2013.08.12 - At the End of Time, Part 1

Hot summer day, just after noon. There's a parade down here; there's always a parade. Yesterday it was for kids, tomorrow it's for the elderly, and today it is to save the Earth. There's more than just the Earth that needs saving.

The details happen really quickly. There's a stage, and a an announcer talking about how 'we need to band together or something to really make a difference, man' and there's polite claps and one or two young voices that spray out something clever. There's hundreds in the audience, most in need of a bath, but such is the hippy sort.

Things change when a madman-one of those old school technocrats hell bent on destruction through technological means. It's the same sort of thing, different day around these parts. They never seem to understand that the New York Metropolis area isn't one you really want to mess with through these hairbrain-get rich schemes.

He boards the stage, looking disheveled. His armed henchmen don't look much better but they've got guns and that seems pretty serious. The main man doesn't even get his name out. It could be any host of names, here one day and gone the next. Who even keeps track anymore?

What is clear is he wants 5 million dollars from city or state officials or he'll blow Time Square to pieces.

Spider-Woman is the kind of girl who believes in pro-active response. And sometimes pro-active patrolling. As is the case today. She's clinging to a wall just off the side off to the main stage's left. And her spider-sense begins buzzing like mad when the thugs begin making their way onto the stage. She launches herself towards teh stage on a webline.

"I dunno who you guys are, but seriously, haven't you ever heard of wearing your sunday best to a crime?" she calls, webbing up two of the henchmen, and dodging the fire of another.

"No? You guys must be new to the super villain's union then." She dodges and flips out of the way of incoming fire with all the grace of a ninja endowed with the powers of a spider, making sure to keep the shooters' focus on her rather than on any innocents trying to escape from the maniacs who have commandeered the stage.

Everyone loves to mess with Times Square, whether they are city locals who criticize its overly-lit tourist trap nature, or supervillains who just want to blow it up. Even if the latter might solve the gripes of the former, it would be bad form to allow it to happen.

Booster Gold is not a big fan of Times Square, although his reasons are personal--the last time he was there, he was kidnapped by a crazy eight-limbed television producer. Despite this, he is present on the top of a nearby building with Skeets hovering nearby, just in case someone hassles the parade; so, when the armed men make their demands, he quietly says, "Ugh. Jerks."

"Hey. I have a counter-offer," Booster says to them, as he descends from above, glowing golden--albeit not as brightly as the glaring signs and billboards around the Square. "Surrender immediately and I'll punch you about ten percent less than I will if you put up a fight."

Ask, Nameless Technocrat, and ye shall receive.

As if on cue, five million dollars rains down on the disheveled techno-terrorist in twenties. Glowing, slightly translucent twenties, all of which are about as substantial as under-set Jell-O.

"That," Sinestro intones as he descends through the money shower, "is as close you'll get, I'm afraid; push for more at your own peril." His arms are folded, but his ring - which is already giving off bright pulses of light in time with the strobing Lantern symbols flowing around him - is ready. Spider-Woman can, he figures, beat on all the henchmen she likes; Times Square not being a smoking crater by day's end is higher on his list of priorities.

"Ring: scan the area for explosive devices."


 * ( "Scanning..." )|

Hot Town. Summer In The City. Back Of My Neck Getting Dirty And Gritty. - Naturally that song is playing somewhere in all this chaos. But it's also running through Sam's mind. But in more of a 'Film Noir' narration kind of style. When in doubt, always crib from pop culture. The crowd is somewhat taxing for Sam to maintain his woogie... so he's just keeping it closely focused and not drawing attention to himself. Angel is always harping that he should drag his furry butt out of the office and have some fun. But between detective work and Sam's artistic pursuits... it's a busy life.

"It's not even the fun kind of dirty hippys." Sam offers to noone in particular. "The have fun in the mud, listen to the music, don't take the brown acid, kind of hippys. Now the unwashed masses are just that... unwashed." Sam rubs his sensitive nose a bit, and grunting softly.

"And of course, like ants to a picnic... you have shmucks to the party." Sam starts moving through the crowd... heading for the stage. "You know... some days I hate my ethics about the ole woogie." And halfway there... of course here come the costumes. "God... it's like the reject pile on Project Runway some days."

"I am never going to concerts. Ever. Again."

Seriously. This was the second concert Keith had attended that had something like this happen. At least this time he wasn't facing a Sharknado. But nevertheless... Villain of the Day was clearly serious, shabby though he may be.

