Time Man #5

DOOM!
DOOM!
DOOM!
DOOM!
DOOM!

Employees arriving at the museum heard the pounding and it got louder as they went to their workstations on the ground floor. Dr. Schnebly followed the sound to his office and saw the giant mummy pounding on the door to the research lab. Fist-sized bulges had started to show up on the door.

“What do we do?” another museum employee asked Dr. Schnebly.

“For the time being, hope that door holds,” Dr. Schnebly said. “Call the police and tell them what’s happening. And possibly the military.”




Eleanor woke up and saw Harold sitting in a chair holding Maggie and staring out the window. “Harold? Is everything all right?” she got out of bed and walked over to him.

“I’m thinking about Time Man. I know I’ve been back and forth on whether or not I should still be Time Man. I don’t think I’m making a difference at all. If anything, it seems like there are more bad guys out there,” Harold explained.

“Maybe it seems that way because you are seeing them more. You’re on the front lines seeing this. Sometimes they actually come after you. I think there is the same amount of crime in the world, you’re just seeing it all differently now,” Eleanor explained. “You’ve taken on a huge responsibility that no one asked you to do. If you want to quit, then quit.”

But knowing what I know makes it very hard to do that. I could always just put the sundial back on the shelf of the fix-it shop but I wouldn’t be able to forget it. I’d always want to grab it and help someone.”

“I think you already know the answer on whether or not you still want to be Time Man,” Eleanor said.

Harold looked up at Eleanor and smiled. “I should get downstairs to work,” he said. He and Eleanor kissed and she took Maggie from him.

Harold went downstairs and saw Martin sitting on the sill of the window, waiting for the fix-it shop to open. Harold smiled and unlocked the door. “Sorry I’m late, Martin,” Harold welcomed enthusiastically. “Good morning, how are you?”

“I’m good, Mr. Banner. You seem in a chipper mood.”

As Harold closed the door, tires squealed nearby. A car roared by, nearly hitting somebody. A couple of shots rang out from inside. “I have to go stop them,” Harold said, reaching for the sundial on his wrist. “Martin, I’m going to show you something. Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure can,” Martin replied. Harold activated the sundial and turned into Time Man. Martin’s eyes grew big and his jaw dropped. “You’re…?”

Harold smiled and nodded.

“How?”

Time Man took off toward the car. “We’ll talk when I get back.” Time Man flew after the car. The car was speeding and driving up onto the sidewalk, nearly hitting people, still shooting at random out of the window. Time Man caught up, grabbed the car and lifted it over his head. He brought it down, smashing it several times against a fire hydrant. “There. Now you’re all ready for the police.”

Time Man flew up and disappeared. Harold returned to the Fix-It Shop. “Did you get them?” Martin asked.

“Yep. About four blocks away,” Harold thumbed,.

“So you’re just Time Man?”

“Come into the workshop and I’ll tell you all about it.”




The mummy was free. It had laid waste to the museum, the employees, and anyone else who got near. The plan was to evacuate and keep everyone away. It was the only plan that was feasible. The mummy was tearing up a path through a good section of Golden City. It had gotten to the Golden Plaza when Harold got word of the destruction.

He turned into Time Man and rushed to the Golden Plaza where the monster had destroyed several buildings and killed numerous people. Time Man flew down and immediately dove into the mummy. For a couple of minutes, Time Man had the upper hand, striking the mummy repeatedly, keeping it off-balance and away from the people.

But the mummy regained its composure and began giving Time Man a taste of his own medicine. Dazed by the hits, the mummy grabbed Time Man and threw him into McLaren Tower and then jumped after him.

The mummy tossed Time Man around the building. Time Man’s uniform became tattered. The mummy held him up by the neck and raised his other fist for a crushing blow. Time Man attempted to reach for his sundial but the mummy, using quick reflexes, grabbed Time Man’s wrist and squeezed, crushing his wrist and destroying the sundial.

Time Man screamed in pain as he changed back into his civilian clothes. Harold began to panic and struggle to get out of the chokehold the mummy had him in. Harold started to pass out when the mummy’s grip loosened. Someone else had slammed full force into the mummy causing Harold to be let go.

