“Is he even still breathing?” Kevin asked, pointing at the unconscious form laying on the couch.
“Yeah. He looked pretty beat up, I guess he was just tired.” Ally replied.
Ally, Tom, Mac and Dylan had bundled Fissure into Mac’s van the day before. Ally called her team-mates, and they agreed to meet at Katie’s house, as her dad was away on business… again.
“He’s been sleeping for like, a whole day.” Katie said.
“Really, really tired.” Ally said.
“Well, he’d better wake up soon, I need to be back in Vegas in a few hours.” Kevin complained.
“So… How do you guys fit into the picture again?” Matt asked Dylan, Tom and Mac.
“I’m Ally’s brother, these are my friends… This Fissure dude recognized all of us, so this is our business too.” Tom said.
“Yeah, I’m ‘The Fog’ apparently.” Mac said.
“How do you figure?” Dylan asked.
“Well, I can sort of see the future sometimes. And the present.” Mac said.
“I can see the present.” Matt commented drily.
“Yeah, but I can see other places, as though I’m there. But only when my mind is clear.” Mac said.
“Which it isn’t, because you’re stoned all the time.” Katie said.
“Not all the time. That’s where my other power comes in. If I’m stoned, or drunk, or whatever, I can transfer my condition over to someone else. I can clear my own head.” Mac said.
“Ok, but what about the other names… What were they? Stratos and Rabbit?” Matt asked.
“Well, Ally’s not the only lucky one in the family… I’m sort of a good luck charm too… Like a rabbit’s foot…” Tom said.
“So I guess that makes me Stratos? Funny… I never thought I’d be a super hero…” Dylan said.
“What do you do?” Mosley asked pointedly.
“I’m a battery…” Dylan said, holding his hand up, electricity crackling between his fingertips. “I charge up during the day… Probably from static or something. If I ground myself, it just goes away. Otherwise, I can shoot lightning from my hands.”
“That’s pretty cool.” Matt said.
“Thanks… I guess. So what he said was true? Ally’s Pixel… So that makes you guys…?” Dylan trailed off.
“Yeah, the Brat Pack.” Kevin finished.
“Legends… At least in my time.” Fissure croaked.
Katie passed the injured man a glass of water and a sandwich. “Here, you probably need these.”
“Thank you ma’am.” Fissure said, downing both quickly.
“Ok buddy, you’ve got some explaining to do.” Kevin said.
“Yes Mr Perfect sir!” Fissure said. “Like I said… I have a warning for you all. From the future.”
“From the future? Yeah right.” Mosley said.
“You must be Firestorm… Mr Universe warned me about you. He said if you give me lip to just start talking about your family. Sir, would you like me to continue?” Fissure asked.
Mosley mumbled incoherently.
“Good to know something about this time works the way it should.” Fissure commented.
“What do you mean?” Matt asked.
“Things have changed since I got here. My very presence seems to have made things happen differently. But for some reason, I can still remember my future, and the new future. Not much has changed there… Yet.” Fissure explained.
“Ok… So what are you here to warn us about?” Katie asked.
“It’s a long story…
“When I left, it was 2034. I’d just turned 18, and traditionally, that’s when members of the Brat Pack leave, to join the Rebellion, because Uncle Sam and Mr Universe tend to frown upon kids getting involved in militant action…
“You see, the Rebellion started in the mid-twenties, before the end of the war. A group of supers decided that they’d had enough of President Carmichael ruling us with an iron fist. The first group consisted of Mr Perfect, Mr Universe, Firestorm, The Blackbird, Cal Richards, Cobalt and the American Eagle. Then Uncle Sam came out of retirement, and they had a figurehead. President Carmichael named them fugitives, and they just went underground, gaining more and more support. Firefly joined, Napalm came out of retirement, even though he was in his 70’s or 80’s. Sherman II, also known as Lee Richards defected from US Force. The list goes on and on. When Uncle Sam III and the Second Miss Liberty tried to join, they were turned down, the big shots didn’t want kids getting involved. So Sammy started the new Brat Pack. He led Miss Liberty, Sparky, Cutter, Icon and Avatar for four years. I joined the team a few months before he got the call up, over a year after Avatar went up. When he left, Miss Liberty took over. By the time she graduated, we were… Close. In that time, Cutter graduated, Sparky… Sparky died. Icon dropped out. We gained Birdy, Tank and Flasher, but they weren’t up to the standard. On my 18th birthday, I ordered them to disband. I couldn’t let those three go into battle without a real leader. I made sure they all went back to their homes, before I contacted Mr Universe, who was at that point the leader of the Rebellion, Uncle Sam retired two years before, Mr Perfect was field commander. You allowed me to join, on one condition. That I be sent back in time, to kill Carmichael before he could gain enough power to run for President. Mr Universe said it had to be me, because the time travel is easier if the target is lighter, and as a teenager, I was smaller than many other Rebels. Not to mention my powers would allow me to Earth-port closer to Carmichael, undetected.”
