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World's Finest
Time Bomb
TIME BOMB: Part 1
Superman led Lois Kent through the JSA Headquarters to where Power Girl and Red Robin were waiting. "Well, we must not have made as good a time getting here as I'd hoped. Hope you two weren't waiting long," he said with a smile.
"No, we allowed you old folks extra flying time. You were probably stuck behind some antique bi-plane!" teased Kara.
Superman gave a mock look of displeasure and shook hands with Red Robin. "I'm glad we were able to reign in those villains from the future before any more harm could be done," he said.
Red Robin nodded. "True. Bruce was watching out for us!"
Power Girl exchanged news of baby Mary with her proud mother as they walked on.
"She needs plenty of time with her 'aunt'!" said Lois of Kara, who was actually the girl's cousin, once removed.
"I... I don't think I am up to the task of changing super diapers!" said Kara.
As they prepared to leave for their planned lunch, they passed the now empty lab where Chuck Grayson (Bob Crane) had been working on his tampered-with remote control robot-man that had fallen into the wrong hands.
The inert figure gleamed suddenly and a powerful energy swept unseen across the foursome. After this initial wave of radiation, the machine remained still as if the power source had exhausted itself.
This would prove to be a good thing in light of what would befall the four people in the next few hours.
TIME BOMB: Part 2
As Superman carried Lois and Power Girl brought along Red Robin, the foursome began to experience the effects of the radiation that had bathed over them from the altered robotman.
"Seriously, you weren't late anyway! With our commute speeds, time is never a problem!" smiled Power Girl.
At that ironic moment she found herself flung across time and space, as did her friends. The chronal energy that had been released from the Murder Machine had sent them on four wildly different journeys!
Back at JSA Headquarters, Chuck Grayson entered with Jay Garrick.
The scientist frowned. "Jay, the robot has been altered. Something has burnt out within him. Something most definitely foreign to my original design."
Jay examined the creation at top speed. "Sensors detect a release of chronal energy. He was drawn away by Panzer's time scanner, remember?"
Grayson nodded. "Plus, he was made partially from my old parts. I wonder if I received some unknown virus from my interaction with Mekanique? She was a time traveller too. I might have been carrying some dormant virus for years until the time scanner activated it!"
Flash smiled."Well, now that we know, at least we found it before any harm was done!"
Superman frowned as he found himself suddenly alone in a strange setting. He squinted instinctively in that old habit he had formed in his youth. He saw castles, crumbling battlements, villagers with huts and horses, and an obviously medieval way of life.
"Time displacement! Well, that's no problem for someone with my powers. This must be Camelot, although it has certainly fallen into disrepair since my last visit here with Sir Justin and the JSA back when old Savage tried to rid the world of us," he mused.
He had been to Camelot more than once. That spoke volumes of the amazing life he had led thus far. He knew that his past self was not present there from any of his past trips because he was solid and substantial. Earlier, certain time travel methods had rendered him phantom-like due to the fact that he was existing during his own lifetime or during a period in which he was already present from some other trip through time.
He flew toward the main castle and shoved open huge doors. "Great Krypton! If that is what passes for the Round Table now, then I know times are hard!" he said.
He gazed at a circular table whose glossy sheen was shattered from midpoint on to a crumbling, dirty far side.
"The swell don't approve o the boss's décor," sneered a man in a slick suit with the mannerisms of a cheap hood of the 1930s or 1940s.
"Yeah? Well, that fancy dress-up suit means he's Sooperman!" said a pale man with a slouch hat over one eye.
"Superman! It can't be! He don't even live until our time!" said the first thug.
"Gentlemen, I assure you, rumors of my birth are largely exaggerated. Let me provide my credentials by a little demonstration," he said grinning, and hefted the round table and spun it on one finger like an enormous frisby.
"Gulp! That's him!" said the second thug.
They turned to flee, but before they could exit the long hallway, the Man of Steel had replaced the table and jumped to block their path.
