**********
"We are almost certain this thing is from
another dimension," Azuria explained. "The only other feasible possibility
would be another plane of existence."
WillowWind nodded her head.
"So, Tropic was right."
Azuria looked at the super heroine with a
raised eyebrow. "Tropic? Tropic is involved in this?"
"Umm, yes,"
Willow answered warily, "he and some others from our team are investigating
Oranbega. Why? What do you think he’s…"
"Oranbega," the young mage
cut her off, nodding her head in agreement, "a wise course of action."
Willow regarded the woman with a furrowed brow. Why was she interested
in what Tropic was doing? She disliked the secrecy and subterfuge
that usually accompanied supers with magic based powers. "It’s probably
for our own good," she thought to herself, "some of that stuff is
wicked…literally." She was roused from her thoughts by Miyaka’s next
question.
"So what’s the difference? Another dimension and plane of
existence are the same thing, aren’t they?", she said as she looked
at a magical artifact tightly sealed inside a glass case. The thing
looked to be made of solid gold and as she leaned closer to it, she
seemed to hear inside her mind "Free me…free me…free me…" Miyaka stood
straight abruptly and stepped backwards.
"No, not really," Azuria
was saying, "and don’t get too close to that." She waited until the
young woman rejoined the group before continuing. "Another dimension
is just that: a place where our physical laws may or may not apply.
The sky may be green, the grass orange. Truly, another world." She
paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. The headache she had
received from the materialization of this new demon was still bothersome.
A soothing spell she had cast for herself hadn’t taken effect yet.
She rubbed her forehead and spoke again.
"Another plane of existence
is part of our world but not, if that makes any sense," she smiled.
"Think of someplace completely beyond and devoid of reality but still
part of it. For example, the home of the gods on Mt. Olympus."
"Or
the Democratic party," Johnny Cognito added.
The rest of his teammates
turned and stared at him with looks that one would reserve for the
village idiot. "What?", he asked innocently.
"No," Azuria said with
annoyance.
Elendil nodded his head. "Ok…so how do we send it back
or kill it? We threw everything we had at it and barely scratched
it. Is there some…"
Azuria held up her hand to stop him. She frowned
deeply and looked at the heroes in turn. Finally she nodded her head
and said, "There may be a way…"
**********
They landed some 300 yards
down, far below the great temple and up to their thighs in dark green
water. Several Circle bodies floated about and Buttercup retched again,
but luckily did not vomit. Tropic smiled at the martial arts mistress
in sympathy and shook his head. She grinned back weakly then turned
her attention to their surroundings.
They were in another large cavern,
rough rock walls sloping upwards. High above them the waterfalls continued
to cascade, pouring hundreds of thousands of gallons of water around
them but the level of the water did not change. The team moved forward
and found they were in a small lagoon. In its center a circular column
of rock rose upwards to the giant building and around it were small
caves and ledges. Top Ten kept to the wall of the cavern and began
their search.
"This shouldn’t be possible," Cadecus whispered. "The
water should be swirling around from the waterfalls and the river.
The current should be immense."
Scrap nodded. "I agree. But it is
the magic city. Things work a little differently here, I suppose."
They rounded a corner and ahead of them on the right was a ramp that
lead to a large portal, blue and green color churning madly inside
it.
"Portal," Temptations grunted, indicating it with the pommel of
her sword.
"Yes, it’ll take us back to the temple," Tropic whispered.
His teammates looked at him, the question on their faces. "How do
you know that?", Buttercup said with a raised eyebrow.
"Wait!," Cadecus
whispered urgently. Up ahead there appeared to be another ramp and
as they drew closer they saw an altar squatting at it’s end.
At the
altar was a robed figure and it looked like he was…sweeping?
They
surged forward but Cadecus held his hand out to them. "Stop!" he whispered.
The teammates held up and the defender strode forward towards the
robed man.
When he stood in front of the ramp, still thigh deep in
the tepid water he said, "Hello."
The Thorn spun around with a surprised
scream and dove behind the table. He gripped the edges of the altar
with his fingers and poked his head above the rim so that only his
eyes showed.
Cadecus held his hands up. "We’re not going to hurt you,"
he said in his most soothing tone.
The man’s glowing green eyes frowned
in response. "You are not the masters," he said warily.
"No, no we’re
not. It looks like they are…all gone."
The robed man’s eyes knotted
together again and Cadecus could feel the fear rising from the poor
fellow. "You are doing a very fine job cleaning this shrine," he said,
changing the subject all together.
Temptations and Tropic looked at
each other in confusion. "What are you doing?", Temptations hissed
at the healer.
Cadecus held his hand low and waved them back. Tropic
shrugged at Temptations and shook his head. The fire blaster stole
a glance at Buttercup and General Scrap. Both had questioning expressions
on their faces as well. Tropic returned his attention to Cadecus and
the Thorn minion, ready to attack if the need arose but intrigued
at how the healers game would play out.
