The Second Time Around

      

      Pegasus was on monitor duty. She hated monitor duty. Still, she could       imagine worse assignments, and (more importantly), she was sure Zemo       could as well. The leader of the Scourge of the BZL had been rather       testy ever since they had lost the bowling tournament to Jarvis' Lair       Legion, and that was weeks ago. So, she stretched her wings and       settled in for a quiet night with a trashy novel. Besides, her shift       ended in an hour and a half, at which time she thought she might hit       the SoBZL's sauna and hot tub. 'Membership does have it's privileges'       she thought as she flipped a page.       That was when the alarm started blaring.       She checked the computer screens to see if it was some kind of       malfunction. Zemo's $250,000,000 castle had been rebuilt, but there       were still plenty of bugs to work out of the state-of-the-art       electrical and security systems. You'd be amazed how much a       contractor could screw up, even at those prices. The computer showed       an intruder in the laboratory. Some two-bit prowler was rustling       through the Baron's technological what-nots. That'd be sure to piss       off Zemo. He didn't even like anybody touching the remote control to       his television.       Pegasus turned and bolted for the door. Halfway down the hall, she       went equine, her hooves rapping loudly against the stone floor. She       burst through the half-open Laboratory door with a snort, spreading       her wings and rearing up on her hind legs. That maneuver never failed       to impress the rubes.       In the back of the room, a figure whirled around to face her. He was       tall, with a polished steel mask, complete with two very sharp and       nasty horns rising from the top of his helmet. Pegasus briefly       wondered if he managed to drive while wearing that thing. Maybe he       owned a convertible, or at least had a sunroof.       "Who are you?" she demanded.       The figure returned her cold stare. "Someone who was never here." he       said as he reached his hand for a control panel to his right.       Too late, she recognized the gizmo that he was standing on:       Zemo's time machine.       ----------------------------------------------------------------------       Yo awoke with a splitting headache. This was quite odd, mainly       because Yo didn't think that he should have a headache. Yet he did.       Something was decidedly wrong.       He (Yo was in a 'he' kind of mood today) rolled out of bed and got       dressed. The Pure Thought Energy part of him always found the human's       concern over clothing to be rather silly, but 'when on Earth...', as       the old saying went. Besides, he had the feeling Lisa would never get       any work done if everyone were to go around nude, so perhaps this       'clothing' thing did indeed serve a purpose. He selected his best hat       and mask. While he was too polite to say so, he firmly believed that       Zorro was the only person on this planet with any fashion sense       what-so-ever. He was in a hurry to tie his mask, as today was       Thursday, and that meant waffles for breakfast. Despite his       mysterious headache, Yo was happy. How could one not be when waffles       were imminent?       That happiness was replaced with thoughtful concern as he entered the       kitchen. No waffles, as far as the eye could see. This just wouldn't       do. What was going on here?       "It's about time you got up..." Starseed said as he stuck his head in       the doorway. "Come on, Jarvis is calling an emergency meeting."       Yo nodded happily and followed Starseed. All in all, Starseed looked       quite good for someone who had just been buried the day before. Yo       decided not to mention to his fellow Legionnaire that he was, in       fact, supposed to be dead. Such minor details often caused his       friends distress, and besides, it always took too long to try to       explain such things to them. Yo noted that the conference room had       been redecorated as he entered and took his seat.       "Now that we're all here" Jarvis said icily, looking at Yo, "let's       get down to business."       "All here?" Yo asked, looking around the table. Only Lisa, Jarvis,       Starseed, spiffy and himself were in attendance.       "Space Ghost was captured last night by Zemo for the Apostate."       spiffy explained. "That's kind of the point to this whole meeting."       "Ah" said Yo. While he didn't always understand all the nuances of       their crude language, he thought that there must be another reason       that spiffy's clarification didn't clarify things. "What of Fin Fang       Foom?"       "What about him?" Jarvis snapped irritably.       "Where is he currently being?" Yo inquired politely.       "Still dead, last I heard." Starseed answered. "Of course, I haven't       really been checking up on him. Not since we buried him, anyway."       "Ah" Yo answered. "What of NTU-150?"       "My secretary?" Lisa asked, surprised. "I suppose he's filling or       collating or faxing or some-such-thing."       "Ah" Yo answered again. "What of Visionary?"       The all looked at him as if he had grown an extra head. Yo didn't       think that he had.       "Visionary?" Jarvis asked acidly. "Who the hell is Visionary?"       ----------------------------------------------------------------------       Cheryl surveyed the scene before her. "This isn't right" she       commented thoughtfully. "This isn't right at all."       "How so, my wife?" The Apostate asked curiously, his dark eyes       watching her with a mix of admiration and amusement.       "The damn fool's got the rack stretched too far, too fast" she       replied with her usual impatience. "The Legionnaire will pass out in       minutes. A proper torturing should last hours, if not days."       "Quite right, my dear. You always were an apt pupil. I shall have a       talk with our malevolent 'physical therapist', and correct the       problem." The Apostate strode across the room to where Space Ghost       was receiving the inept attentions of the rookie torturer.       