Post by lawrenceliberty on Jun 9, 2017 18:30:34 GMT
Thunderbolt: Rebirth
1988.
Prologue
Within a lonely but vast cavern, a bearded man spoke to a lovely young woman.
He said, “As you know, my name is Peter Cannon but I have also been called The Chosen One of the Scrolls, Vajra the Enlightened, and most often Thunderbolt. It is amusing that a man who was never born received so many names during the life he never lived. I am being cynical and playing semantic games since in truth of course I was born, lived, and still live what has been an amazingly prolonged lifespan. There was a brief time in which my existence itself was erased from recorded history but in the eternal span of things, that was only for a very short time. Additional irony is found in the fact that this time outside of time benefitted me greatly! Clearly, I think too much. I have overindulged myself and my own tendency to speculate and meditate and philosophize until I have become a very poor storyteller. However, in spite of this poor start, I can do better. I must do better. I will do a better job at sharing my story.
Here within the seemingly infinite passageways of the Cave of Peaks where all things exist as do all eras, I may show you my story by directing your attention to the images that flicker across the reflective surface of the forever frozen walls. These images are not merely phantasms. They depict history of a personal kind. They illustrate my life.
Watch the images with me and you’ll understand why my story has been unlike any other although I say this with humility and appreciation for the gifts and kindnesses many others have shown me.
1939
As blizzard winds howled with what almost sounded like the plaintive wail of a grieving human, a somber but benign looking man knelt beside a sickbed and looked down at a dying man. The High Abbott of the Tibetan Lamsery was moved by the plight of a man he had come to know as a benefactor and a friend. Dr. Richard Cannon had come to the remote mountain pass nestled high in a secluded valley of the Himalayas with his wife Mary and their infant son Peter to help care for the locals who lacked proper medical care. His efforts had been met with a poor reward. He had managed to ease the suffering of many of the natives but he had failed to isolate the source of their illness. Now, as he lay dying from what had apparently been the Black Plague, the bearded physician could only mourn for his late wife and worry about the future of his baby son.
The High Abbott respected Dr. Cannon too much to try to conceal the severity of his condition. He took the man’s hand and solemnly vowed that he would raise Peter to respect both the ways of the East and the West and would prepare him for life in both cultures.
Dr. Cannon tried to sit up on his cot but he was simply too weak to do so.
“I want him to know about his homeland. I want him to return to America one day!” he whispered.
The High Abbott nodded and said, “And so he shall! I promise you he will be well cared for and we will teach him as much as we can about the ways of your country! He will not be lonely since we have many other infants and children here. Sadly, between the Mongul raiders and the Chinese military many of our local children have been orphaned.”
Later, after Dr. Cannon had passed away and the High Abbott had offered up prayers for his friend’s peace, the wizened wise man turned to another of the lamas and said, “I know you wonder what we may offer this child of privilege when we reject materialism in all its forms. We will develop the child into the highest degree of mental and physical perfection!”
The other lama said, “You mean he may join the other children in their training but surely you do not mean an outsider might one day be the Chosen One of the Scrolls?”
The High Abbott said, “If Peter Cannon excels in his studies then perhaps that is exactly what his fate shall be! It is not our place to reject him if such is to be his destiny! He may become the embodiment of our teachings to his own benighted civilization!”
1965
Peter Cannon stood calmly before the Council of Elders and waited for their instructions. He was dressed in the red and blue training costume he and the other children had always worn during their physical training sessions. Now, as a young man, Peter had indeed mastered the physical and mental disciplines the High Abbott had vowed to instill within him after his father’s death. Peter looked on the High Abbot as a father figure and mentor and in spite of the fact that he spoke English flawlessly and had learned much about his native land, he preferred life in the lamasery and his views on Western civilization were colored by a disdain for the violence and shallow materialism that dominated the region. Many times he had expressed his opinion to his closest friend another orphan named Tabu Singh.
“Civilization is nothing more than a jungle and I don’t intend to get involved with its problems!”
He was certainly well-equipped to deal with such problems since he possessed some unique abilities all his own. He had been educated in both the ways of the East and the West in subjects ranging from Buddhist philosophies to World Literature to physics. In addition to his intellectual attainments, Peter had mastered various athletic disciplines and was remarkably agile and strong. He had in fact excelled at these studies to the point that he had been selected from all the students to become the Chosen One of the Sacred Scrolls! Years ago, when he was but a teen, Peter had been told as much.
“The Scrolls will enable you to unlock the mind’s resources through force of will! While others are sadly clouded by the inability to access more than 10% of their brains you will be able to tap into that unused 90% of the mind’s potential to achieve total control over the very fibers of your being. Your metabolism, your reflexes, your accuracy of aim and certainty of balance will all respond to your focused command!”
Now, after years of meditation and study of these Sacred Scrolls, Peter was ready for the tests that would determine the next stage of his development. He was not nervous since that was impossible thanks to his complete control over his body and mind. Still, Peter was curious.
He knew that most of the members of the Council viewed him with respect and perhaps even with an affection that was expressed more by benign demeanors than open words of affirmation.
All of the Council respected his achievements except for one clearly malicious man who was often spoken of by the other residents as the Hooded One. His true name was not known to Peter or Tabu or to any of the younger residents but then they also did not know the personal names of the other Elders. Still no one could ever mistake the hooded and metal masked Elder for any of the others. He wore a metallic mask over his features to conceal something. Was it an injury? Was it disfigurement? Peter did not know but as a child he had heard stories that claimed the Hooded One was a monster. He certainly carried himself with an arrogance and an anger that separated him from the others. He also defied the High Abbott at times and seemed immune to the older man’s displeasure which was enough to silence any other occupant of the lamasery.
The Hooded One was apparently Chinese and he was a powerful man with obviously physical skills and mental clarity. Yet, it was not his capabilities or even his concealed features that made him stand out to Peter. It was his obvious hatred for the American youth. He had viewed himself as the natural choice for the role of Chosen One of the Scrolls. He felt entitled to the position and when it was given to Peter, the Hooded One made his rage quite clear.
“A foreigner! You would give such secrets to a Western outsider! Those secrets are meant to be mine! Is my sacrifice to go unrewarded? It left me with but half a face!” he had shouted.
Now, as Peter waited for his orders he felt the palpable hatred that radiated from his Hooded foe.
“The first test will be one of speed!” announced a wizened Elder.
A door opened in the Council Hall to reveal several grim looking Mongul warriors armed with lethal arrows and hand carved bows.
They drew back their bows and released the deadly shafts at Peter. He concentrated and drew upon his total mastery of his own body to twist, turn, dodge, and sail between the hurtling arrows! The warriors were highly skilled experts but none of them managed to strike their incredibly agile target!
The Hooded One leaned forward as the High Abbott expressed his dismay.
“How dare you place this boy’s life at risk? Such is not the pathway to enlightenment!” he said.
Another Elder said, “Such was our decision to make. Now, we turn to our brother for his own test!”
The Hooded One said, “Open the second door! Open the door and let us see if this boy has been worthy of the time and attention he has been given!”
A silence filled the room and Peter frowned as he gazed into the darkened open doorway. He frowned again as he detected the slight sound of padded feet moving closer and then he smelled the scent of an animal with heavy wet fur.
A tiger roared and pounced at him as the High Abbott and other Council members drew back in disbelief. The Hooded One made no move at all but a chuckling sound came from beneath his metal face plate.
Peter dodged the beast but even his speed failed to enable him to avoid its raking claws. He gasped with pain as it clawed his side and then he remembered the training that was now second nature to him. He focused his thoughts and said, “I can do it! I must do it! I will do it!”
