Eternal Vigilance #58-"Parallel Lives Meet at Infinity

[GM Mad]

Interlude: In a future that will never come to pass…

Billions of years in the future, Goldstar sits a large canister on the table while Rose and Edgar look on.

“It’s finally ready,” Goldstar stated. “All our years of work on creating the perfect genetically engineered being has come down to this. The genetic matrix held. All we need to do is send it back to the right spot.”

“To creation itself,” Rose added quietly. “We’ve done so much, putting right what once went wrong. Do you think that this final step is necessary?”

“Most definitely,” Edgar said. “The three of us can only do so much. There are a myriad of alternate dimensions out there. By combining our unique genetic structures, we’ll create a being who can sense and navigate them as easily as you would walk across the room.”

“She’ll have Edgar’s ability to perceive and manipulate dimensions, Rose ability to tap into the fundamental power of creation itself, and my ability focus gravity and travel through time,” Goldstar explained. “She’ll continue the fight for us even after this reality ceases to be.”

Rose was silent for a moment and then picked up the canister holding the genetic matrix. She then placed it on the time-teleporter pad. “No time like the present to do this.”

Edgar remotely operated the controls and the canister vanished into the time stream…

[GM Mad]

Crucible/Eternal Vigilance #58 - "Parallel Lives Meet at Infinity"

Crucible:

The final battle has begun! The time-displaced heroes begin their assault on Malachite’s Saucer. Using the saucer tomorrow afternoon, Malachite will rip a hole in reality and unknowingly trigger the White Event. It is hoped that by destroying the Saucer this will never come to pass.

Menagerie, in the form of Goldstar flies back and forth through the saucer, destroying more and more of it with each pass. Backlash is inside and simply rips apart anything he can get his hands on. Tesla hovers overhead with Star Girl. The electrical heroine unleashes more blasts, frying the electronics in her wake. Star Girl’s EM pulses simply cause any equipment affected to burn out and shut down.


Elsewhere, the rest of the Vigilant are dealing with Malachite’s armed goons and the Saurians who just teleported in! Watching from overhead, Eldrich works his magic on the closest Saurians. Frostbite generates icicles that rip into the Saurians armor. Blackout generates blackness around another batch of Saurians and deals with them hand to hand.

Flux flies in and helps Tilt out of the water. Tilt-a-Whirl is irritated by the dunking, but upon seeing the Saurians gets excited once more. She then dashes off to play with the new arrivals while Flux closes in on Daigon.


Back at the saucer, Backlash leaps from the craft. The surviving systems seemed on the verge of overloading! Sparks fly are flying everywhere! Egged on by one last blast of Tesla, Malachite’s saucer explodes in a shower of light and shrapnel!

[GM Mad]

Interlude:

The multiverse is comprised of untold different dimensions and realities. Some of these dimensions can be physically traveled in while others are composed of only energy. Still others more closely resemble membranes that drift close to each other in the infinite gulf of reality. Once in an eternity, membranes collide with spectacular results.

In the beginning there was darkness, but from seemingly out of nowhere a near infinite amount of energy exploded forth from the ruptured membrane. In that moment, a universe was born. The universe glowed from the raw energy that spurred its birth. In time it would cool. Matter would begin to form and the four fundamental forces would come into being.

Amongst the primordial soup of creation, a canister appeared. It began to siphon off a tiny, almost insignificant portion of energy. The genetic matrix began to grow and evolve.

In millions of years great clouds of matter would form. Intense gravity at the heart of these clouds gave birth to the first supermassive black holes. That matter too close to the center was sucked in while the rest was pushed away. In this manner the first galaxies were created. Soon there would be stars and planets and eventually life.

But before the first star burned bright in the sky of the first planet, the canister was shattered from the inside. The newly created being emerged for the first time and beheld the universe. But she beheld far more than the naked eye could ever see. She had a task and the power to accomplish it. But she also had to use more finesse then her parents did. She would do things differently, better. With a mere act of will, she vanished back into the time stream.

[GM Mad]

Eternal Vigilance:

The assault on Malachite’s Saucer has begun! While its purpose is unknown, whatever Malachite is creating it for cannot be good. Better to stop this menace before things get out of hand!

Menagerie, in the form of the retired heroine Goldstar flies back and forth through the saucer, destroying more and more of it with each pass. Powershift is inside and simply rips apart anything he can get his hands on. Tesla hovers overhead unleashing more blasts, frying the electronics in her wake.

Elsewhere, the rest of the Vigilant are dealing with Malachite’s armed goons. Flux flies in and over Sea Guard who was sent into the water by Daigon. Knowing that Sea Guard is more at home in the water than on land, Flux is sure that he’s fine. Altering his density, Flux drops in on Daigon, but the armored figure activates their jet boots and flies off and away. Flux hits the Jade Prince with a loud thud, creating a sizable impression in the sub.

Close by, Backlash goes to engage Armstrong.


Back at the saucer, Powershift flies from the craft. The surviving systems seemed on the verge of overloading! Sparks fly are flying everywhere! Egged on by one last blast of Tesla, Malachite’s saucer explodes in a shower of light and shrapnel!

[GM Mad]

Interlude: Future’s End

“They’ve done it!” Rose called out. “I can sense that they Saurians have been defeated. Even as I speak the timeline is reverting back to the way it should have been.”

“Then everything we endured was worth it,” Goldstar added. “After all this time, it’s finally over.”

“Reality is fading away,” Edgar reporting. “It was an honor to work with you both. Perhaps in the new reality we shall meet again?”

The alternate future continues to fade away, but strangely enough the Saurian time station remained with its occupants. A new being then appeared among them. She was a plain looking woman wearing white robes with gold embroidery.

“I believe I can arrange that”, the new arrival said. She regarded the trio for a moment before speaking again. “I suppose that I should call you mothers and father, for I am born of your combined DNA.”

“The experiment worked!”

“Obviously,” Rose said glancing at Goldstar. “Then you can control time and space?”