Fortunately, there are other heroes on the scene. Booster, for one, and then there's the lantern, and the spidery one. And ... an enormous sapient gorilla, it seems.

Good, between Booster and the Lantern, the power quota was already met. The Spidery one covered the agility requirements. All slots covered, the cat put himself in the spot of the backup. His powers of illusion came over him and instead of a purple cat, there was a young man with red-hair dressed in denim.

His muscle and speed weren't needed right away, which left one important task: shield the crowds from the explosion if the device were triggered.

He looks at the size of the crowd, and frowns. Hmm... the size of the barrier required exceeded his fifteen feet limit... but he'd pushed himself beyond his limits before. Granted, it had left him completely useless afterwards- but that wasn't an issue. There were other heroes here to take care of whatever was left of the criminals (if anything), once the explosion went off.

So he stands there, gathering his energy and preparing to push for his life, if it is needed, so that the bystanders are protected from the explosion. However, he trusts Booster and friends can disarm the villain.

LOGNOTE: Remove monkey musings

"It's Booster Gold!" screams one of the henchmen as he begins to walk backwards on the stage away from the Futuristic Hero. "And Superman, too!" says another who points up just before Superman lands softly upon the stage.

The Leader looks up as the money begins to fall from the sky, clearly confused. But as Sinestro beckons his ring to scan, the evildoer begins to back up. Within moments, the ring comes back with information that there is, indeed, an explosive device on the man and it's highly volatile.

This all happens in front of Sam Simeon and Vorpal, who are now close enough to the stage to see it all happen, almost in slow motion. The proactive response.

There's a THWIP sound of webbing towards the stage. The first real aggressive action. "No!" shouts Superman. "He's got a b---"

But the Man of Steel's words are cut short as the leader flips the switch. There's a loud pop, and everything goes white until you lose consciousness.

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..

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..

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"Is everyone alright?" Superman asks, coming to slightly before the rest of the group. He looks them over, searching for wounds, but the 5 others who join him in this dark hallway all seem to be fine. There's light down at the end of the hall.

"I've...been better." Spider-Woman says, shaking her head to clear it. "I was trying to avoid the bomb going off by going after the thugs as a distraction, hoping someone with more versatility power wise could get the detonator from the lead psycho. Guess I underestimated how crazy he was." she says, pulling herself to her feet. "Sorry, Superman."

"...we didn't die, did we?" Booster Gold wonders, sitting up. He looks around, and seems to decide that this is clearly not any kind of afterlife he would condone. He floats up from the floor, and says, "Skeets?" There is no reply; the robot had stayed up and well out of the way in order to provide Booster information from another vantage point. "Aw, geez. I bet we did a dimensional jump or something," grouses Booster, having collected his thoughts. "I swear, every darn time I visit Times Square, this happens."

Sinestro's eyes snap open when the question is asked; a split-second later, green light surges from his body, growing briefly and uncomfortably bright before settling into a soft glow just around around his body. He then pushes himself to his feet - albeit groggily - and scans the unfamiliar faces around him before settling on Spider-Woman's; his eyes narrow in displeasure on the wall-crawler.

"Excellent work," is all he says to her before turning his attention to the most powerful weapon in the universe. "Ring: where are we?"


 * ( "Error," )| it tonelessly replies. |( "Current location does not exist in any known sector of space." )|

The Korugarian stares at the thing for a moment, debating whether or not to bother asking again; instead, though, he looks up to examine his fellow refugees again; this time, it's Superman he eventually settles on. "What--sort of bomb?" he warily asks the Man of Steel..

Seeing that the heroes seem to have it handled for the moment, Sam turns his focus on the crowd. It's not normally something he likes to do, but best to protect them from the usual dangers of a superhero vs. villain brawl. His normal 'I'm Human' woogie that's broadcast includes a slight nudge to the gathered civilians that they should clear the area in a calm orderly manner. It isn't targeted to include the heroes or villains. Just the civilians. The last thing Sam hears before he's about to turn back is mention of a Bo....

... mb. "Ughhhhhhh. Oh my aching head." When the world went white, Sam went faceplant. And of course, being knocked unconscious means that his woogie is down. So as Sam sits up, the rather 'Fred Flinstone-ish' looking man that some may have caught sight of is clearly a large gorilla, in a very noirish suit and trenchcoat. Who talks. So much for secrets.

"Nnnggh... " Vorpal's illusion disappeared the moment he lost consciousness. The purple cat slowly gets up, rubbing at his forehead. "... that was... a brilliant idea... " Vorpal mutters as he holds up a hand, and an enormous 15 by 15 foot lightbulb appears, emitting a bright purple glow. He takes stock of who is there, and does not seem at all surprised at seeing a gorilla in a suit.

