Location: The Bunker of Adolph Hitler, April 30, 1945. The same day history says Hitler committed suicide.
A dark figure appears out of nowhere, compelling Adolph Hitler to go with him. The mysterious figure reveals himself as Bastian Wolf, a long-time admirer of Der Fuhrer. He highly recommends to Hitler that the time for departing Germany is now.
The two disappear apparently into the time stream.


Flash forward to the year 2006.  Bastian Wolf shows Hitler his legacy in America at a skinhead rally somewhere in middle America.
Bastian to Hitler: "Mein Fuhrer, it is true Germany does lose the war, but after 60 years, even Americans continue to display the glorious symbols of the Third Reich. Even they realize the need for a pure race, even though they themselves are vastly inferior to our great cause."

Two badly dressed individuals approach Hitler. One remarks, "Amazing, he looks just like Adolph! How about that?" The other skin-head responds, "Howdy, Mein Fuhrer, you going to help us, get rid of those nasty...."  Bastian interrupts, "Mein Fuhrer, I think we have seen enough. Perhaps we should make our plans at a more advanced time." Hitler responds, " Yes, surely there is some place we can go to recruit men worthy to carry on the legacy of the Third Reich. These pitifully dressed simple fools would have been shot the first day in my army. If this is what America has become, she will surely fall to me"

The skinheads sarcastically ask for Adolph's autograph. Hitler responds to Bastian, "Give them my autograph in a way they will never forget!" Bastian destroys the two with an example of his vast explosive power completely obliterating the two skin heads.

One minute before, and no more than a hundred yards away from where Bastian Wolf and the most hated man of all time will arrive, the Time Runner appears right in the middle of the chaotic protests. On one hand students are waving signs protesting a prayer at graduation. On the other hand KKK and skinheads are looking for any excuse to protest and march. To the Time Runner, a man out of time, this curious scene appears unbelievable. He's already seen more than most men ever see in a lifetime, but for a man who grew up in the backwoods of Tennessee in the early years of the twentieth century, as John Martin did, this smacks of pure unadulterated chaos. Sure he had saw a few KKK members growing up, but bald headed men screaming hate with ear rings in almost every part of their bodies? Kids protesting prayer at their graduation? John Martin doesn't have time to take it all in. He shakes it off and goes forward.

At that moment, the Time Runner sees his target, Adolph Hitler and the darkly clad Bastian Wolf, as Wolf destroys the two skin heads. Chaos ensues even by today's standards. He begins to run as a group of teenagers almost trip him up. John yells as he runs past with a funny smirk, "Kids, considering who is up the street from you, you might ought to reconsider the prayer thing!"  Boom! Small, almost unnoticeable rockets in the Time Runner's boots, along with an anti-gravity belt, propel him at great speed toward the most evil duo in Earth's history.

Along the way, as he is flying through the air the Time Runner knocks down a couple of skin heads. Hey, they were in his way after all!
Bastian looks with fury toward the fast approaching hero. "Mein Fuhrer, take cover, I will take care of this American trash!"

Boom! Time Rider slams into Bastian so hard the windows rattle across the school building. The two go toe to toe trading punches. Time Runner remarks on Bastian's long blond hair, "Hey Cinderella, is that all you got?  Hope our little tussle doesn't mess up your pretty hair. I bet it takes you all day and 5 bucks at a hair salon to look that pretty."  Bastian screams back, "Fool!" and punches Time Runner with such a great force that he flies straight into a nearby bus, going through the front of the bus and landing in a school bus seat. Fortunately for Time Runner the beings, known as the ATTA, that sent him on this mission, not only had given him great gadgets, but had also given him much greater strength and invulnerability than your average man without which he could not sustain the constant rigors of time travel for a prolonged period.

Time Runner shakes it off, a couple of kids look on through the bus door and ask him if he's alright in a very sheepish frightened manner. Sure kids, better step aside now, this bus isn't taking any passengers at the moment. Time Runner rips off the bus bumper and uses it as a bat against Bastian, knocking him into a nearby tree making a sound like a large thunder clap.

Time Runner yells at Bastian, "Hey Larry, love the Three Stooges convention you got going on here. Looks like you got over 500 Curley's here, but it looks like you told Moe to go hide"

Bastian raises up, " Imbecile, ..!" Time Runner interrupts, "I knew you were a Stooges fan".

Bastian replies, "I will destroy you and this country! The world will belong to me." 

Time Runner yells back, " Hey don't let Moe hear you, pal. You know how greedy he is about the world. I don't think he likes to share with the other kids."

Just then a car races by in a hurry to get past the fighting pair. A teenaged boy on foot almost gets hit, but the Time Runner grabs him and throws him to the side just in the nick of time. Bastian uses the distraction to grab Adolph and the two disappear through a time portal. The Time Runner leaps into his own time portal in pursuit, but the young teenager grabs his arm in an attempt to thank him. Thus the boy becomes an unsuspecting traveler through time.

The year 2010,  the Time Runner looks up at the same middle American town only four years later. What he sees amazes him beyond belief. Huge futuristic skyscrapers fill the sky. This can't be the same place. How could so many changes take place in four years? Flying cars whiz by in the sky. Men fly by with rocket packs hanging on their backs. The teenager, after finishing the complete removal of his recent lunch from his stomach, looks around in disbelief. Time Runner tells the boy, "You'll be ok kid. Time travel is rough on the old gut, especially for someone with a normal endurance.

The kid replies, " My name is Jack"

Time Runner replies, " Ok Jack, does any of this look familiar to you. I'm not quite an expert on this time period, but didn't this place look a lot different just four years ago?"

"What do you mean four years ago?" Jack asks.

TR, "I mean four years ago, kid. We just jumped ahead four years. Didn't you get the memo?"

 Jack, "No I missed that one".

TR, " I guess I owe you an explanation, kid. You see it's a very long story, but the gist of it is I was recruited from 1945, to stop quite possibly the craziest mug this side of the universe. A man who could care less who dies along the way in his quest to his rule of the entire world. You know I think he has fun just causing people like me trouble."

Jack, "Sure whatever you say, dude. I don't have a clue of what's going on here, but maybe we should go look around."

TR looks down at his watch and replies, "Hey Max get the lead out."

Jack, "Who are you talking to?"

TR to Max, "Max what the heck is going on here? This place looks like the kind of future I always dreamed about as a kid, but just four years ago it was completely different." A hologram emerges from the watch, a hologram named Max.

Max to TR, "I see you goofed up again. Your performance lately has been amazingly substandard, even for you. Who is the boy by the way?"

 TR, "Who asked you about my performance,  wise guy? Now answer my question before I throw you and this watch in a lake to see if you need to hold your breath."

Max, "Alright, alright! My data shows nothing. This technology simply should not exist in this era, or any other for that matter. It appears to be more of a work of early science fiction writers than what we know your future will truly hold, Time Runner." Max retreats back into the watch.

As the two proceed down the street they find American flags waving everywhere. They pass teenagers respectfully helping an old lady across a street using their rocket sleds. A police officer bids them a good day. TR, "This place is really, swell. This is my kind of future!"

Walking through the main part of town, the two time travelers find a department store window with television sets. Time Runner, having seen some television along the way isn't too shocked, but Jack is another matter entirely. On the TV a news caster reports, "And today the Reverend Martin Luthor King Jr. and Former President John F. Kennedy were seen playing golf and playing to the crowd as well at..."

 Jack's jaw drops in disbelief. TR replies, "what's wrong kid?" Jack stunned replies angrily, "Don't you get it? Those guys are supposed to be dead. What the heck is going on around here?"

To be continued..

copyright © 2006 Tim Frady