“Yes”, the newly created woman answered matter of factually. “I can walk outside of time and control its flow. I can choose between better possible futures and remove those that are unfavorable. I am Tesseract.”

“It is she that has held back our fading away with this reality”, Edgar commented. “My I inquire as to why?”

“Yes, that is my doing,” Tesseract stated. “I need a base of operations and this time station will do nicely.”

Without a single gesture, Tesseract’s power reached out and restructured the time station as she desired. Numerous monitors came to life and the room shifted to an almost infinite size. An untold number of chessboards came into being. The pieces on these boards all resembled people, some that the trio recognized, but many that they did not.

“There,” Tesseract said upon the completion of her task. “Much better.”

Turning back to her ‘parents’, Tesseract regarded the trio.

“Now, I understand why you did what you did, but your efforts were clumsy. We’re going to be far more subtle from now on. Even the illusion of choice is better than the way you three handled this particular situation.”

“We?” Goldstar parroted. “What do you mean?”

“I need operatives to perform this task. I can’t be everywhere and how will people learn self-reliance if I solve all of there problems with the snap of a finger? No, direct interference will no longer be tolerated. We’ll guide and nudge those in the correct place to carry out our tasks. It’ll be even better if we can make it seem as if it was their choice all along. You three will be the first of my agents. Let us begin. Time may be relative and we might have all eternity, but we have much to do.”

[GM Mad]

Crucible:

The Saucer has been destroyed! A second after that, the Saurian attack force vanishes just as quickly as they arrive. Then the world itself seems to start to arrival. There is a storm all around, but you cannot feel its affects. Then you realize that you’re not alone here. A plain looking woman with brown hair wearing white robes with gold embroidery appears.

“I am Tesseract,” the woman proclaims. “You have succeeded in preventing the future where the Saurians are the dominant life form from happening. Reality is being reset and you’ll be whisked away to where you belong in it. You have my thanks for making this all possible. No one will recall what you’ve done here today. Only you will remember your efforts, but eventually even those memories will fade. In this reality, you are lost heroes whose deeds go unsung.”

“Rest assured that I will not allow something like this to ever happen again. I’ll be safeguarding the time stream from those who would manipulate it to their own ends. Farewell to you. My you find your new realty a pleasant one.”

Everyone fades away as this reality is unwoven by Tesseract. Only Lily remains. Tesseract turns to her.

“In a certain sense you are my grandmother. I just wanted to say hello before nipping this reality in the bud. The Rose of the future, along with Goldstar and Edgar do exist out there in time and space. Perhaps we’ll all meet again.”

Tesseract gives Lily a quick hug before she departs. Lily’s world fades around her…

[GM Mad]

Interlude: The Secret History of the Universe

As directed by Tesseract Goldstar, Rose, and Edgar were dispatched back into the past to carry out certain tasks.

Some ten billion years after the creation of the universe, several enlightened humanoid cultures arise on worlds across the Milky Way. These benevolent races meet and unite in a common cause. Galactic historians call them the Progenitors. During their day, the Progenitors waged a war against the Elder Worm, protecting the rest of the universe from these vile aliens. While the Progenitors seem to no longer exist, their artifacts remain. Chief among them are living starships that travel the cosmos helping those in need.

Seventy million years ago in Earth’s solar system, Goldstar warps gravity around one particularly large asteroid. Its trajectory is altered and in five million years it will collide with the Earth, signifying the end of the era of dinosaurs.

More recent times, one of the numerous races influence by the Progenitor’s create the Star Guard. This galaxy spanning organization seeks to limit extra-terrestrial involvement in worlds that are not advanced enough or ready to deal with alien contact. The Star Guard becomes the guardians of the galaxy. Goldstar herself is the high director of the Star Guard.

The superheroine Goldstar appears in the late 1960’s and later helps found the superhero team the Vigilant. Today Goldstar is believed to be retired and hasn’t been seen in years.

In a more recent operation, agents of Tesseract, both knowing and unknowing, foil the Crimson Claw’s plot to unleash his masters upon the unsuspecting Earth. The strange blue dome that the Claw used, in actuality a ship that can travel across the dimensions, appears to be ready to explode. But such is not the case and Rose uses her power to transport the ship through time and space. It appears in Alpha Base, a possible future created by the mutated scientists in Mindkeep that was isolated from the rest of the time stream by Tesseract. Tesseract’s operatives are based there. They frequently travel back through time to prevent others from manipulating the time stream to their nefarious ends such as when Timemaster attempted to alter the past so that he rose into power or when the kKiervahl the interfere with the Earth’s past from the distant future.

It is a never-ending task, but Tesseract is more than capable of doing the job from the shadows. Time will never be altered for nefarious purposes while she’s on the job. Such a situation as with the Saurians will never come to pass again.

[GM Mad]

Eternal Vigilance:

The Saucer has been destroyed! Powershift generates a force field to contain the blast, saving onlookers from any harm. Malachite’s men quickly loose the desire to fight after that. Daigon flies off carried by her jet boots, but Armstrong remains behind. Seeing the size of the force against him, the large man simply surrenders.

Sea Guard emerges from the water no worse for wear. This victory seems to have been an easy one!


Elsewhere in the San Diego area, Cyrus McGregor finds himself at a family picnic.

“Could you pass me the ketchup please? Cyrus? Are you okay? You seem really out of it.”

Forcing himself to look, Cyrus sees his girlfriend, Gloria Starr seated at the picnic table beside him. Numbly he hands the ketchup bottle to Gloria.

“I have to thank you for inviting me, Mrs. McGregor to this picnic,” the pretty blond teenager says. “My mom’s not around much these days, so this is much better than sitting at home.”


In downtown San Diego, Blackout is out on patrol looking for trouble on this July fourth holiday. Everything seems quiet thus far.


