July 1943: Forty years earlier . . .
Capt. Blackhawk and his squadron of fliers were over Britain, driving back another Luftwaffe attack against England. They were doing well, when suddenly something strange appeared in the sky. It was like a wingless black plane with a rotating propeller on top. The Blackhawks had never seen anything like it.
The helicopter started to spit out armor piercing bullets at a speed that was unheard. The bullets ripped through the Blackhawk planes. Capt. Blackhawk tried to return fire but the helicopter moved with such incredible maneuverability that Blackhawk couldn't get a good shot at it. Then the Helicopter launched a missile from one of its weapon's ports. The missile homed in on the nearest enemy plane and blew it to bits. Blackhawk gasped at seeing on of his pilots blasted.
"Retreat!" Blackhawk ordered his men. He hated to do it, but he realized that they were outclassed by this flying death machine. The Blackhawks pulled out, unaware that they were the first people to ever see a year 2000 UN Black Ops attack helicopter.
Italy:
Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos had just finished a successful commando raid on an Italian target. They were heading back to their nearest allied sanctuary, when two men cut them off. Two Nazis, one of whom yelled at the Howling Commandos in German.
"He wants us to surrender," one the commandos, who spoke German, explained.
"They ain't got all their marbles," Fury said. "Ya better explain ta them that we got ‘em outnumbered."
Suddenly, the two men began shooting. But their guns did not shoot bullets. They shot lasers.
"Pull back!" Fury ordered. The howling commandos retreated from the devastating assault.
Opal City:
The Shade sat reading, when he suddenly got a massive pain in his head. He collapsed to the floor, clutching his head. "What . . . What is going on?"
You must listen to me! a voice said. A voice exactly like his own.
"Who . . . ?"
I am you, Shade. You are me. I am come from the future. A future that you must do everything in your power to prevent. Listen to me. I do not have much time. My body in the future has no doubt been destroyed, as have those who sent me here. My mind is all that is left of my future self, and even that is starting to fade. Soon I will be gone. But until then, I have a story to tell you. You must heed me carefully, otherwise, the future will be contaminated by the Nazi stain!
Vulcan Island:
The Hulk wandered around the island, content for the first time in his existence. He saw a small animal run by. He didn't know what it was called, but he experienced a childlike excitement at seeing it. "Pretty." Hulk mused.
Not far away, three other beings stood on Vulcan Island. They were Sentinel, Dr. Mid-Nite, and the woman whom the Hulk loved, Black Canary. All three were members of the JSA.
"He looks so peaceful," Black Canary said, watching the Hulk in the distance. "Nothing like a monster at all."
"He's a new kind of being," Dr. Mid-Nite said. "Not a monster. A monster denotes malevolence. The Hulk is a victim of circumstance."
"Poor Thomas," she sighed, thinking of Thomas Halloway, the man cursed with the mutation of the Hulk.
"This is a good place for him," Sentinel said. "Calm, peaceful, no one knows it's even here. No one will bother him. And most importantly, he can't get off, so he can never hurt anyone again."
"It just seems cruel to strand him here," Black Canary said. "He'll be lonely."
"It's only until we can find a cure," Dr. Mid-Nite said. "And we'll visit him as often as we can. Thomas agreed to this."
"I know," the Canary said. "I just wish there were a better way."
Sentinel was about to answer, when he suddenly was overwhelmed by visions. Echoes from the time-stream. Future echoes. Since the future Sentinel was close to the time portal from 1983 when it opened, the present Sentinel became sensitive to visions from the his own future. The 'string theory' of time travel was bringing the Sentinel future echoes of his life to come.
Alan Scott saw himself, older and retired from the super-hero game. And he was in the oval office. He was the President of the United States.
Sentinel was shaken back to reality by Dr. Mid-Nite. "Are you all right, Sentinel?" Mid-Nite asked, "You seemed to be someplace else for a minute."
"Uhhh . . . I'm fine," Sentinel said. "I was just . . . thinking."
Nearby, the Hulk had a vision of his own, since his future self was also close to the time portal in 1983.
He saw himself, with long hair and a beard. And people were calling him by a different name. Not Hulk. Something starting with an 'M'. And he was fighting someone. He was fighting . . . himself!
The vision faded, and the Hulk stood, confused.
Washington DC:
He called himself Armor and he was tearing up the main street in the local shopping area, near the JSA mansion. The man spoke in German as he yelled out threats to an uncomprehending crowd, who ran panicked away from the armored attacker.
"Run, you American worms!" he shouted in German, as he used the weapons built into his armored fighting suit to terrorize the neighborhood.
