The Time Stone (57 page)

“
DRAX!!!! You maniac, this
isn’t over, I won’t forget this betrayal. You are dead to me. I
will get revenge on you though, wait and see. You won’t accomplish
anything without me. You have nothing, you are nothing, you are
alone, you have no one without me…”

“
Don’t be so sure” said
Drax stepping out before the awaiting mess of police cars as he was
surrounded by James, Tina, and Mercedes smiling by his
side.

Back in the scorpion car, the four
flew off over the night sky and were over the capital grounds in
Washington, D.C. where a group of thousands waited as a lecture was
about to take place on stage.

“
What’s that?” Asked
Tina.

“
That’s the capital mall”
said Drax.

“
A movement?” Asked
James.

“
A very special movement”
commented Mercedes.

“
Civil Rights” said
Drax.

“
That’s the end of the
Culto.” Said Mercedes.

“
Yes, and the start of the
famous civil rights era where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his
famous ‘I have a dream speech’ to overcome intolerance and hatred
amongst peoples.” Said Drax.

“
And that is destined to
unite two universes someday?” Asked Tina jokingly.

“
Indeed” he maneuvered the
car over the field full of people below as Drax yelled out, “if we
can truly make a difference through this endeavor, we should
try.”

“
Let’s do it” said
Tina.

“
Yes” said
Mercedes.

“
We fight as one!” Said
James.

They touch hands and James turns the
time stone with his free hand and unleashes the roaring vortex that
they approach into it and vanish.

“
What was that?” Said an
African American man with a mustache standing on stage near the
podium below as he looked up and spoke to one of his advisers. “I
have seen that before, in the promised land.” He smiled.

CHAPTER 84

Time Period: 14 Million, B.C., Chronix
Bay

The scorpion car raced out of the
vortex into a hot desert landscape with a boiling sun looming
overhead.

“
Wow, is this somewhere in
the past?” Asked Tina.

“
Or the future? “Asked
James.

“
Looks like we hit the
mark way back there. My radiation readings are through the roof”
said Drax eyeing the display on his wrist remote. “I would surmise
its prehistory, about 15 or so million years back Before Christ.
Looks like Europe in the primordial days.”

“
Oh my” said Mercedes, “we
could actually see dinosaurs here?”

“
Not really, there was a
whole period of the Earth’s history for millions of years after the
dinosaurs became extinct but before the first human beings or
beasts became around by evolution or creationism, whichever theory
you believe.”

“
I always said that
controversy was way overrated” said Tina. “So, when do we go
shooting beamers?” She joked holding the laser pistol that she
found in the side compartment of the scorpion car.

“
Where did you find that?”
Asked Drax.

“
It was here” she
said.

“
Just be
careful.”

“
Yes, dad” she
joked.

“
What do you think that
is?” Asked Drax under his breath as he lowered the car down towards
a fire over a set of loose trees and bushes in the middle of the
desert. The car landed and they exited approaching it to see a pair
of someone’s approaching.

“
So no dinosaurs here?”
She added.

“
No dinosaurs or people
here” said Drax.

“
What do you call those
guys?” Tina Pointed asking rhetorically. Two men approached dressed
in rags with busheled hair.

“
Dear God, humans!” Said
one.

“
Who are you guys?” Asked
James.

“
I am Dr. Raymond Quinzel
and this is my colleague Dr. Dennis Smith. We are scientists with
Temporo, Inc. in Chronix Bay, circa 2012. Are you from the future
too?”

“
2012 also” said Tina.
“How did you guys get here?”

“
The vortex… Broad
Staffnight sent us here as punishment for failing to construct the
teleportation device properly like he wanted. He is mad. Very
insane man. There are so many problems.”

“
Beware the great weapon”
said the other man.

“
Wait, tell us what you
know about…” said Drax starting but before he could finish, then
suddenly they saw a flash of hazy yellow light appear before
them.

“
The temporal wormhole”
screamed James as he saw three men in dark suits appear bearing
long spiral rods with coils wrapped around them. They held the rods
like rifles and fired repeated blasts of white laser energy towards
the group.

“
Run” yelled Tina as they
all took off in the opposite direction scattering in various ways.
The rifle rods continued to emit their light projectiles and struck
the two scientists in the back as they ran haphazardly and they
both dropped to the ground motionless. The foursome continued to
run after seeing this but stopped when they realized they weren’t
being pursued. Drax turned with his colleagues and saw the three
men in dark suits approach the scientists and hold their rifles
over the two lifeless corpses, adjusted their weapons, and fired
instantly vaporizing the duo in a phase of hot white energy. They
turned to Drax and his crew standing nearby stone monuments and
statues and looked at them. One of the men smirked and held out the
time stone in his hand and turned it upward causing the wormhole to
appear again. He lowered the time stone and the wormhole mouth
moved downward transforming the men and absorbing the light balls
that they became.

“
Whoa” said Mercedes.
“That was close! “The crew stood on a stone artificial walkway
built in the middle of the sandy deserted area, stone statues of
animals and men and hybrid creatures and beasts adorned the
landscape.

“
There may be more to the
machination’s plan than we were able to glean so far” whispered
Drax.

“
Oh Great so now we lost a
possible lead” said James.

“
I can’t believe we are
here. We came all this way for nothing. My God, what the hell was
this all for?” Tina yelled at the top of her lungs.

“
You were the one who
wanted to come here out of some self-judged romantic escapade.”
Said James.

“
Don’t blame me…” Tina
pointed to herself.