Tilt-A-Whirl is out a for a few kicks. Tripping fire alarms was one of the things she did to amuse herself. However, as she runs towards one on the street corner, a boy rushes in at superspeed and trips it first! The lad pauses and Tilt can see that he wears white, red, and yellow costume. The boy smirks at Tilt and says, “Wannarace?” before dashing off with a burst of speed!


Out at the Bevlensin Institution, one of the patients has mysterious vanished. Seemingly he was there one moment and gone the next.

Reality slowly, torturously comes back into focus for Eldrich. He finds himself in the company of a tall man wearing black flowing robes. His black hair and beard are neatly trimmed. There is the hint of magical energy from the man. The room they are in seems like an elegant sitting room.

“Success!”, the man proclaims. “I thought I sensed a magical potential in you. You may call me the Magus. To whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?”

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Wow! Long post! But one that should answer many questions to those familiar with the stories on the main website. A great deal goes on behind the scenes in this world!

You’ve prevented the Saurians from changing the past and a new world has come into being. One that is mostly similar but yet slightly different from what you knew. You’ll be able to remember some of what originally transpired since you lived through it. My advice is to limit what you characters remember to a few things that have special meaning to you. The rest of it will have a vague, dreamlike quality to it.

The Vigilant have captured many of Malachite’s men and the Jade Prince. Everyone else is in their own little situations.

Now what?

[Bruce]

Flux

The Saucer has been destroyed! A second after that, the Saurian attack force vanishes just as quickly as they arrive. Then the world itself seems to start to unravel. There is a storm all around, but you cannot feel its affects. Then you realize that you’re not alone here. A plain looking woman with brown hair wearing white robes with gold embroidery appears.

They're going! Fading out....but so is everything else! We . . . failed?

“I am Tesseract,” the woman proclaims. “You have succeeded in preventing the future where the Saurians are the dominant life form from happening. Reality is being reset and you’ll be whisked away to where you belong in it. You have my thanks for making this all possible. No one will recall what you’ve done here today. Only you will remember your efforts, but eventually even those memories will fade. In this reality, you are lost heroes whose deeds go unsung.”

“Rest assured that I will not allow something like this to ever happen again. I’ll be safeguarding the time stream from those who would manipulate it to their own ends. Farewell to you. My you find your new realty a pleasant one.”

The world falls back into focus before Flux can think of anything to say to that, or fully comprehend what has just happened. Memories leap about, overlapping and deleting until sense returns.

"*Edgar! Track Daigon! In flight via boot propulsion. Need to know where landing!*"

Flux expands to full size, maintaining flight , and looks out over the assembly.

The goons are surrendering, the saucer is history, no one's injured...so what am I looking for? Every one is here....aren't they? We just won. Why do I feel like we lost somebody?? Why??

Unaccountably, Dave feels a sense of victory all out of proportion to the fight-and a sense of loss not felt since his days from the war.

God, I am messed up today. Never had trauma flashbacks before. This better not be a trend. Best bite the bullet and see the doc after we head off on Powershift's call.

[Bruce]

Eldrich Arcane

Eldrich casts an arcane bolt at a Saurian, knowing from previous events that it had no protection from it. Eldrich has the brief satisfaction of watching it stagger, before launching a second bolt and preparing a third. The world seems to fall apart before he can cast it. Like one of the Great Storms back home that could encompass several fragments with its fury it removes all things from sight save for the companions he has come to know.

The Saucer has been destroyed! A second after that, the Saurian attack force vanishes just as quickly as they arrive. Then the world itself seems to start to unravel. There is a storm all around, but you cannot feel its affects. Then you realize that you’re not alone here. A plain looking woman with brown hair wearing white robes with gold embroidery appears.

“I am Tesseract,” the woman proclaims. “You have succeeded in preventing the future where the Saurians are the dominant life form from happening. Reality is being reset and you’ll be whisked away to where you belong in it. You have my thanks for making this all possible. No one will recall what you’ve done here today. Only you will remember your efforts, but eventually even those memories will fade. In this reality, you are lost heroes whose deeds go unsung.”

“Rest assured that I will not allow something like this to ever happen again. I’ll be safeguarding the time stream from those who would manipulate it to their own ends. Farewell to you. May you find your new realty a pleasant one.”

Reality slowly, tortuously comes back into focus for Eldrich. He finds himself in the company of a tall man wearing black flowing robes. His black hair and beard are neatly trimmed. There is the hint of magical energy from the man. The room they are in seems like an elegant sitting room.

“Success!”, the man proclaims. “I thought I sensed a magical potential in you. You may call me the Magus. To whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?”

The man with the strange copper colored skin does not know at first that he is being addressed. He has not been aware of his surroundings ,or himself, for a considerable time. A long moment passes.

"I do not know".

The sound of his own voice is strange to his ears. Hoarse, raspy as if long unused. Even this language seems wrong.

And what is the man saying? Magic potential? Of course. Doesn't everyone have potential? And such a pale one he is!

"Have I been ill? I can recall nothing. Where are we?"

[Backlash]

Backlash

Looking about the interior of the ship Backlash grips anything in sight and begins ripping the precious interior apart. Sparks and smoke begin to rise from the interior, With a wide smile on his face Backlash leaps up and out of the craft, looking back at it while in the air he sees sparks begin to fly everywhere. Landing nearby Backlash brings his hands up to cover his eyes from the flying debris as the noise begins to quiet down, Backlash let’s out a yell of success, “Wooooohooo!!!! Just like the fourth of July!” as he enjoyed the fireworks.

----

Within moments he is walking down a plank toward a large black man in a tuxedo. Clenching and unclenching his fists he slowly strides toward him. With a large bang of light he cringes from the explosion his eyes still never leaving the man known as Armstrong. A wide smile across his lips he taunts, “Some security you have here. Do they pay you by the hour or the explosion?” Hoping to get the big man to attack.

---

A storm soon erupts around him looking all around, he wonders what just is going on. His heart beginning to beat faster from the adernaline his eyes began to focus on a figure of a women with brown hair, clad in a robe embroidered with gold.

