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Times Past, 1976
Flash and Green Lantern
Hounds of Limbo
On a pleasant Saturday afternoon in Central City's Community Park, dozens of people were enjoying themselves. Some of the families were playing games with their children while others were happily munching on hamburgers or hot dogs. The Park's main picnic area had been reserved for the Picture News Company's annual staff picnic. While most of the workers were relishing the fun and amusement offered by the celebration, a pretty brunette was merely annoyed. Iris West sighed and checked her watch for the fifth time as those around her laughed and joked. She shook her head.
Why I put myself through this waiting game is beyond me! I told Barry to get here at 1:00 and when I did that I knew that the real picnic was not scheduled to start until 1:30. That hasn't helped in the least! Central City's finest police scientist has made a science out of being late! I suppose I'm going to have to accept that as one of Barry's quirks. I'm sure I must have a few of my own that bug him as well! she thought.
As her editor grabbed a small microphone from the elevated stage, she saw a handsome man with very short blond hair and an apologetic expression on his serious face. He wore a light green sports shirt and slacks and he raced around a sporting dog to reach his date.
"Iris! Sorry, I'm late! I forgot the mustard! I can't stand a hot dog without mustard! I had to go back to town, " he said as he gasped for breath.
He held up a large jar of mustard and smiled winningly. It was a lame excuse but it was better than telling her that he had been delayed because of a crime that required his use of the super human speed that was the trademark of his secret heroic identity of the Flash!
Iris said, "Honestly, Barry! I think we could have found some mustard somewhere among the food and fixings! Still, you're here now, That's what counts!"
"Keep telling yourself that, Iris girl!" she thought to herself as she and Barry spread a blanket across the grass and he opened his basket.
She heard the editor finish his speech and announce the start of the first of the games. "Folks, we'll be having the sack race now!" he said.
Iris said, "C'mon, Barry! It's a relay sack race. You hop across the grass and tag your partner who hops back to the starting line. I signed us up!"
Barry said, "Sure! Only I'm not much for any kind of speed! I had a scare when I was a kid on an amusement park ride!"
He and Iris lined up and he watched with pleasure as she and the first group of contestants began to hop across the grass while the crowd cheered and cried out encouragement! The ever- spunky Iris swiftly pulled ahead of the rest and Barry prepared to reach out and tag her.
Just as he saw her hand moving in what was slow motion to his super swift senses, he also spotted a strange beam of energy shoot across the sky and strike the huge banner that proclaimed the Picture News Company Picnic! Great Scott! That's nothing natural! I think I've seen that particular type of energy before! he thought.
He frowned as he noticed Iris hit his hand just as the energy struck that paper banner! It did nothing that could be noticed by the ordinary eye but to Barry's super fast senses, the energy altered the paper on a molecular level and seemed to instantaneously turn it from mere colorful paper to blinding magnesium!
He heard Iris urging him onward even as the rest of the group began to notice the change in the banner!
He pretended to fall heavily to the ground and in the blink of an eye, he vibrated through the ground and into his red costume! As the Flash he created a whirlwind that smothered the magnesium and swept it on an updraft and tossed it safety away from the group.
He saw the darting form of a costumed man who raced across the park in sudden fear. Even had Flash not been moving at super speed, no one would have noticed his actions since the white glare from the magnesium had dazed any onlooker!
Mr. Element! Or should I say Dr. Alchemy! After all, Al Desmond changed costumes and nom du crime after his first outing! I thought that energy was a variation of his old matter transforming energy! Funny, the JLA and JSA and I just put him away days ago! I may be called the Fastest Man Alive but the way the Rogues I put in jail manage to break free again, has to speak well for their own speed! he thought.
He noticed that the blue and green clad Dr. Alchemy was not continuing his attack! He was fleeing.
The Flash returned to the ground and as Barry Allen he stood up and said, "Sorry, Iris! I guess my clumsy feet have cost us the race!
He had managed to move so rapidly that no one had noticed his actions as the Flash. All the crowd had witnessed was the strange transformation of the banner and it's apparently fortuitous fall away from the people! In Central City, many such mysterious events were beginning to be attributed to the heroic Flash's unseen actions and this was not a problem. Barry had no qualms about people associating the Flash with Central City. He just didn't want people to always verify the fact that where the Scarlet Speedster ran, so could be found Barry Allen!
"Iris, I think I better go clean up! I don't want to get grass stains on these new slacks! Anton Previn would never forgive me!" he said ruefully as he referred to his old friend the fashion designer.
