All Ways of Contending

[Dr Archeville]

See? Nothing attacking us, no danger.

No immediate danger. I don't trust him.

You do not trust anybody.

Archeville let out a sound indicating a mix of surprise and relief as he looked about. "So, ve are in Greece? How fascinating: most forms of pandimensional transfer I am avare of -- vhich, I do admit, are not many -- deposit a traveler to a point corresponding to de point of departure. I had expected us to arrive in de equivalent of de Hanover neighborhood of Freedom city in de United States of dis vorld."

He then turned to face Odysseus, "und you are a prince here? Even more fascinating! I presume dat dere are other royalty in your court, ja?"

We need to get to Germany.

Why?

Why? Why?! To see how we're doing, you fool!

[Cyroa]

Dark Star looked around with some interest before turning back to the man. "Really? I though you said something about everyone working together here. I pose no threat to anyone. Are there law about restricting travel in this world?" He was curious. If nothing else, he could check out the planet from orbit. "Which reminds me, I wonder if there is or was an analog of myself here," he said idly.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Ah...my dear Phaeton, I fear relations with other worlds are not as they should be," Odysseus admitted. "While many from offworld do make their homes on Earth, some of our dealings with other worlds have not been friendly. We have the Grue here too," he added, "and the blasted Farsiders." He shot a glance up at the sky at that. "Your double, I am sure, is a great hero of the spaceways. And we are peace, but it is a new peace. America might greet you kindly, but if you veered into the domains of Prince Ranaga or Lord DuLac...well, they have their reasons for paranoia. But I cannot say I share them. It is a new world now, a united world. I see no reason for us to continue our old petty squabbles now that all are one."

To Archeville, he added, "Oh yes, we have kept all the old forms of government here. And speaking of which, here comes my queen!" Having spent plenty of time in Freedom City and watched their share of the news, both Archeville and Dark Star recognized the elegant lady in the draped chiton approaching them with a dazzling white smile. Medea of Colchis was a lovely woman in any reality. The couple shared a warm embrace, and Odysseus gladly introduced Queen Medea, keeping a protective am around her shoulder as he introduced the sorceress to the new arrivals. "I was just about to tell Dr. Archeville here how it was your magic that brought us safely to my home."

"Yes, well..." Was Medea blushing? Her voice had an odd undertone that was difficult to pin down, a strange, calm way of speaking that seemed a little out of character for Earth-Prime's version of this woman. "You know that I do all that I can for you, my husband." She bowed low to the new arrivals and said, "Welcome to Greece. I hope your stay will be pleasant and fruitful." With his enhanced senses, Dark Star could easily feel the energy throbbing inside the tower where they stood; there was a significant source of energy in this huge skyscraper-cum-palace.

[Dr Archeville]

HA! See?! If he's such that this tart is afraid of what he'll do, he-

You do realize that, since she sent us a telepathic message, she can likely read our thoughts as well?

... and by 'tart' I mean 'delicate and delicious pastry'...

If you can hear me, madame, I would appreciate as quick an update as you can give. What, precisely, is the threat here?

Archeville was quite glad he'd been practicing telepathic communication with Scarab lately. His superhumanly fast mind had proven capable of carrying out two distinct conversations at once, one mental and one verbal, and training with her had honed this ability.

"Prince Ranaga? Lord DuLac? I confess to some confusion, Herr Odysseus: if dose two are whom I dink dey are -- und given whom I haff seen so far" he looked over and nodded towards Stratos and Medea, "I have little doubt -- den it seems de highest echelons of dis vorld are populated by individuals whom, in mein vorld, are vanted und unrepentant criminals, known as Crimson Katana und Baron Samedi, respectively"

He looked back to Stratos and Medea, and made a small apologetic bow, "I mean no offense, of course. I know dis is a different vorld, und it is entirely possible dat de events vhich lead dose people on mein vorld to become criminals may never haff occurred to you, here."