Not saying a word as she speaks Backlash takes it all in. A great weight beginning to rise from his shoulders. With a great sigh of relief and a smile he faded from the reality that was not meant to be.


Seeing Diagon fly off Backlash still moves slowly towards Armstrong. “Your move, Big man.” he says evenly. The man looks about then simply surrenders. Smirking slightly he can’t help but see that the man known as Armstrong is no fool. And picks his fights carefully.

[Frostbite]

Frostbite

Steeling himself for the battle to come, Frosty begins to generate sharp icicles sending them soaring toward the Saurians, Shredding their armor and giving them a cold sting they will not soon forget….. If they survived. Visions begin to pop in his head, his eyes tearing slighty as visions of his father laying dead from their attacks invade his thoughts, the tears shattering from the intense cold of his body. Driving him forward he targets another Saurian, making sure that no one will ever be harmed from them again he fires another volley into it dropping it in the ground.

The Saucer has been destroyed! A second after that, the Saurian attack force vanishes just as quickly as they arrive. Then the world itself seems to start to arrival. There is a storm all around, but you cannot feel its affects. Then you realize that you’re not alone here. A plain looking woman with brown hair wearing white robes with gold embroidery appears.

“I am Tesseract,” the woman proclaims. “You have succeeded in preventing the future where the Saurians are the dominant life form from happening. Reality is being reset and you’ll be whisked away to where you belong in it. You have my thanks for making this all possible. No one will recall what you’ve done here today. Only you will remember your efforts, but eventually even those memories will fade. In this reality, you are lost heroes whose deeds go unsung.”

“Rest assured that I will not allow something like this to ever happen again. I’ll be safeguarding the time stream from those who would manipulate it to their own ends. Farewell to you. My you find your new realty a pleasant one.”

Listening in amazement and shock Frosty lowers his guard, his form loosing the Icy façade. A smile began to etch across his face though he was relived they have succeeded. So many lives rested on their shoulders. So many people that they cared for, he passed his gaze over each of the Viligant, Silently thanking them for pulling together.

“Thank you Tesseract. I wish you luck on your ongoing mission.” he said as he slowly faded from sight into the mists of the timeline.


Elsewhere in the San Diego area, Cyrus McGregor finds himself at a family picnic.

“Could you pass me the ketchup please? Cyrus? Are you okay? You seem really out of it.”

Forcing himself to look, Cyrus sees his girlfriend, Gloria Starr seated at the picnic table beside him. Numbly he hands the ketchup bottle to Gloria.

Looking up from his arranged plate of, Hamburger, potato salad deviled eggs and salad. He idly turned the lettuce of his salad with his fork. “Huh? Ugh yeah sure.” numbly taking the catch up and placing within Gloria’s hand with a weak smile. Upon seeing her he looks upon her as a clear sense of Deju vu come rushing forward. Vague flashes of meeting Gloria once before dressed in office attire within an office building. He barely registered her saying his name then asking if he was alright. She looked beautiful then, and more so now. He smiled as he recalled an unfamiliar voice almost as if in a dream, My you find your new realty a pleasant one.”

“Yeah, I’m okay now. Was just thinking about tonight.” Leaning over and kissing his girlfriend on the cheek. As if he hadn’t seen her in a while. He looked to his mother then to his father. His smile widening as he looked upon them once again. Happily he took a bit of his Hamburger mustard seeping out of the sandwich and dripping onto his hand.

“I have to thank you for inviting me, Mrs. McGregor to this picnic,” the pretty blond teenager says. “My mom’s not around much these days, so this is much better than sitting at home.”

He looked on to Gloria looking at her blonde hair cascading across her face, “Your mother on another business trip?” He asked curiously. “I was thinking about going to Horton Plaza tommarrow if your up to going?”

[Menagerie]

Menagerie:

Gold-Menagerie continues to lay into the saucer, racking up as much damage as fast as she can. With the help of Tesla, Backlash and StarGirl, the ship is soon rapidly approaching overload. Not sure just how bad the explosion will be, Gold-Menagerie floats back away from the coming conflagration.

God winks, and the same occurs, though this time only Tesla, Powershift and herself are destroying the saucer. Still, the results are the same, as the trio dishes out more punishment than the vehicle can sustain.

Strangely, the versions of reality are becoming confused in Lily's mind. All seem equally real, and her own history in each is long, yet cloudy in her memory. Fortunately, the objective is the same in all realities, and that leaves her path clear. So focussed is she that Menagerie mostly ignores the rest of the battle going on in the warehouse.

The spaceship vaporizes, followed swiftly by the disappearance of the Saurians amidst the rapidly shifting realities.

Then it all stops. They seem to be in the center of a storm - where, Lily isn't certain. A young woman has joined them, who introduces herself as Tesseract. She lauds them for their success, and pledges to prevent any similar recurrance. The others fade away, and Lily finds herself alone with the woman.

“In a certain sense you are my grandmother. I just wanted to say hello before nipping this reality in the bud. The Rose of the future, along with Goldstar and Edgar do exist out there in time and space. Perhaps we’ll all meet again.”

"Grandmother?... Then you are... Rose's daughter?..." Lily's mind struggles with the concept, yet she can feel the connection - whatever it may be. "My memories are slipping and sliding every which way. Will I remember you?" she asks, tears in her eyes.

Lily gives Tesseract a brief, fierce hug, then let's go. "Goodbye..." she says softly as the world fades around them.

Menagerie finds herself back in the warehouse with her teammates. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she shifts back into Goldstar form and floats toward Armstrong. Fortunately, he surrenders, forstalling the need for further combat. Better still, none of her teammates appear to be badly hurt.

They quickly gather up the remaining members of Malachite's guard. She looks over at Flux, who appears a bit distracted. "Should we call in PRIMUS to handle the leftovers?" she asks, indicating Armstrong and Malachite's thugs.