He did not need to meditate upon this mantra but he felt using it enabled him to achieve his goals more easily than if he merely used the force of will without any conscious thought.
As the tiger whirled around toward the blond man, Peter dived across its back and caught it in a crushing wrestling hold. He ignored its struggles as he whispered soothing words and exerted pressure in a precise spot of the animal’s neck. It collapsed at his feet and he stepped back in victory.
The High Abbott stood up and smiled broadly.
“It is done! He triumphed without slaying his foe. He respected the sanctity of the animal’s life and he expressed as much by showing no malice! Truly, he is the Chosen One!” he said.
The Hooded One cursed and made no effort to conceal his displeasure.
The High Abbott looked down on the American and said, “The last test is one of my own devising. It is one that I feel certain you will pass but in doing so you will bring me both pride and some sorrow!”
Peter nodded as he used his force of will to stop his bleeding and to assuage his pain from the tiger’s attack. In minutes, the wound had healed and he felt no physical pain. He did feel emotional pain as he gazed through the final door to see only the snowy exterior of the Lamasery grounds.
“The final test is for you to take what you have learned from the sacred Scrolls and live in your homeland as your beloved father so wished you to do. You will always have a home here Peter Cannon but you must also make your way in the world of your ancestors!” he said.
Peter nodded sadly. He would obey the wise old man but he would also mourn for the loss of the only home he had ever known. He had no love for the Western world!”
Later still….
Peter Cannon faced his friend Tabu who had accompanied him to America as they stood on a training mat in the gym of the spacious New York manor he had purchased with the fortune his late father had left him.
“You are as skilled as ever and you have already achieved much in your chosen field of writing. Your expert knowledge of the East has made you a valued writer for the American press!” said Tabu.
He circled warily as his friend sought to grab him in a martial arts move.
“I enjoy writing. I suppose writing about our home in Tibet is the next best thing to being there!” said Peter as he dodged and then flipped his friend to the ground.
“I still have some rewrites to complete on the story about the art exhibit of Chinese relics!” he said.
He helped Tabu up and said, “And you have to continue your own medical studies now that we have concluded our daily practice sessions!”
Tabu said, “You have additional work to do as well, friend Peter. You must use your skills as the Chosen One of the Scrolls to help those in need!”
Peter shook his head. He was not angry. He was merely feeling some indignation.
“This gift of mine…this power of will…isn’t a cure all for the ills of mankind! The way I see it, it was meant to further the goals of a peaceful civilization not to fight its battles!”
Peter would eventually give in to Tabu’s pleas for action. He would face threats from organized crime bosses, a Chinese mystic called the Dragon Master, a crazed scientist known as Man Ape, an expert on poisons called the Cobra, and two foes with more direct ties to his past.
Princess Evila was a witch who ruled Egypt during its Dark Ages. She had supposedly been able to defy death itself and with help from the Hooded One she did exactly that one day in 1965. Peter had confronted her in his old training costume and a mask. Tabu had suggested the mask as a means of enabling his reclusive friend to maintain a secret identity. The press swiftly dubbed Cannon’s costumed alter ego Thunderbolt. During his battle with the seductive Evilia, Thunderbolt had faced a foe who had some kind of force of will power much like his own! If the woman could use this mental might to shatter the barriers between life and death, what else could her evil power accomplish!
Thunderbolt defeated her through superior use of the force of will. She crumbled to dust and her sultry form and figure turned once more into the dusts of an ancient world.
The Hooded One plagued Thunderbolt more than once since the evil genius possessed far more than mere hatred for the man he was as his rival. He also had abilities Peter had never mastered because he had stolen some of the Sacred Scrolls before the American could ever glimpse them. He also sought to humiliate his rival out of a sense of jealousy. He had openly confessed to Peter that his bitterness had shaded his entire life.
"My resentment of you caused me to be banished from the Lamasery! I found refuge in the Cave of Peaks where all things exist and eternity itself may be but a step away!” the Hooded One had boasted during one of their battles.
1988- the Cave
Now, within the present in the same timeless cave the Hooded One had once used as a base, Peter Cannon gestured to another shifting scene and continued his own story.
“I defeated the Hooded One again and again and eventually retreated from the heroic life. I found joy in teaching others and I shared my combat skills with others including American Action heroines each successively known as Liberty Belle. The Dean sisters were good friends to me but my feelings for them were platonic. Caroline Dean died during the cosmic Crisis and shortly afterward, her much younger sister Candy tried to change history itself through use of a time travel belt. I followed her with some other Action Heroes and the so-called Time Cop Broderick as shown in this scene on the Cave wall!
The time- the cosmic Crisis! 1985
* Blue Beetle said, "I understand! History can't be changed but you've
proven that a certain sequence events can be nudged, if you will, in
a new direction. Just like you arranged it so Leeza died in place of
Candy, Candy thinks she can take the place of her own sister Caroline
by switching places with her during the Crisis!"
Thunderbolt said, "Poor brave girl! I want to go with you. Perhaps,
we can catch her before she makes the switch. After all, you do have
more experience even though I now suspect the Dean girls both had a
mutant gift for readily acquiring skills or talents. That's how she
learned how to use your belt so rapidly."
Broderick said, "I can only take two people back with me and Booster
needs to be one of the party. He and I have traveled in time before
and residual chronal energies within our bodies make such passages a
bit smoother. The era we're going to is rife with cosmic disruptions
as it is!"
Booster Gold said, "I'm not exactly a science whiz but could this
gift for picking up physical or intellectual skills be a power or
genetic mutation Candy gained in some odd way from her folks and that
latent power is what made her a target for the Monarch and his Atomic
Knights? Listen to me, I sound like that old guy on Top Twenty
Countdown!"
The Question said, "Of course! After all Broderick said potential
heroics is what determined who the tyrant went after!"
Broderick said, "Gentlemen, join me in proximity. We can't waste any
more time!"
Blue Beetle said, "Booster, let me borrow Skeets. I want to try to
scan the neighborhood where you and Broderick had your one and only
encounter before. If anyone living there had a lab capable to
scanning or duplicating your high tech gear then my Bug and Skeets
should be able to detect that high level of electrical usage. You
can't run a lab like that on normal levels of power!"
Booster grinned and said, "Sure. Skeets will take care of you guys.
Maybe, you can actually catch this would be Monarch in the making
before he finishes his copy of our equipment. After all, even a
genius couldn't have done such a bang-up job in only a few months!"
Broderick said, "Booster, Thunderbolt, we need to go now!"
The three men vanished and when they next found their senses
returning to normal after a brief period of brilliant light and loss
of sound, they witnessed a horrible scene!
Several costumed figures were locked in deadly battle with terrible
villains from multiple alternate Earths!
Booster whistled softly.
"It's like a war! I never imagined it was like this."
Thunderbolt said, "None of us truly remember exactly what happened in
detail. Time alterations of more than one nature made that
impossible!"
Booster pointed skyward to where a giant inhuman figure glowed a
toxic green and towered over the city.
"How in the name of Heather Locklear does a guy forget something like
that monster?"
They hurried away from the others and in Thunderbolt's case from his
younger self.
Broderick said, "There she is!"
He pointed to a terrible scene in which two men with swords stood before the bound form of the origin=
al Liberty Belle. He did not know them but one was called the Cavalier and the other piratical one was
known as Stingeree. Stingeree would be Liberty Belle I's murderer in a matter of moments.
"She dies by a sword! This is the moment in question!" cried
Thunderbolt.
Booster adjusted his own goggles and detected an infra-red heat
pattern in the shadows.
He hurled himself forward and grabbed Liberty Belle II (Candy Dean)
just as the weeping heroine was about to switch places with her
helpless sister!