Cheryl turned and trudged back up the stairs of their $250,000,000       castle. Being Queen of the Parodyverse was all well and good, but       somehow she was just was never satisfied. She was instantly given       anything her heart desired, anything in the entire world. Why, then,       did it feel like she was missing something?       "Perhaps I should conquer France today" she mused thoughtfully. "That       always seems to put a smile on my face."       "I beg my lady's forgiveness..." Hallie, attendant to the queen, said       nervously. "But you normally conquer France on Saturdays. This being       only Thursday, the French will not have finished rebuilding from last       week. They might by Friday, but not as of yet."       "Just as well" Cheryl noted, heading for the war room. "This way the       street mimes won't have any buildings to hide in once the ground       assault begins. Flushing mimes out of basements and sewers can grow       tedious."       ----------------------------------------------------------------------       It was time travel, obviously. Yo wondered why it had taken him so       long to realize it. The headache was the definative sign. His       subconscious had picked up the shift in the space-time continuum. The       implications of poorly conceived time-travel plots were enough to       give anyone a headache, even a being of Pure Thought Energy. From       what Yo could tell, this plot was particularly poor. The fact that Yo       had no good reason to remember the original time-line was a clear       indication of this.       The first step to correcting the problem would be to find out       precisely where this time-line diverged from the original. Luckily,       it never occurred to Yo that this would be a near-impossible task. He       thought he knew where it had begun, and so, of course, he did.       Yo took a deep breath, and, as easily as one might think of going to       the corner store, he thought himself to be back in late August of the       Year 1990.       ----------------------------------------------------------------------       "All right," Visionary's roommate, Brian, said. "You're up."       Visionary took the ball and gave it an experimental toss into the       late summer air. It had been a while since he had played volleyball,       and his main concern was simply not making a total fool out of       himself. Just get it over the net... Just get it over the net. He       threw the ball up above his head (one had to serve overhand, anything       else would just be rather wussy) and smacked it with the heal of his       palm. The Fates smiled upon him, and it was a particularly decent       serve. The blonde girl in the back row of the other team casually       advanced towards the net, and the ball went over her head to bounce       with a satisfying 'thud' in the grass.       "Oops, that's out, I'm afraid." The blonde said, retrieving the ball.       "Wha-? What are you talking about?" Visionary stammered. "That wasn't       even close to out!"       "Weren't you paying attention when we made the rules?" she asked       innocently. "Since we don't have any backlines, anything over the       heads of all the players is out."       "But you moved up!" Visionary said indignantly.       "Really? How peculiar." she noted. "I'm sure I must have had a good       reason. Anyway, I believe that it's now my serve." She flashed him a       pleasant smile.       Visionary considered arguing some more, but ultimately decided to let       it go. This was just a friendly game, after all. Simply a way for       freshmen to get to know each other before classes started.       Considering that, out of the entire dorm, only three women had shown       up, Visionary figured his chances of getting a date out of this game       were slim enough. Calling one of them a weasel to her face was       probably not going to drastically improve his odds.       The blonde girl swung her arm in a great underhand blow, and the ball       went sailing high in the air towards Visionary. Slyly, Visionary took       a giant step forward. The ball reached its zenith, disappearing in       the sun, then came plummeting back down to land squarely on top of       Visionary's head, creating what the blonde girl must have found to be       a very satisfying 'thud'.       "Smooth" Brian observed as their teammates ran after the lost ball.       "I thoughth tho" Visionary replied, having bitten his tongue.       "Are you all right?" the blonde girl asked, her teenage face split       into a some-what sympathetic smile.       "I think I'll live" Visionary answered, forcing his tongue to work.       "You wouldn't have been moving up to force the shot out-of-bounds,       would you?" she asked innocently.       "I am shocked, *shocked* that you would suggest such a thing."       Visionary answered haughtily.       "So then you meant to do that?"       "Well, uh... I'm really not in the habit of purposely taking blows to       the head." Visionary admitted.       "Don't worry," she reassured him thoughtfully, "it didn't show. You       made it look quite professional."       "Cheryl, get back over here and serve!" one of the woman's teammates,       presumably her roommate, called out. Visionary's blonde assailant       returned to her side of the net and prepared to launch the ball       again. "Do me a favor and see if you can whack a cute one this time"       her roommate suggested, "I could use a date for tonight."       ----------------------------------------------------------------------       Atop a nearby hill, unnoticed, a dark figure watched, the sunlight       reflecting off his polished steel mask as his menacing horns were       outlined against the crisp blue sky. Soon... very soon, he would have       everything he had ever desired. What was more, he would soon have       everything his hated rival ever held dear...       It was just a matter of time.       
     Part II
      The Apostate arrived late in the day outside of the correct
      dormitory. He quickly proceeded through the doors to the front desk.
      "I require access to your residence hall directory" he stated
      imperiously to the clerk.