“Wait… Carmichael? Like, Secretary Carmichael? He’s still alive… There were never any reports of an assassination attempt.” Katie said.
“I know… It seems he’s already begun to build his super-human army. Three of his Secret Service guards were supers. One super-strong, he fought me, even in my armoured form. Another, a blaster of some description, he kept me on my toes from a distance. And the third, Daytripper, he teleported me to a prison of some description… I’ve been there ever since. They tortured me non-stop for weeks, they wanted to know who sent me, why they sent me… The usual crap. I was above-ground somewhere, because I was too far from the Earth to use my geokinesis. I think they had a psychic… God knows what they learned, but I didn’t give it up to them. Cobalt put psychic barriers in my mind before I left, but I don’t know how well they held. I do know I had a splitting headache for days after the torture stopped.” Fissure said.
Katie moved forward. “May I?” She asked.
“Go ahead. Don’t go too deep, those traps were nasty.” Fissure warned.
Katie nodded and began to concentrate… “There’s a barrier of some kind, but it looks like a bomb hit in there. I think their psychic got through a few layers of the barrier. They found out some stuff. They weren’t very neat about it either.” She said.
“That would explain the changes to my future…” Fissure said.
“Anyway, if you already failed your mission and botched the assassination attempt, what are you here to warn us about?” Matt asked.
“I can’t kill Carmichael, but we can still stop him becoming President in 2012. He runs as a third-party candidate, he spent time in both parties, so he knows how to sway their voters. The Time Without Heroes was a breeding ground for fear, and Carmichael took advantage, promising a new-and-improved Liberty Force. What he gave us was US Force. Dozens of super-humans loyal to him.” Fissure said.
“Time Without Heroes?” Ally asked.
“The East Coast Boomers have already gone missing?” Fissure asked.
“Yeah, a few weeks ago.” Dylan said.
“Halfway through next year, Liberty Force will be redeployed in Iraq. A suicide strike by some crazed supers will kill Patriot and Desert Storm, and wound Uncle Sam and the American Eagle. Uncle Sam will retire. The American Eagle works solo, and Cai heads up some Black Ops team. In the States, the West Coast Boomers go back to just being the Boomers, and work across the nation. A fight with the Order of Darkness in 2010 allows them to free The Freak from the Shadow Plane, but all the other East Coast Boomers are dead. The Freak retires. GL is attacked in his home by an unknown assailant, and murdered. Nymphette moves to France. Corona and Plasma return to their lives of crime. Thunderbolt disappears. Mr Perfect, Cal Richards and Mr Universe try to form a new team of Boomers from younger heroes, and the rotating roster is successful for a short amount of time, but the team dissolved just a month before the election.”
“Wait… How did Carmichael stay President in your time? Surely someone noticed when he ran for the third term?” Matt asked.
“He declared war on North Korea in 2018. China declared war on us. We fought for 9 years. We threw everything at each other. Except for the nuclear weapons. Russia, India and France made sure of that. Carmichael was granted emergency power, and gained extra terms. His army of supers continued to grow, we later found out he was literally growing them. When time for the first election after the war came around, his army numbered in the hundreds. He refused to step down, and no-one could really argue with a man who had that much power at his fingertips.” Fissure explained.
“If you were trapped, how did you escape?” Mosley asked.
“They were transporting me to another facility. Probably to study my DNA for their farms. Our intelligence shows they were already performing experiments to build supers, even back then. I mean now. Whatever. I was sedated, bound on a trolley; they wheeled me out to a car. I provoked one of my guards, and he knocked me down. Even sedated, I managed a quick Earth-port, aiming for California. As luck would have it, I was transported directly in front of Pixel and Rabbit.”
