The Players

Part Five: Heroes

the 62^nd tale of agc

written and created by Mark Bousquet

NOTE: To assist new readers with this "jumping on" arc, I've created a section for many of the characters appearing in this series on the Cast of Characters Page, accessible from the AGC main page.

2201 / SEPTEMBER

THE EVERYTHING ENGINE - THE VIEWING TUBE

"What would be the role of Earth's heroes?" Adam wondered to himself.

"I wonder," Magus asked, "what will be the role of Earth's heroes?"

Adam looked at his darker, future half with disgust. "I wonder, Magus, not what role you play in all this, but who pulls your strings? Do you serve the Three Ladies of the Engine?"

"In some regard," Magus shrugged. "They use me to keep you in the Engine, yet I am free to try and convince you to leave."

"Which they know will serve to remind me to stay here."

"Of course," Magus smiled.

"So why do you let them orchestrate your actions?"

"My dear younger half," Magus sighed deeply, slumping into his chair, "what makes you think I have a choice?" He turned his attention to the bank of monitors. "Now, please, can we get on with the show? Earth's heroes are next, are they not? Miserable planet."

STEPHEN STRANGE

AGENT OF THE MORTALIS

EARTH - PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

Stephen Strange walked the streets of Prague, a feeling of deep unease having taken root in his body. These were new times, he was learning, an unrest in humanity that troubled him greatly. He wondered, not for the first time, if he was the right man for this mission.

He jammed his hands into his coat pockets to protect them from the cool morning air, feeling very naked without any of his previous magical items. There was none of that now; all were long gone from his grasp, scattered about the world to new masters. Strange wore a black overcoat now instead of a costume, and his black hair had turned completely grey. That bothered him more than he wanted to admit - if the Mortalis, the Mortal Angels that did God's "dirty work," had to send him the Voice to bring him back to life, they could have at least given him a permanent younger body. His mission was to protect the Wellsprings, the fountains that tapped into the magical energies of the Everything. Magic was destabilizing, and it was up to him to keep the Wellsprings safe from harm.

Stephen Strange was once a vain, arrogant man, full of an extreme pride that had consumed him. Not all of it had been exorcised over the years.

Passing a homeless man arguing with an empty coat, Stephen wondered at the nature of his life. All of the traits that made him a great surgeon - his intelligence, to be certain, but also the overwhelming confidence of a man who believes he is better than everyone else - also made him the Sorcerer Supreme. So was he wrong in the arrogance of his youth, or merely in training for the greater destiny that awaited him?

"Looking for a good time, old man?"

He turned to see a female prostitute, no older than fourteen, beckoning him from an alleyway.

'Do any of us deserve to be saved for permitting this to happen?' he asked himself, looking at the girl. 'Perhaps it's time for this Age to fade away and the next Age to-"

In a flash of white, Strange watched in abject horror as reality melted away before his eyes. Like a reel of film catching on fire, all that was Prague bubbled and caught aflame. "No!" his mind screamed, realizing that he was too late, that he had failed his first test in his new role.

The first Wellspring had burst.

SPIDER

UNAFFILIATED EARTH HERO

EARTH - MANHATTAN

Spider noted the smoldering hole in the high-rise office building from three blocks away, and moved to it with caution. The Venom symbiote that was his costume laughed at Zed's hesitance to rush directly into the open window, but Zed ignored it, moving cautiously across the sky.

"We should move in fast!" Venom hissed in his brain. "Someone may be in need of assistance!"

Zed could hear the smugness in the symbiote's tone as he reached the open window, then carefully moved inside. The smell of burning flesh hit them hard as they entered, and it took a moment to process that three of the Green Gobliness' henchmen were either dead or unconscious, and slowly smoldering to their deaths.

Even though Zed had no love for the Goblin's minions, he could not help but be disgusted by what he saw.

"It seems," Venom hissed, "that someone has the guts to do what you do not, boy."

"Yeah, but who?" Zed asked, moving to retrieve the room's fire extinguisher.

"A ghost."

