The Time Stone, Third Edition (Extended Version)

James walks along the road near the town square and suddenly stops in a frantic malaise. He grabs his head and moans in agonizing pain. His mind felt like a million sharp daggers penetrating him and causing him to drop to his knees. He felt the harsh sensation of a vice on his head and his vision became suddenly blurred as his sight became merged with his mind’s eye. A flash of blue and black lines vibrated intensely before him, a tunnel of energy fast forwarding him to another place and time, a city dark and mysterious, tall skyscrapers not unlike any major urban metropolis and lights of various colors of the rainbow spectrum on the front and pinnacle of each building, a large dome-shaped citadel structure in the center. He recognized it as Chronix Bay, but it seemed more futuristic, each building having cable wires protruding up and down the structures with shining shimmering vanguards sprinkled throughout the city with heights as large as the great wall of China, and a series of roads that extended upward and around the buildings leading up to a launching pad. He stands in admiration as a ground passenger vehicle drove up the road structure and then left the road on the launching pad where it spouted a pair of retractable fixed wings and flew up off the platform, a pair of flames jet boosting the vehicle up into the night sky. Then in the midst of this miraculous phenomenon, a large explosion eviscerated the entire city leaving a fiery mushroom cloud of immense proportions in its wake. The blue-black tunnel raced back and he snapped out of this vision staring again into the dirt road he lay on. “What the heck was that?” He screams, gasping for air and thinking that his abilities had taken a turn for the more horrific as he looks up into the piercing hot sun.

The smells and sounds of the marketplace were robust and delightful as Tina and Mercedes walk down the cobble path that led to the great arena as they were told. Luckily, Drax is a master of virtually all languages, old and new, by virtue of his extensive military and esoteric agency trainings. He acted as a subtle liaison and told the locals they were traveling merchants from the east and have lost all of their wares in a sudden sandstorm and were now seeking temporary refuge.

“We sure are lucky to have found these clothes to fit in.” says Mercedes.

“You call this luck?” asks Tina, making a sour face at the odor.

“We ought to be getting close to the great arena. Drax says there are tons of great deals we should be able to get with the little bit of money we could obtain in this time stream.”

“Just what I always wanted to do, go on a spendthrift shopping spree.” replies Tina. “What do you suppose the boys are doing?” she inquired.

“Drax is negotiating for supplies we might need to scale those mountains in the far distance.” replies Mercedes.

“Mountains, what mountains are you talking about? This is a desert” says Tina.

“He says they are many miles away and many days, possibly weeks in travel.”

“What? That’s crazy.” Tina uttered.

“But he seems to think it’s the best place to hide from Broad because of the advanced mineral deposits in the regional rock face, something triluthicate or something like that. I don’t remember. Mineralogy is not my field.”

“What is your field?” asks Tina seriously.

“Biology and Technology.” says Mercedes, smiling. “Anyway, he also thinks the deposits indicate it might be the perfect place for the time stone to be. Without that relic, we can’t get back home.”

“Let’s hope we are able to prevail.” says Tina.

They arrived at a large tent with several small wooden pillars out front and a lot of merchandise that has been placed out on a table before it: gold jewelry and adornments, frankincense, myrrh, and silk. They approached in astonishment at the array of goods. An old man sits tending the small table and smiles at them, his front teeth missing, to the interest of the two women. They see people walking in and out of the tent, larger than many others seen in the entire village. The sun briefly shone into the tent, and there they saw an astonishing several rows of items from food to homemade trade, glassware products on the other tables inside the tent, and several other items of local interest. The two women entered as if in a daze. Then suddenly, something brushed by in between them and they quickly noticed it is a woman dressed in a long brown gown with a white scarf around her face and head. “I’m sorry” she uttered as she made her way away from the tent. Seconds later, a large muscular man with a big beard and long hair underneath a white turban, and a bear-like chest garbed in a loose fitting vest, with bag in his hands, ran out screaming in early ancient Egyptian as he chased after the young woman, clenching his fists.

“What the heck?” Mercedes asks.

“Let’s go.” says Tina, chasing after them.

“Where are you going?” asks Mercedes, metaphorically throwing her hands up.

“Opportunity knocks.” Tina yells from the distance while running. Mercedes ran after her. “We’re going to get in so much trouble with her.”

Tina and Mercedes chased after the man and woman into another tent on the far end of the grand arena square. They entered, announcing themselves.

“Hello,” says Tina as she walks closely, but the neither the woman nor the big man is in sight in the small quarters. The living room is plain and well-kept, notwithstanding the hot sands underneath their sandaled feet.

They turn towards a separate tent separate, yet connected and a woman came out and looked at them, “What are you doing here?” It did not take them long to realize that it is the same woman who nearly knocked them down.

“You speak English?” asks Tina rhetorically.

“Yeah, so do you.” says the woman.

“We’re not from around here,” says Mercedes “and we wager neither are you.”