[Cyroa]

Dark Star nodded as he listened to Odysseyus. "Have you had a lot of trouble with those from offworld?" Inwardly, he let his mind pick up various radio signals, sliding through the frequencies to see what information he could pick up. He noted the massive power beneath them as well. He let his senses extend, pushing outward beyond the conversations immediate area. "This fragile peace you have. How long have you had it? And if such paranoid views persist, I would not wish to cause any misunderstandings."

He looked over, still in thought at the information and his search, at the Doctor's revelation. "Amazing," he said half to himself. "Such differences. Technological like the power source you have here as well as people. Hopefully our world can be unified through peace and understanding as well."

[Avenger Assembled]

Listen to me, man, and listen well, for his ears are everywhere even in the gulf between minds. Medea's "voice" was calmer now, but the repressed tension there was obvious even as she smiled and cocked her head at the conversation, the very image of the loyal, attentive spouse. They will take your world as they took this one in the name of their master. They will buy the loyalty of some of your champions and slay the others. And then the world, and everyone on it, will be theirs. I tell you this because even now I am Medea of Colchis, and I know the hearts of men.

"It is true," Odysseus replied carefully, "that Ranaga and Samedi have both done terrible things in their time. But I think you will find, too, that there are few great kings who have not committed some sin or another on their rise to power. We have moved beyond superhero and supervillian here, and come to deal with everyone willing to work for world peace on an equal, honest footing. The sins of the past here are as dead as Poseidon." To Dark Star, he added, "As for other worlds, our primary conflicts have been with the Grue and the Farsiders. The Grue first invaded, oh, back in the 1940s, not long after I began acting as a superhero alongside the Patriot and the Sea-King. Their story on our world has been...too similar to your own, I think. As for the Farsiders, 'King' Mentac has been a thorn in the side of our civilization since the first Lunar colonies were built in the 1970s. I understand he was something of a hero on your world...but, then, many things were different there."

In the air, Dark Star could hear things. Most of the traffic seemed to be in English, though there was also significant coded traffic, probably military. There was an announcement from Egypt that the annual celebration of the death of Heru-Ra attracted crowds large enough to fill the streets of Thebes three times over, and that the celebration about the purging of Tan-Aktor at the end of the year will surely double that number. There were patriotic broadcasts in the air proclaiming the recent third anniversary of the unification of the Earth; another reminding everyone about the penalty for harming a spider. Civilian traffic was amazingly low, with virtually none of the free transmissions he'd come to associate with Earth-Prime.

"So, gentlemen, shall we go? The whole world is waiting for us out there."

[Dr Archeville]

Thank you very much, madame.

Yeah, thanks for nothing; we could've figured this out on our own in time.

Possibly, but by the time we had it may be too late. Especially since we'd have to be resisting both Odysseus' lures and your susceptibility to them!

Susceptibility? Bah! We'd only pretend to go along until we could take over for ourselves! C'mon, let's see what else is around!

... we are... curious as to what other changes are evident here. So we can make as informed an assessment as possible.

"I am very interested in seeing vhat other vonders abound on dis vorld, Herr Odysseus," Archeville began, "dough I am afraid you caught my... companion und I at a bad time, as ve vere in de midst of some critical experiments. Ve must get back soon -- not immediately, but soon enough dat ve can not afford de time necessary to take a detailed tour of your vondrous city. I dink ve can spare enough time to do von fly-over. I am sure you understand, being a man of science yourself, how time-sensitive some projects can be. I vould be eager to come back at a latter date, dough, vhen I can devote more time to seeing und absorbing all you haff to offer. Und in de meantime, I can run vhat you haff shown me by some of mein other colleagues, und see if I can bring dem on board."

As he talked he had retrieved his Electromagnetic Screwdriver from his pocket and had begun to fiddle with it, "und now dat ve are here, I can use dis to take dimensional readings vhich I can feed into de Transdimensional Communication und Transfer System in mein laboratory on mein Earth to keep in contact."