Why? Because he was a Purple cat in spandex. He had jumped through the crazy door already.

"...Superman?... what happened to us?"

"Well hopefully everyone back at that rally is okay," Superman says. He's not sure sorry is going to cut it, but railing on Spider-Woman is probably not going to be helpful at a time like this. He shakes his head at Booster, "No, apparently not. Unless this is heaven or hell."

Superman's pale blue eyes move towards Sinestro as he gives a helpless look. "It. . .it wasn't anything out of the ordinary." It's what's not said that's concerning. No hocus-pocus. No spiritual intervention. No nothing. Perhaps they /are/ dead.

"I don't know, Vorpal," he responds to his young friend. Superman turns slightly, peering down the hallway. He attempts to use his x-ray vision, but gets nothing. He turns back to those brought with him and gives a grimace before he begins to slink off down the hallway. "I'm going to see what's here."

Though it can't be seen, Spider-Woman rolls her eyes at Sinestro's sarcasm. She also does a bit of a doubletake at the sight of Sam as she registers the sight of a clothed gorilla. Then shrugs. She's met a few Gods before, including her clan's patron deity. A suited gorilla who talks isn't exactly going to surprise her much. Even the talking cat-man thing doesn't surprise her.

"I'm right behind you." she tells Superman, and follows along after the Man of Steel.

"I just hope that nobody was seriously hurt back home. People were making their way away from the stage when I began my attempt to distract the guy by going after his henchmen. With luck, the most anyone might have to worry about is some wrecked clothes." Yeah it's a pipe dream, but she's clearly trying to hope for the best, as she's well aware that she's probably the reason the bomb was triggered and is trying to deal with that fact as best she can.

"Doesn't exist in known space..." Booster echoes what Sinestro's ring has said. He looks over the others, his own enhanced vision--courtesy of his goggles--giving everyone a quick once-over just to make sure no one is injured. "Well, we're not the only heroes around. Skeets is probably still there, he can always call for backup to deal with things. Hey, Vorp." After greeting the purple cat, he says to Sinestro, Spider-Woman and Sam, "I'm Booster Gold, by the way. Hi. We might have had a trans-dimensional incident, but I'm biased towards that answer because I keep having trans-dimensional incidents." He then lands and walks after Superman.

Sam's transfiguration earned a few lingering looks from Sinestro, but not much more; what's one more talking ape, after all?

"If it was a conventional explosive," he opines as he walks towards the light with the rest of the group, "The reasonable assumption is that some, if not all of them were caught in the actual detonation, given that none of them are here." There's nothing like sadness or outrage to be heard as he delivers his hypothesis, just the cold, measured voice of logic.

"And I am Sinestro, of Korugar," he adds, without missing a beat.


 * ( "The greatest Green Lantern," )| the ring appends.

Naturally... Sam doesn't admit to being behind the civilians departing. After all, he'd rather keep that aspect of his powers a secret. At least for the moment. He also doesn't reestablish his woogie for the moment, not wanting to tweak memories of the group. "Doesn't exist in known space? And not even any frequent flier miles." Sam offers with a soft grunt as he checks his coat, pulling out one large chromed .357 Magnum Desert Eagle Mark XIX. He leaves the other one in the concealed holster for the moment. Sam grunts a bit, and rubs the back of his head. "Sam... Sam Simeon." Hopefully none of these people follow comic books.

Vorpal doesn't introduce himself. After all, his name's already been mentioned. "Hey, Booster... it's good to see---"

Sam Simeon. "As I live and breathe--" the cat says, looking at the gorilla. "I am supposed to be working with you!" he says, finally finding the man....ape who had not returned his calls in a while. "... later.... " he says, though. This was neither the time nor place. "we'll talk."

Vorpal falls into step behind Booster, grabbing the large lightbulb and holding it as they walk.

"I suppose it's a good thing you're here, then," Superman says to Sinestro after his ring announces his prestige. He nods to Spider-Woman and Booster before stepping out into a cobblestone of courtyard and out under the light of a lone lamp that sits in the middle.

There, with back facing the group of heroes, is a lone person; a short person with white hair and odd yellow garb.

When Superman takes another step, the figure flips around without warning. His wide mouth is split in a grin and his eyes show his excitement. "You've come! Fantastic!" the voice is high pitched and slightly annoying. That he giggles in between each sentence is irritating as all get out.

