"This is all going to end the wrong way, Hank," Said Dove, emitting an ethereal glow, to the equally colossal man. Aquaman swore he saw Extant before, but at the time he saw a gruff, built man with brown hair and a sharp jaw. The man's name was Hank Hall.

"You...You died," Hank said, but Flash decided that he was wearing another costume, jagged and red and white, named Hawk. His voice sounded the same to all of them, like an angry god's.

"I did. And I moved on." Dove stepped closer. To Wonder Woman, he wore the boxy armor and grim eyes of Monarch. She stood with tense, ready muscles.

"Like...Crazy, man," Plastic Man said quietly.

"Moved on...?"

"Yes. We were -- Are more than you think, Hank." She was very close there in the battlefield yard of the White House. Kryptonians, or something like it, below didn't understand what they saw, but watched in awe anyway. Her voice would sooth any soul. "You just have to stop and I can show you..."

Almost any soul.

The Atom looked up from J'onn's shoulder and he knew what he saw. He saw a monster, a perversion of a once good man in red and black striking a woman. A demi-god that tried to take his life and only took his age.

"No! That's all you ever wanted to do -- To have me stop! To sit back," cried Hall, lashing out at Dove. She fell, and the earth. "And look where that got you! And Don."

"...I'm here now, though," she said, and white light escaped her hands that distanced Extant. His gritted teeth were pearl-white agaist the black material of his mask. Dove got up but he was already charging her again, flailing energies.

"Then you're just...Just a side-effect! Another dead soul hooked onto a chronal form," He said. This time Dove pushed against him with open hands, and his closed around her wrists. Their faces were so close they could kiss.

"No I'm not. But would you know? You're not even able to dismiss your own toys properly. You can see all of time at once, like an open book, but you act surprised."

There was an unseen tension between their bodies, like opposite poles of magnets. "...They.....It's not a perfect plan--"

"Do you even have a plan?"

Hawk slowly closed his mouth. Whatever eyes he had drooped with the rest of his face. "I -- Yes, but...I just wanted revenge..."

Something knocked the two apart, and looking up they saw the cause. "I'm sorry to interrupt," Superman said, with honest politeness. He motioned to the eleven other heroes, among the soldiers. "But I think we have a situation that needs handling."

Superman instinctively turned to Dove, but even she was hesitating, her hand at her mouth. She wasn't looking at Superman, but behind him. "Dove -- We all know people come...Well, back in our line of work, but--"

THWAK

Superman's body plummeted and hit violently, leaving him on his hands and knees. Monarch looked down menacingly.

"God..." Flash barely said. It wasn't the first time he'd seen Superman hit that day, or ever, but they all still felt the blows. Superman still looked straight down at the ground silently.

"Uh-oh..." Plastic Man said in the shape of a hulking creature. "Now he make him mad."

	The World's Greatest Superheroes..... "The History Lesson" APPARITIONS THREE
JLA #5 - May, Year One	by Will Short

Superman's eyes glared red. "...I'm getting very tired--" His body shot up, a rocket of an uppercut, into Hall's face. "--Of being hit today!" The behemoth reared his head back and grimaced in pain before swiping at Superman, who zipped out of the way and flashed heat from his eyes.

"Wait--" Dove began, but it was too late. His friends, his team, had seen, and they were inspired.

Soon they were everywhere, almost all the League someplace on Hawk, attacking however they could. He stomped and swatted at them, his own glow growing, rarely speaking. Plastic Man was thrown aside, sticking into the ground as a javelin when he landed. He saw Batman standing very still and observing among the soldiers.

"Hey Bats!" He called as he bounced over. Batman didn't show notice. "You know, you could -- Oh, I don't know, do something if you wanted. We could use all the help we can get and..." He stopped, studied Batman closer with a magnifying lens hand, and drooped.

"...Don't tell me. There's something wrong? We're doing it wr -- No, don't tell me," Plastic Man waved his arms and waited. Batman said nothing. "Ah, jeez..."

Both J'onn J'onnz and Wonder Woman flew full speed into Extant's chest. He stumbled again, but not far enough, and he picked them up in one hand with an unbreakable grip. "Come. More!"

"Easy, Tornado," Flash called to the android, who tried to lift Hall with strong winds.

"I am sorry, Wally...?"