"A ghost?" Zed asked, then stopped dead in his tracks at the claw marks that had tore a message into the wall:

THE LYNX HAS RETURNED

THE SAVIORS

UNITED LEAGUE OF NATIONS SPONSORED SUPERGROUP

THE CATHEDRAL

Jenette LeVoir, the heroine known as Tricolour and leader of the Saviors, issued the report:

"Ten minutes ago, Prague ceased to exist as we know it."

Tricolour scanned the eyes around the table. To her right: Sibearia, a genetically evolved bear, Princess Sand, the youngest member of the Saviors, and Stealth, a wealthy African businessman. To her left: Doc Tech, the technowizard, Roberto Perez, one-fourth of Familia, and Eagle 2, the Saviors' newest member and former sidekick to Empire/Eagle One. At the opposite end of the oval table sat Bonsai Betty, the Saviors' second-in-command.

A three-dimensional holograph appeared in the center of the table before them. "Satellite imaging of Prague ten minutes and ten seconds ago," Tricolour announced. The team watched as the image appeared to melt towards a white-hot center, then exploded violently outward with a searing burst of whiteness. The burst shot up and outwards, landing in large spots in a twenty-mile radius around Prague. The center explosion subsided down into what looked like a geyser burst, except totally white, and nearly one mile across the base.

"What the hell is it?" Eagle 2 asked.

"A Wellspring," Doc Tech answered, wiping a thin sheet of sweat from his brow. "Magicians are conduits between the realm of magic and our physical world. Over time, the two realms began to bleed into one another. During the Middle Ages, a collapse was feared and the highest ordered magicians of the time constructed barriers to keep the two worlds separate at the locations most in danger of collapsing." Doc Tech turned his gaze to Tricolour. "It is these locations that are known as the Wellsprings. If one has burst, we must be prepared for the other springs to burst, as well."

"How many Wellsprings are there, Doc?" Betty asked.

"I … I cannot tell you that," Shinobin Tzetzu replied.

"Why not?"

"Magician's secret," the young technowizard replied, dropping his head. It was his answer to almost every question anyone asked him, but where it was usually delivered with a smile and a knowing wink, now it was somber and decidedly unplayful.

Tricolour felt her anger begin to rise, but reminded herself she was leader now. There was no room for her to erupt in rage. "Shinobin, we know that the magician's codes you have sworn to are akin to religious doctrine for you, but we must know not only how many Wellsprings there are, but where they are located."

Shinobin met his commander's eyes. "Jenette, I am sorry, but I cannot tell you. In truth, I do not know where they are, nor how many there are. There are rumors that I have accumulated over the years, but there is no magician that knows all of that information. It has always been decreed too dangerous for any one magician to have all of that knowledge. I needn't remind you, either, that I am a technowizard. To most in the magician's guilds, I am 'dirtied' with the taint of technology. If I went seeking assistance, I would find few who would assist me."

"Just great," Eagle 2 sighed dramatically.

"The magicians are best equipped to handle this threat," Doc Tech said quickly. "There is little we can do to prevent what we do not understand. I suggest we concentrate on assisting the people of Prague-"

Tricolour raised a hand. "I am the commander of the Saviors, Shinobin. Your orders have been downloaded onto the view screens before you. We move out in five minutes."

DR. H₂O and VAKAN

MEMBERS OF THE TIME-STRANDED LIGHTHOUSE CREW

EARTH – MANHATTAN – A PARKING GARAGE

"Another dead end!" Vakan screamed, slamming his fist into the concrete wall. Shelly Holmes watched as the Carolina blue and white lightning that coursed over Vakan’s all dark-blue body surged in intensity.

"We’ll find Inistia, Vakan," she cautioned, knowing the words were just as likely to fuel the Inhumans’ anger as quench it.

"When, Dr. H2O, when?" he asked, desperate.

Shelly shrugged. "There’s not too many women walking around with tentacles for legs, Vakan. I think our sources prove she’s somewhere. We have no way of knowing whether we can say the same for the other members of Lighthouse." Shelly ran her hands through her short, icy blue hair. "I’m sure we’ll-"

"Silence!" Vakan hissed suddenly, putting up a hand.

