!" With that, the team split up in an attempt to contain the crowd. The architect behind this watched through binoculars across the street from the White House. He was not pleased. He hadn't figured the extent of Fate's abilities in this endeavor, and realized that he was going to pay for this shortsightedness. Now, he would have to use his prototype device to even the odds. He pulled out another device that opened a shimmering portal, stepped through it, and disappeared into the ether. Now, Over Metropolis The Man of Steel rocketed over the Metropolis skyline, heading towards his target. His enhanced vision showed him a cruise missile was almost on Metropolis. Once it was close, it would head up a mile into the atmosphere before detonation. He was determined to stop it before it got to that. Catching up with the missile, he tore open the access panel, and fused some wiring. Steel had telepathically sent all the JLA members details on disarming the missiles, and it seemed to work. The missile's propulsion stopped firing. Taking it in his arms, Superman flew up into space, and threw the missile up into orbit. There it would stay until it could be disposed of. Hopefully, the others were doing just as well. Interlude I - The remains of the planet Oa A silvery tube appeared, and if sound had been capable of being heard in the vast expanse, a loud boom would have reverberated across the void. But, almost anti-climactically, a mere golden robed figure emerged from the gateway. The figure was garbed with a golden cloak, amulet and helmet. Beneath the cloak, a uniform of black with red stylized stripes angling from the arms to the torso, and down to the legs. It seemed almost as if circuitry were woven into the fabric of the cloth. When the boom tube closed, the newly reborn Dr. Fate soared to the immense globe of emerald energy that had once been the planet Oa, the center of the universe, and former home of the Green Lantern Corps, before Hal Jordan's insane turn into the evil Parallax.* (*As shown in Green Lantern #48-50, however see FDC's Green Lantern #201-202 for the real explanation behind this... - Pluggin'em Mike) Fate stopped just short of the edge of the energy globe. Its seething energies were the most powerful force known to the universe, and had to be handled with great care. This once proud planet had been destroyed and turned to pure energy by a duel between Parallax and the new Green Lantern Kyle Rayner*, which was a testament to its inherent volatility. (*See Green Lantern #0 - Null 'n' Void Mike) Eldritch energy emanated from Fate's fingers, and suddenly green energy from the Oa globe swirled up as if caught in a whirlpool. Finally, it coalesced into a smaller globe, which then flew into Fate's amulet. The amulet changed color to the dark green, then back to yellow, repeating itself over and over in a pulsating fashion. His business concluded, Fate then opened another boom tube, and disappeared. Washington, D.C., Now "I'll kill you, you bastard!" Hourman leaped at the smug Extant, his hands outstretched to grab the madman's throat. With a wave of his hand, Extant simply froze Hourman in time, halting him in midair. "You're not your father, whelp", Extant snidely remarked. "You're all nothing to me. I can and will kill you all." Suddenly, Obsidian attacked. He stretched out his shadow form to engulf Sentinel, and then... split in two, as if two Obsidians were present. The other attacked Extant. Extant fired a blast of chronal energy at the other Obsidian, but nothing happened. Both Obsidians smiled. Both spoke at the same time, in the same voice. "Your chronal energy seems to have no effect on my shadow abilities, so I think its time to kiss your ass goodbye." Suddenly, Obsidian was wracked with pain, as his very mind seemed to be exploding. Unable to maintain his shadow form, he fell back to the ground, human once again. His double simply dissipated into nothingness, black vapor floating in the air. Leaving Wildcat, motionless as he was held under the sway of the same hypnosis controlling the President and Sentinel. "Now, as for you, old man... you're nothing but a hindrance. It's time to finish what I started." Extant pointed a finger at Wildcat, and a beam of chronal energy streaked towards him. When it was all over, the hero was old and decrepit. "And so it begins... ", laughed Extant. He then motioned for Hailey, the President and Sentinel to come to him. They all floated down to him, and he smiled at his cohorts. "You've all performed well, especially you, 'Hailey'." The old war veteran smiled. "Thank you. Now, if you would age me back to my normal state?" "Certainly." Extant waved his hand again, and Max Hailey changed before their eyes. Finally, he stabilized in age, and took his hat off. Extant put his arm on the man's shoulder. "You've performed well, Per Degaton. Now we can proceed to complete this plan of ours. Come, Sentinel. Leave the President. It's time we proceeded to 1944." Over New York City, Now Kyle Rayner, a.k.a. Green Lantern, streaked over the horizon at incredible speeds. He was supposed to stop a cruise missile, but where to begin looking? Concentrating, he willed