      "Uh..." the student behind the desk replied, looking warily at the
      Apostate's antique armor and horned helmet. "like... are you a
      parent?"

      The Apostate reached out with his mind and latched onto the students
      beliefs, then subtly began to twist them. "I am Mr. Douglas S.
      Weisburg, Dean of Student Affairs, and it is imperative that I find a
      certain student so that I may confer upon her a full scholarship. You
      will be happy to help in any way, being the boot-licking toady that
      you are."

      "Yes, sir! Right away sir!" the desk clerk replied, believing every
      word.

      Beneath his mask, the Apostate smiled. Soon he would have what was
      rightfully his...

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      Cheryl and her roommate headed back to their room to change. They
      were going to join a bunch of people to watch movies in Brian and
      Visionary's room. It was nice to have met some people already, and
      those two lived right downstairs from them. Admittedly, Visionary was
      a little strange (although with a name like that, he'd almost have to
      be), but he seemed to be a nice enough guy.

      Just outside of her room, Cheryl noticed her Resident Advisor waving
      to her. She walked down the hall to meet her. "What's up?" she asked
      curiously.

      "Your boyfriend from back home stopped by to see you" her RA
      answered. I told him he could wait in the lounge until you came back,
      since I didn't know where you were."

      "Boyfriend?" Cheryl asked. She tried to think of who it could be, but
      even though she had dated plenty of guys her senior year in High
      School, she couldn't easily think of any one that rated that title.
      She was rather pleased to be starting college unattached.

      "Uh-huh, and let me just say... He's quite a catch." her RA whispered
      conspiratorially. "If it weren't so obvious how much you two are in
      love, I just might have tried to steal him away, myself!"

      "Ooookay" Cheryl said dubiously. Now she knew what the RA's did with
      all the illegal substances they confiscated. Still, her curiosity was
      piqued. She wandered down the hall to the lounge and poked her head
      in.

      "Hello, Cheryl" A tall, armored, masked man said. "I am the Apostate,
      your one true love, and everything you could ever want in a man."

      Cheryl suddenly felt dizzy, and there was an odd tingling in the back
      of her head. She shook it off and when she looked up, her loving
      boyfriend was watching her curiously. "Of course you are, silly." She
      said as she wrapped him in an embrace. "Who else would you be?"

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      "So..." Brian said as they hastily picked all the dirty laundry up
      off the floor. "That girl who clocked you was pretty cute."

      "So was her roommate" Visionary observed with a grin as he stuffed
      some clothes under the bed. They could now see the rug that lined the
      center of their room, which meant that they were ready for company.
      Visionary hung the 'movie-night' sign on their front door, proudly
      advertising tonight's feature, Bob and Doug Mckenzie's "Strange
      Brew".

      A variety of guys from the volleyball game showed up in short time,
      but none of the women had by the time they started the flick. About
      fifteen minute into it, there was a polite knock at the door.
      Visionary rose and looked out the open door to find a pretty brunette
      with green eyes in the hall. "Uh... Yes?" he asked.

      "It is good to be seeing you again." she responded.

      "Oh, ummm..." Visionary said, trying to place her face. "I'm sorry,
      have we met?"

      "No" she answered happily. "Not yet. I was wondering if I could be
      seeing the movie?"

      "Oh! Of course! Um... come on in..." Visionary said to the odd woman.
      "That's my roommate Brian, I'm Visionary and, uh... I really can't
      remember the names of anybody else." He admitted.

      "Two is impressive enough, for you" she answered cryptically. "I am
      Yo."

      "Come again?" Visionary asked.

      "Yo." Yo repeated. "It is my name."

      "Is that short for Yolanda?" Brian asked curiously.

      "If you like" Yo replied, looking around. "Where is Cheryl? Why is
      she not here?"

      "You know Cheryl?" Brian replied, trying to make conversation.
      Visionary didn't mind. Frankly, he thought that there was something
      rather strange about this Yo woman. Still, since he and Brian were
      both male college freshmen, she could be as odd as she liked. There
      was no way they were going to throw an attractive woman out of their
      room.

      Visionary went back to watching the movie as his roommate tried to
      engage Yo in witty banter. However, he couldn't shake the feeling
      that this woman was not only staring at him, but silently laughing at
      him as well. He couldn't help but think that she somehow found his
      very existence amusing. It was rather unsettling.

      When there was another knock at the door, it was with relief that
      Visionary rose to answer it. Outside was the blonde woman who had
      clobbered him with the volleyball, Cheryl, arm in arm with an
      extremely tall, muscular man in archaic armor and a horned helmet.

      "I am the Apostate" the man declared imperiously. "Aside from being
      your superior in every way, I am only an ordinary college student,
      not a powerful arch-villain. The woman with me is mine, and you will
      never have a chance with her. You are beneath us both." With that,
      the two of them turned and walked away.

      "Ummm... okay." Visionary said. Campus life was obviously much
      weirder than he had been lead to believe. "Well, thanks for stopping
      by and clearing that up" he said wryly as he turned to go back
      inside. Instead, he found himself face to face with that Yo woman.

      "No" she said simply. "This will not do."

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      "Uh-huh" Visionary said again. "So where's your DeLorean,
      future-girl?"

      Yo-woman sighed. Explaining things to Visionary was never an easy
      task, even under normal circumstances. Considering that he hadn't yet
      experienced the Parodyverse, he was having a hard time coming to
      grips with what was, in Yo's opinion, a rather routine adventure. She
      smiled happily and tried again. "Such things are not necessary" she
      said patiently. "It is the thought that counts."

      "Uh-huh" he repeated.

      Yo was not the violent type, but she could see the value of giving
      him a good slap. Still, she thought she'd try another tactic first,
      and so she did. With a thought, she shifted back into her androgynous
      state and smiled at him once more.

      "WAUGH!" Visionary cried, (Gah! had yet to catch on as an
      exclamation), and nearly fell over the chairs in the small lounge
      where they were talking. "Wha-- howdid--- whatare--"

      "Yes" Yo said happily. "Now you are getting it" This was closer to
      the Visionary that he remembered. He explained it all to him once
      more.

      "So... you're for real? You're from this... Parodyverse... and so am
      I? Er... eventually, any way?"

      "Yes" Yo answered, nodding.

      "And I'm really that important?" he asked with a bit of awed pride.
      "The whole place goes to hell if I'm not a part of it?"

      "No, you're not really very important" Yo answered enthusiastically.
      He was finally accepting things! "Mostly, you just do monitor duty...
      and sing very badly" Yo added.

      "I sing just fine!" Visionary insisted woundedly.

      "No" Yo answered. "You do not. But it is entertaining, also."

      Visionary crossed his arms and looked at Yo. "So if I'm a nobody,
      then why does it matter what happens to me?"

      "Because" Yo said, "You are harmless, mostly. Not so for this
      'Apostate'. We'd rather have you, provided you are not singing."

      "You mean that jerk in the hall?" Visionary asked. "The one with that
      Cheryl girl?"

      "Your wife" Yo replied, nodding.

      "HER?!" Visionary said, shocked. "The one who clobbered me with the
      ball? But... but... she... that is..." he sputtered, pacing like a
      caged animal. "... I've always preferred brunettes" he finished
      lamely.

      "She is surprisingly good for you" Yo reassured him. "Besides, Lisa
      is saying always that Cheryl could have done better than you by far.
      I have not heard that you could have done better than her yet." Yo
      explained. "The feeling is that you were mostly quite lucky."

      "Uh-huh" Visionary said moodily. "So if she's so great, why is she
      hanging all over that fashion disabled prick?"