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Crucible:

"Grandmother?... Then you are... Rose's daughter?..." Lily's mind struggles with the concept, yet she can feel the connection - whatever it may be. "My memories are slipping and sliding every which way. Will I remember you?" she asks, tears in her eyes.

“In a manner of speaking, yes” Tesseract explains. “Stargirl and Cosmic Girl were created by manipulating Goldstar’s and Rose’s DNA. I’m the ultimate extension of this as I combine the DNA of Goldstar, Rose, and Edgar, combining all of their powers into me. Basically, I can control time and space and manipulate dimensions. Since neither Goldstar or Edgar had a true biological parent, and Rose did, in a certain sense you are my grandmother.”

"You’ll remember me and we’ll meet again. Someday I might need you and your friends to prevent someone from trying to tamper with time.”

Lily gives Tesseract a brief, fierce hug and then let's go. "Goodbye..." she says softly as the world fades around them.

“Until we meet again,” Tesseract answers.


Eternal Vigilant:

The saucer has been destroyed and the Vigilant are mopping up the defeated forces of Malachite.

"*Edgar! Track Daigon! In flight via boot propulsion. Need to know where landing!*"

Flux expands to full size, maintaining flight, and looks out over the assembly.

“Sir?” Edgar questions over the HUD communication system. “I detect nothing out of the ordinary on the radar. I do not have the ability to track objects that small amongst the city buildings.”

They quickly gather up the remaining members of Malachite's guard. She looks over at Flux, who appears a bit distracted. "Should we call in PRIMUS to handle the leftovers?" she asks, indicating Armstrong and Malachite's thugs.

“Of course we should,” Powershift answers as he strides up. “That is our standard procedure. You seem distracted, my friends. Are you well?”


Emerging from the water, Sea Guard joins the group. “I’m going to check out the inside of this sub. There might be more surprises inside and I’d just assume find them before PRIMUS does. Anyone want to join me?”

[GM Mad]

Eldrich:

The man with the strange copper colored skin does not know at first that he is being addressed. He has not been aware of his surroundings, or himself, for a considerable time. A long moment passes.

"I do not know".

The sound of his own voice is strange to his ears. Hoarse, raspy as if long unused. Even this language seems wrong.

And what is the man saying? Magic potential? Of course. Doesn't everyone have potential? And such a pale one he is!

"Have I been ill? I can recall nothing. Where are we?"

“I see,” the man who introduced himself as the Magus answers. “We are currently in my home. I had been detecting a faint trace of magical energy and that lead me to you. You were locked up in an asylum for the insane. My mystical probing seems to have awakened you from whatever spell you were under. It seems to me that someone has cast powerful spells on you, blocking both your memory and your powers. You have powerful enemies out there.”


Frostbite:

He looked on to Gloria looking at her blonde hair cascading across her face, “Your mother on another business trip?” He asked curiously. “I was thinking about going to Horton Plaza tomorrow if you’re up to going?”

“Sure, sounds like fun,” Gloria answers. “Yeah, she’s away on business. Mom’s really thrown herself into running the company after dad died. Sometimes I think she’s too obsessed with it.”

[Tesla]

Tesla:

Back at the saucer, Backlash leaps from the craft. The surviving systems seemed on the verge of overloading! Sparks fly are flying everywhere! Egged on by one last blast of Tesla, Malachite’s saucer explodes in a shower of light and shrapnel!

Back at the saucer, Powershift flies from the craft. The surviving systems seemed on the verge of overloading! Sparks fly are flying everywhere! Egged on by one last blast of Tesla, Malachite’s saucer explodes in a shower of light and shrapnel!

Tesla's having a hard time with the realities blending together, so she focuses on the one thing she must do - destroy the saucer! Her electrical blast seems to be the final nail in the coffin and the saucer explodes dramatically.

The Saucer has been destroyed! A second after that, the Saurian attack force vanishes just as quickly as they arrive. Then the world itself seems to start to arrival. There is a storm all around, but you cannot feel its affects. Then you realize that you’re not alone here. A plain looking woman with brown hair wearing white robes with gold embroidery appears.

Introducing herself as Tesseract, the woman explains that she will now be safeguarding the time stream and that our memories will eventually fade of everything that has occured before. Soon everything fades and Tesla is "back"...

“Of course we should,” Powershift answers as he strides up. “That is our standard procedure. You seem distracted, my friends. Are you well?”

"Yeah, fine," Tesla replies. "I think I just stared into that explosion a bit too deeply," she says with a laugh.

Emerging from the water, Sea Guard joins the group. “I’m going to check out the inside of this sub. There might be more surprises inside and I’d just assume find them before PRIMUS does. Anyone want to join me?”

"I'll join you Sea Guard," Tesla responds. "I doubt we'll find any real threat, but better to be safe." Tesla will keep her force field in place as we explore the sub. There's probably just a few scared crewmen inside in anything, but it's worth confirming.

[Blackout]

Blackout:

Having learned that the darkness can now sheath himself, Blackout can only wonder what kind of protection it offers. He summons up darkness in a globe around himself once more and leaps into battle renewed as the Saurians have arrived. He can sense them fumbling around as Blackout expertly lands foot and rod into the skulls and chests of these aggressors. He hears an explosion and then...

“I am Tesseract,” the woman proclaims. “You have succeeded in preventing the future where the Saurians are the dominant life form from happening. Reality is being reset and you’ll be whisked away to where you belong in it. You have my thanks for making this all possible. No one will recall what you’ve done here today. Only you will remember your efforts, but eventually even those memories will fade. In this reality, you are lost heroes whose deeds go unsung.”

“Rest assured that I will not allow something like this to ever happen again. I’ll be safeguarding the time stream from those who would manipulate it to their own ends. Farewell to you. My you find your new realty a pleasant one.”

Everyone fades away as this reality is unwoven by Tesseract....

In downtown San Diego, Blackout is out on patrol looking for trouble on this July fourth holiday. Everything seems quiet thus far.

"Maybe this will be a quiet holiday," Blackout says hopefully to himself as he perches on the corner of a tall office building.