Iris nodded and said, "Sure! I need to look around anyway. The way that sign changed makes me suspect that the artificial illuminations may be faulty. I better make sure no one was hurt. Everybody here is a friend or working acquaintance of mine!"
Barry raced out of view and then as the Flash, he caught up with the still running Dr. Alchemy. "What's wrong, Al? Was prison food that bad? You've only been there about a week! Give the cook a chance! Saturday's Bean Surprise!" he joked as he raced in front of the criminal!
Dr. Alchemy was usually a smug and confident man. He had no fear of the Flash because he had adopted his criminal guise specifically to deal with the hero. When he had planned his own criminal career, he had accepted the fact that he would never succeed unless he could first eliminate the defender of Central City. Thus, he had always counted on fighting the Speedster and thus, he had never really allowed Flash to frighten him! That was why Al Desmond's conduct startled the Flash more than any brazen attack would have done!
Dr. Alchemy didn't try to change the Flash into some odd substance via his alchemy based weaponry nor did he mock the hero by boasting about his own intellect! Instead, Al removed his hood and revealed an expression of total fear! "Thank goodness! I hoped that I could lure you out if I disrupted a few public events around the city! If only I'm not too late!" he gasped as he reached out for the Flash!
The Flash frowned and noticed Desmond was pleading and not threatening him. "Pull yourself together, man! If I can help you, I will! What's got you so frightened?" he asked.
Desmond cried out and pointed beyond the Flash to where a huge creature had appeared in the sky. It was far larger than any normal dog or wolf but otherwise it resembled nothing as much as a feral beast with snarling jaws and sharp teeth! It sniffed in the air and as if it had caught a scent, it turned to glare at the odd pair. "It's coming for me! I should have known I could not get away! It's chased me across the country! Flash, you have to save me!" he shrieked!
The Flash turned to face the huge creature as it crouched and began to pounce forward! The savage looking beast was headed directly at them!
***
Meanwhile, on an alternate earth designated Earth 2, another Flash was entertaining a group of children at a charity benefit! This elder Flash was named Jay Garrick and he had started his own heroic career as a solo hero and as a member of the Justice Society of America decades earlier! He knew that his exploits had even inspired Barry Allen's own selection of a name and use for his speed because Barry had told him as much during earlier meetings. It had pleased Jay to learn that while there were countless parallel Earths all vibrating in place at a slightly different frequency, there were also good men to defend the people of those Earths! Jay's career had been turned into the stuff of comic book fiction through an odd fluke in the way certain natives of Barry's earth had been in tune with the events of Jay's earth! Now, the Flash of Earth-2 savored both his occasional role as mentor to Barry and his newly resumed role of active member of the now reformed JSA!
He smiled broadly and faced the children before him. He tilted the gleaming winged helmet that he wore to the back of his head and scratched his slightly graying hair in mock bewilderment! "Now, where did I put the band instruments I was going to set up for you kids?" he asked in a loud and exaggerated voice.
The kids laughed and cheered and some cried out eagerly. "Above you! In the air!"
Jay Garrick glanced up to where guitars, drums, and other musical instruments were being suspended by the draft from his vibrating and raising arm. He had tossed them in the air seconds before at super speed and it was entirely due to his precise manipulation of the force from his super rapid movements that they were now suspended in mid air! "Oh, yeah! A fella gets kind of stage struck even in front of a swell audience like you kids! I guess if I don't want to be struck for real, I better get moving!" he said with a grin.
He caught every instrument and began to play each one with a super fast agility and a lot of enthusiasm! "Well, I'm no Artie Shaw but I do okay, huh? Or should I say I'm no Paul Anka? I guess he's more your speed, excuse the expression!" he said. The crowd cheered wildly and Flash placed the donated instruments in their proper places and bowed low.
"Thanks! I've enjoyed seeing you all. I'm glad I could take time out of the JSA reunion tour to visit with some of my hometown fans!" he said.
A bald man rushed out on the stage and said, "Flash! You've raised enough money to equip the whole band! We can't thank you enough!" said the band director.
Flash shook his hand and said, "It was the least I could do!"
Before he could continue his conversation, another man waved him aside and said, "Flash! The TV news just reported some type of crime going on at the Powers City's Gibson Jewelry! The staff itself is robbing it! Even the police are helping them!"
Jay Garrick shook his head and said, "Well, while I can't say that's music to my ears, that sure sounds like something I need to check out."