"What brings Reny Reynolds and Tony Salvadore to ancient times? I see being back in the days of yore hasn't stopped you boys from carrying your driver's licenses in your pockets," he said.
"The Boss brought us here! He runs this place. You'll be sorry ya crossed him!" said one goon.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it takes a big man to make me sorry about anything!" said Superman.
"Their liege is a fatal man, more is the pity!" said a knight who entered solemnly.
The thugs ducked and ran as Superman allowed them to exit and turned to greet the old man.
"You are most welcome here, my son. Dark days reign long into darker nights and this old man has lived far too long to make cursed fate right once more," said the old man as he lifted his red helmet.
"Say, I've seen that coat of arms before!" said Superman.
TIME BOMB: Part 4
"Well should this crest be known to one such as you. It is the symbol of the Kent family. I am Sir Brian Kent of Greystone, and you are my descendent. That is what brought this poor kingless land to sorrow, I fear," said Brian.
"Wait! Sir Brian was the legendary Silent Knight. If you are that knight, then much has changed from the legends handed down," said Superman.
Brain nodded. "Ere Camelot fell, I revealed my true identity and wed my lady love the fairest Celia. We lived in bliss even after noble Arthur's passing, 'til recent years when she died and our children were taken, along with other youth by the cruel savages who roam this lawless realm in search of plunder. I sought remedy to their plight by magic... something not unknown to me from my youth, but yet foreign compared to the gleaming blade or the stalwart lance. I saw into the future where you lived as a mighty hero. You are Clark Kent, of the line I sired. I sought to bring forth my closest heir from your era with the intent of bringing you as a champion. Sadly, you are not truly the closest blood heir of my line."
Superman nodded. "Magic is unreliable at best. I am not a Kent by birth... merely by adoption. My powers come from my alien birth."
Brian frowned. "I deemed them magic and naught else. Thus, I foolishly summoned a worse peril than the one I sought to cure. Instead of getting Clark Kent, my heroic descendent..."
"You got me!" sneered a twisted faced man with scarred tissue on one side and a handsome profile on the other. He led a gang of modernly-dressed thugs and waved machine guns at the startled knight.
"Two Face!" frowned Superman as he saw Harvey Kent, the evil madman who was apparently the closest living Kent of Brian's line.
"Aye! This Warlord of the Visage Dual, this fiend of double meins, came when I invoked my spell and used his foul weapons to conquer this once noble realm," said an angry Silent Knight.
"Well, we'll just see about unconquering this land!" said a determined Superman.
TIME BOMB: Part 5
"Not so fast, cuz, or however we're kin! I would not unleash those muscles yet. I don't do anything by halves... so to speak. I double-crossed these peasants by taking over their village and then selling them out to the Warlord Karn. As such, he holds pretty little Lady Celia, Lady Mary, and Brian Jr., along with other young kids as insurance that their Camelot-spawned folks don't try anything funny. So, make one move and you'll be the cause of many deaths."
Superman said, "I've located them already. Not a lot of lead around these parts! I'll have them free before you can flip that coin, you double dealing madman!"
Two-Face said, "Ah! ah! ah! Not so fast. You are vulnerable to magic and a magical field surrounds yon castle. You hit it and boom goes the place."
Sir Brian said, "I fear he speaks the truth. Mine own sorcerous efforts have revealed as much."
"You forget one thing. If you or anyone else harms the heirs of Sir Brian here, then you won't be born! You are his direct blood line descendant," smiled Superman confidently.
"Yes, that is true, but I could kill the one child of his that is not my many greats grandmother. It's a gamble, but I like the odds," he sneered.
He tossed his coin and Superman blew it over with a furtive use of super breath. It landed clean side up, as he intended. Two Face waved back his goons. "The coin says we stay back this time," he scowled.
Superman moved quickly and melted the gun nozzles before tapping Two-Face across the face. He slumped to the floor as Brian stepped up and held a sword to his neck.