"Just, uh...He's really a nice guy. A friend of mine, and--" A red-booted foot came down just in front of Flash, who just barely avoided running into it. Red Tornado gave him a look with his yellow eyes and Wally almost blushed.

It continued. And with a portion of the soldiers they had appeared with, Jor-El and General Zod watched. They watched the man-giant, who changed appearance with every blink, beaten back by the protectors of the planet, ones Zod had called "swine." He said nothing then.

But Jor-El watched his son with growing fear: The man-giant took their attacks with no more than flinches. Jor though he grew bigger, with eyes which increased their intensity. He watched the giant smile a crooked, mad smile as he reached his largest. For the first time, the pale woman-giant looked desperate.

"Stop! All this -- It's only feeding him! It's..."

The Leaguers, flies annoying Extant, didn't hear. He looked skyward, ignoring his attackers, and in one triumphant bellow his body let out a great flash. Not one could see through it, and bathing in it felt like an unholy purging.

Skin as dense as steel, tougher, felt it. All eyes were shut. There was a feeling of the earth, beyond, shifting.

Then the chaos was released. And Extant looked as shocked anyone.

It looked like Washington, D.C. It smelled and felt like Washington, D.C.

"Guys?" Firestorm turned around worriedly from atop something like the White House, only darker. He looked from face to face: Plastic Man. Flash. Black Canary. Green Lantern. J'onn.

"This isn't D.C." He peered out over a perfectly clear yard, miles in size. Just grass. Very dark grass.

"Then where the heck are we? We're standing on a White House," said Plastic Man. J'onn stepped forward and shook his head slowly.

"No. I feel it too...Something isn't right."

"...It does look a little weird out here..." Flash admitted, looking off the roof and standing away from Firestorm. "No ships or Kryptonians or anything."

"Think it had something to do with Extant's little tantrum?" Kyle asked, flying just over Flash's head.

"Of course it did..." Kyle looked down at Wally, and Black Canary stepped forward.

"I don't think any of us are sure how. I'm open to suggestions."

"Everything got fixed and we're all rich and famous, t'boot?" Plastic Man asked with a giant grimace.

"Reasonable suggestions."

"Well, maybe Plas is right," Firestorm said as Plastic Man made his own straightjacket and pointed at him. "Almost right. I mean, maybe we got an easy case for once. A quick fix."

"A quick quick fix without Superman? Or Wonder Woman?" Green Lantern asked doubtingly.

The absence of the others left an uncomfortable gap.

"Wait," said J'onn. His hand was at his temple. "I think...

"I think I've found them." The Martian's mind reached out...

...And found what it was looking for among the miles of rock that make up the moon.

Superman lifted his already alert eyes as a gentle voice spoke to him. *Superman? Kal, are you there?* For the first time since he'd arrived, he ignored his vaguely familiar surroundings.

*J'onn. Yes, I'm...We're here,* Superman responded, adjusting to the use of his mind as his mouth.

*I have Dinah, Kyle, Wally, and a few others here.*

"Superman?" asked Wonder Woman in the confines of the metallic corridor.

"It's J'onn. He's with the others...Thank God." Superman continued his private conversation. *Diana, Red Tornado, Batman, and Aquaman are with me. Can you establish a team link?* Superman and his companions blinked in unison.

*...Link established. I notice the Atom isn't with you. I may not be able to sense him just because of his size.*

*If Ray is here,* Aquaman added, *He hasn't made his presence known. Where are you?*

*It appears that we're on top of the White House...But we're not. And you?*

Superman looked up and down silently. The room he and his teammates had entered loomed like a shadow. Large windows were on either side revealing the lunar landscape outside. It reminded them all of someplace else, and at the same time, not at all of that place. There was a large table in the center, twelve chairs around it. Superman walked ahead of the others and placed a hand on it, looking down.

*Kal? Arthur?*

At the center were the large letters "CSA." Superman eyed it and almost didn't hear them - Three heartbeats. Three bodies moving quickly in the dark. Heavy breathing and then...

*H'ronmeer...Answer me if you're there,* J'onn's concerned voice sounded in their heads. There was no answer.

"...I've lost contact," The Manhunter said solemnly.

Black Canary stepped closer to him. "All of them?"

"All of them."

"Then what's the deal?" Plastic Man asked, facing them all now with his arms out. "I mean, we're fighting Kryptonians -- And they're dead, but they're not -- And we fight some guy in a bad costume, and then his girlfriend shows up and he zaps us and we're back in D.C. -- Only we're not." He saw the others all looking his way, but Plastic Man couldn't see the shadow slowly creeping up his back.

