Crossover Earth '98
A New Beginning Jay Shaffstall
Donald Martin glanced into store windows as he strolled down the main street of Portland, Oregon. A newstand had a special edition prominently displayed.
Superheroes Joining To Fight Aliens, the headline read. Donald knew that, at one point in his life, he would have been in the thick of things, guiding the heroes where necessary to combat the aliens. He shook his head, and continued walking.
So much time spent, trying to change the past. So many grand ideas and failed plans. Donald's time as Infinity had been a colossal ego-trip, and attempt to force history into his mold. No more, he thought, no more. The Traveller showed me the way. When your life is gone, the only thing you have left is helping others. Not on the epic scale of alien invaders, but on the simple everyday scale of human life.
He'd been so driven as Infinity, unable to appreciate even the largest victories, so intent was he on his ultimate goal. If only he still had Infinity's powers, now that he understood the importance of each little victory over fate.
Count your blessings, he told himself. You can see the range of possible futures, good enough to avert disasters before they happen. And you can still manage enough of a time hop to be able to fix any major screwup you make. I'd say you're doing pretty well.
Donald looked up to find himself outside the convention center. The marquis read, "Today only, He-Man Classic!". Donald entered and made his way through a crowd of beefy muscle-men.
The main auditorium in the center had a stage surrounded by two levels of seats. On the stage, even beefier muscle-men posed and strutted. In the balcony, kids leaned on the railing, cheering on their favorite He-Man. Donald moved to a spot just under the balcony railing and waited.
A few minutes later, two of the kids started fighting.
"You're nuts, the Undertaker is the best!"
"Ah, he's dippo."
A push and a shove, followed by a brief cry as one of the boys fell over the railing. Donald stepped forward at just the right moment and reached out. He managed to break the boy's fall and both of them went down.
"Jeez, mister, cop a feel somewhere else." The boy sprang to his feet and rushed for the stairs back to the balcony.
Donald smiled as he left the convention center.