"Booster,let me go! That's my sister! She's going to die! Don't you
understand? I have to take her place! I can save her if you'll let
go!" she cried.
Booster said, "Honey, I can't do that! Trust me! This is destiny.
It's all for the greater good. She wouldn't want to live if it meant
you would die instead!"
Broderick said, "Ms. Dean, history requires your survival. You may hold the key to the defeat of a true tyrant."
Liberty Belle kicked free of Booster's grasp and rolled nimbly between the two slower men.
"I can't watch her die!" she shrieked.
Thunderbolt raised his hands in a placating gesture.
"Candy, I loved Caroline but this has to be!" he said.
As Booster tackled her once more, Broderick ripped the time belt off her body.
"I have secured the belt. She can't take her sister's place! Now we
must return to our era!" he said.
Candy looked up at Thunderbolt with red eyes and a tear-streaked face.
"Peter, you loved her! You said it just now! Can you watch her die?"
she said.
Thunderbolt opened his mouth and then closed it wordlessly.
He glanced left and right and then with the superb agility that was his alone, he raced forward to grab the time belt from a startled
Broderick and throw himself into the scene below.
The super swift friction of his body activated the belt prematurely and as he reached out to try to=
deflect the sword thrust that the man known as Captain Stingeree had aimed at Belle I's chest, Thunderbolt
vanished!
Belle received the fatal sword thrust and perished even as Broderick
activated his remaining belt and pulled Booster and Candy back to
their proper time.
Booster said, "What happened? I know Peter vanished before he could
stop the murder. No one there even saw him since he was moving at
such a speed and that time belt whisked him away like a blur but what
happened to him?"
Liberty Belle II said, "Don't tell me he died! Please, don't say that
I'm the cause of his death. If he had not come after me then he might
still be alive!"
Broderick said, "Your sister met her heroic death as history dictated
she would. I can't imagine what happened to Thunderbolt. His actions were
criminal in nature according to my code of conduct."
Booster said, "Ease up, pal. He was trying to be a hero. He blamed
himself for so much that has happened. It was all I could do to stop myself from
jumping in as well."
Broderick said, "If that belt broke open then he might be anywhere in
time. For that matter, he might even ...!began the Time Cop.
He stopped speaking as Liberty Belle cleared her throat and held
their attention.
Belle said, "You know it never occurred to me before now but now that
I've seen it all playout and stood helplessly by while history took
place, I wonder if I ever had a chance of stopping Caroline's death."
Broderick said, "I saved you by a true cosmic trick. I can't see fate
allowing two such chance gambits playing off in one lifetime. Be
comforted in the memory that your sister died as a heroine and you
may continue her good work and honor her memory in =
all you do. As I said, you may be the very heir of the Atomic Knights Project that spells Monarch's defeat."
Liberty Belle nodded and said, "You are a cold man but I feel like you are speaking the truth as you know it."
The trio emerged from the blinding light and soundless sphere to find
themselves in the satellite. They were greeted by Captain Atom, Adam
Thompson,and Nightshade.
"Belle! Thank goodness!" cried Nightshade as she embraced the other girl.
Captain Atom said, "The Beetle told me what you were doing. I'm glad to see you succeeded."
Booster grinned and said, "How could two strapping heroes like us do any less?"
Liberty Belle smiled thinly and followed them toward the table. She was an amazing woman and had already accepted that her actions were
doomed to be futile. She would carry on for her sister and perhaps, in time, learn to take more comfort out of that fact.
Oddly enough, none of them made any reference to the missing Peter Cannon nor did any of them recall he had ever existed! It was as if
the hero's tragic actions had wiped him out of the pages of Earth 4's history.
In the present 1988 Peter Cannon resumed his story within the isolated Cavern.
“When that belt broke open I was erased from time itself. I became a man who had never been born. Much like the character in an old short story who regretted wishing he had never been born, I learned exactly how much of life itself is made up of interconnectivity with other people. I was lost in time and I saw glimpses of my past and my future. I realized more strongly than ever before what Tabu always tried to teach me. I felt how desperately I wished to live and to take part in life!”
The young woman nodded and said, “What did you do? What could you have done? I have read many accounts of your adventures so clearly in some way you restored yourself. I mean you are not a forgotten man as either Cannon or Thunderbolt!”
Peter Cannon ran a hand through his beard and smiled.
“And yet once I vowed years before that Thunderbolt would simply vanish into a distant sunset never to be heard of again! When faced with such a fate I wanted nothing more than to be alive again! I reached out with my mind and focused all my force of will and I shouted my mantra like never before. I can! I must! I will! However, nothing happened until a burst of what I could only identify as magical energy enabled me to focus all my thoughts on this cave and in doing so it restored me to time and left me stranded within this very place!”
The woman said, “What magic brought you back? Didn’t you once aid another hero who had ties to this area?”
He said, “More than one hero came from here and crossed my path but for now let me merely say that the Monitor of this world restored me or enabled me to restore myself. I had lived and memories of me had been restored to both friends, enemies, and ordinary citizens who merely read my articles or saw me on the news but I was trapped in the distant past.”
He said, “This cave rests on the same mountain as my lamasery. It has many names and has sheltered both me and my old foe the Hooded One. It is said to be as old as time itself and indeed time does not pass within this main section. The passages that lead off to each side lead to other dimensions and other eras and while within those realms, all age normally. This cave was the only spot a man cast out of existence could reach and it has been my home for longer than I can say! I was thrust back into existence here but I was lost in the distant past. I only left the cave to gather supplies and by side trips to other realms I gathered enough equipment to make my survival a reality. I was not aging as long as I remained in this part of the cave and I used this timeless limbo to gain better understanding of the sacred Scrolls I had memorized long ago. I spent eons learning deeper secrets and gaining powers I have never imagined before. I relished every moment and rarely left the cave.”
The woman said, “I know you were in the past but since people regained their memories of you in the eighties did any heroes try to find you?”
He said, “Yes, and while they didn’t locate me, they found someone else by mistake who had some of my qualities but used them for self-gain. It was a sad story but my old friends from the Sentinels of Justice won out in the end. I actually heard about it later from the one friend who did find me here but now back to my story of my time in the ancient past.”
“Eventually the only safe trail down the mountains became a trade route for the nomadic mountain peoples of the region and a small trading post became a village. Rumors of the Wise Man in the Cave spread and I helped those who sought me out with my healing abilities and other pieces of wisdom. I did not age during those years except for a small fraction of my proper age. I eventually wrote down all the ancient wisdom that I had gained and I joined the villagers to build a lamasery. Ironically enough the place that would be my childhood home and the guide to my powers of mind as written in the scrolls I studied during my youth came partially from my hand!”
The young woman pushed back her long black hair and smiled winningly.
“You wrote the Sacred Scrolls! You were the founder of the lamasery! Yet your younger self had no way to know this!”
“I did venture out into the outside world a few times and had several adventures in different eras although I never allowed anyone to know my true name. These journeys were rewarding and helped me feel connected to the greater pool of humanity! I saw places like Camelot and met many historical figures!”
She said, “Did one of your adventures involve a swashbuckler named Leatherface?”
Peter nodded and said, “Yes, and he was a truly amazing fellow. How did you know? Has your father been telling tales? He always did want me to write down some of the things I saw during my trips from this cavern!”
She nodded and said, “He used your adventures as my bedtime stories!”