Just then, two colorful figures arrived on the scene. One was dressed in a red, white and blue costume. The other flew through the air, engulfed in flames. They were called the Star-Spangled Kid and Toro.
<"Ah! Members of the Justice Society!"> Armor said. <"Come and try and stop me, American slime!">
"What did he say?" the Star-Spangled Kid asked.
"Who cares?" Toro answered. "You just help clear the people out of the area. Leave Mr. Destructo to me."
The SS Kid nodded, and started to usher people clear of the vicinity. Toro flew toward Armor. Toro threw some fireballs at Armor. Armor jumped back, surprised by the intense heat. The fireballs burned into the armor but didn't piece through.
Armor fired his lasers at Toro. Toro was hit. Since lasers are merely heat, Toro was able to absorb the worst of it, but he was momentarily stunned. Armor launched a grenade at Toro.
"Look out, Toro!" the SS Kid yelled.
The warning brought Toro back to his senses. He spotted the grenade in time to evade it. It exploded with a lot of force. It extinguished Toro's flame for a few seconds. Armor was about to attack Toro again. He raised his arm to fire a poison dart at Toro. The Star-Spangled Kid dropkicked Armor's arm, jostling his aim. The dart missed Toro. Armor tried to land a lethal punch on the SS Kid, but the Kid leaped out of the path of the armored fist. Armor was about to use his targeting system to home in on the Kid and blast him with a laser, but before he could do that, Toro grabbed him from behind. Toro got a headlock on Armor, and quickly increased his flame to full intensity. With all the people clear of the area, it was safe to create a giant fireball around himself and Armor. The SS Kid backed up. All he could do was watch. He tried to see what was happening inside the flames, but he couldn't.
Soon, the flames faded. Toro stood over the unmoving form of Armor.
"Whew!" Toro said. "I'm exhausted. I haven't done that in a while."
The Star-Spangled Kid pointed to the defeated Armor. "Is he . . . ?"
"Of course not," Toro said. "I'm no killer."
"Good," the Kid said. "Let's get this creep out of here. I think we should take him to the mansion, and then find some experts who could tell us about him and that armor."
Jay Garrick and Prof. Elton Morrow - a.k.a. Flash and Blue Diamond - were working in Jay's private lab. They were discussing the Hulk problem, when Bucky Barnes came in, minus his SS Kid costume.
"Bucky?" Jay said, surprised. "This is a surprise. What brings you here?"
"I need your brain."
The Mansion of Miss Venus, HQ of the Justice Society:
Flash and Blue Diamond were now working in the JSA lab. Miss Venus had supplied the money and Flash had designed it. He hadn't used it much, but it was a good place to examine the mysterious armored man. Toro and the Star-Spangled Kid watched, joined soon after by the Human Torch and Wonder Woman, both of whom lived in the Mansion.
"So, what do you two brains make of this guy?" Bucky asked.
Wonder Woman smiled. She noticed how Bucky was becoming more and more like Cap every day. He was getting more organized, responsible and authoritative. He would be a great hero one day.
"Well," Flash began, in answer to Bucky's question. "The man is not unusual in and of himself. This armor, however, is most unusual."
"It's more advanced than almost anything I have ever seen before," Blue Diamond added. "It's absolutely brilliant."
"If the Nazis have a lot of these, the Allied troops are in trouble!" Flash said.
Blue Diamond started to explain some of the technical details of the armor. Flash took the opportunity to study the tranquilized Nazi who had worn the armor. He was hoping that Dr. Mid-Nite would return soon and do an examination. Maybe he could call Doc Savage instead.
Flash touched the man . . . and suddenly, Jay experienced a future echo. The Nazi had been in contact with a temporal being recently. Flash's unusual molecular structure allowed him to become sensitive to the visions once he made contact with the defeated Nazi.
Flash saw himself cradling the dead body of the Blue Diamond.
"Flash? Are you still with us?" the SS Kid asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry," Flash said, wondering what he had just experienced.
"Just a minute!" the Star Spangled Kid cried. "You said that the armor was more advanced than almost anything you've seen before. What did you mean by 'almost'?"
"I was just getting to that," Blue Diamond said.
"Jim, do you remember when we examined you?" Flash asked the Human Torch.
The Torch nodded.
Flash continued. "Well, we both agree that the technology in your body is identical to what we're seeing in this armor. They must have been designed by the same person."
The Human Torch's jaw dropped in amazement.