his ring to create a detector to find anything approaching New York at high velocities. Immediately, a green bikini-clad woman excitedly pointed at a viewscreen showing one blip bearing on the city at a very high speed. He proceeded to intercept its course. As he approached the missile, he enveloped it in a huge emerald pillow, slowing its speed. Then, a green mad scientist with a toolbox opened the access hatch, and deactivated the bomb. Wrapping the missile in a large baby's cradle, Green Lantern then proceeded to put the missile in orbit by Superman's. After this mess was taken care of, the missiles would be disposed of. Suddenly, his green forcefield that kept him alive and protected from the rigors of space disappeared. For a handful of seconds, he was exposed to the harsh vacuum. Then, a vision appeared in his mind... of a man with a golden helmet, manipulating green energy. Then, just as suddenly, his ring's forcefield activated, and he was able to breathe again. He had no idea what had just happened, but he was determined to find out. It would have to wait, however. Putting it to the back of his mind, Green Lantern sped for Washington, D.C. Vanishing Point, Outside the Timestream "Waverider!" The Linear Man known as Hunter rushed to Waverider's side. He was almost unsure of what he was looking at; such was the insubstantial form of his fellow time traveller. He pulled out a device that enveloped Waverider in a halo of energy, and moments later, Waverider seemed to become more solid. ""What happened?? Are you all right?", asked Hunter. Waverider struggled to sit up. "Ex-Extant! He... " Hunter looked up at the chronal monitor screens. They were concentrated on the prison that they had constructed for Extant after the alternate JLA fiasco a while back.* But now, the prison was shattered, and its occupant no where to be found. (* See the classic JLA # 264-265 - Fanboy Mike) "That bastard! He's escaped?? But, how--?? Was he the one who attacked you?" Waverider beckoned Hunter to come closer. "Extant is free... but... he had... help! July 4th, 1944... Degaton must be stopped! Not even... Extant realizes... the extent of who he has allied himself with! Degaton is insane!" Hunter looked up again at the viewscreens. He had to do something, and fast. July 4th, 1944, Washington, D.C. Per Degaton exited from a shimmering portal several blocks from the White House. After witnessing Dr. Fate making short work of Green Lantern, he decided it was time to bring in more power, specifically the power of a Linear Man. He had journeyed to Vanishing Point and stolen much of the power of Waverider, through a device that he was able to procure from the 552nd century. Sucking Waverider dry of chronal energy, he then proceeded back to 1944 to finish his ancient enemies. Yes, he had only fought them, linearly speaking, for several years, but in total time when time travel was taken into account, it had been hundreds of years. He had been working alongside Dr. Malachi Zee as his laboratory assistant in 1947, when he had decided to kill his abusive master. Using the time machine Zee had developed, he had decided to journey to the far future to gain advanced weaponry with which to rule the Earth. However, his machine had taken him off course as it was attracted to a great source of temporal energy... that of the prison holding the chronal terrorist known as Extant. The evil madman had told Degaton of the many wonders awaiting him if only he could be freed. Needing more knowledge, he utilized his time machine to freeze time around Extant's prison. Extant began telling him of eras with advanced weaponry, and about the weaknesses and strengths of the time police known as the Linear Men. Journeying to the 35th century, Degaton found a device that would cloak him from the Linear Men's prying eyes, as well as shatter Extant's prison. Free, but weakened, Extant needed the energies of a powerful source to recharge his ebbing powers. Extant wanted the power of Green Lantern, since such power was what his old ally Parallax had used when he had tried to restart the Big Bang at the beginning of time.* (*See the Zero Hour mini-series - Outta Time Mike) Degaton had requested that they use the power of the Green Lantern he had known from his era as ironic revenge on his foe. Deciding that the World War II era was far too powerful of an era to gain an advantage on Alan Scott, it was decided to use his counterpart in the year 1999, where he was known as Sentinel. Being a physical conduit to the power of the Green Lanterns, albeit the magical portion of it, he would be far superior than a ring-wielding minion. Things began to change for Degaton, however. During a trek through time to procure mass hypnosis technology, Degaton came across himself in the timestream. Their vessels colliding, Degaton was exposed to his counterpart's memories. There, he had learned that he had killed Malachi Zee thousands of times, and used his time machine for his own ends. He fought the Young All-Stars, the Justice League of America and the accursed Justice Society. Each time however, he was sent back to the precise moment in 1947 where he had been with