"I'm still not convinced," Black Diamond announced. The famous heroine stared back at the woman who had approached the team about this particular mission. Quantum had introduced the woman as Tesseract and claimed she was some sort of guardian for time and space. The woman wasn't much to look at. She was average in height and plain in looks. White robes with golden embroidery served as her clothing. Tesseract reminded Diamond more of a desk bound bureaucrat than supposedly an immensely powerful being.

It was evening and the Defenders were now gathered in their spacious meeting room. The windows were open and a cool sea breeze could be felt. That was one of the fringe benefits of their ocean-side headquarters.

She scanned the faces of her team, trying to gauge their reactions. Firestar and Tremor were seated together on her left. Concern was clearly etched on Cassie's face. "If what she claims is true, then we have to do something," Firestar stated emphatically. "I'm just wondering if we're getting in over our heads."

Tremor remained silent, his face obscured by his full mask. But his eyes echoed Firestar's beliefs. "This is big," he finally announced. "I know the idea of the Defenders was to have a group of new kids working with more established heroes, but I'm not sure if we're ready for something like this. The stakes are just so incredibly high."

"I trust her," Quantum flatly stated. "I can't explain how or why, but I do trust her."

"Let us take the battle to this villain!" Satara pounded her fist on the table for emphasis. The blonde Blood warrior was always eager for a fight. "Even as we speak they could be altering our past!"

"Patience," Eclypse said to Satara. "Black Diamond will decide if we are to perform this task or not." As a former soldier, Eclypse would likely follow the chain of command for this particular unit. The Star Scepter rested on the table before Eclypse, humming with power. "Besides, running off without full knowledge of the situation may be as fatal as doing nothing."

Tesseract casually strolled up to Black Diamond's side. "I know you find my tale hard to believe. Therefore, I've decided to show you something which may make your decision easier."

"Show me what?" Black Diamond was not sure what the woman was going on about.

Taking Diamond's hand, Tesseract announced, "I will show you what might happen should your group fail in this task." There was no flash of light, no sudden display of power. One moment, Tesseract and Black Diamond were there, the next they were simply gone.

"Like every tree
stands on its own
Reaching for the sky

#3 - "I Stand Alone"

I share my world with no one else
All by myself
I Stand Alone"

-- Steve Perry

Somehow an intruder had appeared in the underground lab area. That section was completely encircled by other areas of the base, other sensors. Even if someone had penetrated through the defenses from below, they would have set off the seismic sensors, or the magic detectors or something. The structure was shielded against teleportation, desolid invaders and even some forms of dimensional travel. To first be detected right in the middle of the first lower level was extremely unusual. No one had successfully negotiated Muskateer's defenses in over four years.

The Last Avenger burst into the media lab, the rifle in his arms humming with power. He fingered the trigger as his eyes scanned the room. A tall blond woman in black had her back to him when he entered. His finger tightened on the trigger, but something deep inside him caused him to pause. The woman had been watching the many monitors that filled one full wall of the lab.

She turned, surprised at the unexpected intrusion, and Muskateer finally got a good look at his intruder. "Holy crap!", Muskateer exclaimed in astonishment. "You're supposed to be dead!" Standing there before him was none other than the former leader of the Avengers and the Defenders: Black Diamond!

"I can assure you that I am very much among the living---", Diamond started to answer. She suddenly stopped when she realized that the man before her was familiar and known to her in spite of his all black grab. "Muskateer? Is that you?"

"Well, I sure ain't Jimmy Hoffa. How'd you get in here anyway? And more importantly, if you aren't dead, then where the hell have you been all these years?" Muskateer kept the rifle trained on his 'guest', although he did lower the sight from his eye. Maybe it was really her, but he wasn't taking any chances just yet.

"What do you mean 'years'?" Diamond's eyes narrowed as she spoke. She knew that Tesseract had powers dealing with time, but just how far into the future had Diamond been taken? "What year is this?"

"1995," Muskateer answered simply.

"Nine years in the future... And you claim that by now I am dead? What has been happening?"

