The Time Stone, Third Edition (Extended Version)

The darkness of the main chamber within the central complex is illuminated with the colorful lights of the rainbow spectrum emanating from above and around, in and synchronization lines as the center of the room appeared to spin in the middle of the vibrating and whirling lights, as the individual in the center of the room, Broad Staffnight in his three piece suit staring into the flame of a lit candlestick, his dark beady eyes fixated at its core. The sound of Richard Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries played loudly in the background as Broad stands before his desk in the immense boardroom office, and after several fixated moments, he bore a still gaze as his thoughts raced about in his mind about the various projects his company was involved in and he is focused on, but now the biggest project of all he sensed is coming, his thoughts manifested in a curious bold smile. “Beep” the sound of the alarm on his desk went off.

“Here.” Broad responds.

“There is some disturbance on the perimeter” says Brent Hightower, Police Chief and Security Advisor to Temporo, Inc.

Broad smirks wider anticipating an impending arrival, “Prepare the defenses.” says Broad.

“Yes Sir, out.” replies Hightower as he released the communication button.

Broad stands nodding into the flaming abyss “It is time!”

In the open atrium of the central complex, a large red carpet surrounded by marble pillars and gilded seating, statues and objects decorating the area like an expensive hotel lobby. A large-scale replica of the Sistine chapel ceiling raised above the heads of the many people standing in the center. Elizabeth Peters stands in the center looking up and around, surrounded by several dozen agents in uniform jackets and hats with various initials representing a half dozen federal agencies walking around with their equipment, preparing to make a major bust. Joseph Willibiggons approached, wearing a long white shirt, buttoned up to the top with no tie. He snorted as he touched his small glasses

“Ms. Peters.” He speaks in his usual meager boyish tones.

“What are we doing here, Joe? This is supposed to be over.” She speaks anxiously.

“We are almost there. It won’t be much longer now.” He grimaces at her as she squinted back curiously, holding her gun up and cocking it.

“Well, be hopeful.” She replies. “You ready to do your transformation act when the time comes, Mark?” She says to the short man standing beside her, holding his decorative jewel- adorned wine glass.

“Always,” he says with a smile revealing part of his face as his brow grew larger and dark brown with bumps and hair, then quickly reverted to normal “Always prepared!”

Outside of the central complex, the large wooden and metal-laden doors were bolted shut and remained guarded by Jeremy Esteban, a muscular man with a black T-shirt and long dreadlocks hidden underneath a tight knit cap. He gritted his teeth as he cursed the air around him exhibiting a foul mouth to his comrade, a short blonde local police officer named Jonathan Wilson, who is young enough to be his son and is standing beside him in uniform holding a rifle.

“What the… men, Jonathan, are we waiting for trouble or what?” asks the taller man. “I got an itching for a butt kicking.” He clamped his fist into his waiting empty hand.

“I suggest we wait further. Our orders were to look out for any resistors. Our whole regimen depends on it.”

“I see some serious stuff in my day, a long stretch in Viet Nam, gangbanging in Compton, a stretch in San Quentin, and even worked security for Mariah Carey, but nothing prepared me for the stuff they say is supposed to go down. How they get this smart anyway?”

“I was told it is a secret source. Rumor has it there is psychic power involved. Your long list of credentials sounds impressive, but if there is something otherworldly, then it will take more than brute force to prevail in the end, Mr. Esteban.”

“Whatever it may be, I am ready for it. My daddy always says it is a fool’s choice when you went into battle empty handed and I got some knuckle sandwiches right here for them psychic bitches.” Jeremy punched his fists in the air.

“I hope you’re right.” Jonathan adds.

The tower structure of the central complex loomed down as the main citadel glistened in the dusking skies, and the pale moon shone blue overhead.

“The hour is almost at hand, the Last Time.” says Broad Staffnight on the balcony overlooking the complex.

“We do not have a lot of time left, Sir,” says Janus, standing beside Broad. Janus has pale hands and a pale nose like a corpse and speaks with a dark and slurred mannerism. “The moon is full and the period of night balance approaches. We must start the ceremony or forever lose our chance.”

“Then let it begin.” says Broad and the cloaked man began to chant like a Gregorian Monk as he walks over to the banister and lifted his arms up to the moonlit sky. The darkness began to grow and permeate their immediate surroundings as he waived his hands in circle causing blackness of smoke to build before them. “By the rod of Cronos… come forth.”

“We will find the ‘Eye’ soon. It is being ‘delivered’ as we speak” Broad smiles.

Having abandoned their van, the quartet led by Milton Drax walks up the stairwell after having entered into the side rear wall of one of the dozen tall front towers of the central complex.

“How did you know that door is open? It is just a brick wall” asks James.

“I told you…” started Drax.

“I know… I know you were one of them.” James interrupted. “Let’s just hope they didn’t change the locks.”

They climbed the stairwell up to a black door with strange symbols on it resembling four lines crossing one another and curving in a circular pattern.

“What’s this?” asks Tina.

“Hold on.” Says Drax who tapped the left side of the door and it revealed a panel that has a series of switches as the cover vanished. “It’s a holographic projection only.” says Drax looking at the dumbfounded faces of his new colleagues. Drax flipped two switches and the door opened. “Hurry, we don’t have much time.” Drax ordered as they entered a large closet filled with large weaponry and militaristic gear.

“We should split up to cover more ground.” thought Mercedes out loud.

“No we’re stronger as a group.” says James.

“Normally, I would agree James,” says Drax, “but these are not normal times.” He stands up and cocks a large rifle-like weapon with a glowing orb at the end that hummed when cocked vibrating into his hands.

“Cool!” exclaims Tina, reaching for a similar weapon.

“Don’t touch that.” yells Drax reaching out.

“What?” Says Tina as she touched the weapon and it began to blink rapidly and make a loud beeping noise.

Drax reached down and tapped it on a different spot and it stops. “Phew, you almost blew us up.” He smirks.

“Oh my!” she gasped.

“Here,” he grabbed a small pistol with a bulging tip and handed it to her. “Always point it away from the good guys” Drax smiles, speaking slowly.

“Mercedes grab this one,” he tossed her some body armor and a pistol.

Then he tossed another one to James. “These weapons are limited editions sort of speaking. Listen carefully then let’s go!” He explained how to operate them and where to go, and they all split up into their respective assigned directions.

Mercedes kept going up the stairwell on her own, pondering what she has done to wind up in this situation. She has come a long way from her initial predicament, but feels still inexperienced and out of the loop about things that are apparently beyond her comprehension. She clutched the long rifle-like weapon with a glowing orb on the end in both her hands and felt reassured by her heavy body armor, as the weapon illuminated the darkened stairwell before her. She felt like a football linebacker, but also as a thief trying to take what wasn’t hers, and infiltrate an organization that she did not even know existed until recently. She is new to this life of crime and feels apprehensive as she approaches the door to the long-awaited seventieth floor where Drax told her to go. He says it was likely every floor has high security and they have to be prepared so each of them is given a brief tutorial on using the advanced technological weaponry. “Click, Turn, and Pivot…” she remembered his words as the lesson included some basic self-defense. She never imagined being a soldier, but is ready for anything and she gritted her teeth as she ascended the stairs. She reached the door on the left side and touched it revealing a panel of control switches that appeared as a holographic visage vanishing before her just as Drax said would happen. “Whoa.” she reached out and switched the two switches up just like Drax told her to, causing the door to open and a room of bright light to emerge with people standing in the distance on an array of red carpet and gilded furniture design. She takes a deep breath and steps into the room.