Zee, effectively repeating his attempts in an infinite loop. The feedback from meeting his counterpart suddenly gave him the memories of each of those encounters. The shock being too much, the already unstable Degaton became insane. However, he also became more cunning. Realizing the full potential of his situation, he was determined to never go back to what things were. He was suddenly transported to 202nd century, where he encountered a being known as the TimeMaster. This man gave him inborn power so as to strike against any that would oppose him, power on par with that of the evil Extant. Armed with knowledge that would humble even Extant, Degaton returned to 1999 where Extant was lying in wait, recuperating. Between the two of them, they concocted a plan where they could sow the seeds of Sentinel's capture 50 years previous. Going back to 1944, Degaton struck up a plan where he worked with the Third Reich to plot the takeover of America via some movie-reels doctored up with advanced technology. The entire plan would of course be defeated, but would lay seeds for later... 1999 to be exact, where Sentinel could be recruited for their ends, with Degaton aged to look like Sgt. Max Hailey in that year, a war veteran he had murdered. Once Sentinel was under their sway, they would journey back to 1944... and the recharged Extant would be able to change history, and take over the Earth 50 years before any of Earth's heroes that could trouble him were born. Such would be his power that a police state would exist by 1945... thanks to the Nazis assisting him, under his thrall. But Degaton, now full of not only his own power but that purloined from Waverider, had ideas of his own. He would not be under the boot heel of Extant, like he was under the will of Dr. Zee. No, he would do that which Hal Jordan had failed to do... he would restart reality in his own image. But first, he needed to get rid of Extant. If his chronometer was correct, Extant would be arriving soon with Sentinel. And with his double. Using advanced cloning technology from the year 759,123,145, he had cloned a duplicate of himself to work with Extant in 1999. With a simple time-switch that Extant would be unable to detect, when they arrived back in 1944 from 1999 he would simply send his duplicate to the core of the sun instantaneously, and leave Extant none the wiser. If his duplicate was performing to specifications, then the real Degaton would have a pleasant surprise when they arrived. Very pleasant indeed. Now, however, Degaton turned to look over the rooftops to see the Justice Society trying to keep the insane crowds at bay. Fools. In the previous timeline, they would be victorious, but now with Extant and himself becoming a factor, time would play out differently. The Justice Society would not be destined to win. And Extant would be his slave. Degaton stepped between time, and appeared in front of the Justice Society. Now, to show them his true power. "Who the-!", exclaimed Johnny Thunder. Degaton fired a chronal blast at him and froze him in time. His Thunderbolt also froze. Looking up, he saw Hawkman swooping down to take him out with his mace. He had already recognized Degaton, and his instincts told him to kill. Degaton then stepped away from Hawkman's flight path, and caused his mace to age to dust. Surprised, Hawkman almost lost his balance, and narrowly avoided the frozen Johnny Thunder. "None of you can best me! None of you! I AM DEGATON!!!!", he screamed. He focused a large chronal blast at the assembled heroes, intending to age them all. But before he could, a large green hand enveloped him. "AND I," the man with the hand said, "AM THE SPECTRE." Degaton lashed out with energy in a fearful attempt to escape the Wrath of God. He thought he had factored The Spectre out of this equation, assuming that with the chaos over America he would be punishing sinners until the cows came home. But he was here. And his plans began to fall apart before his eyes. Then Extant, Sentinel and the Degaton-clone appeared in a flash of light. NO!, thought Degaton, He can't be here yet! I must trade places with my duplicate, or Extant will be privy to my intentions! But he was too late. Extant looked, and saw Degaton holding his own with The Spectre. "What the hell is this??", he demanded. Looking over at the Degaton he knew, he realized that something was amiss. He grabbed the fake Degaton and aged him to ashes. "What kind of trickery is this??" Suddenly, the emerald energy Extant had absorbed flowed out of him, and to the real Degaton. Suddenly infused with such raw power as few men have known, he was able to cast aside the Spectre temporarily. Then, with an insane look on his face, he turned on the assembled Justice Society. "You are all dead! You will never have existed in my world! Never!" And with that, he disappeared in a swirl of light. "What the hell is going on??", asked a totally confused Wildcat. "THESE MEN TAMPER WITH TIME ITSELF... AND MUST BE PUNISHED FOR THEIR SINS," replied The Spectre. "I WAS ALERTED TO THIS TURN OF EVENTS BY A MAN NAMED HUNTER. I MUST STOP DEGATON FROM HIS MAD PLANS... BUT NOT BEFORE THESE MEN PAY FOR THEIR SINS." He