"My allies and I can hold these knaves thanks to your removal of their foul weapons. Now I plead with thee to save my family!" said Brian.
Superman nodded and flew toward the castle where Karn and his men held the village youths. He stopped in mid-air. "I won't risk their lives with that magic field. I'll just try a different approach." He landed and dug through the earth. The tunnel ended under the cells that held the men and women. Can't detect any magic from below like I could with the field above. It glowed dimly under the scan of my super vision.
He crashed inside and sent troops scattering with ease. "The chains are going next!" he vowed and froze and then shattered the bonds that held dozens of men and women.
"Foul magic-spawned dog! I'll take my vengeance 'pon you through the blood of these!" cried the hairy warlord called Karn as he grabbed a beautiful blonde maiden and raised his sword.
"Watch yer mouth, you smelly old creep!" said a grim voiced figure who launched himself forward and knocked the warlord cold with one smooth blow.
"Wildcat! How can this be?" gasped Superman as his costumed JSA ally stepped out of the shadows.
"Superman! I was sent back here by a weird old dwarf to right a wrong or two and bust some heads. It seems his village was threatened by this jerk, Karn. The little guy had pulled this kinda hoodoo on me before so I knew he was on the level. I came from the 1940s... you seem older," said Ted Grant.
"Guess magic fields don't respond to non-super types," mused Superman.
The blonde girl rushed forward... a vision in pink and white. "Good sire, you have wrought much joy this day. I am Lady Celia. My sister and brother owe you many boons," she said amorously.
Superman thought about this lovely maid possibly being his father's great great great... (et cetera) grandmother and gently discouraged her.
"A pleasure to help. Now, let me get you back home and return Wildcat and Two-Face and his mob back home," he smiled.
He imagined that Two-Face would forget his secret identity through the vagaries of time travel. He must have, since this Two-Face came from the 'forties and had never revealed his knowledge before.
He smiled and flew off as Wildcat said, "So how old are ya anyway?"
TIME BOMB: Part 6
As Superman returned to the present he wondered again and again if Lois was safe. He had little fear that Dick and Kara could handle anything, but the sudden time displacement had obviously affected all of them. He had assumed that some spell of Brian's had only pulled him to Camelot in mid-flight. Now, he hoped that Lois and the others had not also experienced the weird chronal displacement.
He reached the point at which he had vanished. He was observing in phantom form. Great Scott! They all vanished. That means something other than Brian's spell pulled me away. Lois and the rest could be anywhere... anywhen! he mused.
Superman popped back into normal form as he passed the moment in which he had vanished. Got to track them down. I better get something from JSA Headquarters to help, he thought. He flew onward in search of something to track the chronal energy as his friends and wife experienced their own adventures.
Red Robin had little trouble recognizing his surroundings. He knew the city by its smells, sights, sounds, and no amount of time displacement could veil that which was uniquely Gotham City from one who had memorized every nook and cranny during his epic career alongside Batman.
Something transported me away from Kara and the Kents. I'd wager I've been sent through time, based on how people are dressed and what the buildings look like. Robinson Park is not yet fully built. That means I'm in the 1920s, he mused with the keen mind and ready acceptance that had served him so well for so long. Professor Carter Nichols had often sent him back through time in his youth and he was no more alarmed by the experience than others would have been at being stranded in a nearby suburb to home.
He smiled as he relived the city much as it had been during his boyhood. He enjoyed the moment all too briefly as gunfire echoed and he reacted with trained and perfect instinct. He rolled across the roof and dropped out into space to hurl himself through the death defying heights to land in an alley where a heavy man and a youth rested from frantic flight.
"We lost 'em! That was mighty careless of you, kid. You can't let your emotions overtake your good sense. By jumping up like that you attracted their attention," scolded the man.
"Too late, Pops! We found ya and your noisy little punk!" sneered a tall thug who entered the alley.
Red Robin crossed the narrow space in seconds and kicked him flat. A spin and right hook dropped a second gunman.