Peter continued, “Finally, time caught with me. That is, the twentieth century arrived and while I had only aged roughly 15 years during all the time I had been alternatively within the timeless Cavern or seeing the worlds, I was eager to resume some semblance of the life I had lost! I was near the village when I heard screams! I rescued a woman from a brutal rapist. She later gave birth to an unwanted child and ended her own life before I could do a thing about it. The child was given a name that suggested how he was not desired. Fennu Zai heian Zhong or the Anger in the Darkness was a helpless baby. I took him to the lamasery and little did I realize that the name his anguished mother had given him would truly reflect his adult nature in time!”
“He grew up there and excelled in all he did but he carried much anger within his heart. Still, I had no idea what the future would bring him or how he would impact my own life. One day in the late thirties, I met a remarkable scientist from America who had journeyed to Tibet on some pilgrimage of self-discovery. His name was Fred Carson and I sensed that he possessed latent super human powers but he had no idea what depths lay within him. I cheated. I did not take time to teach him how to channel these gifts. I wanted the world to have a hero and I used my powers of mind to make him see me as a wizened wise man. Many times over the years I used my powers to cast an illusion about my true appearance. I felt he would accept my words more readily if he thought I was a native steeped in ancient lore. I have him an ornate old ring that I found during one of my trips through one of the cave’s side passages through space and time. I told Carson that he had been chosen to be a hero. I pretended that the ring was the source of what I rightly called his Herculean powers of strength and speed. He accepted my words and embarked on a career as a colorfully garbed action hero called Wonder Man. I don’t know if he ever learned the ring was just a symbol and the powers he tapped into came more from force of will or what might be called mutation now!”
The woman said, “I have never heard of him!”
Cannon said, “He suffered a weird fate a bit like my own. He was displaced in time but eventually returned to this century. What I didn’t realize was that his absence from his proper era would lead to tragedy. If one Carson brother had been thrust from what might have been his natural destiny in this region, another would be drawn here for better or worse. I suppose time rights itself in its own ways. Fred’s brother Gary Carson came to Tibet and his plane crashed near the lamasery. Some odd fate drew him here to the area from which his missing brother had gained control over his innate powers. He was a soldier and his plane crashed and he perished. I don’t know if he ever knew Fred had been here years before or not. The plane caused a fire around the lamasery and the hero who saved all within from an unexploded bomb was the same Chinese orphan I had brought there years before. Fennu Zai heian Zhong saved everyone but he was badly burned. They brought him to me and I was struck with a sobering realization. This heroic young man was destined to become the Hooded One! The fires that injured him would also be birthing fires for a great evil. I felt helpless. I could not do anything for his face but I saved his life and used a metal face mask to hold his ruined features in place. I was responsible in some way for the forging of my future foe! He returned to the lamasery and never forgot the unique properties of my cavern”
She frowned and said, “Did he remember you years later?”
Cannon said, “He did not recognize me. I wore a hooded cloak of my own. I didn’t always want to rely on my ability to cloud men’s minds and I wore a heavy cloak and hood. It added to the mystique of the Enlightened One in the Caves of Time. I also had to absent myself from the outside that year for a very good reason!”
She gasped with surprise. “You were born that year! That was also the year your parents brought you to Tibet as a baby and eventually died of the plague! How did you exist then as both a baby and the older time-tossed man you have become?”
He said, “I did not know what would happen to me. I only knew that while within these caverns I existed in an ageless, timeless state. I could not risk altering my own fate anymore so I hid deeper in the cave’s side passages and this accounted for much of my aging. I had adventures in what may be called alternate Earths!”
She said, “When did you return here? Was the Hooded One here by then?”
He said, “I stayed away until 1968 and then I returned to the main passage. By that time my younger self had left for America and in fact had partially retired from the life of an action hero in America. It was not the Hooded One I faced here in1968. He had also disappeared down one of the side passages at some point. I fear he managed to use the timelessness of this place to his own advantage as well.”
She said, “You seem troubled. What did you find when you returned here in 1968?”
A handsome Chinese man entered silently and bowed low to the girl.
“He found me. My name is Paul Cannon. I am Peter’s son in spirit and name if not by blood!” he announced with a smile.
The woman smiled in greeting and said, “I had no idea you had a.. son!”
Peter said, “Paul was left here with one elderly woman who was his nurse. His father was Fennu Zai heian Zhong the Hooded One. I found him in 1968 and in the absence of his father, I raised him here and taught him all I could! He is as skilled as ever I was at his age. You might say he is the new Chosen One!”
Paul said, “I never knew my true father but I hesitate to use that phrase for such a monster. He left me here for whatever reason with only one frightened servant to care for me. I have never known what happened to him. I only know I owe everything I am to my real father Peter Cannon the Thunderbolt!”
Peter said, “Paul, this is the daughter of my closest friend. You recall Dr. Tabu Singh? This is his daughter Priya Singh. I have been telling her my odd story as old men are prone to do.”
Priya Singh was a beautiful woman. She also possessed a keen sense of humor and she smiled becomingly and said, “He is not that old. He doesn’t look a day over an eon!”
Peter and Paul laughed and exchanged glances of mutual understanding. It was clear that duo had the utmost respect for one another.
Paul said, “I was visiting friends at the lamasery. I am glad to meet you. Your father visited here a few times when I was little.”
Peter said, “In case you wondered, I felt it was safe to leave the cave once the moment I originally vanished during the Crisis passed naturally. I am now the only Peter Cannon. My younger self and my time-tossed self merged upon my leaving the cave for the first time in October 1986.”
Paul said, “ Seriously, though, I suppose my father is around 60 all things considered.”
Peter said, “Well, Priya, now that Paul is back and I’ve bored you with my long strange life, How do you feel about my request?”
Paul said, “Request? What request? Why have you been acting so secretive? You urged me to visit to lamasery but I now think you wanted me out of the cave!”
Peter said, “I heard our guest was ascending the mountain and I did wish to speak to her alone. I admit I was surprised when she arrived in place of her father! You say Tabu is well? It was not like him not to answer my summons in person!”
Priya said, “He is well but so busy with his practice and a back injury from too much tennis prevented him from coming! I came with his blessing. He said that I was to
tell you he would help in any way!”
Paul said, “What help do you need father? I am here and always willing to do all for you!”
Peter placed one arm around his son’s shoulders and said, “You recall how the time came for me to leave the lamasery back in the sixties and take my place in America. It is now time for you to follow in my footsteps. You have learned all I can teach you for now. It would take many lifetimes for you to learn every secret of the Scrolls as it indeed took me to do so. I want you to journey to America and stay with the Singhs. They will be good guides to life there and they will help you take up your proper role!”
Priya eyed the handsome Paul Cannon and smiled approvingly.
“You will be most welcome at our home. I mean your home since we have kindly lived on your estate all these years!” she said.
Paul said, “I can’t believe it. I’ve badgered him for years to let me become the new Thunderbolt. I can’t believe you’ve finally agreed. I will make you proud!”
Peter Cannon said, “My son, you have always made me proud. Take this with you. It will help you fill the role I have left behind. Know that I love you and will always be here for you!”
He handed Paul a costume of red and blue. The garment consisted of a long sleeved leotard that covered the wearer’s entire arms, torso, and legs. One side was a bright red while the other was a navy blue. A dark mask rested on its top.
Paul smiled and embraced his father.
“I’ll miss you and I’ll always cherish your words but I am ready for action! I hope the criminals of New York are up to it because they won’t know what hit them when I get done with them!”
Peter winked at Priya.
“He is modest, my son!”
The trio laughed with genuine pleasure.
Meanwhile, in a isolated manor house in America, several weird figures assembled.
“I sensed my old foe’s returned sometime ago but now I anticipate that the time is right for me to take action that will bring an end to our long feud and herald my long sought ascension! said the hooded figure who seemed to lead the others.