turned towards them, his eyes pulsating revenge. "Stop, Spectre! The other man is one of us! He's under mind control!" Everyone looked to see a man garbed in a variation of Hourman's costume, a shadow-being with eyes and mouth of white, and a man with high-tech parts grafted to his face and arms. Hourman, Obsidian and Hunter. Obsidian spoke again. "Sentinel is under control same as everyone else is. Hunter filled us in about the events here. You can't punish him. Please." The Spectre looked at Obsidian as if he were peering into his very soul. Finally, he backed away. "VERY WELL. I WILL NOT PUNISH THE ONE YOU CALL SENTINEL... BUT EXTANT MUST PAY." With that, he stretched his arm out to Extant, who screamed like a woman at the approach of God's Vengeance. Extant had seen Parallax fight the Spectre before, during the events of Zero Hour, and now, without his power as it once was, he was afraid. And Hank Hall, formerly known as Hawk, formerly known as Monarch, now called Extant, screamed in terror as he was assailed with horrors the likes of which no one present could comprehend. Then he disappeared in a stream of fire and brimstone. "You-you killed him!", exclaimed Hawkwoman. "IF YOU KNEW WHAT THIS MAN HAS-OR RATHER WILL DO... YOU WOULD SUPPORT MY ACTIONS TOTALLY. DO NOT QUESTION MY JUDGEMENT IN THIS MATTER, FOR WE HAVE GREATER THINGS TO CONCERN OURSELVES WITH." Hunter stepped forward. "He's right. We have to stop Degaton from restarting reality. But with his power, we'll be hard pressed to do it." The Justice Society stood around totally confused. "What the hell is going on here??", asked Wildcat for the second time. "Perhaps I can explain." Dr. Fate floated down from the sky, with a much calmer Green Lantern. "It involves time travel, and Per Degaton. Much more should not be said for fear of affecting the future." Green Lantern looked at everyone with regret. "I'm sorry. I almost killed the President and all of you, until Fate set things right with me." Fate then looked at Sentinel, who was standing immobile with no one to give him orders. He motioned at him, and suddenly a fog lifted from Sentinel's mind. "Wh-where am I?," he asked. Then he saw his surroundings. "Actually, when am I?" "With friends," replied the 1999 Hourman. He looked longingly at his father, the original Hourman, and felt a sadness overtake him. He couldn't speak to him for fear of altering history, and he certainly couldn't tell him of his fate at the hands of Extant. It was all he could do to stay quiet. Hunter noticed this, and decided to get on with things. "All right, its time we left here. Fate, you know what to do. Hourma-Rick, Obsidian and Sentinel, you're with me. Spectre, stay. If you're as powerful as you say, you'll understand why." The Spirit of Vengeance nodded somberly. With that, the four men were off in a glimmering portal, and then gone as if they hadn't existed. Fate looked at everyone, and then floated into the air. He chanted an ancient spell, and then ancient magicks flowed out of him, and spread out as far as the eye could see. All over America, people suddenly came to their senses, not knowing their activities for these past hours. The threat was over. The Justice Society looked around, and realized that they had won... but weren't sure how everything had come to pass. They wouldn't know totally, at least for 50 plus years. The Dawn of Time Superman was down, unconscious. Parallax stood over him, power emanating from his fingertips. Ready to reshape reality to his whims, as Earth's mightiest heroes looked on. A good distance away, Per Degaton materialized. He looked over, and saw the spectacle before his eyes. He was here, at the right time. Ready to succeed where Parallax failed. Ready to restart the Big Bang. He willed chronal energy to emanate from his hands, ready to ignite the blast of creation. Oh, how he had waited for this day. Suddenly, a finger tapped his shoulder. "Excuse me, but do you have the time?" Degaton flew back as a punch hit him square in the jaw, dislocating it. As he landed, he looked over, and saw his attacker. Hourman. Behind him, were Obsidian, Sentinel, Hunter and the ghostly form of Waverider. All ready to stop his mad scheme. "You won't stop me! Die!", he yelled, as he fired a bolt of temporal energy at Hourman. He flew back in pain as the blast connected, and laid limp in the white ether. Unmoving. "You first," replied Obsidian, as he unleashed a horde of shadow demons on Degaton. The demons attacked viciously, tearing at Degaton's flesh, maiming him. The others were surprised at the ferocity of the attack, but Hunter took advantage of this opportunity. "Sentinel! Fire!" Sentinel blasted a bolt of emerald energy at Degaton, who howled in pain. Suddenly, Degaton created a force wave that scattered the remaining heroes. Bloodied and in pain, he staggered to his feet, and looked at them all with an insane look in his eyes. "The new universe... begins now!" He created a bubble of energy in his hand, and it began to expand and pulsate. The frequency of the pulse increased faster and faster, until it glowed like a small sun. A distance away, Hal Jordan was shot in the chest by his