The World's Greatest Superheroes..... IF I COULD TURN BACK TIME
JLA #19 - August, Year 2	by Curt Fernlund

Part 11: Like Sand Through the Hourglass

Smallville, Kansas:
10:27 a.m. EST

It was storming . . .

Lois Lane-Kent cursed as she ran across the muddy field, slipping and sliding, her feet sucking into the soft earth. Lightning flashed almost on top of her, a blaring white light that cut through the darkness in a garish, eerie glow. Thunder pounded down on her almost immediately, trying to force her to her knees with the pressure of its deafening roar. She could barely hear her own ragged breathing it was so loud and constant. No sooner had she taken another step than the lightning flared again and the thunder rolled past.

A cold, driving rain had turned the vast flat lands into a swampy bog. Every step was a struggle as she charged forward, trying to hurry to the shelter of the shadowy structure that she saw in the distance with every burst of light. Despite her best efforts she seemed no closer, however, and she cursed again. She thought that an organization like the Justice League of America that could put a base on the Moon could manage to teleport her closer to her destination. She could imagine Superman wanting to put a transport beacon on the very porch of the old farmhouse, or even in the house itself. She could also equally imagine the Batman telling him 'no' and what a potential hazard that might be. Superman of course would have deferred. That was her husband . . .

Mist roiled in her path, obscuring her view of her surroundings and throwing all into a murky darkness. The storm clouds hung low, almost like a fog, and only the long bursts of lightning helped to light her way and keep her on course. It all seemed vaguely familiar to Lois; the storm and the running in panic. It was as though she were reliving a dream.

Finally, after what had seemed an eternity she ran up onto the sheltered front porch of the old farmhouse. She shivered as lightning flared and thunder crashed, still caught in the wind but out of the worst of the driving rain. Lois shook her head and slicked her drenched and sopping hair back out of her face and eyes as she approached the front door.

The house was eerily dark within and gave her a feeling of foreboding disaster. The windows were dark and grimy, covered with ash and soot it seemed, as though they had not been properly cleaned in years. She wiped at the glass and tried to peer inside but the darkness was total and the lightning reflected back her own stark image in the glass. She noted too that the paint was peeling on the wooden slats of the building's façade. Leaves and dirt were piling in the corners of the enclosed porch and one of the floorboards had rotted through. It was almost as though no one had been here in years, though Lois knew that that was not true. She had been here with Clark Kent - Superman -- her husband just weeks before, celebrating Martha Kent's birthday.

Still, even the fields had seemed barren and forgotten. It was summer, and despite the storm there should have been some sign of crops. It was as though the Kent Farm had been abandoned. Lois shivered again and hugged herself, suddenly afraid. She gritted her teeth and tried to will the chill away. She had to remember her mission. She had to remember all that the Batman had told her. She had to find Clark!

Lois stepped up to the door and wiped the mud from her shoes on the threadbare mat before the threshold. The word -- WELCOME -- had all but faded from the matted down bristles. The screen door was full of holes and rusted in spots. Lois Lane-Kent bit down on her lower lip and knocked---

And knocked again---

And again . . .

Lois opened the screen door as wide as she could and propped it open with the remains of an old, weather beaten chair. She hated to do what she was about to do if she was wrong, but the life of her husband, and the fate of the very world might depend on her actions. She stepped back and angled sideways at the door. It appeared old, and this was Kansas. The lock would not be that strong. Lois leaned back, shifting her weight onto her left leg and raising the right. She lashed out with a scream, her rage and confusion driving the force of her sidekick at the door. The old battered door almost flew from its hinges as the heel of her shoe connected, shattering the rusted lock and splintering much of the frame. What was left of the door swung open and slammed on the wall behind then sagged on what was left of its uppermost hinge. Lois took a deep breath and stepped inside.

The smell assaulted her at once, making her gag. It was as though the house had been sealed up for years but never cleaned. She could smell mold, and the wind whipping in through the open door was stirring up a thick layer of dust that coated everything and made her choke. She remembered visiting the Kent farm on many occasions and had always loved the clean smells of the house; airy and floral and most often accompanied by the sweet odors of baking bread.

