Milo's grandfather had been wealthy, but that wealth had been divided among a half dozen children. Milo's father had been fond of drink and young women, and had coasted through life on an ever-shrinking trust fund, dying at the age of thirty-seven in an unfortunate incident which the family prefers not to discuss publically.
Milo himself had reached adulthood with no marketable skills whatsoever. He did however know the family stories about grandfather, about his strange friends and the locked chest in the old house's attic. Curious and bored, and perhaps a little desperate for something, anything that might show him a way out of joining the working world, Milo found that a crowbar took care of the lock. Inside the chest he found some very odd old clothes, a photo album filled with pictures of grown men and women in underwear, capes and tights, a diary filled with unbelievable stories detailing his grandfathers heroic career as "Johnny On The Spot", and a small box. The stories were all true! Milo would be rich again!
"Free! Forty-two years, six months, twenty-three hours, seven minutes, and fifty-nine seconds of captivity in that horrible ring, but now, finally, I"m free!"
The Jinni laughed, filled with joy, and flexed his mighty arms. A crackling leash of energy, a Tesla arc, lead from the Jinn's legs and back to a simple golden ring, a ring clutched in the hands of an excited and terrified young man.
"Y-yes," squeaked the young man, "yes! Grandfather's diary was true! My own magic genie!"
The Jinni focused, and looked at his young "master," the spitting image of his last master. The master at whose side he had fought criminals, Nazis, and mad men for nearly a decade. The master that had left him, trapped, alone, in a ring, in a box, in an old oak chest, in an attic, for nearly half a century.
"Which part of "free" didn"t you understand, boy?"
"What?"
"I"m free. FREE! No more masters, no more mages, no more battles, and especially no more rings. I"m leaving. Have a nice life."
"Wait! You can"t do this to me!" The young man was terrified. His grandfather's magic genie, the genie that had made his grandfather a hero, was threatening to leave! It couldn"t be! His ticket out of an ordinary life was threatening to leave him behind! "You"ve got to stay! You"ve got to grant my wishes!"
The Jinni thought for a moment, and felt the tiniest touch of pity. "Very well. One wish."
"One wish!"! Just one!"
"One."
"OK," breathed the young man, "just give me more time!"
"Done!" shouted the Jinni, and was gone.
"Damn!"
The Jinni was true to his word. From that moment forward, Milo Passepartout had more time than anyone else...
Milo quickly discovered his powers; when he wanted to he could step outside of time and do many more things than normal people. To Milo it seemed like the rest of the world was frozen still while he seemed to be moving at his normal pace. He found out later that others were not able to effectively see him at all as anything other than a super-fast blur, and certainly were not able to react to him.
Soon, after testing the extent of his genie-granted powers, he created the identity of Johnny Tick-Tock, the Man Who Makes Time For Crime! Originally his intent was to be a superhero like his grandsire, but he just wasnt made of the same stuff as his honored predecessor and quickly turned to crime. His powers made him very well suited to petty theft, and with practice he became a decent burglar as well.
Unfortunately, as good as his power makes him, he has neither the street cred nor the street smarts to establish himself on the scene on his own. Fortunately for him he found employement with a firm calling itself Enforcers Inc early in his career. After working many successful contracts with the firm he was offered an exclusive arrangement and accepted. His prospects have been looking up ever since. |
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