Blackout can't help but think of what just occured, him fighting alongside a group of heroes preventing a great crisis. Or was it merely a vivid dream? His long nights on patrol and lack of sleep really might be catching up with him. "Yes, I think it might be nice to join up with a team..."

[Menagerie]

Menagerie:

“In a manner of speaking, yes” Tesseract explains. “Stargirl and Cosmic Girl were created by manipulating Goldstar’s and Rose’s DNA. I’m the ultimate extension of this as I combine the DNA of Goldstar, Rose, and Edgar, combining all of their powers into me. Basically, I can control time and space and manipulate dimensions. Since neither Goldstar or Edgar had a true biological parent, and Rose did, in a certain sense you are my grandmother.”

Lily just shakes her head, trying to take in all of the bizarre information. Over the past few hours, it seems like she keeps meeting relatives that aren't really relatives due to some strange twist of reality or - in this case - science. "So they essentially engineered you genetically..? It seems there is little they couldn't do by time they reached the end of time, or wherever it is that they are now."

"You’ll remember me and we’ll meet again. Someday I might need you and your friends to prevent someone from trying to tamper with time.”

"I will look forward to that day, granddaughter," Lily replies. They hug and exchange farewells, and then Tesseract is gone, along with all trace of the reality they had inhabited for the past few hours.

“Of course we should,” Powershift answers as he strides up. “That is our standard procedure. You seem distracted, my friends. Are you well?”

Once again, Menagerie shakes her head. The various realities are jumbled in her head, but the others are already starting to fade. "I'm sorry, Powershift; I'm just a little distracted is all. I'll be fine."

Sea Guard and Tesla go to investigate inside the sub, so Menagerie stays behind to keep an eye on Armstrong and all of the goons they captured.

[Bruce]

Flux

They quickly gather up the remaining members of Malachite's guard. Menagerie looks over at Flux, who appears a bit distracted. "Should we call in PRIMUS to handle the leftovers?" she asks, indicating Armstrong and Malachite's thugs.

“Of course we should,” Powershift answers as he strides up. “That is our standard procedure. You seem distracted, my friends. Are you well?”

"On it now.."

*"Edgar, notify PRIMUS we have a pick-up for them this location. One Super and two busloads of hostile normals."*

“Sir?” Edgar questions over the HUD communication system. “I detect nothing out of the ordinary on the radar. I do not have the ability to track objects that small amongst the city buildings.”

*" It's all right Edgar. It was a long shot anyway. Daigon's keeping under the radar no doubt. Let PRIMUS know we have some Malachite tech scrap here too. I expect they'll want to pick over the remains."*

"Go ahead Sea, I'll keep my eyes on this crew out here. They won't give me any trouble and I can flag down PRIMUS when they get here."

"Powershift, you mentioned a problem before. Anything you can tell us now or should we wait for a more secure location?"

[Bruce]

Eldrich Arcane

"Locked away? Enemies? I . . . Simply do not recall."

The Magus? That is not a name that is a title.

"You have my thanks good sir. I hope that this action does not provoke a retaliation upon you. Are we well shielded here?"

Odd. he say's my 'powers' are blocked yet I feel magic within me. Still, it seems less abundant around me than normal.

Eldrich starts to Look about him with his arcane sight seeking the ambient magic levels....

[Tilt-A-Whirl]

Tilt-A-Whirl:

Flux flies in and helps Tilt out of the water. Tilt-a-Whirl is irritated by the dunking, but upon seeing the Saurians gets excited once more. She then dashes off to play with the new arrivals while Flux closes in on Daigon.

Tilt seems to have a vivid memory of a glorious team she was a part of, beating up on silly, slow lizard guys and how she was chosen to be the protector of the team's leader! His name was Flux.

She returns her attention to the task at hand of pulling a much-deserved prank on all these stuffy adults when she sees someone planning on beating her to it!

Tilt-A-Whirl is out a for a few kicks. Tripping fire alarms was one of the things she did to amuse herself. However, as she runs towards one on the street corner, a boy rushes in at superspeed and trips it first! The lad pauses and Tilt can see that he wears white, red, and yellow costume. The boy smirks at Tilt and says, “Wannarace?” before dashing off with a burst of speed!

"what! heynofair!" Tilt pouts at the action of the speedster boy. "thereisnowayyouarefasterthanme!" she exclaims as she races off after him. No way is he faster than her! Tilt is going to show him he shouldn't pull another person's fire alarm! She'll have the last laugh and he'll be the one pouting.

[GM Mad]

Post Continued:

Vigilant:

The mop up continues at the Jade Exports warehouse. Daigon got away, but Armstrong was captured along with many of Malachite’s men. The submarine the Jade Prince is docked here.

Several of the Vigilant seem a bit ‘out of it’ and that is a concern to Powershift.

"Yeah, fine," Tesla replies. "I think I just stared into that explosion a bit too deeply," she says with a laugh.

Once again, Menagerie shakes her head. The various realities are jumbled in her head, but the others are already starting to fade. "I'm sorry, Powershift; I'm just a little distracted is all. I'll be fine."

“If it was but one of you, I would not be concerned,” Powershift answers. “But with several of you seemingly distracted that does cause me concern. Perhaps we should stop off at the clinic and have Dr. Williams examine you before returning to base?”


Flux has Edgar contact PRIMUS to come and pick up the prisoners. Tesla and Sea Guard go to explore the Jade Prince while the rest of the team stands guard.

"Powershift, you mentioned a problem before. Anything you can tell us now or should we wait for a more secure location?"

“I’m afraid that all I have for now is just a feeling. The Jewel is sensing that some magical occurrence will soon transpire. Not today, but within the next few days. Admittedly my skills at manipulating the Jewel are poor when it comes to this sort of thing. Someone who was a trained mystic would most likely comprehend this better. Still I can’t help but feel that this mystical event will bring forth those who would twist those energies to malevolent ends.”