“Wait, how do we fit in to this Rebellion future thing?” Mac asked.
“The Fog and Rabbit control one of our safehouses in California. Between the two of you, you’ve managed to keep dozens of our operatives safe on hundreds of occasions. Rabbit’s luck, combined with the ability to see the future and present, allow the two of you to remain undetected for years.”
“Right on.” Tom said.
“So how are we supposed to stop Carmichael from becoming President? Run a smear campaign?” Kevin asked.
“No. We have to end the Time Without Heroes before it gets any worse. On April 20, the Order of Darkness will attack Salt Lake City. We have to be there. We have to force them to free the East Coast Boomers from the Shadow Plane.” Fissure explained.
“But you said they were all dead except for The Freak.” Matt said.
“In 2010, yes. This is almost a year before then. We need to strike as soon as possible.” Fissure said.
“Alright guys, you heard him. April 20, the Brat Pack is heading to Utah.” Kevin said.
“Hooray!” Ally exclaimed.
<><><>

Well, that was a fun issue. I’d been intending to introduce Dylan through Ally, Tom and Mac, but wasn’t sure I could get an entire issue out of it. I had originally intended for him to already be one of their buddies already, and just introduce him in passing a few times (which was the plan for Mac too, just some random precog that Ally knows for some reason), but this links stuff together a little better. I’d also been planning on having Mr Perfect and Uncle Sam team up in Las Vegas (Uncle Sam lives on the opposite coast to the Brat Pack, so I had to find a reason to put them together…) for a while too, and that was originally going to be the entire issue (clearly it would have been extended somewhat), but I also didn’t want to leave Ally out again. I was going to leave Fissure out for a little while longer, give me a little more time to flesh out the world for y’all, but I’m itching to get into the main storyline, assuming it all goes to plan…
Thanks for the comments again Maedel, I’m glad you like my new characters. Uncle Sam is this universe’s Captain America, except he didn’t get frozen. He was allowed to continue to be a hero and retire, leaving the world with the legend of Uncle Sam. Dylan is going to be featuring heavily for a while, but will probably become a supporting character in the end.
I’ll be playing ‘Match the Name’ at some point in the issue, with their explanations, but Fissure’s got a story to tell first.
Good luck in your finals by the way.
Later Days,
The Author
<3 Comics

It was a Friday morning in the City of Sin, Las Vegas, and Kevin had just entered his hotel room. He tossed his bags to the floor, before looking out the window at the view of the Strip.
One of the major casinos had organized a large basketball event, featuring college representative teams from California and Nevada, and had decided to bring in high school representative teams from both states to play the warm-up game. Kevin had been named for the Californian team immediately, being the star player of his school district, and easily one of the best high school players in the state.
’This is just like a vacation.’ He mused. ‘I get away from school, Hire-A-Hero, just to play basketball tomorrow night.
He opened up his bag and dug to the bottom, where he found another, smaller bag. He opened it up, and pulled out his Mr Perfect costume.
’Good, it’s still in here… Just in case.’ He thought to himself, stuffing the costume back into the bag, and in turn hiding the bag underneath the rest of his luggage.
<><><>
“Sam, we’re heading down to the casino, are you coming?” Phyllis asked.
Sam looked up from his paper, to see Phyllis’ head poking through his hotel room door.
“Come on Sammy. Come play the slots with us.” Humphrey piped up from behind her.
Sam sighed. “Fine, I’ll just get my coat.” He said, folding his paper.
’Why did I even leave DC? I hate Vegas…’ Sam thought to himself. ’But retirement homes are boring anyway, it would be much worse if it were empty too…’
<><><>
“Seriously, you guys are going to get caught smoking that crap at school one of these days.” Ally said, as she hung upside-down from the tree.
“Are you kidding kiddo? You’re our good-luck charm.” Tom said.
“Hehe, you just said ‘kidding kiddo’.” Mac giggled.
“So wha- Ohhhh… That is pretty funny.” Tom joined in.
“Idiots.” Ally rolled her eyes. “Hey, who’s that guy?” She pointed.
