These are the lands of Iranistan. They've come a long way since the Stone Age...although at present, one can hardly tell. By now, iron and bronze have both come along. In the Northwest, Ancient Rome has barely been born; Acheron is what it's called these days. Rumor has it that Kang has conquered a few places in this time period. He hasn't conquered Cimmeria yet...although he might want to...especially before a certain sword-forging barbarian becomes its king.

A very deep crevasse runs across these lands...and curves many times while doing so. One wouldn't want to fall in...unless they could fly. Many freaks and monsters have been reported to come out of that crevasse... But then, the same people probably say that Ahura Mazda is real.

This is the Hyborian Age. Far to the East, the lands of Lemuria have long been drowned by the floods of the Indo-Pacific. Far to the West, the lands of Talokan and Atlantis haven't fared much better...or at least not where land-dwellers are concerned.

Uphill, there are caves. Many more cavefolk once lived here, of course. Alas, Iranistan has evolved a bit, since iron and bronze were forged into craft for the first time. At least Zoroastrianism still lingers. Islam won't be born for many more centuries; maybe even a few millennia.

Out from one, a boy emerges. He's dressed like a caveboy...and yet, he doesn't often do a caveboy's will. There's a reason for that. This might be hard to believe, but that boy once lived in East California in the present day. Since then, though, he's gone through Terrigenesis. His life hasn't been the same since.

These caves are hardly the sum of where he's been. A lot of things have happened to him between East California and here/now. And they've all happened in a pocket world that few humans have ever been to. Its gateways are some of the smallest in existence.

In his downtime, this Japethite has wrought much weaponry. He must. Since he got here, the wild of Iranistan hasn't allowed him to rest. But at least Iranistan seems a lot more merciful than the pocket world he was trapped in ever was.

He's made a spear, of course. He's also improvised a leather-covered shield. Unclear, as to how the shield never loses his integrity... Hyborian Iranistan is full of beasts and freaks. They're not all hostile...but Aaron needs to be prepared for if they are. This, he knows; last time he got stranded, which was rather recently, he was enslaved by a horde of lizard-like freaks.

In the sky not too far away, a time-ship materializes. It flies towards Aaron's cave. Its radar cross-section is minimal; not that it would need that now. Its cloaking tech is ahead of its generation.

The ship's helm is controlled by Recording Observation Bot (i.e. ROB), an AI. ROB is an agent of Temporal Irregularity Management and Eradication (i.e. TIME). With an HQ in the future, TIME protects history, as well as its humanity, from chrono-borne threats.

These days, alas, TIME is still dwarfed, in both capital and manpower, by both Kang's Empire and the Time Variance Authority (i.e. the TVA). Both are slowly still learning both what TIME is, and who works for it. They still don't know the name of its director. Without luck, the TVA will one day put her on trial. With even less luck, Kang will murder her in cold blood. But then, at least she has one thing in common with Kang; her blood is, in fact, very cold.

Downhill, the time-ship lands. It cloaks itself, to remain concealed from any random Iranistani Hyborian passers-by. Few are likely to come by. It's just as well that they do when the ship's not cloaked; in this day and age, they wouldn't likely know what they saw.

From its port side, the time-ship lowers a ramp. It does so rather slowly. While doing so, it inspects the atmosphere for local "fad hazards." One might even say it's blazing a trail.

Down from the ramp, a junior TIME agent alights. She's the Director's protegee. Her name is Nose. (That's not pronounced how you'd think.)

Aaron's cave is a long way up. But of course, Agent Nose wouldn't have joined TIME if she wasn't prepared for a few hardships. She hasn't covered much of history at this point in her career. Again, she's merely the Director's protegee.

Lucky for her, the way up isn't too steep. She almost feels bad for who she's about to meet. If it's this easy for anyone to access a cave in Hyboria, then the cave needs a new security system, because the old one won't work if a foe comes along.

Aaron hears her coming. He comes outside, armed, and waits...

Nose arrives...and unsnaps her sidearm, when she sees that Aaron's armed. Her pistol is non-lethal...but she wouldn't expect an actual caveboy to know that. At present, though, she's still not sure if Aaron's a pseudo-caveboy. Seems strange he'd be one at all; there's an Iranistani village not too far from here.

