The Time Stone, Third Edition (Extended Version)

At the airport in Prague, Broad, Elizabeth, and Drax sits waiting for their connecting flight while Mr. Cumberberry has gone to transact some business during the wait.

“Where is Mark?” Elizabeth asks.

“He has to go handle his business, I guess.” Broad says shrugging his shoulders and then looking around.

Within seconds, a loud scream is heard emanating from the back. Broad and Elizabeth rose to their feet and looked around. They saw a commotion unfolding in the distance and blood splattering. Broad saw a dark furry wing flapping in the hot air. “Oh no” he says. They ran over and saw in the far corner of the airport lounge, a six foot tall furry bat-winged creature with a long snout, wide eyes, pointed crooked horns, and hooves cross legged chewing on a human arm and having collected an assortment of other body parts surrounding him. People were running around fearfully screaming and panicking like it is the end of days and Broad looks at the creature with his eyes wide.

“Satyr, you are incorrigible! In public, you animal, you couldn’t control your desire?” Broad held his arms at his sides with his fists clenched before him.

“I can’t help myself.” He replies sitting there looking up while still chewing the flesh and dripping blood before him, his mouth slobbering inside and out with gore and blood. “I haven’t fed in over nine months.”

Broad shakes his head and lifted his right wrist to his mouth and speaks into a small box attached to his wrist like a watch with a blank screen, “we need a cover, situation critical, sector 333.2… I hope you know you are going to help clean this mess.”

“I won’t shed a tear for some pathetic humans who wanted to see the Bering Strait.” Satyr joked sarcastically.

“Let’s get this over with” says Elizabeth “this is grossing me out.”

“Come on” says Broad looking around at the gathering people screaming and running at the sight of the beast feasting on corpses. “This is interesting.”

Minutes later the scene is clean and organized as dozens of men in dark suits have gathered throughout the area marching back and forth in specifically assigned tasks to make sure the news of the beast did not spread far or at all. They essentially did what they were supposed to do to cover things up. The hands of time turned backwards in the airport lounge, as if the event never occurred, and the frightened public has already forgotten it. Satyr has transformed back into Mr. Cumberberry and stands next to his trio of work colleagues ready to board the flight to Turkey.

“No more surprises, OK” Broad says.

“Yes Sir” Mark Cumberberry replies with a curious grin.

In Turkey, the skies were smog-ridden and thick, scented like honey suckle, and burning of incense as the foursome made their way through the crowds in the national airport. Loud noises were heard in the distance, over the yelling and screaming of passersby and honking horns of the vehicles in the intense heat of the humid laced sweltering weather.

“It is unbelievably hot here!” Elizabeth wiped her brow.

“I know. Let’s get to a cab fast” Broad says. Broad walks forward down the streets as they hopped into a waiting car with one thing in mind, his pursuit of the objective he began long ago, power, control, hopeless conquest. His followers, Elizabeth and Satyr in his human guise as Mark Cumberberry, followed him with their eyes and hopes on him as they trusted him and felt pulled to follow him to whatever ends he desired, partly out of fear and partly out of a sense of adventure. Milton Drax is more energetic and carefree, sticking his head out of the cab window as they drove by rustic and historical scenery of beauty and splendor.He takes the time, like a flavescent bloodhound, to track down the most interesting experiences and savor each moment and enhance his experience in this new land as he looks eagerly about at the cobble stone roads, the gorgeous marketplaces, the fruits and vegetables sold eagerly by happy vendors, the sounds of children playing in the streets, and the smell of fresh baked bread and pastries filling the air. Each in and of itself is enough to fill one’s heart with joy and bliss. He smiles as they rode to their destination, the Hilton Hotel at the far end of town. He looks out the window, thrilled at the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the world around him.

“I wish we had time to explore all of this.” He thought to himself, but remembered that they were on a quest and time is of the essence. Drax looks at Broad with a somber look as if expecting that what Broad is up to is not what he himself is anticipating.

After having checked into the hotel, Drax sits in his room holding a scotch on the rocks and sipping it as he looks into the picture framed photo of a young woman with brunette curls and a tanned complexion. She is wearing gold earrings and pearls, and a naval uniform. He sighed as he shed a tear drinking his alcoholic beverage, “Damn, Christina. Why did I let you go?” He dropped the frame face down and finished his drink. He rises and walks into the bathroom to freshen up.