"Why didn't we get Batman so he could say, 'You're all idiots. This is'.....'Earth-3' or something stupid and obvious like....."

He saw their faces grow grim, and he saw the shadows then. Plastic Man turned around.

"...Or maybe I'd trade Caped for Man-o'-Steel..."

"Wheover you are," said the pale figure, floating with its hands on its hips, "I hope you put up a good fight." It was nude, the creature, and smacked of power. Its red eyes were like pools of mercury. J'onn saw his reflection in them.

Kyle stammered, floating, looking at the figures rising. "J'onn. Isn't that a...Oh jeez, isn't that a -- a --"

"A Pale Martian," J'onn said faintly.

"Haven't had one of those in years," added the man dressed as an owl, standing on a green disc made by the blonde ring-bearer. Another stood next to him, wearing almost all red.

"Hhhhardto havefun whenyoure theeeCrimeSyndicate..." he buzzed.

"Woah. That's deja vu all over again," stated Plastic Man.

"...What did he say?" Firestorm asked quietly. The Flash answered the same.

"He said...That they're the Crime Syndicate."

"Are we gonna get this over with?" the opposite ring-bearer asked. "We've got a deadbeat president to gut and a White House to finally take."

All was very still and quiet. Flash just slightly looked out of the corner of his eye at Firestorm. "An 'easy case', huh?"

Twelve bodies clashed on the White House.

Ray Palmer opened his eyes and blinked a few times. The light was blinding at first -- Not like it had been a minute, or an hour or a forever ago, but like thousand different lights at once. He stood, full normal height.

He felt all there -- All the important parts, anyway. His Atom costume remained intact and he found himself standing on a chunk of wood, apparently ripped right out of someone's floor. Ray shook his head and stamped his feet to make sure the ground was real. Real enough.

A car drove by, following a road that didn't exist, speeding through the air fast enough to make Ray hop out of the way, and he wondered if they'd noticed him at all. That was understandably followed by wondering how and why a car just drove through the air by him.

Studying the place more, Ray was fairly convinced for a moment that he had entered Physicists' Heaven. Wormholes opened and closed on all sides of him. There were black holes as large as worlds and white holes small enough to fit in his hand. Images, like jagged windows, floated by erraticly on all sides of him.

A shard showing a suburban house drifted by. "Looks familiar, doesn't it?" asked Dove, seeming very human. She was a few inches taller than Ray and flew slowly in his direction. Her small cape looked like wings.

"Not to me. My neighborhood was a little nicer," Atom said. It felt very normal speaking to her. Comfortable.

"Not mine, either. But he seems to recognize it," Dove said, stopping at his side.

"He?"

She stood near him. "Don. The original Dove."

"Oh. I never knew him. I...Just know he's dead."

"You thought the same about me, too."

"...Yeah. So he's--?"

."A Lord of Order, now. I have...Instincts from them all, and something about that neighborhood is -- Really making him react....."

Dove put her hand to her temple and closed her eyes. Atom wondered if it was alright to talk. "You okay?" The shard in question had swam away and dispersed.

"...Yes. Yes, I just -- Someone else has joined us."

"How do you know?"

"I felt him. And he's right over there."

When she pointed, Ray already knew. A distance away was Extant, his mask down to reveal Hank Hall's face. He stood rigidly. The Atom tensed. "You..."

"Yes. Me." Extant glided close to them, but not too close. "I don't suggest trying anything for the moment. We know what happened last time you leapt before you looked." Gradually he took in his surroundings and peered down at Dove. "This place...Dove -- Dawn, what happened?"

"You did, Hank. I tried to warn you and them, but like usual, no one listened to reason..."

"They were all attacking," Extant recalled. "All that chaos should have given me power. Power enough to do something..."

"It did," Dove said. "But your power is chaos itself, and no one can control that. No matter what you told it to do, it did what it wanted. And now we're here."

"...In Hypertime....."

A horse, a cat, a chimp, and a dog ran by. Atom could've sworn they were wearing capes.

"Where are the others?" Ray asked, looking back to the others.

Extant seemed like he was holding back a grin. "Who knows? They could be anywhere - Anytime."

"Then why am I here?" Ray restrained the twitch in his fists.