“No,” says the woman removing the white scarf from her head and face revealing her fine dark hair, tan complexion, and deep brown eyes. She looks to be about thirty years of age. She has some bruising on her left cheek. Both Tina and Mercedes stand in awe as she is an exceedingly beautiful woman.

“Is your husband home, Ma’am, the big guy who left after you in the market?” asks Mercedes.

“He is not my husband.”

“Sorry.” Mercedes says.

“He is more like my master. I was not aware… women have no rights here, we are considered property belonging to the first man who wants you and claims you, and you have no say in the matter. I was taken by this man and forced to live in his home subject to being beaten, raped, or starved at a whim.” She shakes her head wildly and shedding tears while walking over to the window. “I am like a prisoner here but this is the law of the land. If I were you, I would watch out. It is too late for me.” She shakes her head.

“No, maybe we can help.” says Tina.

“We have a way out of here.”

“Really?” she veered her head back.

“I’m Tina and this is Mercedes, what is your name?”

“Jenny…” she turned around and looked at them directly. “My name is Jenny Marte.”

“Nice to meet you.” nodded Tina with a smile, and Jenny reciprocated.

“How did you get here anyway?” asks Mercedes curiously.

“I still don’t know.” She turns around and looks at them with fear in her eyes. I was on a dig in Egypt excavating a tomb of a long since dead king and there was a loud noise and a bright flashing and swirling light. Something grabbed me and I felt like I was being torn into pieces and surrounded by light everywhere, conscious of nothing, but light; it lasted for only a few moments before I found myself standing in the middle of a sandstorm and when it faded, I was still in the desert, but the environment was completely different. An elderly couple nearby saw me collapse to the ground and took me in and nourished me. I was with them for a few days and couldn’t get a straight answer because of the high position of the old man in the nearby government. I didn’t understand their culture, but I speak their language. Eventually, I left on my own and found this place. I wasn’t here for more than a few hours before Habarsh takes me as his ‘wife’ if you can call it that. He speaks in the same language. I understand it and I gathered from my interactions with him that he didn’t have anyone else so I was his first wife and would start his harem for him. I have been here for three weeks from what I can tell. There aren’t any calendars here so I have been using the sun. I studied Egyptian history in college, including ancient and modern languages. I always find a reason to do things to benefit my education. Boy, this culture is different from what I remember studying in school. Archeology and Egyptology are my fields. It’s weird that the language and culture have been dead for over seven thousand years and yet they speak it here like its modern. I don’t get it!” she wept, and Tina and Mercedes look at one another with trepidation as they bit their tongues. “Anyway, I tried to run away, but every time he found me and hit me more and more. I’m so scared I can’t….”

“It’s ok Jenny, come here.” says Tina, offering her arms in a hug and embraced Jenny as she wept uncontrollably.

“I graduated with a PHD from Yale and am the youngest person ever inducted into the International Archaeologist Association. I mastered fluency in forty-seven languages, both current and dead. I never dreamed I would end up like this, a battered… I don’t know what. Every day I wake up thinking it’s going to be my last day before he kills me.”

“Don’t worry, he won’t hurt you again. I promise.” Says Tina as her heart melted and eyes widened with tears in the moment, feeling she never thought she would meet another human being who suffered as much as she and James did or worse, in this case, and she was able to make that vow confidently that she would not let anyone hurt this young woman again.

Mercedes stands and frowns in empathy. “Uh, Tina, can I talk to you?”

“Sure.” she stepped away, patting Jenny assuring her it is going to be alright.

Tina and Mercedes stepped to the side of the tent as Jenny wandered off into the next room and re-clothed her head and face.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” asks Mercedes.

“Yeah, it is very likely she is from the future too.” says Tina.

“Uh, more like an absolute certainty. That means she might have inadvertently found the Time Stone on her dig. It must be around here somewhere.”

“Not necessarily. Seven thousand odd years have passed. It might be anywhere.”

“It’s a start.” says Mercedes looking towards her shorter comrade.

“Yeah, we should get back to market. I don’t feel right leaving her here by herself when that brute could return any time now.”

“Yeah Jenny” says Mercedes calling out, and Jenny came out of the back room. Then suddenly before they could speak, a loud eruption emanated from the outside like a car backfire discharge. They went outside and saw a masked man jumping out of the back of an oxcart who started attacking the villagers and turning over tables of goods and food. He was a shirtless man with a muscular build and long silk pants, but a strange metal mask over his entire heads, large and protruding in the shape of a pentagon and his eyes began to glow a bright orange, with mechanical underpinnings in the nose and mouth area like a strange breathing apparatus, but with moving parts that twisted in and out like flower petals blossoming. He also had metallic transplants grafted onto his arms with a gun barrel on each arm. The man knocked over the oxcart and then jumped up and stood on it as he held out his arm cannons and fired them back into the crowd emitting projectiles of lead and fire into the people and tents. One after the other exploded.He stands and appeared to laugh as his mask moved up and down and the twisting petals on his breathing apparatus moved faster. Tina, Mercedes, and Jenny stare in horror at the site, and the trio stands helplessly watching the endless suffering around them like it might have well been a slow motion replay. They knew they had to do something.

