Doctor Frank J. Burns spent over fifty years of his professional life striving to ensure his patients received the best care he could provide, both medically and psychologically. The latter became almost more than he could bear after the day most of the world’s protectors vanished, The Day The Heroes Fell.
As a doctor he could treat most ailments with ease but there’s no surefire cure for a broken human spirit. And so, day after day Dr. Burns would watch as his waiting room became a mere shell of the overcrowded space it once was, his patients coming to the stark realization that their MD was incapable of helping them overcome the desperation that claimed them. They realized, as he eventually did, that their world had fallen to the forces of darkness and hope was a thing of the past.
Now, after what seemed like a lifetime in Hell later, Dr. Burns sat in his now empty corner office with the terrific view of the once-bustling cityscape and did what he did every day: He thought about the past and pondered…
“What the hell happened to the world? What happened to all those crazy characters in garish costumes who once shielded us from all manners of evil? How did the light fade away to be replaced by never-ending darkness? Why can’t I find a cure for this insidious virus?”
And at that moment, Dr. Frank J. Burns got his answer. His corner office shook like the very pillars of Heaven did The Day The Heroes Fell. Stumbling closer to his bay window, Frank Burns soon realized the tremors battering his collection of traditional Korean Folk Decorations (he started collecting them after waking from a particularly vivid dream of a life in a parallel universe) was far from contained to his microverse. Indeed, the entire city, maybe even the world, was reeling violently.
One thought rose to the surface of his troubled consciousness:
“Finally… it’s over… one way or another.”
And Dr. Burns was right. Sort of. As Golden Lad rose to his feet and faced his ally-turned-jailer, the crusader once known as The Clock, he came to the same conclusion, one he voiced with a tone as cold as ice.
“It’s over, Clock. This nightmare ends today… but not just on this world. “
Though he would never admit it, Brian O’Brien (an identity The Clock abandoned long ago) was actually relieved. He had served his masters faithfully – at the cost of his very soul – by turning on his costumed brothers and sisters in arms but had yet to find fulfillment and he truly didn’t believe he would ever attain it on any world. And to make matters worse, this specific battle seemed to last forever.
[Hook’s Note: Yeah, okay I admit I’ve been lagging on finishing this tale of good vs. evil. Sue me.]
“Don’t count on it, Preston. No matter how bright the light shines… it always yields to The Dark.”
(Told you he wouldn’t admit it.)
Once upon along ago, Tommy Preston would have loved hearing that piffy comic-bookesque line from an adversary in the heat of battle. It would have played right into his boyhood fantasies of good versus evil.
But those days were gone.
This time, there would be no witty comebacks, only action.
Thinking clearly for the first time in decades, Tommy Preston’s mind raced through what he knew of his opponent’s abilities.
- Technological Mastery: The Clock was known for creating complex, time-based gadgets, devices that could freeze people in time or release timed explosions.
- Energy Projection/Constructs: His gadgets were often capable of projecting energy blasts and he could even create solid energy constructs.
- Flight & Combat: He had mastered tech-based flight and possessed basic hand-to-hand combat skills.
- Tactical Genius: But his true power was his mind – diseased or not, Brian O’Brien possessed an extraordinary ability to plan, calculate, and predict events with meticulous precision, using time itself against his foes.
Sure enough, The Clock assumed a defensive stance and, reaching into one of his cavernous pockets, retrieved a obsidian pocket watch which he tossed at the Lad’s feet. Simultaneously, he released two giant energy-based hands from his gloves (you gotta stick to the classics). The watch exploded, releasing a shimmering wave that brought the passing of time to a standstill around Golden Lad as The Clock’s “power hands” wrapped themselves tightly around their prey.
“You were right, Brian…” the Lad uttered as a smile that would leave the Cheshire Cat stark green, enveloped his face, “Sometimes darkness is exactly what’s called for.”
You've Been Hooked! 
Things That Aren’t So Bad.
A cost of living that’s rising higher than your blood pressure when your mother-in-law visits.
Trump.
The specter of another pandemic.
Trump.
Let’s face it, the world sucks.
Unless you choose the right angle to look at it.
Perspective is everything.
That said (or rather, typed) if you want to survive this world, my friends, you have to accept that there’s good in everything around us. Like what, you ask?
Thank you for the segue…
BLACK LICORICE
I know what you’re thinking.
Yes, it’s as enticing as a bowl of charcoal cereal, but somebody must like it or they wouldn’t make it in the first place. The very thought of it makes your stomach react, right?
On the other hand, it inspires you to gobble up the other colors/varieties first, so these other colors actually owe black licorice a royalty or something.
I’m as qualified a negotiator as Donald Trump…
Or maybe not.