As she entered, the group in the distance ran towards her. She noticed a group of men in blue jackets with hats and they drew their weapons.

“Hey, freeze!” one yells.

“Oh crap!” she yells. As they got closer, she aimed her rifle-like weapon and pulled the trigger. The lit orb at the end released a loud humming sound and projectile of light energy separating itself and blasting forth in all directions, creating a loud explosive sound in conjunction with a blinding flash of light. Mercedes turns her face away and when the light faded she saw the men lying on the floor unconscious, but with no visible signs of damage to their bodies. A sole woman, Elizabeth Peters, is in the distance, having long blonde hair, wearing a business suit, and holding a large pistol. Mercedes approached and Elizabeth pointed her weapon at her. Mercedes pressed a button on her armor and a flash of light enveloped her and made her appear to disappear. Elizabeth cursed under her breath as she knew it is a cloak of invisibility. “Damn.” she muttered. Mercedes ran towards her hidden in realms of light and darkness, and knocked her down disarming her then punching her in the face rendering her unconscious. “Yeah!” she screams. Then she felt something stealthily approach and before she could turn it pounced on top of her causing her to drop her weapon on the floor a few feet away that revealed itself visibly once out of her possession. She turns and found herself struggling with a mythic creature, the Satyr. He lunged at her with his sharp fangs and long snout and brow as they grasped one another’s hands. “He can see me.”

“I can see you, beast sepia vision…” he replies snarling and drooling at her. They rolled around on the ground as she desperately tried to resist his might, but his superior strength prevailed and crushed her armor like tissue paper causing the light bubble to disintegrate and reveal her frail form on the floor. Satyr flung himself back a few meters partially blinded by the light. Mercedes got up and caught her breath, then saw Satyr coming back and flying towards her with his clawed hands outstretched before him. She reached for her weapon lying only a few feet from her, but she is grabbed by the clawed furry hand of her attacker and struck in the face seeing nothing, but unconscious blackness.

Tina and James walk up the flight of stairs onto the landing for the twentieth floor as instructed by Drax. They were tired and catching their breath, realizing they were desperately out of shape. They held their hand pistols and wore their body armor as instructed.

“How did we end up here, Tina?” asks James.

“Who says we ended up anywhere?” Tina replies.

“I know, just thinking of how funny life is sometimes.” says James.

Tina smirks. “Here we go buddy,” says Tina, “All our hopes now.”

James nodded in response nervously and Tina flicked the switches on the holographic switch panel causing the doors to open. They ran in screaming at the top of their lungs and waiving their pistols around as a group of uniformed officers approached then with their weapons.

“It’s do or die time.” says Tina firing her pistol in various directions not being able to control it and small red laser projectiles emanated from the weapon barely striking its intended targets. James tried aiming before he fired, but barely is successful in his attempts. The remaining officers approached and one tackled James to the ground and subdued him with restraints on his hands and feet. James tried to use his powers on their weapons and clothing, but he is restrained behind his back by the guards before he has the chance. Another grabbed Tina and soon both were on the ground with men piled on top of them restraining them. A large African American man with a tall furry hat and a uniform with numerous adornments and metals, Chief of Police and Temporo Inc.’s security Brent Hightower, approached and gave a stern look to the captured duo, “What brings this treachery?” He asks rhetorically then radioed on his GREETS RD to Broad. “Sir, we have the fugitives.”

“Bring them here” Broad says on the other end in a darker voice than Brent has heard him speak before, “Hmm.”

Jeremy and Jonathan stand outside of the gates and hear the firing of weapons and commotion coming from within the citadel on apparently various floors and turns to one another.

“Let’s go” says Jonathan leading the duo into the door after activating a holographic switch panel on the left side of the door, causing it to open. The armed duo raced inside ready for what awaited them.

Drax walks up the stairwell stealthily to the thirty-third floor wearing his body armor and held his rifle with one hand as he used his handheld scanner with the other smiling at the glowing green and red light readings on the screen indicating to him the presence of multiple individuals on the other side of the door. He triggered the holographic switchboard and opens the door. Then takes out a small box from his belt holster and pressed a button on the panel before tossing it through the open door. Within seconds, there is a loud eruption and smoke spewed everywhere. He pressed another button on his armor that triggered a mechanical extension of the armor to his face with a nasal breathing apparatus for artificial oxygen, with lit up eyes glowing bright green allowing him to gain instant night vision. He put away his scanner, cocked his weapon, and he ran into the dark room and fired seven key shots in one motion and rapid succession from his rifle-like weapon at the officers within knocking them all down on target. He smirks at the mess on the floor and walks over to a computer panel connected to a giant wall monitor near a series of small ones noticeably spread throughout the entire room, as the smoke began to clear. The monitors have images of pathways and screen shots of rooms throughout the entire central complex. He pressed a few buttons on the touch screen console and up came a holographic projection of a series of maps and diagrams, lit up in green and red lights as if poised in the midst of the dark air above the console. He pressed the button on his armor and the face mask came down. His eyes widened at the display before him as he sees a symbol in the corner, five orbs in circular formation, the same symbol on the insignia of those troops that were chasing them before, and the same one as on the Time Stone itself. He quickly takes out his scanner and holds it over the console accessing the information, as he notices the bar on his scanner move up in downloading mode, and when it finished he looks up when he hears a loud noise from upstairs. There is a spiral stairwell in the far end of the room and he hears thunder and loud rain and there is a loud voice dark and crinkled, chanting. He put his scanner away and ran towards the stairwell and ascended them to the metal door at the landing on top, the five orbed circular symbol engraved on the door. He tried to access the holographic switchboard to open the door, but could not. “Weird.” He thought, as he takes out what he referred to as “Plan B”, a small cylinder device from his belt holsters that extended two small sharp projectiles one on either end when pressed. He attached it to the door and it made a metallic sticking noise and remained there. He backed away, and within seconds it exploded, forcing the door open slightly. He pushed his way through to the other side, outside of the central complex citadel near a large balcony.

“Hurry up Janus” Broad says looking behind him as the door exploded and began to shake to the entrance of the citadel then suddenly is pushed open. “We have the object in place.” Broad smirks looking at the Time Stone resting in his hand glowing brightly in the darkness, “I knew it would be delivered.” Broad smiles looking at the three captives tied up in the corner, James, Tina, and Mercedes.

“There is one power of truth” replies Janus. “Open the door into time and space, the grandest endeavor of all of fate.”

Then the door behind them busted open and flew off the balcony knocking both men back.

“What the hell?” Broad asks. The bulbs in the small enclosure erupted and left them in only natural lighting from the moonlit sky. They looked up and saw Drax exit the door and go onto the balcony. Drax looked around quickly and saw the two men he recognized as Broad and Janus El Trufio, the cloaked one. They were surrounded by computer consoles and a large ancient-looking altar with symbols on it all on the balcony with a large metallic awning above them. As the rain poured down a few feet away off the balcony, lightning flashed in the background to the sound of rambunctious thunder, even though the blackness of smoke filling the air and a whirl of yellow light suddenly erupt into the night sky rivaling the moonlight in intensity. He saw his new trio of allies, James, Tina, and Mercedes, gagged and restrained on the floor in the corner, their weapons confiscated.