“This is wrong!” says Tina.

Mercedes looks at her with a sincere look and straight face.

“We need to go.” says Jenny. They nodded in agreement as the masked man appeared to be recharging his arm cannons by a small indicator on the devices as he set his eyes on their tent.

“What can we do about these people?” Tina asks.

“There is nothing we can do.” says Mercedes. The three women run as they hear a loud explosion behind them, and kept running as the tent they previously occupied burned in a large scale inferno blast behind them. The masked man jumped away and ran off.

The three women ran towards another part of the village that is currently being evacuated as people ran around screaming after hearing of the horrors in the grand arena. Tina saw Drax and yells out to him as he has been talking to a tall slender gentleman in the native language in his attempt to negotiate for supplies. The negotiations were not going too well due mainly to their shortage of funds. The merchant is frantic to get away after observing the chaos in town. Drax turns and sees them running towards him. He waved goodbye regretfully to his new merchant contact and walks towards them.

“What the heck happened?” asks Drax.

“Masked man… has guns from the future!” gasped Tina.

“Great Caesars Ghost” screams Drax in the midst of a sea of passing people. He pointed up as his eyes widened with shock and they all turned and saw the masked man surrounded by a small army of about half a dozen men just like him. “Let’s go” yells Drax as the men jumped off their stands and appeared to hover downward on a cushion of air. The lead man jumped upward firing his arm cannons into the crowd. The bodies begin to pile up on top of one another and the other masked men joined in and ran into the melee. One man cut through the corpses with lightning fast speed and trampled them with his heavy boots, vaporizing the dead, another ran upwards in midair like he is climbing a flight of invisible stairs and stepped on the heads of the living ones crushing them down to the size of a walnut with a fiery pressure from his large metallic boots lined outside with a series of small projectile launchers which let forth little missiles into the charred remains of the victims. The masked man laughs as the victim lay on the sand and is being fired at by the arm weapon. A third ran and drop kicked an innocent family of four trying to flee the violence and fired several small missiles from the soles of his boots when he was in midair, and vaporized them all upon contact, landing on his feet in the spot where they once stood. The others engaged in similar violent acts. Drax reached for his hidden sidearm and rolled forward aiming at the lead masked man and fired a series of shots at him. The bullets fizzled in midair right before hitting him and vanished in a flash of orange light. Drax’s jaw dropped in awe, “They have some type of energy shielding around them. Run!” Drax and his entourage were scattering throughout the crazy maze of remaining bodies and charred corpses as well as the crying moans of the living who were escalating in fear and panic at the horror unfolding before their eyes.

“James!” yells Tina, “Use your powers”. James nodded as he ran over to the masked men, flinging his arms wildly with all his might aiming at the masked man’s metallic components, but the energy shield began to fizzle with a bright orange glow leaving the man remaining in his stance angrily approaching them.

“It didn’t work!” James yells. Drax and his friends stand and watch, powerless to interfere and face such lethal adversaries with firepower beyond theirs at the time. They run off trying to assist as many of the fragile and wounded survivors, getting them to safety, but could not move them all. Some ran off and others were crushed by the strong force of the violent marauders before them.

Drax recalled the old adage “better to run and live to fight another day.” especially since staying meant certain death. They ran off away from the village square. Three of the masked men pursued them and jumped onto small vehicles shaped like motorcycles that hovered off the ground and were previously hidden behind some crates. The men rode off after the forgotten ones not stopping until all were eliminated. The hovering motorcycles were long and has a finish made out of a shimmering blue alloy that brightened in the sunlight. James, Tina, Mercedes, and Jenny duck down behind a box of metal crates helplessly watching, but avoiding the onslaught. One hovering motorcycle passed by Drax, nearly knocking him down. He ducks as another hovering motorcycle arrives and Drax seizes the window of opportunity and jumps up behind the masked man riding the hovering motorcycle. Drax shoves the masked man off and takes control of the machine.Another masked man followed Drax on his hovering motorcycle and presses a button on the handle bars firing several small concentrated yellow energy pellets at Drax striking his hovering motorcycle and throwing him off course. Drax maneuvers around while spiraling in midair and comes about, successfully returning fire and theman fires back as they head towards one another at super-fast speeds, the pellets from one another’s handle gun bounce off their respective energy shields with a glowing orange hot light. The masked man fires repeatedly towards the underbelly of Drax’s hovering motorcycle, but Drax maneuvers,dodging the pellets as his hovering motorcycle raised up and off to be then chased by two more men.. As Drax moves his motorcycle from left to right swinging it, he uses the momentum to flip it up and spiral about near an approaching stone wall just as the masked men race by him, unable to stop them from crashing into the wall. Their energy shields fizzle as the hovering motorcycles repel from the wall and land on the ground with their now unconscious riders. Drax rides off into the storm of yet another group of masked men on hovering motorcycles that are firing their pellets at Drax.He returns fire and keeps firing, and the glowing bright orange energy shield then appears as the pellets strike the masked men’s’ hovering motorcycles, the same for Drax’s hovering motorcycle having an energy shield as well. A barrage of small yellow projectile lines appear between them back and forth as they are accelerating towards one another and Drax aims his handle bars downward and fires a new series of yellow energy missiles that strike the underbelly of the masked man’s hovering motorcycle directly in front of Drax, blowing it up, and the man’s motorcycle falls to the ground as the hover component is knocked out. The machine falls to the ground and explodes with him still on board. Drax continues and came about firing at the other bikers, having figured out their Achilles heel and how to knock them down he targeted and moved his handle bars downward first left and then right in a quick continuous motion as he halted his hovering motorcycle to a stop and fired at them striking the hovering motorcycles at one time in rapid succession almost simultaneously in their hover component knocking each down and blowing them up with their riders on board. Drax stands and sighed. He let out a heavy breath as he watched the great inferno devour the streets before him and quickly subside.

