Last Issue: While flying back from New York, the Champions hear about the Silver Surfer causing a disturbance near LA. On their way to investigate, the Gatherer's Vision knocks out the controls on their Quinjet and they crash. A.I.M. sent the Gatherer's Vision to take out the Champions if they showed up while they tried to recapture their ex-prisoner. Fast Forward was sent to this small town by Hermes. He sees that the Surfer has been attacking someone he knows.
Fast Forward sees a figure before him that he somehow remembers despite his amnesia. It is just a name not anything more, but he knows this person is a friend. A friend named Hal.
"Hal?" Fast Forward asks yet again. Is this the reason Hermes sent him here? Is this who will help him get his memories back?
The Surfer flies down from the skies. "Parallax!! You shall not deceive me again! I don't know why you are in this universe this time, but I won't allow you to twist this reality to your sick whims!"
"Who's Parallax?" A confused Hal Jordan stands up. He is wearing his Green Lantern uniform (The one from Green Lantern #45, vol. 3). "Who the Hell is Parallax?"
"Don't play games with me!" the Silver Surfer sweeps around for another blast. This time Green Lantern is ready. He erects a shield of green energy to block it. The strain is great but the shield holds.
The A.I.M. agents move into position to fire. Fast Forward knows he can't do much about the Silver Surfer right now, but he can do something about the A.I.M. agents. He takes off like a flash (pun intended) and strikes at the A.I.M. agents nearest to him.
Inside the crashed Quinjet the Champions are shaken but not hurt badly. "Everyone ok?" Natasha asks. She gets grunts that tell her everyone is basically ok. "Let's get out of here and see why that Albino Vision messed with us." As she finishes this sentence the Gatherer's Vision phases through the side of the Quinjet.
"Greetings cutie. I'm here to finish the job." The Gatherer's Vision puts his hand into the Black Widow's chest. She convulses in pain and passes out. He quickly moves for Hercules who is the most awake of the Champions but still isn't very mobile due to the crash landing. Reaching his hand into Hercules is enough to knock him out. The Vision thinks to himself that the amount of solidification needed to knock out Hercules should have killed him.
"Zut allors! You are nothing but a damn toaztair." Batroc shouts.
"I'll get to you later. I want to deal with the real threats first."
He quickly knocks out both Firebird and Diamondback. This leaves only Ant-Man and Batroc. As he approaches Batroc a low growl can be heard. Cerberus is angry. As Batroc shouts out in pain Cerberus leaps at the Vision. The Vision moves out of the way and tries to reach into Cerberus with his hand.
"Aaaaargh! My hand! So cold! What have you done to my hand!" The Gatherer's Vision pulls his hand back to him but is unable to resolidify the hand. The hand is cold. "You beast I'll kill you for this."
Cerberus turns all three heads at the Vision and lets out a howl that freezes even the blood of an android. When he leaps this time the Vision exits the Quinjet. He wants nothing to do with this beast. Cerberus leaps through the wall of the Quinjet. A.I.M. agents open fire on Cerberus. Big mistake.
Access sees the battle before him. "I have to stop this madness. I can't allow Green Lantern to be captured again. A.I.M. was able to hide his signature from me before. If they take him again I may not be able to find him."
Access stands at the edge of the battle. Looking to see what little help he can provide.
Fast Forward is still attacking the A.I.M. agents nearest to him. Shelton has been ignoring him and trying to get his troops to concentrate on Green Lantern. "Open fire!!" Yellow beams fire from the agents' guns. Hal Jordan can't do anything to block them. He is hit and hurt. The Silver Surfer notices that A.I.M. is attacking his foe.
"Why would A.I.M. attack him?" the Silver Surfer thinks to himself.
"Help me! I don't know who this Parallax is, but these men held me prisoner for months." Hal Jordan pleads with the Silver Surfer.
"Stay back Surfer! This guys a rogue agent. We've kept him under wraps for the last few months so he wouldn't bother anyone!" Shelton yells to the Surfer.
"Months? I met Parallax recently. He couldn't have been held for months." (See the Green Lantern/Silver Surfer one shot - Baloo in the Face). "Maybe he is telling the truth. If so I can't let them take him." He thinks to himself.
"Uh oh! Fall back! The Surfer's coming at us."
"Where we gonna fall back to!?" An agent screams.