The Flash (Jay) raced away from the Keystone Orphanage and made his way to Powers City. He had never been to the city before but he was certain that things were not normal at the Gibson Jewelry Store! He saw the staff and police loading jewels from an armored vehicle to a floating platform. All of them seemed to be in a trance as they worked methodically. A screeching music filled the air and Flash started to succumb to the compelling sound before he veered away and raced out of range.
That little symphony has all the traits of a Fiddler crime spree! I guess Isaac Bowin has broken out of jail already! We just put him there days ago! I suppose that old line about a revolving door near the front gate makes a lot of sense! he thought.
He vibrated his hands and struck his helmet. He created a counter-vibration that muffled the sounds of the oddly hypnotic music! He raced directly up the side of the elevated platform and confronted the criminal!
"Okay, Fiddler, this dance is getting old! If you come quietly I'll see if the Warden will let you watch Mitch Miller!" he said before he frowned as he realized that the musician on the platform was like no one he had ever seen before!
The being was humanoid but he was taller than any normal man was. He had no hair anywhere on the pinkish red skin that was exposed beneath his odd barbaric costume. He looked like an alien warrior from a Science Fiction film and in many ways that image was a correct one!
He fingered a violin and the music was clearly coming from the instrument. It was forcing those who heard the music to rob the jewelry store. In this aspect the crime was not different from any of a dozen of the crimes perpetrated in the past by the Fiddler! What made this particular crime so unique was that the malevolent Maestro was not human!
I don't know why an alien would want to rob a jewel shop unless he needs earth gems for nourishment or as a power source or something out of Heinlein! Still, mine is not to reason why. Mine is just to stop the music like so! thought the Flash.
He charged at the alien and continued to enjoy the protection of the counter-vibration he had created moments before. He ripped the instrument out of the alien's hands and shattered it with a powerful slice of his vibrating hands.
"Bowin made that! He even inscribed his name on the back!" noticed the Flash as he saw the enslaved staff and police fall to their knees in sudden and complete freedom!
The alien spoke in a rasping voice that nonetheless used perfect English with an alternating British and European accent! "You are the Flash! I have learned of you from my time with the others! This should suffice to halt your blinding speed!" he said. He fired a white gun that coated the platform with gleaming ice and left the Flash hard pressed to stop his super fast charge in time as the slippery ice robbed him of his balance! He almost fell before a quick jump allowed him to right himself and connect with the alien's chin!
The alien staggered backward and said, "Your movement creates enough friction to counter the ice generated by my weapon. Thus, I must draw upon more intimate resources!" He slapped the Flash across the face with a blow that came out of nowhere! He followed up with a kick that sent Jay Garrick crashing off the platform to the ground below! The alien vanished and Jay frowned in amazement as he glanced up at empty air.
He moved faster than before! It was like he matched me move for move and then went one better! He also had weapons exactly like those of my old sparring partners the Fiddler and the Icicle. Since my buddy Green Lantern fought Icicle more than I ever did, perhaps, I should have a talk with my Ring-Slinging pal! thought the Flash!
***
Back on Earth 1 the younger Flash (Barry Allen) was trying to protect the frightened Dr. Alchemy from the massive hound that menaced him! He shoved Alchemy aside and tried to steady himself so that he could face the huge creature without being flattened! He created a deep trench between the animal and where he stood and even as he moved, his keen mind detected certain features about the beast.
It's acting like an alien blood hound. It sniffed Desmond's scent and is apparently undeterred by the blinding spray of earth I've kicked up between us! This thing may not even rely on conventional sight to track its prey. Running across water can help disguise a scent. Maybe, I can use that old ploy on a slightly exaggerated scale to protect Al!
He grabbed Dr. Alchemy and raced across the country until he had sped directly across more than one river and a few lakes! His speed was so great that gravity had little effect upon him and the nature of his surfaces was secondary to his amazing pace!
He looked back and saw nothing. "Now, Desmond, tell me what you've done to attract that thing! Every minute may count so don't lie!" he demanded.
Desmond wiped his brow and said, "Flash, as you know I was in prison. Around a week ago, you and the JLA and those older heroes from the alternate Earth beat me. Heck, you beat all of the Crime Champions. Chronos and Felix Faust and I were all in our old cells and I wager the Wizard, the Fiddler, and the Icicle were all cooling their heels in a jail on their own earth across the dimensional divide! Well, Chronos had a cocky look on his face a day or so after you put us in jail. He would not explain his odd satisfaction to us. He just told us to meet him at lunch the next day. He said time was of the essence!"
