2014.06.24 - Out of Time

This whiteness tastes dry, and feels the sound of cold, and you feel like falling in all directions and none. It takes a few minutes for the senses and the mind to get used to what must be another state of being. 
Warworld is eerily quiet. There is no screams of pain of the wounded warrior, no more sounds of blaster fire. Not even Rocket is firing his guns... in fact, where is Rocket? Phyla, Heather and Jo recover more or less at once. They are in the chamber where the battle took place, mostly. In fact, the place seems long abandoned, and most of the Psion machines are gone, replaced by far older-looking devices that look in bad shape, as if left without maintenance for centuries to the ravages of rust and whatever vermin survives in Warworld. Here and there, there are black, still hot marks of the battle, but they are in odd places. The corpse of a Khund mercenary lies sprawled in a corner. The walls and ceiling are cracked, in some areas leaving bare the inertron skeleton of beams of the building. Not far, a fine white mist seems to be everywhere, limiting visibility to about a hundred yards.
The three heroes are almost alone. Crawling from under the debris and coughing dust, one of the Psion technicians is trying to gather his wits.
Jo is in invulnerability mode as he looks around and says, "Well this looks almost familiar, kind of like the state things were in in the future, when I first visited here. About three years ago my time, a thousand years from when we started."
Heather slowly, gingerly picks herself up off the floor, wiping away blood flecked around her mouth, left arm pulled in close against her chest. She does not grimace, but there is an air of tension to her movements that was absent in the earlier battle. Almost immediately the bald psion and monk reaches out telepathically, seeking and connecting with Phyla. Connections to others are restored almost more as an after-thought, quite literally. << Phyla? Phyla, are you alright >> she sends, as she tries to lever herself up to fully standing, so she can move around in search of the others. The touch of her mind in this place is dulled, limited as it never should or could be, and a headache builds, but she does not relent. She cannot.
<< I'm okay... >> comes the wobbling mind's voice. Phyla-Vell slowly stands. Somehow she ended up fifty feet or so behind Heather and Jo-Nah, thrown into the wall or something similar. Shakily she stands and she takes a moment rubbing her temples. << What about you? >> It takes her another full minute to realize she's behind the others, and a minute more when she has restored her position at Moondragon's side to realize Adam's gone. As are everyone else. << Did we hop forward in time somehow? >>
Nobody seems to answer to Jo’s comment, and his words echo hollowly. Even the acoustics are subtly wrong. Ultravision can’t penetrate the mist. And even Moondragon powerful telepathy finds... nothing clear. There are minds around them, but they are as if out of synch. Not quite reachable with telepathy. Phyla and Jo are there, as is the Psion ancient, evil mind.
<< I am alive, and standing. >> Heather responds, with deliberation. It's the sort Phyla, at least, has sensed from her before, when the fighting has been hot and heavy, and injuries abounded. Injuries that they had no time to deal with or treat. << We need the Psion alive, and talking. Without Adam, no other is going to be able to define what is happening, or how to reverse it. >> the Moondragon sends, as she starts making her way towards the Psion on her own slightly unsteady feet.
After checking that the others are all right, Jo switched to Ultra Vision, then frowns as it fails to see any farther than normal vision. Jo frowns, it is not common that his Ultra Vision can not penetrate. He says to the others, "I see Phyla-vell and Moondragon, and myself and a Psion. Is anyone else here?"
Quickly, the half-Eternal is in front of Moondragon. << Heather. Let me. >> That is sent to Moondragon alone. Unsaid goes 'you're hurt'. She turns and fully expects the woman to listen. Quantum energy is already crackling along her bands. Given the odd nature of the place, it could very well be whatever energy Phyla has pulled into the bands, and not due to the open connection to the quantum zone. Possibly.
The small alien seems to have recovered, and is trying to clean the dust of his clothes fastidiously. A one point, he pulls something that seems like a crazy high tech tablet from a pocket and runs some checks. He doesn’t like much what he sees, although only Moondragon would notice. The alien’s expression doesn’t change, but his mind is racing, alarmed. 
Phyla can’t reach the quantum zone. Fortunately her bands have an almost full charge. But it says something of how far they are from ‘normal’ they are that she is disconnected from Epoch and the zone.