"I've been waiting! Of course, waiting is sort of relative where we are. But you're here!"

"Who---are you?" Superman asks, almost defensively.

"Mister Mxyzptlk, of course!" the figure beams. "And I've planned a mission for you!"

The echo from the giggles bounces upon the walls of the courtyard, creating several echoes.

"Spider-Woman. Chosen champion of the Spider Clan." Spider-Woman says to the other heroes, since Superman is probably the only one who knows her. Or so she believes anyway. She vaguely gives the ring on Sinestro an amused look, though it's unlikely to be recognized for what it is due to her mask only allowing her to see out, not others to see in. She's met Hal, and he seems far more compassionate and friendly than this guy.

"I've travelled to another dimension before myself, when I met my Clan's patron deity. But it never knocked me out. Hopefully wherever we ended up is friendly. Or at least neutral."

Then comes the appearance of the 5th dimensional weirdo we all know and....know.

"Well this is new....." she mutters. "And just what do you mean by that, exactly? I can't speak for anyone else here, but I've never heard of you before. How do you know we're the people you want? And for that matter...where's here and what 'mission' are you talking about, anyway?"

Booster rubs his hand over his mouth and chin, clearly uncertain if this pint-sized figure is better or worse than a six-armed maniac. Dude looks kind of crazy, though. He does not -say- this aloud, but it's in his expression. Instead, he says, "Okay, normally I'm not inclined to negotiate with ... people in situations like this. But I'll be up front..." He holds up his hand, index finger lifted to point upwards. "I'm not going to kill anyone for you."

"And if we refuse?" Sinestro wonders, brow arching as he studies the impish man. His stance is relatively non-combative - there's certainly some tension in his frame, given the circumstances, but his ring hand is still at his side; he's mostly asking as a matter of course, at this point. "I don't suppose you know anything at all about where we were, either."

Sam narrows his eyes just a little bit at Vorpal and just grunts softly. "Fan-freakin'-tastic." And here he was hoping it was just a group of heroes he would never run into again. "Sorry I have been.... busy." He doesn't bother going into extreme detail. Note to self, a heroic nickname might be a good idea. Especially if loose lips sink ships. Like hiding the fact you're not human.

And as if things couldn't get any worse... there's some nutcase greeting them. A brow perks just a bit as he glances over to Superman. "Friend of yours?" Sam asks, before addressing the imp. "Do we look like your errand boys or something, short stack? I suggest you explain yourself... quickly."

When the little pint-sized man comes into view, Vorpal is inclined to laugh. However, his laughter is short-lived when the construct he is cradling explodes into dozens of shards--- none of which lives long enough to hurt anyone.

"What on earth---"

There is a brief flash, like lightning, except that it is purple, and the cat-man is on his knees next to Booster, clearly in some sort of distress as the stripes on his fur suddenly glow a very bright white-purple.

"What the hell is happening to me?" his voice is distorted and strange... and as soon as it had starte, the attack ends, leaving Vorpal completely puzzled. He slowly stands up and holds out his hand, trying to create a small construct--- and this one appears for a few seconds before it darts around at incredible speeds, nearly impacting Superman-- but he dismisses it in time after two unsuccessful tries. Panicking, he tries to become invisible... but all that it accomplishes is that there are three of him, in a blurry after-image effect like a lens out of focus, before he stops the effect. He glares at the pint-sized one.

"....what did you do to me?"

"Hush," the little genie says as he snaps his fingers. "You talk too much."

Suddenly a zipper appears over Spider-Woman's mask in the area where her mouth is. She'll find she cannot speak.

"Up front?" he asks Booster, and with another snap he appears right before Superman and is caused to stumble a bit as the pair get their feet tangled. *giggle*

"You should refuse! It'd be fun!" the imp winks at Sinestro and as he does, the ring begins to burst into little flower petals that fall in every direction from his hand and on to the floor. "And of course, all those people in Times-get it?-oh no, you don't get it yet-All those people in Times Square will die!" At this he bursts into maniacal laughter that is almost ear splitting.

He stops abruptly. A cup of water appears. He drinks from it. Drinks. Drinks. One giant gulp. Looking forlornly into the bottom he coughs, and the cup disappears.

Mxyzptlk gasps at Sam's incredulous response. With a wiggle of his nose, Sam becomes a short stack of pancakes, complete with sliding butter. "Takes one to know one, hee-hee!"