"You've been carrying chronal energy since your attempted lobotomy on myself. That could have carried you along with me and Dove. Or maybe the chaos energy randomly selected you. I don't really care. Does it matter?"

"You know, Don isn't particularly proud of you right now," Dove said. Extant studied her.

"...Don. Don is dead. What do you know about Don?" His voice was rising. Dove remained the same.

"Oh, Hank," Dove sounded reminiscant. "There's so much we didn't know -- Even all you know now, it's nothing. Our lives, as we knew them, were just the first step. They were holding us back. Passing on, is the next step for the agents of Chaos and Order. The Hawk and Dove."

"That's what happened to you. What about Don?"

"He was a special case. He was given a choice when he died -- Become what I am now, or become a Lord and rest. That's the final step, and he took it. No one was ever around to tell us. We were just supposed to figure it out...But you never took the next step."

Extant half-glared. "I absorbed your power to become what I am now."

Dove almost smiled. "Believe whatever you want. Obviously, things didn't happen like you think."

"Then can you explain what has happened?" Ray interjected. "Like just now?"

"You and your friends -- You attacked Hank without planning, just doing it. That chaos fed him, and when he reached the upper limit, he let it all go -- And all that chaotic energy seeped out."

"Out into--?"

"Into Hypertime," Extant admitted, close to defeat in tone.

Ray smirked. "Hypertime? That's just a theory..."

Extant moved slowly, silently. He parted from his companions slightly, moving further up and away from them, his arms making large semi-circles. Dove watched, as did Atom, who spoke quietly in her ear. "What the Hell is he doing?"

Not looking back, Dove answered. "Just watch."

From Extant's gloves came something that Ray couldn't define. His mind almost rejected the vision. The images that made up the world around him warped and jumped. What seemed flat before gained mass. The shift made Ray sick to his stomach, a feeling he quickly forgot as he looked at the things before him.

There was a world lain out for the Atom - Extant and Dove, as well - That seemed larger than the others. He almost recognized it, but he knew he'd never seen it before. He saw two Earths...No. More. He saw more than a dozen Earths. And just as much as he could see the details of the planets' surfaces all at once he could see all the buildings and all the people on them.

He knew some of the people. Others made him feel as though he'd forgotten something terribly important, and Ray felt empty for that. Again he was forced to ignore that when a wall of white light appeared. All the people of all the worlds he saw, large and small, grouped together. But the White Wall grew larger and hovered over them for a deafening moment.

Superman crying, holding a female corpse. The Flash's empty costume, like a skeleton. The Psycho-Pirate laughing, then crying. And the White Wall...

It all crashed down on itself. Ray shut his eyes and grabbed himself, crouching in an attempt to escape. He saw and felt nothing.

"There," Said Extant. It was all Ray could hear in the darkness. He opened his eyes and found again the varying landscape of objects and pictures, along with Extant and Dove. They floated near Ray yet far away from each other.

Ray tried to catch his breath. His muscles, and most of all his mind, felt sore. "That was...That was..."

"That was the Crisis - Not as you remember it, but as it truly was. Worlds were wiped out, one of an infinite number of universes changed. What existed before is simply a part of Hypertime, now. Certainly not just a theory," Extant said with his crossed arms. Ray looked to Dove next, who nodded.

"He's telling the truth. Everything you think could have ever happened has in--"

"Quantum physics." Ray may as well have been talking to himself. He had turned his back to them to study the environment. His eyes widened to take in the myriad images like mirror shards passing by. "It's all just quantum physics. And it's true. It's real."

"Yes," Said Dove. "And what he didn't mention was that white wall you saw has been released again - On Hypertime, thanks to him. That entropy is destroying all of it, just like it did the multiple Earths. This is a fourth Crisis."

"...Fourth?" The Atom looked away from his studying.

Extant looked at Dove with a look that, in itself, both commented on the scientist in their midst and questioned the woman's simple being there.

"The fourth major one, at least. One that could simply unmend every single thread of Hypertime."

Extant spun his head sharply back in the Atom's direction. He watched Ray, such a young body speaking to itself in a young voice about a physicist's wonder. Slowly, the Atom reached out at something that had apparently caught his eye. Dove noticed as well.

"What are you..." Dove reached out to him. "No!"

Absently, Ray fell into a bluish shard and disappeared from sight. The image continued to move with its herd. The two remaining looked at each other again. There was a silence in the place between times.