The furniture that remained was all cloaked in sheets that seemed to have turned gray from age. There was not much, and from what she recalled it was rearranged as well. The long sofa was situated on an opposite wall than she remembered, and the old wood stove seemed in the wrong spot as well. The walls were barren, the paint and paper yellowed and peeling. The pictures of the family were gone, as was the painting of the Rocky Mountains that she had loved. It was as though all of the personal effects that had made the Kent house a home had been removed and those things that no one wanted had been left and forgotten. No one had lived here for a long, long time.

Still, Lois searched the house. Every room told the same story. The master bedroom was empty save for the frame of the bed and the emptied dresser and vanity. The closets were barren, not even signs of mice or roaches, which Lois found strange. Even when she had been here with Clark she had seen signs of mice in the fields and the old barn, and she figured with the house empty that the disgusting little creatures would have taken over.

Clark's old room was different than the rest of the house only in the fact that it was totally empty. Every stick of furniture and momento had been removed. There was nothing to show that anyone had even used the room save for a few vacant nail holes in the walls and a bit of wear around the light switch.

She found the kitchen to be no different than the rest of the house. The electricity was off, the gas lines disconnected and all of the appliances shut down and covered against the thick dust. She glanced out the grimy window at the land behind the house, the shadowy silhouette of the back yard etched into her retina as lightning flashed again. Lois gasped--

Lois Lane-Kent stared wide-eyed out of the window at the land behind the house, waiting for another bolt of lightning to illuminate what she saw. What she hoped with all of her heart that she had not seen! There!

Lois charged from the farmhouse, forcing the old lock on the back door open and sprinting through the driving rain across the muddy field. She fell into the mud, but quickly forced herself to her feet to continue, lest she lose her nerve. The old barn loomed before her, above her in the distance, dark and foreboding. Overhead the old weathervane creaked and spun in the harsh wind. Lightning charred the ground just a few steps in front of her, blinding her as though to keep her back and away. Lois strove on.

She was breathing hard and half-crying when she finally stood before the twin stone slabs jutting from the muddy ground. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared, her heart breaking, the words on the stones almost identical, etched into her mind's eye. Lightning flared once more, and as the thunder rolled past she started to cry, dropping to her knees in the mud having read the words again---

In Loving Memory

The days were different, but the years were the same, decades old. Lois had not even been born the year that they had died . . .

Jonathan Kent

Martha Kent

They were dead!

Clark's parents were dead . . .

Miss Lane . . .

Lois felt a coldness wash over her at the sound of the voice. Her sobs caught in her throat as terror gripped her heart and emptiness clutched at her very soul. Hopelessness enveloped her, a despair that she had never known. Still, despite her fear and devastation she turned. She had to see---

Lois screamed!

The man in the rotting purple robes loomed over her, a shadowy, ghostly image that was like an angel corrupted by the darkness and the blight that held the land. She knew then and there that this man was the cause of all of her troubles. He was what was behind the decay of the farm and the madness of the Superman in Metropolis. He had slain the Kents, and now he was here for her.

Lois screamed again, but her terror-stricken yell was cut short in her throat as the man leaned forward. He reached out, his black and withering hand enveloping her face to silence her. Lois saw maggots piercing the decayed and rotten flesh.

Fear not, Miss Lane. Time heals all wounds . . .

Lois tried to scream again, but everything went black . . .

Minot, North Dakota
9:52a.m. MST

Wally West was breathing hard as he struggled to keep pace. It was crazy! He was the fastest man alive after all, but for all of his efforts he was finding it hard to keep up with the Man of Steel.

"Faster than a speeding bullet, my left foot!" he grumbled as he tried to keep the violet streak that he had followed across America in sight. "He's as fast as Barry!" he gasped. "Almost faster than me!"

"That's not you throwing in the towel is it?"