      Yo once more had to remind himself that these beings tended to miss
      the obvious. Any child on Yo-planet could recognize the mental sway
      the Apostate held over Cheryl. "She is not herself." He answered.

      Visionary sat down heavily on one of the chairs and sighed. "So...
      What are we supposed to do about it?" he finally asked. "I mean, to
      correct this future? I have to win my 'future wife' back from that
      armored goon? Is that why you've come back, to play matchmaker?"

      It should be noted that Yo was running out of time, and that he
      believed that he would need Visionary's help, and also that, should
      things work out, Visionary would stand to benefit greatly from his
      actions. With all this in mind, Yo decided to do something to
      Visionary that he had never done before. "Yes" Yo lied to him,
      "exactly."

      

    Part III
      "Um, Yo?" Visionary asked apprehensively. He had already put on the
      yellow overcoat, as well as the green sweatshirt with the yellow
      diamond on it that Yo had provided. Still, this was getting
      drastic... "Are you sure this will even work?"

      "No" Yo admitted happily.

      "Ummmm... okay." Visionary watched in the mirror as Yo raised the
      electric razor. "People in 1998 really wear their hair this short?"

      "Not really" Yo answered. "But your hairline is in retreat."

      "What?! What are you talking about?" Visionary demanded. "I'm losing
      my hair already? I'm only supposed to be... what, 26?"

      Yo shrugged. "Too much stress. Either that or too much blows to the
      head." he explained. "Friction, I think."

      It occurred to Visionary that he didn't have a lot to look forward
      too. It was bad enough that he was to become a bit player confined to
      'monitor duty', whatever the hell that was, not to mention that he
      apparently had a mortal enemy willing to travel back into time just
      to screw with his life. Did he have to have receding hair as well?
      "What else?"

      Yo looked at him critically, then whapped him in the left temple.

      "Oww!!!" Visionary complained. "What the hell was that for?!"

      "You are usually having a bump on your head." Yo explained
      cheerfully.

      "And I had one the last time you saw me?" Visionary asked moodily,
      rubbing his temple.

      "No" Yo said simply. "But you were due."

      Visionary glared at his future teammate. "If you're on my side, I'd
      hate to see what this 'Apostate' would do to me."

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      All the waiting, all the research... It had all paid off. The
      Apostate grinned beneath his steel mask. For weeks he had lurked
      around the Parodyverse, studying his prey, biding his time...

      The Apostate was rather proud of himself. Not only had he made it
      into the past unopposed, but he now had a clear page on which to
      rewrite history. He had come into being specifically to be
      Visionary's successor, but why stop there? Why follow when he could
      simply replace? Visionary had squandered his time in the Parodyverse.
      Given the chance, the Apostate would not do the same. He would remake
      the Parodyverse to suit his needs, and it all started here with this
      woman.

      He watched Cheryl as she walked to the cafeteria for lunch.
      Currently, he was exerting his influence over everyone in his
      presence, causing them to believe that he wasn't even there. Another
      example of his superiority over the powerless Visionary. He could
      have taken on his adversary back in the future, in fact, he had
      strongly considered it. It could have been fun to watch as he made
      the man's fellow Legionnaires tear him apart, believing him to be
      Zemo, the Anti-Jarvis, Blofish... anything the Apostate wished them
      to believe. Hell, that 'Lisa' woman probably wouldn't have even
      needed a reason at all...

      But there was one major drawback to this plan. While those with
      strong ties to his predecessor might be able to resist his powers, he
      did not fear facing any Legionnaire. But the captivating Cheryl...
      that was another matter entirely. He had studied her endlessly, and
      she had haunted his every waking moment. As perfect as she was in
      every other way, she had one major flaw: her misguided feelings for
      her pathetic fool of a husband. She would oppose him and that he
      could not bear.

      So he had come here, to this time. Here, she could be his, having no
      feelings for anyone else to interfere with his influence. What's
      more, by choosing this exact time, he could still steal her away from
      his hated rival. That would be the ultimate joy, watching Visionary
      miss his destiny and fade into obscurity. There was no one to come to
      his aid, no League of Regulars, no Lair Legion...

      "So!" a voice called out in contempt from behind him. "You're the one
      trying to destroy my past, you horned freak."

      The Apostate turned and froze in shock. There, in front of him, stood
      Visionary as he should have existed in the future, flanked by his
      fellow Legionnaire, Yo! "Impossible!" he snarled. "I've erased you!"