Heading towards them was a boy in ripped jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt, his long brown hair blowing in the breeze.
“That would be our new favourite rock star, Dylan Kennedy.” Mac said.
“Rock star is pushing it guys.” The newcomer said, high-fiving Tom.
“Ally, this kid is the reincarnation of Hendrix.” Tom said.
“Or at least the reincarnation of Jimmy Page.” Mac added.
“Page isn’t dead yet.” Ally corrected.
“Fine, the reincarnation of Angus Young.”
“Not dead either.”
“Carlos Santana?”
“Nope.”
“Eddie Van Halen?”
“No.”
“Keith Richards?”
“The guy’s a zombie, but he’s still mostly alive.”
“George Harrison?”
“That’ll do.”
“Wow, you really don’t know much about music, do you?” Dylan asked Mac.
“Hey, how about you get this stoned and try to remember crap.” Mac retorted.
“Fair enough…” Dylan said.
“So are you as good as these guys say you are?” Ally asked, flipping down from her tree-branch.
“Probably not, but I’m not bad.” Dylan replied.
“Care to give us a demonstration?”
“Got a guitar?”
“I think I can scrape one up. Follow me.” With that, Ally began skipping towards the school building, Dylan jogging to keep up.
“Hey, you’re supposed to be our look-out!” Tom shouted after her.
“And just what was she supposed to be looking out for?”
The two boys turned around to see Principal Holmes standing behind them.
“You sir.” Tom replied.
“Well, the two of you will have plenty of time to look for me, in your Saturday morning detention this weekend.” Holmes said.
“Yes sir.” Tom said.
<><><>
“Jackpot!” Humphrey yelled, as the machine in front of him poured out coins.
“Congratulations.” Sam said, clapping his friend on the back, before turning back to his own machine, with its spinning reels.
“Drinks are on me tonight!” Humphrey said, collecting his winnings.
“Now that’s more like it.” Sam replied with a smile. “I have to use the restroom, I’ll be back in a moment.”
Sam stepped out of the bathroom and was greeted by a scream. He looked up to see a man dressed all in black, only his eyes visible underneath his hood and mask.
Suddenly, dozens more entered Sam’s field of vision, each grabbing people from slot machines, and generally flipping out all over the place.
“Ninjas…” Sam muttered. “I’m getting too old for this.”
He turned and saw a door labeled ‘Maintenance’. A quick look around revealed no-one was watching him, as he moved into the janitor’s closet, closing the door behind him.
A quick search and Sam found exactly what he was looking for…
<><><>
“And this is Kevin, from Newport Harbour.” Dean Powell, Huntington Beach’s star power-forward, and captain of the Californian High School Representative Team finished introducing the assembled team-members.
“Number 14 right?” Steve Johnson, Montebello’s center asked.
“That’s me.” Kevin replied.
“We played you in the semis for State last year, right?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, you beat us on the buzzer thanks to your point-guard. Stole the ball right out from under me, scores the winning basket.” Kevin said.
“Yeah, other than that, you were awesome. That fade-away in the first quarter was brilliant. And you almost outran Michael in the second, then stopped short and did the alley-oop to that other guy… Y’all should’ve won.” Steve said.
“Thanks… Where is your point-guard, anyway? I’d have thought he’d make the team for sure.” Kevin asked.
“Uhh… Michael ran into some problems with the man… Armed robbery. Claims the Shadow and Pumpkin King took him down, but everyone knows they’re a myth.” Steve replied, shrugging. “There goes our shot at State this year… Was my last chance and all.”
“There’s always college. There’s supposed to be scouts here Saturday.”
“Nah, I’ve already got a full ride at Sacramento State, unless I get some major injury or something.”
“Congratulations man, I’m glad I don’t have to worry about college until next year…”
“Hey guys.” Dean cut in. “The rest of us are heading down to the pool if you wanted to join us.”
“Yeah sure, I’ll just go grab my shorts from my room. See you down there.” Kevin said, heading to his room.
Kevin stepped out onto his balcony, taking in the view of the strip once more. He heard a siren, and looked down onto the street below.
Police cars surrounded the casino across the street, cops milling around like ants.