Later that evening, Drax walks out of the hotel smiling and dressed in a colorful tropical shirt with trees and skies, a mountain top, and he walks about this new town, below the yellow sun and dark blue sky, a warm summer breeze and white clouds streaked across the endless sky. He stepped into another cab and rode to the far end of the other side of town as he held his golden compass. They arrive at their destination and Drax looks up at a tall stone structure with turrets and long towers, resembling a castle, tall and dark even in the midst of day with tall clouds gathering around it. The cab stops and Drax popped up happily as he paid the driver and grabbed his supplies, his compass in one hand and camera in another.

“Wow, this sure is something.” He smiles as he snapped some photos up into the skyward blue. He felt something suddenly bump against his leg, “ouch” he yells and looks down. A small dwarf-sized man ran past him yelling “excuse me” he hugged Drax’s leg and then tried to run off quickly running from something.

“Wait who are you?” He looks down confused and saw the man look up, a full head of dark carefully combed hair, similar shirt to his own, and oriental complexion.

“Who the heck are you?” The small man responds grunting.

“I’m Milton Drax” he speaks gingerly.

“I’m Roy… Roy Biggers. You look like you got a fortune in gold bullion.” He snorted as he tried to run off.

“Well I do alright.” Drax nodded as he grabbed onto his small new friend.

“I am known as Little Fighter.”

“Little fighter is a great name. I like it.” Drax says.

“That’s right, I know martial arts and boxing,” he screams chopping air with his small hands.

Drax saw that he is anxious to get moving as there were several uniformed officers chasing him. Drax saw this and pushed Roy behind him. As the officers approached, Drax gulped with a stern look masking his fear.

“Freeze, give us that little thief” they uttered in Turkish.

Drax responds in the same language “be calm gentlemen, he is with me. I am a big businessman from America. How much does he owe?”

The officers explained to him it is a small amount by Drax and his corporate American standards of high wealth and prosperity. Drax agreed to pay that amount back from the store owner that Roy stole from and the officers let him go. Drax sits on the steps of the castle-like structure with Roy and talked to him about his life. He found out Roy Biggers was born in Turkey and is a vibrant soul who was orphaned at a young age and abandoned, so turned to crime to get by.

“I bet you have a lot of impatience” he smiles sitting with his hands on his knee bent up on the steps, “I can see you can’t sit still.”

“Just nervous… got the shakes.” adds Roy “But thanks for bailing me out.”

“I always wanted to tour this place.” Drax adds. “It’s a castle isn’t it?”

“It sure is. It is something big and special.” Roy says.

Drax saw that Roy is kind of slow. Drax got up and smiles. “Can you show me more in the castle? I want to take some pictures for work.”

“We can’t, it’s closed.” Roy says.

“Yeah, but you can tell me if there is another way in.” Drax says as Roy looks up at him suddenly, going still and searching Drax’s eyes.

“Yes, there is” he nods and smiles, “I like you. You’re a good friend.”

The two men nod in recognition of one another and walk off towards the entrance of the structure, a giant wooden doorway twice the size of Drax’s tall and muscular frame. Both men did not notice there is someone watching them who is as curious as they are.

Nearby in the castle perimeter, Drax and Roy were confronted by a padlock on the tall wooden door.

“It’s locked” says Drax in a slow and patronizing tone.

“That is not the end.” Roy smirks and pointed up to a small window and arched portal about sixteen feet above, too large for a man of average height, but perfect for Roy to fit into. “I can travel in small places, like in the war.”

“Oh cool, what do you think we should do?”

“I’ll climb” he shimmies up the stone wall grabbing each large stone block and making his way towards the window quickly in a matter of seconds and getting in.

“He’s good” says a slight female voice from behind him and as Drax turn she saw a slender young woman with chestnut brown hair and blonde highlights standing beside him with her hands on her hips, the sleeves of her white button down shirt rolled up to her elbows and her shirt open toward the top, wearing some jean capris. “Very good.” she adds.

“Who are you?” Drax speaks. “Marina Swift.” she speaks slow and out of place in the touristy setting. “You are an American businessman, aren’t you?” She asks.

“Milton Drax, I’m an attorney from America.” He smiled as he held out his hand, but she kept her poise and tilted her head in curious amazement. “I’m on vacation” says Drax. Then suddenly the padlocked wooden door revealed a smaller door within its frame opening from within and Roy stuck his head out.

