Nathan moved his shoulder around. Falling out of the wormhole into a cobblestone alleyway had led to a harder impact than he had been expecting. But it didn’t matter much. He smiled, as he looked around. He was in Philadelphia, 1787. In the 1970’s, he had lost his America. Now, by travelling back in time, he’d found it.
He looked down at his costume. It was strange to realize that he was wearing the costume of Patriot Star, but it wasn’t a costume he’d ever worn. It was strange to look back and remember those seventy years ago--or a century and a half in the future, depending on your perspective--when he’d put on his costume for the first time.
Yes, it had been 1941 when the American government had completed their experiments, creating their American super hero. It had been a dark time, a scary time, and the government wanted to inspire the soldiers. So they gave Nathan super powers and allowed him to adopt the moniker, “Patriot Star,” the same name used by a super hero back during the Revolutionary War, along with several other super-powered American heroes. Yes, Nathan had been Patriot Star back in the Forties, but now he was more than that. Bigger than that. For now, he was adopting the identity of the original Patriot Star, the Patriot Star of the American Revolution. And that made the time-travel worth it.
Walking out into the cobblestone street, he basked in the atmosphere of a real America. His America. Everyone here seemed so happy to be alive, so happy to live in a country that valued freedom. He could only wonder, where had it all gone wrong?
Then he wondered if he was where America had gone wrong. America had already dealt with presidential assassinations, incompetent presidents, corrupt presidents, but they’d never dealt with the very symbol of their patriotism going rogue.
But then he looked around at the city, again. This was his America. This was what Nixon had been betraying. Had he gone rogue, by guarding his values? Or was it Nixon who had gone rogue? Nathan was merely defending--
His stream of consciousness was cut off as he came across a bar, The Blue Eagle. He hadn’t thought about it for a long time, now, but he suddenly came to the realization that he hadn’t had a drink in decades. Seeing as how alcohol was so popular during the Colonial era, he figured, why not? This was a reconnaissance mission, after all. It was best to talk to the people in an environment where they were comfortable.
Opening the door to The Blue Eagle, Nathan was surprised by what he saw. It was more super powered beings than he’d ever remembered being in Philadelphia. Before he’d fully acclimated himself to the surprise, he heard a voice cry out, “‘Ey, Patriot Star! What a surprise! Have a sit with us.”
Looking to see where the sound came from, Nathan saw a rather tan man with a long beard. He was sitting next to a much smaller man, with a thin moustache and brown, beady eyes that seemed to be examining the place. If Nathan was correct, he’d stumbled upon Gil and Voir, two of France’s protectors, at the time.
“Gil!” he yelled, taking a shot at normalcy, “I didn’t expect to see you here.” He sat down at the bar stool next to Gil and looked at the bartender, “Gimme a pint o’ beer.”
Voir spoke up, but it was more of a whisper than anything, “We didn’t expect to see you here, either, Patriot. I’d heard you were off in Massachusetts, dealing with the dissidents.”
“Yeah, well. For a guy with super senses, Voir sure does hear a lot of things wrong, don’t he, Patriot?” Gil then broke into a hearty laugh, patting Voir on the back, “Oh, I don’t mean to hurt your feelings. Simply pointing out something interesting, is all.”
“Yeah, well, uh,” Nathan began, not quite forming a confident sentence, “We’ve mostly wiped the floor with Shay’s rebels, and all. They weren’t much of a match against liberty’s lovers.”
“Here’s a guy who can speak my language!” Gil bellowed, “Hanging out with twit over here for so long, I started to feel like I was the only one who could talk right.”
Voir cringed, “Just because I don’t talk at your obnoxious volume and with your cliched absurdities, doesn’t mean--”
Taking his beer, Patriot Star tried to alleviate the tension, “Well, let’s make a toast to this beautiful country of ours. What say you all?”
Gil and Voir picked up their beers--Gil’s almost empty and Voir’s almost full--and the three clicked their glasses together. Then, Gil and Nathan yelled, “For Justice!” Voir, not happy with the rowdiness, took a tiny sip and put the beer back down. Gil splashed the rest of his beer into his mouth, while Nathan took a good hearty swig.
Wiping the beer off his lips, Nathan thought of how simple this mission had been. Just as he had been assigned to do, he’d gone back in time, confirmed that this was Philadelphia during the Philadelphia Convention, and he’d even met some people to corroborate what he already knew. Truly, it was a perfect mission and he wondered how quickly he could get another, once he was finished here.
Looking for something to say, he asked, “So how’s France, then?”
“What are you--” before Gil could finish, the three of them heard a loud boom come from outside.
“Sounds like one of Firecracker’s bombs,” Voir whispered. That stopped Patriot Star in his tracks, for a moment. He had read of Firecracker in the history books: the youthful, energetic darling boy of the Revolution. The real Revolutionary Patriot Star had killed him for being a traitor.
“The boy might be in trouble, so it looks like we’ve got a job to do,” Gil said, “Let’s go!”