After Drax defeated the masked men, he rode over to the metal crates where his comrades were hiding. “It’s safe now, I think.” he says.

“Who were those masked men?” asks Tina half-jokingly.

“The Culto!” says Drax confidently.

“They look so different from before or later in the future.” says Tina laughingly.

“What? What are they doing here?” asks James.

“How did the Culto get here?” asks Mercedes.

“They could have originated here.” commented Tina, “but those weapons clearly didn’t.”

“Right,” says Drax “they were hired guns commanded by the machination in 2012, but are not just foot soldiers, but age old guardians and protectors.”

“Those weapons were more advanced than 2012 though.” says Mercedes.

“Yes, they must be from further down the timeline. They want to harness the power of the time stone. They feel it is their sworn legacy and destiny, a birthright, the very thing they were meant to keep and protect. Their plans with the time stone coincide with the fall of the Atlantis Empire, the fabled story. They are the direct blood line descendants of those survivors. It fell because of a powerful mystery, but it cannot be changed. It is part of prehistory. They still believe like their ancient ancestors did that they are destined to rule, but that’s a load of crap.” Drax says.

“How did they get here?” James asks, “The time stone?”

“They must have used it and wound up trapped here like us or there is something else…there is a story of the Last Time. It’s an old legend,” Drax says, “but it basically says about the time stone that when the moon is full at a certain day and time of the year when the night is ‘pure’, and the balance between time cycles are complete, the time stone can be activated and used is an Omni-directional beacon and traverse the time line to allow for multiple trips anywhere and anytime. Some in the Machination tried to use this technique, but most reasonable minds were more pragmatic.”

“Like you?” Tina asks.

“Yeah,” Drax replies “I knew Broad has grown a little unstable but I would have never thought he would do anything like this.”

“The night in the rainstorm in the central complex” Tina says confidently.

Drax nodded. “He is trying to pull that off, but it’s impossible.”

“What do they want?” asks James.

“I wish I knew for sure what they wanted here, but I can only wager a guess that they were sent here with the Time Stone one way or another.”

“I am confused,” says Mercedes, “how could they have it when we had it and now we don’t have it?”

“Time is variable along all levels of reality and our perception of it is very limited, but we at Temporo, Inc. aka the Machination figured out that the Time Stone operates on a quasi-electro-magnetic wavelength, sending and receiving what are called tachyon particles throughout the energy grid that feeds our planet, and this is part of what makes the opening of the temporal wormhole possible so we can travel backward and forward through time. Somehow it is designed to vanish every time it is used this way and in order to go back home, you need to find it again in the past Time you land, but it is very unpredictable.” explained Drax.

“Weird. Who designed such a contraption?” asks Mercedes.

“Good question. I’ll let you know when I find out.” Drax says.

“Wow, you sure know a lot about this time tripping stuff,” says Jenny getting up and approaching him “you were awesome in battling those guys.” Jenny walks over, removing her headdress and sliding her hand down Drax’s face as she smiles provocatively at him, expressing an obvious physical attraction to the well-built physique of the former secret agent.

“Thanks, I think.” Drax smiles in return. “Who is this?” He asks.

“Jenny. She is from the future too.” says Tina.

“Really.” says James.

“We should get moving while the daylight is still with us. It is a long trip to the mountains.” Drax says, as they noticed a large crowd of people starting to come to see what’s what as the dust settled in after the battle with the Culto warriors.

“What’s in the mountains?” Asks James, as they all rise to their feet.