"Thanks, pal! That costume may be flashy, but you sure can fight!" sighed the relieved man.
Red Robin blinked. Though the man he had saved looked much younger than he had in the old photos in which Dick had first seen the heavy set features, he knew this man.
"You're Harvey Harris -- the detective!" he gasped.
"Yeah! And I'm his partner, Robin!" piped up the red-and-green-costumed boy named Bruce Wayne.
TIME BOMB: Part 8
The youth was dressed in the costume Dick had known and worn for years. He was handsome, agile, and yet barely in his teens, if even that old. He was also Bruce Wayne as a child. Dick was stunned by the sight of his mentor as a youth. It was not the first time he had witnessed the phenomenon, since a foe's evil work had once turned him into an adult and his senior partner into a child, yet he could still not readily grasp the weird situation.
"Robin, huh? You fly like a bird, alright!" he replied as if reciting from memory.
"I'm teaching the kid about the techniques of detective work. The costume is to add to his anonymity," explained Harris.
Bruce nodded. "You wear a bird-like symbol too."
Dick agreed. "Yes, I do and for reasons not unlike your own. Why were the men chasing you?"
Bruce answered, "We were trailing them. They're working for the mob. They want to eliminate a gangster from outside the city while he is in town."
Harris said, "Listen, I'm good with facts and plans, but you can handle the physical stuff. Could you help us? We want to stop the gangland hit."
Red Robin nodded. "Of course I'll help."
Bruce grinned. "I bet I could learn a lot from you. You move like an acrobat."
Dick nodded. "Anything you need. You can count on me."
They departed and talked over the case in Harvey's office.
Wayne Manor was not Bruce's home at that time. His uncle raised him and I'd guess Alfred's father had gone back to England after the death of Thomas. The place was deserted then. Come to think about it, I'd say I was just about to be born, mused Dick.
Bruce looked at him with solemn eyes. "You seem sad. You look like you could use a friend."
Dick smiled sadly. "I'll find one. I've found one in you, right?"
The fat detective handed Dick a file.
"This data shows the arrival of mobsters from out of the city. They are the ones in danger from some local hoods who resent their moving in. The hit should go down tonight from what we learned from a stoolie," said Harris.
Bruce added, "I suspect the will try to strike out of the darkness when shadows will help cloak their movements. The other gang will be moving through about eleven o'clock, according to what we picked up."
Harris grinned. "The kid is a natural when he controls himself. All he needs is to keep his cool."
Red Robin smiled at that statement and said, "We'd better be in position soon. I know the area."
TIME BOMB: Part 9
That night, Red Robin and his allies were ready. He had gone over the entire neighborhood and had pointed out many useful facts to his future mentor. He wondered if he could pull this off. It was so good to be working beside Bruce again, yet it felt so very strange to be in the role of leader. He had to keep the raw young Batman safe.Their futures... so many futures... depended upon it. He would not let Bruce down.
He listened and held up a hand. The car approached the deserted area. He knew it from the early observation of Harris and Bruce. The hitters were inside. Their prey would arrive shortly.
A group of men pulled up in an elegant car. They whispered and waited as the resident gangsters filed out to confront them.
"We don't want any trouble. The city is big enough for us all. Why, the new concession for building those giant props to make the city's downtown stand out is worth a fortune in itself," urged the fat leader.
"We see things differently. You aren't welcome," sneered the local mob boss.
He and his men pulled guns and Robin (Bruce) jumped forward. Red Robin muttered to himself and yanked him down as he hurled smoke pellets.
"Stay back. Watch. Learn!" he said.
He dropped down as gunfire echoed. He knew the number men, the number guns, the amount of ammo, and he used this skill along with his amazing agility to disarm and defeat them all.
Three flips and along with a tossed flare immobilized them long enough for him to stun or subdue them all. They lived by the gun and lacked his fighting prowess.
But as smoke cleared, the hero saw a face he could never forget from nightmares and crime files. He gripped the outsider mob boss and said, "Zucco? You're Boss Zucco!"
