Welcome to the Sand Dimension. Here, sand is a prevailing substance. One might even say that all matter in this world is sand-based.
Much of the surface of the planet Zero is especially sandy. Each of the major continents has a desert. There are no oceans on Zero; just seas, straits, and gulfs with sandy bottoms. The hourglass industry of the real world would have a ball, harvesting sand from Zero.
Just as much, though, there are mountains. Their slopes run long, and high...and sport band upon band of brilliant and varied colors...like the Painted Desert of the real world. Unlike the painted desert, though, these bands of brilliant color are more likely to be tan. Most of them are tan; otherwise, they're grey, white, orange, golden, or indigo.
Caves run deep into these mountains. Any human visitors to this world would mistake them for treasure vaults...or gold mines. They might not be wrong to do so.
On Zero, sandstorms are common. Hence, wind erosion is, too. Alas, the material resources of Zero aren't like the stuff in the real world; on Zero, the mountains grow stronger, as the wind attempts to whet them to plains.
Here and there, in the midst of sand seas, a theropod skull lies. They're all much bigger than you'd think. The Sand Dimension is a lot more temporally flexible than the real world. TOO much so, if you asked many of the natives.
All across these lands, there are badlands. And there are softwood woods. And there are petrified woods. And there's sun-scorched land. And there are arches. And there are buttes. And there are mesas.
Some of these mesas stand as tall as spires. They tower over deserts and painted mountain ranges like none of the highest peaks do.
Atop this one, a portal of magic opens. From it, a girl falls. She lands on the spire...and squeals, while doing so. Above her, the portal vanishes...sealing her inside the Sand Dimension.
Atop the spire, she towers over the desert-covered mountains of Zero.
Meet Susanna Shala. Where she comes from, she's an Albanian immigrant. And that's no medal. But then, it might as well be. Albania's never been the best place to live. Hell, it wasn't even so when the Ottoman Turks ruled the natives.
All over Susanna, her clothes transfigure themselves...via sand magic. She now wears little more than a deep blue G-string.
From the edge of this spire, she looks down. Her groin aches; it's that far down. She's...not sure if trying to climb down is the smart thing to do. This land looks scary. Alas, she can't stay up here, either.
So, she spreads her weight out over the rock. She backs towards the edge...and keeps backing. She takes her long sweet time. Her appetite will probably start causing her to fatigue, after a while... But again, she can't stay up here.
From far away, a pair of male turtledoves fly. They look a bit like sandgrouse. But then, they should; a lot of Zero is sand. A lot of Arthros is, too...as is a lot of Titan.
Throughout the day, Susanna makes much progress. Or rather, it feels like she does. In reality, though, her progress is slowed by two things: her size, and how overly cautious she is about doing this.
Plus, the weather here isn't exactly a climber's best friend. Sometimes, it chills. Other times, it blows sand around. And to Susanna, grains of sand are like big glass boulders. She's always thankful when such a grain doesn't broadside her, and send her plummeting to her death.
She considers the possibility that at her size, and her new weight, she could just ride a current of wind as if she WERE a grain of sand... But first of all, even for her, that sounds too good to be true. (This G-string makes her feel fat, after all.) Second of all, she wouldn't be able to control where that wind took her. So, as long as she thinks she can make something out of it, she keeps going down, butt-first, as she's done.
Below her, the two turtledoves land. She hears them...and freezes.
Below, they peck at the rocky ledge they've just landed on. Susanna would wish she could see them, if she could see them. They're a sight for sore feminine eyes...even if they are doves.
She's not sure if she should keep going. She's got no idea what's down there. It sounds big...and possibly dangerous. Alas, her arms ache...and that's not the only thing. What's more, she's hungry. She only expects that to get worse.
So, she resumes her regress. In doing so, she steps on a fragile spot in the cliff wall...and falls.
One of the doves catches her by her butt with their beak. She squeals, and hangs upside down...as her savior lowers her to the stone, and releases her.
Now, lying on her upper back, with her own ass in her face...she can see her humongous saviors. They've got big breasts. (Funny; Susanna has never thought she'd ever hear herself thinking that about a guy.) They've very long necks; more like a Paraceratherium rhinoceros than a giraffe, though.
At her new size, their feet are much bigger...and their talons are like cone-shaped spires. They're intimidating... To Susanna, it's hard to believe that those are machines of peace, in other worlds...including the one she's native to.
Here, in the Sand Dimension, turtledoves still make dove noises. Lucky for her, these sound more clueless, coming from them, than masculine, or dangerous. She also senses that these two doves are brothers. But then, if they were gay lovers, Susanna almost wouldn't mind experimenting with the idea of them...making love to one another. Alas, if only they could do it without knowing that she'd be watching. They saved her; hence, she knows they know she's here.
One of them has a symbol tattooed, or what not, across his breast feathers. Susanna can't tell, from down here...but it looks like a cube. This confuses Susanna, of course. But then, it's good to see that there are runes in this world, as well as wildlife...and not to mention a plethora of natural resources than any nation, back in her own world, would go to war for.
For a while after this, Susanna isn't sure if she should move or stay. She doesn't think these doves would mistake her for food...but it's hard to tell.
Away from these rocks, the sands and dunes of Zero are big. The winds shape them...and throughout some days, they absorb the sepia sun's energy.
Half-buried in these sands, an abandoned heavy tank lies tilted, from corner to corner. Its turret is surfaced...but hardly impressively. This machine of war has seen better days...and not to mention a world where it's more likely to belong.
The tank's sides bear a roundel. It's of the Latverian military. Unclear, though, as to what interests the Latverian military would ever have in the Sand Dimension. OTOH, there might be a few possibilities...most of which have to do with who one of Latveria's senators is, these days...
In caves all over Zero, villains lurk. Lil Susanna wouldn't believe most of them, if she saw them.
In one cave, a creature named Annihilus lurks. He's an arthrosian, and hails from Arthros. Arthros harbored no life, before Annihilus came to being.
As a being, he's somewhere between insectoid and reptilian, and flaunts a pair of bat-like wings. For him, life has been rough. It's seasoned and weathered him; mostly weathered. He could sure use a hunk of meat to sink his teeth into, about now...
In another cave, a rocky-formed and rock-hard landlak lurks. He keeps a cauldron in the cave with him. He's lit some coals, atop which he sets the cauldron on.
With his power axe, he conjures potatoes, and other root vegetables. He drops them into the brew, and stews them. Meet Tyros. He might not look too wise, but he was born to be a king. Frankly, though, he'd settle for senator...
In another cave, a human inhabitant lurks. He's a ninja, and he wears a white strip of cloth around his head. The cloth blindfolds him. It's just as well that he doesn't wear it at all; he's blind.
Against the cave walls, many elder staves lean. These are a lot more useful to Harvey Allen than just weapons. He might be a fool...but he's not as foolish as they come. He's superhumanly intelligent...and his blind nature gives him a radar sense. The absence of his sight endows him with superhuman hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
Hence, he's aware of Annihilus's and Tyros's presence in these lands. For now, though, he does nothing. It's just as well. He's a ninja who fights with staves; hence, speed is not his strength.
In another cave, another human dwells. His name is Aleksei Sytsevich. He's a human/rhino hybrid. He's got two horns on his face, and an armored hide like you wouldn't believe. He's almost as blind as Allen.
In another cave, a third human dwells. Meet William Baker...although he prefers Flint. Most times, you can't tell he's in there...because he can change into sand. Via this, he can also grow and shrink, depending on what his latest urge is. And he can shapeshift. He makes the average serpent look lame.
Only Allen and Annihilus are aware of Susanna's arrival into their world. Alas, at this stage, they can only tell that she's here. But they don't know what she is, who she is, or how she got here. For both of them, that remains to be seen. And they'll be glad they saw her, if and when they do...as will the other three, who can't detect her nearly as well as they have.
For Susanna, this is an alien frontier. But then, she's not too overwhelmed. She's been known to fall for men who dream of becoming imperialists of sorts. In a way, she already has. She wouldn't believe that he's the reason she's here.