Desmond stopped and glanced desperately around in search of the beast. "Faust and I obeyed and when we saw Clinton the next day, we approached him with lunch trays in hand! No sooner did we get near him than we found ourselves outside the prison!"
He gloated as we fled into the nearby woods and he said, "I managed to conceal a little time displacement lens within a fake tooth. It took time to get fully charged but it allows us to step briefly through time and space within very strict limits. It was enough to get us out of the prison and gain us one hour of time. They won't know we're gone for 58 more minutes. Time will pass for them just as it did with the sole exception that it will only be our chronal wraiths that meet in the lunch room and vanish!"
We thanked him and separated. We'd had enough of a partnership and Faust had little respect for anyone. We parted and I made my way back home. I had a safe house waiting for me near Empire City. I was resting there when that thing appeared and tried to kill me! I fled and it followed. I quickly figured that you were my only hope!"
Flash said, "I am all too aware of your past crimes. Nothing you did in those cases could have summoned this thing. I wager that it was your involvement with the Crime Champions that led to this situation. Who knows what odd laws of science or nature you may have broken during your travels between worlds?"
The Flash managed to created a whirlwind just as the huge hound bounded into view and
leaped at the odd pair! The beast fought its way through the strong winds and swiped at the hero with one giant paw!
"It ignored my wind like it was a gentle breeze on a lake! I think my best bet is to get a bit rough with the beast!" mused the Flash! He vibrated his body until he became intangible and he passed directly through the beast's body and out the other side. He nodded in approval as his tactic left the creature dazed. "Thank heavens something worked! I couldn't have avoided Rover here for much longer!" he said.
He turned to talk to Dr. Alchemy only to see the frightened foe vanish as a blinding burst of energy surrounded him immediately after the hound abruptly revived and touched him with one paw! He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out! In seconds he was gone along with the hound! That thing touched me but I didn't vanish! I can only assume it didn't want me. It was sent to hunt down Dr. Alchemy and once it had him, it needed to take him somewhere to some unknown master! I have a feeling that Chronos and Faust are also in peril! Perhaps, I better contact my friend the Atom since Chronos is his enemy, thought the Flash
***
Back on Earth 2 the older Flash (Jay Garrick) was sitting in the office of the President of the Gotham Broadcasting Company where his old friend Alan Scott listened to his story with deep concentration. "Jay, allow me to replay your adventure via my ring. With your permission, I'll just pluck the memory right from your mind and project it here!" offered the ever confident Alan (Green Lantern) Scott.
Jay nodded and said, "Sure. I always did want to find out if I dream in color or not!"
Green Lantern nodded and soon the two friends watched the exact series of events that had occupied the Flash earlier. GL said, "My ring can clear up one little riddle right now. You noticed how our alien friend's voice seemed to change from moment to moment? My ring identifies his accents as being an exact match for the specific regional dialects used by the British Fiddler and the European Icicle! The alien not only was a mimic for their weapons and styles of combat and kind of crimes, he also copied their exact voices! He must be a type of living mimic. He duplicates the survival traits of those he encounters! He copied your own speed to beat you!"
Flash said, "Obviously, our next question is where did he encounter Icicle and Fiddler? I called the prison and they claim that he just appeared there and approached them. He ignored all the other prisoners and their guards. The Icicle said the alien just stared at them like they were germs on a microscope slide and then he left. It sounds like he needed to come into contact with them to mimic their respective gear etc.? They didn't have their gear with them of course so it is like he pulled the data for their weapons directly from their minds. They insist they knew nothing of him before he appeared!"
GL frowned. "He ignored all the other prisoners there? He could have become a one man army had he duplicated the powers of all the crooks held there. Why would he only seek out those two? All they really have in common with each other besides larceny is the fact that they were part of the Crime Champions and we battled them with our JLA allies on both of our Earths!"
Flash said, "I think the fact that they spend time in that void between Earths where they had their hidden base could be the factor that drew the alien to them. He may come from that limbo. Maybe, he saw them there and followed them here."
GL said, "What about their recent ally the Wizard? It would be just like old Zard to accidentally conjure up something like the alien! He also was in that limbo with them."