      "Not yet, apparently." Visionary replied. "I'm still here, in any
      event. Maybe your skill with the ladies isn't all you think it is,
      hmm? I guess Cheryl ends up wanting someone more competent. You were
      pathetically easy to follow through time, after all."

      "You dare?!" The Apostate turned the full force of his powers on
      Visionary. "Your chest is one fire... Your heart is bursting! As is
      every blood vessel in your brain!!!"

      "No" Visionary answered calmly. "I believe you are mistaken. In fact,
      I feel just fine. Well, aside from a bruise on the head, that is."
      Visionary gave Yo a pointed glance.

      He was immune! The damn fool was immune to the Apostate's powers!

      "Very well" the Apostate hissed, drawing himself up to his full
      height. "We do this the hard way..."

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      So far, so good, Visionary thought. Not only had the armored doofus
      apparently bought into the idea that Visionary was from the future,
      Yo had been right in guessing that the Apostate's powers wouldn't
      work on either of them. Apparently, being made of Pure Thought Energy
      protected Yo, simply because he thought it would. Yo had a reason
      Visionary wouldn't be affected as well, but frankly, Visionary didn't
      understand a word of it. Of course, nothing that came out of Yo's
      mouth made sense to him, so that was nothing new.

      Still, Yo had assured him that the only way to win Cheryl back (even
      though he had never had her in the first place) was to face down the
      Apostate. Maybe she was the kind of girl easily swayed by heroic
      acts. Once freed of the villain's belief-altering abilities, she 'd
      probably be *very* grateful. Visionary had to admit, for a blonde,
      she was very attractive... and if they were destined to get married
      anyway...

      "I'll hit him high, you hit him low..." Visionary said. "Ready, Yo?"

      There was no answer, mainly because Yo was no longer there.

      The Apostate grabbed Visionary by his sweatshirt and lifted him
      completely off the ground.

      "Aw, crap" Visionary said, wincing in anticipation. "This is gonna
      hurt, isn't it?"

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      "Hello" a pretty brunette with green eyes said, taking a seat across
      the table. "May I be sitting here?"

      "Certainly" Cheryl replied politely, moving her cafeteria tray so
      that there was more room. She held out her hand. "I'm Cheryl"

      "I know" The woman replied. "I am Yo. May I question you?"

      "Um, I suppose so..." Cheryl answered. There was something peculiar
      about this Yo woman.

      "What the hell is being the matter with you?"

      "I beg your pardon?" Cheryl asked crisply.

      "The Cheryl I am remembering wouldn't put up with such things as are
      going on." Yo answered happily. "She is patient, yes, but to a
      point..."

      "Now wait just one minute!" Cheryl began, her annoyance inflamed by a
      buzzing in the back of her skull. Sure, she was new here, but she
      didn't have to put up with this...

      "She is certainly not going to be controlled by a man she hardly
      knows, not by anyone, actually" Yo continued calmly. "Tell me, why do
      you like this Apostate?"

      The buzzing in her head grew louder. "He's everything I could want in
      a man" she stated defensively, through clenched teeth.

      "Is he respectful to you?"

      "Well..." Her head was throbbing now...

      "Does he treat you as equal?"

      "It's not... not like..." Cheryl was wincing.

      "Does he care for you, or is just using you?" Yo continued
      relentlessly.

      "I.. I..." Cheryl clutched both sides of her head as the buzzing
      became nearly deafening. "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY MIND!!!!!" she
      screamed. She threw the force of her will against the maddening pain,
      breaking the Apostate's hold on her.

      The entire cafeteria fell silent as everyone turned to stare at her.

      "She was being possessed by a dork from the future" Yo explained
      happily. "But she is feeling better now. Nothing more to be seeing."

      "The... future?" Cheryl asked quietly, still wincing from pain.

      "Yes" Yo answered with a smile. "I will tell you all about it. But
      first, do you think I am resembling you?" She leaned in close to
      Cheryl. "I am thinking so."

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      Visionary was right. It did hurt.

      The Apostate lifted him into the air once again and slammed him back
      down to the floor. "You managed to follow me through time, and this
      is the best you could do?" He sneered. "What did you think, you would
      simply beat me up and take me back? You are already far too late to
      save your world... the past has already been altered."

      "Huurfff" Visionary wheezed. Sure, it wasn't the best rebuttal, but
      then spewing off snappy comebacks was considerably more difficult
      with no air in one's lungs. Frankly, snappy comebacks weren't exactly
      the first thing he was likely to spew in his present condition.

