NOW:
Shadow imps look into the small window that leads to the basement workshop of one Rex Tyler. Rex looks up suddenly but sees nothing there, the imps whisper what they saw to the Shade who is hidden in the porch's shadow. His smile is suddenly visible, like that of the Cheshire cat, in the inky blackness; and then disappears.
15 MINUTES BACK:
Rick Tyler is taking a nap after a heavy meal. His brow furrows and he starts to stir when he suddenly sits up with a shuddering gasp and finally says "DAD!" breathlessly. He stumbles out of bed and puts on a shirt as he runs for the front door and puts on his gauntlet and injects himself with Miraclo. This way gives him a straighter line to get to his dad's house instead of a car. He curses himself for not putting a call out first. "Calm down, Rick, you've still got an hour. OR LESS!"- he said as he jumped over a house.
NOW:
The shadows beneath the workbench deepen and Rex notices it. He tries to act non-chalant but as soon as he sees them move he bolts for one of the walls. His hands move quickly and surely as eh opens the small safe and reaches for a small case marked with an hourglass symbol. Through the corner of his eye he sees the Shade standing there and extending an arm. As he starts to drop his case is snatched from his hand. A laughing imp sits inside the safe waving him bye-bye with the case and fades from existence.
10 MINUTES BACK:
Rick had snatched a cell phone from a dumbfounded bystander and tried to phone his father but there was no answer. There wasn't a JSA to call and he wasn't close enough to any of the others to know their phones by memory. "AAAAARRGH!!"- he screamed in frustration as he slammed the cell phone to the floor and broke it in a million pieces.
NOW:
Rex thightens his fist and feels the small pill inside it. He dodges the blows of a trollish shadow creature intent on hitting him. He lets the creature slam him against the wall and he reaches up and activates the emergency blackout lights. The troll backs down as it rises an arm to seemingly cover its eyes. Rex smiles and catches Shade's furious face. He also notices that the Shade is apparently searching the counters. "The tachyon imbued hourglass!!"- Rex thinks as he loses the smile and pops in the Miraclo pill in his mouth. The Shade smiles at him and Rex feels...
5 MINUTES AGO:
Rick knows that he's very close now. He wonders if his visions can be prevented, they have all come to pass exactly as he saw them. "There's still time. It hasn't been an hour yet. This one won't happen."- he's all grimy and sweaty. The property damage he has done by wantonly jumping at enhanced strength is not his concern at the moment. Screaming people and car alarms are all that is left in his wake but the only thing he can hear is the beating of his own heart.
Hal Jordan streaks out of the JLA Watchtower. His frustration is cut short as one of the visions he saw in the Source Wall hits him again like a cement truck. He sees Rex Tyler's mangled body lying crumpled on the floor and a shadowy figure standing victorious over it. It's the same vision that hit Rick Tyler.
NOW:
...small hands grab his throat and choke him. The trollish creature ducks under the lights and punches him in the stomach. An explosion of air flies out his mouth and the pill with it. "Ah, ah, ah!"- Shade says as he motions 'no' with his finger. Rex still fights like a wildcat against the shadow creatures. In a desperate move, Rex grabs a screw driver and throws it dagger-like at the Shade. The Shade steps aside and the screw driver hits a black light generator. Rex struggles free and jumps into the black beam's path only to find that it's bathing him like tar. "What did you think I was doing on the counter? Looking for something? No, dear Rex, I was making sure your little contraption was out of comission and housed a shadow demon of its own."- Shade said with a slight smile. "Damn you, Shade! What do you want?"- replied Rex furiously.
"ME? Oh, I already have what I wanted. It's one of the first things I got shortly after this little battle started. You're my second objective, Rex. Our little club is looking to be rid of you sappy heroes. Me? I agree that there are far too many of you. I aprecciate what some of you do, but frankly...who needs two Hourmen? You're lucky! You get to die and your son gets to live. He's been a worthy legacy to you, Rex. The other legacies I've killed have been of unworthy succesors." The Shade steps closer to Rex who is not only being held by the shadow goo but by the trollish thing. "What was that corny campaign they had years back? I know it had to strike a chord in you since the source of your powers are dependant on it...I remember! This is your brain..."- the Shade said as he motioned to the shadow troll and the creature ran it's paw over Rex's head-"...this is your brain on DRUGS!" The shadow troll attacked Rex viciously mangling his head and body.
SYNCHRONICITY? NOT QUITE!:
Rick dive bombs throught the roof of the house.
Shade hears the impact and prepares for the next attacker by making a shadow creature that looks like him, while he moves to an ambush location.
Rick runs down the stairs and sees his father mangled corpse.
Shade sees the second Hourman come down the stairs and flinch when he sees his father's bloodied body. "Nooo! It wasn't time it wasn't an hour..."
...yet!"-Rick screams as he rams through the "Shade" and crumbles the work bench. The tachyon hourglass spins through the air and Rick sees it as he turns around. He grabs for it, but a shadow bolt hits it. In that split second he realizes that this was what had tampered with the timing of his vision. It's his last conscious thought as he's bathed in black light and the hourglass vanishes. "Curious!"- is all that Shade says as he twiddles his fingers brushing the shadow matter from his blast away.