[Cyroa]

Dark Star nodded at the man. "Ah, of course. One never knows what differences there are in various realities. I'll try not to make assumptions. Our worlds seem to be quite different in some regards. Our troubles with the various off world species seem to be a little different. So who or what governments rule the various countries," he asked out of curiosity. "I'm not used the the 'quiet' here. Back home, the radio waves are chock full. Here, there's practically nothing. But happy third anniversary for the Unification. A noble and worthwhile accomplishment."

Dark Star was naturally a trusting person. But virtually no free radio traffic seemed weird. It wasn't hard to do, so why wasn't it? Perhaps they simply had stricter rules here. Still, he'd have to try and be more aware and less blindly trusting. The Doctor seemed extremely resistant to the man and the possibilities. They weren't working on anything that needed to finished anytime soon. Perhaps the man was trying to warn him? If so, why didn't he use the graviton devices he owned to communicate as before? Maybe the Doctor just disliked Odysseus? It would be nice to ask, but if the Doctor suspected something, that would pretty much blow it. Having a telepath would be handy know. He idly wondered where Scarab was before turning back to focus on the task at hand.

"I could give the place a quick exploration and be back soon enough if you don't need me. Kind of curious as what else is different in this universe." He was curious and would really like to explore some, but if the Doctor suspected or needed him, he didn't want to stray too far.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yes, by all means, let us fly over the city," said Odysseus, suddenly shooting a hard look at his wife. He pulled her away from the two men to have a hard, quietly spoken conversation with her, the former Greek witch looking down contritely and then walking away with her face downcast to join her attendants before Odysseus rejoined the two men. "Yes, shall we fly? I shall take you across the city." To Dark Star, he added, "By all means, fly where you wish. I only ask that you make sure to not present an easy target as you go. If you can listen and fly at the same time, I shall tell you both the story of how we came to be unified."

Athens was a glorious Greek city beneath the heroes as they took off, a study in contradictions as ancient monuments and ruins lay among skyscrapers as modern and gorgeous as anything anyone could hope to find in Freedom City. "Our world was like yours for many centuries; divided, torn apart by war and strife, with heroes and villians tearing the world apart in their foolish struggles for power. Many things here were the same, though others were different. It was _I_ who Posiedon cursed with immortality, not my friend Daedalus, gone these forty centuries now. And later, we had a Gladiator where you had a Centurion," he added, "though unfortunately my friend was killed in his last great battle with his old enemy August Roman. That was...the beginning of things, I think."

[Dr Archeville]

We need to get a message to Dark Star, quick, tell him not to go too far.

Aw, are you afraid?

Yes, and you should be, too!

As soon as Odysseus had turned to his wife, Archeville fingers flew as he adjusted his E.S. again to send a quick gravitic pulse message to Dark Star. "Danger. Do not go far. Keep ears open." He hoped that Dark Star realized that by 'ears' he meant 'your assorted electromagnetic and gravitic senses.'

As they flew, Archeville nodded along with Odysseus' words, and could not help but look admiringly at the ultramodern skyscrapers. "Roman defeated Gladiator? Your Gladiator must haff been qvite different from our Centurion, or else your August Roman must haff been very different from ours, for I do not see how such a ding vould be possible."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Yes," continued Odysseus, his voice grave. "Roman's final mad scheme nearly destroyed the world, and it killed Gladiator tearing apart his battlesuit and hurling him into space. That was...oh, nearly thirty years ago now. It was after that things began to change here. First for the worst, then for the better. Without the person of the Gladiator, or the Centurion, the heroes of our world lacked direction, lacked leadership. There was chaos, violence, and disorder all over the world. Even after Freedom City was rebuilt and the Liberty Brigade reborn, things were worse."