Of course, Moondragon doesn't admit that she is hurt. She'd never do that. But she doesn't try to push her way in front of Phyla, either. << He is alarmed by what his computer is telling him. >> she explains to the others. << Jo, I am reasonably certain that there is a substantial temporal anomaly in play. >> She glances at Phyla, and frowns. << And a dimensional one as well. Which is not good. >> Especially as they are missing teammates. How to reunite with them, let alone get back where and when they came from, is becoming less likely by the tick of the clock.
Phyla-Vell turns in the direction of the Psion, more or less aided by watching where Moondragon is looking. She makes the approach, just allowing a spark of the quantum energy visible. She clears her throat, perhaps a little dramatically. A little flourish. "Bad news?"
Jo says, "I am not certain, but I think we are not in the normal time stream, my Ultra Vision is not working, almost like we are in the Phantom Zone...
The Psion raises his gaze slowly, as if considering if Phyla is worthy an answer. He seems to decide she might be, because he replies. "Bad? Relatively speaking. We are still alive, which is remarkable considering the magnitude of the tachyonic release you fools provoked. However, we are inside a temporal distortion, so death remains a likely outcome." He points to the quantum bands. "Can you quantum-tunnel us out? If so you should as soon as possible. Otherwise, I'd suggest you mammals stand in a corner quietly while I come up with a solution."
<< Phyla? Do you think you can do it? >> Heather questions, one-on-one, before including anyone else. She's ready to do all she can to support the other woman, but she won't push her into something she's not ready to deal with.
Jo considers, "I am uncertain, I have heard of speedsters traveling to different quantum levels by vibrating at proper frequencies, do you think my Ultra Speed could aid in the creation of a quantum tunnel?"
<< Possibly, >> comes the answer. "It's possible, but I seem to have been sealed off from my source." She is not surprised to find the Quantum Bands are known by the Psion. They are, after all, legendary. "I have limited access to quantum energy, we'd have to time everything precisely or else it'd all be a waste." << But if he's right, Heather, we have to get out of here quickly. >>
"Only if you can reach relativistic speeds, which would require access to a source of infinite energy," explains the Psion, taking a condescending tone. "In the present conditions this means," he pulls his device again and mutters some commands, then he freezes in surprise.
"The speed of light would be zero," comes another voice. Warlock steps out of the mist, almost as if materializing. "You can't tap in the Quantum Zone, Quasar, but you can't exhaust the energy reserves of your bands either. We are outside time. The whole planet has fallen out of reality and into Limbo."
Jo says, "It is...well not exactly good, but it is helpful to us for you to be here, Adam. It is bad for you that you are here too, but good for us to have your advice."
Jo adds, "I can travel faster than light, when in outer space, but I can not achieve time travel on my own."
<< How to get us out, as a small group, seems simple enough, especially if Phyla cannot run out of stored Quantum energy. But an entire planet? >> Moondragon sends to everyone, as Adam appears close enough to join his mind to the network of their thoughts.
<< Are we sure it's the entire planet? >> Things are hazy and foggy, sure. But there could be other explanations. << What if it was just us? >> Phyla asks, frowning. If it's just the group of them she might be able to force a quantum opening to pull themselves out. Her gaze drifts back to the Psion. "I suppose you have proof it's the entire planet that shifted."
Oddly enough, Adam rejects the mental connection with Moondragon, his mind is closed. “Proof is not important. We need to leave before we lose our temporal inertia and become trapped in a time loop. I believe I can find a pathway. But this state of no-time is interfering with my powers.”
The Psion, however, is making some calculations. “No-time. You call it Limbo, how quaint. Ah, the initial tachyon discharge would have affected roughly 4.34 parsecs of reality. The whole planet and five adjacent solar systems, indeed. Hmm... but what if it is not stable?” He mutters to his device. Fascinating. Very interesting! Well, he does not voice it, but Moondragon gets the hint: The psion believes reality could quickly collapse, the tear expanding at several kiloparsecs per second. The little monster finds universal destruction very interesting.
Jo replies, "Unstable areas of space/time are not unknown, they are extremely hard to contain. We studied in history the time the Guardians had to contain one, it encompassed an entire sector of space before it was done. I think you are mistaken about one thing, Phyla...I think the larger the area the easier it will be to get out."