The odd group voiced their agreement and as a heroic legend was reborn so was more than one old evil!
The end.
1988.
Prologue
Within a lonely but vast cavern, a bearded man spoke to a lovely young woman.
He said, “As you know, my name is Peter Cannon but I have also been called The Chosen One of the Scrolls, Vajra the Enlightened, and most often Thunderbolt. It is amusing that a man who was never born received so many names during the life he never lived. I am being cynical and playing semantic games since in truth of course I was born, lived, and still live what has been an amazingly prolonged lifespan. There was a brief time in which my existence itself was erased from recorded history but in the eternal span of things, that was only for a very short time. Additional irony is found in the fact that this time outside of time benefitted me greatly! Clearly, I think too much. I have overindulged myself and my own tendency to speculate and meditate and philosophize until I have become a very poor storyteller. However, in spite of this poor start, I can do better. I must do better. I will do a better job at sharing my story.
Here within the seemingly infinite passageways of the Cave of Peaks where all things exist as do all eras, I may show you my story by directing your attention to the images that flicker across the reflective surface of the forever frozen walls. These images are not merely phantasms. They depict history of a personal kind. They illustrate my life.
Watch the images with me and you’ll understand why my story has been unlike any other although I say this with humility and appreciation for the gifts and kindnesses many others have shown me.
1939
As blizzard winds howled with what almost sounded like the plaintive wail of a grieving human, a somber but benign looking man knelt beside a sickbed and looked down at a dying man. The High Abbott of the Tibetan Lamsery was moved by the plight of a man he had come to know as a benefactor and a friend. Dr. Richard Cannon had come to the remote mountain pass nestled high in a secluded valley of the Himalayas with his wife Mary and their infant son Peter to help care for the locals who lacked proper medical care. His efforts had been met with a poor reward. He had managed to ease the suffering of many of the natives but he had failed to isolate the source of their illness. Now, as he lay dying from what had apparently been the Black Plague, the bearded physician could only mourn for his late wife and worry about the future of his baby son.
The High Abbott respected Dr. Cannon too much to try to conceal the severity of his condition. He took the man’s hand and solemnly vowed that he would raise Peter to respect both the ways of the East and the West and would prepare him for life in both cultures.
Dr. Cannon tried to sit up on his cot but he was simply too weak to do so.
“I want him to know about his homeland. I want him to return to America one day!” he whispered.
The High Abbott nodded and said, “And so he shall! I promise you he will be well cared for and we will teach him as much as we can about the ways of your country! He will not be lonely since we have many other infants and children here. Sadly, between the Mongul raiders and the Chinese military many of our local children have been orphaned.”
Later, after Dr. Cannon had passed away and the High Abbott had offered up prayers for his friend’s peace, the wizened wise man turned to another of the lamas and said, “I know you wonder what we may offer this child of privilege when we reject materialism in all its forms. We will develop the child into the highest degree of mental and physical perfection!”
The other lama said, “You mean he may join the other children in their training but surely you do not mean an outsider might one day be the Chosen One of the Scrolls?”
The High Abbott said, “If Peter Cannon excels in his studies then perhaps that is exactly what his fate shall be! It is not our place to reject him if such is to be his destiny! He may become the embodiment of our teachings to his own benighted civilization!”
1965
Peter Cannon stood calmly before the Council of Elders and waited for their instructions. He was dressed in the red and blue training costume he and the other children had always worn during their physical training sessions. Now, as a young man, Peter had indeed mastered the physical and mental disciplines the High Abbott had vowed to instill within him after his father’s death. Peter looked on the High Abbot as a father figure and mentor and in spite of the fact that he spoke English flawlessly and had learned much about his native land, he preferred life in the lamasery and his views on Western civilization were colored by a disdain for the violence and shallow materialism that dominated the region. Many times he had expressed his opinion to his closest friend another orphan named Tabu Singh.
“Civilization is nothing more than a jungle and I don’t intend to get involved with its problems!”
He was certainly well-equipped to deal with such problems since he possessed some unique abilities all his own. He had been educated in both the ways of the East and the West in subjects ranging from Buddhist philosophies to World Literature to physics. In addition to his intellectual attainments, Peter had mastered various athletic disciplines and was remarkably agile and strong. He had in fact excelled at these studies to the point that he had been selected from all the students to become the Chosen One of the Sacred Scrolls! Years ago, when he was but a teen, Peter had been told as much.
“The Scrolls will enable you to unlock the mind’s resources through force of will! While others are sadly clouded by the inability to access more than 10% of their brains you will be able to tap into that unused 90% of the mind’s potential to achieve total control over the very fibers of your being. Your metabolism, your reflexes, your accuracy of aim and certainty of balance will all respond to your focused command!”
Now, after years of meditation and study of these Sacred Scrolls, Peter was ready for the tests that would determine the next stage of his development. He was not nervous since that was impossible thanks to his complete control over his body and mind. Still, Peter was curious.
He knew that most of the members of the Council viewed him with respect and perhaps even with an affection that was expressed more by benign demeanors than open words of affirmation.
All of the Council respected his achievements except for one clearly malicious man who was often spoken of by the other residents as the Hooded One. His true name was not known to Peter or Tabu or to any of the younger residents but then they also did not know the personal names of the other Elders. Still no one could ever mistake the hooded and metal masked Elder for any of the others. He wore a metallic mask over his features to conceal something. Was it an injury? Was it disfigurement? Peter did not know but as a child he had heard stories that claimed the Hooded One was a monster. He certainly carried himself with an arrogance and an anger that separated him from the others. He also defied the High Abbott at times and seemed immune to the older man’s displeasure which was enough to silence any other occupant of the lamasery.
The Hooded One was apparently Chinese and he was a powerful man with obviously physical skills and mental clarity. Yet, it was not his capabilities or even his concealed features that made him stand out to Peter. It was his obvious hatred for the American youth. He had viewed himself as the natural choice for the role of Chosen One of the Scrolls. He felt entitled to the position and when it was given to Peter, the Hooded One made his rage quite clear.
“A foreigner! You would give such secrets to a Western outsider! Those secrets are meant to be mine! Is my sacrifice to go unrewarded? It left me with but half a face!” he had shouted.
Now, as Peter waited for his orders he felt the palpable hatred that radiated from his Hooded foe.
“The first test will be one of speed!” announced a wizened Elder.
A door opened in the Council Hall to reveal several grim looking Mongul warriors armed with lethal arrows and hand carved bows.
They drew back their bows and released the deadly shafts at Peter. He concentrated and drew upon his total mastery of his own body to twist, turn, dodge, and sail between the hurtling arrows! The warriors were highly skilled experts but none of them managed to strike their incredibly agile target!
The Hooded One leaned forward as the High Abbott expressed his dismay.
“How dare you place this boy’s life at risk? Such is not the pathway to enlightenment!” he said.
Another Elder said, “Such was our decision to make. Now, we turn to our brother for his own test!”
The Hooded One said, “Open the second door! Open the door and let us see if this boy has been worthy of the time and attention he has been given!”
A silence filled the room and Peter frowned as he gazed into the darkened open doorway. He frowned again as he detected the slight sound of padded feet moving closer and then he smelled the scent of an animal with heavy wet fur.
A tiger roared and pounced at him as the High Abbott and other Council members drew back in disbelief. The Hooded One made no move at all but a chuckling sound came from beneath his metal face plate.
Peter dodged the beast but even his speed failed to enable him to avoid its raking claws. He gasped with pain as it clawed his side and then he remembered the training that was now second nature to him. He focused his thoughts and said, “I can do it! I must do it! I will do it!”
He did not need to meditate upon this mantra but he felt using it enabled him to achieve his goals more easily than if he merely used the force of will without any conscious thought.