      The Apostate eyed him speculatively. "How did you manage to follow me
      back at all?" he demanded. His eyes grew wide as a possibility
      occurred to him. "Tell me," he hissed, lifting Visionary off the
      ground so that his feet dangled in the air, "...who is President of
      the United States in 1998?"

      "Go... to... Heurk!!!" Visionary answered as the Apostate squeezed
      his throat. At this point he had to trust in Yo, and buy him time to
      do whatever the hell he was doing. Unfortunately, this Apostate
      fellow didn't seem to be in the mood for stalling tactics.

      "Wrong answer, care to try again?"

      "Go ahead and squeeze" Visionary managed through clenched teeth. "The
      fact that I'm here is proof that you've already lost..."

      "Perhaps" the Apostate answered. "But perhaps not." He turned to look
      at the students entering the cafeteria, blissfully unaware of the
      ongoing combat, thanks to the Apostate's power. "You may be the type
      to selflessly give your life, but how many of these people are you
      willing to sacrifice? How many should I make believe they are dying?
      How many should I kill before you answer my question politely?" He
      pulled Visionary's face close to his. "Now, once more... who is
      President of the United States in 1998?"

      Visionary had to guess, and pray that he was right... for his sake
      more than for the country's. "Uh..." he rasped, "Dan Quayle?"

      From the way the Apostate smashed his head into the wall, he figured
      he guessed wrong.

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      "Idiot!" The Apostate screamed, more at himself than at his battered
      enemy. Visionary wasn't the time traveler at all! He was merely the
      pathetic, harmless, college student! It was Yo who was the danger...
      Yo had fed him a facsimile of his hated rival, and the Apostate had
      taken the bait completely! He was about to discard the useless
      Visionary and storm after the Legionnaire, when he regained control
      of his emotions.

      Cheryl had been Yo's target all along... Somehow, Cheryl held the key
      to restoring the future. Like a fool, the Apostate had let her out of
      his sight, all too eager to deal with her future husband. However,
      she was only part of the equation. He held the bloodied other half of
      that future in his hands. He had always planned to watch Visionary
      live out his life in obscurity, always under the Apostate's heel...
      his life a plaything for the Apostate's amusement. Sadly now, he
      realized this could never be. Too much was at stake.

      "I may loose her, I may loose it all..." he hissed to the barely
      conscious man, "but I guarantee you this... Your future ends now!"
      With that, he slowly, and with great pleasure, snapped Visionary's
      neck.

      The dead man's body hit the floor with a hollow thud. With cold
      deliberation, The Apostate stepped over the remains of the man he was
      destined to replace and entered the cafeteria.

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      Cheryl had crept out the kitchen entrance of the cafeteria as Yo had
      instructed. Maybe her parents had been right... there was a good
      chance that none of this would be happening if she had taken their
      advice and gone to Ohio State, but then, this wasn't exactly the kind
      of situation one foresaw when filling out college applications...

      She had originally planned to head for the front doors and get
      outside, then put as much distance between herself and the Apostate
      as possible. Something within her, however, made her circle back
      towards the student entrance of the cafeteria. Running just didn't
      seem right, somehow. She cautiously crept back up the stairs...

      It was then that she saw the body. She felt a chill go over her. It
      was the boy from the volleyball game, Visionary. Yo had said that he
      was standing up to the Apostate. Why? He hardly knew her... Had he
      done it for himself? For some future he was supposed to have? Had he
      done it for a girl he had only met once? Had he done it simply
      because, somewhere inside, he felt it was the right thing to do?

      Cheryl realized sadly that she would never know, and that, in some
      way, not knowing him made his loss all the more painful.

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      The Apostate strode into the cafeteria and quickly spotted Cheryl
      dining by herself at a back table. The Legionnaire, Yo, was no where
      in sight. He marched across the room to confront her. "Has he been
      here? Has he been talking to you?" he demanded.

      "Has who, dear?" she answered.

      "Nevermind, we must leave at once." he commanded.

      "Not yet, dear" she answered. "I'm not done."

      The Apostate practically snarled. Yo had gotten to her! Still, he
      could repair whatever damage the meddling Legionnaire had done. He
      focused his mind and reached out to touch on her beliefs. That's when
      he realized what had happened. "You're not Cheryl!" he roared.

      Yo-cheryl smiled happily. "I believe you are correct" she answered.

