Tuesday, December 06, 2016

Incredible Comics #12

“You’re a terrible sniper,” Caleb Kennedy shouted as he flew through the sky between the buildings of lower Manhattan. “I thought you weren’t supposed to be seen. I guess it’s easier shooting helpless people of color in other countries than being a supervillain.”

“Not much of that happening these days,” the sniper in rocket boots said. “That’s why I became a mercenary. Gotta kill something.”

“No, you don’t.” Caleb made a sharp left turn on his airfoil. The sniper tried to follow but his turn wasn’t as smooth and he nicked the corner of the building with his shoulder. “Well, that bought me some time.” Caleb pulled a small ball bearing out of his belt and tossed it at the sniper. It hit the sniper, causing a small electrocution which caused the rocket boots to shut down.

“What happened?” he shouted and fell hard to the ground below.

Caleb landed gently. “The electricity shorted them out. I just needed to slow you down so I could get the ball sent to you,” several police cars surrounded the alley. “Ah, looks like you are under arrest. See you,” Caleb lept up and slid the airfoil underneath him and flew up into the sky.

Caleb Kennedy was one of the smartest people in the world. He started his own technology company at 18 after graduating from high school. He ran the business while going to college during which he created the airfoil, a safe mode of aerial transport for individuals, the ball bearings that held small electrical charges, and a gauntlet that could manipulate and travel through time. Caleb had used it very rarely to stop or slow down time and never to actually go to another time period. Caleb had used the gauntlet and the ball bearings, along with the airfoil, to become the superhero known as Time Man. Caleb arrived back at the apartment he shared with his friend, Alex.

Alex Wintermantel was Caleb’s best friend. They lived in a relatively small apartment together which was odd considering that Caleb could afford to live just about anywhere that he wanted. Alex was certainly not as smart or brilliant as Caleb, he worked in I.T. and drew webcomics on the side. Caleb said that Alex kept him grounded in reality.

Caleb hopped off the airfoil and landed on the balcony. He slid open the glass door and walked into the apartment. “Hey, Alex. How you doing?”

“I’m good. Just trying to get a backlog of comics posted while I have some downtime. You?”

“I’m good, too. Just stopped a mercenary from killing me.”

“That’s good,” Alex said nonchalantly.

“I’m going to go tinker with my time gauntlet, let me know when you are ready for dinner. There’s several bags of pizza rolls in the freezer we can eat,” Caleb said.

“Okay,” Alex nodded.

Caleb went into his bedroom and sat at his desk. He unstrapped his time gauntlet from his wrist and took a small screwdriver to it, opening it up. This was where he got the name Time Man. The gauntlet was able to pull him out of the time stream while keeping him in our dimension. Since he was essentially ‘out of time’, he didn’t use it too often, using his airfoil and ball bearings as his main powers. Every night he worked to make the gauntlet better, he was currently trying to make it go through time so he could visit whatever time period he wanted but so far he hadn’t been able to come close.

Tonight would be different. A ball bearing placed in an unassuming place would be the lynchpin needed. The gauntlet crackled and engulfed Caleb and soon he was gone. He reappeared in the same place but in the air and above what was now a five-story building instead of his twenty-seven story one. Caleb began falling and didn’t know what to do. He didn’t have his airfoil or any way to soften his landing. Suddenly, he landed in someone's arms. He looked and saw Time Man in his blue and yellow hooded and caped glory.

“I got you. Lucky I was passing nearby,” Time Man said. “What were you doing up in the air like that?”

“Long story. You’re the original Time Man,” Caleb smiled.

“I think I’m the only Time Man,” he smiled back. Time Man landed on another apartment roof and sat Caleb down.

“Well, I’m from the future, if you can believe it, and I’m also a superhero and I go by Time Man,” Caleb revealed.

“Really? The future? How’d you get here?”

“It’s why I was up in the air. My gauntlet sent me back in time. I guess my 27-story apartment building didn’t exist yet.”

“Well, glad you’re okay. When in the future are you from?”

“2020.”

“Almost a hundred years from now,” Time Man was astonished. “What else can your gauntlet do?”

“It can take you out of the time stream, kind of like your sundial,” Caleb pointed. “And I guess now it can travel through time although I’m not really sure how I did it. Sadly, it doesn’t help me fly or make me strong.”

“Then how do you fight?”

“I created this thing called an airfoil that I wasn’t able to bring and these electric ball bearings that can short stuff out or incapacitate someone. I’m well-armed.”

“That’s good. Do you know how you are going to get back?”

“No, I need to work on my gauntlet some more. I barely know what happened when it sent me here.”

“Why don’t you come home with me. You can have some dinner, meet the family, and we can go to the fixit shop and see what we can do.”

“Thanks, that’d be great.”

“Harold Banner,” Time Man slid his hood off, revealing his secret identity.

“Caleb Kennedy.”

The two of them smiled and shook hands. Nearby, a mysterious figure listened to them.

“A time traveler? That will be perfect for taking over the world across all of time,” he sneered and began watching Time Man and Caleb leave.