Chapter 10

CANADIAN NORTHWEST TERRITORIES,

EARTH-90816 (APRIL 1, 1973)

"It all started on my world. Earth-83234. Blade the Vampire Hunter had recruited myself and a hyper-evolved dairy cow named Bova (from Mount Wundagore) to help him track down a vampirized dairy cow named Bessie! We finally had her cornered in a back alley in Cleveland, Ohio, when it happened. A giant rift opened in the skies above Lake Michigan! And through that rift came... a giant snake."

"One that telepathically called itself the Seventh Son of Set."

"Suddenly, our surroundings went topsy-turvy. Like we were having a bad LSD trip or something! Following which, that hell cow sprouted bat-wings and took off. Straight into that giant snake's mouth! After that, everything went back to normal. Bova and Blade were confused, of course. But, I now wish I could have said the same. Unfortunately, my own telepathy had been working overtime when that psychedelic vertigo hit us. That's how I learned Bessie had suddenly become occupied by a disembodied entity called 'Proteus.' And that he was planning on using Bessie as a Trojan horse to worm his way into a bunch of vampirized mutants from the parallel world of Earth-9240. But, now living in extra-dimensional exile in the realm once ruled by Dormammu!"

"I used my shadow cloak to teleport after them. But, when I got there, I was already too late. Proteus had already taken over the body of the ex-New Mutant known as Karma. Using her to mind-control Mesmero and, through him, the vampirized counterparts of Speed Demon, the Hulk, and some Japanese technopath calling himself Wiz Kid. The latter was subsequently used to gain control of some outer space germ called 'the techno-organic virus' from Earth-8545. And, from there, they journeyed to another parallel world (Earth-98091) via the local Nexus of All Realities. Using this virus to infect local versions of Forge and the Frankenstein Monster, so the two of them could be amalgamated into something Proteus dubbed... the Supernatural Adaptoid!"

"And that's why I brought the two of you together. Only you..."

Eric Simon Payne looked at the super-speedster called Fastforward.

"...stand any chance against Speed Demon's vampiric enhancements. And only you..."

Payne now looked at the local counterpart of Wolverine.

"...stand any chance against both the Hulk and the Adaptoid. Take my shadow cloak to help- -you- -teleport."

With that, the ex-hit man, now better known as Demon Slayer, succumbed to the fatal wounds inflicted by the decapitated local version of the Wendigo.

MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH-83234. . .

From their point of view, Demon Slayer had only teleported away two seconds ago, when he was suddenly replaced by a gold-masked figure in blue armor and a red cape with gold trim.

"Blade the Vampire Hunter and Bova of Wundagore?"

"Who's asking?" demanded the former as he traded his wooden dagger for a carbonadium katana faster than Bova's eyes could follow.

"Mechamage of Earth-9810. I need your help assaulting the brownstone once occupied by my predecessor's counterpart on Earth-28918. A brownstone now occupied by vampirized mutants!"

Before Bova could ask him what he was talking about, she and Blade suddenly found themselves being grabbed up by giant fists composed of something called the Vapors of Valtorr! Following which, the bizarre trio disappeared into the proverbial thin air.

MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH-774...

When Winston Kranpuf passed away, at nearly one hundred years of age, his obituary in The Daily Bugle had listed him as "the last of the original robber barons." But, whatever people who still remembered his name thought of him, it was still a fact that he had left his Fire Island summer home to his life-long friend (and fellow member of the Hellfire Club's Outer Circle) Morgan McNeil Hardy. The man who had almost single-handedly funded the reconstruction of San Francisco after the Earthquake of 1906! And when the latter eventually passed away, the summer house was inherited by the son and only child of Hardy's most recent butler-chauffeur and housekeeper.

Clifford Michaels alias Turner D. Century.

He now looked at the shrunken woman occupying the gold-plated birdcage on the mantle of the summer house's living room fireplace.

"I do apologize for this unusual form of indignity, Mrs. Parker. But, I assure you, it's all in a good cause!"

"Oh, really! Pray, tell me, what that cause might be?"

May Parker crisscrossed her arms as she said this. Using the gesture to reinforce the blatant skepticism in her voice. For her nephew had told her about the apparently unconscious tendency among most super-villains to boastfully self-justify (usually, in premature overconfidence) just as their various master plans neared fruition!

As young Peter had summarized it. "The pop-cultural slang term is 'monologing.' Bruise their egos just enough with your doubtfulness? And there's not a single proverbial bean they won't spill!"

Nor did Turner D. Century prove an exception to that rule.

"I was raised by a man who grew up in a simpler time. Less technologically advanced, perhaps! But, definitely far more civilized. All that changed after World War I, though. I'm sure you won't dispute that the recently ended Cold War sprang from the nuclear ashes of World War II. With the latter conflict growing from the seeds planted at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles! With the Time Triangle from Latimer Labs, I can change all that."

"I can go back to 1900 and, using my knowledge of this particular future, prevent World War I from ever happening."

May Parker's arms dropped to her sides, in perfect unison with her lower jaw. "You're not serious."

Her anachronistic captor grinned in bemusement. "I'm in deadly earnest! My ally here lost his only son to the Cold War. Prevent that time period by preventing the decades of decadence that followed World War I... and his son will live again."

The shrunken woman looked at the Tinkerer. Her astounded gaze begging for denial of this statement more eloquently than any words. But the Tinkerer's refusal to meet her gaze spoke with even greater volume! Whatever she planned to say in counterpoint, however, was interrupted by a sudden massive vibration that almost toppled her cage from the fireplace mantle where it had been placed when first they arrived.

The Tinkerer immediately activated a closed-circuit television monitor.

"It's my sister, Yankee Girl!" he immediately exclaimed. "And she's got the Time Triangle with her."

As if she had heard this pronouncement, the front door to this landmark beach house suddenly fell inward. With the raven-haired superheroine walking in backwards, dragging the Time Triangle through it, behind her. When that had been accomplished, she leaped up and over the staircase leading up to the front living room from the foyer. Creating another massive vibration that would have more successfully toppled the bird cage this time! That is, had not Yankee Girl streaked forward to make a life-saving right-handed catch.

"Well done, Lauren. Your cryogenic catnap hasn't affected your abilities one iota."

Yankee Girl frowned. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Phineas."

"On the contrary! It certainly got you here... with just under fifteen minutes to spare."

"Which raises the question," added Turner D. Century. "Where is Spider-man? I specifically gave instructions that Peter Parker was to tell no one else the terms for his aunt's safe return and re-enlargement."

"And he complied," said Yankee Girl. "But, even Spidey proved no match for FemForce once they were notified about his breach of Latimer Labs' security! When he told my teammates about my brother's involvement, I volunteered to complete the mission. So, here it is! The much-vaunted Time Triangle."

Whereupon, she easily pulled loose the door of the bird cage before gently depositing its shrunken occupant in the palm of her gloved left hand. "So make with the re-enlargement, Mr. Michaels."

But, once again, Turner D. Century merely grinned.

"Not until I've tested it. Where are the operating instructions?"

"Right here," replied the Tinkerer, pointing to a technical manual duct-taped to the left side of the triangle.

"Then, by all means, dear sir! Please, activate it."

Five minutes later, a three-dimensional image began to coalesce within the vacant center of the triangle. When the image came into greater focus, however, it did not show a Victorian-era setting. Instead, it showed a modern-day laboratory! With Synesthesia of FemForce carrying a miniaturized Spider-man on her right shoulder!

Just prior to their grand entrance through the temporal teleportal.

tbc