Zucco, younger and yet already cruel, sneered, "I hope ta be the Boss one day. I like the sound o' that!"
The mobster had killed his parents. Zucco had been the man behind much that shaped his life. Now, he had just saved the life of one who would rob him of the lives and love of his own parents in just over a decade!
"All lives are sacred," he repeated as he recalled the words from Batman in a candle lit cavern long ago.
Zucco pulled back as the gangsters groaned and Robin joined his "mentor". "Great work! You were amazing," he cheered.
The mobster frowned and drew back. "If you aren't with us, then we don't need any witnesses!" He whipped out a second gun and caught Red Robin with the blunt end.
Harris fired his own weapon as Bruce tackled the gangster and sent his gun to the pavement. Red Robin whirled and punched Zucco flat. "Thanks, you saved me. That type of hesitation I just displayed could have been fatal," he said.
Robin (Bruce) grinned. "We make a good team!"
Red Robin smiled, "The best team ever!"
TIME BOMB: Part 10
Red Robin wondered what would have happened if he had allowed Zucco to be killed. He doubted that history would have been changed. These paradoxical matters never worked out the way one anticipated. Plus, his experience with the Stream of Ruthlessness had left him certain that revenge was futile and self-destructive in the end.
He leaned down to Robin and said, "Thanks for everything. You were the finest partner and friend a man could have!" He walked off in the night, leaving Harris to turn quizzically to Bruce.
"Why'd he leave so suddenly?" he asked.
Bruce Wayne said, "I think he decided that he had no choice. I got the impression that he just might have stayed here with us if he could have."
Red Robin wondered if he could use a variant of self-hypnosis to send himself back to his proper era at least long enough to have some JSAer like Dr. Fate or Johnny Thunder come pick him up. He need not have pondered the question for long, since he flickered back to the present as if on cue.
Superman raced over. "Red Robin! What happened? Time displacement?"
Red Robin smiled. "Yes. But in some ways it was like going home again. Now we need to find Kara and Lois."
Lois Kent materialized suddenly.
She embraced Superman as they entered the JSA Headquarters.
"Clark, I was sent into the far future. You'll never believe what happened to me there," she insisted.
Superman kissed his wife and said, "We experienced our own problems with time travel. I'm just thankful to have you back. I bet Kara will follow soon enough."
Flash entered. "Time travel! I'd guess that was caused by our robot friend here. Chronal energy burst out of his core like some 'time bomb' if you will. Chuck says he is totally ruined now. The new Robotman is now the one and only. I guess Panzer's time scanner ray switched on some virus from back when Mechanique was fooling around..."
Chuck cleared his throat as he entered behind the Fastest Man Alive.
"....with time. I was going to say fooling around with time!" smiled Jay sheepishly.
Lois told her story as her friends listened anxiously.
"I found myself falling through the air high above a futuristic city. I was surprised, but not scared, since... well, you know how often in my life I've found myself falling through the air! I almost expected Superman to swoop down and save me like always... and he did!" she said.
Superman smiled, "You mean some future version of myself? I already was treated like a senior citizen in a cape by Wildcat! Don't tell me that I was bald and had a belly!"
Lois grinned. "That's what you get for eating your ma's cookies at super speed!"
"He calls you Ma?" joked Chuck Grayson.
"No. I just learned how to make cookies like the late Mrs. Kent," explained Lois.
"So you were saved by me?" continued Superman.
"No, it was a Superman but not the Superman! He was someone you and I knew! Craig King from the year 2956. He was wearing his anti-gravity boots and he rescued me. He nearly fainted from shock at seeing the Lois Lane Kent!" she laughed.
"Good old Craig! He was, or will be, rather, a man from the future who decided the world needed a Superman. He rigged up some scientific devices that allowed him to mimic some of my powers... and with a costume like mine and looks not too different from my own, he became a future Superman for a time," explained Superman.
