Chapter 9

SOMEWHERE BENEATH MANHATTAN

EARTH-774 (ONE YEAR EARLIER)

"He started out by stealing the zombified head of my counterpart from Earth-6195. He then used his reality-warping powers to fashion a new body for it... with his mind as the dominant consciousness. After that, he and the Seventh Son went to Earth-200508, where Proteus-Wolverine killed Hugh Gioh, a local superhero who apparently fought crime using a deck of magic cards."

"A card called 'Zombie Fusion' was then force-fed to some bio-electrical monkey called Pika-boo. That, in turn, allowed Proteus-Wolverine to merge with it and become something known as an 'Archfiend of Lightning Vortex.' A monster against which even something called a blue-eyed white were-dragon didn't stand a chance!"

"Their next stop, after that, was the planet Poppup in the universe of Earth-200506. There, Proteus-Wolverine forcibly merged with the local counterpart of Impossible Man. Using him to decimate Earth-82633."

All this was read in the mind of Logan the Hyborian, by Madame Cassandra Webb, within her special quarters in the underground complex inhabited by the mutant Morlocks.

"And you learned all this from the sole survivor of Earth-200506?" she now asked aloud.

Logan nodded. "A super-speedster called Fastforward. I didn't take his word for it, o' course. I used my shadow cloak to visit those parallel Earths for myself. He wasn't lying. There's nothin' but zombie snake people inhabiting them, now! So, I came here to warn the local version of your counterpart's twin sister only to learn that she died, six months ago."

To describe Madame Webb's ensuing smile as "bittersweet" would be an understatement.

"Diplomatically put. It would be more accurate, however, to say that she was murdered by order of the President of the Unites States! And, if overthrowing him dove-tails with your mission? So much the better."

Lauren Mason and Silva Synn had gone down to Acapulco, Mexico, to model swimsuits for a pin-up calendar photo shoot on behalf of Unicef. The favorite charity of their good friend Senorita Rita Farrar II. The latter had been named for her paternal grandmother; a Latin American singer/dancer/actress (stage-named "Rio Rita") who had moonlighted as a counterspy for the Allies during World War II. And, as a result of her anecdotes about those days, her granddaughter was inspired to become a SHIELD agent when she grew up.

Unfortunately, for Rita II, that international intelligence service had been dissolved two years earlier as a result of the notorious Deltite Affair. Compelling her to work for the American government as an undercover "free" agent. It was in that capacity that she had first crossed paths with FemForce. And it was over Rita's SHIELD-surplus wrist communicator that Carol Heisler now contacted her comrades.

"We need you back here ASAP, Lauren. Your brother is at it, again."

"I'm on my way."

The platinum blonde Silva looked at her teammate in astounded curiosity.

"Brother?!"

"I'll explain en route," replied the raven-haired Lauren.

Whereupon they switched to their secret identities of Yankee Girl and Synesthesia before bidding Rita II adios... and then flying northeastward.

Silva Synn had been a go-go dancer in the 1960's prior to being abducted and experimented on by a mad scientist named Dorcas. As a result, she had been inadvertently endowed with a much-slower aging process along with the ability to psychokinetically alter all reality within her immediate vicinity!

Lauren Mason, on the other hand, had been a USO show girl entertaining American soldiers in London, during World War II, when she gained her super-powers as the result of a magic potion given to her by someone claiming to be the reincarnation of the wizard Merlin. So, she naturally used those powers on behalf of the Allies, for the rest of the war, as Yankee Girl! But, after V-J Day, trying to change her line of work from show girl to movie starlet proved difficult. Thereby leaving her free to accept an unusual job offer from the newly renamed Defense Department.

Now that the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons as well, a war between them and the United States would almost certainly wipe out civilization as everyone back then knew it. So, the Federal government was looking to put all its wartime superheroes into cryogenic hibernation as part of Project: Golden Age. That way, if there ever were a third world war. the heroes could be thawed out so they could use their collective abilities and experience to rebuild civilization.

But, as Fate would have it, their cryogenic chambers were stored at the same Southwestern facility where a device called "the absorbatron" was later developed. A device that derived its name from being able to absorb the more hazardous components of radioactive fall-out! This, of course, prompted the gamma-irradiated genius, known as The Leader, to try and steal it with the help of a mind-controlled giant called Leviathan. The theft, however, was thwarted by FemForce members Garganta, Colt, and Dragonfly (nee Nancy Arazello).

The Leader seemingly disintegrated when Dragonfly used one of her own energy blasts to overpower the Leader's laser baton while Garganta personally fought to subdue Leviathan. Unfortunately, their struggles caused a malfunction in the life-support systems of the cryo-tubes. Prompting the resident medical staff to initiate an emergency revival of the hibernating heroes!

"That was four years ago," Yankee Girl added.

"Where does your brother come in?" asked Silva.

"When the doctors explained about where and when we all were, I didn't wait for a clean bill of health before discharging myself. I immediately went searching for Phineas! You see, I was chosen for the project because my brother had worked for Uncle Sam as Agent 2-X. The resident scientist of a crime-busting trio called the Three X's. Imagine my disappointment when I learned, from Nightveil and Ms. Victory, that Phineas had gone renegade selling his genius to the highest bidders among modern-day super-villains!"

"And now he's partners with one," mused Silva.

Yankee Girl sadly nodded.

The duo finally landed at Latimer Labs' Manhattan branch.

When the Dr. Doom of Earth-774 was finally overthrown, five years earlier, his successor- -Prince Zorba of House Fortunov- -sold some of the dictator's technology to the U.S. Defense Department. This included Doom's time-travel platform. And Latimer Labs was the DOD contractor that successfully bid to reverse-engineer it! By the time King Zorba of Latveria celebrated the first anniversary of his coronation, the reverse-engineering team- -headed by Dr. Carlos Jimenez- -had developed the Time Triangle.

Such was the explanation given to the shrunken webslinger by Garganta, who insisted on teasingly addressing him as "Little Spidey". Not wanting to make her angry, all over again, Spider-man did his best to bite his tongue as he rode atop Colt's left shoulder while she and Garganta walked down the maze-like corridors to Dr. Jimenez's laboratory. They arrived there at the same time as Synesthesia and Yankee Girl, who had just come downstairs from the rooftop helipad of the facility's main building.

The odd quintet then went inside where introductions were made, and explanations reiterated.

"It's now six o'clock," Colt finished summarizing. "That gives us six hours to meet Century's deadline."

"You're not seriously thinking about acceding to his demands, are you?" Jimenez worriedly replied.

"Yes and no," Little Spidey cryptically replied.

tbc

GLOSSARY

Archfiend of Lightning Vortex: imagine a cross between Zzzax and the Tasmanian Devil of BUGS BUNNY fame.

Fastforward: a Marvel multiverse analog of the Silver Age Flash.

Earth-200506: a parallel world where Impossible Man was the culprit behind an IDENTITY CRISIS-style murder.