As the tiger whirled around toward the blond man, Peter dived across its back and caught it in a crushing wrestling hold. He ignored its struggles as he whispered soothing words and exerted pressure in a precise spot of the animal’s neck. It collapsed at his feet and he stepped back in victory.
The High Abbott stood up and smiled broadly.
“It is done! He triumphed without slaying his foe. He respected the sanctity of the animal’s life and he expressed as much by showing no malice! Truly, he is the Chosen One!” he said.
The Hooded One cursed and made no effort to conceal his displeasure.
The High Abbott looked down on the American and said, “The last test is one of my own devising. It is one that I feel certain you will pass but in doing so you will bring me both pride and some sorrow!”
Peter nodded as he used his force of will to stop his bleeding and to assuage his pain from the tiger’s attack. In minutes, the wound had healed and he felt no physical pain. He did feel emotional pain as he gazed through the final door to see only the snowy exterior of the Lamasery grounds.
“The final test is for you to take what you have learned from the sacred Scrolls and live in your homeland as your beloved father so wished you to do. You will always have a home here Peter Cannon but you must also make your way in the world of your ancestors!” he said.
Peter nodded sadly. He would obey the wise old man but he would also mourn for the loss of the only home he had ever known. He had no love for the Western world!”
Later still….
Peter Cannon faced his friend Tabu who had accompanied him to America as they stood on a training mat in the gym of the spacious New York manor he had purchased with the fortune his late father had left him.
“You are as skilled as ever and you have already achieved much in your chosen field of writing. Your expert knowledge of the East has made you a valued writer for the American press!” said Tabu.
He circled warily as his friend sought to grab him in a martial arts move.
“I enjoy writing. I suppose writing about our home in Tibet is the next best thing to being there!” said Peter as he dodged and then flipped his friend to the ground.
“I still have some rewrites to complete on the story about the art exhibit of Chinese relics!” he said.
He helped Tabu up and said, “And you have to continue your own medical studies now that we have concluded our daily practice sessions!”
Tabu said, “You have additional work to do as well, friend Peter. You must use your skills as the Chosen One of the Scrolls to help those in need!”
Peter shook his head. He was not angry. He was merely feeling some indignation.
“This gift of mine…this power of will…isn’t a cure all for the ills of mankind! The way I see it, it was meant to further the goals of a peaceful civilization not to fight its battles!”
Peter would eventually give in to Tabu’s pleas for action. He would face threats from organized crime bosses, a Chinese mystic called the Dragon Master, a crazed scientist known as Man Ape, an expert on poisons called the Cobra, and two foes with more direct ties to his past.
Princess Evila was a witch who ruled Egypt during its Dark Ages. She had supposedly been able to defy death itself and with help from the Hooded One she did exactly that one day in 1965. Peter had confronted her in his old training costume and a mask. Tabu had suggested the mask as a means of enabling his reclusive friend to maintain a secret identity. The press swiftly dubbed Cannon’s costumed alter ego Thunderbolt. During his battle with the seductive Evilia, Thunderbolt had faced a foe who had some kind of force of will power much like his own! If the woman could use this mental might to shatter the barriers between life and death, what else could her evil power accomplish!
Thunderbolt defeated her through superior use of the force of will. She crumbled to dust and her sultry form and figure turned once more into the dusts of an ancient world.
The Hooded One plagued Thunderbolt more than once since the evil genius possessed far more than mere hatred for the man he was as his rival. He also had abilities Peter had never mastered because he had stolen some of the Sacred Scrolls before the American could ever glimpse them. He also sought to humiliate his rival out of a sense of jealousy. He had openly confessed to Peter that his bitterness had shaded his entire life.
"My resentment of you caused me to be banished from the Lamasery! I found refuge in the Cave of Peaks where all things exist and eternity itself may be but a step away!” the Hooded One had boasted during one of their battles.
1988- the Cave
Now, within the present in the same timeless cave the Hooded One had once used as a base, Peter Cannon gestured to another shifting scene and continued his own story.
“I defeated the Hooded One again and again and eventually retreated from the heroic life. I found joy in teaching others and I shared my combat skills with others including American Action heroines each successively known as Liberty Belle. The Dean sisters were good friends to me but my feelings for them were platonic. Caroline Dean died during the cosmic Crisis and shortly afterward, her much younger sister Candy tried to change history itself through use of a time travel belt. I followed her with some other Action Heroes and the so-called Time Cop Broderick as shown in this scene on the Cave wall!
The time- the cosmic Crisis! 1985
* Blue Beetle said, "I understand! History can't be changed but you've
proven that a certain sequence events can be nudged, if you will, in
a new direction. Just like you arranged it so Leeza died in place of
Candy, Candy thinks she can take the place of her own sister Caroline
by switching places with her during the Crisis!"
Thunderbolt said, "Poor brave girl! I want to go with you. Perhaps,
we can catch her before she makes the switch. After all, you do have
more experience even though I now suspect the Dean girls both had a
mutant gift for readily acquiring skills or talents. That's how she
learned how to use your belt so rapidly."
Broderick said, "I can only take two people back with me and Booster
needs to be one of the party. He and I have traveled in time before
and residual chronal energies within our bodies make such passages a
bit smoother. The era we're going to is rife with cosmic disruptions
as it is!"
Booster Gold said, "I'm not exactly a science whiz but could this
gift for picking up physical or intellectual skills be a power or
genetic mutation Candy gained in some odd way from her folks and that
latent power is what made her a target for the Monarch and his Atomic
Knights? Listen to me, I sound like that old guy on Top Twenty
Countdown!"
The Question said, "Of course! After all Broderick said potential
heroics is what determined who the tyrant went after!"
Broderick said, "Gentlemen, join me in proximity. We can't waste any
more time!"
Blue Beetle said, "Booster, let me borrow Skeets. I want to try to
scan the neighborhood where you and Broderick had your one and only
encounter before. If anyone living there had a lab capable to
scanning or duplicating your high tech gear then my Bug and Skeets
should be able to detect that high level of electrical usage. You
can't run a lab like that on normal levels of power!"
Booster grinned and said, "Sure. Skeets will take care of you guys.
Maybe, you can actually catch this would be Monarch in the making
before he finishes his copy of our equipment. After all, even a
genius couldn't have done such a bang-up job in only a few months!"
Broderick said, "Booster, Thunderbolt, we need to go now!"
The three men vanished and when they next found their senses
returning to normal after a brief period of brilliant light and loss
of sound, they witnessed a horrible scene!
Several costumed figures were locked in deadly battle with terrible
villains from multiple alternate Earths!
Booster whistled softly.
"It's like a war! I never imagined it was like this."
Thunderbolt said, "None of us truly remember exactly what happened in
detail. Time alterations of more than one nature made that
impossible!"
Booster pointed skyward to where a giant inhuman figure glowed a
toxic green and towered over the city.
"How in the name of Heather Locklear does a guy forget something like
that monster?"
They hurried away from the others and in Thunderbolt's case from his
younger self.
Broderick said, "There she is!"
He pointed to a terrible scene in which two men with swords stood before the bound form of the origin=
al Liberty Belle. He did not know them but one was called the Cavalier and the other piratical one was
known as Stingeree. Stingeree would be Liberty Belle I's murderer in a matter of moments.
"She dies by a sword! This is the moment in question!" cried
Thunderbolt.
Booster adjusted his own goggles and detected an infra-red heat
pattern in the shadows.
He hurled himself forward and grabbed Liberty Belle II (Candy Dean)
just as the weeping heroine was about to switch places with her
helpless sister!
