While
being teleported into not only a different universe
but a different time within that universe
didn't exactly hurt, it was certainly a nauseating
experience - especially for first timers. And in the
group of expatriated superhumans that were just
whisked away from a barren planet in an unknown
timeline into a new world full of adventure there
were quite a few.
"Eugh!"
the man called Ph-Eros cried as he rematerialised on
the sandy desert ground that served as his group's
arrival point on the new universe. "That is
absolutely gut-wrenching!"
He
waited a few moments for each of his teammates to
gather together. Aleta Vaughn, a thirty-first century
Arcturan superhero with the power to create objects
made of solid light had pretty much appointed herself
the leader of the group as she seemed to be the only
one with any idea of what was going on.
Beside
her stood the man called Joseph, a human mutant with
the power to manipulate magnetic fields. With long
white hair that trailed down to his waist and
wrinkles formed from many months of frowning while on
adventures with the team of outlaw mutants called the
X-Men, he looked older than he truly was.
Nearby,
the two young superbeings called Firefly and Scamp
stood together. Firefly had not yet displayed any
superhuman abilities, but Ph-Eros assumed that with a
codename must come powers. Scamp, on the other hand,
had showed a level of bravery in attacking Joseph* that could
only belong to someone with mighty superhuman powers
to fall back on.
[ * - see last issue ]
Not far from Firefly and Scamp stood
the incredibly attractive man called Daywalker, in
the shade of an outward-jutting rock pile. He, too,
had not yet displayed any superhuman abilities, but
Ph-Eros surmised that he must come from a world where
being diurnal is rare, as he seemed to be going to a
fair amount of trouble to avoid the light.
One team member was unaccounted for,
however.
"Hey, where's Doc Savage?"
Ph-Eros asked.
"I am here," said a voice
behind him, "and please do not call me Doc
Savage while I am in this form."
"Sorry," Ph-Eros said as he
turned around to face the mysterious stranger that
was Doc Savage. "Hey, I've got a good name for
you, Doc - the Mysterious Stranger."
"I would much rather be called by
my real name, Ph-Eros."
"Your real name is Ph-Eros? Cool!
Maybe we're twins!" Ph-Eros said, grinning.
"If you were not the only one
among this assemblage capable of preventing my return
to the form of Doc Savage, I would smite you with a
hex most powerful, my friend," the Stranger
grated.
"Dr. Strange," Aleta called
over from where she and Joseph stood, "are you
having any luck finding a mystical way home?"
"If I had found a way home,
Aleta, I would most certainly not be here right
now," the Stranger remarked scathingly. "I
imagine that whatever force has placed us in our
current position has also prevented us from using the
considerable powers at my disposal to return us to
our rightful timelines."
The considerable powers at my
disposal? Ph-Eros thought. The Doc's
almost as conceited as me! Almost.
"Everybody
gather round so that we can discuss our next
move," Aleta said. "We need to form some
kind of a plan. I don't want to just stand around in
this desert indefinitely."
"Who
chose you to make our decisions, woman?" the
Stranger asked. "I will do as I wish." And
with that, he took to the sky and quickly flew out of
sight.
"That
went well," Aleta muttered, "but he has a
point. I just assumed that since I'm apparently the
only one of us being given instructions, that you
would all just follow my lead. Do the rest of you
have any problem with that?"
No-one
did - at least no-one said that they did -
and in moments, everyone had assembled around Aleta
and Joseph. Even Daywalker had, squinting and
shielding his face from the sun, stepped out into the
open.
"I
think we should try to find some semblance of
civilisation," Aleta said. "I sincerely
doubt that whoever - or whatever - has sent us here
simply wants us to experience what the desert is
like. Perhaps we could split up and - "
"Ah'm
not goin' anywhere with Magneto," Scamp
interrupted. She had made a point of standing as far
away from Joseph as possible while remaining part of
the circle.