Down inside the Jade Prince, Sea Guard and Tesla are exploring. A few crewmen were found on the ship and easily taken into custody. Once down to the lower levels you quickly realize that this was a science vessel. There are numerous labs and examination rooms. In one of these rooms a gruesome discovery is found.

A man-sized humanoid body is found laying on an examination table dissected. The body has shiny, hairless pale green skin and webbing between its fingers and toes. Its face held overly large yellow eyes and had no visible nose. The smell was most unpleasant.

[GM Mad]

Tilt-A-Whirl:

Out for a few kicks in the city, Tilt-A-Whirl has just encountered a teenage boy seeming as fast as she is! He reached a fire alarm first, pulled it and then ran off at superspeeds!

Greatly annoyed, Tilt ran after him. She’s forced to run at her full speed. At first she’s just keeping pace, but soon begins to overtake the speeding costumed boy. The mystery boy seems to be giddily laughing as Tilt chases him. He begins to make sudden turns, but Tilt always catches up to him again. (She’s just a little bit faster.)

The chase continues down the city streets, weaving around slow moving people and cars. From a spectators point of view there was a sudden strong breeze that blew through, knocking some of the people over.

Finally in a deserted alley, the boy slows down and finally stops.

“Hey,you’reprettyfast! Hi,I’mTurbo! Thatwasfun! Sowhatdoyoudoforkicksinthistown?”


Blackout:

High on the rooftops overhead, Blackout keeps watch. It’s been a quiet day thus far.

Suddenly there is a commotion down in the streets! Startled cries reach Blackout’s ears and he can sense two beings passing through at an incredible velocity! They are within his sensing range for only a few seconds and then gone again. The speedsters leave bewildered people in their wake. Several cars collided with each other as well. There’s a great deal of confusion and commotion down in the streets below!

[GM Mad]

Eldrich:

Elsewhere in the San Diego area, a man calling himself the Magus has removed Eldrich from the asylum.

"You have my thanks good sir. I hope that this action does not provoke a retaliation upon you. Are we well shielded here?"

“I assure you that my home is as mystically shielded as I can make it,” the Magus explains. “But I do not believe that there shall be repercussions from my liberating you. My guess is that you are not from this world and that unknown parties exiled you here. For what reasons I cannot begin to fathom.”

After a short pause he adds, “These are troubled times we live in for those who would practice the magical arts. My world is now magically weak. That must be why your enemies chose this place as your exile, as you would only have a fraction of your powers.”

“On my world, beings such as you and I are considered outlaws by those who fear our power. Our enemies actively seek to weaken the power of magic and have for the most part succeeded. They worship at the altar of technology and have used their machines to drain the magical energy away. They’ve even taken former allies and altered their minds so that they consider us to be enemies. We are locked in a struggle for the survival of our very way of life!”

“I rescued you in the hopes that you would become an ally in this struggle. Would you join with me in my quest to restore magic as the one true force in this world?”

Eldrich starts to look about him with his arcane sight seeking the ambient magic levels....

The Magus is the most powerful source of magic in the room. He has magical abilities and is assisted by a enchanted ring. There are traces of magic in the walls, most likely the shielding he mentioned earlier.

[GM Mad]

GM Notes:

Here are a few notes about your new teammates. Powershift is a bit of a throw back as far as heroes go. He’s very straight laced and not one to do anything with even the resemblance of being improper. The source of his powers comes from the Jewel of Krin, a magical gem that was lodged in his chest. By manipulating this gem, Powershift can do many amazing things. His secret identity is unknown to the rest of the team.

On the other hand, Sea Guard does not have an SI. His identity is public knowledge. He’s an amphibian who’s equally at home in the water and on the land. Sea Guard aided the Coast Guard many times early in his career. He now carries the honorary rank of Lieutenant in the Coast Guard. Sea Guard’s costume is somewhat based on the Coast Guard uniform. What members of the Vigilant know that the general public does not is that Sea Guard has gills on his neck. The high collar of his uniform conceals them. There are rumors that he’s from Atlantis.

This version of Edgar does not have the high-tech scanning abilities that his predecessor had. That’s the main reason he couldn’t track Daigon like the old Edgar could.

Now what?

[Tilt-A-Whirl]

Tilt-A-Whirl:

Greatly annoyed, Tilt ran after him. She’s forced to run at her full speed. At first she’s just keeping pace, but soon begins to overtake the speeding costumed boy. The mystery boy seems to be giddily laughing as Tilt chases him. He begins to make sudden turns, but Tilt always catches up to him again. (She’s just a little bit faster.)

At first she's quite annoyed, this boy moving in on her territory! As Tilt chases after him, her expression quickly turns to enjoyment. She can't remember anyone even keeping up with her, let alone a challenge. There was this one vivid dream she had of someone named Lily who stole her body and ran away, but Tilt caught up to her easy. The boy has some moves too, causing Tilt to correct herself and catch back up.

The chase continues down the city streets, weaving around slow moving people and cars. From a spectators point of view there was a sudden strong breeze that blew through, knocking some of the people over.

Finally in a deserted alley, the boy slows down and finally stops.

“Hey,you’reprettyfast! Hi,I’mTurbo! Thatwasfun! Sowhatdoyoudoforkicksinthistown?”

Finally the boy has had enough, knowing he met his match! He finally gives in and stops. Introductions are made.

"prettyfast?? fasterthanyou!" Tilt says, but she's laughing too now. That was a lot of fun! "imTilt-a-Whirl. iveneverseenyouaroundbefore. thereisallkindsoffuntobehadaroundhere! firealarmsarejustthebeginning!"

All sorts of ideas run through Tilt's mind. If he wants to pull pranks and race around town, he might just be perfect for her!

"wecouldalwaysgodowntothepierandswitchoutpeople'sfishingpoles," Tilt offers, "orswitchpeople'sfoodordersatallthetablesatoneofthoseoutdoorresturants. orgraballtheobjectsinmidairfromthosestreetjugglers!"