“You are too late Milton” Broad says snarling. “I have what I needed.” He held out his hand and pointed, revealing the green emerald device with the glowing five orbs in the center more brilliant than he had ever seen them. They intensified in the darkness, spiking into absolute pure energy while their medium rested in his hand.

“The Time Stone.” says Drax. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“We know exactly what we’re doing. We are fulfilling our destiny, what we were created to do. The vortex is operational. Soon we will use it to control the fates of all humanity and rule the world.” He raised his hands up into the air and handed the device to Janus who placed it on the altar. “It is an actual interspatial-temporal flexure, a space-time rift, wormhole, and gate to voyages across space and time, bridge of the Gods, a bunch of names concocted over the eons, but all in all it is the truest power in the universe, and it is ours.” says Broad. The glowing vortex above them roars in the rain dropping before it. Drax tried to rush towards his former boss, but Brent Hightower emerged from the door onto the balcony surrounded by Jonathan and Jeremy holding their weapons at Drax’s head.

“Does not move, Sir or you will be shot, now lower your weapon.” says Brent Hightower and Drax looks behind him and complies with the command.

“Yeah, that’s the way we do it old school boy.” says Jeremy.

“Hands behind your head and get down on your knees.” says Brent Hightower

Drax complied.

Broad shakes his head. “How the mighty have fallen?”

“This isn’t over Broad.” says Drax.

“No, old friend, the end is only the beginning. You know which is the better time? The next one.” he snarled looking up at the vortex.

“It’s time, Master” says Janus.

“Yes” says Broad as he issued a few key strokes to the computer console before him and looks up with his compatriot as a large mechanism riveted and, making a large screeching noise causing the entire balcony to extend upward toward the vortex. Drax knelt mesmerized by its shimmering aura growing closer as did his new team nearby. Brent and his team stand in shock as well. The lightning struck brightly in midair illuminating further the glowing walls of the citadel. The balcony kept extending upward until it is meters away from the event horizon of the vortex, and then kept going. Then Broad steps forward and speaks “We will fulfill our destiny!” he yells over the roaring thunder and rain pouring on his face drenching his Armani suit and expensive hairdo as he passed the awning. The rain falling on him and all of them continues. “Time waits for no man.” He says as he is two feet away from the vortex and smiles into its glistening vibrations with a single word, “Time” and he vanished, transforming into a ball of yellow energy vibrating intensely at its core, hovering for a brief time of nanoseconds before being sucked into the vortex and disappearing. Jeremy and Jonathan’s eyes widened as they saw the improbable, a complete matter-energy configuration right before his very eyes, and a theoretically impossible concept by modern scientific standards being transcended from an ancient artifact. Janus followed and is similarly consumed. Drax saw Brent and his compatriots were dumbfounded by the vortex so he rose up and jumped back and disarmed Brent by pushing up his gun hand and punching him in the face, then head- butting Jeremy and performing a roundhouse kick to Jonathan in one swift motion and all three men dropped to the ground. Satyr and Elizabeth ran through the door and up the extended stairwell created by the levitating balcony. They saw the melee and prepared to fight as they approached Drax. Drax grabbed his weapon and turned to his trio of friends and threw himself on them holding them all in a big group hug as the balcony rose up and they were all subsumed into the vortex and vanished, transforming into balls of light vibrating at their core and within nanoseconds were sucked in instantaneously into the vortex. The balcony stops extending at that point and the vortex vanished. The rain fell onto the empty balcony. The Time Stone remained embedded in the large altar. The central five orbed circular symbol within the time stone glistened brightly in the moonlight.

Chronix Bay, September 20, 1942 A.D.

Beyond the silhouette of the twilight over the crystal oceans surrounding the waters of the Sea of Hope outlining the city of Chronix Bay, the moon shines on a sudden set of circumstances. The shadows of eight men wander into a warehouse positioned and long-since abandoned on the wooded outskirts of town, each wearing black glistening and loose-fitting jumpsuits with masks and a dark red sash around their waists with the golden metal plated symbol of The Culto De La Piedra Tiempo. The glistening jumpsuits shimmer in the moonlight while ominously concealing their wearers in the shadows. Within seconds, the group soon emerges with a big wooden crate held between the eight men struggling to lift the immense item as they walk along sidestepping while looking up gritting with determination fiercely. The men stop in their tracks as a sudden eruption of golden light energy fills the dark air and the brilliant golden light reveals a roaring portal emerging and whirling brightly with an aural intensity that penetrates the darkness. The group of masked men drop the box in a panic causing it to crack at the bottom and split at the top. One man hops up and down in agony holding his foot after the box landed on it. The remaining men retreat into the nearby bushes. Four orbs of light emerge from the portal and form the time traveling quartet of James, Tina, Mercedes, and Drax. The portal fades away behind them as the eighth man hobbles away into the bushes with his cohorts.

“What the hell is this?” screams Tina.

“Something weird just happened” screams James.

“This is unusual” says Mercedes.

“I’ll say” says Tina. “We were tied up in Broad Staffnight’s lair in Florida and now we are God-knows-where!”

“I untied you.... We just moved through time and space by way of a temporal shockwave” says Drax. “The Machination has been experimenting with this concept for a very long time. And it looks like the use of the time stone by Broad at the right circumstances with his sorcerer buddy was enough to make it happen sending us all to different places and times.”

“Huh?” erratically squirms Tina. “What the hell does that mean? This is like the time in Brazil, James. We did it again.”

“We time traveled, that device Broad Staffnight was using did it” says James frantically.

“It is theoretically possible” surmises Mercedes stroking her chin as she looks around, “the theory of special relativity and Heisenberg uncertainty principle do not rule out the possibility of what was termed previously as the Einstein-Rosen bridge, a wormhole, or gateway to other places in time and space.”

“So we found an actual time machine?” asks James rhetorically.

“Precisely” says Mercedes nodding.

“We know that” says Tina looking at James. “We had been through it in Brazil!”

“What?” asks Drax curiously.

“The Time Stone lives up to its name and pedigree” says Tina.

“I had similar experiences in Mexico...” says Mercedes. “The same golden energy void seems to be created by artificially-based energy reservoirs hidden in the crystalline structure of the device that somehow coalesces with power depravation from the space-time grid axis.”

“Can you speak English?” asks Tina yelling.

“I think we need to find a way to reverse it” says Drax. “Broad Staffnight and Janus El Trufio are no doubt still out there doing whatever damage they can to the time stream.”

“That is true” says Mercedes, “causally speaking, anything we or anyone else does even with good or bad intentions can have drastic repercussions to the course of historical events.”

“What does that mean?” asks James.

“It means” says Mercedes, “that we need to find out where or when we are now and isolate ourselves to minimize damage. We are already causing changes just by being here.”

“You want to explain that” says Tina.

“Our molecules being temporally displaced in this moment in time may have rampant repulsions causing air to spin out, unexplained anomalies, hurricanes, or other disasters” says Mercedes.

“The butterfly effect?” asks Drax curiously.

“Exactly” says Mercedes. “God help us all.... It is important we do nothing beyond the ordinary to jeopardize history or we can find ourselves and everything we know and love gone in an instant.”

“So we don’t do anything big” says James. Mercedes nods.

“Good idea” says Tina.

“Let’s...” starts Drax when suddenly the small army of Culto warriors runs out of the bushes and confronts them as they surround the broken box.

“What is this... the welcoming committee?” asks Tina sarcastically.

The foursome stagger about confused as the warriors surround them and strike menacingly with their open hands and fists.

“We got to get out of here” says Drax raising his hands in on guard fighting stance and dodging the attacks retaliating with swift kicks and punches that are blocked instantly.

“Easy for you to say” says Tina as she and James move around confused. One of the warriors smacks James on the head knocking him down. Tina runs down to help him. “Are you alright buddy?”

“Ouch” says James holding his head.

“We don’t stand a chance” says Mercedes quickly making the sign of the cross before raising her arms and blocking the assailant’s blows while kicking towards them using her gym self-defense training.

“This isn’t good enough” says Drax as the eight warriors continue their assaults on the small group.

“But we can’t retreat” says Mercedes, “they have us surrounded!” She continues blocking and kicking with Drax blocking and punching from the eight warriors continuing their assaults.

“James ... can you do anything?” whispers Tina.

“I don’t know” says James still holding his head and then suddenly seeing the eight warriors attack Mercedes and Drax who desperately try to fend them off and are being quickly overpowered with the attacks as the warriors begin coming closer and striking with open hands and fists along with now kicking their feet striking the pair failing in their defensive tactics. James sees the friends he is making in helping him and how they are all in this together in this time and going forward and they have to help one another. He looks up at Tina’s worried look beside him. He looks around at the eight warriors approaching and who soon topple on top of Mercedes and Drax knocking them down and continuing their physical hand and foot assaults while the pair lay struggling to defend themselves on the ground. James angrily rises and becomes further enraged as his heart and mind will with negative feelings towards the warriors hurting his friends. Tina rises beside him and stands back. James raises his arms forward with a grit of growing wrath inside him expressed on his face with beady eyes burning like fire and gritting teeth clacking as a sudden wave of white light emerges over his entire physical form mirroring the wave of hatred and anguish he felt within. The white light coalesces around him and covers his entire body.

“Guys, you better back up now” yells Tina. Tina backs up frightened.

Mercedes and Drax crawl away on the ground while blocking the strikes from the warriors. The energy of the white light electrified with lightning surrounding James glows brightly intensifying with enormous power like a radiating core of a nuclear power plant and vibrating intensely suddenly and instantly releases projecting forward a beam of light the size of James’ body rushing forward with horrific intensity striking the eight warriors instantly and simultaneously as they scream upward in agony and then become vaporized into the empty air, their molecules separated and spread up like water vapor. Silence fills the air as the group looks on as the white light fades into the distant air above and James’ body returns to normal with a slow deceleration from the light.

“What was that?” asks Drax rising.

“That was The Culto De La Piedra Tiempo...again” says Mercedes.

“I know they were hired by the Machination many times” says Drax.

“We encountered them too” says Tina. James nods.

“What caused that white light, James?” asks Drax “a personal force field!”

“Some kind of Crystallex energy metamorphosis” says Mercedes curiously rising up.

“You’re a super hero” says Tina excitedly. “I thought you couldn’t affect living things” she adds.

James turns with a still angry look but slowly warming up at the sight of his friends safe and sound. “I think I am growing” he says slowly.

“A true hero’s strength is measured by his heart” says Drax. “James is the one, just make sure you don’t use it for killing unless it was like that, necessary!”

“That was truly mega... thank God” says Mercedes.

“What do you think those Culto guys wanted again?” asks Tina.

“What they always want” says Mercedes. “They want the Time Stone device!”

“Look” says Tina pointing as they see the crate and a strange glowing green light emanating from it.

“That looks like” says James starting and pointing.

“The Time Stone” says the four simultaneously.

“That’s what they were after” says Mercedes.

“Let’s get it” says Drax reaching for the crate as he approaches it and ripping off the top and as he reached inside it he pulls out the five-sided green emerald in his hand. Everyone smiles as they see the aural light and five glowing orbs at its center turning together in harmony.

“It’s beautiful” says Tina.

“Awesome” says James.

“It’s really amazing” says Mercedes.

“It’s the Time Stone” says Drax mesmerized as he looks upon it.

“We should find out where or when we are now” says Mercedes.

“I can do that” says Drax handing the Time Stone to Tina and then pushing up his right sleeve and looking at his wrist device covering his entire forearm with a tablet device strapped to a holder computer on his wrist, “my Greets RD indicates the presence of carbon-based pollutants in the atmosphere, something that has become progressively worse over the decades due to the increased use of fossil fuel emissions in vehicles and other power sources.”

“You can measure that?” asks Tina curiously.

“What are you... a public service announcement?” asks James inquisitively rhetorical.

“I thought that your Greets RD was cut off” says Tina.

“It is from the mainframe but I have it from where it left off when it was cut off, sort of a computer without the latest upgrades” says Drax.

“It’s about hope we can imagine” says Mercedes.

“Judging by the weather, pollution, and other factorial indicators, I can surmise we are somewhere in the 1940’s....” says Drax.

“Pre-war era” says James. “The one class I paid attention to in high school was history... to be honest I wasn’t that good at that either!”

“I was... this is a big time for steel and war-machine production” says Tina. “The Nazis were ravaging Europe and almost came here but for the work of some good generals.”

“So we might inadvertently alter our own history if we stay here and let history and this war takes a different course for the worse” says Mercedes.

“Or the better” says Tina. “why can’t we use what we know about history to kill Hitler before he did the war things... we could save millions of lives.”

“It doesn’t work that way” says Drax, “just any intervention even with admirable intentions could cause major changes making things worse.”

“That’s true” says Mercedes, “we have to leave things be, things happen for a reason, even the bad stuff... it’s part of God’s plan... who are we to interfere.”

“Someone made the Time Stone with the intentions of interfering” says James.

“True” says Tina.

“We don’t know that” says Drax.

Then a strange figure materializes in a strange light in the darkness over a hill in the distance and instantly fades in the same whirl of turquoise-colored light and sparkles appearing before the four. The figure appears over six feet tall with fur and hair all over his body, with the face of a golden-retriever dog, a mane like a lion, and strong muscular arms and legs connected to a torso with rippling six-pack muscles. He wears a pair of blue speedo-type underwear and brown cloak around him open in the front. He holds a gold staff with a curved hilt empty as if waiting for an item to occupy it in a slot with five-sides.

“What the hell is that?” asks Tina shocked, “some kind of pet Fido alien!”

“Another beast” says Drax clenching his fists and standing with his feet apart.

“We got trouble” says Mercedes raising her fists.

“I don’t like this” says James raising his hands ready to strike with his powers.

“Be wary, fond humans... I am not your enemy”, says the dog man in a calm and intelligible voice with slight English accent as his snouted lips move calmly and his wet nose whimper. “I am Ezekiel. My people are the Arecclisions. We are from another star!”

“Wow, real aliens” says Tina.

“What star?” asks Mercedes lowering her hands.

“Why do you care?” asks Tina.

“Just curious” shrugs Mercedes.

“We welcome you to our world” says Drax standing at ease.

“I sense you are not from this quantum epoch” says Ezekiel.

“Quantum Epoch” says James inquisitively.

“A time period” says Drax.

“Yes, you are travelers of the unga tangu... that relic in your hand” says Ezekiel referencing to Tina. “I sense you have been to many places but you do not know it yet. You will travel beyond time.”

“How do you know that?” asks Drax.

“We can read your mind aura... the spirit in you that touches time. It is big inside you, Milton Drax, Mercedes Gonzalez, Tina May Prescott, and James Timewalker.”

“Wow” says Mercedes, “that is impressive.”

“We do not use our gifts for evil.” Ezekiel snorts. “I apologize for reading your aura without permission but I had to be sure your intentions were good.”

“Are you convinced?” asks Drax. Ezekiel nods.

“You want this? We call it the Time Stone... unga t..an..gu” replies Tina holding it.

“We have a lot we can learn from one another” says Drax.

“That is true” says Ezekiel, “however, I need that ... Time Stone... I have been seeking it.”

“So have we...” says Mercedes. “You see we are stuck out of our own time... or quantum epoch as you called it.”

“We are as well” says Ezekiel.

“Who is we?” asks James.

“My people are Time Jumpers, as you are” says Ezekiel.

“Time Jumpers” says Tina questioningly.

“We have been searching diligently for many millennia for what history in your world calls the philosopher’s stone and we call it the unga tangu... you referred to it as the Time Stone.”

“You are seeking lapis philosophorum” says Drax.

“What is that?” says Tina.

“Latin” says Drax.

“I know Pig Latin” jokes Tina.

“What is the philosopher’s stone? Is it like the Time Stone?” asks James.

“It’s a legendary alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver” says Tina.

“Yeah” says Drax curiously.

“You have been searching for Millennia” says Mercedes curiously.

“My race is ageless. I am over five thousand years old. Our oldest elder is over five million years old” says Ezekiel.

“Wow, that’s a lot of birthday candles” jokes Tina.

“You know the Time Stone and its pedigree, I am sure” says Drax.

“We are aware of the Pregivers” says Ezekiel.

“Pregivers” says Mercedes.

“The Pregivers are the originators of the Time Stone and its sibling stones” says Ezekiel. “They exited this plane of existence near the dawn of the creation of this universe but have been around a lot longer than that. The Time Stone was meant to be an inhibitor of consciousness. All life comes and goes through time!”

“That is what you believe” says Mercedes, “you’re belief in God as the creator!”

“That is what is” says Ezekiel. “Belief is nothing but groundless reality.

“We might disagree on that” says Mercedes.

“In any respect, we must take the unga tangu back to our world. We are facing a crisis that needs it” says Ezekiel.

“What is that?” asks Drax.

“And where are you from” asks Mercedes.

“Our home is in the constellation Virgo” says Ezekiel when suddenly he turns his head to the left and begins growling and barking incessantly at a noise in the brush coming forward. A robot figure on two legs made of a silvery alloy that shines in the darkness approaches from the brush, similar to Ezekiel in dog features without the mane and one with mismatched eyes, one green and one blue, both glowing brightly. He is accompanied by a red-headed human woman with long hair and a brown cloak similar to Ezekiel’s with a rope tying it around her waist. She smiles as she sees the others. “Orion and Michaela ... you shouldn’t have left the ship” says Ezekiel suddenly surprised to see his friends.

“We have an emergency, Master” says Orion the robot figure. “The trans mobilizer has been depleted after you left. We are dangerously low on fuel and need replenishment.”

“That’s why we had to come on foot and there was an attack by the Culto again” says Michaela.

“I see... my apology...” says Ezekiel. “These are my colleagues Orion, our robot servant, and Michaela.... These are fellow time jumpers.”

“You are human like us?” asks Tina looking at Michaela. Michaela nods.

“Michaela was the first human to exist amongst our race” says Ezekiel. “She has been with us since her birth thirty years ago... she has nobly assisted us and acted as our counterpart amongst humans bravely.”

“She was raised by wolves” Tina jokes.

“No, she was raised by dog people” says James, “an enigmatic dog race.”

“We are all the same inside” says Michaela. “We have an arching desire to save the Arecclisions home world from disaster.”

“This save the world desire seems to be an overarching theme” says Tina.

“You are enemies of the Culto” says Mercedes to Ezekiel.

“Yes, we have encountered them on many occasions in our search for the unga tangu” says Ezekiel.

“We have been there, done that” says Tina.

“That would explain a lot why they are angry at us” says Drax.

“The Arecclisions Versus the Culto” says James.

“And we’re dragged into it” says Tina.

“They are relentless in their pursuit, claiming to be its protectors of the ages” says Ezekiel. “We are not a violent people but we can defend ourselves. Our ineptness has however cost us dearly in casualties with this enemy. We seek peaceful solutions leaving violence to the last resort when needed.”

“Same here” says Drax.

“You seem like people of good will, please help us” says Ezekiel.

“How?” asks Mercedes.

“Please, surrender the unga tangu to me” says Ezekiel. Once I have it installed to the staff of Orenon” he looks up at the hilt of his staff, “it will be enough to power our ships which act in unison and save our world once we arrive.”

“How will we get home?” asks Tina looking at it.

“We will find another way” says Drax, “we can’t put the inconvenience of the four of us over an entire race.”

“It’s the right thing to do, God’s will” says Mercedes nodding. “They came here to get The Time Stone... the Culto were here to get The Time Stone... we are here... we defeated the Culto and need to give them The Time Stone.”

“Who are we, the time police?” asks Tina frustrated.

“I agree, Tina. We got to help them” says James nodding.

“OK” says Tina, “here” she hands over the Time Stone.

“You just saved our race from further suffering and a very long painstaking search” says Ezekiel.

Ezekiel smiles as he takes the Time Stone in his pawed furry hand and raises it to the hilt of his staff and fits it into the slot like a hand in a perfectly-knit glove. The staff vibrates and glows brightly in Ezekiel’s hand as the Time Stone glows, its five orbs turning into a perfect quincunx formation. “Thank you” says Ezekiel looking at the four. “You truly live up to your reputations built in the temporal history you have yet to experience. Come my friends” he looks at Orion and Michaela smiling at the glowing Time Stone on the staff as if it was always waiting to be there. Ezekiel walks with his friends into the brush and stand together in a triangle nodding to the quartet standing confused.

“Sir, the trans mobilizer responds again as active due to the energy from the unga tangu!” says Orion looking a screen on his robotic palm.

“Excellent” says Ezekiel.

“Is there another way home for us?” asks Drax curiously.

“All your answers will be revealed in time.... It is the path of each of us to go the distance ... The Time Stone Team!” Ezekiel barks out a final farewell followed by Orion barking in a robotic tone while Michaela waves goodbye. As Ezekiel raises the glowing staff, the trio vanishes instantly in a whirl of turquoise blue light and sparkles.

“Wow” says Drax smiling proudly.

“I feel ripped off” says Tina.

“We did the noble thing, Tina” says Mercedes.

“I think I feel good” says James. “I felt like I did when I used my powers on those Culto... you guys were willing to risk your lives for me... I had to do the same.”

“We are friends of course” says Mercedes.

“I have a feeling destiny has in store that we be more than that “says Drax, “The Time Stone Team... I like the sound of it.”

“Me too” says Tina. “Come on... we might find another Time Stone around here. If anyone can, it’s us!”

“Another Time Stone” says James questioningly.

“That one might have been the only one” says Mercedes. “We know from experience, they cannot exist too long independently.”

“How do we know that one wasn’t the one that was supposed to be in this time?” asks Tina.

“Causal displacement of Time Stones” says Drax rolling his eyes. “It’s worth a shot, we got nothing else now, but where do we begin.”

“Too bad we don’t have a Time Stone tracker” says Tina.

“But we do have the next best thing” says Mercedes, “Mr. Drax, can your Greets RD scanner be set for a coherent modulation for tachyon and quanta-chronic proto particles?”

“I think so” nods Drax. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it...” he taps the flat screen surface on his device on his wrist. “I can use what we know about the Time Stone to find if there are similar signatures based on its temporal field and subatomic gravitational anomalies.”

“What does that mean, Milton?” asks Tina nonchalantly.

“Yeah, what does that mean?” asks James. “I’m a high school dropout remember!”

“We can track the Time Stone” says Mercedes.

“How?” asks Tina.

“It’s technical” says Drax sliding his fingers continuously and quickly on the panel on his wrist. “I think I got it! It has a global reach. And call me Drax... I always hated that name... Milton!”

“That’s your name your momma gave you” says Tina.

“Drax, where is it?” asks Mercedes.

Drax looks up with fear in his eyes....

In a dark castle thousands of miles away, a looming set of eyes look on at the Time Stone through a tube that curves up like a telescopic lens and sees the glowing green light and five orbs at its center. The eyes look up as a woman with a black wardrobe, long gown, and tall multiple-horned and crowned headdress stands up, her face pale like a ghost, her eyes dark like coal, and her nails long and black like onyx. “Justice will know no bounds for the wicked.” The woman touches the Time Stone that glistens brightly before her, placing a sharp index finger nail on the precious ancient crystal and an aural window of energy emerges revealing a scene far away, four people in the wooded area of Chronix Bay. “Window of Time, show me my foe, Window of Time, show me their woe!” She looks on speaking vibrantly as she sees the familiar faces she recognizes from many adventures before. “James Timewalker, Tina May Prescott, Mercedes, Gonzalez, and Milton Drax.” She looks on at the foursome before a sign reading “Welcome to Chronix Bay” with the word Chronic replacing Chronix by graffiti artists vandalizing the city’s welcome sign.

In the City of Chronix Bay, the quartet of James, Tina, Mercedes, and Drax wander into a night club after leaving the outskirts deserted woodland area and heading into the main district.

“This place sure is different about forty years before my birth” says Tina.

“It has been made more blighted in our own time... a lot cleaner and less crime-ridden now” says James.

“A lot of negative things too in this era especially prejudice against racial and ethnic minorities” says Mercedes.

“We should stick together and keep an eye on the prize” says Drax as the quartet walks into the club.

A Chinese man approaches the quartet in the middle of a velvet curtain in the entrance way holding an old era-appropriate camera and says “smile” with a thick accent and snaps a picture of the quartet before running off in the backroom of the club.

“What was that?” asks Mercedes.

“Friendly neighborhood photographer” says Tina.

“It’s like a carnival” says Drax whispering under his breath.

“That could later come back to haunt us in the future” says Mercedes.

“We got bigger things to worry about... like finding the Time Stone in Transylvania” says Tina frantically.

“Relax, we will get it” says James.

They enter and walk throughout the club and see the velvet rugs and curtains off a stage in the distance with a woman in sequence singing “Someone to watch over me” and finishing off to the hissing and moaning of drunken lust-filled spectators in the crowd seated below. Drax heads to the bar before a man in a tuxedo washing glasses looking at the four strangers seeming out of place in the establishment. “We just need some information” says Drax. “I don’t have it” says the well-dressed bartender walking away shaking his head. “Great” says Drax sarcastically as he sees his friends and they look on at the stage as a young man in a tuxedo walks on stage with dark hair and a cocky east-coast accent telling jokes like a stand-up comedian into a microphone and then began singing Frank Sinatra’s “Here’s to the losers.” “What’s he trying to say?” asks James. “That sounds like Sinatra. “It is Sinatra” says Drax. “We need to get to Transylvania, remember guys?” asks Tina rhetorically. “We are trying to catch a flight” says Drax to the bartender passing by, “out eastern Europe way!” The man walks on shaking his head. “Damn it” says Drax. “We’re vampire hunters” jokes Tina. “Somehow we have to get there” says Mercedes, “or we will not get the Time Stone to get out of here....” “Thanks Mercedes, we were paying attention” says Tina. “We might as well start picking out a place to live a quiet lifetime in the 1940’s” says Mercedes. “We’re going to die here without the Time Stone.” “Compared to being homeless and broke in 2012, I will take that deal” says James. “A new start where we’re not falsely wanted for murder” says Tina. “I’m not giving up” says Drax. “We will find the Time Stone again, OK Mr. and Mrs. Time Fugitives!” He looks at them sternly and they look away sheepishly.

Suddenly a golden halo erupts in the middle of the club and the temporal wormhole roars and whirls vibrantly with electrified energy as the spectators run in all directions, the bartender reaches for a phone under the counter and starts dialing, the tables get turned over, drunken scalawags run about looking at the light and their drinks and tossing the drinks at the light, and the singer stops and backs away and runs, “this never happened to me in Vegas!”

“Oh my goodness” says Mercedes.

“Speak of the devil” says James.

“And God’s will” says Mercedes.

“Let’s go, wherever we go is better than this” says Tina.

“We can’t, it’s incoming....” says Drax.

“Right, the matter stream will crush anyone who enters the wrong way time” says Mercedes.

An orb of light emerges and a small girl materializes and runs across the room crying.

“Oh poor child” says Mercedes.

“Where did she come from?” asks James.

“Beats me” says Drax.

“That poor child is me” says Tina, “when I was nine years old.”

“Oh no” says James.

“A time paradox” says Mercedes.

“How can this be?” asks Tina, “I don’t remember this.”

“History is being altered... there has to be someone else” says Mercedes.

“Staffnight” says James.

“He is working with a very powerful witch sorcerer” says Drax. “One described as core evil... a dark figure, Janus El Trufio. She was a powerful one and then and now her gender is sort of amorphous as she evolved in great power and became androgynous.”

“Sounds like an interesting person” says Tina sarcastically.

“Should we get Tina’s younger form?” asks Mercedes.

“We shouldn’t interfere more than is necessary but someone did... this is weird” says Drax.

The young girl runs off out into the street amidst the crowds of people stammering about. The golden portal fades collapsing into itself. Sirens wail in the distant backdrop.

“Damn” says James.

“Let’s go after me” yells Tina running out of the club followed by her trio partners in crime. They run outside pushing their way through the crowds and see the girl confused in the middle of the street crying. “Hey” says Tina grabbing her younger self by the hand and walking her to the sidewalk. “You alright, kid?”

“I want my mommy” says young Tina.

“Weird” says Mercedes, “like some kind of temporal predestination paradox.”

“More likely an evil witch and tycoon messing with our pasts” says Drax.

“Why would they want to hurt us?” asks James.

“Apparently we will be big in time” says Drax. “Remember what Ezekiel said.”

“We should get out of here” says James nervously as they hear sirens in the distance and the crowds continue running around the streets as police vehicles arrive on the scene.

“Let’s go” says Drax.

“Don’t have to tell me twice” says Mercedes.

“Come on, Tina, we got to go” says Tina picking up her younger self.

The quartet runs off into the distance down the street. They hide amongst the crowd until they succeeded in breaking free onto a quiet area in the night miles away.

“Why did you run out like that?” asks Tina considering the innocent eyes of her younger self.

“The bad man took my mommy... I ran into the light” she replies.

“Who is the bad man?” asks Mercedes.

Young Tina looks at the strangers with fear and shies away.

“It’s OK Tina, you trust me, right?” asks Tina.

Young Tina nods.

“Who took mommy?” asks Tina.

“Bad man...in a fancy suit” she responds.

Tina looks at her friends who look back in recognition as James nods, “Broad Staffnight!”

Meanwhile in a tall building not too far away, a man in a fancy tailored made suit stands holding his hands to an oak desk as he then lifts his hands and straitens his tie in a mirror near the desk.

“Mr. Staffnight” says a young woman entering with a cup of coffee and handing it to him, “your guests are in the waiting room.”

“Send them in Gretchen” says Broad taking the coffee, taking a few sips while watching Gretchen leave the room in her short dress, and putting the cup down on the desk as Gretchen leaves and two men enter with suits and lapel pins with the golden double arched upside-down pyramid emblem of the Machination or 12VMX. “Welcome gentlemen” says Broad gesturing for them to sit down.

“The crime spree has begun, lord Staffnight” says one of the men, short and chubby.

“The Culto are doing their job for once” says the taller and more cynical man.

“Well, that is what we pay them for” says Broad jokingly.

“So far, we took the girl’s mommy, you were there and she got away but we still have the Time Stone and we have the right people in place for the phase one of the project. What is happening, next?” asks the taller man.

“Things are going well in this time... we have seen an increase in global hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis thanks for the help of our Time Stone wielding sorcerer friend Janus El Trufio” says Broad sitting on his desk with his hands clasped.

“Is that all you have to report my lord” says the taller man.

“No, we have news from our dark lord VORIGUARD who wanted to bring you some news personally” adds Broad tapping his wristwatch’s flat screen panel and a screen holographical materializes on the desk beside him with the image of the feathered beast cloaked in darkness ominously surrounded by light.

“I have never seen a Greets RD that small before” says the taller man.

“It’s a prototype, one of a kind” says Broad bragging.

“Now dark lord VORIGUARD, you have our attention” says Broad. “We welcome the coming of the Last Time... for it to exist; there must be complete and utter chaos on all fronts... like the biblical warnings of revelation, the four horsemen of the apocalypse must ride in tandem, strife, famine, war, and death. Our defeat must not occur gain and we must manage this in time. Also, there is one who will see that our defeat will occur, a destructor for our cause whose existence must be eradicated from all of history, his presence and life and birth are our annihilation... the holder of stones, the legendary hero of time must die... we must destroy everything he holds dear to make sure he doesn’t live to stop us in time.” “All is being taken care of... we are destroying his time as we speak, my dark lord” says Broad cockily straightening his neck tie. “Excellent... make it happen... for the Last Time will come and finally free me from this prison I have been in for eternity.” “Will do dark lord” says Broad tapping his watch and the screen fizzles away. “Wow, he sure is eager” says the chubby man. “He is our boss” says the tall man. “Why does he see himself as seeking freedom? Is he using us?” “No” says Broad, “ours is not to question why, like the lightning brigade we will march into oblivion if necessary to preserve what we are. The dark lord is in the lost realm, another dimensional flashpoint, something I don’t completely understand the science of and leave it for men far smarter than I in our organization to handle but he has been trapped there for many eons and is seeking a way out through the Last Time or end of the world. We call it the Last Time to coincide with the ancient first time of man’s civilization and dominion in religious texts eons ago where he supposedly became trapped for the first time. There has to be an end of our world for his to begin and our races cannot coexist in the same plane simultaneously.” “Why would any human like us in 12VMX want to end the world?” asks the chubby man. “With the promise of being reborn, the ultimate paradise, in the new one world as one of him as he can make it possible for those he chooses like us and our people at 12VMX so you heard what he said. But we must stop the one who will make our dreams destroyed.” “Who is that, boss?” ask the taller man. Broad says, “a failure, a deadbeat, no longer just our patsy but key to our end … he must die for all our sake. It is up to us, to you, to find and kill the holder of stones, the hero of time, kill James Timewalker” Broad snarls with conviction as the two men rise and nod, exiting the room.

“So, we never saw anything like this” says Tina in an alley way in the distance from the melee outside of the nightclub surrounded by her triple partners in crime and her younger self. “I couldn’t imagine we would be facing my younger self and James’ new cool enhanced superpowers, alien dog people took our time stone, a crazy witch sorcerer has another one we need, and Sinatra is a better singer in person….”

“Funny” says Mercedes nodding.

“Where is this?” asks young Tina scared biting her lip.

“I remember when I used to do that” says Tina. “It’s sad she is around the age I was when my mom died. It’s just heart breaking seeing her here.”

“I am sorry, Tina” says Mercedes, “she is with God!”

“What’s done is done” says Tina.

“What do we do now?” asks James.

“Wait” says Drax. “Someone will try again.”

“Who?” asks Mercedes.

Then suddenly a glowing dark blue light with electrical light and orange colors fizzles in the street outside of the alley. The small group looks on and walks out slowly seeing a tall figure with dark clothes, a gown, and crown of long thorns on the side with a pale face and dark eyes and nails. The blue-orange light fades around her.

“Who is that?” asks Tina.

“Doesn’t she look familiar?” asks Drax sternly. “We saw her or it at Broad’s magnitude fortress in Florida.”

“Oh no” whispers Mercedes, “don’t tell me that’s….”

“It can’t be, she became a dude?” asks James.

“She became all powerful” says Drax, “that is Janus El Trufio!”

The dark coal-like eyes burned with an intensity of the remaining electrical blue and orange lightning in her body fading around it.

“Time Jumpers” she yells holding out the Time Stone glowing bright green in her hand.

“I don’t believe it” says James, “let’s go!” He runs out.

“Wait James” says Drax following and Mercedes and Tina head out after them, the young Tina holding her older counterpart by the hand.

The four plus one mini-Tina walk out facing Janus El Trufio.

“What do you want?” asks Tina coyly.

“We need to talk and since we never will get the chance again, I know now is as good a chance as any” says Janus El Trufio shrugging.

“How did you know we would be here?” asks Mercedes.

“I know everything dear, I am the all-powerful witch, sorcerer of time, I am Janus El Trufio!” She raises her arms up holding up the Time Stone. “I see I have something you want. Time Jumpers without the Time Stone seems kind of useless so I will give it to you but I want your undivided attention first because I have a very delicate truth to reveal….”

“We’re listening” says Drax.

“No, you pretty boy… the truth is for Mr. James Timewalker… it’s about your future.” She lowers her arms and raises her eyebrows.

“What do you want with me?” asks James as everyone turns to him.

“You are going to be the chosen one… the holder of stones… you know your powers are growing and you need to make a choice.”

“What kind of choice?” asks James.

“To let it go and sacrifice everything you love or embrace your fate and be the savior you were meant to. This special gift was destined long before you were born and is going to affect more than you. You are part of a sequence of gifted and advanced individuals going from the ancient past to the distant future. You are even more special as the one to unify all in time, the Adialit of the Spirituals.”

“I don’t understand” says James.

“When the time comes, you will” says Janus El Trufio. “Here cutie, catch this” she turns to Tina and tosses the Time Stone up and towards her direction.

Tina catches it with her free hand while still holding her younger self. “Nice throw but you could of broke that.”

“Not in this lifetime” says Janus El Trufio.

“What are you going to do with us?” asks Mercedes.

“Nothing, but I will take her” says Janus El Trufio bending down and extending her arms, “come to me child, I will take you to your mommy!”

The young Tina runs over to Janus El Trufio happily and into her arms being lifted.

“Wait” says Tina.

“Your younger self will be safe Tina Prescott, as you know and you ought to know what you will know soon” replies Janus El Trufio.

“How will you take her home without the Time Stone?” asks Drax curiously.

“You always underestimated me… “says Janus El Trufio shaking her head. “I am all powerful … I am Janus El Trufio” she walks away holding the young Tina and turns suddenly. “Oh James,” she sees him looking up at her curiously, “when you fight the fire beast Demonio Hornado del Diablo, remember to keep your guard up.” She smiles shaking her head as she sees James’ confused look on his face.

“I don’t understand” says James.

“You will” says Janus El Trufio as a blue and orange electric lightning based bubble appears around her and young Tina consuming them and fading leaving the empty street before the quartet.

“What a bombshell” says James.

“I know she is old but what do you suppose she meant by when she said we always underestimated her?” asks Drax.

“Maybe we will encounter her many times but for her this was the Last Time, a self-fulfilling yet actualizing prophecy” says Mercedes,

“Who cares” says Tina, “she’s nuts and we got this… the Time Stone is back with us” adds Tina holding it up.

“Let’s go” says Drax smiling. “We obviously have many battles to come and many adventures before we get home… but we must try.”

“Great, set the dial” says James as Tina smiles turning the bottom knob of the Time Stone when suddenly a portal of golden energy erupts revealing the temporal wormhole and a dozen Culto warriors emerge before it fades.

“Well, that was early” says Mercedes.

“Not these guys again” says James raising his arms when two Culto grab him and restrain his hands behind his back with handcuffs. “Ugh” he adds.

“Not this time” yells the leader pointing, “hand over the unga tangu!”

“Never” yells Tina.

The Culto engage in fighting stance as does Drax and Mercedes. Tina ducks down beside them. Then suddenly a loud roar is heard and the skies darken even more as dark clouds gather overhead and a bright white light with turquoise blue overtones as a massive metal floating vessel lowers with the lights surrounding it like strobe lights. People see it from miles around and act in shock in the distance. The quartet look up in shock at the might of the massive vessel. The Culto look up in fear.

“You should be afraid” yells James. “Those are our friends the Arecclisions’ ship and they are ready to kick your butts.”

“Yes, good old Ezekiel” says Drax.

“Amazing tech” says Mercedes wide-eyed making the sign of the cross.

The ship above flashes the turquoise strobe lights on and off and shines down a beam of energy that zaps the Culto warriors one by one. The leader sees his men being evaporated and orders in his foreign language yelling quickly in his muffled crinkly voice. One of the warriors pulls out the Time Stone and turns it and pushes the knob opening the temporal wormhole and the remaining two with the leader pile into it and vanish while the leader yells, “this isn’t over, Time Jumpers!” Their portal fades.

“It is for now” says Tina smiling as the turquoise strobe lights turn upward and stop firing and the ship rises vanishing into the horizon leaving the clouds to part once again.

“Those guys were real cool after all” says Drax running over to James and unlocking his handcuffs with a secret compartment in his master key in his Greets RD device.

“Thanks. That was cool” says James.

“I wish I could have gotten a look at that ship’s engine room” says Mercedes.

“Well, we should go now for good” says Drax.

Suddenly, sirens and lights wail and shine in the distance from police and emergency vehicles responding to the sight of the melee.

“We better go or we are going to have a lot of unnecessary explaining to do” says Drax.

“Not to mention the damage we will do to history” says Mercedes.

“Let’s bolt” says James looking at Tina,

“OK Bro” says Tina.

The four runs off as fast as they can until they reach the woods and run into the wooded area.

“We going to get them down to ongoing in county” says the fair-haired man with a gold detective badge on his belt and a pair of rifles in the backseat of his Jaguar next to a car seat and bag of diapers as he drives and speaks into his car contra-band radio equipment and tosses it to the side driving deeper into the woods.

The darkness over the parkland and wooded area becomes darker as the moon is covered by the dark clouds above. The foursome of James, Tina, Mercedes, and Drax run into the woods and Tina takes out the Time Stone from her bag and drops it on the ground. The lights and sirens of various police vehicles and emergency responders shine and wail in the distance converging upon them. “We got to go” she yells. “We need the golden portal” says James, “the whatchamacallit ... the wormhole.” “It’s a wormhole in time” says Tina, “a temporal wormhole.” “The Time Stone is lit” says Mercedes seeing the shining aura around it and the five orbs at its center light up in synchronistic formation, “it’s active and needs to be turned on.” “How do we do this?” asks James, “Last Time we just did the bottom knob and button.” “Don’t look at me” screams Tina, “but yeah.” “I did it too” says Mercedes. “The bottom sounds good” says Drax looking at the numbers in strange alien characters. “That’s what she said” said Tina jokingly. “Well, I never but I do see this” says Mercedes taking the

Time Stone from Tina and turning it upside down seeing the black numerical characters and turning the bottom portion, “it’s like an egg timer... and this button activates it” seeing a separate bottom portion separated from the rest. “It seems to be crypt arithmetic, some kind of language I cannot understand but is tied to the crystalline aquifers and reservoirs of energy that can open the temporal wormhole.” “It stands to reason that they can pinpoint the destination of the temporal wormhole” says Drax. “But how do I know where to set it? I cannot read this” says Mercedes. “I think it’s something about years in a weird way” says Tina curiously eyeing the bottom as Mercedes held the Time Stone. “You can read it?” asks Mercedes. “She is super smart” says James. “I just see something similar to old Aramaic and Latin... something about origin of years... the numbers seem to have a pattern going backwards” says Tina. “You have idyllic memory” says Drax. “What years are there?” “I think it’s like large numbers over five million going back or forward to billions of years. I can’t tell which way is the past and which is not the past” she adds. “It makes sense it will be counter clockwise” says James. “How does that make sense?” asks Mercedes angrily. “Try clockwise” says Drax seeing the bright lights from the police cruisers approaching and sirens wailing in the distance. “OK, hope you’re right” says Mercedes turning the bottom knob clockwise and landing at a random character before pushing the bottom button. A stream of golden light emerges from the Time Stone and erupts in the darkness of air before the quartet. They witness the temporal wormhole erupt before them, a golden halo of electrified energy as a portal roaring and whirling loudly. “Great” says Drax running towards it followed by his friends smiling and cheering as they approach. “We sure learned a lot” says Mercedes. “I definitely feel closer to you guys” says Tina. “This was awesome” says James. “And were all in this together” says Drax. A single car zooms forward over the brush into the wooded area, a silver Jaguar X-Type, and stops as a man exits with a rifle aiming it at the quartet who look back. “Freeze and hands up everyone...” yells the fair-haired man aiming his weapon. “Oh my goodness” says Mercedes. “We cannot get arrested here” says Drax. “We cannot get shot either” says Tina raising her hands. “I said everyone hands up” yells the man, “I will not tell you again!” They begin to comply when Drax yells, “look” distracting the man slightly. James waves his hand striking the rifle with a wave of telekinetic energy. The rifle goes off in the man’s trigger-happy hands before being launched into the brushes of the trees and bushes. The bullet strikes the Time Stone in Mercedes hand and drops to the ground near a tree. “Ouch” screams Mercedes feeling the impact of the blast and seeing a black and blue bruise on her hand. Drax grabs his friends and they all turn together and walk towards the temporal wormhole. The fair-haired man stands in the distance confused. As the foursome approach the golden light they transform into balls of golden electrical light and are absorbed into the void. The golden light fades as dozens of additional squad cars and emergency vehicles drive up appearing on the wooded scene finding only the confused fair-haired man.