’What’s going on? Hostage situation? This looks like a job for… Mr Perfect.’ Kevin thought to himself, heading back into his room…
<><><>
Ally opened the door to the band room and led Dylan inside.
“Ally? What are you doing here? Finally decided to cave in and be our singer?” Johnny, the school band’s guitarist asked.
“No, we just need to borrow a guitar.” Ally replied.
“Why? What’s up?” Jacob, the drummer asked.
“Dylan here is supposed to be some kind of rock god.” Ally replied.
“I’m not a rock god. Tom and Mac exaggerated.” Dylan said.
“Prove it.” Ally said, grabbing the guitar from Johnny’s hands and passing it to Dylan.
“Hey, I was using that.” Johnny complained.
“If you can call it that…” Clark, the bassist commented drily.
Dylan began plucking at the strings, one by one.
“See, he’s even worse than I am.” Johnny argued.
“He’s just checking the tuning.” Ally said.
“Play something. Impress me.” Jacob said.
“Ok.” Dylan replied, before launching into the opening riff from Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing, and pulling it off perfectly.
Jacob, Johnny and Clark all stared at him in disbelief.
“Uhhh, I don’t suppose you want a spot in the band?” Clark asked.
“Sure… But don’t you already have a lead guitarist?” Dylan said.
“All those in favour of kicking Johnny out for Dylan?” Clark looked around the room, raising his hand in the air. Jacob raised his hand, followed by Travis, the singer.
“But you can’t just kick me out…” Johnny argued.
“Dude, you know the riff from Smoke on the Water, and the first few bars of Unforgiven. That’s it.” Jacob retorted.
“He might only know that one song, whatever the hell that was.” Johnny said.
Dylan began playing the solo from Queen’s Killer Queen.
“Two songs then. No better than me.” Johnny said, as Dylan changed songs, to the Duelling Banjos theme from Deliverance.
“There. Three songs. Not to mention the fact that you haven’t bothered to learn one of the songs we’ve asked you to. Johnny, you’re out.” Travis said, opening the door.
“Fine. But I want my guitar back.” Johnny held out his hands.
“That’s cool, I’ve got a Stratocaster at home anyway.” Dylan handed the guitar over.
“So, Ally, about that offer…” Jacob asked.
“Do you really want to kick out another member today?” Ally replied.
“There’s room for two singers, at least he’s got some talent. We could do duets.” Jacob said.
“I’ll think about it.” Ally replied.
<><><>
There was a loud crashing sound, as Mr Perfect flew through the casino sunroof, showering the roulette tables with broken glass.
The distraction was all Sam needed to spring into action. His face obscured by a mask made from a torn rag, the 79-year old whirled a broomstick over his head, skillfully knocking out the two ninjas nearest him.
As Mr Perfect made his way through the masses of ninja warriors, Sam moved towards him, parrying the ninjas’ attacks with quicker strikes than any of them were capable of themselves. Mr Perfect used his super-strength to deliver powerful blows, and his invulnerability to shrug off theirs. Sam was faster, better trained, and more talented than the much younger ninjas.
Mr Perfect noticed the elderly man and turned to him. “Sir, may I suggest you get out of here. Leave it to me, you’ll only get hurt.” He said.
“Boy, I was fighting ninjas in Japan before your grandparents had even thought about conceiving your parents, and they were a damn sight tougher than these guys.” Sam argued, ducking as a sword arced towards his head, before a sweeping kick took his attacker’s feet out from under him.
Mr Perfect shrugged, as a katana shattered on his chest, he turned and punched the ninja, who attempted to block the blow, but was thrown back against a slot machine by the force of the punch.
Sam took another down with a punch, his hitting its mark and breaking the ninja’s nose, before whirling around and taking down yet another with his improvised weapon.
“Impressive.” Both heroes turned to the balcony overseeing the main floor. Standing on it was a man, clad all in black, but with his face un-obscured, a sword sheathed across his back.
“Who the hell are you? What do you want here?” Mr Perfect asked.
“Black Dragon Fist…” Sam said.
“You have it right old man. I am the new master of the Black Dragon Fist. It seems my students require more training, if they can be defeated by the likes of you. No matter, there are more where they came from.” The man leapt from the balcony, unsheathing his sword.
“Your grandfather and father would have never allowed such untrained whelps into battle.” Sam said, as the man approached them.