friend, Green Arrow. Then, just as suddenly, Hourman got to his feet. He grabbed a device from Hunter, who lay unconscious, and leapt with all his might at Degaton. Once he was close, he slapped the device onto Degaton's arm, and pressed a button. Degaton disappeared. Degaton appeared elsewhere in the white void, but only for a fraction of a second. Before he was obliterated, he saw a boy with a radioactive symbol on his chest, being fed energy from a host of superhuman beings. Then, the boy exploded. And Degaton, who wished to recreate the Big Bang, was destroyed in that same explosion, as created by the hero Damage and other heroes of Earth. He didn't even have a chance to scream. Washington, D.C., Present Day Steel, The first Flash, Wildcat, Superman, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman all stood in the Oval Office with the President. J'onn J'onzz had been able to undo the mental damage done to the President, who only stood staring out the window, refusing to face the assembled heroes. He had almost caused the destruction of America. Yes, it was while under mind control, but he still had almost done it nonetheless. It was a thought that scared him like no other. The Flash just sat on the Oval Office couch, still groggy from the drug that he had been exposed to. He had gotten a good look at his attacker before he fell unconscious, and still couldn't believe what he had seen. Sgt. Max Hailey, or rather, Per Degaton. The old aged face of Hailey had flickered momentarily to reveal the face of Per Degaton, as he had known him in World War II. As he had fallen to unconsciousness, he had seen Degaton's face appear. Was it hallucination? He would have thought that when he awoke, if it wasn't for the fact that the President and the aged Wildcat had both corroborated that the movie reel had hypnotized them, just like World War II with Per Degaton and those other heroes. And that the Justice League were present. Wildcat stood talking with Superman, his costume hanging on him like a loose skin. His mind had been controlled as well, but with the mental aid of the Manhunter he was able to be freed. J'onn had told him that it hadn't taken much to free him, as his natural will had almost broken him free of the mental hold. Suddenly, the President pointed out to the White House lawn. "They're here! They're back!" The heroes and the President ran out, as Secret Service agents swarmed the lawn. In the middle of the lawn, appearing in a flash of light, were five individuals: the Linear Man called Hunter, Obsidian, Hourman, Waverider and Sentinel. They looked the worse for wear, but all were in one piece. Hunter walked over to the Flash and put his hand on his shoulder. "Your friends saved everything. Especially Hourman. His quick thinking saved us all. Mr. President, these men are heroes." Waverider stepped forward, his energies replenished. "You should all know what has happened here today. J'onn J'onzz, if you would link myself with all present, all will be revealed." J'onzz did so, and suddenly everyone knew. The entire adventure of the past played out before them all, right until the end. Hourman grabbing a time displacement device that they had planned to use on Degaton to transport him to Vanishing Point, where he would be imprisoned. The device was reset by Hourman, who suddenly realized exactly when they were. Namely, the time of Zero Hour, the time of his father's death. Knowing that time was destined to be restarted soon, he jumped the timegate just far enough so Degaton would be killed. Extant was out of his reach, but Degaton would have to do. He didn't know how he knew what to do...he just did…a voice calling to him from the void… The President walked away from the assembled heroes, and seemed to be pondering something. Finally, he looked again at the assemblage. "What happened today cannot happen again. We came too close today. Too close. Something must be done. Gentlemen, I have a proposal for you." On a nearby rooftop, someone watched. Bringing his binoculars down, he frowned. The Justice Society was coming back, just as he had foreseen. And that meant that it was time for him to act. Dr. Mid-Nite jumped from the roof into the shadowy alleys below. Next Issue: What is the President's proposal? How will it affect the Justice League and the heroes of the JSA? And just what the heck is going on with Dr. Mid-Nite? What changes have been wrought in the JSA from this battle? All these questions will be answered, as the Justice Society is reborn as a force to be reckoned with just in time to take part in the FDC Mega-Crossover everyone is talking about...COLD ARMAGEDDON! Writer's Notes: First off, I hope this made some sort of sense. This is my first time travel story, and I hope it wasn't too confusing. Things will tone down for a few seconds next issue, but then watch out as Cold Armageddon takes the Earth by storm! Plus, the new Dr. Fate will be expanded upon, and old villains will be back, more deadly than Degaton...plus, as a teaser to later issues: someone we all know will return...someone not seen since 1986...And his name begins with an...oops, outta time! Regards, Mike Hintze 8/23/99