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      Once the Apostate had latched onto his mind, Yo refused to let go.
      While Yo was made of Pure Thought Energy, he was not actually
      telepathic. However, the Apostate had generously provided the mind
      link. Now Yo just had to find what he was looking for.

      As previously mentioned, time travel could cause even PTE beings
      severe headaches while trying to figure out the mechanics involved.
      Yo knew that if he were to travel back to the future from this point,
      he would be traveling to the future as dictated by the events in the
      present. That simply wouldn't do. However, as all being who have
      evolved into Pure Thought Energy know, memories link different time
      periods. The benefits of time travel by way of Thought Energy was
      that one could use one's memories as road-maps. Therefore, one could
      travel to any specific time as long as one remembered it, regardless
      of how screwed up the space-time continuum became. Thankfully,
      because Yo already knew all this, he felt no need to dwell on it, and
      thus his head did not explode.

      The truth of the matter was that the entire reason Yo had come back
      into the past was to find this one memory, his one path back to where
      this whole mess began. Thankfully, the Apostate had been nice enough
      to provide the mind-link necessary for Yo to find what he was looking
      for. With the destination of the proper moment in the proper reality
      in mind, Yo thought himself back to 1998.

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      Pegasus burst through the half-open Laboratory door with a snort,
      spreading her wings and rearing up on her hind legs. That maneuver
      never failed to impress the rubes.

      In the back of the room, a figure whirled around to face her. He was
      tall, with a polished steel mask, complete with two very sharp and
      nasty horns rising from the top of his helmet. Pegasus briefly
      wondered if he managed to drive while wearing that thing. Maybe he
      owned a convertible, or at least had a sunroof.

      "Who are you?" she demanded.

      Suddenly, the room was filled with a flash of light. Pegasus
      instinctively wrapped her wings around herself to shield her eyes.

      "He is the Apostate," a voice answered. "And he will be hurting my
      friends..."

      Pegasus peered out from behind her feathers to see Yo holding the
      struggling armored man off the floor. Lightning arched off of Yo, and
      it was apparent that he was thinking some very angry thoughts.

      "Let go of me!!!" The Apostate demanded.

      Yo brought him down so that they were face to face. "I saw your
      memory of what you had done to Visionary" he said quietly. "Be glad
      that I know you have not yet done it." With that, Yo sent a jolt of
      Thought Energy through him, knocking him unconscious.

      Pegasus stared at the two of them for a few moments. "Do I even want
      to know what this was all about?" she finally asked.

      "No" Yo admitted.

      "Okay, then get your asses out of here before Zemo comes back." she
      said, changing back to her human form. "I do *not* want to spend the
      next eight hours filling out the appropriate Scourge of the BZL
      paperwork for an unauthorized break-in."

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------

      "So, you let him beat me to death?" Visionary asked for the fifth
      time.

      "Yes" Yo answered happily, once again.

      "And this really happened?"

      "No" Yo replied. "Not anymore."

      Visionary gave a weary sigh and tried again. "Okay... let me ask you
      this... Why couldn't you just use your own memories to go back to the
      original timeline, seeing as how you remembered it yourself?"

      Yo shook his head. "I needed to be remembering where exactly it
      diverged, but I could not, only that it was one way, then the other."
      Yo supplied helpfully. "I could not change things without knowing
      when I was to be acting, where I was to be, and who I was to be
      stopping."

      Visionary held his throbbing head in his hands. "Do you understand
      any of that?" he asked Fleabot.

      "Absolutely, you see..."

      "Nevermind" Visionary answered. "I'll take your word for it." He
      looked at Yo. "So what happened to the Apostate?"

      "He is in the mental care facility" Yo said happily. "He was needing
      help."

      "So..." Visionary said slowly, "you let him beat me to death?"

      "Yes" Yo answered for the sixth time.

      Visionary stared at him. "Why?" he finally asked.

      Yo shrugged. "I know you."

      Just then Cheryl and Lisa returned to the Lair from their shopping
      trip. Visionary studied his wife thoughtfully as she sorted through
      her bags. She caught him watching her and flashed him a warm smile.

      "You let him beat me to death..." Visionary repeated, "so that you
      could get to Cheryl, and make sure that our lives together would be
      restored?"

      "Yes" Yo said happily.

      Visionary sat looking at Yo for a long time. "Thank you." he finally
      said.

      ----------------------------------------------------------------------


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