Red Robin said, "That sounds like Brane Taylor -- the future Batman."
Superman nodded. "It is about the same idea, except that Craig vowed to give up his role when I had to come save him from a bigger threat than he could handle."
Lois said, "Right! Well, he donned the costume again after all and lucky for me that he did. He brought me to his home... guess where he lives?"
Superman smiled. "She loves to tell a story!"
Lois elbowed him and said, "He lives in the Fortress! He bought the land it's on, and made it into a shrine of sorts. Poor dear, almost bowed to me!"
"Wife of the legend!" smiled Red Robin.
"More like mother of the legend! In his possible future, our Mary became a Superwoman and carried on your role. She looks so wonderful in the videos. She wore a costume like yours, except it had a skirt. She looked a bit like I did when Hocus and Pockus tried to make me a Supergirl!" said Lois.
Superman smiled, "Remember, Lois, when dealing with time travel, you may just be experiencing one of a million possible futures. Our baby may never develop super powers!"
Lois nodded. "True, but in Craig's history, she did and led the JSA for years, along with another hero called Nightwing!"
Red Robin blinked, "Are you saying Kara and I have... had... a child?"
Lois grinned broadly, "Bruce Clark Grayson, no less! The perfect union of the World's Finest Heroes!"
Superman said, "So what happened next?"
Lois said, "Craig showed me why he had suited up after so many years. After our kids were long gone he felt the world needed a hero..."
Red Robin frowned. "That sounds like crime still exists in that future as it did in Brane's!"
Lois said, "Worse than that. A criminal we know still existed and was almost set to topple the nation's government."
Superman said, "Not Luthor back somehow!"
Lois shook her head. "Would you believe Metalo...?"
TIME BOMB: Part 11b
Craig King shrugged ruefully in the Fortress in the far future as Superman's wife listened to his story.
"Mrs. Kent, Metalo runs this country, and soon he may rule the world! I have been hiding away here. No one ever discovered the location of the Fortress and lived to our time. I found it due to my life's work: a devoton to the legend of Superman!" he said.
Lois frowned. "Craig! Things were normal when we last spoke to you. Crime occurred like it always has, but Metalo was certainly not in the picture, nor did he have such power! He was just a brilliant man with a formula that boosted his strength and a metallic-armored suit that helped even more."
Craig waved his hands in the air. "That's what he was! Now, that same metal suit has been... or was... improved upon by alien science in the late twentieth century when he was a frail old man. It enabled him to become more machine than man. It enabled him to spread his influence around the nation over countless years when he slumbered on within that computerized suit gaining power, knowledge, and becoming ever more dangerous. He is no thug in armor now. He is a cyber-savvy killer."
Lois said, "Then, we'll have to be extra careful and do anything it takes to stop him."
Craig smiled as he witnessed the beauty, brains, and determination... spunk? was that the old term? that characterized the legend of Mrs. Superman!
"Okay! We'll do it!" he said.
TIME BOMB: Part 12
Craig King and Lois Kent arrived at the White House.
"This is it. He actually lived in the place. He blackmailed the US government into turning over control to him. He got away with it since none of the government officials wanted to risk his unleashing photonic bombs on the rest of the world. He has the access codes in that armor," explained King.
"He is still human, though... at least partly, right?" asked Lois.
Craig nodded. "Yes, and he is artifically preserved by the life support in the armor. He has to be almost mad from the isolation of his cold, sterile, machine life!"
Lois smiled, "That's what I'm counting on. Just get me in to see him."
They flashed through the sky with Lois wrapped head to toe in what appeared to be her husband's original cape. They emerged in the Oval Office as Craig abruptly fell flat.
"Lois! My anti-grav equipment that gave me my super strength and flight powers are dead. He shut them down!" gasped Craig.
Lois bent over his fallen form. "Don't worry. I have fought this creep before. I can handle him."
Craig watched from the floor as his own equipment kept him trapped. The high heels of Lois Kent clicked over the floor as the brainy and brave reporter confronted the "man behind the machine."