Looking around Shelton notices that Cerberus is on one side ripping up his troops like a cheap chew toy. Fast Forward has eliminated half of his troops. The Surfer is coming down on him fast. Just then he sees two of his soldiers go down. The Ant-Man has arrived.
Cerberus is still wailing. The Hellhounds' cries freeze everyone in their tracks. Scott Lang thinks to himself that this creature really loves Batroc. He continues to grow and shrink as quickly as he can. Punching his opponents and then shrinking again. Every once in awhile an A.I.M. agent will fire at him and end up hitting one of their own.
"Phase Two!" Shelton shouts.
With that shout, explosions rock the small town. The Surfer stops his attack on the A.I.M. agents immediately. He knows he must help the people in the small town. Cries of pain and agony fill the air. Ant-Man also turns his attention away from the A.I.M. agents and towards the small town. Fast Forward grabs Hal Jordan and races towards the town. Shelton smiles with satisfaction. "Let's get out of here!"
Unfortunately one thing hasn't gone to help out the townspeople, Cerberus. He is still tearing through the A.I.M. agents. The Gatherer's Vision rises from the ground and shoots Cerberus with his solar gem. Cerberus turns to see the man who hurt Batroc. He lunges for the Vision. The Vision turns diamond hard. Cerberus is hurt in the collision.
"Stupid mutt! I figured you could hurt me in my intangible state but not when I was as hard as a diamond. You fools run for your lives. I'll take care of lassie here. Then I'm going back in to have my way with the Black Widow. She's a hottie."
"I say thee nay!"
"What!?" The Vision turns to see Hercules' fist coming right at his face.
BAM!!!!!!!!!!
The force of the blow almost moves the diamond hard form of the Vision.
"It looks like you can't turn intangible because of Cerberus but if you stay diamond hard you'll have to fight Hercules in a fist fight." Firebird says.
"Thanks ya dumb broad. I'm outta here!" The Vision floats down into the ground. Cerberus digs in the spot where he disappeared.
"Hercules we must help save those people in the town." Firebird says.
Fast Forward, Ant-Man and the Silver Surfer save as many people as they can. The death toll is high and the number injured is higher still.
"One more thing I'll make those A.I.M. agents pay for." Hal Jordan says through clenched teeth. He is hurt but like the true hero he is, he thinks little about himself. He is doing what little he can for the residents of this small town.
The Silver Surfer approaches Green Lantern. "If you aren't Parallax then why do you look just like him?"
"I don't know. I've never heard of Parallax. The last thing I remember was that Green Arrow and I had just saved some friends of mine (See Green Lantern Vol. 3 #47). There was a flash of light and the next thing I knew I was surrounded by these A.I.M. agents with guns. They fired yellow blasts at me. I couldn't do anything. The whole room was yellow so my ring couldn't affect anything. I was helpless."
"Zo zat eez why zat building was all gold." Batroc says (see issue #25 - Balooster Gold ). "But what did zey want with you?"
"They wanted to drain my power battery. The ring wouldn't work for them so they had to siphon the energy through me. I was tortured and underfed for months."
"Thou art one of the Green Lantern Corps?" Hercules asks.
"Yes I am."
The others look at Hercules. "How do you know of the Green Lantern Corps?" Natasha asks. "I've never seen any information about them."
"Ares has a fascination with another universe. One where Hercules is a base villain. He enjoys watching an evil version of me. Then he tells me of the exploits of this villain."
"Yes. There is an evil Hercules there. He bothers Wonder Woman quite often."
"Uhm. Could I get a word in here?" Fast Forward asks.
"Of course." Ant-Man says.
"How come you called me Barry? And why do I know you're name is Hal?"
"Is this a test?" Hal Jordan asks.
"No. I have no recollection of who I am. I know my name sounds like Buried Alien, but I never knew what it was. I assume my first name is Barry. What is my last name?"
"Let my ring bring back your memories." Hal Jordan steps up to Fast Forward and uses his ring to bring back his memories. (Hal has used his ring in the past to bring back his own memories - GL #13 Vol. 2 - Baloo Lantern)
"Wow. I feel whole again." Barry Allen's memories all come back to him. He knows he was the Flash and a police scientist. He feels complete. "Now we just have to get home."
"I'm sorry but you can't go home." Access says.
Next Issue: We learn why can't Barry Allen go home? The Badoon make
an appearance. And finally, the Chimpinoids, or is that the
Chimpanzee Commandos, make their second appearance.