"Well, I'm going after him," Dove said as she began to quickly follow the same image Ray had dissapeared in. "And if you want to ever escape here and survive, I suggest you follow."

Extant remained still. Dove was looking back as she floated ever nearer her destination.

"You can't do it alone. We both know that. Chaos won't do you any good past that history lesson you gave him, and neither will Order. Now, if you want to sit there and pout over the fact that your childish little plan didn't work and you've released entropy throughout existence - Again - That's fine. But I know you don't want to be here any longer than I do, and if you're going to stop that, you're going to come with me."

Hank stared back at her. Dove winced.

"Now."

He exhaled slowly, abandoned his pose, and trailed Dove into the quickly escaping image. He studied it, after Dove had entered. As he first stuck his arm in, Extant realized just when he was going. He paused.

"...Zero Hour."

Echoes of Dove's voice reverbed in his head, and Extant plunged in.

Superman was sure of one thing as a blow, as powerful as he'd ever felt one, came across his face:

He was very tired of being hit.

"We would order you to explain who you are, how you're here," said the devilishly handsome man in blue said as he knocked Superman into a wall, "But honestly - We don't care." He had been called Ultraman by the woman, and Superman more than pondered that, and Ultraman's blue-and-red costume, as he flew out of the way of heat vision.

"Listen - We are not here to fight! I'm not sure how we got here, but we're members of the Justice League of America, and -"

Superman just barely dodged a punch from the raven-haired woman with an "S" on her chest. "I don't think you heard him. We don't care."

"Justice League," Said the blonde man. His short hair and trimmed goatee gave way to rugged features. A suit, something like metal and blue camoflouge, covered him except for what would be his right hand. In its place was a twisted hook of black metal. "That sounds like something we want erased."

He stood very rigidly before Aquaman, who did the same. "...This is ridiculous," Aquaman uttered. And before any actions could be exchanged, the man fell forward with a quick exhale. Arthur saw Batman standing over the twitching body and raised an eyebrow. Batman ignored it.

"Ocean Master," said the "S"-woman as she swooped towards Batman. "He never really did pull his weight around he -- Hnghh!" A golden-colored chord wrapped around her neck and jerked her to the ground. On its end was a hook.

"Maybe you just never realized his worth," Aquaman said as he approached the amazon-like woman, writhing on the ground to escape. She was on her way to being successful. This time Batman gave Arthur the look.

Superman spoke through gritted teeth as he returned Ultraman's punches one-by-one. "Honestly, you people!" His had a cheshire smile even under the beating he was recieving. "When did everyone become so cold?"

"Around the time we took over the world." Superman recieved a sharp hit to the stomach and was caught by strong arms. He looked up to see Red Tornado's calm, unchanging face. He set Superman down and approached Ultraman with a mist about him.

"You do not know the meaning of cold unless you have experienced absolute zero." The mist spread from Tornado to Ultraman, who swung his massive arms more slowly until they dropped limply to his sides, his body doing the same. Red Tornado's lemon-colored eyes glared for a bit at Ultraman, then said as he turned to Superman, "I have just scanned his body. He will wake in within thirty minutes. I could find no true weaknesses."

"Then we should leave," Wonder Woman said. She picked the bound woman up from the ground and held her face-to-face. "Who are you?"

The woman struggled in her grip with a strength Diana had rarely felt. She spit sloppily into Diana's eye.

"Please don't make me hurt you any more than we have," Diana said as she clamped down on the woman's dense arms with her hands. "Tell us who you are and how we can leave."

"Screw you, bit--"

Wonder Woman pulled her forward quickly, and headbutted her in the nose. There was no blood, but her eyes glazed over and her body went limp.

"...I'm...I'm Superwoman. We're the Crime...Syndicate, and we own this world, y-you.....You....."

Wonder Woman dropped her unconsious body and said quietly, "If only they had listened..." Diana turned to the others. "Well?"

"We need to find J'onn and the others," Superman said. "God only knows what they're up against if we...If we had this."

"Agreed," said Batman. "Tornado - Arthur and I need oxygen and protection from here through space."

"I have established contact with the system, here," Red Tornado said. "There are a number of teleportation devices within this facility."

Batman spoke as he walked towards a metal door. "And I suppose they would just as likely disperse our atoms through space as they would take us to D.C."

"I can easily control their functions--"

"I don't trust the technology. Now, I believe you said within thirty minutes?"