Flash walked restlessly over to a globe and gave it a spin. "Right! I did some checking on him as well. He vanished shortly before our alien appeared. I'd even suggest that he switched places with him. Remember, the three villains were going back and forth from our Earth to the Justice League Earth as part of their last crime spree. Maybe, the Wizard managed to pull another such switch to free himself."
GL said, "I know that thing didn't come from Earth 1. Feels funny to call that earth where heroes came about years after we started our careers, Earth 1. Seems like our world should be Earth 1! There should be a committee somewhere we could complain to about it!"
Flash smiled and said, "We're number two but we try harder! I think we better try to find the missing alien and the Wizard. As much trouble as he has caused us over the years, I'd still be sorry to think the alien killed him."
GL said, "One good thing about Joar Makhkent is that his old equipment has a faint energy pattern about it that my ring can trace. If the alien is truly using an exact duplicate of his old ice gun, I can home in on it!" The ring began to pulse and GL nodded eagerly. "He is in action. We may have a few years on Barry and Hal but we do have better timing!" he said.
"Like a fine wine!" grinned Flash. They flew off in search of the energy trail and GL's powerful will power channeled through the ring concealed their departure.
***
Back on Earth 1 the Flash was busy in a fight for his own life as the huge hound growled and pounced for him once again. He dodged with ease as an emerald shield appeared to protect him. "Thanks, pal!" he said to the Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) of his world as the Green Guardian used his own power ring to help his friend.
GL said, "No problem! At least the sudden arrival of this thing eliminated the need for much of an explanation! You had barely found me and Chronos here when that beast popped up!"
Flash said, "That's the hound that took Alchemy away! I'm glad your ring was able to do what Atom and I failed to do- locate Chronos here!"
Chronos wore his colorful green and gold costume along with the chalky white mask. He was not at his best since he had first been abruptly carried skyward by Green Lantern and then the pair of them had been attacked by the hound! "Alchemy and I separated days ago! If this thing is on his trail then it has no business with me! My time is precious!" cried Chronos!
GL said, "Look Clinton, my ring tapped into your unique chronal weaponry and led me right to you! If I hadn't found you first, you'd be a snack in that thing's stomach by now!"
Flash said, "Can you identify the animal with your ring?" Even as he spoke, the Scarlet Speedster was sending a cascade of sand into the hound's path as they raced along the shores of a California beach!
GL said, "Let me try to contain Rover there when the sand settles and I'll see!"
Flash nodded and said, "I'll offer my own hunch. The animal comes from the weird Limbo between Earth 1 and Earth 2. I think it picked up the scents of the Crime Champions during the time they hid out there in their HQ! Like a blood hound it followed them here and is trying to hunt them down for some purpose!"
GL's emerald energy surrounded the hound and he nodded. "Bingo! The animal is from Limbo. My ring indicates that the same energies we encountered there in that void also are found around it. You and the other Flash and my Earth 2 counterpart spent more time there than our pals so it may be more than chance that led us to the animal and its prey. We may have retained some trace of the same energy from our time there."
Chronos quietly hesitated between two extremes. He wanted the protection the heroes could offer him but he also had every instinct telling him to attack them while they were distracted! He fingered a small hourglass in one gloved hand and waited tensely
Flash said, "Your ring has caged it all right! I assume another hound like this one is hunting down Felix Faust as we speak! Perhaps, it has already found him! Since it's doubtful your ring could pinpoint a man with his magical resources, I have another suggestion!" Flash whispered rapidly to GL who smiled and nodded in agreement.
Chronos hurled the hourglass and cried, "Those expressions would stop a clock but you two won't stop me!" Before he could say another word the hourglass struck him and he stiffened like a statue!
GL said, "Nice move! You put him directly in the path of his own weapon! He's okay but in a type of trance!"
Flash said, "I knew that was the most likely effect of the weapon. Atom and I talked about his old foe's arsenal in depth. If he had not been tied up with personal matters, he would have joined us!"
GL said, "Now that we goaded him to do just what we wanted to do, I'll draw all limbo energy from his body and transfer it to you after linking us with an energy tendril!" He bathed the immobile Chronos in green energy and then allowed the energy to cover the Flash! "Ready, pal?" asked GL.
"I think so!" replied Flash.
GL released the hound and it bounded over to touch Flash. He vanished along with the hound just as Dr. Alchemy had done earlier! GL was drawn along with them to the void between Earths and he quickly shielded his pal as they reached a strange fortress in the storm tossed depths of limbo!
"It worked! By irradiating me with the limbo energy residue that drew the hound to Chronos and Alchemy in the first place, you also managed to trick it into bringing me here! Wherever here is!"