"I
wasn't going to suggest that, Scamp," Aleta
said. "I think that you should go with Firefly,
Daywalker with Ph-Eros, and I with Joseph. Any
objections?"
No-one
spoke up, but Daywalker and Ph-Eros glared at each
other and turned away from one another.
"I
suggest that we head to the south, Aleta,"
Joseph said. "The magnetic field of this planet
is an odd one. There appear to be lines of magnetic
force running below ground, and they increase in
intensity to south. This could be explained by a
heightened use of electricity there - perhaps a power
plant."
"Okay,
we'll go south. Scamp and Firefly, you two should
head north. If Joseph is correct, whatever is using
the plant's power would be there. Daywalker and
Ph-Eros, head east. Dr. Strange has already flown off
to the west. If anybody finds anything, stay with it.
We'll all find each other eventually, although it
would be nice if we had some kind of signalling
system..." Aleta said.
"Let's
go," Daywalker said to Ph-Eros. "But if you
try to make even one joke, I will break your arms.
Understand?"
"Yessir!"
Ph-Eros replied, saluting.
Scamp and Firefly
They
walked together, standing a few feet apart as the
crossed the dusty desert that they had been ordered
to explore. Scamp looked sullen, upset that Magneto
had been thrown into this motley assemblage of
heroes. She had seen him kill her mother... or had
she?
This
man, despite looking almost identical to Magneto -
albeit a little younger - and displaying the same
mutant power as the Master of Magnetism, didn't call
himself Magneo. Instead, he identified himself as
'Joseph'. And he referred to being attacked by
Magneto. Did Magneto have a younger sibling that the
Mutant Underground was unaware of?
However,
as Scamp well knew, Magneto was pure, unadulterated
evil. His hatred for humanity was so strong that it
was impossible to conceive of anyone who even looked
like Magneto being anything but.
"Penny
for 'em," Firefly said after almost an hour of
walking across the dry, sandy plains.
"Huh?"
Scamp asked. "What'd you say?"
"I
asked what you were thinking. You've been silent for
this whole trip."
"Sorry,
ah was just daydreaming. Y'know, this'd be a lot
faster if we could fly."
Firefly
grinned.
"What?"
Scamp asked.
"I
can fly!" Firefly paused, and furrowed
his brow in concentration. Before Scamp's eyes, two
oblong and translucent wings, like that of an insect,
grew out of Firefly's back through two slits that,
until now, Scamp had not seen on the back of his
shirt.
Growing
the wings didn't appear to hurt Firefly, and Scamp
thought that they might not be breaking through the
skin on his back. Perhaps, she surmised, he has
permanently open slits there, too.
Within
moments, Firefly's two wings stretched out behind his
back and, flapping them eagerly, he began to lift off
from the ground.
"Unfortunately,"
he said, "the heat and humidity here is a
hindrance rather than a benefit. These are wasp
wings, not bird wings - I can't 'ride the thermals'
like they do. I have to flap."
As
Scamp watched, Firely began to flap his wings more
and more furiously, until they were moving so fast
that it appeared that they were not moving at all. A
loud buzzing noise accompanied the movement, so loud
in fact that Scamp had to cover her ears.
"Sorry!"
Firefly said, and he began to concentrate again. In
less than five seconds, he had shrunk down to a size
that rendered him almost invisible. Scamp could
barely see him against the light blue backdrop of the
sky.
"I
can shrink, too," he said, his voice so quiet
that Scamp had to struggle to hear it. "I'll fly
a few kilometers ahead, and see what I can see. You
follow. I'll come back if I find anything."
Firefly
buzzed off, leaving Scamp to think about Joseph
again.
Doc
Savage
He
hovered over a small rocky outcrop, surveying
everything around him. As far as his
magickally-enhanced vision could tell, there was
nothing but desert and rocks for miles around. He
began to descend when he heard a small voice calling
out to him.
"Sir!
Sir! Please help, sir!" the voice squeaked.
"Who...?"
the doctor wondered.
"Please
sir, I need your help!"
The
doctor looked around once again, and saw a tiny
figure on the desert below. It couldn't have been
more than four feet tall, and was half-buried in the
sand already. He gently lowered himself down to a
spot only a few meters away from the creature and
rushed to it's side.
He
grabbed the figure's arm and pulled, noticing how
easily the tiny man moved through the sand. In
moments, they stood side-by-side on the sandy ground.
"Who
are you?" the doctor asked.
"Me?
I'm Gethimnow!" the man replied.
"Gethimnow?"
the doctor asked. "That sounds a lot like 'get
him now'."
"I'm
glad you noticed that," the man said,
frustrated. "Guys! Get. Him. Now!"
From
between rocks in the nearby outcropping that the
doctor had been hovering over before came four tall
men, each wearing a skull mask and black,
tight-fitting clothing. They carried large black and
silver guns and ran straight towards the doctor and
the small man that he had just rescued. In seconds,
the doctor was surrounded.
"'Who
are we?', you asked?" Gethimnow said. "We
are the Flying Skulls. We play The Game."
"Yeah!
The Game!" one of the other men cried. "We
kick all over Dragon's Butts! And you're our
prisoner!"
"Yes,"
Gethimnow said, "Bat-like Cranium is right. You
are our prisoner, and will be instrumental in luring
Dragon's Claws into a battle with us."
"I
can assure you," the doctor said, "that I
have no idea what you're talking about."
Gethimnow
scowled. "Do you think I'm an idiot? What, are
you from another universe or something? Everyone knows
what the Game is."
"Except
me, obviously."
"Never
mind. You'll learn soon enough."
Daywalker
and Ph-Eros
"So,
like, there's this guy, right, and he - "
"No."
"Okay
then. What about the one where - "
"No."
"When
- "
"Ph-Eros.
Stop."
"Then
what am I supposed to do, tall, humourless and
handsome? Aside from the half dozen times that you've
threatened to make me eat your fist, you haven't said
a word for this entire trip!" Ph-Eros
complained.
"And?"
"And?
And? We need to do something. Say something.
Eat something. We can't just walk around in silence!
It's stupid! It's madness! It's just not right!"
"We
have nothing to talk about, Ph-Eros. Once we're done
with this stupid little escapade I will return to my
world and save it once and for all. And thankfully,
from then on I'll have nothing to do with you."
"There's
something we can talk about!" Ph-Eros
exclaimed. "Your world needs saving. Why? What's
wrong with it?"
Daywalker
didn't reply. He just kept walking, leaving Ph-Eros
struggling to catch up.
"Well?"
"Don't
you get it, you little freak?!?" Daywalker
shouted. "I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"
Daywalker
stormed off angrily, separating himself from Ph-Eros.
Aleta
and Joseph
Aleta
flew over Joseph's head as the mutant master of
magnetism traced the route of electricity flowing
beneath the ground, interfering with the area's
magnetosphere. From her vantage point she could see
everything for several hundred meters in all
directions, and in the distance ahead of her a long
but flat building had appeared on the horizon.
"Joseph,"
she called down, "straight ahead there's a...
ugh..."
Before
she could finish her sentence, Aleta fell towards the
ground, unconscious. Using his control of magnetism,
Joseph moved the small amounts of metallic elements
inside Aleta's body in such a way as to slow her
descent and drop her into his waiting arms. He placed
her gently onto the ground and examined her for any
injuries.
"Aleta."
The strange voice once again invaded Aleta's
unconscious mind* but thankfully did not take
over her body as it had done previously.
[ * - see last issue ]
What is it now?
"You are in the year 8162,
just prior to the arrival of the time-travelling
bounty hunter Death's Head. You need to prevent his
arrival, as he is needed elsewhere. A gang member,
Spratt, will be instrumental in helping you."
Along with the words, Aleta's mind was flooded with
images of a giant robot with a head like that of a
goat and a young man wearing an old army cap and
khaki uniform.
Why must we do this? Why have you
chosen me to be your messenger?
"You know why you must do
what I ask, but fear not - I will not speak to you
again, yet you will know what to do."
What is that supposed to mean?
"..."
"Aleta? Aleta, are you
alright?" Aleta awoke to find Joseph hunched
over her, a concerned look on his face. When he saw
her eyes open wide, his face relaxed, and Aleta
thought that she even saw a quick smile cross his
face.
"I am fine," Aleta replied.
"Our mysterious master just chose to speak to me
again, that's all."
"What did he say?" Joseph
asked.
"We need to stop a giant robot
named Death's Head from arriving in this time period
so that he can go and be of use somewhere else.
Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?"
"I sincerely hope that you are
joking," Joseph said.
Aleta smiled. "Before I went
down, I saw a building in the distance. We should go
and examine it."
"Agreed," Joseph said. The
two superhumans used their respective powers to leave
the ground and sped as fast as possible toward the
distant structure.
Firefly
This
is awesome! Firefly thought as he raced away
from Scamp. Back on Warworld, Mom and Dad never
let me cut loose like this. Here, I can fly wherever
I want and as fast as I want... and those other guys
all seem way cooler than the Avengers, or the X-Men,
or even Thor...
He flew
for over half an hour, experimenting with his wings
in a way he'd never been allowed to at home. He even
managed to perfect a few little flying maneuvers
before, in the middle of an open area of desert, he
spotted a group of small buildings.
He flew
back to Scamp, who had managed to keep up pretty
well. Firefly noticed for the first time how fit
Scamp was. Her body showed signs of extensive
physical training, quite unlike his own skinny and
twiggy little body. He landed beside her and told her
what he had seen.
"Maybe
they're houses," Scamp suggested. "Did you
see any people?"
"No,"
Firefly replied, "but I didn't really stay and
look."
"Ah
say we go an' check it out. There may be something
there that we can use to contact the others if we
need to."
"Right,"
Firefly said, "and failing that, once I've
rested up I can go and gather them all."
Scamp
nodded. "Let's go."
Daywalker
and Ph-Eros
They
had been walking in silence for almost forty-five
minutes following their last altercation. Ph-Eros had
remained a few feet behind Daywalker, and had been
sulking in a very visible way. Daywalker didn't care.
While he didn't want to be a part of the group, he
knew he had no choice - but that didn't mean he had
to try and make the best of it.
Suddenly,
the pair found themselves face-to-face with a rocky
outcropping that they had been too preoccupied to
notice until then. They struggled to climb over it -
well, Ph-Eros struggled, anyway - and when they
finally stood on top of the moderately-sized pile of
rocks, they saw something that quite surprised them:
Doc Savage, surrounded by a group of men in tight
black clothing.
"Looks
like Doc Savage didn't keep flying west after
all," Daywalker muttered. "I suppose we
have to help him." He turned back to look at
Ph-Eros but discovered that the mutant was already
clambering down the rocks and heading toward Doc
Savage and his assailants. Daywalker hastily
followed.
When
Daywalker finally caught up with Ph-Eros, he asked
"Do you know what you're doing?"
"No,
but I knew you'd have a plan," Ph-Eros
said without slowing his pace.
"You
knew I - damn it!" Daywalker hurried to
keep up with Ph-Eros as they charged at the Flying
Skulls. "I don't suppose you can control them
from a distance...?"
"Nope.
I need direct physical contact. Can't even do it
through clothing."
"You're
useless then, aren't you?" Daywalker muttered.
They kept running, and didn't stop until they
barreled into the surprised members of the Flying
Skulls gang.
"Stop
them!" Gethimnow roared. "They'll ruin
everything!"
The
Flying Skulls were better trained than their earlier
actions had suggested. They quickly regrouped and,
training their weapons on Daywalker and Ph-Eros,
fired.
NEXT ISSUE: Things
get EVEN WORSE!