Jo wishes he has Brainy here to explain his thought, "The Larger the area, the more of our original quantum inertia it will retain, therefore the more energy Limbo will be exerting on it. That energy may assimilate the area in time, but until it does the energy will be able to be channeled to spit us out like a slippery seed."
Since Adam has rejected her telepathic connection, of course, he will hear nothing of what Heather has 'said', nor Phyla's responses. And Moondragon doesn't feel like pushing any further, either. Her telepathic communication is her way of staying connected, anchored to the group. Useful. Instead, she has only Phyla to anchor to; not that she objects, but it is an imbalance. << If Adam thinks we need to leave, then he needs to tell us how and let's be about it, before our opportunity is gone. What does he need from us, since his powers are not working? >> As to why she's not communicating aloud, that arm around her ribcage might have something to do with it.
Phyla-Vell has by this point retreated to Moondragon's side. She knows the psionicist won't allow her to offer visible support, but she will be there just in case. "What do you need from us, then? If we have to get out quickly, then let's do it quickly. The longer we stay here, the more time we waste. Agreed?"
Adam nods to Jo, then to the women, “follow me, we will walk between possibilities and moments.” He begins walking down the hallway. From the other side of the room someone else is coming. Mongul! He seems furious, and gives chase, but he moves sloooooooowly. “Do not worry about Mongul,” comments Adam, “we are not synchronized with him, and for all his power, he has no means to follow.”
Moondragon turns to follow Adam, green-painted lips pressed firmly together as she moves down the hallway, keeping Adam as close to within reach as she can manage, considering. But most important to her, though she never says it, is that Phyla be immediately beside her.
Phyla-Vell remains at the telepath's side. It's not that she really senses the woman's need or want for her there. It just feels natural, and quite frankly she's more concerned about Heather than she is willing to let on. Perhaps she spends too much time around Moondragon in that regard - hiding her feelings on the matter. Regardless, she falls silent, and remains with Heather. She doesn't even spare a glance towards the slowly moving Mongul, as desperately as her senses are telling her to look and flee.
The travel through Limbo is a strange experience. It is not just the Quantum Bands that won't run out of energy. The living do run out of energy either, not physically at least, they become tireless. But they don't heal either (nor do they get worse) so for Heather it is a painful step after step. Jo is probably also feeling those punches he took from Mongul.
And the hallway becomes a staircase, then a ramp. At some moment, though moments are indeed fleeting, they are a thousand miles over Warworld and the mist is swallowing the whole planet. How did they get so far? It is difficult to remember, because memories are a sequence of events, and they are pretty much outside all sequence of events.
Warworld vanishes, and they are walking in a cloud-like landscape of lost time. There are whispers here, coming to the small group of heroes from the past, and the future.
Jo may not be a genius, but he has a good 30th century education. The Legion charter insists that all members continue their education, so he has learned a lot from classes that are intended to be studied by the likes of Superboy and Mon-El.
Limbo is not really a place he has studies, but he has a rough grasp of time travel and quantum physics.
This place does really resemble the phantom zone, except that things appear to be solid to one another, instead of everything being only a phantom.
Moondragon continues on, doing her best despite the continuing pain. That, paired with the naturally disjointed nature of their prison, is making it much harder for her to maintain focus on memory, on where they are or what they're after. But she stays with Phyla and continues to the best of her ability. All she can really remember is that she has to follow Adam. And she has to stick with Phyla. The rest, at this point, is all up for interpretation.
In the same way, Phyla has to keep herself reminded of following Adam. Follow Adam. Stay beside Moondragon. She could offer to lift Moondragon off the ground with a quantum pad, give her a chance to rest, but she knows it would be rejected. So she stays close. At least once, her hand reaches for Heather's and gives it a faint, reassuring squeeze. << Still here. >>
The Whispers. Or at they memories? 
They strike from surprise, and then they are in the memory. And they are gone.
For Moondragon
Blackness insinuates through the white and grey that is Limbo. And then he/it is. The monstrous cosmic worm the Eternals call the Dragon of the Moon. << Heatheeeer >> he calls/singsongs. << Don't we look so young? Is this your first visit, isn't it? The Warworld affair. When you still pretended to be a hero. I'll see you soon, little one. >>
For Ultraboy
"Jo! Where am I? Help me!" It is a young woman's voice, and he can almost see her too! A faint ghost of a Phantom Girl. "The time sphere shattered, I am trapped! I feel you with me Jo! Help me... I think Brainy is dead... hel..." the voice fades.