GL said, "I'm glad I was able to shield you. Looks like we've found Alchemy all right! He's on display over there with some decidedly alien beings!" He indicated a wall of transparent tubes in which individual figures were encased. Dr. Alchemy was trapped in one of them. The other tubes contained strange alien beings of various types. "This is some type of Limbo prison! The hounds must have been trained to hunt down and return escapees and because of their time in this dimension, the Crime Champions apparently triggered the hunt command by leaving when we took them back to our world!"
"A pretty theory but sadly incorrect in certain details!" said a mocking voice as the heroes turned to see a sinister but familiar form!
***
Back on Earth 2 Flash (Jay) and Green Lantern (Alan Scott) had tracked the energy of the duplicate ice gun to a warehouse where the pink -hued oversized alien was holding off a squad of security men! "This place contains art work waiting to be displayed at the local museum! Some of the works are priceless! Our alien has certainly picked up the thieving ways of Icicle and Fiddler!" said GL.
Flash raced forward and used his vibrations to free the startled guards who thanked him readily! "Ffflash! Thank goodness! That goon caught us by surprise! He moves as fast as you do!" stammered one guard.
Flash said, "Friend, I'm going to try to prove that claim wrong!"
GL had been circling the alien warily. He knew that while he had battled many aliens in his career, he had never encountered a being quite like this mimic. He frowned as he remembered his Earth 1 counterpart Hal Jordan. It was natural to recall that hero and his peers from the Justice League after this new case seemed to have connections to the one in which Alan had met Hal. He had talked with that hero during one part of that case in which the two men had flown through the void. Hal was a test pilot and he was also something far more meaningful to Alan! He was the other Earthly double for the late Hal Jordan of Earth 2. That Hal had been a child Alan had failed to save long before and that boy's death had not only robbed Earth 2 of a potential force for social change and political reform but it had left a deep and personal guilt within Alan Scott. He had dealt with those feelings with the same determination and will power that made him a hero among heroes; however, he also could never really look at the Green Lantern of earth 1 without recalling what might have been. Thus, he liked and respected the young hero but he didn't crave time with him in the way Jay Garrick already had developed a real friendship for the Flash of Earth 1.
GL created a huge emerald mallet and brought it crashing down on the speeding alien who fell down but regained his footing and stared intently at Green Lantern. A flash of green energy covered the alien and a razor sharp sword of energy appeared before him and sliced at Alan Scott!
GL dodged because he expected exactly such a response from the alien. He and Jay had in fact been counting on the alien to mimic Alan's power! They would soon know if they had deduced the results of such a duplication correctly!
Flash raced forward and slugged the alien with stunning force. He crashed to the ground and remained still.
Flash stood over him and tossed a wooden baton in the air. "I hated to use a weapon like this to knock him cold but we figured it would take something of wood to hurt him since he was copying your powers."
GL said, "As someone who has been hit far too many times by wooden clubs and chairs, I can sympathize with our fallen friend. Still, I'm glad he picked up my weakness to wooden objects when he used his mimic ability on my ring!"
Flash said, "Now, I'd suggest we take him to that Limbo void between Earths. I'd say that is where we'll find the Wizard too. If he had been on Earth 1, we would have been contacted by Flash or Green Lantern. Call it an instinct that this old scientist should scorn, but I think Limbo holds the key to our mystery!"
GL said, "Then, I suggest we get moving. I've like to resolve this case swiftly." They vanished with a flash of emerald energy along with the stunned alien.
***
In Limbo the Flash (Barry) and Green Lantern (Hal) had been confronted by the Wizard! The evil magician wore his customary black tux and his oddly opaque eyes gleamed in the dim light. He smiled coldly and said, "This was a prison for alien criminals as you guessed; however, now, it will serve as a fortress from which I shall conquer two worlds! It will also be your new home until I bring down the curtain on you and your costumed friends! It already holds Faust and Alchemy who failed me miserably when we teamed as the Crime Champions. When the Hounds brought them here I was surprised but I had taken over the prison by that time and readily found a place for them! I expected Chronos to be brought here but you two will do quite nicely."
Flash rocketed forward and gasped as he found himself running in place helplessly. GL created a green boxing glove fist but the Wizard merely stood there and laughed. "I have shielded ourselves from anything you two can throw at us. I didn't expect you two but I still have had time to prepare. "
GL said, "Maybe, you've prepared for his speed and my ring but how about a good old fashion right hook?" He swung at the Wizard and grunted in frustration as his blow passed harmlessly through the illusion!
