Crystalline suit glittering in the light of the full moon, Jamie emerged from the tear in the fabric of space, his thrown fist connecting with nothing.

"Alright, Doctor Tek-No, that was a neat trick, but I won't stay blinded forever!" Holding out his hands, trying to sense his enemy, Jamie turned in a tight circle, ready to react. "Come on, then! Give it your best shot, Tek-No! Tek-No?"

"Doctor Tek-No is not within scanning range, Obsidian Streak." SARA, Jamie's AI assistant, informed Jamie of what he already suspected. "Something is wrong, however. I cannot connect to any known network."

Standing upright, he allowed the featureless mask to slough from his face and hands. The micro-crystal uniform retreating back into his body, he rubbed his eyes, blinking several times, and finally saw where he was. Or, rather, where he wasn't.

Seconds before, he had faced Doctor Tek-No on the roof of the Oswald building. In broad daylight. Now, he could see that this was certainly not the daytime. It wasn't even the Oswald building, where Doctor Tek-No had hidden himself as the billionaire industrialist, Oliver Oswald, for the last six months.

Tek-No had fired up his latest super-weapon, the Time Destructor, in an attempt to return to a time before the accident that had robbed him of his voice, but had given him incredible technical powers. Powers that meant he could envision and build anything he wanted. Unfortunately, that accident had also destabilised the Doctor's mind, turning him into a homicidal villain that Jamie has fought several times in his short heroic career.

Ever since the crystalline Obsidian suit had latched onto him, upon the death of the former owner of the suit, Obsidian Staff, Jamie had fought many strange and deadly villains. Tek-No had proved the most dangerous and deadly, by far. Whatever Tek-No had done this time, Jamie had to find him and put a stop to his schemes, once and for all.

"Okay, so, this all looks kind of familiar, but kind of ... not." He held up the wrist that had SARA attached and turned in a circle. "What do you make of it?"

"Processing." Once an ordinary smart watch, SARA had received a massive upgrade, thanks to the Obsidian suit. Jamie still hadn't worked out how that was possible. "Conclusion: We have travelled backwards in time. I sense limited radio frequencies in the AM/FM range, along with UHF/VHF signals. Television. But no internet of any kind, nor any cellular activity. This can only be the past."

"But what year? I can't believe I'm actually asking a question like that." Running a hand through his hair, he looked around once more. "More importantly, how do I get back?"

"Unknown." SARA almost sounded excited at that prospect. There were only rare occasions that the AI didn't know something. "More data required."

Before Jamie could even ask what kind of data she would need, an explosion of energy streaked into the sky, no more than a couple of blocks away. Without thinking, Jamie returned the micro-crystal mask and gloves into place and summoned the hover-disc from the same material. It compromised the durability of the suit, but it was also the fastest way to reach the explosion.

"I know exactly where we are in history! I've studied this night a thousand times!" At eye-watering speeds, Jamie flew towards the column of energy, praying that he reached it in time. "This is the day Obsidian Staff died the first time, defeated by the combined might of his worst enemies, the Savage Four!"

He soon reached the battle ground. A battle that had happened thirty years before Jamie was even born. There, in an empty construction site, Obsidian Staff fought with bravery and honour against four enemies that didn't even know those words. Honour and bravery wouldn't save him. But Jamie could.

"No!" With far more emotion than Jamie had ever heard from the AI, SARA almost screamed at him. "You cannot interfere!"

"Why not? He's going to die!" He had landed on a nearby roof, looking down towards the battle. "I can't just stand here!"

"You must! If Obsidian Staff does not die here, he will never commune with the crystalline suit. He will never fully accept its powers." Jamie had never known SARA to be so insistent. "And if he does not accept the full powers of the suit, then all animal life on this planet will die. Florassasin only lost due to Obsidian Staff's new powers. Remember your studies!"

It went against everything his parents had drummed into him from an early age. Against the sacred vow he had made to them both as they died in his arms: to use his powers to save lives, no matter the cost. It went against every instinct, but he couldn't help Obsidian Staff. If he helped the great hero, more lives would be lost, in the long run.

As he heard Obsidian Staff's screams of pain, heard the laughter and taunts of the hero's enemies, Jamie performed his greatest feat. He turned away.

The crystalline suit drained away from Jamie's face. It had to. He couldn't wipe away tears behind a mask.