"Before you get too far with your questions, I have a few of my own." Muskateer said as Black Diamond took a few steps towards her old teammate. "Hold it, toots. Don't take another step just yet." He brought the riflescope back to his eye again and his finger tightened on the trigger.

The rebuff was much stronger than Black Diamond ever would have expected from Muskateer. There was no trace of his lighthearted and cavalier attitude. Not a single bad joke or pun had come from his lips. She only knew the man that he had been, not the man he had become.

Black Diamond raised her hands and took one step back. "I understand. A little dose of paranoia is healthy in this business."

Muskateer paused for a moment and his eyes narrowed as a memory resurfaced. It was almost the same thing Linda had said to him during their first date, many years ago. Maybe this really was his ex-teammate. She certainly was unforgettable.

"I was brought to this place by a woman calling herself Tesseract," Black Diamond bluntly explained. "She wants the Defenders to travel back in time to prevent Timemaster from changing the future. She claimed that this is what might happen should we fail or refuse to complete her task."

"You want me to believe that you're from 1986?" He lowered the rifle once more. The story did jive with past events that Muskateer had heard about a particular Defenders mission. They had gone back in time in small groups to muck up one of Timemaster's plots to rule the world. "So this is all about the Defenders' mission into the past, huh? Back where all of Cassie's troubles actually started?" That was probably more information than she needed to hear. Muskateer wished he could have those words back.

Diamond did a double take upon hearing that. "What trouble with Firestar? What happened to Cassie?"

"Believe me, you're better off not knowing." Details of the ill-fated mission came flooding back to Muskateer. Nothing had gone the way the Defenders had intended, but they were ultimately successful in their task. "Funny," he thought to himself, "that mission was what prompted the NSC to recruit Cassie in the first place." Muskateer thought further about the implications. "I wonder if things would work out better for Cassie if it didn't happen the way we all remember it. If she had never been in the Avengers..."

"But you must tell me what happens," Diamond pleaded. "I know that you had very strong feelings about Cassie. If something bad happened to her, you have to tell me what so that I can prevent it."

"You can't prevent it and complete your mission," Muskateer countered abruptly. "Look, in my past the Defenders did perform this mission and they-- you-- stopped Timemaster. But not without some serious repercussions involving Firestar..." As Muskateer spoke, an idea started to form. Maybe time travel could solve his problems as well? So far he could only avenge his dead friends. Maybe there was some way to avert all this tragedy before it began. Of course, things could just end up worse than they were now. This would require some serious thought on his part.

"Wait a minute. That just doesn't make sense. Tesseract told me that this is what might happen if we didn't accomplish her mission, but now you're telling me that we did do her job? So what is so wrong about this world?"

Diamond's question brought Muskateer's mental focus back to the issue at hand temporarily. "What's right about it?", he said with a sneer. "Destroyer nearly took over the world eight years ago and killed a lot of people in the process. Not long after that the HPA was created. There was a war. To make a long story short, almost everyone you know is dead."

"Dead?", Black Diamond repeated in shock. She turned and looked away from the man called Muskateer. Everyone that she knew and loved gone? All her friends on the Avengers and Defenders no more? Too many of her friends had died already and now there were going to be more of them in the future? Was that all the future had to offer to her? More death and suffering?

"Not all at once. I've avenged most of our friends since the war." One notable exception to that list was Black Diamond herself. The Diamond from his time was killed by, of all things, a former hero. Resonator had quit the Guardians when the government put Black Diamond in charge of that team. It was a grudge that he secretly carried with him for all his life. Later his sonic battlesuit, modified and updated by Destroyer, would be responsible for her death. It was her one serious weakness and it proved to be fatal.

Muskateer had been on Resonator's trail for a long time and had seriously wounded him during their final encounter, before the turncoat had gone into government hiding. Word had it he was sporting a new cybernetic arm to replace the one that Muskateer had removed. The government had reputedly set him up as one of their 'Warlords', the absolute master of a particular territory. It was high time that Muskateer paid that cowardly scum a visit.

Diamond was still speechless. It's not often that you're faced with your own mortality in such a manner. And more, she didn't know what to believe. Why did Tesseract bring her here and more importantly, did she lie to her? This Muskateer was so unlike the one she was used to, she didn't know if he could be trusted. For once, Black Diamond didn't know what to think.