The Home of Phineas T. Horton:
Dr. Horton was surprised when his creation - whom he liked to call his 'son', arrived. The Torch was angry! He was rambling about Nazi armor.
"Jim, Jimmy my boy, slow down!" Horton said. "What are you talking about?"
The Torch explained about Armor and what Flash had discovered.
"Oh," Horton said, looking upset, and a little embarrassed. "I see."
"You know something about this, don't you?" the Torch asked.
Horton nodded. "Sit down, my boy. I have a story to tell you."
The Torch sat. Horton began his tale.
"You see, Jim, it's like this . . . For years before I created you, I struggled with my twin obsessions. Artificial intelligence, and building an android. Everyone laughed and said it couldn't be done. People started calling me Dr. Frankenstein. I was ostracized by my peers. I was a laughing stock in the field of science. I was determined to prove them wrong, but I kept failing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get either one to work. And then one day, I met Mr. Richards!
"I still don't know who he was. To this day, I wonder where he came from. But he offered me the technology to make my dreams come true. I suppose, in retrospect, I should have asked more questions. But I was obsessed with proving myself, with making all those who laughed at me eat their words. So I sold my soul to a strange devil and took the science he offered me. With the amazing technological advances he provided, I created you and the Creature Commandos.
"It was a mistake. I later found out that he had made some sort of deal with the Nazis. That's probably where Armor got his battle suit. They expected me to deliver my creations to them. That was how I ended up under their thumb, until you and your JSA partners saved me from them. Anyway, I told them that they could have the Creature Commandos. I never told them about you. I wanted at least one of my creations to be a force for good. I even put a subliminal morality program in you to see that you always do the right thing. You were my greatest work! I've been so proud of you ever since."
The Torch was trying to take all this in. "So you're saying that I was part of a plot from the future to help the Nazis?"
"Originally, that's what they wanted, but I couldn't let them do it to you," Horton said. "You are my son. My pride and joy. But more than that, you are the first artificial human ever created. Or should I say 'born'? You are the first of many. As time goes by, there will be more. You are the Adam of a new race!"
The Torch was overwhelmed. This was all too much!
An office in the War Department:
Captain America was looking over some disturbing reports that he had gotten from the Defense Department. These reports indicated that Nazis were winning victories over Allied troops with the aid of powerful, new weapons. This was very troubling. Where were they getting these weapons from?
"I see that you are already alerted to the problem," an English voice said.
Cap looked around and was surprised to see the Shade.
"Good day, Captain," the Shade said.
"What do you want?" Cap asked.
"That's rather a rude way to greet me," the Shade said. "After I, I recently helped you against the Red Skull and Culp."
"True," Cap said. "All right, Shade. What do you want?"
"To save the future," the Shade said. "I've learned something regarding those weapons you're reading about. They come from a different time. A future time. And if we don't do something to stop this now, the Nazis will win the war and the world will fall to the Reich!"
Nazi Germany . . . The War Office in Berlin:
Several Nazi officers were in a meeting with the mysterious Nathaniel Richards. Richards was demonstrating an Uzi to the Nazis. "And it fires many more rounds in more rapid succession than -- "
Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared in the War Room. "Vas ist -- ?" a German shouted.
"This isn't one of my weapons!" Richards yelled.
"Tell Kang that the JSA is waiting for him!" an English voice yelled, from nowhere.
The shadow swallowed up Richards. When the shadow faded, Richards was gone. The Nazis were stunned and confused.
Nathaniel Richards found himself lying on the floor in a grand mansion. He was surrounded by a group of heroes. Nine of them. Captain America, Flash, Human Torch, Wonder Woman, Star-Spangled Kid, Toro, Namor, Dr. Fate, and Blue Diamond . . . the JSA. They, and the Shade, stared at him. He rose.
"You've made a mistake!" Nathaniel Richards cried. "You're messing with things you don't understand! Send me back!"
"You're not going anywhere!" Cap said. "You're going to tell us who you are, and where you got those weapons!"
"I'm not going to answer your questions!" Richards said. "You don't know what you're doing! Send me back to Germany! I must continue to help the Nazis!"
"Let me beat the information out of him!" Namor suggested.
"Now there's a good idea," the Star-Spangled Kid said.
"You hear that?" Cap asked. "That's what you've got to look forward to, unless you answer me."
"He'll be coming soon!" Richards said.
"Who?"
"Kang!" Richards said. "Kang the Conqueror! The man I'm working for! He'll be coming soon!"
"That's the whole idea!" Flash said.
"That was the reason for what I said as I took you," the Shade commented.