The minion raised an eyebrow
and looked around at his handiwork. "The masters require cleanliness,"
he said matter-of-factly, an odd statement considering the mutilated
bodies
surrounding him.
Cadecus nodded in agreement. "Yes, and they
will be pleased." He paused for a moment and then, making a show of
surveying his surroundings, said, "if they come back." He waited for
another moment, studying the reaction of the minion. "You saw what
happened here, didn’t you?" It was more statement than question.
The
Guide was standing now and met Cadecus gaze. Even though the green
eyes were all that was visible beneath his dark hood, the defender
could almost feel the fear and worry coming from the man. "They said
that it would bring us power," the frightened man said softly. "They
thought they could control it."
"What did they conjure up?"
"I do
not know. I am only a slave in their orbits."
Cadecus smiled knowingly.
"Even I know that masters have no secrets from those that serve them.
And I think you are smarter than they imagined." The slave looked
up at him and his glowing eyes seemed to be…smiling? Cadecus pressed
on quickly, not giving the lone survivor a chance to waver. "What
happened here?"
"They brought it forth," the minion began, " all the
rituals had been preformed and the stars and planets were in alignment.
My master said they had to hurry, the chance to conjure only happens
every few millennia." The man sighed. "Then it came and ignored their
commands. And it’s voice wondered who had summoned He That Has No
Name." He paused. "It was very angry and killed everyone in it’s path."
The Guide gestured at the altar. "Bodies were flung everywhere. One
struck me and I hit my head. And this," he waved his arms at the cavern,
"was what I found when I awoke."
"He That Has No Name?", Cadecus repeated
and he felt Tropic stiffen behind him. He spared a glance at the red-skinned
hero and saw a very deep look of concern.
"Yes," the minion answered,
"if only they had found the Tablet."
At the mention of the word "tablet"
the heroes became even more interested in the minions tale. "Tablet?",
Cadecus asked urgently. "What tablet?"
The Guide regarded him as if
he were an idiot. "The Tablet of Traume, of course," he said with
a raised eyebrow. "It tells all of the Beast, how to direct it or
stop it if need be. My masters tried to locate it but it had been
taken from its repose and they were unable to find it before the ritual
was to be preformed." The Guide shook his head. "They said they were
strong enough to control it." He sighed once more. "They were wrong,"
and then his eyes darted around the cave, waiting for the swift retribution
that came for doubting his lords.
Cadecus returned to his teammates.
"The Tablet of Traume", he repeated. "Anyone know anything about it?"
They all answered in the negative.
"He said it would give them the
power to control it or stop it," Scrap nodded his head. "The Circle
couldn’t find it but we have to. It’s almost time to meet up with
the others. Let’s get going."
Cadecus looked at Tropic. "When he talked
about this thing with No Name you looked pretty worried. Why?"
Tropic
tugged at his goatee. "In this realm if you know a demon’s name you
have power over it," he said softly, his eyes low. "It was never named."
He looked at his teammates. "There is some plan here of the demon’s
own making and I don’t…hopefully this tablet can help us."
"What about
this guy?", Buttercup asked. "We can’t leave him here."
Cadecus agreed
and returned to the minion. "Thank you for your help," he said quietly.
The man turned and looked at him with a tilted head. It was the first
time he had been thanked in…well longer than he could remember.
"What’s
your name?", the defender continued.
"Name?", he asked in confusion.
"Yes, I’m Cadecus. And you are…?"
The Guide thought hard for a moment,
his brows knitted together in concentration. Then he said brightly,
"Slave."
"No, no," Cadecus smiled, "surely you had a name once. Think
back."
The man looked at the healer and began to concentrate a little
harder. With the death of the Circle mages and the lack of their magics,
their hold over the man had started to fade. Suddenly his eyes opened
wide. "My name is…Steve…Steve…," the green glow began to fade from
the fellow’s eyes. "Steve Satterwhite…" He pushed the hood back and
revealed a man in his forties, hair graying slightly. "I was…in the
park…and they…oh, God…I have a wife and…a daughter…" Tears started
to stream down the man’s face. "Oh, God…how long have I been?…where
is my family?…I don’t…"
The defender stepped forward and put his arm
around the man’s shoulder. "I don’t know but we’ll take you to some
people that can find out."
And then the sole survivor of Oranbega
left the magic city in the company of heroes.
**********
"The Tablet
of Traume," Miyaka repeated, eyeing Azuria, the question evident in
the statement. "What does it do?"
Azuria frowned. "We’re really not
sure. In the ancient texts it’s said to hold some power over the demon
that ‘passes through the gate’. Whether this is the demon they spoke
of…," she shook her head, "I do not know."
The heroes looked at each
other and Ryuuhoshi glanced at the display cases. "Where is it? Is
it here?" He turned to Azuria. "Do you have it?"
The young mystic
sighed heavily. "We did."
"What does that mean?", asked Valya.
"A
week or so ago, one of our holding facilities was broken into. Several
artifacts were taken, including the Table of Traume."
WillowWind raised
an eyebrow. "Well, can’t you find it?", she asked urgently. "You have
ways to track these things down."
"We have tried every measure at
our disposal," Azuria said. "They have all failed," she shook her
head. "We are at a loss to understand it."
"So let me see if I got
this right," Cognito said slowly. "You had the one thing that could
stop this demon guy and save us all and you lost it…and now you can’t
find it."
"We didn’t loose it," she said looking down her nose at
him, "it was taken."
Johnny shook his head. "Six of one, half a dozen
of the other, baby," he said under his breath.
"All right," Elendil
sighed, "let’s get going. It’s almost time to meet the others. Maybe
together we can find this thing."
The teammates nodded and began to
leave the offices. Willow was the last to go and Azuria reached out
and grabbed her arm lightly. "What…?", Willow said in surprise and
turned to the young woman.
"The time is coming, child. You must be
very brave very soon," Azuria whispered urgently, "know that you are
strong enough."
WillowWind took a step back and the mystic dropped
her arm. "What do you mean? I don’t understand," she said in confusion.
"Tell him…he will know what to do when the time comes."
"What? Who?
What are you talking about?", Willow asked but the woman would say
no more and was taken by her aides deeper into the M.A.G.I. offices.
She watched her go then turned and hurried to catch up with her friends,
her mind churning with questions that had no answers.
They all arrived
at the small park below the Green line train station in Steel Canyon
at about the same time. Ryuuhoshi and Temptations had both exclaimed
"Tablet of Traume" in unison and then looked at each other with one
raised eyebrow. Both teams then told what they had found out.
"So
it’s from another dimension or plane,’ Valya said, "but Azuria isn’t
sure if the demon from the tablet is the one that is here."
"Yeah,"
Willow continued, "she also said some stuff to me while you guys were
leaving about being brave soon or something."
"What?", Valya asked.
"I don’t understand."
"Neither do I," said Willow with a short laugh.
"And then she said, ‘Tell him he will know what to do when the time
comes,’" in her best imitation of the mystic.
"Well, what does that
mean?", Ryuuhoshi wondered with a confused expression.
WillowWind
shrugged. "No idea," and then, "very spooky though."
Tropic shook
his head. "Hmm…well, anyway we have to find that tablet."
"Yes," Buttercup
nodded, "but you say that Azuria and her people can’t find it or sense
it?"
"That’s what she said," Miyaka scowled.
"Well, there’s only two
explanations I can think of," Ryuuhoshi added. "One, it’s miles away
or two, it’s shielded from their probes. Maybe we should…" At that
moment his communicator began to buzz and he stepped away to answer
it.
Elendil continued where Ryuu left off. "I think we should hit
all the gangs in town with ties to magic." The others agreed and began
counting off the various groups in town who had some association with
the mystic.
Cadecus started to tick them off on his fingers. "Hmmm,
we have the Hellions, Tsoo, I think we can cross the Circle of Thorns
from the list, who else…"
Ryuuhoshi rejoined his teammates, a broad
smile on his face. "That was the hospital…Phreeeze woke up…they think
she’ll be ok."
They all breathed a sigh of relief, glad their friend
was going to recover. Cognito spoke up, "Now, we just gotta get Bzald
squared away and we’ll be good."
"He’ll be all right," Tropic said
confidently as General Scrap‘s communicator sounded.
"Yes," Scrap
answered, "…Kunai! Where…?…I see…ok…no…same thing…just follow it…I
know but we’re working on something here….we may have a lead…right…keep
me posted…ok…"
He looked at the others. "That was Kunai. It did the
same in Faultline that it did in Perez. And it’s on the move again."
"Where to?", Tropic whispered, a far away look on his face.
"Talos,"
Scrap answered, "the outer islands."
"Ithaca and Circe," nodded Tropic.
Circle of Thorn mages infested those islands and he now had a clearer
idea of what the thing was doing. The Tablet of Traume would confirm
it once they found it. "We have to find that Tablet as soon as possible."
"Yeah, but we don’t even know where to look!", Valya exclaimed.
"Perhaps
we may be of assistance in that regard," a woman’s heavily accented
voice said. Suddenly, surrounding the team in the moon lit park, materialized
twenty women clad in charcoal gray second skin spandex, their eyes
covered by red goggles and all brandished razor sharp katanas .
Elendil
gazed at the women surrounding them and said in a dull voice, "Great.
Knives of Artemis."
To which Johnny Cognito replied:
"Oh, Crap."
UP NEXT:
Pardon me, Miss, is that a skin tight supersuit you're wearing or are you just happy to see me
or
Tsoo little, Tsoo late!