"Snap out of it, Di," Muskateer said gruffly. "No one ever promised you a rose garden."

"Snap out of it?", Diamond repeated, astonishment clear in her voice. "How do you expect me to feel? You just told me that almost everyone I know and care about is dead, including myself. That's not an easy thing to hear."

"Try living it."

That simple sentence was somehow very profound. In a moment, Black Diamond realized a small part of what the man standing in front of her must have gone through and endured. It had clearly hardened him. This whole future was nothing but a tragedy. "Was Tesseract trying to get me to complete her mission or avert this future?", the heroine thought to herself. "I'm beginning to appreciate the gravity of the situation. Perhaps somehow I've been shown this to prevent it from happening?"

"Hard to say really," Muskateer answered. "I hate to break the bad news, but short of killing Destroyer, I don't see how you can stop it. There were so many overwhelming events that you'd have to go back to the beginning. Back before the attack on Destroyer's HQ. I can tell you this much, looking back, there was no way the heroes could have won, no matter what plan we used. It was a lost cause."

"We still have to try! I can't just sit back and let such a tragedy unfold without trying to prevent it!"

Muskateer smiled a mirthless smile. He had forgotten what it was like to be idealistic. The war had ground that out of him. "You said those same words to Lightburst right before the attack. Good old Lightbutt. Shoulda killed him the first time I had the chance, instead of waiting." Muskateer thought back to Lightburst's cowardly retreat from the battle. Not that his presence would have changed things. The thing that bothered Muskateer was that his ex-teammate went turncoat on him. Taking down the annoying mutant had been particularly satisfying.

"What happened to you, Muskateer?", Black Diamond wondered in a confused voice. "Are you trying to tell me that you've actually killed Lightburst? Murdered your own teammate? You make it sound so commonplace."

"These days it's a part of life, darlin'. What'd you think I meant when I said I avenged most of my friends'-- our friends'-- deaths? Did you think I just beat the tar out of'em, shook hands, and then went out for a beer? I put 'em in their graves. Just like they did to us."

A pained expression came to Diamond's face. "Most of the foes we fought had more honor than you do now."

"Honor has nothing to do with it anymore. This ain't the world you remember, Di," Muskateer answered casually. "This is war. Kill or be killed. I ain't dead yet, so you can read between the lines."

"I see," she said quietly, turning away. Diamond couldn't even bear to face Muskateer right now. "How did everyone die? How did... I die?"

Muskateer paused for a moment. It was a fair question and not an easy one to answer. "Di,-- Linda-- that's something you just shouldn't know. No point in always looking over your shoulder, wondering and worrying. You still have your idealism and optimism intact. That doesn't exist in my world anymore."

"You're probably right," Black Diamond said with a sigh, turning back. "I just have so many questions. If you can give me some information that I can use to change things...?", she added, hopefully.

"I can tell you anything you want to know, and what will that change? Maybe the knowledge will just make you do what you did in the first place. Unless you went through it yourself, you just couldn't possibly understand the ramifications involved. Just live yer life, darlin', while you still have the chance."

"Muskateer, I..." Just then, Black Diamond was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Tesseract. She was simply there, dressed in her white robes with golden embroidery.

Muskateer reacted quickly, spinning toward the newcomer's direction, as he dropped to one knee and raised the rifle to his cheek.

"No, Muskateer! Don't!!", Diamond shouted as she tried to step in front of Tesseract. Muskateer's finger froze, half depressed on the trigger. "It's Tesseract. She's with me." He kept the sight trained on the newcomer anyway.

"Lower your weapon," Tesseract simply stated, taking no heed of the potential threat. "You have not the means to harm me in your possession."

"I've heard big words before, girlie. Believe me, this little peashooter packs a heck of a wallop. Just ask Grond. Or what's left of him anyway." Muskateer didn't trust the woman, but she wasn't even paying him any attention, as she turned towards Black Diamond. A moment later, they simply weren't there any longer.

