The Time Stone, Third Edition (Extended Version)

When James and Tina landed in Brazil, they were surrounded by the loud music of native lore and the passing through of vendors with their livestock and various items for sale, the haze of the natural humidity filling the air, and the colorful array of décor and clothing reflecting in the bright sunlight of the open atrium. There were people scattered about speaking Portuguese. They walked off the plane and into the atrium, heading straight for the door before they could be spotted.

“Good thing we don’t have any baggage to claim,” Tina noted.

“Let’s just move on out before we’re seen by anyone.”

“Relax James, we are in another country. Can you believe it?” Tina smiles jovially without expecting an answer. “When I was a kid growing up upstate, I never thought I would ever leave the county, let alone the country. I was quite relieved when I went to Chronix Bay.”

“I for one never left Chronix Bay, period.” James replies.

They exit the terminal and headed for a series of cars parked nearby with stickers and cab service labels. One has a young native with thick hair smoking a cigarette while reading a paper and leaning up against the hood of the car. “Sorry, no service,” he scolded them in his thick accent recognizing them as Americans. The duo continues on and saw Broad Staffnight and his entourage inside of the terminal.

“James”, nudged Tina, “isn’t that the party from the terminal that pointed us out to the cops?”

“Yeah, and now they’re here, which can’t be a coincidence.” James says.

“They are after us. Let’s get as far from here as possible.” Tina smirks. They entered the back of a blue cab that is sitting with the engine running.

“We need to get away from here, now.” James yells.

“Where to?” asks the confused driver.

“Anywhere” both of them yells.

“Tourists?” the driver uttered as he shakes his head as he has asks them to which way they wanted to go and both nodded frantically and yells.

“Let’s go,” says Tina.

“And let’s go” repeated James.

“OK, tourists.” The driver replies, annoyed, as he pulls off and take them away, leaving a trail of black rubber behind them.

The blue car pulls up to the outskirts of a tropical dry forest region. James and Tina could see large stone monuments and ancient temple ruins in the backdrop of the jungle and mountainous regions in the distance emitting smoke and fog covered by the glistening intense heat and sunlight. The driver explained in Portuguese that he could not continue.

“This is a tourist area, but I will not go over there” yells the man angrily in Portuguese.

“What did he say?” asks James.

“He’s afraid to go there.” Tina explained.

“Can you take us to a town or something?” asks James.

Tina speaks loudly in Portuguese translating to the angry looking cab driver.

“No go farther” the driver yells in English after sputtering various curse words in Portuguese as he sits about impatiently and put out his hand expecting payment. The duo exit the car nodding to one another and takes off running into the woods leaving the angry driver cursing under his breath in Portuguese “good thing this wood is cursed.”