"Booster,let me go! That's my sister! She's going to die! Don't you
understand? I have to take her place! I can save her if you'll let
go!" she cried.
Booster said, "Honey, I can't do that! Trust me! This is destiny.
It's all for the greater good. She wouldn't want to live if it meant
you would die instead!"
Broderick said, "Ms. Dean, history requires your survival. You may hold the key to the defeat of a true tyrant."
Liberty Belle kicked free of Booster's grasp and rolled nimbly between the two slower men.
"I can't watch her die!" she shrieked.
Thunderbolt raised his hands in a placating gesture.
"Candy, I loved Caroline but this has to be!" he said.
As Booster tackled her once more, Broderick ripped the time belt off her body.
"I have secured the belt. She can't take her sister's place! Now we
must return to our era!" he said.
Candy looked up at Thunderbolt with red eyes and a tear-streaked face.
"Peter, you loved her! You said it just now! Can you watch her die?"
she said.
Thunderbolt opened his mouth and then closed it wordlessly.
He glanced left and right and then with the superb agility that was his alone, he raced forward to grab the time belt from a startled
Broderick and throw himself into the scene below.
The super swift friction of his body activated the belt prematurely and as he reached out to try to=
deflect the sword thrust that the man known as Captain Stingeree had aimed at Belle I's chest, Thunderbolt
vanished!
Belle received the fatal sword thrust and perished even as Broderick
activated his remaining belt and pulled Booster and Candy back to
their proper time.
Booster said, "What happened? I know Peter vanished before he could
stop the murder. No one there even saw him since he was moving at
such a speed and that time belt whisked him away like a blur but what
happened to him?"
Liberty Belle II said, "Don't tell me he died! Please, don't say that
I'm the cause of his death. If he had not come after me then he might
still be alive!"
Broderick said, "Your sister met her heroic death as history dictated
she would. I can't imagine what happened to Thunderbolt. His actions were
criminal in nature according to my code of conduct."
Booster said, "Ease up, pal. He was trying to be a hero. He blamed
himself for so much that has happened. It was all I could do to stop myself from
jumping in as well."
Broderick said, "If that belt broke open then he might be anywhere in
time. For that matter, he might even ...!began the Time Cop.
He stopped speaking as Liberty Belle cleared her throat and held
their attention.
Belle said, "You know it never occurred to me before now but now that
I've seen it all playout and stood helplessly by while history took
place, I wonder if I ever had a chance of stopping Caroline's death."
Broderick said, "I saved you by a true cosmic trick. I can't see fate
allowing two such chance gambits playing off in one lifetime. Be
comforted in the memory that your sister died as a heroine and you
may continue her good work and honor her memory in =
all you do. As I said, you may be the very heir of the Atomic Knights Project that spells Monarch's defeat."
Liberty Belle nodded and said, "You are a cold man but I feel like you are speaking the truth as you know it."
The trio emerged from the blinding light and soundless sphere to find
themselves in the satellite. They were greeted by Captain Atom, Adam
Thompson,and Nightshade.
"Belle! Thank goodness!" cried Nightshade as she embraced the other girl.
Captain Atom said, "The Beetle told me what you were doing. I'm glad to see you succeeded."
Booster grinned and said, "How could two strapping heroes like us do any less?"
Liberty Belle smiled thinly and followed them toward the table. She was an amazing woman and had already accepted that her actions were
doomed to be futile. She would carry on for her sister and perhaps, in time, learn to take more comfort out of that fact.
Oddly enough, none of them made any reference to the missing Peter Cannon nor did any of them recall he had ever existed! It was as if
the hero's tragic actions had wiped him out of the pages of Earth 4's history.
In the present 1988 Peter Cannon resumed his story within the isolated Cavern.
“When that belt broke open I was erased from time itself. I became a man who had never been born. Much like the character in an old short story who regretted wishing he had never been born, I learned exactly how much of life itself is made up of interconnectivity with other people. I was lost in time and I saw glimpses of my past and my future. I realized more strongly than ever before what Tabu always tried to teach me. I felt how desperately I wished to live and to take part in life!”
The young woman nodded and said, “What did you do? What could you have done? I have read many accounts of your adventures so clearly in some way you restored yourself. I mean you are not a forgotten man as either Cannon or Thunderbolt!”
Peter Cannon ran a hand through his beard and smiled.
“And yet once I vowed years before that Thunderbolt would simply vanish into a distant sunset never to be heard of again! When faced with such a fate I wanted nothing more than to be alive again! I reached out with my mind and focused all my force of will and I shouted my mantra like never before. I can! I must! I will! However, nothing happened until a burst of what I could only identify as magical energy enabled me to focus all my thoughts on this cave and in doing so it restored me to time and left me stranded within this very place!”
The woman said, “What magic brought you back? Didn’t you once aid another hero who had ties to this area?”
He said, “More than one hero came from here and crossed my path but for now let me merely say that the Monitor of this world restored me or enabled me to restore myself. I had lived and memories of me had been restored to both friends, enemies, and ordinary citizens who merely read my articles or saw me on the news but I was trapped in the distant past.”
He said, “This cave rests on the same mountain as my lamasery. It has many names and has sheltered both me and my old foe the Hooded One. It is said to be as old as time itself and indeed time does not pass within this main section. The passages that lead off to each side lead to other dimensions and other eras and while within those realms, all age normally. This cave was the only spot a man cast out of existence could reach and it has been my home for longer than I can say! I was thrust back into existence here but I was lost in the distant past. I only left the cave to gather supplies and by side trips to other realms I gathered enough equipment to make my survival a reality. I was not aging as long as I remained in this part of the cave and I used this timeless limbo to gain better understanding of the sacred Scrolls I had memorized long ago. I spent eons learning deeper secrets and gaining powers I have never imagined before. I relished every moment and rarely left the cave.”
The woman said, “I know you were in the past but since people regained their memories of you in the eighties did any heroes try to find you?”
He said, “Yes, and while they didn’t locate me, they found someone else by mistake who had some of my qualities but used them for self-gain. It was a sad story but my old friends from the Sentinels of Justice won out in the end. I actually heard about it later from the one friend who did find me here but now back to my story of my time in the ancient past.”
“Eventually the only safe trail down the mountains became a trade route for the nomadic mountain peoples of the region and a small trading post became a village. Rumors of the Wise Man in the Cave spread and I helped those who sought me out with my healing abilities and other pieces of wisdom. I did not age during those years except for a small fraction of my proper age. I eventually wrote down all the ancient wisdom that I had gained and I joined the villagers to build a lamasery. Ironically enough the place that would be my childhood home and the guide to my powers of mind as written in the scrolls I studied during my youth came partially from my hand!”
The young woman pushed back her long black hair and smiled winningly.
“You wrote the Sacred Scrolls! You were the founder of the lamasery! Yet your younger self had no way to know this!”
“I did venture out into the outside world a few times and had several adventures in different eras although I never allowed anyone to know my true name. These journeys were rewarding and helped me feel connected to the greater pool of humanity! I saw places like Camelot and met many historical figures!”
She said, “Did one of your adventures involve a swashbuckler named Leatherface?”
Peter nodded and said, “Yes, and he was a truly amazing fellow. How did you know? Has your father been telling tales? He always did want me to write down some of the things I saw during my trips from this cavern!”
She nodded and said, “He used your adventures as my bedtime stories!”
Peter continued, “Finally, time caught with me. That is, the twentieth century arrived and while I had only aged roughly 15 years during all the time I had been alternatively within the timeless Cavern or seeing the worlds, I was eager to resume some semblance of the life I had lost! I was near the village when I heard screams! I rescued a woman from a brutal rapist. She later gave birth to an unwanted child and ended her own life before I could do a thing about it. The child was given a name that suggested how he was not desired. Fennu Zai heian Zhong or the Anger in the Darkness was a helpless baby. I took him to the lamasery and little did I realize that the name his anguished mother had given him would truly reflect his adult nature in time!”