The Flash could not afford to offer a glance back and scowl at his companion. He had almost lost the Man of Steel twice before when he had abruptly changed directions, and that was when he was still fresh. Wally was winded and tired now, and he needed to eat. He was burning up energy at an incredible rate and quite literally running on empty. If Superman did not stop soon, Wally West might have to actually admit defeat and stop the mad race that they were running.

"Not on your life, pal!" Wally sneered, trying not to whimper. "I'm just getting my second wind!" He ran on . . .

He had been running for over an hour, criss-crossing the country and the continent itself as he followed Superman on whatever mission he was about. He had had no time to rest or eat as the Man of Steel had gone from destination to destination at a blinding speed, doing what he had had to do in a flash, then moving on. He was traveling at a speed that was akin to Wally's, but he was not a part of the Speed Force where Wally derived his own powers. It was weird, and as far as he knew impossible, at least according to what Jay and Max had said in the past. No one should be able to travel at the velocity that Superman was and not be a part of the Speed Force.

But he was, and Wally West was finding it harder and harder to keep pace.

They had received the Batman's message while they were on the Moon, in the Watchtower. Batman had wanted the Flash to follow the Man of Steel, to keep tabs on him. Wally agreed, knowing that as the Flash -- the fastest man alive -- he could easily keep up with Superman. But the Batman had said that this was not the Superman that they all knew, and he suggested that Green Lantern should go along to mask them both from the Man of Steel's heightened senses. Wally had thought that it was a bit overkill, but he had laughingly agreed, hoping that Kyle Rayner -- the Green Lantern -- would not slow him down too much.

They had both teleported down to Metropolis, the Lantern using his power ring to make them both invisible as soon as they had solidified. It had not taken them long to find Superman as he was in Midtown Metropolis beating the crap out of Metallo. Wally was away as soon as he had learned the location on a passerby's radio, but remarkably in the heartbeat that it had taken the pair to travel the two dozen blocks, Superman had beaten the villain and was speeding off into the sky. The Flash followed!

Superman had flown west, ignoring the effects of the speeds that he was attaining. Remarkably Wally noted that though he broke the sound barrier several times over, there were no sonic booms in his wake and no damage was done in his aftermath. He could not explain it, as the Man of Steel seemed to be doing nothing outward to stay the damage that his speed should have been causing. Wally kept pace however, vibrating his body as he ran faster and faster, knowing too well that his own form would shatter glass and cause fires to spark as he sped across the land.

Kyle helped out as best he could. Aside from keeping the pair invisible, Green Lantern provided a smooth, wide track for Wally to run on. His power ring eliminated the obstacles that would normally force the speedster to step around or vibrate through, and the unending green track made his own race all the more pleasant. Still, it was barely enough.

Superman had sped to the Cascades and disappeared, flying into the very ground for a time. Green Lantern had to track him as Wally West ran at Kyle's direction up and down the mountain range. It seemed that Superman was stabilizing the area, racing up and down the range, diverting the magma that coursed through the earth and reinforcing the tectonic plates. The Flash had run south, following the Man of Tomorrow's progress until he emerged again in California, at Mount Shasta. He sped north then, again at blinding speeds and when the pair of Leaguers again caught up with him they saw that he was raising a ruptured oil tanker out of Puget Sound. Kyle had been amazed that the huge ship had not split in half as Superman carried it from the water and deposited it on the shore of one of the many islands that dotted the Sound. It did seem odd, but Wally had no time to ponder as Superman took off like a rocket towards the south again.

The Flash ran all out, trying to keep the Man of Steel in sight while holding Green Lantern in his slipstream as well. Wally hoped that Kyle could breathe at the speeds they were going, but knew that the ring would protect him from the friction and give him air as needed as well.

They had run the length of California, watching as the Man of Steel dove into and out of the ground. Kyle said that he was fixing the tectonic plates again, adjusting the San Andreas Fault so there would be no chance of an earthquake. Wally's eyes went wide for a split second, but he barely had the time to consider what Superman was doing before the Kryptonian reversed course and started to do more of the same along the Ring of Fire all the way up into Alaska.