[Cyroa]

Dark Star had just been about to rocket off around the world a couple times or check out how the world looked from orbit when he felt the Doctor's message. He didn't give any sign of acknowledgement; it wasn't worth the risk of discovery. The message meant that their host was definitely not on the up-and-up. Which also meant he and the Doctor were trapped in a different reality. He idly wondered if he could somehow create a wormhole that pierced and travelled dimensions instead of distances. An interesting idea, but for now he had to focus!

He let his senses push out to their limits, not holding back any longer as they flew. He didn't understand what the danger was or why they'd been brought here, but he trusted the Doctor's assessment. He had no intention of being caught unawares if he could help it.

[Dr Archeville]

Good, it looks like he's staying.

Meh. We can handle this on our own, we don't need to be babysitting the star-child.

"Vorse? How?" Archeville asked. "Und how did dings come to be so stabilized, so... peaceful? Und... vell, dere is no vay to ask dis mitout some degree of nepotism, but do you know vhere mein counterpart vas in all dis?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"I can't say," said Odysseus, the tone of his voice suggesting a truth that concealed a gargantuan lie. "I can say truthfully that I am acquainted with everyone working for peace in the new Europe, and there is no counterpart of yours engaged in such a task. The differences between worlds is small in some area; profound in others. I can say that you've been luckier in some places than we were, but far worse in others." Archeville thought a smile might be tugging at the man's helmeted lips. "That is, I suppose, the way of the multiverse. As for how things became so stabilized, well, we owe much of that to the father of the new age. He has no counterpart on your world, but here he is the greatest of men. Would you care to meet him? I can arrange to have us both teleported to Freedom City."

[Dr Archeville]

Brainwashing Sense... tingling!

Eh? Oh, come on, now, you-

Hey, Genius! Doesn't anything here look familiar? Doesn't it remind you of anything?

What are you talking about? Okay, sure, those blast sites look to be in a vague pattern, and the communications dishes on that building could double as a... as a... oh. Oh!

"Alas," Archeville said with a disappointed sigh, "it is time Dark Star und I started to head back to our home dimension, und back to our experiments. Time vaits for no man... at least, not until I finish dat Temporal Flux Capacitator! So, ve shall contact you in, say, two veeks time? Dat should give me ample time to bring some of mein associates over, und den ve can all meet dis revolutionary peacemaker in von sitting."

[Cyroa]

Dark Star moved along with them silently, not having anything to say. He simply listened, looked and observed. Honestly, on the surface this world looked ideal. Peace, unified coutries. People working together. It sure sounded good to him. There were a few oddities of course but nothing that jumped right out and screamed 'evil' or 'danger'. He'd continue to simple trust the Doctor's judgement.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Certainly," replied Odysseus, "Follow me, and I'll take you right where you need to go." He turned and began cutting a new path through the sky, heading back towards the huge tower where the two dimension-traveling heroes had landed. "I just wish you could have stayed longer. We have so many things to show you here; so much we can learn from each other. It would be a shame to have it come to an end too quickly."

[Dr Archeville]

See, he is going to escort us back to-

to drink the Kool-Aid!

"Drink the Kool-Aid" is erroneous, since it was actually Flavor Aid used in the Jonestow- oh.

Yeah. And I'm pretty sure he's on to us, too.

"Oh, did is not an end, Herr Odysseus," Archeville said as he turned -- a bit slower than usual -- to follow Odysseus. As he did, he took out his E.S. again and began to fiddle with it, "merely a pause in our burgeoning relationship. We shall meet again, und vhen ve do, I shall bring others mit me. Er, you do not mind if I take some video recording of dese scenes, do you? De architecture you haff here is so impressive, und de view from up here is incomparable!"

Part of his E.S. had been reconfigured into a high-quality video camera, but other parts were converted to the shielded grav-comm line he'd developed for us with Dark Star. "Immediate Danger, Evac us now!"

[Cyroa]

Dark Star had simply been looking, trying to determine what he could of this place. He let the Doctor handle all the rest. The man was a genius after all and Dark Star trusted the man implicitly. Dark Star's job was just to keep an eye out and provide support as far as he could tell. So when the Doctor's message reached him, there was no pause between thought and action.