“Come on Mr. Drax” he yells, “the plane, the plane… inside this small wooden plane.” He gestured to Drax to crawl into the small doorway. Drax looks around behind him and then ducked down and inspected it, crawling in. He found himself in a dark room with some sunlight filtering in and cobwebs and dust covering the candelabra, chandelier, and sheet-covered furniture glistening in the light. Drax is followed in by the young woman from outside who has crawled through the little door.

“Miss Swift?” He said.

“Yeah, hope you don’t mind, I just wanted to keep an eye out. You might need my help.”

“Hmm” he smiles and turns with his entourage into the darkness of the tall interior structure. The lights suddenly began coming on and Roy ran towards them smirking.

“I got the magic touch” he laughs as the various lights lit up.

They walked to a back room where Roy showed them into a secret passage he revealed behind the pantry in the large faded kitchen area. He turns a lever and a door opens revealing another door with a small stairwell descending deep into the darkness below. In stunned silence, the duo of Drax and Marina followed Roy down the narrow stairwell without railings. Drax felt like he was descending into the depths of one of Dante’s Inferno’s nine levels of hell. There is a hot white light with blinking red at the bottom below them. The stairway seemed never ending and curved down. Finally, they reached bottom, and within seconds a bright light became active at the far end of the corridor before them, nothing else, so they wandered into the opening about four to five meters wide at the end of the corridor where the light grew wider. Drax felt shivers going down his spine. He extended his hands into the darkness lit by the hot white lights with blinking red, and there was a slight humming sound, a noise like a vibration instrument pluming in the distance.

“What is this place, really?” Drax asks.

“Strange and mysterious place” says Roy. The noise is louder as they approached and synchronistic to the lights in the former distance now coming up before them. Their perception of the light grew around them to envelope them and Drax saw the source of the light suddenly before him, an altar extending along the entire length of the meters long room, with some odd symbols in some language he is not aware of. There is an indentation shaped like a pentagonal object. Lights suddenly surrounded the altar blinking brightly as if on for a very long time.

“What is this?” asks Marina, who identified herself as Roy’s sister. She stuck close to Drax out of fear. She is worried about her brother, but also for her new friend. Drax figured as much and assured her it would be alright. He is mesmerized by the object before them.

“I wish I knew.” Drax responds to her question, and looks at the object curiously. Drax saw sudden images appear as the light reached his eyes, he saw an image of his mentor Broad Staffnight holding a pentagonal shaped green emerald and beasts of immense power flying around killing people in a central square. He lowered his hands together before the lights on the keyboard to the indentation and pressed on it, his hands glowing, a strange sound continuously emanating with the lights, stringing along in harmony like notes on a melodic scale.The images changed before Drax’s eyes to four images in a row far enough to be recognized, but he did notice one Ishim and they were in some kind of ceremony with medals and honorary dignitaries nearby that he recognized, the mayor of Chronix Bay, the president of the United States, local governors and statesmen. “How interesting is this?”

“Cool, like do re mi …” Marina began and Drax looks at her with a smirk.

“I think it’s a high tech piano of sorts.” Drax says.

“What piano?” Asks Roy confused.

“Honey, that’s a music maker, but it looks ancient” says Marina.

“This is interesting…” Drax lifted his brow and then he raised his head looking up in shock as suddenly the room began to shake as a tremor activated the room in massive movements. Drax turn to his companions and ran up with them in hand. They headed up the stairwell back where they came from. As they exit the castle, they look up at the sky and saw beams of light fly up and through the air around the town morphing slowly into three gruesome and ferocious beasts one a dog with three heads, another an eight-headed dragon, and the final one a large amphibian long-necked creature. They land on various grounds and buildings and begin a terrible rampage amongst the city.

“What is that?” Roy screams loudly.

“Oh no, it’s beginning.” Drax says.

In the hotel room, Broad sits on his bed looking at an arched-up computer display screen in his metal briefcase. He studied the images that popped up and remarked with his usual curious grin “This is interesting.” Mark and Elizabeth sit at his side on the bed.A shadowy faceless figure is on the screen in an obscure background and emits a low-pitch crinkled voice, “the Last Time is soon approaching. If we do not commit the full cycle by the eve of The Last time, we will lose all hope of securing our position for the future.”

“We will prevail, my lord. We have the object.” Broad says, gesturing to a box before him on his lap. “It takes some doing, but we managed to retrieve it from the ancient one you sent.” “We will control the divine right of space and time,” says Broad. “We will make the difference today.”

“Be wary” the voice continues “there is one among us who disagrees and will betray us.”

“Let none be the wiser capable of stopping us now or forever in Time.” They laugh excitedly.