He had gone south again after that, stopping in Calgary, Alberta just long enough to capture the Weather Wizard, who was holed up there. Wally was astounded that he had even known where the Flash villain was hiding as Wally himself had searched for weeks to find the escaped member of his Rogue's Gallery. He beat the Weather Wizard with a simple tap on the chin and secured the villain's wand before depositing him in a Canadian jail. Then he was off again.

Superman raced to Nevada, where he invaded Nellis Air Force Base, disabling the planes that were kept there. He sped to San Diego and Los Angeles where he did the same to all the Navy's ships that were in port, disarming any nuclear weapons in the process. He apprehended the Black Bison in New Mexico before going north again, this time to the military base in Minot. Wally was bent at the waist, hands on his knees as he heaved, gasping for breath.

"He's disarming the nukes." Kyle Rayner said, a bit too calmly for Wally's comfort.

"W--what?"

"Superman's disarming all of the nuclear missiles in all of the silos in the area."

"That's crazy!" Wally gasped, his stomach growling. He felt weak and light headed, running low on energy. He desperately needed to eat.

"Crazy or not, that's what he's doing." Green Lantern had created a glowing green stethoscope with his power ring and was apparently 'listening' to whatever the Man of Steel was doing within the underground military complex. "I've got a bad feeling that he's planning on disarming all of the United States, and when he's done here he'll head around the world and do the same."

"Should we stop him?" Despite his weakness, Wally was ready to fight if he had to. It was his job. He was the Flash, and Barry Allen would not have given up, no matter how tired he was.

"Batman said follow," Kyle said with a frown, "though I don't imagine even old pointy ears expected this. As long as he doesn't get out of hand, I say we keep following."

"Out of hand! Just what do you think this is?" Wally stood upright again, his weakness and hunger forgotten as he stared at his friend. "He's disarming America, green jeans! He's making our country defenseless."

"We're hardly defenseless, speed freak!" Kyle snapped. "There's still us when it comes down to it. And him . . ."

Green Lantern pointed, and both men gasped to see the Man of Steel hovering in the air not fifty feet above them. Worse, he was staring right at them, and he did not look pleased. He started to float down, closer to the pair.

"Uh-oh!" Wally said, watching as Superman drifted closer. "I think he sees us."

"I think you're right."

"I hear you, actually." Superman touched down right in front of the pair and looked from one to the other. To Wally West, the Metropolis Marvel seemed to be moving at a normal speed, but he knew to Kyle Rayner the Kryptonian's scrutiny was just a blur. He stared at Green Lantern, long and hard.

"I don't know you, son," he said, and Wally heard Kyle's intake of air, astonished and confused, "but I respect the Guardians of the Universe. If the Oans felt that there was some need to replace Hal Jordan, then I'll defer to their judgement. I suggest however, that in the future, when you want to follow someone invisibly, mask your heartbeat as well, and cut down on the talking. Hal would never have made that mistake, but you're young -- you'll learn with time. And as for you---" Superman turned to face the Flash---

"I see you've taken up your old costume again, Wally. Running in the Big Leagues too I see. Given up on the Teen Titans?"

"I---" Flash stuttered, not knowing what to say. He had been a member of the Justice League for months now; first with the JLE, and then with Superman in the latest incarnation. He was still a reserve member of the Titans, but they had dropped the 'Teen' part of their name ages ago. Even before he had finally moved on.

"Good to have you aboard, son. Where's Barry?"

Wally blinked, his throat swelling suddenly. "B--- Barry's . . . dead . . ."

Superman frowned, his brows knitting in concentration. He turned again to Kyle. "Hal's dead too, isn't he?" Kyle Rayner nodded, his own voice choked. He could see the confusion in Wally West's eyes and knew that it mirrored his own. Neither man knew what was going on.

"I assumed as much when I saw the memorial at Coast City. I hope you at least got revenge. Both of you!" The Flash and Green Lantern both stared dumbly, both men at a loss for words. Superman started to speak again, then held up his hand as he looked away towards the south---

"Sorry, boys, but I have to go. Something just exploded in Antarctica." The Man of Steel tensed, ready to leap, then hesitated, glancing again at the two bewildered heroes. "Stop following me!" he ordered, his eyes crackling red with the energy of his heat vision, barely contained. Then he was gone.