‘Wonderful,’ Shelly thought, sighing to herself. ‘Out of everyone to get stranded in time with, I get Captain Serious.’ Her eyes roamed over his body. 'Too bad he's such a prude …'

Screams cut through the parking garage and Shelly quickly moved away from Vakan, remembering their training: Don’t let your opponent take out two with one shot.

"There," the Lighthouse's young Commander pointed, as a screaming man in a goblin mask came hurtling out of a transport pod.

"Save me from the Lynx!" the man screamed, his rubber mask half torn off, as he fell dead at the feet of Vakan.

They looked up to where the dead man had come and saw a cat-like man jumping quickly back into the shadows.

CRAWLER & GRIMM

MEMBER OF EXCALIBUR

ENGLAND - LONDON

"Where do you think Arthur is right now?" Mary Wagner, the member of Excalibur known as Crawler, asked her teammate Grimm.

"Don't know, don't care," Grimm replied, shrugging.

The two heroes walked through the city of London, letting the citizenry see them. They were treated as champions everywhere they went. At first, it had unnerved Mary; she was too used to being feared or shunned because of her blue-furred skin. Now, to receive the royal treatment wherever she went … it felt good, but she was still not totally accustomed to it.

"He's probably off with Reignfire," Crawler said, sighing.

"Jealous?" Grimm asked with a smile.

"Hardly," Crawler replied. "But there's something about her that doesn't sit right with me."

Grimm looked at her sideways, letting a small grin play across his face, "So you are jealous."

Mary slapped his thick, orange-rocked hide playfully, but her retort was cut off in her throat as a flash of bright white light appeared in the direction of the Northern Woods. The people that filled the crowded streets of London were knocked to the ground, hands moving to their eyes.

"It doesn't hurt," Grimm replied, staring straight at the blast. "My eyes don't hurt at all."

Mary nodded. "It's a reaction. The people will recover in a second. What do you think it means?" she asked, noting her and Grimm were the only two people left standing.

A voice came from a person that was suddenly standing next to them. "It means a Wellspring has burst."

"Who are you?" Mary asked the silver-haired American in the black overcoat. "And how do you know-?"

"My name is Stephen Strange," the man said, his experienced eyes locked on the horizon. "You must come with me. This Wellspring may yet be contained."

TRICOLOUR

COMMANDER - THE SAVIORS

NEAR THE BORDER OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Tricolour floated alone, within twenty meters of the Wellspring burst. As awesome as it had looked on the monitor, in person it was almost beyond description. It was as if reality was truly melting before her eyes. Her mind suddenly recalled an antique cartoon she had seen during her stay at university, where the hand of the animator had injected itself into the toon and erased the setting around the protagonist.

Was that what she was now seeing? The hand of God erasing what humanity knew as reality, revealing all of existence as they knew it to be nothing more than entertainment for some unseen audience?

"Stop it," she scolded herself. Whatever deeper meaning the scene before her held for them meant nothing. All that mattered was that the Wellspring had burst and it must be stopped.

"Doc Tech," she called over the Saviors telepathic link. "How can we stop this flow?"

From the Cathedral, an on-edge technowizard replied, "From what I have been able to gather, the original Wellspring seals were forged from a mixture of vibranium, adamantium, and … Uru metal."

"Can you construct a new barrier?"

"We have plenty of adamantium and vibranium stored in our facilities scattered throughout the Out of Time Dimension, but we have no Uru metal. Asgard never let the magicians who constructed the barriers hold any in reserve, and-"

"So your answer is no," Tricolour said curtly.

Doc Tech hesitated for a moment before agreeing with his commander. "We will need Asgard's help."

"Damnit," Tricolour swore. Dealing with Asgard meant going through the ULN, which meant Rebecca Almond. Unless … "Princess Sand, return to the Cathedral at once."

"But-"

"Silence!" Tricolour snapped.

"Ooh," Eagle 2's voice cut in, "can I be there for the spanking?"