The Tornado stood there for a moment and looked blankly at Batman. "Yes," he finally said, hesitantly. "...Yes. We will leave, then."

"Thank you."

As the others left, Superman heard the doors open and close. He staid back in the dark room, watching his shadow cast over the table. His hand ran across the letters.

A rushing sound, and only the unconscious were left.

It was just like Ray remembered it.

"Your experience with time travel has proven invaluable, Atom." It was Metron, the chair-bound New God, who had spoken, looking over the Atom's shoulder as he worked. This was the Atom of a time past. Ray watched himself from a dark corner of the room, shrunken into the shadows. The words he heard played out like a script.

"It's a tall order," He'd said back then, under Metron's stare, "But the technology of the probe, their time bands, and these chronoscopes will be crucial!" And Ray remembered wishing his old physics professor had been there as he worked on the machines at Vanishing Point.

The Linear Men, keepers of the place between times, were present. Two of them spoke, probably argued, but Ray wasn't listening. He staid in the shadows just watching his former self. Soon he felt space change next to him.

"They won't be able to see or hear you, or us. I've insured that," Dove said. She and Extant stood next to the inches-tall Atom. "But we really are physically here." Ray didn't look away from his past. He said nothing.

"We've found him. Now let's go." Extant hung back more than either of the others. Dove walked out into the room in the direction of Metron. "There's no reason for us to be here! We need to..."

"Soon, time will no longer exist," Said Metron, unable to see the white-haired beauty stopping behind him. "You have no choice." Dove looked at Extant over the New God's shoulder and tilted her head like she was hinting at something. Hall just grunted.

"So we're - We're really here," Ray said, also venturing out. "Here at Zero Hour?"

"The Third Crisis, yes."

Ray blinked a few times. Again, his past self caught his eye. He looked older, in the past. Before the man in red-and-black, the one standing right over there in the corner, changed that and turned his life upside-down.

He remembered that exact moment perfectly. And it hit him.

"Then....."

Superman and Green Lantern entered the room. They, too, looked slightly different to Ray. Superman still had that longer haircut of his, and Kyle...Kyle looked even less comfortable in costume. He carried a small ball with him, covered in green energy.

"So this is it?" Kyle asked, setting the ball gently down on the ground.

Metron retained his stiff posture. "I pray to the Highfather that it is. Atom?"

"I'm on it. Everyone, hold tight....."

Ray watched himself at the machinery, typing as well he could at his small size. He remembered the tension in the room and felt it again now. Then there was the light.

A rainbow of oranges and yellows struck the room. The ball was at the center of it all and it nearly disappeared under the intense light. When it again appeared, a body stood over it, glowing just the same.

"Where..." Waverider touched his head, massaging the energy that made his body more out of habit than necessity. Then tension had fled, and Metron approached him quickly. He told Waverider of Extant's evil, how he'd killed versions of him throughout time just to gain his powers. Metron told him of Extant's destruction of time. That was all he needed to know.

"Then let's go," Said Waverider, already lighting up more, a portal appearing behind him. Ray watched himself approach the portal - Superman and Kyle as well. Then Ray edged closer to it, too. He felt Dove's shadow from behind him.

"Ray," She said, and he couldn't help but pause, "I know what you're thinking, and I understand. But I don't think we have time for that."

"How long do we have?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe an hour. Maybe a few minutes. It can be fixed, but I need time to - Talk to Hank..." She nodded towards Extant, still in the dark.

Ray looked at the portal, already beginning to close. His past self had already gone through. He looked up at Dove, over at Extant, then down at the ground. His heart felt heavier than his head. Ray could barely remember when that last happened.

"...Trust me, then." When he was a teenager.

Ray jumped through the portal. Dove let out a tiny quizzical gasp, which managed to get Hank's attention. "What the Hell is he thinking?" He was at Dove's side already, staring at the fizzling energy.

"I'm sure we'll find out..."

Hey guys - Kyle here, again, helping Will out for a little longer than I thought. He wanted me to apologize to everyone for such a delay between last issue and this one. Looks like the storyline is going to be an issue longer than he intended, so that means that much more "fun" for me and the team...

(Did anyone else see what we had? A Pale Martian? Come on!)

No letters this issue, mainly because Will took so long getting it out. He promises that he'll have some here next time -- That is, if he receives any. Come back next issue and see if we get our butts kicked or what!

Stay kind.