"C'mon!" Kyle yelled. "He's getting away---" He felt the hand grip his arm before he could even will his ring to make him fly. Wally was suddenly in front of him, shaking his head.

"We need answers, pal." Wally West said, and Kyle Rayner could hear then just how tired his friend was. "I could probably keep up, but we know where he's going, so I don't see the point. It's not like he's trying to hide."

"But Batman---"

"To heck with Batman! I think Batman's the only one that knows what's happening, and frankly I'm tired of running up and down North America just because he said to. I want answers! I want food! I need to rest before Batman tells us to take that guy out, and I think that's what it's gonna come down to, eventually. I don't know who that was, but I'm sure it wasn't Superman. No way!"

Kyle listened, watching the sky to the south. The violet streak that was the wake of the Man of Steel's passing was quickly fading from his sight. When it was gone all together, he sighed, nodding.

"I think you're right, Wally. Whoever that was, he needs to be stopped, by us, before the world figures out what he's doing. Before some country like Quorac decides that he has to be stopped, the hard way."

Green Lantern held his ring closer to his face willing a message to be sent into the heavens---

"Bring us home, Plas. We lost him. Get word to Batman and the rest. We gotta talk."

"Ten-Four, green buddy!" Plastic Man's voice crackled from the ring.

A moment later and both men felt the familiar tingle of the JLA transporter as it locked onto their signal devices, and then their very beings. The world grew fuzzy to them both, and slowly faded away . . .

89°S- The Ellis Mountain Range, Antarctica:
12:23 p.m. EST

Batman ignored the cold. He felt it. He was only human, after all -- not a god. He felt the cold air, the fierce blistering winds, but he ignored it. He willed his body to stop shivering. He gritted his teeth against the distracting chatter. He ignored the cold -- used the cold to focus and make him stronger. He had a job to do.

Batman watched the plume of smoke as it billowed, caught in the wind as it rose high into the air and dispersed. The fire was still raging, but contained as he had planned and dwindling quickly. The fire was not so important now. It had just been for show, a flashy display of pyrotechnics to make it easier for the Kryptonian to spot the disturbance from over half a world away. The sonic beacon that the blast had triggered was the true display, and what would initially attract the Man of Steel's attention. The Batman knew that the Superman was on the far side of the globe, and even with his vast powers and incredible senses he would never have seen something as mundane as the combustibles that he had sparked. The curve of the planet would have shielded the Batman from the alien's sight, initially, and even after employing his X-Ray and Telescopic Visions the Superman might not have seen the blaze due to the natural content of lead laced throughout the planet's crust. Besides, as far as the Superman knew he had no reason to look at Antarctica.

So the Batman had used sonics, an ultra high frequency that he knew the Man of Steel could easily hear, backed by the light show to make spotting the source of the irritant easy. He would come racing, no matter who he was, as the sonic strobe would be an annoyance that would eventually make it hard for him to think, like an itch that could not be scratched.

The Batman had gotten the idea while he was still in Metropolis, watching as the Man of Steel beat Supergirl and the Guardian. Batman had realized then and there, reading their lips as best he could through his binoculars, just what he was potentially dealing with. He had met Supergirl and the Guardian both, briefly, but more importantly he had researched them and learned their strengths and weaknesses. The Guardian was not so different than he was; a normal man, more or less, pushed to the extreme of human potential. His goals and morals were somewhat different, but he fought the good fight, and fought it well. The Supergirl - Matrix -- was at least as powerful as the Man of Steel himself. She was an alien, and a construct, but she too fought for the side of right. Neither of them were pushovers, and this Superman beat them both with ease, with an arrogance that the Batman had never seen in his ally before. It was that attitude that had convinced him finally, despite the slight difference in appearance, despite the enhanced, augmented powers -- that was not Superman!

