Chicago, Michigan, a few hours later, the same evening

"Are you sure this the place?" asks Rypta Gud'n, looking around in the darkness.

It's an underground garage. There is a twenty years old Ford Fiesta , surrounded by tons of garbage… stuffed animals, toy guns, old Halloween costumes, an inflatable dinosaur, a big poster with the picture of a penny. And a long line of portraits, hanging from one of the wall.

Zod goes toward them. They are many copies of the same photo, each one altered slightly in a different manner with a felt tip pen. One of the man has a pair of moustaches, one a seventeen century wig, another a domino mask, and so on.

"Seems a parody of the generational line of Nowheremen of our world" observes the blue dressed hero.

The other are looking around, puzzled at the bizarre collection.

"Yes, it's the place. The address Cicciotto gave us" observes the Lioness.

"RYPTA?" A voice from the darkest corner of the garage makes all the heroes to turn at once.

It's tall and muscular man, dressed in black, with a pair of all black sunglasses.

"Nowhereman?" wonders Rypta. The man lack the costume, but the face is unmistakable. Nowhereman, last of a long tradition of crime-fighters harking back to the seventeen century Britain, whose father was a teammate of Rypta during WW II, in the Mysterymen Brotherood Society.

"Rypta! It was time you fucking MBL got to me. Reality's gone all crazy!"

"We noticed" says Rypta, not sure about the sanity of the man. "Cicciotto pointed us to you. He says you are the only one to remember the truth."

"Cicciotto of this time?" asks Nowhereman.

"Why? There is one in our time, also?"

Nowhereman frowns. "What fucking period are you coming from?"

"1999. October" hisses Rypta, tired of the arrogance of the man.

"Hum... just weeks before I joined up."

"You joined the MBL?!" exclaims Smasher.

"Biggest mistake of my life" answers the British crimefighter.

"Ok, ok" says Rypta, "better if we stay on matter. Do you know why you still remember the old reality? Do you know who is behind all of this? The AntiMonarch, the HE, Viper?"

Nowhereman laughs. "If it would be so simple". He shakes his head. "No, guys... and gal... the cause of all of this is Prometehus X... or Gooz!"

*****************************************************

Thunder City

"Hallo! Vanguard? Charley? Yes, I am... I need to talk with Grimm. No, wait, Tayden it's better. Ok, I wait..." Edulcore Cicciotto, the Raptor, the phone in one hand, looks outside the windows of his room near the church of Father Sean, at the full moon rising above the roofs of the city. In a little bed Eddie is sleeping.

"Tayden! How are you... yes, I am fine. I... no, I don't know if and when I will return.. wait, this is urgent matter. Hear me. here in Thunder have appeared a bunch of metas that claims to be from an alternate reality... the same which Nowhereman was always speaking about, before you joined. What? The one that seems the leader has red capes and boots, a red masks and a x shaped thing on the chest. Then there is a giant with rock skin... what? Yes, yes. So they have appeared there before? Well, let me speak. They saved my life, but then I said them that Nowhereman talked about them, so they asked me it's location. I gave him the old address where I found him in 2001. The problems is what I have heard them say before they left... they want to transform the reality back in what they think it one was! Our reality! They want to cancel our lives! You are tho only ones that can stop them..."

***************************************************

Back at Nowhereman's place

"The story is very complex... and long. I will give you only the short version... and I am not even sure I should, as you come from further in the past. Anyway, I think it's better if you all take a seat" says Nowhereman. "It started in 2001... or maybe even before, with the Triarchy War. Anyway, what happened was that Hell got loose on Earth."

"What?"

"Yes, literally. It was something that many predicted... and that others worked hard to let it happening. A complex scheme involving magic, aliens, alternate dimensions... all conjured up to opening the gates of Hell. Many cities were destroyed... Mandelovia, Thunder... . There was a huge battle, where basically all the heroes of Earth fought, right in Thunder. The city was leveled, many died. Many tough that was the end, and that the war was won. Even Prometheus, that by then had renounced to the X godhood, and his son Ry-Chard, had died then.

Eurostar, our reality's Cicciotto, brought the announce... he was a fallen angel, at the time... that the heroes had to bring the war in Hell, to defend Heaven and assure a future for Earth. We where gathered in the MBL Headquarter, to hear what Gooz, the MBL leader by then, would have organized, when he came with the most unexpected declaration.

That fateful day, when Eurostar asked to prepare two teams, to invade the Hidden Realm of Sir Justin, and Hell, he shook his head and said:

Quote:

Originally posted by Gooz X.

“No. I have finally given up. Over the last few years, things have just got worse and worse, up to a point where things don’t make sense, like some higher beings are just trying to fuck us over. The League is dead. TOMB is gone. Maybe, just maybe, it is better that way. I died along with the League.”



In that moment, he finally made the decision he left on suspension for many years, from that fateful day Promethus X revealed him that they were the same person, and that Ritchie Steven was destined to become him.

That revelation never really tempted him. It frightened him, because he never feared anything most than loose his humanity, to become the cold stranger called Prometheus X.

And when, years later, he met the now human Prometheus, enjoying his now found mortality, happy among men that he finally could call friends, his destiny become more and more a burden to heavy to sustain.

And after the vanishing of Prometheus, the destruction of Mandelovia and Thunder City, the suicide of Avatar and the death of so many heroes and peoples alike, he simply gave up. He never could have been Promethus X. That future could go literally to Hell.

In that moment, Prometheus X never existed anymore, in any point of the timeline, in any segment of the Hyperboards.

And without Prometheus X there would never have been a Message Board League, Edulcore Cicciotto would have never travelled to America, the Eurotsar would never have been created and never would have gained uncanny powers to become Continuity. And the War of Light and Darkness would never have started.

Our reality changed, becoming this one. What once was a paradise for metas and norms to live together, fighting together toward oppression and evilness, has transformed into an incubus where mates are hunted, killed, captured and experimented upon.

The new reality has been born out of that fateful day at the end of 2001... complete with a cohesive past. But the true past is not lost... your existence, your arrive here shows that the TRUE past still exist, with a definite end."

Rypta frowns, behind the mask. "It's incredible... but I still don't get how you can remember that."

"Because those fucking morons of the Courts of Light... the gods... gathered us all in the Phantom dimension to explain what was the range of Gooz's decision. It was unexpected even for them... in fact, they too... where affected by that, and would have been altered by the event. So, they told us what would have happened if things would have followed the established path... as always incensing themselves with the wisdom of their plans. And while they were talking, and talking, and talking,

Quote:

originally posted in MBL: Resolution, 12/14/2001:

The last thing [...] is a dark dressed hero, the Brit known as Nowhereman, pressing a button on a strange device connected to his helmet…



I built a cronoscrambler device out of some spare parts in my utility belt. Nothing powerful enough to stop the altering of reality, but enough to stop myself to be changed. And that's why I am remembering"

Rypta stands up. "Ingenious. So, what can we do, now? How can we re-establish the correct flows in time? We get to the 14 of December of 2001? We lead the MBL instead of Gooz into Hell?" The Australian superhero looks at each one of his teammates, uncertain on what to do.

Nowhereman shakes his head. "That would be overcomplicate. The war was not won because Prometheus X was not around. His power lessend, mixed with Viper's one in the Watcher, Rychard. It's just my guessing, but the old reality disappeared because Gooz did not accept his fate to become Promethus X. I think what we'll just need is to convince him of his mistake."

"Who, Gooz?"

"Yes."

"And how?"

"I don't know. But, after more than two years, I have finally found where he lives in this reality. Under the name of Ritchie Stevens"