Harold regained his vision and saw a figure in a blue suit and red cape. “Supercat?” he barely remembered the name of the so-called hero that was supposedly under hypnosis when he leveled a neighborhood in New York City. Seeing the six foot cat was an odd sight but short-lived as they fell through the floor.

“Come on. Get up,” someone said, pulling Harold to his feet.

Harold made it outside and to safety. He watched as a paramedic bandaged his wrist, Supercat and the mummy battle through the windows of the nearly ruined building. From the crowd, Harold heard a couple people ask about what happened to Time Man. He couldn’t tell them that the sundial had been destroyed and Time Man was no more.

A corner of the Tower collapsed and all noise from the fighting stopped. No one came out of the rubble. People began moving toward where the fight had stopped. Several minutes later, Supercat and the mummy barrelled their way out of the rubble. People ran away in terror for both the mummy and Supercat. Supercat was trying to keep the mummy--who was less like a mummy now that its wrappings had been torn off and more like a bulky gray husk.

Hitting him and having buildings fall on him aren’t working, Supercat thought. Maybe this will do something. Heat vision shot out of Supercat’s eyes and hit the mummy with full force. The mummy screamed and began to smoke.

“It’s working,” Supercat said. The heat vision ate away at the mummy until only ash remained. Supercat headed down to the police. As he approached, a crowd gathered. The police kept their weapons drawn. He got closer and someone threw a bottle at him. It shattered and the crowd grew unruly. They booed and threw more things at Supercat.

Supercat lowered his head and then flew off away from the city. Harold saw how everyone treated Supercat and hung his head as well, turned and began walking back to the Fix-It Shop.

When Harold got back to the shop, Martin was still there. “What happened?”

“Giant mummy. Another superhero--a cat in a blue suit--stopped it. The mummy destroyed the sundial. Time Man is essentially dead.”

“Can’t you fix the sundial?”

“Maybe but I think this is a sign. Maybe Time Man will be back. Maybe not,” Harold smiled and put the sundial back on the shelf where he originally found it.




Supercat inspired by characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

Time Man #4

The three men had pulled Ray Hampton into the alley and demanded his money and gold watch. Two pointed guns at Ray while the third impatiently waited for the money and then for Ray to remove the watch.

“Hurry up, we don’t have all night,” he said. Ray put the watch into the one man’s hand and the other two lowered their guns. “Thank you. You have a good rest of your night now.” They turned around and saw a big man standing behind them. “Uh, can you get out of the way, tiny? We have places we need to go.”

“Like Hell?” the man said and a large gun suddenly materialized in his hand. The two thugs held up their guns and the man went for them first.

The bullets scattered through the back of the men’s heads and they collapsed to the ground. The other man held up his hands. “Hold on, maybe we can come to an agreement. You can have the watch?”

The gun went off and the thug went down like his buddies. “I don’t like criminals,” the man said.

“Oh, thank you, sir,” Ray teared up and was ecstatic. “I was hoping someone would walk by and help me.”

“I don’t like criminals,” the man said again and raised his gun at Ray. “But I hate negroes more,” and he pulled the trigger, bullets scattered out of the back of Ray’s head and Ray collapsed with the other three.

The man’s gun disappeared and he walked casually out of the alley.

“Three of these bodies match the description of these robbers we’ve been trying to catch,” Officer Murdock said about half an hour later when the police were called to the scene. “My thought is these three were robbing Mr. Hampton when somebody interrupted.”

“Maybe a fourth member of the gang?” Officer Laretti suggested, pointing at the three criminals. “Turned on the other three and killed the victim?”

“Money and valuables are still here. The assailant clearly wasn’t going for a robbery. Just murder.”

“Maybe a vigilante taking the law into his own hands.”

Murdock nodded. “Could be. What about Mr. Hampton?”

“Bad aim? Collateral damage? Mistake?”

“Here’s hoping that until we find this...person, let’s hope there are no more mistakes,” Murdock said.