One second they were simply moving along. The next, Dark Star reached out and linked the Doctor's gravity to his own, holding the man close and tight. Once that gavitic/telekinetic tether was attached, the rest of his energy was devoted to going up as fast as he could. A few moments later, when they got closer to orbit and it was needed, Dark Star readied the gravity shield for the Doctor, not recalling if the man could survive space or not.

[Avenger Assembled]

Just as Dark Star was about to break atmosphere, he felt something like iron bars close around his own insubstantial body and nearly jerked to a halt, only his fantastic powers keeping him moving. Looking back he saw a now fully-armored Odysseus coming up behind him fast, glowing, half-visible silver chains having wrapped themselves right around Dark Star's midsection. "Fools!" came Odysseus' voice, pumped in by radio to Dark Star's enhanced senses. "Don't you know what they'll do to you!? I'm trying to save your lives and your world!"

[Dr Archeville]

Well, I can take some satisfaction in how things turned out.

What?! What satisfaction can you possibly be getting from this?

Well, with this self-preservation aspect kicking in, I am fairly certain you cannot ally with Odysseus now, and thus not later betray and take over his empire, or get close enough to study the history of how he took over and apply them to our home-world.

......... dammit!

"Sorry, Herr Odysseus, but your tone reminds me of someone back home. Someone I trust no further dan I can throw!"

As he yelled out, Archeville was furiously reconfiguring his Electromagnetic Screwdriver, setting it to send out an intense directed 'scream' of radio waves and other non-visible electromagnetic energies... which he unleashed on Odysseus.

[Avenger Assembled]

Jinking wildly in the air, Odysseus pulled off a shockingly fast piece of aerobatics as he dodged Dr. Archeville's radio burst. "Fools!" came his voice on the radio again. "You leave me no choice but to take extreme measures!" Still clinging to the fast-moving Dark Star like a New England whaler to a punctured sperm whale, Odysseus began to glow visibly, the magical and alchemical sigils on his armor glowing brightly as they shifted and warped around on the living metal that covered his skin. "Feel the might of Apollo's Wrath!" As the heroes watched, a gout of flame came bursting from Odysseus's outstretched hands, burning past the metal chains around Dark Star to strike at both of them!

[Cyroa]

Dark Star scowled, their options limited as they were almost leaving the atmosphere. He didn't manage to evade the fire but it did little to slow him down though he could tell it had been a close one. The Doctor didn't fare so well unfortunately, apparently still reeling and a little slumped supported only by Dark Star's gravitic grip. Unfortunately they could outrun their attacker while the man had his strange chains attacked to Dark Star. Nor could he effectively take the man out while most of his power was diverted to flying and holding the Doctor. Aw hell...

"Doc...gonna have to trust me on this..." With that, Dark Star let go of his fellow hero and slowed himself dramatically. Looking downward to the villain being held aloft by the chain, Dark Star scowled. "Put a sock in it ya windbag. No free rides!" With that he unleashed the graviton beam. Not at Odysseus but at the tether, that kept him aloft.

[Avenger Assembled]

The mystical chains wrapped around Dark Star shattered into rapidly sublimating fragments, the sheer power of the space-bound hero's blast having broken apart his magical bindings. At this juncture, Odysseus belatedly discovered that diverting the power reserves that generally powered his flight to the blast earlier had been a serious error in judgement. With a radio-borne shout of "Noooo!" he began falling back to Earth, his suit glowing as it fought to stabilize him in the atmosphere. Dark Star and Doctor Archeville had their escape, but they'd have to make it fast. There were planes beginning to come up from the atmosphere below, black ones with yellow jets of plasma behind them, coming up fast.

[Dr Archeville]

Oh shi-

Oh bo-

Odysseus' massive blast had in fact overloaded Archeville's force field and left him very badly damaged.

And now he was plummeting.