“He grew up there and excelled in all he did but he carried much anger within his heart. Still, I had no idea what the future would bring him or how he would impact my own life. One day in the late thirties, I met a remarkable scientist from America who had journeyed to Tibet on some pilgrimage of self-discovery. His name was Fred Carson and I sensed that he possessed latent super human powers but he had no idea what depths lay within him. I cheated. I did not take time to teach him how to channel these gifts. I wanted the world to have a hero and I used my powers of mind to make him see me as a wizened wise man. Many times over the years I used my powers to cast an illusion about my true appearance. I felt he would accept my words more readily if he thought I was a native steeped in ancient lore. I have him an ornate old ring that I found during one of my trips through one of the cave’s side passages through space and time. I told Carson that he had been chosen to be a hero. I pretended that the ring was the source of what I rightly called his Herculean powers of strength and speed. He accepted my words and embarked on a career as a colorfully garbed action hero called Wonder Man. I don’t know if he ever learned the ring was just a symbol and the powers he tapped into came more from force of will or what might be called mutation now!”
The woman said, “I have never heard of him!”
Cannon said, “He suffered a weird fate a bit like my own. He was displaced in time but eventually returned to this century. What I didn’t realize was that his absence from his proper era would lead to tragedy. If one Carson brother had been thrust from what might have been his natural destiny in this region, another would be drawn here for better or worse. I suppose time rights itself in its own ways. Fred’s brother Gary Carson came to Tibet and his plane crashed near the lamasery. Some odd fate drew him here to the area from which his missing brother had gained control over his innate powers. He was a soldier and his plane crashed and he perished. I don’t know if he ever knew Fred had been here years before or not. The plane caused a fire around the lamasery and the hero who saved all within from an unexploded bomb was the same Chinese orphan I had brought there years before. Fennu Zai heian Zhong saved everyone but he was badly burned. They brought him to me and I was struck with a sobering realization. This heroic young man was destined to become the Hooded One! The fires that injured him would also be birthing fires for a great evil. I felt helpless. I could not do anything for his face but I saved his life and used a metal face mask to hold his ruined features in place. I was responsible in some way for the forging of my future foe! He returned to the lamasery and never forgot the unique properties of my cavern”
She frowned and said, “Did he remember you years later?”
Cannon said, “He did not recognize me. I wore a hooded cloak of my own. I didn’t always want to rely on my ability to cloud men’s minds and I wore a heavy cloak and hood. It added to the mystique of the Enlightened One in the Caves of Time. I also had to absent myself from the outside that year for a very good reason!”
She gasped with surprise. “You were born that year! That was also the year your parents brought you to Tibet as a baby and eventually died of the plague! How did you exist then as both a baby and the older time-tossed man you have become?”
He said, “I did not know what would happen to me. I only knew that while within these caverns I existed in an ageless, timeless state. I could not risk altering my own fate anymore so I hid deeper in the cave’s side passages and this accounted for much of my aging. I had adventures in what may be called alternate Earths!”
She said, “When did you return here? Was the Hooded One here by then?”
He said, “I stayed away until 1968 and then I returned to the main passage. By that time my younger self had left for America and in fact had partially retired from the life of an action hero in America. It was not the Hooded One I faced here in1968. He had also disappeared down one of the side passages at some point. I fear he managed to use the timelessness of this place to his own advantage as well.”
She said, “You seem troubled. What did you find when you returned here in 1968?”
A handsome Chinese man entered silently and bowed low to the girl.
“He found me. My name is Paul Cannon. I am Peter’s son in spirit and name if not by blood!” he announced with a smile.
The woman smiled in greeting and said, “I had no idea you had a.. son!”
Peter said, “Paul was left here with one elderly woman who was his nurse. His father was Fennu Zai heian Zhong the Hooded One. I found him in 1968 and in the absence of his father, I raised him here and taught him all I could! He is as skilled as ever I was at his age. You might say he is the new Chosen One!”
Paul said, “I never knew my true father but I hesitate to use that phrase for such a monster. He left me here for whatever reason with only one frightened servant to care for me. I have never known what happened to him. I only know I owe everything I am to my real father Peter Cannon the Thunderbolt!”
Peter said, “Paul, this is the daughter of my closest friend. You recall Dr. Tabu Singh? This is his daughter Priya Singh. I have been telling her my odd story as old men are prone to do.”
Priya Singh was a beautiful woman. She also possessed a keen sense of humor and she smiled becomingly and said, “He is not that old. He doesn’t look a day over an eon!”
Peter and Paul laughed and exchanged glances of mutual understanding. It was clear that duo had the utmost respect for one another.
Paul said, “I was visiting friends at the lamasery. I am glad to meet you. Your father visited here a few times when I was little.”
Peter said, “In case you wondered, I felt it was safe to leave the cave once the moment I originally vanished during the Crisis passed naturally. I am now the only Peter Cannon. My younger self and my time-tossed self merged upon my leaving the cave for the first time in October 1986.”
Paul said, “ Seriously, though, I suppose my father is around 60 all things considered.”
Peter said, “Well, Priya, now that Paul is back and I’ve bored you with my long strange life, How do you feel about my request?”
Paul said, “Request? What request? Why have you been acting so secretive? You urged me to visit to lamasery but I now think you wanted me out of the cave!”
Peter said, “I heard our guest was ascending the mountain and I did wish to speak to her alone. I admit I was surprised when she arrived in place of her father! You say Tabu is well? It was not like him not to answer my summons in person!”
Priya said, “He is well but so busy with his practice and a back injury from too much tennis prevented him from coming! I came with his blessing. He said that I was to
tell you he would help in any way!”
Paul said, “What help do you need father? I am here and always willing to do all for you!”
Peter placed one arm around his son’s shoulders and said, “You recall how the time came for me to leave the lamasery back in the sixties and take my place in America. It is now time for you to follow in my footsteps. You have learned all I can teach you for now. It would take many lifetimes for you to learn every secret of the Scrolls as it indeed took me to do so. I want you to journey to America and stay with the Singhs. They will be good guides to life there and they will help you take up your proper role!”
Priya eyed the handsome Paul Cannon and smiled approvingly.
“You will be most welcome at our home. I mean your home since we have kindly lived on your estate all these years!” she said.
Paul said, “I can’t believe it. I’ve badgered him for years to let me become the new Thunderbolt. I can’t believe you’ve finally agreed. I will make you proud!”
Peter Cannon said, “My son, you have always made me proud. Take this with you. It will help you fill the role I have left behind. Know that I love you and will always be here for you!”
He handed Paul a costume of red and blue. The garment consisted of a long sleeved leotard that covered the wearer’s entire arms, torso, and legs. One side was a bright red while the other was a navy blue. A dark mask rested on its top.
Paul smiled and embraced his father.
“I’ll miss you and I’ll always cherish your words but I am ready for action! I hope the criminals of New York are up to it because they won’t know what hit them when I get done with them!”
Peter winked at Priya.
“He is modest, my son!”
The trio laughed with genuine pleasure.
Meanwhile, in a isolated manor house in America, several weird figures assembled.
“I sensed my old foe’s returned sometime ago but now I anticipate that the time is right for me to take action that will bring an end to our long feud and herald my long sought ascension! said the hooded figure who seemed to lead the others.
The odd group voiced their agreement and as a heroic legend was reborn so was more than one old evil!
The end.