It seemed that half the bar got up to address whatever situation was occurring outside, and it was then Nathan realized how much he loved it here.
He looked down at his costume. It was strange to realize that he was wearing the costume of Patriot Star, but it wasn’t a costume he’d ever worn. It was strange to look back and remember those seventy years ago--or a century and a half in the future, depending on your perspective--when he’d put on his costume for the first time.
Yes, it had been 1941 when the American government had completed their experiments, creating their American super hero. It had been a dark time, a scary time, and the government wanted to inspire the soldiers. So they gave Nathan super powers and allowed him to adopt the moniker, “Patriot Star,” the same name used by a super hero back during the Revolutionary War, along with several other super-powered American heroes. Yes, Nathan had been Patriot Star back in the Forties, but now he was more than that. Bigger than that. For now, he was adopting the identity of the original Patriot Star, the Patriot Star of the American Revolution. And that made the time-travel worth it.
Walking out into the cobblestone street, he basked in the atmosphere of a real America. His America. Everyone here seemed so happy to be alive, so happy to live in a country that valued freedom. He could only wonder, where had it all gone wrong?
Then he wondered if he was where America had gone wrong. America had already dealt with presidential assassinations, incompetent presidents, corrupt presidents, but they’d never dealt with the very symbol of their patriotism going rogue.
But then he looked around at the city, again. This was his America. This was what Nixon had been betraying. Had he gone rogue, by guarding his values? Or was it Nixon who had gone rogue? Nathan was merely defending--
His stream of consciousness was cut off as he came across a bar, The Blue Eagle. He hadn’t thought about it for a long time, now, but he suddenly came to the realization that he hadn’t had a drink in decades. Seeing as how alcohol was so popular during the Colonial era, he figured, why not? This was a reconnaissance mission, after all. It was best to talk to the people in an environment where they were comfortable.
Opening the door to The Blue Eagle, Nathan was surprised by what he saw. It was more super powered beings than he’d ever remembered being in Philadelphia. Before he’d fully acclimated himself to the surprise, he heard a voice cry out, “‘Ey, Patriot Star! What a surprise! Have a sit with us.”
Looking to see where the sound came from, Nathan saw a rather tan man with a long beard. He was sitting next to a much smaller man, with a thin moustache and brown, beady eyes that seemed to be examining the place. If Nathan was correct, he’d stumbled upon Gil and Voir, two of France’s protectors, at the time.
“Gil!” he yelled, taking a shot at normalcy, “I didn’t expect to see you here.” He sat down at the bar stool next to Gil and looked at the bartender, “Gimme a pint o’ beer.”
Voir spoke up, but it was more of a whisper than anything, “We didn’t expect to see you here, either, Patriot. I’d heard you were off in Massachusetts, dealing with the dissidents.”
“Yeah, well. For a guy with super senses, Voir sure does hear a lot of things wrong, don’t he, Patriot?” Gil then broke into a hearty laugh, patting Voir on the back, “Oh, I don’t mean to hurt your feelings. Simply pointing out something interesting, is all.”
“Yeah, well, uh,” Nathan began, not quite forming a confident sentence, “We’ve mostly wiped the floor with Shay’s rebels, and all. They weren’t much of a match against liberty’s lovers.”
“Here’s a guy who can speak my language!” Gil bellowed, “Hanging out with twit over here for so long, I started to feel like I was the only one who could talk right.”
Voir cringed, “Just because I don’t talk at your obnoxious volume and with your cliched absurdities, doesn’t mean--”
Taking his beer, Patriot Star tried to alleviate the tension, “Well, let’s make a toast to this beautiful country of ours. What say you all?”
Gil and Voir picked up their beers--Gil’s almost empty and Voir’s almost full--and the three clicked their glasses together. Then, Gil and Nathan yelled, “For Justice!” Voir, not happy with the rowdiness, took a tiny sip and put the beer back down. Gil splashed the rest of his beer into his mouth, while Nathan took a good hearty swig.
Wiping the beer off his lips, Nathan thought of how simple this mission had been. Just as he had been assigned to do, he’d gone back in time, confirmed that this was Philadelphia during the Philadelphia Convention, and he’d even met some people to corroborate what he already knew. Truly, it was a perfect mission and he wondered how quickly he could get another, once he was finished here.
Looking for something to say, he asked, “So how’s France, then?”
“What are you--” before Gil could finish, the three of them heard a loud boom come from outside.
“Sounds like one of Firecracker’s bombs,” Voir whispered. That stopped Patriot Star in his tracks, for a moment. He had read of Firecracker in the history books: the youthful, energetic darling boy of the Revolution. The real Revolutionary Patriot Star had killed him for being a traitor.
“The boy might be in trouble, so it looks like we’ve got a job to do,” Gil said, “Let’s go!”
It seemed that half the bar got up to address whatever situation was occurring outside, and it was then Nathan realized how much he loved it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment