1969-

Bobby Benson looked out the window of his quarters. His arm didn’t hurt anymore,

but it was still withered from the last attack of his major foes. He supposed he was

lucky the beam hadn’t hit him head on like it had Will and Anne. He didn’t feel that

lucky.

Bobby wondered if his powers would allow him to heal the arm. He hadn’t found

anything in the scrolls. Cain had written down other applications of the Spark, but

healing seemed to be work for other people.

He could be the first user to use the Spark for healing. He just didn’t know how to

apply it yet. Something would show up and give him a clue on how he was going to

do that.

He wouldn’t mind it if he could just get more mobility in the thing without resorting

to becoming the Mark. That temporarily fixed things as he used the magic to turn into

his other self.

He doubted any doctors could fix it. And he wasn’t willing to lose the arm altogether.

That seemed like too much of a drastic solution for his tastes.

He heard a cry for help coming from the clouds outside his window. Maybe a call to

action was what he needed. It had been a while since he had done something

constructive.

The court had declared him innocent, but people were afraid of him now. They were

waiting for him to go on another rampage. He supposed they had a point, but he

didn’t like it.

He called on the Spark and changed. His jeans and workshirt transformed into a blue

suit with a green tie clip. He dove out of the open window. He was still the Mark, and

he still had a job to do.

He descended into a cloud. When he came out the other side, he flew over a city that

resembled New York. Some of the buildings seemed to be in the wrong place, and

Manhattan didn’t look like it did back home, but it was close enough to be

recognizable.

He headed for where the scream had come from to pierce his lookout. He wanted to

solve the problem and go back to his research. He had to figure out how to get his arm

back to normal.

He refused to believe that there was nothing that could help him. He had fought a lot

of mad scientists. He didn’t want to talk to them again about what had happened that

had led to their incarceration.

He found the source of the call. A woman backed from an alley. She held her hands

to her mouth. She turned to run from whatever was inside the lane between buildings.

Something charged out of the space after her. It had too many mouths and claws for

ripping. It sprinted on all fours to catch up to its intended prey.

Bobby swooped down and picked it up. It turned to claw at him with a few of its

arms. He threw it up in the air. He paused to check the scene. He didn’t want to leave

others like the thing running around to attack civilians.

He didn’t see any more of the things. He should be able to catch it and put it

somewhere it wouldn’t hurt anybody else.

He wondered if that shaggy coat would protect it in the Arctic. The danger would be

if it could move in the ice zone and decided to track back south to civilization.

He wondered if killing it was the right answer to this problem.

He noticed a glowing path in the distance. It seemed to be flying around the Statue

of Liberty. Maybe he should check that out before he went home. Maybe one of the

local heroes was having a problem he could help out with.

Bobby caught the furry monster as it fell back down toward the city. He headed out

to the Statue of Liberty. It wasn’t quite the copper beauty of his world, but he knew

it anywhere. He found a flying man flying around the head of the statue. Her hair

formed a green waterfall over a small tiara. A group of men in yellow overalls stood

on the hairdo. They shot at the flying man with blasters that seemed too advanced for

the rest of the city he had observed on the flight here.

“How’s it going?” Bobby caught two of the energy bolts with his free hand. The other

hand dangled the monster high above the sea. It whimpered as it looked down at the

ocean below.

“Who are you?” The flying man wore a costume of red and gold. A gold mask

covered the upper half of his face.

“I’m the Mark.” Bobby held up the monster. “I caught this thing attacking some

woman in the city. I was thinking of taking it to the Arctic, but then I noticed you

flying around over here.”

The flying man frowned at the explanation. It sounded too good to be true.

“A new hero?” That seemed to be the only piece that made things fit together.

“I’m visiting from the next universe over.” Bobby wondered if he would believe that.

He knew he would weigh it before accepting it. He had seen too many strange things

not to believe a story like that until it was disproved.

“Would you mind giving me a hand?,” the other hero asked. “I have two other

emergencies I need to handle at the moment.”

“Sure.” Bobby threw his captive into the air. Then he flew into the mass of shooting

Stolen novel; please report.

men. He smashed into them, crushing equipment, punching enemies before they could

run. He flew up and caught the creature. It whimpered now.

“Thanks.” The other hero smiled. “The police are on the way to pick them up. I have

a guy demanding my presence at the airport, and some kind of monster on the Strip.”

“Which airport?” Bobby could handle both jobs by himself, but felt his power

allowed him a better chance of stopping someone holding a plane hostage.

“Nixon International.” The masked man pointed where Bobby knew La Guardia stood

in his home city.

“I’ll handle it.” Bobby smiled. “As soon as I’m done, I’ll help you with your

monster.”

“Thanks.” The masked man headed south toward New Jersey. He showed a lot of

trust in a guy he just met.

“Let’s go, Fangs.” Bobby streaked toward the airport. He noted the presence of police

helicopters on the way to the Statue. At least he wasn’t leaving criminals to escape

after the beating he had given them.

He grabbed some rebar from a nearby construction site and wrapped his captive in it.

He let it test its prison to make sure it couldn’t escape. Then he placed the cage on the

traffic control tower. He knocked on the window to get the controllers’ attention. He

pointed down to let them know he was heading for a landing.

A group of men in suits and uniforms met him at the door. They looked worried about

what was going on. A bevy of questions about Captain Spark led the way.