"Do to you?" Mxyzptlk says with a grin. "I haven't done anything yet." The area above Vorpal's head sparkles and suddenly Keith is turned from a cat looking human guy to a dog looking human guy. "Now I've done something to you!"

Superman breaks the insane laughter, getting stern immediately. "Enough! Why have you brought us here!?"

Mxyzptlk sighs, "Fine. You guys are a lot of fun. Eventually, everyone begins to turn back to their normal selves. I brought you here because I need you to search for three shards of a precious red stone for me. I'd do it myself, but it's oh so much more fun for you to do it for me!"

The sudden appearance of the zipper catches the Ninja entirely off guard. But at first she figures it's just a prank, and tries to ask what the point of the zipper was, when she finds her voice seemingly gone, and puts a hand to her throat in surprise. After a few moments, the zipper fades and while she -wants- to chew the little imp out, decides information is more important.

"And what exactly is it that you need this stone for, and why do you think we can even get these shards?" The whole bit about him being able to get them for himself makes her a touch annoyed. The bigges question in her mind is why does he think they'll trust him when it comes to the people in Times Square. For all she knows, this guy might be the one who set the bomb in the first place. Though if he has the power he claims, that might mean he'll prevent the bomb being used at all in exchange for getting these shards.

"Wh--agh," says Booster, as he gets abruptly teleported and tripped up over Superman. He manages to float before actually face-planting, and hovers upright, saying, "Sorry, Kal! Vorp, are you hurt?" Then, Mxyzptlk's words sink in and he waves a hand, saying, "Wait, so all those people are still being held hostage?" He half folds his arms, curling his index finger against his chin, mulling over this information. Then, he points that finger Myxzptlk's way as he says, "Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fun for you, but I bet you -can't- really do it yourself. That's why you want to strong-arm us into doing it."

Sam glances over at Spider-Woman and looks back to the short man in yellow. And he can't help but laugh at the zipper mask. "Thank you!" Sam's patience isn't all that great some days. And the peace and quiet for a moment is actually nice. Of course, then he's the victim of the annoying imp. As he turns into a stack of pancakes. "What the hell!?" Samcakes asks... two of the pancakes flapping like a mouth. Ok, what he did to everyone else is basically not acknowledged because... well, pancakes. "I'd tell you to eat me, but that's just asking for it." Samcakes mutters just a little bit.. syrup bubbling in annoyance. "Ok annoying man in the yellow hat. I'll be your Curious George. But my... friends... have a point. But if I end up with syrup on my fur, I am just shooting you in the head when I finish turning back."

"Fun--" is as far as the incredulous Korugarian gets before the alien scent of fresh flowers wafts into his nostrils, prompting him to peer around for the flowers hidden in the darkness--and then, finally, underfoot when he realizes that the smell is coming from right next to him. The dispassionate lawkeeper's eyes widen once he traces the falling petals up to his ring, and then narrow on Mxyzptlk, who he quickly levels his ring at.

"Then in that case," he begins as a garden's worth of petals streams from his rings, "You are under--" His eyes twitch to the petals, which are gradually settling to the ground between himself and the imp. "--arrest--" Beat. "Ring--"

Rather than wait for him to finish his command, the device starts belting out Field of Flowers(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0jEWy8Gr7M) in its toneless way, drawing a disbelieving scowl from Sinestro.

"Whatever y--" he growls

And then, it stops.

He keeps his ring aimed in the imp's direction briefly, but given what's at stake... lowering it is, ultimately, the most reasonable course of action, and so he does.

"Once we're finished, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law," he states, anger more or less held in restraint. "Endangering a sworn officer of the Green Lantern Corps. Destruction of property. Hundreds, if not thousands of counts of manslaughter."

Vorpal doesn't say anything. He is clearly visibly shaken -and- outraged at having been turned into a dog. Even as he returns to his usual shape, he doesn't say anything.

Mostly because what he wants to say to the little twerp would probably get them all killed. He knows the value of discretion, and the fact that his powers are malfunctioning worse than Windows ME gives him pause. Everybody has brought up the job, he's going to let more level minds deal.

"1. I need to impress the Princess Soldare of Ningaposomium."

"2. Because that's why I brought you. I chose you. I chose others too, but they're not here yet."

And 3. Yes."

Mxyzptlk waves a finger in Booster's face as the imp floats towards him. "Ah-ah-ahah. . ." He chuckles. "You can try that. I used to play all sorts of games where supergeeks would need to get me to say my name backwards and all that. I'm through with that sort of jive. This time I just really need that rock. If you don't want to do it, you'll deal with the consequences, and I'll just grab another group of heroes like I did with you. Easy peasy, pumpkin pie." For effect he brushes his hands together as if wiping off dirt.