For Quasar
There is a crossroad in the white paths of Limbo. And coming from the left there is a young man dressed in dark blue and red, a golden star on the center of his broad chest. He is white-haired, and his face is almost unrecognizable, as it is pitch black and full of stars. "You!" He states, looking at Phyla. "Ah, of course you would still be here. Out of time." He laughs, it is a crazy laugh. "I made you, sister, I twisted time like a pretzel. But it was just a fluke, soon you will see. Or not so soon. I hate time travel, it messes with my verbs." He never stops, not a second, so he passes by Phyla and keeps talking. To himself, or maybe to someone called 'Rick'. It is unclear.
Jo shouts, "Tinya!" and would fly off, but realizes he does not know which way to go. He stands, helplessly looking aroud for which way to go.
<< Still ? >> Moondragon sends back, uncertain, confused. Damnit, she can't seem to keep anything ordered in her mind, and that's anathema to her. And then ... then comes the seductive, taunting voice of the Dragon of the Moon. << I defeated you. Took my name from you. I /am/ a hero. >> Heather insists. But it is a weak insistence, unfocused. She has never fully admitted why she changed. Why she took that path with her life.
Oh, her dear brother. Phyla frowns. << Here... >> she tries to reassure Heather, but her voice fades as her focus falls on Genis-Vell. "I still feel sorry for you, brother. You wanted father's legacy so bad you were happy to fight me for it, but you never bothered to find out a thing about him..." The part about being made makes her frown once more, but more deeply this time. And as he waltzes off, she runs after him.
“Stay on the path,” Adam’s usually cool, calm voice sounds tense and impatient now. He reaches and grabs Phyla’s arm, to stop her from running. “We are seeing fragments of events that might be, or might have been. We can’t get involved with them. Nothing we do here matters, understand? Those problems you see, they need to be solved within reality, not here.”
Understand? Not so much. It would help if they could keep any of their memories properly strung together. It's a mess, and that's frankly driving Heather Douglas insane. She clings to Phyla's arm, not even sure why she's doing so, and tries to continue on the path. Madness personified.
She is duly pulled back, and back at Moondragon's side. She takes a long, deep breath. Follow Adam. Stay with Heather. Ignore the images. << Heather. Heather. Focus on me. >> She wraps one arm around Heather's middle, holding her close and supportively. Whatever Heather saw troubles her; this much is obvious. Phyla is much more able to push her brother from her mind. He's the crazy one. She doesn't know what he meant, but he was always prone to weird babble.
Jo takes a shuddering breath. OK, this place is letting us access something that may happen, or may be in another future. Tinya is not trapped in time outside a time bubble. It may happen, but it may not, and to him she is a phantom as much as if she were stuck in phantom form. He hates it, but he can deal with it.
He says to Adam, "All right, why did you bring us HERE, were ever this point is?"
It feels it was just a few more steps ahead. But it might have been a year or two of walking. "At last, we have arrived to the center of Limbo." Which seems something dreamed by Escher. It is a castle, which is a sphere, which has all the angles wrong and is almost painful to watch. And yet, time seems to solidify around it, memories and events becoming more coherent. There is even gravity pulling them down. "Careful now, there will be guards." Because definitely someone built that thing in the middle of no-time.
Jo has faced a few odd things in his day, but this seems to qualify for the top 10 list. A castle built on the surface of what is probably a hypersphere. In any case, because our eyes and minds can only focus on three of the four dimensions of the surface at once, it defies our logic of placement and position
He comments, "I hope my powers work here better than they do in the Phantom Zone, or I might not be very useful."
Anchored by Phyla, Heather continues on. She's lost and confused, but doing her best, which seems to get a bit better when they near the no-time castle. But she still doesn't know what to be doing, or what they're actually after. So all she can do is wander on. Hope springs eternal, or something.
Phyla-Vell takes care to move only at a pace that causes Heather less harm. Not helpful, perhaps, but she is focusing her concern on the psionicist. "We have to get out of here, Adam. Moondragon isn't doing well." Her eyes go wide, and the rest of her words drop off at the sight of the castle. "...guards? In this place?"