“I’m pinch hitting for him at the moment.” Bobby held up his hands. “He had some

monster to beat up. What can you guys tell me about the problem? I’ll be glad to deal

with it for you.”

“We got a guy in Flight Four Ten who says he’s got a bomb that he will use to blow

up the passengers and himself unless he sees Captain Spark in the next few minutes.

We have ten minutes to comply.” One of the men took charge. “SWAT says they

can’t get a clean shot. He’s in the cabin with the passengers and away from the

windows.”

“Call him up and tell him that Captain Sparks’s brother is coming down to talk to

him.” Bobby frowned. “Can one of you guys show me where the plane is?”

“He’s not going to like that.” The guy in charge frowned.

“Tell him to turn on the news if he can.” Bobby shrugged. “Captain Spark said he had

a monster to deal with on the Strip. Tell him I’m just going to keep him company

until the guy can get here.”

“I’ll tell him.” The man nodded. “If you can get him in the cockpit, SWAT say they

can take him out.”

“As long as he doesn’t detonate when he sees me, I can take care of this.” Bobby

smiled. “Which one is Four Ten?”

“Come with me.” One of the uniforms led the way across the tarmac. A rifleman and

aid took up a spot next to the building. Others were sprinkled behind cover. Bobby

noted them, but said nothing. There was no point in letting them know he could see

like an eagle. “There’s the plane.”

He pointed to a plane sitting by itself in the middle of a runway. No one was close to

it, and the authorities might be afraid to block it in if the guy decided he wanted to fly

out of there after talking to Captain Spark.

“Let me go out there and talk to the guy.” Bobby frowned. “If he doesn’t push the

button when he sees me, we have a shot. If he does, the hostages are as good as

dead.”

“What about you?,” the uniform asked.

“He needs a nuke if he wants to scratch me.” Bobby smiled. “That’s why I have a shot

at walking away.”

Bobby didn’t plan to let the man push the button. He knew the plane and he had speed

beyond measure. He wasn’t letting the guy know he was coming as a stall. He was

letting him know so he had to be in one of two places. One of those Bobby could see.

When he saw the hostage taker step into the cockpit, bomb on prominent display, he

launched from the asphalt. His flight bowled over the police as he flickered across the

field as fast as a bullet. The bomber knew he was in trouble when something had him

by the throat, while crushing his hand with the other hand. Then they were outside on

the runway.

“How’s it going?” Bobby grinned at him. “Are there more of you on the plane?”

“I’ll never tell you, pig.” The bomber tried to free his hand so the switch would fall

out of it. He couldn’t break the grip holding the detonator in place.

“I think you need to go for a swim.” Bobby launched himself in the air. He headed out

into the bay. He dragged his enemy through the water. The electronics stopped

working after the first minute. He knew this because the man dropped the detonator

and nothing happened.

Bobby returned to the airport. He dropped the man on the runway away from the

plane. Police and fire fighters had crossed the tarmac when Bobby had grabbed the

mastermind.

“Everyone is okay.” The uniform that had acted as a guide for Bobby smiled. “That

was a good job.”

“It’s backfired a couple of times.” Bobby pulled the bomb off of his victim with a

tearing of cloth. “Most people can’t even see me when I don’t want them to.”

“I believe it.” The uniform pulled cuffs from under his belt. “I don’t know why this

guy wanted Captain Spark so bad, but maybe he’ll tell us downtown.”

“Maybe the plane was rigged somehow.” Bobby shrugged. “He might still have

something in the cargo that could be triggered.”

“I’ll get the bomb squad to go over the thing to make sure.” The uniform waved at

two of his men. “The last thing we need is a disaster here at the airport.”

“Let me check in with the Captain, then I have to head home.” Bobby smiled. “I have

my own crooks to punch in the face.”

“Have a good flight,” said the uniform. He found that he was talking to himself.

Bobby picked up his homemade cage. The monster hissed at him. He nodded in reply.

Then he headed south.

He spotted the giant monster being forced off the gambling area by Captain Spark.

He wondered how he could stop the thing without knocking over a building. He

didn’t want to do more damage than he had to.

The monster in the cage started making the noises. It whistled and hooted. The bigger

monster paused to look at the cage. It roared in dismay.

Bobby flew up and held the little monster in front of the bigger monster. The little one

stretched out limbs for the bigger one.

“What’s going on?” Captain Spark looked at the two.

“I think this is the baby.” Bobby pulled the cage apart so the smaller monster could

climb out. He helped it over to the clutches of the big one. Hooting filled the air.

“All right.” Captain Spark nodded. “Thanks for the help. How do we get them back

to where they belong?”

“Got me,” said Bobby. “I guess I can fly the mother out of the city.”

The bigger monster turned and headed toward the sea. Her tail knocked out glass

windows as she passed. Her baby rode on her shoulder.

“It looks like our work here is done when the creatures head out to shore.” Bobby

smiled. “This worked out better than I thought.”

“I still have to help repair the damage to the buildings.” Captain Spark shook his

head. “At least the family is back together.”

“You can’t do better than that.” Bobby looked around. This Atlantic City was just as

off as the New York, but it still stood after a close encounter of a scaly kind.

He waved his hand as he headed for a cloud to get back to his window. He still had

to find a cure for his arm.