[Bruce]

Eldrich Arcane

"What you say sounds impossible to me. How can this world exist without the use of magic? Who would condone the loss? And I do not know this god called technology."

Yet. . . that would explain the man using a title instead of a name. Secrecy and a lack of trust. But which Fragment is this? How far outside the normal traffic of human commerce are they to be able to run counter to all civilization's expectations?

"If what you say is true then it is a matter for the..the. . ."

I cannot remember the name!

"...the Authorities?? Those who enforce the Laws? This Fragment cannot hope to impose it's views upon all the others. The loss of Magic is the loss of all life. How do they expect to maintain the Plaques without magic?"

"I will help you as best I can. We must summon aid from. . . . "

Eldrich grinds his teeth in frustration as the memory he is searching for eludes him, dancing just out of reach.

"Well you know of them even if I cannot speak of them. I presume it will be difficult to leave this Fragment else no doubt it would have been done before things reached such a sorry state."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the by, is Eldrich still wearing the clothes from the asylum or was he given something else ? And did the Magus recover his magic items from the wall safe?

[Bruce]

Flux

Flux drops his voice to prevent it carrying further than the immediate group.

"Not a bad idea Powershift. A checkup can't hurt. Might have been something in the saucer explosion debris that contaminated the air. I had, still have, a feeling of being -off- a bit. How about we run this mystic-warning-thing past a few other mystics? See what's on their radar?"

So maybe it's not truama it's chemical contamination. Was that what Malachite was going to do? Spray the city with, what exactly?

[Blackout]

Blackout:

Suddenly there is a commotion down in the streets! Startled cries reach Blackout’s ears and he can sense two beings passing through at an incredible velocity! They are within his sensing range for only a few seconds and then gone again. The speedsters leave bewildered people in their wake. Several cars collided with each other as well. There’s a great deal of confusion and commotion down in the streets below!

The peaceful day is shattered by two speedsters racing by. Blackout can't be sure if they were working together or not as they are gone far too quickly. Their wake is very obvious to Blackout's senses however.

He will make sure no one is in need of immediate attention or rescue. If Blackout determines that everyone is okay beyond being shaken up or bewildered, he will use his swing line to go after the super-speed pair. He knows there is no way to catch them, but their trail should be easy enough to follow.

If Blackout can locate them, he will try to determine who they are and what they might be up to. Still new to the area, Blackout may not be able to identify the pair, but if they race out of a bank or similar situation, then it'll be pretty obvious what he will have to do.

[Tesla]

Tesla:

“If it was but one of you, I would not be concerned,” Powershift answers. “But with several of you seemingly distracted that does cause me concern. Perhaps we should stop off at the clinic and have Dr. Williams examine you before returning to base?”

"Not a bad idea Powershift. A checkup can't hurt. Might have been something in the saucer explosion debris that contaminated the air. I had, still have, a feeling of being -off- a bit. How about we run this mystic-warning-thing past a few other mystics? See what's on their radar?"

Not one who enjoys hospitals, even to visit someone else, Tesla isn't thrilled with the idea, but Flux's comment hits home. There could have been something in that saucer that, when it exploded, is causing a reaction with everyone. Maybe that explains that "alternate-reality" thing she thought she was experiencing... No, that was real... right? Tesla questions herself.

Down inside the Jade Prince, Sea Guard and Tesla are exploring. A few crewmen were found on the ship and easily taken into custody. Once down to the lower levels you quickly realize that this was a science vessel. There are numerous labs and examination rooms. In one of these rooms a gruesome discovery is found.

A man-sized humanoid body is found laying on an examination table dissected. The body has shiny, hairless pale green skin and webbing between its fingers and toes. Its face held overly large yellow eyes and had no visible nose. The smell was most unpleasant.

Somewhat disappointed at no further resistance, Tesla helps round up the crewmen. They go down deeper into the sub only to find something truly horrible. "What..." Tesla tries to ask without gagging, "..is that?"

Tesla doesn't recall ever having seen anything like it, but with the webbing it might be aquatic, and Sea Guard may know something more.

[Backlash]

Backlash

Several of the Vigilant seem a bit ‘out of it’ and that is a concern to Powershift.

Quote:
"Yeah, fine," Tesla replies. "I think I just stared into that explosion a bit too deeply," she says with a laugh.

Once again, Menagerie shakes her head. The various realities are jumbled in her head, but the others are already starting to fade. "I'm sorry, Powershift; I'm just a little distracted is all. I'll be fine."

Backlash looks between the three wondering just how they were affected by the time shirt realities. The feeling of being in two places at once is a bit more then Backlash is willing to admit, and merely remains quiet.

The topic of getting checked out by a doctor comes to pass, “If you think its best.” he said evenly as he remains on Guard duty.

[Menagerie]

Menagerie:

“If it was but one of you, I would not be concerned,” Powershift answers. “But with several of you seemingly distracted that does cause me concern. Perhaps we should stop off at the clinic and have Dr. Williams examine you before returning to base?”

She doesn't really think it's physical, as she still has some memories of the other realities, but a checkup couldn't hurt. "Sounds reasonable to me."

“I’m afraid that all I have for now is just a feeling. The Jewel is sensing that some magical occurrence will soon transpire. Not today, but within the next few days. Admittedly my skills at manipulating the Jewel are poor when it comes to this sort of thing. Someone who was a trained mystic would most likely comprehend this better. Still I can’t help but feel that this mystical event will bring forth those who would twist those energies to malevolent ends.”

While many of the memories are fuzzy in her head, certain ones stand out - perhaps because it was so important to Lily to remember them. In this case, she was there and the situation was quite traumatic for her. "I believe I know what you're referring to, Powershift. My memories are kind of hazy, but I believe a woman known as Demonspawn or Devilspawn intends to perform some kind of mystic ritual tomorrow morning in Horton Plaza. If she succeeds, I suspect the results will be bad for a lot of people."

[GM Mad]

Post Closed