The myriad of flying monkeys stick their noses in the air, sharp eyes catching the swarm of locusts coming toward the CSF. They all take off from the ground at the same instant; a hundred wings flapping in unison while Moriarty slips away unnoticed by the others.

“What are your monkeys doing, Sunlight?” Callisto shifts from bear to a human form.

“Oh, what do you think they’re doing you stupid quadruped? They’re eating the locusts!” Sunlight laughs as tiny insect parts rain down from the sky. “Is this the best you can do? You have a bloody angel on your team, and you send insects against us? CSF, kill them.”

The Wolfman growls and prepares to pounce, while Grendel stands watching, his body relaxed but ready for battle. “Back off!” Statika fires bolts of electricity from his hands, keeping the two enemies at bay.

“Arr, okay ye blasted pixie, it’s time for a wish.” Captain Hook takes out a small cigar case from his pocket and opens it up, revealing a three-inch pixie woman dressed in a yellow and black one piece, her rainbow colored wings clipped so she can’t fly away. “Make me fly, wench.”

“Up yours, Hook!” The pixie refuses Hooks wish, unmoving in the gray cloth of the cigar case.

Hook leans down close to the pixie, the tip of his nose resting inches from her tiny body. “I don’t believe in fairies.”

“No!” The pixies eyes grow wide and she sits up, laying her hands on Hooks nose. “Oh please don’t say that.”

“I don’t believe in fairies.”

“No no no no no…” tears of glitter drip down the pixies face.

“Now, I believe ye’ll be granting me my wish Buzzel Bee, or I’ll just keep saying it and kill the whole lot of ya the way I did yer Tinker Bell!” Hook sneers, blowing his rum and whiskey soaked breath at the pixie, making her nauseous.

“Okay okay. Just...just think happy thoughts.” The pixie tosses her dust onto Hook, who immediately closes the cigar case and shoves it back in his pocket. Hook remembers the night raid on the Lost Boys fortress; the screams of the children as the pirates captured each and every one of them, tying them up in nets and feeding them to the sharks. But most of all he remembers Peter Pan, helpless as he watched Hook skewer his fairy. He remembers cutting off Peters left hand, and best of all the look on his face when he found out which of the Lost Boys betrayed them. He shouldn’t have been so shocked; after all, Nibs was always the smartest of the bunch. It just made sense he’d want to surpass Peter. Too bad Hook never let him.

“Keep holding them off, Statika! Spandex, can’t you do anything else?” Wednesday turns himself into cold steel, absorbing Statikas stray bolts of electricity so they don’t hit the other members.

“Well, I could probably make it so dark that--” SMM is cut off as a purple blur shoots past him, slicing one of his wings. “Crap!” Spandex begins dropping toward the ground, slowing his decent with his other wing when the purple blur shoots past him again, cutting the other wing off and sending him spiraling toward Statika uncontrollably.

“Ar, I’m sure that won’t keep him down long, boys.” Hook wipes the incandescent blood off of his hook with a satin handkerchief. “Tear ‘em up now while ye have a chance.”

Meanwhile in nothingness where all the light chases toward infinity, TTT # 2,435 configures his nanites to detonate inside the black hole, the ensuing cascade of energy forcing the black hole to collapse upon itself.

POP

“Hey #2, 435! Wednesday told me to help you blow up the black hole here, but the truth is...the truth is that I love you!” TTT #2,345 breaks down sobbing, falling to his knees and gripping onto TTT #2,435’s legs tightly. “I can’t you let die alone, you noble hero! If we go, we die as lovers!”

“What the hell? Dude, we’re the same guy! You’re just 90 units ahead of me! Let g--” TTT #2,435 doesn’t have the time to finish his thought before his nanites explode, sending out his energy to close the black hole for good.


“Where are you, you blasted thing!” Moriarty searches through the rubble looking for Centurians dice. “I saw you fall down here somewhere.”

POP

“It won’t do you any good, Moriarty.” Hupesh Glusil floats above the road, eerie lights blazing from his aura. “I think it’s time for you to return to your story.” Purple hues flow from Hupesh as ectoplasm smoke from seeps from his eye sockets.

“Ew, Tommy. Look at that huge mole on his nose! That is, like, so gross!” Nuriko and Tommy stand back to back in a team pose while a glimmer of light sparkles off of D0GG’s Super Soaker 70thousand.

“Centurian,” Britannica looks up at his teammate floating above a recoiled Moriarty, “send him home. TTT, I got a plan to get rid of the others.”

“Ar, that didn’t take long at all for yer wings ta grow back. Too bad yer too weak to move ‘em.” Hook drops Spandex Monkey Man back toward the ground from a half-mile up. “So this is what it’s like to see an angel fall from heaven.” A splatter of white soils Hooks ascot. “What the devil!? White Out?” He looks down to see the returned members of the JLR standing amidst their fallen comrades. Hook floats down to the ground, the other members of the CSF closely behind him.

"Good shot, D0GG." Britannica pats D0GG on the back and bends down to make sure SMM is still breathing.

“So, JLR…you return from your brief exile to see your fellows in arms beaten and destroyed. Look around you, your Time Trusts have been incapacitated, your angel had his wings clipped and was electrocuted, your defacto leader was trounced by my Grendel, and the others, well, they weren’t much of a significant obstacle. So what could you six possibly have that these did not?” Sunlight moves to the front of the group, scoffing at the JLR. Captain Hook removes his ascot and tosses it on the ground, the wind blowing it toward Britannica’s feet.

“The Time Trusts are all interconnected through their nanites. Say, TTT #2 initializes his reality distortion sequence, all the TTT’s number three and up will follow suit.” Britannica picks up Hooks ascot and wraps it around his head as a bandanna.

“Interesting, however they will not simultaneously detonate because each TTT is on a different wave length of existence so the effect will be maintained to self inflicted events. The only way to ensure the effect you’re looking for is if each TTT is activated simultaneously, and I believe there are just far too many for you to handle. You can’t outsmart me, JLR. I more intelligent than Moriarty and more ruthless than Grendel.”

“Yeah, well, I guess you didn’t count on us getting a mystic, huh?” Hupesh Glusil hovers midair in a mantra. He mutters words in Latin and Aramaic and Egyptian, energy seeping from his aura as ectoplasm smoke seeps from his glowing eye sockets. The dormant TTT’s systems fire up, and the air of the whole city ripples and becomes static. “TTT, get us out of here!”

At the end Sunlight tries to say something witty, but the sound of electricity burning the oxygen cut him off. Simultaneously every member of the CSF is caught in the reality ripple, returning them to their own story. The team split ways again after the final fight, returning to their semi-normal lives. At least until the next time the call is made….

JLR ASSEMBLE!