“
Wait” interrupted
Mercedes. Then in an instant, the time stone again activated and
began shaking on its own without anyone touching it and within
seconds, the five orbs within it starting turning in patterns
around in varying formations of clockwise and counter clockwise
turnings and as they kept yelling the circles turned faster and
faster making noises like metallic rotors on a diesel engine and
the eyes of the statues nearby began glowing bright red. Then
suddenly the time portal opened from the time stone and items in
the room began being sucked into the time portal converting to
balls of light and vanishing within the yellowish hazy void, and
within seconds all the items were gone but not the foursome who
kept their distance.

“
I never dreamed anything
like this was possible” said Mercedes “but it looks
like….”

“
It’s being used not just
as a transportation device but also could have been intended as a
weapon.” Said James.

“
Who could have activated
it?” Inquired Tina. “Some type of remote activation?”

“
Or an auto activation
protocol.” Said James. Then a small cylinder rose from a
compartment within the stone pedestal in the center of the walkway
surrounded by the remaining statues. The time stone levitated over
and struck the cylinder landing within it and emitted another
emission of bright yellow light. The cylinder made of a shining
substance glowed brightly in the center alter and illuminated the
entire area, a bright star shining throughout.

“
Is this the ‘Great
Weapon’ we were told about?” Asked Tina shocked.

“
I don’t know” said James
as he stared into its mesmerizing beauty, shimmering aura of hot
white light with a yellowish tint like a halo around the cylinder.
James approaches and tries try to grab it and then get slightly
electrocuted.

“
Nice try dummy” said Tina
jokingly.

“
Our anger could have set
it off” said Mercedes.

“
And maybe also our close
proximity to this place.” Said Drax. Then they hear bullets and see
shell casings fly in guided by small shots and agents in black
suits and glasses run in pointing guns at them, having appeared via
another temporal wormhole vanishing into the desert draining the
surrounding light. The foursome ducked to the ground. Drax grabs
his weapon and starts to fire back with his pistol. His weapon
strikes one of the men who dropped to the ground. James waves his
hands in midair targeted towards the remaining men’s clothes and
weapons and sends them flying backward into the desert landscape.
One of them removes the time stone from his belt and turns it
towards the man lying on the floor dead, unleashing the wormhole
again and they creep towards the man lying unconscious on the
floor. They crawled slowly and grabbed their fallen comrade by
either side and one crawled into the vortex with the dead man
transforming to balls of light and being sucked in while the other
rose to his feet and held his weapon towards James. James quickly
waved his hands and flung the man into the vortex, watching as he
transformed to an orb of light and was sucked in, the roar ceasing
as it closed thereafter.

“
What the…?” Asked James.
Drax shrugged getting up and walking up to him.

Time Period; 2012 A.D., Chronix
Bay

“
Why don’t you bring in a
bigger stories, Melly?” Said Benny Yeddy, a short but irate man who
was appointed by his wife to be editor and chief of the Chronix Bay
Daily, to his junior reporter Melissa Bagwell.

“
I got you the Gamti
scandal didn’t I?”

“
I need huge if we’re
gonna make big-time” he yelled in his hoarse voice as he was
puffing his cigar.

“
I am trying” she said as
he walked away.

“
Why do you let him get to
you?” Said Tom, a coworker.

“
I just remember he has
sensitivity issues. The only reason he got the job was because he
married the daughter of the Newspaper’s owner.” She crossed her
arms and grunted as she saw her boss wander out and then suddenly a
loud roar interrupted the somber quietness of the room as a flash
of hazy yellow light appeared above them and three light orbs
appeared transforming into men, men wearing dark suits crashing
onto the desk and messy paperwork on top of it. Two were conscious
and rose up to their feet struggling to the dismay of the coworkers
who ran back with awe at the event. The vortex faded and the two
men looked at one another and those who saw them and pressed a
button on their wrist devices as one of them grabbed their
unconscious comrade. Within seconds they vanished in a whirl of
white swirling light. “What the heck?” Asked Benny in a rhetorical
yell running in.

“
Is that big enough for
your boss?” Asked Melly in a rhetorical grunt and smile. The man
stood in shock almost dropping his cigar from his mouth.

Time Period; 14 Million, B.C., Chronix
Bay

“
So it is possible beasts
are here too?” Asked Mercedes.

“
Yes.” Said
Drax.

“
Interesting.” Said
Mercedes.

“
What do you suppose...?”
Asked Drax rhetorically as he began his sentence seeing the fire
nearby grow closer and then as he got closer followed by his
friends, he saw that the fire was a beast made of flames. The beast
was seven foot tall and eight meters wide and engulfed the small
isolated piece of greenery in the desert plains, its eyes wide and
white in the midst of its flaming head curved with a large snout
over a flaming body and large flaming arms and legs, the form of
the beast formed out of the flames as did jagged teeth from its
unusually large mouth. In an instant, another stepped out of the
beast and then another from that one and then another until four
beasts of flame stood before the foursome.

“
Oh boy, how do we fight
fire?” Asked Mercedes.

“
With fire of course” said
Tina laughingly.

“
Now is not the time for
jokes.” Said Drax.

“
I got this” said James
confidently as he turned the time stone and the vortex began to
roar but then slowly died out as the stone became dull again. “Oh,
now we’re dead” said James as one of the beasts approached and
struck James burning his arm as it caught ablaze. He dropped the
time stone onto the desert floor and it rolled away into a crevice
under some rocks. Drax and Mercedes tried to help him extinguish
the flames while Tina began to spit at the flaming
beasts.

“
I don’t think that’s
gonna work” said Drax desperation trying to save James’ arm from
being crisped. The flaming beasts approached in unison and struck
them all with a momentous blaze before them. Nothing was left but
charred remains of the foursome.