"If you planned it right, you'll die soon!" Richards said. "Kang will destroy you!"
Cap looked at Dr. Fate. "Can you bring the Sentinel here?" Cap asked. "We may need him."
"He is still on Vulcan Island," Fate said. "I can bring him here."
"I have a better idea," Wonder Woman said. "In terms of location, Vulcan Island may be a better place for us to face this powerful enemy. If we fight him here in Washington . . . "
"You're right," Cap said. "If he's as powerful as he's reputed to be, we could devastate the area. We should relocate to Vulcan Island."
"Kang will come looking for us here," Blue Diamond said.
"We'll leave him a clue that will lead him to Vulcan Island," Cap said. "And when he gets there, we'll be ready for him!"
Sentinel, Black Canary, and Dr. Mid-Nite were surprised to see the rest of the team appear on Vulcan Island. The appearance of the Shade was especially unusual. And they were curious about the man who was tied up. Cap and the Shade began to explain the situation to them. Sentinel nodded, beginning to understand a bit about the Future Echo he had experienced.
Toro looked around the Island. "Home again," he said, remembering his days on this island with the Son of Vulcan.
The team began to prepare, but they didn't have long. In a flash of light, the enemy arrived. He wore a type of purple and blue armor, complete with a facemask and helmet. Kang had arrived. He was accompanied by a huge robot.
The future man spoke. "So, you are the pathetic, primitive fools who dare to interfere with the plans of Kang the Conqueror! Your arrogance is audacious. You cannot stop me from changing history. The Nazis will win World War Two, and their fierce totalitarian regime will set the stage for my eventual dynasty!"
"That robot!" the Shade said. "It's a Macrobot!"
Kang pointed at the JSA. "Kill!" The Macrobot stomped toward the JSA members.
"Break and attack!" Cap ordered.
The JSA members hit the Macrobot with everything they had. But its hide seemed indestructible. Worse, it returned everything they threw at it. The Torch's flame, Sentinel's green energy . . . Everything! And it seemed to get stronger as Namor and Hippolyta hit it with their powerful fists. The Macrobots knocked the JSA members around. Nothing seemed to stop it!
As this was going on, Cap charged at Kang. "I'm not letting you destroy the future, Kang!"
"How amusing," Kang replied.
Cap threw his shield, but it bounced off Kang's force field harmlessly. Cap debated how to pierce Kang's defenses. Kang pointed at Cap and fired a phaser blast. The blast hit Cap's shield. Cap was knocked backwards, stunned by the power of the phaser.
"Cretin," Kang muttered calmly. "Don't even dare to dream that you can stop my plans. The Nazis must rule the world. Once they do, they will ultimately self-destruct, and the world will fall into anarchy and chaos. Civilization will fall apart and then Kang will step in and take over."
Meanwhile, the JSA was still not doing well against the Macrobot. Dr. Fate had, so far, been unable to unleash his full power, due to the crowd of JSA members surrounding the robot.
"Stand aside!" Dr. Fate ordered his partner. "I would wager that this metal beast cannot absorb my eldritch power! Stay clear, and let the Avatar of Order strike!"
Fate unleashed his powerful magic upon the Macrobot. As Fate predicted, the Macrobot - a product of science - could not absorb sorcery. The Macrobot started to jerk around, experiencing multiple malfunctions. At that point, the Shade opened a large portal into the shadow realm. Namor and Hippolyta knew what to do. They each grabbed a leg of the robot, and lifted it. They tripped the robot, which fell into the portal to the shadow-verse. The Shade closed the portal and the threat of the Macrobot was over.
Kang sneered. "If you want something done right . . . "
Kang fired his laser and hit the Shade. Had he still been mortal, the Shade would have died. Shade was hard to kill and so only fell, dazed and weak, but alive.
Kang then activated a sonic device. The sound was unbearable, and all the JSA members were reduced to cringing helplessness. All except the Human Torch, who did not have human eardrums. He continued to attack Kang, but he couldn't get passed Kang's force field. Kang blasted him. The Torch fell, badly damaged. Kang studied him.
"Ahh, the Human Torch," Kang said. "A product of my future technology. But built by a primitive. You are a pale shadow of what you could have been. I should put you out of your artificial misery now."
Black Canary managed to focus her thoughts enough to let loose with her own sonic scream. This created a massive sonic boom, which shorted out Kang's sonic device.
"Impressive," Kang said. "But I have an unlimited arsenal."
