by TheTimeTrust
In Littletown one day, young Calvin Carter receives a sudden shock!
"Hello there, Amazing Lad!" a clean-cut young man in a blue shirt says as Calvin passes him by on the street.
"You... er... think I'm Amazing Lad?" gulps Calvin. "That's a good one! Ha ha!"
But at home, Calvin does doff his outer garments, revealing the costume of the famed boy hero underneath! That boy is new in town! he thought. Gosh, did he somehow find out my secret identity? Oh, he must have been joking! I'll forget it and go on patrol!
On patrol, Amazing Lad can hardly believe his ears when, as he flies low over a neighborhood street, a large, respectable-looking, middle-aged man wearing a white tuxedo shouts, "Hi, Calvin Carter!"
Omigosh! he thinks. Another person seems to know my secret! I--I'll pretend to ignore him as if he's wrong!
Later, Amazing Lad is really overwhelmed as he lands in a nearby park after rescuing a cat trapped in a tree, and a balding, bespectacled man wearing a lab coat says, "Amazing Lad, give my regards to Mr. and Mrs. Carter, your foster parents, when you return home!"
Great Guns! A scientist, too! Does EVERYBODY know the truth now?
But as the other two appear and join the scientist, they tell him a story he would never have expected to hear.
"Don't worry, Amazing Lad!" says the white-haired man. "Only we three know your secret, and we took care that nobody else was within earshot before! You'll soon see why we know all about you! We also have secret identities!"
At that, the three begin taking off their outer clothes to reveal costumes underneath! The young man Amazing Lad had seen earlier wears a navy blue costume, the scientist wears an orange costume, and the older, white-haired man wears a costume that is completely white, except for a tan vest.
"You see, we're from the future!" says the older man. "Naturally, we know your life story from historical records! We wore 21st-century clothes to have a bit of fun with you!"
So that's it! thinks Amazing Lad to himself. What a relief that my secret identity is still safe here in Littletown!
"They call me the Invisible Man!" says the man in white, who slowly fades from view before Amazing Lad's astonished eyes.
"Land o' Goshen!" says Amazing Lad.
"I am Glow-Worm!" says the youth in dark blue, suddenly glowing brightly like the rays of the sun.
"Wow!" says Amazing Lad, very impressed.
"And I am Cerebro!" says the scientist in orange, raising one arm and calling forward a very advanced, small, flying robot with the letters IGOR stamped on its side.
"Golly!" gulps Amazing Lad.
"We want to make you a member of our special club, whose members perform super-feats in the future!" says Invisible Man, pointing to a crest on his right shoulder which has the initials "EPS" on it. "You would be the greatest super-hero of us all!"
"Why... uh... I just do my job!" says Amazing Lad, blushing.
"Don't be modest, Amazing Lad! Come to the 26th century in our time sphere! It will only take a few hours to install you as an honorary member!"
"Gosh, thanks!" says Amazing Lad, beaming. He's never been so honored in his life. "I'll go, as long as things are quiet in Littletown right now!"
Eerily, the time machine leaves the 21st century.
"Hang on, Amazing Lad!" says Invisible Man. "We're crashing the time-barrier and sailing 500 years in the future!"
Amazing Lad looks on in awe as he peers through the transparent time sphere and sees the years literally passing by in seconds, colors of all kinds flashing by as it does so!
Dizzy moments later, the time sphere slows down into real time again and begins descending toward the ground. Amazing Lad looks down and catches a glimpse of a robot mailman making his rounds.
"This is Littletown in the 26th century, Amazing Lad! We'll show you around town! We can fly, too, propelled by jets."
Amazing Lad finds his home town vastly changed after 500 years!
"Holy cow! Littletown is a super-city now!" exclaims Amazing Lad as the four soar over the skies of Littletown to see hovercraft moving around everywhere.
"No, it's still just a town, Amazing Lad!" says Invisible Man. "You should see the BIG cities of this future time!"
"I'd like to!" says Amazing Lad.
"Then, it's off to Thunder City!" says Invisible Man as the four soar suddenly toward a huge, glowing metropolitan city in the distance.
"Gosh! This is incredible!"
"Now to our clubhouse!" says Invisible Man as the four descend toward an upside-down blue rocketship. "But before you become a member, Amazing Lad, you must follow the club rules and prove you're a super-hero!"