He had contacted several people even before the Man of Steel had left the scene of the battle. Though he was loath to admit it, he would need help to defeat the Kryptonian, in the form of both people and props. He had the League of course, that was why they had banded together in the first place -- to defeat those foes too great for any one of them alone. Powerful as they were, though, their combined might was not enough; not quite right. His first call had been to Alfred, his butler at Wayne Manor in Gotham City. The Batman had needed certain articles from the Bat Cave; the sonic emitter for one, and something that Superman himself had given him not so long ago. Alfred had sent what he needed after some needless debate, storing everything into a special radio-programmed drone plane that would automatically home in on the League's transport platform in Antarctica. It would take some time to make the flight, but Batman estimated that he would be on the sub polar continent long before the courier arrived.

He had called in some super-powered help as well. Four old allies that he would need if things did not go as planned. The first he had sent on ahead to lay in wait near the Kryptonian's Fortress of Solitude. Two waited at the Watchtower, just in case. The fourth was on a special mission.

The Batman had made two stops before he could set his plan in motion. The first to the Daily Planet where he convinced Lois Lane-Kent to become involved. He hated to involve civilians, but she had signed on as the man's wife, and had inadvertently involved herself. Like it or not, Superman had endangered her from the start, from the moment that they had married. The Batman could not begrudge the man for trying to lead a normal life. Batman had done the same on occasion, when he had been weak. It was human nature to seek out companionship, eventually. Superman had gotten too close to Lane however. He had made her a potential target, and now a pawn. It had been easy to play on her emotions and send her looking for answers in Smallville where she would hopefully be out of the way. At the least she would be with the Kents, Superman's adoptive parents, and the three of them might provide some sort of emotional defense against the man if it became necessary.

After he sent Lane to Smallville via the JLA teleporter he had passed by the address of Kent's old apartment. If he was correct, this Superman would not realize that Lane was his wife. He would think that he still had a home at 344 Clinton in Metropolis, where Clark Kent had lived as a bachelor. Someone else lived there now, of course, and the Batman had readily seen that if the Man of Steel had gone there he had not gone inside. The apartment was undisturbed, the slightly effeminate furnishings obviously untouched. It was then, while looking into the rooms that should have been the Man of Tomorrow's home that he realized why Superman had headed north earlier that morning.

He was expecting to find his version of the Fortress of Solitude there, in the Arctic. The Martian Manhunter's last mental report was that he had followed the Superman to well within the upper reaches of the Arctic Circle, where he had found the man apparently looking for something. J'onzz mimicked the alien's search pattern but had found nothing. That was the last that they had heard from the Martian. Batman had dealt with that mystery as well. He would need J'onzz eventually.

He had gone to the Watchtower then, briefly. The Batman had to admit that despite his reservations over joining the group as a regular member the benefits of the Moon base were considerable. It would have taken him hours to reach Antarctica under his own means, but utilizing the teleporter relay the trip took only seconds. He had been forced to waste a small amount of time explaining his beliefs and plans to the others, a task made all the harder by Plastic Man's constant banter, but it was a necessity. Better they were informed, at least to a point, and putting their talents to some use rather than disrupting his plans.

Teleported to the South Pole, finally, he quickly scouted the area. He was alone with the exception of his hidden ally, and the Man of Steel had apparently not been to the area yet. That would change. He had set the Flash and Green Lantern to following the Kryptonian, more to keep him busy than to actually keep watch on the man. The Monitor Womb at the Watchtower could easily track the Man of Steel's progress, but if he knew that he was being watched his attention would be divided. He would be distracted and that was what the Batman wanted, at least for awhile longer.

He quickly set up the sonic beacon along with the combustibles in order to draw the alien to Antarctica. There were other ways of course, but the Batman knew that a potential disaster would get the man's attention better than anything. He was Superman, or a version thereof, after all. Soon, with the beacon in place and his ally hidden and ready to act on his signal, Batman had moved away to a spot of relative safety and set his plan in motion . . .

Now, it was only a matter of time . . .

NEXT ISSUE: Batman vs. Superman!