Kang let loose gas on the still stunned group of heroes. Luckily, Flash's metabolism allowed him to recover from the sonic attack earlier than the others. He spotted the gas cloud coming. He began to run at super-speed and dispersed the cloud. Kang tried to fire his phaser blasts at Flash, but he couldn't hit the fast moving hero. Even with his targeting computer, Kang couldn't hit the Flash. Kang was getting angry. He unexpectedly expanded his force field. Unable to see the field coming, the Flash ran right into it. He bounced off it and crashed to the ground, unconscious.
The rest were still off their feet, suffering the effects of the sound and gas. Kang prepared to finish them off. "Time to end this farce," the Conqueror said.
Richards, still bound, was relieved. Kang had won.
Kang was distracted by the pounding sound of something that sounded like a large creature stomping through the woods. And indeed, a monster appeared. The rampaging Hulk had returned, drawn to the sounds of battle.
"So. The Hulk," Kang said.
The Hulk looked around confused, but when he saw his friends - especially the Black Canary - lying defeated on the ground, the Hulk flew into a rage.
"Man in purple helmet hurts Hulks friends! Hulk smash!"
"Ha!" Kang laughed. "A mindless animal such as yourself could never . . . "
Hulk launched himself with surprising speed. Kang didn't expect him to move so fast. Kang was even more surprised by the power of the Hulk. The Hulk began to pound mercilessly on the force field. Kang began to get nervous, since the incredible beating was taxing his power to it's limit and the force field could possibly short circuit. If that happened, Kang knew that the Hulk's massive fist would crush him. He had to stop the Hulk.
Having used up all his gas against the Flash, and since his sonic device was non-functional, he had to use a different method. He shot out some poisoned darts, but they didn't pierce the Hulk's indestructible skin. Heat and ice similarly had no effect on the rampaging monster.
Hulk seemed to be getting stronger, his blows more powerful. Kang was starting to get worried. He decided it was time for an act of desperation. He transferred all his power - except the rapidly weakening force field - to his phaser gauntlet. With all his remaining power, he blasted the Hulk. The Hulk roared, hurt by the blast, but it didn't stop him. He was single-mindedly determined to reach Kang. He kept pounding, despite the pain.
"No!" Kang yelled. "I am the future! I am destined to rule the Earth! I will not be destroyed by a Neanderthal, by a mindless primitive! I must have more power!"
Kang used his back-up power and every last bit of energy he could get. But the combination of using both his force field and his phaser beyond their safety limits caused his futuristic armor to have a power surge. The power built up to critical mass. Kang realized it too late.
"No!!" Kang screamed.
The armor imploded. Kang was sucked into a mini-singularity created by the inward blast. If the Hulk had been lighter and less powerful, he would have been pulled in as well. But the Hulk was well named, and he stood as an immovable object. Finally, the singularity vanished. Kang was gone. The Hulk scratched his head, confused.
"Man with purple helmet is gone," Hulk muttered. "Where did man go?"
Black Canary, now recovered, stood next to the Hulk. He was glad to see her, especially when she smiled at him. "Thank you, Hulk," she said, "You saved my life. You saved all of us. You are a good friend."
Hulk smiled. "Hulk is happy to help friends. Hulk likes to help pretty blonde girl."
Nearby, Richards was devastated by Kang's defeat, and was trying to wriggle loose of his bonds. Namor grabbed him. "Going somewhere?"
Richards sighed. "I surrender. I have failed. You don't realize what you've done to my plans. I hope you don't regret it."
Cap grabbed Richards. "You! You're going to help us! You're going to help repair the Human Torch, and then you're going to tell us what other future weapons the Nazis have and where they are kept."
Namor growled at Richards. Richards was intimidated. "Very well. My plans are undone. I may as well help you. Maybe I can salvage something."
"What exactly are you talking about?" Cap asked.
"It doesn't matter." Richards said, "All that matters is, I must start again."
"You'll be heading straight to jail, after you help us!" Cap said.
Richards did as he promised. He repaired the Human Torch, even better than before. And he gave accurate information about where the Nazi's were keeping the weapons. The Shade - who was immune to the Spear of Destiny - proved himself a master thief and stole all the future weapons. He exiled the weapons to the Shadow-verse. After that, he said his good-byes to the JSA and vanished.
Nathaniel Richards was sent to jail, but he never talked about what his enigmatic motivation was. And one day, he disappeared from his cell. No one could find him. Cap and the JSA members wondered who he was and whether or not he would return to cause more problems. And what about the powerful future warrior Kang? Would he return? And if he did, could they stop him again?
THE END
FOR THE TIME BEING . . .
Next issue: The crossover you never expected to see here!