A brief standoff ensues. Or rather it's more of a "cold standoff." Neither belligerent opens fire. It's also unclear as to whether either belligerent wants to open fire...

Aaron crouches and makes a move to lay down his spear. He doesn't seem to want to fight anymore than the TIME agent before him does.

Nose snaps her pistol holster. Aaron reacts to dropping the spear entirely. Now, they can interact freely. Alas, Nose isn't sure if she knows what tongue this caveboy speaks.

Nose takes a few steps forward. "Can you," she tries to ask him, "understand me?" She asks the question once in her own native Japanese...and then repeats it in Iranistani...and then repeats it in English.

He nods. "I understand you now."

She seems confused. "You're...American?"

He nods. "I'm not from here. I've told a few people that since getting here. They've been less than helpful. Plus, a lot of them only speak Iranistani." He lowers his brows. "Don't the Kardashians have an ancestor from here?"

Nose raises hers. "You're from my time?"

He studies her. "Wait... You know about time travel?"

"I'm Agent Nose...with TIME." She snaps, as she remembers her likely need to spell out the acronym. "Temporal Irregularity Management and Eradication. I don't know if you're aware, but there's a spy agency in our time called SHIELD. Well, TIME is a splinter agency of it. We specialize in history-borne threats; but then, you probably have already figured that out." She lowers her brows. "You're not from the San Fernando Valley, are you?"

He half-smiles. "Is my California heritage that obvious?!"

She frowns. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean..."

"Oh no, I didn't mean to say I'm from the San Fernando Valley. I'm not. I'm from East California; a few hours away from San Bernardino." He frowns. "And also a lot closer to Sacramento than I'd like to admit."

She looks around. "Do you...need help?"

He shrugs. "I don't suppose you could take me home?"

She nods. "I have a mind to do that, yes. Although we might have to process you for a few days before returning you. I also can't promise that you will be returned. If it turns out that you're a threat, you might have to be relocated to a classified location...in which case you'd only ever see East California from a bird's eye view...if evermore."

"I would like to get away from here. Nights are very scary."

She looks around. "Do you need a moment to pack?"

She chuckles. "I didn't bring anything with me when I got stuck here. I had a few things in..." He hesitates. "I'll tell you about that later." He beams. "So...where are we going?"

He follows her downhill, to the time-ship. At first he's confused, because he can't see it. Alas, the time-ship de-cloaks itself as they approach. Aaron, of course, is wowed by its exterior. He's even more wowed by its many-chambered interior. The Doctor, a benevolent time-travelling alien, once consulted on how to build this time-ship. As it is with the Doctor's own time-ship, the TARDIS, this TIME time-ship is "bigger on the inside."

This is a temple. It's been abandoned...for now. It won't be so for long.

This is the rooftop. In the old days, Iranistani Hyborians would come up here to perform certain Zoroastrian rituals. The Temple of Gibborim has been known to sacrifice runaway children up here, as well. The Eternal Makkari once appeared before her cult here. She was very punctual...as she often is. Alas, no sung hymn will ever soothe her.

One at a time, seven time-travelers teleport into view. One at a time, they remove their helmets. One simply lifts the windshield around his hoverchair. Many would wish he never would; he's quite hideous beneath it...or even without it.

It seems that the New Intelligencia and the Masters of Evil, a pair of villain teams in the present-day, have teamed up. The robotic Mad Thinker, the mutant chimaera Mr. Sinister, and the physically infantile hoverchair-bound MODOK have teamed up with the trick-archer Bowman, the electromagnetic energy being Photon, the mysterious tech-wielding superwarrior Gutsen Glory, and the multiverse-faring magus Mr. America. Neither of their rosters are complete; less than half of their respective teams didn't respond when called. They're seemingly not as big on time travel as half of their respective teammates.

It's clear that if they're here for Aaron, they're too late. And yet, this might not be as so as it appears; Aaron might very well come back to this time and place...if Aaron is even these villains' quarry at all.