The Time Stone

by Jeffrey Estrella

  “Sure, buddy” said an overweight officer with a heavy Irish accent. Broad spotted the foursome coming out of the club as he was being put into the back of the waiting police car and he broke away slightly.

  “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.

  Time Period: 1140 A.D., England

  The sun shone brightly over castle Roy Tan in the middle ages as Princess Celia was calming herself in her bed ready for a nap. Then suddenly there was a knock at the door. “

  Your highness?” Said her loyal butler.

  “What is it Cornelius?” She said slightly rising with a low yawn.

  “The men in the yards have unearthed something near the old caves.”

  “What is it?”

  “You may want to take a look” he gulped. “We are not certain what it is.”

  After she changed into her ready robe, he leads her to the development chambers where new things are studied and she sees a small object on the table, a green crystalline emerald glowing brightly with five orbs within it equally glowing.

  “This looks oddly familiar.” She said with a perplexing grin. “I have seen this before.”

  “Yes my lady. Do you remember where?” Asked Cornelius. Princess Celia did not answer but stood upright and smiled. She approached the object and picked it up turning it and stood in awe as a beam of yellow light emerged from it and a roaring circle of light appeared before them bending the light around it and passing through the table and anything else around it, including Cornelius who ran off away from it.

  “My lady, what devil magic is this?”

  “Ready the men and horses, Cornelius. We are going on a little trip of an adventure.”

  “Adventure?? To Where?” He asked. She smirked as she held the time stone and looked into the vortex with her free hand on her hip.

  “To repay a debt.” She remembered James and missed him deeply. She somehow knew he was in danger and she had to find him.

  CHAPTER 85

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

  The vortex roared loudly in the desert and Princess Celia in her traditional hunting gear exited with Cornelius and five other knights on horseback armed and ready. The vortex subsided.

  “We are in another time, my lady?”

  “Yes, I explained this to you many times already Cornelius. We have travelled backwards through time like James and his friends. We are here to help them.”

  “How do we know he is here?”

  “I just know.” She said proudly as they rode on into the desert.

  The foursome exited the scorpion car and approached the fire that they noticed was a beast whose bright eyes were looking at them as they approached.

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

  “With fire” said Tina laughingly.

  “I don’t think this is time for…” started Drax but James pointed out “look” as he saw people approaching on horseback.

  “Celia!” Screamed James. He ran over and she dismounted to their sudden embrace and passionate long kiss.

  “Oh James.”

  “Where did they come from?” Asked Mercedes.

  “We got a situation here” said Drax as the flame beast began to attack them and as they dodged, the flame beast suddenly split into four flame beasts. The five knights dismounted and ran towards the beasts with their swords, shields, and lances and attempted to pierce the flaming flesh of the beasts but were burnt to a crisp. Celia stood in shock. Some of the horses were spooked and ran off. James grabbed her and jumped on her horse and road off as Drax, Tina, Merced
es, and Cornelius road off in some of the remaining horses. James waved his hands back as they rode and with a quick use of his powers stimulated his psychic energy fire force that allowed him to create a whirlwind of sand and debris that blew around the beasts and extinguished the flames that gave them sustenance to their being so they were no more in existence. A single drop of eyelid with a small spark fell to the desert sand and was buried and extinguished.

  “Where are we going?” Said Celia.

  “Away from there” said Tina. They rode and saw a series of caves that looked familiar like the caves they saw before.

  “Those resemble the caves at Shireville” said Celia.

  “Except their higher up and have more rocks covering it as it hasn’t been dropped by millions of years of land shifting and tectonic movement.” Said James. James pulled out the time stone and Celia pulled out hers. When they met, they merged into one held in James’ hand.

  “Unbelievable” said Celia.

  “You get used to it” said Tina, “by the way, I don’t think we met.”

  “Not now” said James.

  “We need to get up there but we can’t on horseback or on foot and that crevice is too narrow for the scorpion car to fly into.” Said Drax.

  “Can’t we blast a hole?” Asked Mercedes.

  “I don’t feel comfortable with that here as the rock face looks too unstable and could cause a cave in.” Said Drax.

  “Only one way in” said James. He held out the time stone and turned it opening the vortex and they all road into it and exited the vortex inside the cave.

  “Cool” said Tina.

  “Nice thinking kid” said Drax.

  “How did we know to arrive here inside?” Asked Celia.

  “Must be fate”, smirked James.

  “You are intelligent and handsome” said Celia smiling at him, “a magnificent combination fit for a king.”

  “Are you proposing to me my dear?” Asked James.

  “Anything is possible.” She replied.

  “I am a man of the road.” They walked forward in the darkness. Drax activated his beacon light and they saw writing and drawings on the cave walls depicting various tales.