Sam, meanwhile, will be relieved to find that his fur is syrup free. "Shoot me in the head. Go ahead. Try. No, really, I mean it. Try and shoot me." He's desperately trying not to giggle and giving a fake tough guy face.

"Oh-hah-ah-hahah" Mxyzptlk belly laughs at Sinestro, "Well we'll see about all that, copper!"

"So!" he beams at Superman. "Here are your choices, Big Bloop. Either you walk through that door-" An extremely long finger points to the leftern most door, a solid wood framed door with no window. "And get me one of those shards, or everyone else goes kabloom."

He smiles at Vorpal, "Can you dig it?"

There's some tension in Superman's voice as he responds, clearly on the defensive but not sure what he could do. It seems this genie is far more powerful than the Man of Steel. "I'll do it." Superman walks towards the door, looking back at his allies. "I won't blame you if you don't want to come with." And with that, he walks through the door.

"Much as I'd like to throw the little imp into the nearest prison cell that could hold him, he's effectively using the people in Times Square as hostages. I'm with you, Superman. I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I let those people get hurt just because I want to punch this piece of trash's face in." That said, she follows along. "Any idea who the princess he's talking about is? Or why he seems so crazy?" she asks him as they walk to the door.

"Doesn't hurt to check, though," opines Booster. He looks at the others. "I dunno if he'll call off the threat if we do this for him, it's kind of a fool's bet... but at the same time, those lives aren't ours to risk. I'm with you, Superman." He flies for the door that Superman is going through, turning back slightly as he goes to tell Myxzptlk, "You know, if you really needed help, you could've just asked. This really isn't any way to make friends!"

"There'll be time enough to learn those things and more once I have him for interrogation," Sinestro assures as he flies to the door behind Booster. There's still some soreness evident in his voice, due to the ease with which the imp subverted his power ring, but his expression is all business.

Sam scowls just a little bit at Myxie... and narrows his eyes just a bit. The gun is slipped back into his holster as he adjusts his suitcoat and trenchcoat. "I'm not really a 'Hero', but I'm not a heartless dick either. So fine... I'm in." He heads towards the door and pauses, leaning in to whisper to Myxie. "You're damn lucky my ethics trump what I would like to do to you right now. Both physically and mentally." Sam clicks his tongue, makes gun fingers and bang-bang gestures at Myxie and then turns and heads for the door. "By the way... for someone who claims he's so powerful... you so really do something about that whole... you. Unless you like looking like the aborted crossbred fetus of an Oompa Loompa and a Munchkin."

The cat growls, and starts walking behind Superman, not trusting his own ability to fly right now. "I jumped into the eyeball of the lord of Haitian hell with your team, you think I'm going to chicken out because a disgruntled member of the Lollipop guild wants to impress some bimbo? And screw over innocent hostages? No way, Superman. I'm right behind you."

"Yes yes," Mxyzptlk says as he pats Booster on the shoulder pushing him slightly towards the door. "I'm sure once you see you'll be intimately aware of why simply asking would have never worked.

"No idea," Superman says to Spider-Woman, "On either account." He disappears into the black maw beyond the door.

"Mmmhmm, that's fine honey," Myxie says to Sam and his barbs. "Whatever you say, bigguy."

Once the members enter the black inky abyss everything fades to black. ..

. . .But explodes in color and life immediately below them. The sun shines maddeningly bright above a mountainous landscape. There, in the valley a mighty battle is being fought with claws and spears. Humans, cavemen like and primitive, are battling lizard like creatures that look somewhat similar to how scientists believed dinosaurs appeared.

Spider-Woman, Vorpal, and Sam all begin to fall unceremoniously to the Earth, but are picked up by Superman almost as quickly as they began to fall.

Below, the battle grinds to a standstill as the humans and dinos look upwards. Both sides suddenly flee.

But it's not because of the heroes who soar in the sky.

It's because of that large rumbling sound to the eastern mountains.

A moment later there is an extraordinarily loud roar that bellows for miles and miles, and abruptly a gigantic winged creature; part lizard part bird, begins to rise into view.

"That doesn't looks so bad," Superman says hopefully.

Another mighty roar is followed by a tower of fire that engulfs nearly one third of the forest away from the battlefield where the humans and dinos scurry from.

"Okay," Superman revises. "That looks pretty bad."

TO BE CONTINUED. ..