Super-human powers work correctly in Limbo. For all good they do. "Nothing is permanent in Limbo, even here," semi-explains Adam. The ground feels solid under their feet, which is an improvement from... everything, since they left Warworld. "But yes, we are almost at the end of our trip. Come!" Deeper into the castle, though stairs that go up and seem to end in cellars. Oddly enough, Adam seems to know the layout.
And apparently this castle has a throne room. Seated in the throne, in a hall with a ceiling that seems miles away, stands a middle-aged man in green and purple robes. He has brown eyes and black, graying hair, sporting also a short beard. "Welcome to Castle Tenebrae," he greets. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Immortus, the master of this place." Adam keeps walking to stand at his side, folding his arms and looking at the other three with an uncharacteristic smirk.
Jo frowns slighly, anyone with a given name like "Immortus" tends to be egocentric, or even megalamaniac. Such are not generally the most rational persons to deal with.
He says, "Greetings Immortus, I apologize for the difficulties our arrival may have caused. I assume you brought us here for a reason?"
Moondragon just sighs. "Damnit." Of course it would be their luck to not just be in a limbo, but The Limbo. And get suckered by the local asshat population. Because life isn't already screwed up enough. But since kicking the smirking bastards in the face is currently out of the question, Heather stays silent. Steaming, but silent.
<< This isn't going to go well, is it? >> Rhetorical question. "You might as well get on with it," Phyla says aloud, smirking right back. Politesse left to the side in the light of her concern for Moondragon and her annoyance that they apparently got led into a trap.
“You came into Limbo on your own, Ultraboy,” notes Immortus. He gestures to his right where an image forms. Warworld from space, and then being apparently torn apart and vanishing into a wave of white.
“But I brought you here to undo this disaster. The tear created by Warworld arsenal threatens all time and space. And I guard time from this kind of events. As should you, too.”
Jo nods, "Yes, we in the Legion strive to protect the universe. What do you think needs to be done?
Jo does not trust this man, who reminds him entirely too much of the Time Trapper, but it is best to have as many facts as possible first.
<< I have no idea. But I cannot imagine it would go well, when someone chooses to trick us and lead us into a trap. >> Moondragon offers Phyla, as she watches. She doesn't trust Immortus, or the faux Adam. But what can they do about it?
"Then you'd better tell us what we need to do." Phyla faintly nods in reply to Moondragon. she heard that, despite the outward prattle and her attention seemingly focused elsewhere. << We'd better finish this quickly so I can take you to Knowhere's infirmary. >>
"The Legion strives to protect the universe, yes," admits Immortus. "But you have only primitive time-traveling devices that cause more trouble they are worth. You shouldn't be in the 21st Century, young man." He turns to Phyla and Heather, "the Guardians of the Galaxy claim the same goal." He called them the Guardians of the Galaxy, have they even agreed to have a name yet?
"But you failed this time," he points out. "I am forced to interfere, and it will come with a cost to me. You owe me a favor, Guardians." He points up. And they can see upside down, far away in the architectonic oddness of the room, there is another Immortus, talking to Adam and Rocket, and at the same time he is talking to them. "I will send your furry friend to the right moment and the right place, so he can sabotage Warworld's Tachyon Dam to cause a controlled decay of the chronal anomalies. He won't remember to have been here, as the timeline will readjust, but you will."
And since the ruse is no needed, the fake Warlock shifts back to his natural form: The Space Phantom, a rather scrawny-looking humanoid alien. He keeps the smirk, though.
"Farewell, we will speak again. It will be soon for you." The castle fades as the trio is pushed out of Limbo, and back to Earth, to the Legion HQ.
And time realigns.
In Warworld Mongul is thrown through the tachyon dam, but the tachyonic explosion is far less violent. Cosmo has/had time to pull the Guardians out of Warworld. Warworld still falls to Limbo, but reality closes behind it, the is no open rift.
And Mongul? Well, there will be a deal with Immortus to get Warworld out of Limbo.
Jo is actually a bit worried, when entities of the scale Immortus claims to be get helpful, there tends to be something wrong. He also wonders why he wound up back on 21st century Earth, rather than 31st, but at least he is not stuck in Limbo any longer. He turns to the others, "Welcome to my home away from home, the Legion of Superheroes local HQ. Tell me, does owing a favor to Immortus worry the rest of you as much as it does me?"
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