"Metalo! It's Lois Kent from your past. I'm here to reason with you. You can't hide within that cold metal shell forever. You must remember me? I'm your only link to the past!" she pleaded.
A cold voice that echoed as if coming through some artificial filter replied, "Kent? I do recall you. You and Superman put this entity behind bars more than once! So long ago! So very long ago!"
Lois said, "That's right! You must recall that! Do you feel the pain of being trapped any less now than you did then? Metalo, you've exchanged one prison for another. You cling to this half life within the network of wires and computer chips, but what about the blood, breath, emotion, and human contact that make a person human?"
Metalo said, "I have your ally helpless before me. I could burn you to ashes at a whim. I could destroy earth with a blink of my eye. Still, you dare to rouse me from this electric sleep that is my existence. I can not call it a life!"
Lois put her hands on her hips. "That's right. I do challenge you! You! The man within... not that machine. I'm the woman who sent you away last time. I am the flesh and blood female who cost you your freedom. Come and face me... person to person... or aren't you man enough to live without that frigid metal shell?"
A hum filled the air. Craig cried out, "Mrs. Kent! He's capable of anything! Be careful!"
Lois shushed him and poised with all the cocky defiance of her youth. The same fire and spirit that had driven men to love her and hate her flamed out from her every gesture, word, and movement. She was playing a desperate game and she knew it.
TIME BOMB: Part 13
"Metalo? Did your batteries run down? Step out if you are not afraid this 'little woman' will beat you?" she taunted.
Slowly, a metal shell appeared, and wires parted to reveal an ancient man. He blinked as light touched his paper-thin skin for the first time in years.
He emerged from the armor and said, "I will kill you with my bare hands! I'll feel those limbs of yours before I end your life and wipe that alluring smile off your pretty face."
He staggered forward and Lois tripped him with one smooth move. He fell forward and lay still as brittle bones snapped.
She walked over to the shell and dropped a small device that she had taken from the Fortress. A pulse caused the lights to blink.
"I just did the equivalent of Control-Alt-Delete to his armor with an EMP. He won't bother you again. He does need a doctor," she said.
The old man on the floor gasped in rasping sobs as he realized all he had lost and all he had gained. His humanity was back for howver long futuristic medicine could preserve it, but he would never again control the world.
Craig jumped up. "You did it! One woman brought down the tyrant who ruled America! How did you know he'd risk all to face you outside of the armor?"
Lois smiled sadly, "Because beneath all that metal, he was still a man, and I've tempted and manipulated men who were a lot smarter than him in my youth. I figured he'd remember his own human needs and passions and forget everything else. I may have been the first woman to flirt or tempt him in centuries!"
Craig smiled, "No wonder you are a legend!"
Lois suddenly blinked back to her own era.
Power Girl found herself tossed back through time to 1959. She realized her location and era quickly enough through judicious use of her super senses. She frowned as she recalled her past time travel adventures.
Great! Every time I end up in some other era I end up caught in some battle that has nothing to do with me! 1959? What'll it be this time? Bat-Mite gone bad? she mused.
A giggle echoed above her.
She whirled to see a lovely little blonde girl of around twelve. She wore a gold and brown outfit with shorts. She floated in mid-air and smiled warmly at Kara.
"Bat-Mite gone bad! That's a good one. You're funny!" she said.
Power Girl said, "You read my mind! Who are you?"
The girl smiled and said, "Sorry, I could not resist. You look so interesting. My name is Liandly. I see you are the cousin of my good friend Superman!"
Kara blinked. "Liandly! You! You are the so-called 'super girl' from Team Justice!"
She had heard of the other-dimensional girl who had been befriended and taken in my Clark and Lois Kent back in the 1950s during one or two brief visits from her realm to theirs. They had named her "Linda Lee" as an earth version of her name. She had used her remarkable powers to aid Superman and to assist the short-lived team called Team Justice that had filled he gap between the disbanding of the JSA and their return. Kara had always been slightly resentful of the girl's role as a predecessor of hers of sorts.