“One of the locals here told me a legend about great magical powers like instant transportation being observed in the mountains by some who return alive, barely making it out of there with their lives. He referred to the source of the magic as an ancient relic called ‘the eye of the gods’ and says it was a green crystal small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and glowing with five orbs in the middle, sound familiar?”

“The Time Stone” James, Tina, and Mercedes exclaims almost simultaneously.

“So it’s over there in this Time?” Mercedes asks inquisitively.

“It’s not a bad place to start our search. I am confident it is there. By the way, there is nothing else we can do here and we need to get moving before they ask too many questions of us.” says Drax.

“I was looking for the ‘eye of the gods’ in the Egyptian desert in 2012 when I was brought here,” says Jenny, “but I never heard of this Time Stone.”

“It is possible you found it, or some anomaly or storm replicated the conditions of the Time Stone, either way we should work together to get back.” says Drax.

“How did you learn about ‘the eye of the gods’? You speak this ancient language?” asks Jenny.

“I am fluent in multiple modern and dead languages.” Drax replies.

“You can come with us” says Tina looking at Jenny.

“Thanks. I don’t want to stay here and I am still confused about this ‘being in the past’ stuff.” says Jenny.

“Let’s ride” says Drax as he gets on his motorcycle and Jenny hops on behind him holding on to him. Tina runs to one of the hovering motorcycle that fell after bouncing off the stone wall, kicks the rider off, and tries to stand it up alone. James and Mercedes see her struggling and run to her. After they stand both motorcycles upright, knocking the riders off, James hops on the back of Tina’s motorcycle and Mercedes takes the other one alone. “God help us!” Exclaims Jenny as the trio of hovering motorcycles rides off away from the village and into the scorching heat of the open desert afternoon.

The trek across the desert is long and arduous for the group of adventurers, trying to find an ancient artifact that would lead them back home. With surprise a constant variable on their journey, and success a virtual uncertainty, their courage remained steadfast and resolve unvanquished on their futuristic bikes, hovering at superior speeds above the hot white sands of the ancient Egyptian landscape. The mountains approaching were ominous and fearsome like goliaths overseeing all and the falling rocks and terrifying smoke above their peaks were continuous warnings to those who dare transgress their corridors. As they approached the outskirts of the rocky terrain, they were stops by a familiar face who they dared never to lay eyes on again.

“Satyr!” yells Drax determinedly as the three hovering motorcycles come to a halt.

“Greetings, old friend.” says Satyr, his wings outstretched and extending for yards across the desert, as he stands stretching his large muscular and hairy arms outward, and simultaneously screeching out with his long snout and fangs growling before them as if guarding some terrifying secret within the mountains. “You arrived just in time as they said you would.”

“Whom are you referring to?” Drax asks.

“Never mind that now.” Satyr snarled in his raspy voice. “You are never leaving this Time alive, none of you are.” His voice sounded in sincerity and darkness.

“We’ll see about that!” says Drax angrily pushing down on his handle bars and firing a series of yellow energy pellets towards Satyr and then watched in awe as they fizzled in the air before him in an array of bright orange lights and miniature explosions. Satyr remained smiling.

“He’s got an energy shield too!” screams James.

“Everyone fire!” yells Drax and all three hovering motorcycles fired their energy pellets towards Satyr and watched as they fizzled in the air before him in a larger array of bright orange lights and miniature explosions.

“You cannot harm me!” yells Satyr as he then unleashed his fury and swung his wings wildly back and forth creating a strong wind and sand to fly around him and towards the trio of hovering motorcycles and their riders, who shielded their faces and tried to ride away, but were too late as their hovering motorcycles were lifted off the ground by the strong winds and thrown into the sands a few meters behind them. “Petty humans, you are so pathetic it is not even funny. We beasts are superior in every form, strength, stamina, intellect, regeneration, and agility. You can never win against a beast on even terms.” Satyr projected his voice over the loud winds as they suddenly became still and the winds died down again settling the sands to their earthen shores. Satyr approached in a stalking manner to the three hovering motorcycles lying in the sands with their riders. The quartet with their archeologist ally rose to their feet seeing the angry beast walk towards them, stalking stealthily like a jungle cat. Drax clasped his hands together as he walked forth facing the great beast in the eye, and swung at him with his extended arms. Satyr blocked him with one arm and threw him to the side with no effort at all. James ran forward and tried to use his powers by waving his arms rapidly, but it had no effect, and Satyr, who angrily rushed forward and head butted James, sent him flying backwards several meters. Tina and Mercedes ran to Satyr trying to tackle him down from both sides, but he picked them up with his long and muscular arms and tossed them about like rag dolls into the desert sands. Jenny stood before him, then ran back towards the hovering motorcycles lying on the desert floor and hid behind them nervously. Satyr walks forward towards Drax who is trying to pick himself up off the desert floor. Satyr raised his huge fists in midair extending upward towards the sky shadowing everything before him. Satyr bellowed with a sinister laugh from his long snout as his beady eyes curled underneath the long pair of swirling horns, reaching towards the heavens. Then a loud eruption appeared in the sky above and a flash of light created a swirling yellowish haze that Drax and his colleagues were very familiar with, “The temporal wormhole.” muttered Drax under his breath. Within nanoseconds a flashing haze of swirls and energy emerged materializing, and formed a creature that crashed down onto the desert sands before them. The creature has a face like a leopard roaring into the air before them with a screeching and humming roar, stands upright on its legs with long wings like a hawk, its body like a jackal with hooves for hands. The creature hovered forward with its hawk wings a few feet off of the ground and landed in brief hops as it spotted Satyr and the five humans. The creature roared. Defensively Satyr retreated, but then lunged forward to grab the creature.

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” They grabbed one another and wrestled around twirling about in a series of revered dances as Drax got up, leading his half-dazed group of companions back to the bikes.

“Come on.” the man beckons, and they managed to overturn one of the hovering motorcycles, seeing the others were damaged beyond hope. All five led by Drax squeeze together on the machine, and take off towards the mountain range nearby leaving the two beasts locked in mortal combat snarling at one another.

As they drove off, Drax asks “Where did you learn to fight? I went to the best schools of the west.”

“In college with my ex-boyfriend mostly.” says Tina.

“I take self-defense classes at the Y,” shrugged Mercedes.

“I learned to fight in the streets.” says James.

“We should keep practicing.” says Drax.

Drax led the team on the hovering motorcycle barely touching the ground because of the extra weight as they approached a mountain quarry.

“We’re not going to make it,” screams Tina “it’s too heavy.”

“Where there’s a will there’s a way!” Exclaims Drax as he pressed a few buttons on the motorcycle and held the handle bars tightly, “We can jettison the fuel and accelerate for a quick boost up the mountainside using the stone as leverage for the bike’s hover coils I think, but if we miss our mark we will fall to our deaths.”

“Let’s hope the timing is right!” says Tina.

“Hmm,” muttered Drax. And with that, Drax unlocked the handle bars and disengaged them then pressed a pair of red buttons on the inside component of the handle bars. They all hang on tight as a large burst of exhaust discharges from the tail end of the bike, sending them soaring up the side of the mountain. As they approached the summit several miles into the air, they came close to a ledge on the mountainside near a cave and stopped in mid hover right below the ledge. “Engine is being pushed to the limit and burning out, we can’t scale the cliff!” Drax screams, “Brace for impact!”

“Not yet.” says James, as he waved his right hand down underneath the bike as it started to fall and it then lifted upward slowly towards the ledge and leveled out on the precipice.

“Close one,” says Mercedes.

“Bike’s dead,” says Drax as he dismounted with his group and pulled out his handheld scanner. “There appears to be a large energy signature nearby. Oh, we’re in luck. It’s the Time Stone.”

They prepared to enter the cave when suddenly a large flapping sound disturbed them. As they turned, they saw Satyr fluttering up into the sky above them seriously hurt and bleeding. He did not notice them and kept going. There was no sign of the other creature.

“What do you think happened to him?” Tina asks.

“We’ll have to worry about that later. Let’s go.” They entered the cave and Drax hit a button on his scanner activating a flashlight that flooded the cave with light. The cave opened into a four walled room with pictures on the wall. It was damp and cold, a silhouette of hidden shadows over smooth stonework with altars and tables scattered throughout along with drawings and pictographs on the walls of various ancient Egyptian and prehistoric hieroglyphics. Jenny’s eyes widened as she saw the colorful array painted there.

“This is incredible. I never thought I would see something like this.” She wandered through the space of lavishly colored painted tapestries and artifacts of gold and silver, vases, necklaces, and headwear.

“We could enjoy this,” says Tina picking up some of the jewelry.

“I don’t think so,” says Jenny, brushing off a part of the wall with some text on it. They were all shocked at the sight of gold items and a seven foot tall gilded sarcophagus with a high relief image of a pharaoh amongst the artifacts of gold staffs, pots, and scimitars, and jewels.

“Whoa!” says Tina.

“This is interesting,” says Jenny.

“What?” Tina asks.

“It’s nothing, I think. I barely understand this stuff, only the basics. I think this is an old Aramaic writing,” Jenny adds.

“Let me see” says Drax, “it is, but it’s in some type of code. ‘The Lion’s Den Raises Fire in the Winter Solstice’.”

“Something about a creature from hell when it freezes over,” joked Tina.

“I am pretty good at cracking codes,” says Jenny. “Let me see, let me see…” she uttered slowly while looking around the room and saw the various pictures of people, animals, places, and saw a marking depicting a legend like a map with a strange character, and then saw one on each side of the room they had entered. “Mr. Drax. Is that what I think it is?” asks Jenny.