The man was walking several feet behind a white guy and his black girlfriend. They were holding hands and every so often she would lean her head onto his arm as they would kiss. He ducked into a doorway as they waited to cross the street. The first bullet blew through her head like a melon and the second tore out his throat as he turned to look at what happened to her. The people on the sidewalk screamed and ran off in different directions. The gun was already gone and the man was off again.

“Watering down our gene pool,” he muttered. “She wasn’t fit to scrub his toilet, let alone have his children.” The man got lost in the screaming crowd which softened to a normal crowd a couple blocks away.

“Think it’s the same person?” Officer Laretti asked Murdock.

“Highly probable,” Murdock thought out loud. “And nobody saw anything?”

“They heard the gunshots and saw a non-descript man in the area who they are all sure is who we’re looking for. Most witnesses say the shots came from over there,” Laretti pointed to the doorway.

“Sir, there’s a situation at Braley’s. We think it’s our gunman,” another officer came up to Murdock and Laretti.

“Get as many officers as you can down there. And see if we can find Time Man,” Murdock said and began running in the direction of Braley’s.




Braley’s was an institution in the neighborhood. Opened in 1922, it served the best food on this side of Golden City despite being considered a diner. The police surrounded Braley’s. Nothing had happened in several minutes but they were being cautious. Time Man landed among the officers and was debriefed by Officer Murdock.

“We think he is still in there but we’re not positive. There hasn’t been any sound or movement in about ten minutes,” Murdock explained.

“Let’s see what’s going on,” Time Man, followed by Murdock and Laretti with their guns drawn, walked up to the restaurant and went inside. As they stepped inside, Time Man’s face dropped upon seeing the scene. Blood was everywhere, dozens of bodies lay on the floor or were slumped over tables or in booths.

Murdock noticed Time Man’s reaction to the scene. “You never get used to it by the way.”

“No, I can’t imagine that you ever do,” Time Man cleared his throat.

Another officer came in. “Suspect has been spotted at 72nd and Grover.”

“Get officers there. I’ll cut him off and hopefully detain him,” Time Man said and flew back out the door. Another two victims were in the intersection. A solitary man was walking away, toward a crowd of people. Time Man swooped down and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. “You’ve done a lot in a few hours.”

“Yeah. I guess I found my niche,” the gunman said. A gun suddenly appeared in his hand. He shifted and aimed at Time Man, pulled the trigger and Time Man was knocked back, dropping the gunman.

The gunman landed hard on the street but on his feet. Time Man was still in the air, his shoulder in pain and his suit there in tatters. “He didn’t have a gun when I grabbed him. Where’d it come from? Can he make guns magically appear?” The police began arriving. “He’s there. Right there,” Time Man pointed. The gunman took a couple shots that tore through a couple of officers.

“I’m prepared for war,” the gunman said. A grenade appeared in his hand after he had moved the gun into his other hand. He began running into a building followed by Time Man. As Time Man grabbed the gunman again, the grenade went off. The large explosion brought the building down. It was a hotel and several people were buried along with the gunman and Time Man.

After several minutes, Time Man pushed his way out. “How many buildings have fallen on me?” he asked himself.

The next couple of hours was spent digging people out of the rubble of the hotel. Thankfully, most of the people survived but were a little worse for wear. They never found any evidence of where the gunman went or who he was.




“Careful! Careful,” Dr. Schnebly directed the men moving the giant tomb. The men gently lowered the tomb to the ground and then were waved away by Dr. Schnebly.

“Why is this sarcophagus so large?” Schnebly’s assistant asked.

“Because inside,” with gloved hands he carefully removed the lid and slid it to rest on the floor “is the largest mummy we’ve ever seen.”

The mummy was gigantic. Over six feet tall and as wide as two people with broad shoulders and thick legs. The body seemed untouched by decomposition but without seeing the body, it wasn’t known what the body looked like.

“The tomb it was found in was completely barren. No hieroglyphics, no jewels, nothing. Archaeologists even thought it looked like its tomb had been purposely caved in,” Dr. Schnebly said.

“I wonder which pharaoh it is,” the assistant said.