"You don't belong here, do you? You have extra chronal energy within you. Do you want me to send you home?" asked Liandly.
Kara said, "Well, aren't we just omnipotent?"
Liandly laughed. "Not really. I like your spunk! Why don't you stay here and help me? I could use another friend. My teammates are in trouble. "
She gestured to where colorful costumed youths fought a dapper man whose eyes gleamed madly.
"Those are the other Team Justice kids, right? I can help, but they seem to be out-classed by an old man in a tux?" sneered Power Girl.
Liandly shook her blonde curls. "He is more than just a man. He contains an energy being known as Zor, who once fought the JSA. He now inhabits the body of the criminal magician called Bandor!"
Power Girl flew toward the group. She noticed the tough scrapper called Bearcat swinging furiously at the man only to have his every blow shrugged off with ease.
"This creep just absorbs my every punch. He takes the impact right out!" said Sam Skinner.
The red, gold, and blue-costumed Mr. Alpha (leader of the team) shouted, "Don't give up! We need to get him to expend his energy, if possible! Zor can't exist on this plane for long in any normal host. He burns them up."
The beautiful golden age Fury tackled Zor and wrestled him to the ground while her sleek and sassy ally Aquagirl shoved him flat.
TIME BOMB: Part 15
"We can hold him, but nothing hurts him!" cried Selena the lovely Aquagirl as her Atlantean muscles strained against the nearly glowing host of Zor!
Power Girl frowned as her costume turned into the yellow slippers, yellow mini-dress, and mask she once wore as Lightning Girl.
"You can't reveal yourself yet. Remember, you don't even get here for a while yet. I figured a little matter transmutation would work to make you seem like Lightning Girl once more!" said Liandly mentally.
Kara nodded. The kid was good. Annoying, but good.
She flew down to where the two women where suddenly slammed directly into one another by the laughing Bandor or Zor, or whoever he was.
"My power grows. Soon, I'll claim an even stronger host!" he cackled.
Power Girl slugged him directly in the mouth.
"Oh, just shut up!" she snapped.
She frowned as her super memory recalled that Dr. fate had once told her that Zor had been sent to Earth-One years ago while fighting Sargon the Sorceror.
Fate blew it big time, unless this energy being can replicate. That could explain how he could be here now and also allegedly go to Earth one in 1950, she thought.
Zor touched her and she screamed. She fell as her bones suddenly gleamed through her skin. "That maniac actually hurt me!" she gasped.
Mr. Alpha yelled, "Lightning Girl! You haven't been seen since the late 1930s or so!"
She shouted at the top of her voice at Zor. "Get back!" she screamed.
The sonic force hit him like a wave, but he merely laughed.
Liandly frowned. "I can try to place mental dampeners on him so he will forget that he is Zor!"
She darted forward and touched his brow. Instantly he fell down and Kara punched him with all her might. He did not move and the glow faded away.
"You did it. You stunned his mortal host long enough for me to affect Zor's mind. He no longer recalls that he is anything more than a mortal named Bandor!" she smiled.
Fury said, "Wait! Won't he burn up the frail body?"
"Nope! The magical power possessed by the real Bandor will be strong enough to contain Zor as long as Zor is not aware of his own capabilities!" smiled Liandly.
Power Girl said, "Can you send me home?"
Liandly nodded. "I'm sorry I annoy you. I didn't mean to be the first super girl on this earth... or am I second? That magic talisman one counts!"
Power Girl softened and said, "I'm sorry. I'm the original bad attitude poster girl. You have to overlook me."
Liandly kissed her and said, "See you soon!"
Power Girl found herself in the present as Red Robin and Superman and Lois rushed to embrace her.
"Kara, darling, are you okay?" asked Lois.
"I'm fine. Only, I have this odd craving to watch Ozzie and Harriet!" she joked.