"Ha! Ha! Ha! I am merely a phantasm. That is why your pretty light yielded such a paltry return! Still, wraith or not, I may bring you two to your destined cells!"
Flash found himself in a clear tube along one wall. He noticed Dr. Alchemy's sorrowful expression in the tube next to his own. Al Desmond had removed his hood and he stared out at the prison in despair. Felix Faust glared bitterly through another such tube. "I bet the other aliens in those tubes are the former guards of this prison. Those uniforms give away that much of a connection between them! The Wizard must have made a deal with the other prisoners in exchange for freeing them!" thought the Flash as he began to vibrate in various frequencies in an attempt to find a way out.
GL also materialized within one of the tube-like cells and he noticed a yellow coating prevented his ring from breaking the tube. "The Wizard caught us off guard! I never expected to find him in charge here!" he thought. He knew that the Flash would be trying to free himself and he felt no qualms about their situation. He knew that he and his friend were capable of dealing with almost any crisis. He also believed that no crisis would ever prove to be too much for them!
He calmly considered heating the air in the tube until the pressure would expand and break it open; however, even though his ring could affect the air but not the cell, he was uncertain that his ploy would work on the alien cell! He didn't have a chance to try this stunt before he saw the arrival of the Green Lantern and Flash of Earth 2 along with their captive!
"Great Guardians! This looks like a real break for us!" he said.
Flash (Barry) saw the Justice Society heroes as well and he smiled broadly. Jay Garrick was his hero and he had no doubt that the tide had turned in their favor now!
As for the two elder heroes they quickly saw everything and realized the plight of their younger counterparts! "Those tubes won't hold you two for long!" declared Flash as he ran over to where the heroes were held. He started to try to break open the tubes when the Wizard appeared in a burst of smoke and brimstone!
"Ah! The elder statesmen of the caped and cowled world are here! This is a pleasure!" he said as he rubbed his hands together.
"The Wizard!" muttered GL as he generated a bright flash of blinding light.
"Watch out!" cried Flash (Barry) but the sound didn't carry through his tube.
The Wizard said, "Why should I tire myself when my troops may subdue you? I am a man of power and I must learn to delegate!" He gestured in a theatrical manner as a dozen alien beings entered in answer to his summons. They were a mixed group with no particular common characteristic. Some were amorphous and moved across the room in a slow but steady ooze! Three were hulking brutes with ridged foreheads. The rest were almost human in appearance except for their lack of any obvious mouth.
Flash (Jay) said, "Hold on, son, I'll have you out of there in no time!" He created a precisely concentrated whirlwind that shattered the tube that held Flash and then helped his friend to freedom.
"Steady, son. You've had a bit of a shock! Seeing the Wizard never agrees with my digestion either!" he said.
Flash (Barry) said, "Thank you! I'll be fine! Let's get GL out!" The two Speedsters rapidly freed Green Lantern while the blond Green Lantern held back the alien crooks with a massive shield of emerald fire!
"Don't hurry on my account, fellows!" he said as he grimly forced the aliens backward through sheer force f will! The emerald shield turned into a battering ram that drove them away with sudden impact!
The Wizard said, "Bah! The aliens are out of condition from their time in the sapping cells. They also lack my awareness of how to defeat you mystery men!" He chanted rapidly and a thorny stalk erupted from the ground to slam into GL and wrap around him with crushing force! "That should hold you!" he announced as he blasted an bolt of force in the path of the other GL! The yellow energy struck his chest and he fell to the ground.
The Flash saw it all and he and Jay raced around the Wizard in an ever tightening circle! "Bah! You seek to draw away the oxygen from me! That old ploy has moss growing upon it's broken back!" he shouted. He hurled a small pellet to the ground and the two Speedsters found themselves swimming in a gel like sea that robbed them of their precious momentum!
The Wizard smiled and surveyed the scene. His foes were occupied or contained and he winked at the still captive Dr. Alchemy and Felix Faust! He saw the Mimic beginning to stir and he frowned. "I know you! I feel a connection between us! I will secure you then ponder the nature of the link!"
He sent the alien into a sapping cell and said, "Let me see! I was trapped in jail on my Earth! I decided to try to create a spell that would transfer me from Earth 2 to Earth 1! After all, I had found myself brought to that alternate Earth by the Fiddler's sonic prowess and had no doubt my magic could do as much!"