“We’ll start finding out tomorrow,” Dr. Schnebly said. The two of them left the room. The door closed and the mummy was left alone in the room. The room was sealed--nothing could get in or out. The mummy was alone in the room for a couple hours when, barely noticeable to the naked eye, it began moving.

Time Man #3

Harold helped load Martin’s bicycle basket with the smaller items that had been fixed and ready for delivery. “Here is the list of addresses,” Harold gave Martin a piece of paper with names and addresses on it. “This will take you most of the day so when you are finished the rest of the day is yours. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Harry,” Martin waved and pushed off.

Harold turned to go back into the Fix-It Shop but didn’t make it. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, Harold disappeared.




The planet Colossus slowly careened through space, a plume of fire shot out the back, rocketing the planet where it needed to go. Colossus was ruled with an iron fist by Gladiator. Gladiator traveled the universe in search of people to fight and worlds to conquer. Most of the population on Colossus were enslaved people, forced to work either to serve the natives or to keep the planet running.

“Time Man has arrived in the arena,” Claxur, Gladiator’s right-hand man said.

“Good. We can see what I’m up against when I arrive on Earth,” Gladiator growled. “Time Man is supposedly Earth’s greatest champion. We’ll see about that.”

Gladiator went down to the arena where he saw Harold Banner standing there. “What’s the meaning of this? Who are you?” Harold demanded.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Gladiator said and put his arms behind his back. “I was expecting someone named Time Man.”

Harold tried not to give away his identity. “Sorry to disappoint,” Harold said. “I’m far from being a Time Man. But I do fix watches for a living.”

“Mm. Must have been a crossed wire,” Gladiator turned around to leave. “Dump him into the dregs.”

The guards went over to Harold, grabbed him and dragged him out of the arena. They threw him down into the crowds of slaves who quickly swarmed him to take anything of value. Somehow he was able to keep his sundial and put it on so he could become Time Man and push the people away.

From the looks of these people, I’m clearly not on Earth anymore. And if that big guy got me here then he’s probably my only ticket back. He heard a commotion in the crowd and saw one person, a shop-cart keeper, grabbing a woman while another was pushing her into the shopkeeper’s arms.

Time Man went over and picked up the shopkeeper by the shirt collar. “What’s going on?”

“The woman is mine now,” snarled the keeper.

“I don’t want to be his,” the woman cried.

“She has to. I needed food for myself and my--our--kids. She’s the only thing I could pay with,” the other man explained.

“Perfectly legal transaction,” the shopkeeper said as Time Man put him back on the ground.

“You can’t just buy and sell people,” Time Man said. “Or barter them.”

“Maybe not where you are from--although it probably happens anyway,” the shopkeeper said. “It’s perfectly legal here. It keeps the planet moving so to speak.”

“I’m sorry, Kaora,” the other man cried. “But our children will be fed. We will see each other soon.”

“I will return her when she’s all used up,” the man groped and fondled his new piece of property. “You can then have the remains.”

Time Man was bothered by what he saw but as he looked at the other stores and street carts he saw the same transactions. People trading kids or wives and even themselves to buy what they needed to live. “This isn’t right,” Time Man said and looked at the massive tower that was attached to the arena he had been thrown out of. He flew up and smashed his way through a window. Two guards quickly descended on him who he easily handled. An alarm was going off which would probably bring other guards.

He was right. A group of guards came around the corner but Time Man was ready. He easily took out the guards. When the last guard was out, a voice come on over an intercom. “Time Man,” it was the voice from earlier in the arena. “You are here. Follow the hallway behind you to the arena. I will meet you there.”

“Can you hear me?”

Silence. Then, “Yes.”

“I’ve only been on this rock for a few minutes but I don’t like what I see.”

“That is not my concern. I’m not listing all the problems with Earth to you, am I?”

“Earth may have its problems but it’s better than this hellhole,” Time Man said. “So, you brought me here, are you ready to send me back?”

“Prepare him battle,” Gladiator turned around and began walking away. “We’ll just take care of Earth’s mightiest hero right now.”