Muskateer stood up and lowered his weapon. He looked around, questioningly. "What the hell was that all about? Di never said anything before about meeting me in the future. Not even in her personal logs." He punched a few buttons on the control on his wrist and then checked the nearby computer screens, but only two entities were anywhere to be found in the base: himself and Molly, still where he had left her.

The man known as Muskateer frowned. This might end up being one of those strange unexplainable occurrences that came along occasionally. He always hated that. "Still," he said to the now empty room, "it gives me an idea. And there's something I have to finish." He stalked away, filled with renewed purpose.

Molly wandered the remains of Tyler Labs. Muskateer had pretty much left her alone for the past few days, appearing only to clean her wounds and share a meal. He was normally holed up in his command center, working on some secret project. Molly quickly learned not to interrupt him while he worked.

The pain from her wounds waned as the days passed. Walking was only uncomfortable now, not painful. Having little better to do, Molly was content to explore her new environment. The majority of Muskateer's base was underground. Molly found that to be somehow uncomfortable. If only she could go outside, feel the breeze through her hair, the sunlight on her face...

But no. The bracelet Muskateer had attached to her wrist when she first arrived here was a security device of some type. He had warned her to not leave, otherwise she could not get back in and would be on her own again. That threat alone was enough to keep the young girl underground.

She was grateful to be allowed to stay here. To have clean clothes to wear and good food to eat was like a luxury lately. Molly had cleaned herself up and made her curly brown hair more presentable. But she had to wonder just how long was this going to last? How long would Muskateer allow her to stay here? Did he want anything in return for his assistance? So many questions, so few answers.

Molly wondered if it was clear outside. Was the sun shining? Or, as usual, was it overcast and gloomy? She had always loved to lay out in the sun. It was such a good feeling she had always gotten from sunbathing. Maybe that had something to do with her mutant solar powers?

Tentatively, Molly entered an area of Tyler Labs that she was unfamiliar with. It looked like a mechanics garage. Parts from a variety of vehicles were strewn about the area. Some of it looked very old and likely beyond repair. Relics from an era gone by.

That's when she noticed the grav-cycle, the flying bike Muskateer had used when rescuing Molly. If it was here then this must be a hanger, she reasoned. The outside world should be close by. But where?

Molly's eyes rapidly took in the hanger, trying to find a way out. There had to be a way for the grav-cycle to get in here, a door of some kind. All she wanted to do was open the door and see the outside world.

The exit was on the ceiling, Molly quickly realized. She could make out the hydraulic arms that currently held the hatch closed. After some experimentation, Molly found the controls for the hatch. She looked around to make sure she was alone and then pushed the button that caused the hydraulics to retract and open the hatch.

Excitement welled up inside Molly as a sliver of blue sky appeared. As the hatch opened further, she could see that it was a clear day drenched in sunlight, sunlight that shone all around the grav-cycle. She quickly moved the bike and leaped onto the seat. Molly leaned back and relaxed in the glory of the sun. Already she was feeling better. Her body began to glow with an inner light.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" The loud, unexpected announcement had shaken Molly back to a state of awareness. She had lost track of the time as she relaxed, drinking in the sunlight. Glancing to her left, she saw Muskateer stalking towards her, rifle in hand. "You trying to give our position away?" Roughly he grabbed her arm.

"No!", Molly cried out in fear. "I just wanted to see the outside."

Muskateer grunted and headed towards the hatch controls. "It was a stupid thing to do, kid." He activated the controls, causing the hatch to shut.

"Sunlight makes me feel better," Molly tried to explain in a small voice. "Look." Reaching up, Molly peeled away the large bandage on her shoulder. Underneath, her wound was nearly healed. "It made me better."

Curious, Muskateer examined Molly's shoulder. "That may be, kid, but you should have checked with me first. I thought we were being invaded." Molly dropped her eyes and hung her head. Muskateer tried to stay angry, but his curiosity got the better of him. Molly's wounds had made a remarkable improvement. It was very similar to Cassie's rejuvenative abilities, only hers were obviously triggered by fire rather than sunlight. "I imagine another short exposure at some point and you'll be back to normal. But next time we'll do it on my terms," he added tersely. Without another word, he grabbed his rifle, turned and stalked out of the room.