“You knew my ancestors?” The man looked surprised.
“Knew them? I put them in Alcatraz! Tell your dad I said ‘Hi’ when you join him there.” Sam said.
“YOU!!!” The ninja master snarled, raising his sword and charging at the old man.
Mr Perfect was in front of the blow in the blink of an eye, but this time the sword did not shatter, instead making a small wound in the normally impervious hero’s skin.
“This isn’t just some cheap, modern-constructed katana you foolish boy. This is a Muramasa original, passed down through my family from generation to generation, wielded by the leader of our order. It is enchanted beyond your understanding.” The man swung again and again, cutting deeper and deeper into Mr Perfect’s flesh, the young hero unable to move fast enough to stop him.
But Sam was fast enough, stepping around the young hero and jabbing the ninja in the ribs with his broomstick.
“This is what you’re reduced to? Sneak attacks with a broom? Oh how my grandfather must be smiling down upon this moment. Tell him I said ‘Hi’ when you meet him.” The ninja raised his sword into the air, for a killing blow.
Sam moved to block, but the sword’s slash never came. Mr Perfect had grabbed the ninja master in a full-nelson hold, using his superior strength to hold him in place. Sam smiled, and disarmed their opponent, before using a nerve pinch to knock him out cold.
“Nice move kid, you did good today.” Sam said.
“Thank you sir. You were amazing… But I’ve got to know… Who are you?” Mr Perfect asked.
“I’d have thought you’d have it figured out by now. I fought in Japan decades ago. My signature weapon is a staff. I wear a mask, although this is a far cry from the usual red full-head mask I used to wear. There should be a white star right here.” Sam pointed to his forehead.
Mr Perfect’s eyes grew wide. “You… You’re… Uncle Sam!” He stammered.
“The very same.” Sam replied, clapping Mr Perfect on the back.
“I fought alongside the original Uncle Sam… The first super hero…” Mr Perfect said in disbelief. He turned to Sam and saluted. “Sir, it’s been an honour.”
“Thanks kid. It was good to be in the middle of the action again, I’m glad you were watching my back.” Sam replied.
“Would it be terribly unprofessional of me to ask for an autograph?” Mr Perfect asked.
Uncle Sam just laughed and untied his makeshift mask, grabbed a marker from behind a blackjack table and signed the mask.
“See you around kid.” Sam said, tossing the mask to Mr Perfect, who stood in awe. With that, Sam walked out of the main gambling hall.
Mr Perfect picked up the mask and read it.
‘Mr Perfect,
Thanks for saving my life, there aren’t many people who can say they’ve done that, and they’re all legends now. I think it’s safe to say people will look back at you the same way some day.
Forever grateful,
Uncle Sam I’
“Wow…” Mr Perfect said. “Matt is going to flip!”
<><><>
“So then Principal Holmes was all ‘I’ll see you boys on Saturday’, and we’re like ‘Mrrrmmmrrmm’.” Tom said.
“Did you understand half of that story?” Dylan asked Ally.
“Most of it… That’s like, the fourth time this year. Lucky you didn’t get suspended again.” Ally said.
“He just thought we were smoking cigarettes. The guy is clueless.” Mac said.
“Right. So, Dylan, you live a couple of blocks over from us? You just moved here?” Ally asked.
“Yeah, from Seattle. Dad got a new job, you know how it is…” Dylan said. “Seemed like the obvious choice to walk home with you guys… Although, I thought I saw Mac drive here this morning.”
“Awww man… I totally spaced. We’d better head back and get the car.” Mac said, turning around.
“I don’t have anywhere better to be.” Tom said, following.
“Me either.” Dylan said, turning to join the two.
“Me three-ther.” Ally said, rushing after the boys.
“That doesn’t make sense.” Mac said.
“Neither does your fa…” Ally trailed off, as the ground in front of them erupted.
A pillar of rock formed a few feet ahead of them, before shifting its shape into that of a man. The stone in turn turned into flesh, and there was a living, breathing man standing in front of them.
“Praise Liberty, I found you all just in time. Pixel, Stratos, Rabbit and The Fog… I am Fissure, the leader of the Brat Pack… And I have to warn you all.” The man said, before collapsing on the ground from exhaustion.
<><><>