Gladiator’s fist slammed into Time Man’s jaw. Time Man could feel it crack. He fell to his knees and reached for his sundial. Gladiator picked him up where his cape met his suit and held Time Man up to his face. “I expected more from you,” Gladiator spat. Gladiator struck Time Man in the ribs. More cracking. Gladiator dropped Time Man to the floor. He, again, tried to reach for his sundial. Gladiator stomped his foot onto Time Man’s arm.

Time Man screamed and worked to get himself back up and to reach his sundial to stop time. Gladiator began cackling to the few who were watching. “If this is the best that Earth has to offer then it is ripe for the taking.”

“No,” Time Man groaned and painfully got his hand over to his sundial and stopped time. “I’m not a fighter but I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” Wincing through the pain, Time Man picked up Gladiator and carried him over to the window. He broke it and moved the glass out of the way. He lifted Gladiator onto the edge of the window. He pushed Gladiator out but with time still stopped, Gladiator just hung there. Time Man then restarted time and Gladiator fell into the throngs of citizens down on the street below the arena.

The population freaked out as their leader and captor landed among them. Time Man turned, not wanting to witness what could happen to Gladiator or the citizens. He grabbed someone who looked important by the throat. “Send. Me. Back,” Time Man demanded.

And just like he appeared on Colossus, Time Man was back on Earth.

Time Man #2

One year ago…
The strange wrist sundial had been brought in nearly a decade ago by someone who didn’t leave a name. It was repaired and left on the shelf since then unclaimed and untouched.

Harold Banner found the small sundial fascinating. It looked ancient while also looking very modern. The previous owner of the Fix-It Shop, Franz Reznicek, gave the sundial to Harold. He thought it was nice but impractical as an actual way to tell time. After work, before he went home, he slipped on the sundial and his street clothes were replaced with a skintight blue suit with a yellow cape and hood.

Harold discovered that the sundial gave him super strength flight, and invulnerability. Turning the dial slowed down and stopped time. Harold became a protector of his beaten down neighborhood in Golden City. He became Time Man and immediately began rubbing Councilman Lucius Goebel the wrong way.

Lucius felt like he should be the hero of Ward 9 even though everything he did was to further his own career and line his own pockets at the expense of the poverty-stricken residents. Lucius was currently serving ten years in prison for conspiracy to assassinate the mayor.
Despite the hard and dangerous work, Harold enjoyed being Time Man and helping out his neighbors and being a beacon of hope for people who desperately needed one.




Time Man lifted the giant chunk of concrete over his head.and tossed it a few feet away. Trapped under the rubble was a young girl and her younger brother. The building had been knocked down by a man named Sledge, a hulk of a person with a sledgehammer instead of a right hand. Everyone had been accounted for except for these two.

“I told Conner you’d save us, Time Man,” the girl coughed.

Time Man picked up the girl who was holding her brother. A paramedic quickly took them and began checking on them. Time Man spoke with them for a minute before flying off. Quickly, Time Man realized that a metal orb was following him.

Strange, he thought as he noticed the orb followed his every move. He moved toward it and it backed away. Is it a camera? He noticed a lens on the front shimmering in the sun. He stopped time, crushed the orb between his hands and restarted time.

“Nice try,” he said and flew off.

Conrad grunted and huffed. “Luckily we have a plan B,” he said. “We know who he is so he won’t be able to hide from us.”

When Time Man arrived back home, his wife Margaret was sitting down in the living room with Jessica Milch, a young woman they had met when Harold, worried for his family due to his powers, moved his family to a small town in Iowa.

“Jessica? What a surprise,” Time Man said as he took off the sundial and returned to his civilian clothes. Harold was surprised to see Jessica. He didn’t think she was the type to visit a big city, preferring small town life to big city stresses.

“I thought I’d visit. I miss you guys living next door,” Jessica said.

Harold cocked his head when he noticed that Jessica had a black eye and she looked much thinner. “Are you okay? What happened to your eye?”

“Accident back home,” he gingerly touched the massive bruise on her eye.

Harold noticed the worn and irritated skin around her wrists. “What’s wrong? What happened?” he pointed at her, looking at her wrists.