“Those are map coordinate locators,” Drax replies. “North, East, South, and West” he turns his light to them all in turn.

“Interesting, the directions of the four parts of the Earth were considered by some cultures as reflective of the four elements of nature, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire,” says Jenny.

“But also the four seasons,” says Drax. “They are spring, summer, fall, and winter.”

“So which one is the winter solstice?” asks Mercedes.

“West?” asks Drax.

“No, its north, I am positive. The directional legend is inverted slightly.” Jenny walked over to the symbol for North and noticed the wall has breaks around the symbol like a button on a keyboard. She pushed the wall inward pressing the button, and the room suddenly erupted in light as flames began to combust in the empty vases around the room.

“Cool,” says Tina. “Jenny, you are brilliant.”

“Well, I grew up in the hood and had plenty of time for reading…” Jenny stated with a small smirk. Suddenly as they stood before the north wall it gave way, splitting apart opening into a cavern, where a small and narrow wooden bridge spanned the distance over a large ravine with a pedestal on the other side, holding a shining object in the distance. “I think that’s it… ‘The eye of the gods.’” says Jenny with widened eyes of enthusiasm.

“The Time Stone” says Drax smiling.

“James can you lure it here with your powers” asks Tina.

James waved his hands, but nothing happened.

“I can’t affect living things. Maybe it’s alive,” he says.

“Or maybe it’s too far away” adds Drax.

The five started across the bridge slowly, led by Jenny.

“It feels like we’re tightrope walking” says Tina with a laugh.

“Watch it. We got to be very cautious not to overturn this bridge. It looks very old.” says Mercedes, as the bridge wobbled back and forth over the endless dark apparently bottomless ravine beneath them.

“Jenny,” says Drax. “You never told us what you were doing looking for the ‘eye of the gods’.”

“I was sent by government officials who wanted it. I was told Egypt is the last place it was found in.”

“They weren’t by any chance related to a company called Temporo, Inc.?” Drax asks.

“How did you know?” Jenny replies.

“Lucky guess,” Drax says nodding with sarcasm in his voice.

“They funded my research grant,” Jenny says, “a man named Staffnight who seemed almost desperate to find this ancient relic that only existed in fables. I didn’t understand at the time. Now I do.”

“There is a reason you say you didn’t think we should take the items in the room, what is it?” asks Tina.

“I think I saw something about a curse in the wall text, but I am not sure. I have heard ancient structures usually were associated with misfortune for whoever desecrates it, tomb robbers and so forth,” Jenny says.

“I don’t believe in curses,” says Drax.

They made it across and stepped off the bridge onto a platform surrounding a circular altar with writing in old language similar to the writing in the caverns. The item embedded in the center of the altar was a large circular metal encasement, and within that was a small item that was familiar to them all, the green emerald they all knew as the Time Stone.

“Yes, we found it” says Drax.

“Thank God,” says Mercedes.

“Now we use it to return back to 2012,” says James.

“Yes.” Drax reaches for it then stops, as he reads the text below and his eyes widened with disbelief.

“What does it say?” asks Mercedes.

“Um, it basically says there was a powerful group in the deep past that came from another galaxy, a union of thirteen races, aliens from different worlds joined under one banner or group. They gained thoroughly mastered knowledge of everything in the universe, including the meaning and essence of time itself. They had an artifact that represented the full might of their divine collective abilities and had it stored away to keep it safe from their enemies.”

“Remember James, Alexa says the ancestors told of legends of sky watchers, sky gods, or what am the word she used…?” asks Tina.

“Pregivers”, says James, “it’s tied to this holder of stones prophecy.”

“The Pregivers,” Drax says to himself. “Oh my… It was… oh my God.”

“What is it?” asks Tina.

“I think these are the beings that created the Time Stone, the originators. It says they would return someday as they had left long ago, but time is the answer to fulfill their long lost history and destiny combined into one. These Pregivers created the Time Stone and were the first to wield its power and use it” says Drax, shocked. “That is new.”

“Deep,” says James, “ but we should skip the history lesson and get with the goods,” he smirks, as he reached out and lifted the Time Stone off of its pedestal and Tina grabbed it from him with a smirk. As she did, the entire ground they stood on started to shake, with the bridge wobbling uncontrollably. “What’s going on?” asks James yelling over the roar in the chamber. They stood in shock and gasped as flaming lava started to rise to their level from the depths below, and towers of fire emerged from a lava lake that now surrounded them.

“Run!” screams Jenny as she led them back across the bridge. They ran across the bridge and barely made it before it is consumed by the rising lava lake having stopped at the edge of the stone platform they made it to. Then out of the flames, a form emerged that appeared hovering above them, a large dragon whose wings were flapping above them sounding like thunder and whose roar and breath of fire seared the air before them like the brimstone of hell. Sweating profusely in the intense heat, they froze in horror at the sight of the great beast. James and Tina look at one another.