Muskateer sat in his command center, putting the final touches on his plans. It had taken him several days to compile all the information he needed, without being noticed. Now most everything had fallen into place.

The former Avenger scanned the numerous computer consoles covering the wall. One held his proposed path to the territory controlled by Resonator. His black gloved finger traced the plotted line over what used to be Staten Island. He tapped the screen purposefully on what used to be known to him as Campbell Industries International. In hindsight, it shouldn't have been a surprise, after all, Resonator had been a member of the Freedom League.

"The information from Eclypse was thorough as always," Muskateer said only to himself. "Resonator figures that he's out of the way enough to be safe. The place is like a fortress inside of a fortress. Only now, Jaime isn't running the place. Rez has some of it on computer control and a lot still monitored by humans. Big mistake." He tapped some controls on his console and a nearby monitor switched views. It changed to a blown up overhead view of the island. The outer edges of the island were shown as a darker shade on the map.

"A big part of the northern island was destroyed years ago. Now they have a concrete wall lining what used to be I-278." He traced the fortification from one side of the island to the other. "The base itself is about two miles south and again heavily fortified. At least to the average intruder. Nobody ever accused me of being average before though." Muskateer smiled a satisfied smile under his black mask as he again thought about his recent talk with the head of the superhero resistance.

Eclypse was a perfect choice to lead what remained of the organized superheroes in this part of the world. Muskateer had worked closely with them in the past at various times, but had always declined formally joining the organization. In fact, he had been offered the leadership of them. He decided against it, choosing to focus on his thoughts of revenge. In retrospect it was a good decision. His overwhelming desire for vengeance years ago would have resulted in numerous deaths to people under his command.

Eclypse had been a soldier nearly all of his adult life. This was the third war he had survived. He was a true veteran of combat and had the skills to lead troops. Some older heroes that Muskateer knew before the war still worked in the resistance with Eclypse, such as Captain Lightning, Nebula, Nemesis, and Sabre. Most of the heroes in the resistance were youngsters, like Molly, who had been rescued from the clutches of the HK's. It made for a challenging job for the solar hero.

"Haven't heard from you in awhile, Muskateer," Eclypse stated. "Some of the kids thought the HPA finally got you, but I was pretty sure I've heard about your recent exploits." On the video screen, Eclypse could be seen, still wearing his old costume from before the war. He wore a black full-face mask. Most of his costume was dark golden yellow, with a black insert on the chest, black trunks, boots and gloves. His legs had black pinstriping details. A long, white cape, with gold and black trim and a high collar rested regally on his shoulders, despite being tattered and stained. His Star Scepter was in his hand, as usual. Behind him, Muskateer could see movement, as several heroes passed in and out of the view screen, but he didn't recognize any of them.

"Kinda hard to keep the demolition of two blocks quiet, huh?", Muskateer asked, rhetorically.

"Was that a joke out of you?"

"Hey, my whole life is one big joke these days."

"Now that sounds more like the man I know," Eclypse responded.

"Yer gettin' to be a bit of a smart-ass yerself lately, you know."

"There's a lot going on here, and I'm taking it this isn't a social call."

"Need a favor, Eclypse."

"You know we still owe you, many times over. Peregrine wouldn't be here if not for you." The new heroine was the teen-age daughter of the original Peregrine. She had taken over for her mother who was killed in a similar ambush. Muskateer's arrival was fortuitous for the youngster and fatal for the HK's who thought they had located an easy, vulnerable target.

"Yeah, well, I just like killin' those damn HK's. I woulda thought you trained yer troops better'n that though," Muskateer chided.

"She won't make that mistake again. Believe me," Eclypse said, convincingly.

"I might have someone here that could use your touch, as well," Muskateer added.

"Find another stray?"

"Something like that. She can't stay here forever. If she hangs out with me, she'll just end up dead."

"We're always willing to take on more help. Like we say, safety in numbers. Except in your case, of course. Sure you don't want to give up the loner lifestyle, Muskateer? We could use someone like you," Eclypse stated.

"Come on, Eclypse. You know I work alone."

"One of these days we'll get you to change your mind. These kids are fighting for their lives."