As the meeting of the Earth Protector Squadron comes to order, Invisible Man stands up at the meeting room table, which is filled with several other members of the EPS! Amazing Lad is proud to sit at the same table with Earth's valiant protectors, and he reads the names, colors and powers of each one:
Invisible Man -- dressed in white, has power of invisibility!
Glow-Worm -- dressed in dark blue, has power of sunlight!
Cerebro -- dressed in orange, has super-intelligence!
Element King -- dressed in black, has power over the elements!
Dynamo Man -- dressed in red, has power of electricity!
Silver Swordsman -- dressed in silver, has a super-sword!
Fishmaster -- dressed in light blue, has aquatic abilities!
"Notice, Amazing Lad, that each of us has one special super-power, different from yours!" says Invisible Man.
"Gosh, we have nothing like this back in 21st century Littletown!" says Amazing Lad. "Wait'll Chief Davis hears about this!"
Suddenly, as if in answer to Amazing Lad's statement, Chief Davis of the Littletown Police Department walks inside!
"Chief Davis, what are you doing here? And how?" gasps Amazing Lad.
"Due to the nature of time travel, Amazing Lad," says Invisible Man, "Chief Davis was brought here before you from a time after you already left the 21st century!"
"I came here to wish you well, Amazing Lad," says the smiling, mustachioed Chief Davis, who shakes Amazing Lad's hand. "The 21st century will indeed miss you!"
"Gosh! What do you mean?" asks Amazing Lad.
Another person steps into the room. This one is a glowing, blue-skinned alien of immense power. And when he speaks, Amazing Lad hears a booming echo-effect. He is in awe.
"AMAZING LAD..." says the powerful alien, whose eyes shine like hypnotic diamonds. "MY NAME IS SKY-WALKER, AND I HAVE COME TO THE EARTH IN ITS TIME OF NEED! FOR THAT REASON I HAVE FOUNDED THIS META-HERO CLUB, THE EARTH PROTECTOR SQUADRON, TO WATCH OVER THE EARTH! AND I NEED YOU, AMAZING LAD, TO JOIN US IN PROTECTING THE EARTH'S SAFETY! FOR THE EVER-PRESENT THREAT OF ALIEN INVASION LOOMS UPON US! WHAT SAY YOU, AMAZING LAD?"
"Land o' Goshen!" gasps Amazing Lad. "Well, I hate to be away from my friends, and Littletown needs constant protection from my dastardly arch-enemy, Rex Rascalous!"
"Don't worry about that, Amazing Lad," says Chief Davis, smiling, "for you have left us your Amazing Lad robots and Amazo, the Amazing Dog to protect us!"
"Oh, if only there was another way," says Amazing Lad. "But I'll do it! A hero's place is where he is needed the most!"
"...a hero's place is where he's needed the most..."
"...a hero's place is where he's needed the most..."
"...a hero's place is where he's needed the most..."
"...a hero's place is where he's needed the most..."
"...a hero's place is where he's needed the most..."
The EPS:
Dr. Charles Walker left the boy's cell, followed by Dr. Walter Curie.
"An interesting new recruit, Dr. Walker," said Curie. "How do you explain the hallucinations?"
"I believe they're tied in with young Cal Nachtman's source of power," said Walker. "You see, he lives in a state of wakeful dreaming, in which everything he experiences seems to be reinterpreted into some boy's comic-book fantasies. It was a simple enough matter to convince the boy that the trip on our private plane from Littletown, Colorado, was rather a trip through time, five hundred years in his future. Did you and the others have any problems there?"
"No," said Curie. "The local chief of police was glad to have him taken out of his hands, especially in light of the Chicago Metahuman Storm. His parents had kept his metahuman powers a secret, since he rarely harmed anyone, but the government appeals to route out any and all metahumans and metahuman sympathizers fell on fertile ears. They decided to cut their losses with Calvin, especially since we convinced them that we were much better equipped to take care of the 'metahumanly challenged.'" After a moment, Curie added, "I thought the colored lights and blue skin was a good effect."
"Indeed. He'll obey my every word if he believes my authority is just. No one could get through that dreamworld he lives in." Walker looked thoughtful. "Hmm. I think yellow would be the right color for his jumpsuit."
"Is it true he never sleeps?"
"Yes. From what we've gathered, he hasn't slept since his metagene first activated almost six years ago, when he was eight years old."
"The others have taken to calling him Insomnia Boy," said Curie.
"'Insomnia Boy'?" Walker said, grinning. And then he allowed himself to laugh, long and hard. Insomnia Boy, indeed.
The End