Tricolour ignored him. Eagle 2's preoccupation with all things sexual would be dealt with at a later time. She wondered if he was a virgin. "Return to the Cathedral at once, Princess, and contact the Osborn girl. I fear that the instability in the Wellsprings may trigger the Goblin Legacy within her. I needn't remind you that all Osborns are on the ULN's most wanted list."

"Of course, Commander," Eesa sneered across the telepathic link.

Doc Tech's voice came to her with a questioning tone. "Tricolour, are you certain-"

"I will accept no questioning of my orders," she snapped, ending the discussion. The truth was, she could care less about the Osborn girl's Goblin legacy; all she wanted from her was a way to circumvent the ULN and Miss Almond in acquiring Asgard's help with the creation of new barriers. When she returned to the Cathedral she would explain this to Eesa, but all field communication - even across the telepathic link - was recorded for the ULN to monitor their activities. It would not do well for them to suspect Tricolour's true intentions.

A movement in the all-white burst caught Tricolour's eyes. "I'm seeing a black and purple swirl begin to bleed into the white. Can anyone confirm this from their locations?"

Bonsai Betty answered first. "I'm witnessing a yellow and orange swirl, Commander."

Eagle 2, stationed nearer to Betty than Tricolour concurred. I can see both swirls. It's like watching smoke billow and rise from a flame and- aargh! What the hell was that?"

"Report, Eagle 2," Tricolour ordered.

"I thought I saw a face appear, but … but now all I see is … aaaarghhh!"

"Eagle 2?" Tricolour asked impatiently. "Report."

Instead of Washington Ames' voice in her mind, it was Doc Tech's. "Tricolour, he's out cold. I'm reading his vital signs as a state of unconscious."

Tricolour's resolve hardened, as her mind raced to formulate a plan. It was then that the face in the swirling mass of purple, orange, yellow, and black streams coalesced and she saw the face that Eagle 2 had seen.

"Who are you?" she asked the terrifying visage.

STEPHEN STRANGE

AGENT OF THE MORTALIS

EARTH - NORTHERN WOODS, ENGLAND

"Dormammu," Stephen Strange announced as the image of his former foe tried to form itself within the white energies of the bursting Wellspring.

"Who?" Crawler asked, but the magician did not answer.

Strange searched for the appropriate banishment spell that he had once known and found 100 in its place. He felt knowledge well up inside him that he should not have - knowledge not only of the spells he had spent his lifetime acquiring, but spells from other magical orders that he had never studied. Searching the new spells as quickly as he could, he found an Egyptian spell that would work nicely.

Moving his hands in an intricate pattern, Strange spoke words in a language he had never learned and Dormammu's form shattered, scattering itself back into its base colors, then disappearing back inside the Wellspring.

Seconds later, the white energy that had burst through the Wellspring was sucked back inside the portal.

TRICOLOUR

COMMANDER - THE SAVIORS

NEAR THE BORDER OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC

"Shinobin, talk to me," Tricolour ordered as the white geyser vanished back into the earth, leaving an empty white space miles across. "What just happened?"

"I … I don't know …"

"Then find out."

STEPHEN STRANGE

AGENT OF THE MORTALIS

EARTH - NORTHERN WOODS, ENGLAND

Strange turned to Crawler and Grimm. "It appears that Dormammu, trapped as he is inside the Dark Dimension, has used the weakening of the Wellsprings to attempt to re-enter this world."

"But we - I mean you - beat him, didn't you?" Crawler asked.

Strange shook his head. "I merely sent him back. The energies of the magical realm subsided with him because they were connected to him. But this threat is far from over. There are other magical beings locked away that will have sensed Dormammu's near triumph, and there are other Wellsprings that are ready to burst."

"How many Wellsprings are there?" Grimm asked.

"One hundred and twenty-three," Strange replied. "But wherever there is land or air there lies the potential for a burst." He looked away suddenly. "I must go. Protect England at all costs. This will be the center of everything before all is written."

MICHELANGELO STARK

UNAFFILIATED EARTH HERO

EARTH - MANHATTAN - THE GOLDEN CASTLE