"That's why they have you. I can't do that kind of thing anymore. I'm just good for killing."

"Suit yourself. So, what do you need?"

"Resonator."

Eclypse had been good to his word. The information that had been coming through the past few days was thorough, complete and extremely enlightening. "I knew they had packed Resonator away and set him up as a warlord, but how lucky can you get?" Muskateer tapped the screen at the center of his target and the view zoomed in closer. A few more taps and he could see the once-familiar outline of CII. "I should have kept on his tail a long time ago."

Muskateer thought back over the last few years. Once he was a single-minded terror. When he started avenging the fallen Avengers nothing and no one could keep him from his task. Over the last few years, he had lost some of that edge. A few of his intended targets had managed to escape his wrath. Somehow as time continued its inexorable march, he had lost some of the fire that had driven him. Now it was back. His encounter with Black Diamond had reignited that spark. Muskateer had a purpose again and his reign of terror would begin again in earnest.

"Old Rez is in for a big surprise. He couldn't have picked a more formidable place to hide his cowardly butt in and unfortunately for him, he couldn't have picked an easier place for me to get into."

Muskateer still had the master 'key' that Jaime had once entrusted to him. Eclypse's info had confirmed that they had only reconfigured the controls to CII, what with Jaime destroyed in the attack on Dr. Destroyer's satellite. The surface protocols and passwords may have changed, but he could circumvent those like they weren't even there.

"Nothing like learning from the designer herself." Jessica Flynn, the Scarlet Sabre, had taught Muskateer a fair amount about computer systems during their time together. Jaime had also supplied him with master codes to everything at CII.

The man who was once known as Muskateer thought for a few moments about the unusual duo of Jessica and Jaime. The pair were sometimes like sisters and sometimes like versions of the same person. And sometimes it was hard just to tell the two of them apart. Muskateer eventually took to considering them as the same person, just in two or more places at the same time. It was confusing to think about, so he usually didn't.

Jess and he had a lot in common. It wasn't so surprising that they would end up having a love affair, short lived though it was. The Scarlet Sabre had been disintegrated during the attack on Dr. Destroyer's stronghold during the initial attack of the war. Jaime also sacrificed herself in that battle having uploaded herself into the satellite network and self-destructing everything. It's not often you have the chance to offer your life to try and save others. Jess had actually done it successfully-- twice.

Muskateer paused for a moment, his thoughts lost on the sword-wielding heroine. After a moment, his black gloved fingers tapped out a short sequence on the keyboard nearby. Instantly, one of the screens flashed and the map on it was replaced by an image of Jessica Flynn. He hit a key again and it changed to a montage of her in action as the Scarlet Sabre. He stared intently and longingly as the computer sequenced through composite videos. After a few moments, the images faded and the screen went black. Muskateer tapped his chin a few moments as he considered the few short months that they had shared intimately.

His relationship with the Scarlet Sabre had been tragically cut short. Unfortunately for him, all of his previous serious relationships had ended similarly. Perhaps because of the war or perhaps just because of his ill-fated love affairs, Muskateer had neglected any thoughts of romance after Jessica had been killed. Of course, he had managed to banish most of his emotions. They were all buried deep and unaccessible. Or so he told himself anyway.

Of all the women in his life, he regretted his break-up with the Enchantress the most. He had felt truly alive when she was by his side. He had never recovered from the choice to leave her and the Avengers. But there was no way he could live up to the expectations and ideals that he felt pressed to uphold. He had fallen miserably short on that one fateful day. Muskateer had been trying to save Gwen from a huge attack launched by the Iron Maiden.

The villainess decided that perhaps overkill could help her enact revenge on the hero through his lover. It wasn't enough, but it had pushed Muskateer to the limit and ultimately resulted in the loss of his true love. He became caught up in the battle, in the challenge of the endless waves that seemed to come. The situation started to look desperate and Muskateer became too embroiled in the fighting. Saving Gwen was all that mattered. He resorted to strong measures. Caution and restraint were tossed aside and Hi-Voltage was the first to die at his sword.