“That looks like the one we saw in the cave in Brazil,” she screams.

“I remember,” James bellows, as he notices the same metal plate on its underbelly with the five orbs glowing bright red like before. “It’s the guardian.” James yells. The beast did not introduce itself this time, but roars and breathed a huge trail of flames in their direction. James yells “Run and they headed out of the chamber back into the prior room before them, all but Jenny, who is toasted and vaporized by the flames. Her piercing screams were the last the remaining quartet hears of her as they ran into the next room.

“Activate it,” says Drax.

“I am trying,” says James as he held the Time Stone out and up above his head, and turned it, the five orbs in its center glowing brightly with a spike of energy emanating from it like a star, as a stream of yellow energy emerged from the device and created the glowing fissure of the temporal wormhole before them.

Drax screams, “Ladies first,” and Tina ran in yelling, “You don’t have to tell me twice!”

She is quickly followed by Mercedes as they are transformed into balls of light once within two feet of the entryway, and sucked in. Drax followed in as the dragon flew into the room and is prepared to fire another burst. James jumped in as well just as the burst of flames flooded the room charring the pictorial altars and stone walls. The fissure faded once having absorbed them all.

“By the grace of God we made it”, says Mercedes.

“Where or when are we?” asks Tina, as the foursome found themselves in a room with gilded adornments and velvet silk laden linings. A central chair sits in the pinnacle of the room, resembling a royal throne with symbols and writing all over it.

“Is this King Arthur’s Court?” asks James.

“No, it’s an ancient Egyptian pharaoh chamber,” says Drax, looking about at the symbols. “I think we’re still in ancient Egypt just far from the mountains.” Then suddenly a group of men entered with spears dressed in Egyptian clothing, worn like kilts folded into layers and draping down into various gathers, belts and sashes spread over them adorning the wearers. They were led by a man with a long striped headdress and gilded adornments who commanded their loyalty and attention. Being held at spear point by the men yelling in ancient Egyptian dialects, the foursome raised their arms in the air. An old man entered and speaks in ancient Egyptian dialect.

“I am Saragin, high priest of the pharaoh to be.”

“Greetings, we are travelers from far away,” says Drax in the same ancient early Egyptian dialect. “We have come here from a great distance. We mean you no harm.”

“There is harm in the village earlier today, men of great magic killed many people and some escaped. The wife of one of my soldiers also vanished. A mystery killer threatens the royal pharaoh to be, an assassination of imperative portends to destroy the incarnate spirit of the gods divine.” “The threat has been neutralized,” Drax says, “The men of great magic are no more a threat to your pharaoh to be. His spirit body will remain free in this world and the next.”

“That is the word of the gods indeed, the true key to salvation will be written amongst those who follow the path of light, the true home of all of those in time.” He says with a nod and a faint smile and turns without a word beckoning with his arms to the leader of the soldiers who yells and gives them their orders. They stand at attention and hold their spears upright and marched out of the room single file.

“What was that about?” asks Tina as they all lowered their arms.

“The pharaoh to be is threatened and I put their minds at ease”, replies Drax. “It is a very simple belief structure about the literal living dead, the spirit of the pharaoh moving on in all lives preceding and succeeding this one. Any outside influences are seen as magic or influential. Doing my line of work, cultural sensitivities is of paramount importance and now, as we continue on our journeys in time, you all must understand that as well.”

“What is going to happen to the village? The people?” asks Mercedes.

“There will be lots of strife, civil war, famine, drought, many conquests including the reunification of the two lands, but all in all it turns out as it does in all history. Our purpose shouldn’t be to judge or impose our ideals, but to try to learn and simply exist with others in harmony. Those are ideals the machination never cherishes.”

“Yeah and Jenny?” asks Tina sadly.

“I didn’t tell them about Jenny. God rest her soul.”

“Yeah too bad, couldn’t we reverse time to save her or something?” asks Tina.

“Time is tricky. We couldn’t change what is meant to be and even if we could, the chances of success are slim. We must move on for all our sakes.” Drax speaks philosophically.

“Indeed!” says James nodding, thinking of the mushroom cloud in his vision.

“We did make a profound discovery. At least we know more about the creators of the Time Stone. I wonder if there is more information on them somewhere, but we should get back. Time is our oyster as long as we have this relic, but we belong where we belong,” says Drax.

“So …?” asks Mercedes.

“So let’s go at it again. I think we are ready to move on, but this time let’s all think positive thoughts about being thousands of years in the future.” Drax nodded as did his cohorts.

“Too bad we didn’t meet Cleopatra” says Tina jokingly.

“A few years too early for that” says Drax.

James held up the Time Stone “To the adventure!” he yells as he turns it and the portal opens up once again. They all smile and yell simultaneously “To the adventure!” and figuratively saddled up for the ride to the next Time, each dematerializing to an energy ball and being sucked in, ideally, on their way home.