Jessica rubbed her wrists. “Someone took me. They wanted to know about you. They wanted to know about Time Man. I tried to hold back on giving them anything but…” she sobbed and covered her face. “They tortured me and starved me and beat me and…”

“It’s okay,” Ellie went over to hug Jessica. “You’re safe now. We’ll protect you. Do you know who took you?”

Jessica shook her head.

“I have an idea,” Harold growled and turned to leave.

When Time Man got through security and to the visiting room, Lucius Goebel was sitting patiently waiting for him.
"Lucius!” Time Man bellowed. Lucius calmly pointed to the phone on the wall. Time Man angrily picked it up. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“You came here,” Lucius said. “Oh, you mean the kidnapping and such. We had to learn more about you, Harold, so after we ‘triangulated’ that Time Man appeared in both Golden City and Duquesne, Iowa, we researched who was in both of those places, found where you and your family lived and figured Ms. Milch might know more about you, especially as Time Man,” Lucius explained.

“Kidnapping and torture. Your sentence just gets longer,” Time Man said.

“Oh, please, none of that can be traced to me and I’ve been here so I couldn’t have kidnapped and tortured that poor young woman. Don’t worry, I will leave her alone and you and your family. I just wanted to know more and now I do,” Lucius smiled.

Time Man stared at Lucius for a few seconds.

“Please, visit again, Harold,” Lucius kept his smile and hung up the phone. He stood up, turned and walked away back to the cells with a guard following closely.




As he flew home, Time Man happened to hear the faint screams of a woman down below. He flew down and found a man holding down a young woman and attempting to wrestle her pants off. As she struggled, he hit or slapped her. Time Man landed and pulled the man off of her. He lifted the man over his head. “I am not in the mood for this,” Time Man said and threw the man, kicking and screaming, into a brick wall. Some of the bricks and cement cracked as the man landed hard on the ground. “Are you okay?” Time Man asked the lady.

“I’m fine. Going to be a little bruised.”

“Call 911 and tell them what happened. I don’t think he’ll try to hurt anyone again,” and Time Man was back in the air.

Time Man #1

“Take him dead or alive men!” the lieutenant shouted and the other officers began charging into the apartment building.

On the sixth floor, Butch Matson was cowering in a corner with a gun watching the door to the apartment he was in. “I didn’t do it!” he shouted. “I didn’t do it,” he said softly and put the muzzle of the gun underneath his jaw. He closed his eyes and waited for the police to burst in. He heard the feet on the stairs , quick movements outside the door and the splintering of wood and the door swinging open against the wall then he heard silence. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the police standing still--frozen.

Time Man stood just off to the side in his blue and yellow uniform. “Come on. Get up. I’ll get you out of here.”

Butch got up and Time Man grabbed him and they went out the window. As soon as they were away from the building, Time Man restored time. “You saved my life.”

“Police shouldn’t be acting like that.” Time Man said.

“Especially toward an innocent person,” Butch said. “They think that I killed that old landlord and his family but I didn’t. Neither did Melissa Stasi, the woman in jail for the murder.”

“Who is the murderer?”

“Julia Stack, she’s a singer at the club that’s in the building the landlord owned. He was going to raise the rent so the club was going to close. She was just made headliner--the club closing would mean her having to start all over. She killed the landlord and framed Melissa and me.”

“I’m going to drop you off at the Golden City Herald,” Time Man said. “Gail Porter is a reporter there. Tell her everything. I’m going to find Ms. Stack.”

“She is probably at the HiLow Club rehearsing,” Butch said as Time Man landed on a narrow balcony at the Golden City Herald building.

He softly tapped on the window and Gail Porter opened the blinds. “Time Man, what are you doing?” she asked as she opened the window to let them in.

“This is Butch Matson. He has some information on the Melissa Stasi murder. I’m gonna go check it out but I thought you’d be good at writing the story,” Time Man said.

“What? Sure. Well, Mr. Matson, let me grab my notebook,” Gail ran to her desk.

Time Man flew back out to the HiLow Club. When he went in, it was nearly empty. There was a drunk at the bar and the bartender and a couple wait staff milling about. “Time Man?” the bartender asked, seeing the brightly dressed, caped man in the club.