After the fury had subsided, Muskateer was never able to face his teammates or his love again. He had failed as a hero. He had failed her. In many ways, Iron Maiden had in fact been more successful in her task than she could have imagined. He got his own revenge on Genevieve much later. Like always it was of the permanent form.

Gwen had been an ideal woman for him despite their differences. It was just those differences that kept things interesting and fun between them. He always felt Gwen was so far above him, but she had truly loved him. When Muskateer had received the word of her death, yet another part of him had died. He had even felt an incredible pain at the moment she was killed by the Morbanes. He had always hoped that one day they could be reconciled. The day she died was the day he knew he was forever on his own.

Glitter had come back into his life not long after his break-up with the silver-haired sorceress. She had been convenient, willing and very supportive of his new team, Strike Force, after his leaving the Avengers. Glitter had even sworn to be rehabilitated. Muskateer always had a hard time trusting her, but she gave her life to save him, treacherously killed by superpowered agents of VIPER, the very group she had gone turncoat on to be with Muskateer. Everyone he had ever really cared about had met tragic fates. Muskateer considered why he had been spared such a fate of his own. Maybe it was just his curse to keep on living long after everything inside him had already died.

None of the deaths of his friends and past loves were as tragic as that of Firestar. Muskateer had to kill Cassie himself. He would have rather died in her place to protect Cassie, but he had been unable to really save anyone. Was that why he still bothered to protect people like Molly? He felt guilty that everyone else was already gone. He had been powerless to truly save them.

That was also the reason Molly couldn't stay here any longer. She would only end up a corpse like all the others. It was inevitable. She would be much better off with Eclypse and his troops, Muskateer reasoned. She'd have someone to talk to, someone to have some form of life with. Muskateer didn't have time for that anymore.

"I probably should have said something to Eclypse about seeing Di. They were married after all." He just shook his head, disgustedly. "What's the point though? It just would've made things worse for him. Still I probably would have wanted to know, if it were me in his place." He sat quietly for a few moments. He had been very close with Linda as well. He had even entertained romantic thoughts toward her briefly. The two had gotten to be very close over the years. For just a moment, Muskateer felt very alone.

There was nothing that he could do about that just yet. He had already decided that first this matter with Resonator would be brought to a close, as it should have been long ago. Then he could begin on his new quest. The man once known as Muskateer pushed his emotions back deep inside where they belonged. He had a job to complete now. A reason to keep on going.

Sliding his chair over to another set of controls, Muskateer generated a few commands and then sat back and waited. A few moments later, he got the confirmation he desired. His master 'key' was still operational and unblockable. "CII's like an open door, once we get past the manual defenses. 'Course, that should be no problem for me."

Muskateer looked over to another screen. This one detailed the outline for his infiltration of the compound. He had it all committed to memory already, but it was easier to think with the visual reminders. Mentally he checked off the necessary steps again. "Just like stealing candy from a babe," the hero mused.

"Speaking of babes in the woods, how long are you going to stand there without saying anything?" Muskateer spun in his chair to face Molly, who was in the doorway to his command center.

"You hate being interrupted," Molly countered. "You've made that very clear before."

"Indeed I did." Muskateer spun back around and started to shut down his applications. The designated start time to begin his mission of revenge against Resonator was quickly approaching.

"I want to help," Molly finally stated after a few moments of silence. "I have powers, you know. I can be useful. Let me do something to pay you back for everything you've done for me."

"Look, kid, we've been through this before. You're staying here where it's safe."

"But..."

"No 'buts'," Muskateer quickly interrupted, shaking his finger at her. "I didn't rescue you just to see you get wasted on one of my missions. I work alone these days."

"Would Firestar have let you do this by yourself?"

Molly's question made Muskateer pause. She had no idea of the feelings he had for his former teammate and the remorse he felt for having to kill her. It was one of his far too many wounds that never would heal. Angered, Muskateer stood up, towering over Molly. "Yer not Firestar," he growled threateningly. "This job is going to be hard enough as it is without worrying about you being in the way. Understand?"

The rebuff made Molly shrink away in fear. She had to try and reason with Muskateer. Molly did have the powers of Starshine and she just wanted to help. "Yes...", she answered just above a whisper.