"The spell brought me instead to this Limbo where I found myself in this cosmic Devil's Island! I had switched places with one of the inmates by chance! Apparently, he ended up back on Earth-2 in my prison and there he broke free and caught your attention! That in turn led you here. I never anticipated that my arrival would displace another in such a manner. Careless of me!" He smiled as he saw the Flash gasp for air as the younger hero fought to reach his side! "I have no idea what led the Justice League pair to take the place of Chronos. I really can't say why the Hounds set out after Faust, Chronos, and Alchemy to begin with but I digress!"
At that moment Green Lantern blazed through the wooden tendrils that had been crushing him as the other Lantern broke out of the yellow energy cage that contained him! They distracted the startled Wizard long enough for a surprising event that led to his defeat!
Before he could continue speaking Dr. Alchemy and Faust erupted from their cells and struck him with stunning force! The energy from Alchemy's gun changed the air in the Wizard's proximity to solid steel that bound him while Faust delivered a surprisingly skillful flurry of super fast blows that left him dazed. Then, as the Wizard collapsed, Alchemy and Faust rushed over to where the two Lanterns had easily freed themselves and the struggling Speedsters!
Dr. Alchemy ripped off his hood to reveal the masked Flash of Earth 1 while Faust shimmered for a moment and then changed back into Jay Garrick!
Flash (Jay) said, "Using your rings to make us exchange places and appearances with Alchemy and Faust was a masterstroke! Their specially designed sapping cells could not hold folks with our super speed while their time in the cells dazed them enough that neither of them could do more than try to stay afloat when the Wizard trapped them in that gel!
Green Lantern (Hal) said, "Well, switching rings with me while that bright flash blinded the Wizard enabled us both to overcome the special traps he used against us. My ring could defeat the weakness he tried to use against GL here while his ring did the same for me with my weakness!"
GL (Alan) said, "You two reacted like experts. The whole thing didn't rattle you a bit. We're proud that two fine men like you are carrying on our legacies in a manner of speaking!"
Flash (Barry) led the dazed Faust and Alchemy away from the ooze and he smiled. "That means a lot to us. Let's free the prison guards and get this case finished!"
Soon, the heroic foursome stood before a fat alien who served as the Warden for the Limbo Prison. "Your Wizard switched places here with the Mimic by accident while trying to get to Earth 1. When the Mimic vanished, it set off our automatic search and capture plan which released the Hounds. They mistakenly went to Earth 1 and trailed the three Crime Champions who had some residue from their time here that led the Hounds in their wake. That's why the Hounds brought Dr. Alchemy and Faust here and tried to capture Chronos whom you took the place of as you said."
Flash (Barry) nodded in agreement. "Right, Warden Hgrt! We didn't know that the Mimic was also drawn to the Icicle and the Fiddler on Earth 2 due to their own energy residue from their time between Earths. He copied their weapons and began his own crime wave which in turn led the JSA heroes here"
GL (Hal) said, "When Green Lantern mentally alerted us to his plan and switched rings with me, I played along for long enough to lull the Wizard into a false sense of victory."
Flash (Jay) said, "Exactly as we intended for you to do. The Wizard's ego is his downfall! He was so wrapped up in gloating that he failed to notice that we Flashes had also been posing as the villains since that bright flash of light from GL's ring!" He turned to the now bound and gagged Faust, Wizard, and Alchemy and said, "Since the Warden had called off the Hounds, you boys can take your pair to jail on your world along with Chronos whom you say you left in stasis. We'll take Wiz here in and make sure he doesn't pull anymore magical teleportations!"
The heroes all shook hands as GL (Hal) leaned over and said, "Green Lantern, you saved the day for us all. I owe you a lot!"
Alan Scott nodded and said, "You're more than welcome! Call it a debt I had owed for sometime!"
Flash (Barry) leaned over and removed the gag from Alchemy's mouth. "It was our speed that enabled us to break out of the magic resistant and alchemy gun resistant cells that had been holding you two but in a way you helped. What is it, you're trying to say?"
Desmond said, "You risked your life to help me. You even came here after me. I owe you!
I'm not getting soft but I'm not going to forget this Flash! I got some thinking to do."
Flash nodded and said, "Are you saying I'm a catalyst for change, Alchemy?"
Desmond smiled ruefully as they prepared to return to their proper worlds! "I may just go straight!" he thought to himself.