“Julia Stack? Is she here?”

“In the back, probably her dressing room. Through the stage back there,” the bartender pointed.

Time Man went behind the stage and found a dressing room with Julia Stack’s on the door. He tried the door but it was locked. He knocked lightly and heard a shuffling behind the door. The door unlocked and a woman opened the door. “Julia Stack?”

“Yes. What’s the meaning of this?”

“You’re the one that killed that landlord and you framed two innocent people.”

“Mm. I don’t know how you found out but let’s talk about this,” Julia said.

“I spoke with Butch Matson,” Time Man said. “He told me everything and he’s telling a reporter and the police now.”

“And you just believed him?” Julia laughed.

“Why would he lie? He has nothing to lose and nothing to gain. But you…” Time Man lightly shrugged and pointed. “You have everything to lose.”

“I should’ve known I couldn’t get away with this,” Julia said. She suddenly pulled a gun out from behind her and pointed it at Time Man. “I know I can’t kill you but I make sure I go out on my terms.”

Julia pointed the gun at her temple. Time Man quickly went for his wrist sundial. Time slowed and stopped making it possible for Time Man to walk over and take the gun from her hand. He restored time and she realized that she no longer had the gun.

“Come on, the police are here,” Time Man said, hearing the faint sounds of police sirens. The two of them left the club. Police were waiting along with Gail and Butch. “Here’s Julia Stack. She’ll confess, Officer,” Time Man said.

“Thanks, Time Man,” the officer said and cuffed Julia.

“Thanks, Time Man,” Butch said again.

“No problem, Butch,” Time Man smiled.

“Time Man,” another officer ran up to the three of them. “We have a report of a robot robbed a bank a few blocks from here.”

Time Man and Gail looked at each other. “You want to come with?”

“A robot robbing a bank? Of course I want to see this,” Gail said.

Time Man picked up Gail and they flew the few blocks to the bank reported to be robbed. Time Man landed and he and Gail carefully went into the bank. A robot was robbing the bank. It had smashed through a wall and ripped the vault open and was currently tearing through the money although it looked like it was just doing mindless destruction. Time Man walked over and threw a punch at the robot. The robot easily took the punch and backhanded Time Man as hard as it could causing Time Man to fly across the bank and through a wall. Time Man came back in and barreled his way back to the robot.

“Gonna have to use a bit more strength to stop this thing,” he said before slamming into the robot sending both of them through a counter and into an office. The robot grabbed Time Man by the throat and threw him back across the bank, through a couple of pillars and into a wall. “Everyone needs to get out. This building isn’t going to last much longer,” Time Man snarled as he stood back up.

The few people in the bank and Gail left the bank. Police had arrived and were keeping a perimeter around the bank. The robot easily took the next several punches that Time Man threw at it. “You can’t stop me, Time Man,” the robot suddenly spoke. “I may be in jail now but my presence in this city and your life will always be there.”

“Lucius,” Time Man whispered, recognizing the voice.

The floor above them collapsed and within seconds, the rest of the bank building fell to the ground. The rubble was silent and unmoving for several minutes. As time went on, people carefully got closer, worried about Time Man and if the robot was stopped. The robot came shooting through the bricks and metal and wood holding Time Man’s tattered cape, cackling. He took off into the sky and disappeared.

A few seconds later, Time Man clawed his way out of the destruction. “Time Man,” Gail exclaimed and ran to him. “Are you okay?”

He coughed. “Yeah, I think I’ll be fine. That robot was a threat from Lucius Goebel,” Time Man said.

“But he’s in jail,” Gail said.

“I know but it was his voice coming from that robot. He may be in jail but he’s still going to find a way to control this city,” Time Man said.




The robot landed on a rooftop docking bay at Genesee Labs. The robot walked down to one of the labs and handed the tattered cape to Conrad. “So Time Man isn’t as strong as we all thought he was,” he said quizzically. “Now, all we need is to know who he is and he should be easily defeated.” Conrad shook out the cape and brought it with him into another room.