"Good." Muskateer began to pick up his equipment. It had been gathered over the last few days and staged for the mission. "I'll be back before you know it." Molly didn't answer as Muskateer started out of the command center. A beeping from one of the control consoles made him pause and return to the computer.

"What is that?", Molly cautiously asked as Muskateer tapped a few controls.

"An incoming message. Badly garbled and heavily encrypted." Ditching his gear for a moment, Muskateer worked the keyboard trying to clean up the signal. "Odd. It's a private frequency. Known only to a few people...."

"Who's it from?"

"Don't know." Muskateer stood and reclaimed his gear. "It'll take the computer a couple of hours to decode it. Assuming anything identifiable even comes through. The Last Avenger gestured towards one of the monitors. On it, the garbled message was displayed as a series of symbols. "As the message is decoded, letters will be displayed. The program will then try to fill in the missing parts. Doubt it will make any sense. Anyway, times wastin'."

Shouldering his gear, Muskateer exited the command center. Molly slowly followed, keeping her distance. He was already on his grav-cycle when she reached the hanger. The sound of the bike's engine being revved filled the chamber. Slowly, the hatch was opened and Muskateer rose up into the night, leaving Molly all alone...

Epilogue:

"Muskateer! Stand down!", Black Diamond commanded. She winced, expecting him to fire his rifle at any moment. If the weapon was as powerful as he boasted, then it could potentially be fatal to even her. But Diamond didn't have a choice. She had to protect Tesseract at all costs. Otherwise, Black Diamond would be stranded in this time.

Somehow the impending attack never came. Puzzled, Diamond turned back towards Muskateer. He was still there, his weapon pointed at her and Tesseract. Strangely enough, he was not moving. It was as if he was frozen.

"He is frozen in time," Tesseract explained, echoing Diamond's own thoughts. "As I said before, he could not possibly have harmed me."

Satisfied with Tesseract's explanation, Diamond turned back to the woman in the white robes. "You have a great deal of explaining to do before you can earn my trust. What was this all about?"

"It was an object lesson, if you will. It is a difficult concept for you humans to grasp that time is malleable. It can be shaped and molded towards whatever ends you desire."

"And just what are your ends?", Diamond asked in a suspicious tone.

"Not much different than yours, I assure you. I simply desire to put things right. What you saw was only one potential future of yours. There are many other possibilities. Most far more pleasant than this dark one."

"Obviously you are a vastly powerful and capable being. This begs the question, what do you need my team and I for?"

That query brought a small smile to Tesseract's face. "Much like yourself, I have a code of conduct. Rules that I must observe. Lack of direct intervention is one such rule. Thus I need to 'nudge' others in order to carry out my tasks."

Black Diamond thought for a few moments, her eyes glancing at the still 'time frozen' Muskateer. "The tasks that you ask my Defenders to perform will prevent this future from happening?"

"They are a step in the right direction. As in all things, there are no absolute guarantees of success. In the grand scheme of things, my tasks are seemingly small in scale and stature."

"I don't understand what you are saying."

This was of no surprise to Tesseract. "No one specific event created the future you just witnessed. Rather, it was a long string of small events that led to its creation. The more events in this string that can be changed for the better, the smaller the likelihood this world will actually come to pass."

"But according to Muskateer, we did your tasks and yet the future still turned out this way."

"As I said, it is a potential future. It can still be changed. Your tasks can make this possible. Primarily, your task is to prevent Timemaster from altering the past, thus changing the future."

"So, things could actually wind up worse than this if we don't do as you ask?", Black Diamond rationalized, although she found that hard to imagine.

"It is a distinct possibility."

Diamond thought long and hard. This situation was not as clear cut as she once thought it was. This mission could possibly prevent what Muskateer had told her. But at the same time, it caused some kind of potential harm to Firestar. Diamond adored Cassie and at times felt like her foster mother. She couldn't bear to see anything hurt her. And yet, what was the fate of one person when compared to that of an entire world?

"We will do your tasks," Black Diamond finally stated, but she didn't feel very good about it. Tesseract just nodded and the two women vanished from the underground lab, leaving Muskateer alone to his plans of vengeance.

The End

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