Issue Seven: Infinity Quest

Blue.

Everything is blue.

You don't quite know what the heck Thanos just did to you, but everything around you is blue.

You're in a dark, smoky area, where cloudy ripples of blue pass through the air all around you. Interestingly, you (primarily your clothing, actually) appear to have your regular coloration, but everything else appears blue. Looking around you, you see your other companions, who look as confused as you do. Everyone is conscious and seemingly fine, you just can't make out any details of the environment around you.

The more religious among you may think you've arrived in Puratory. Or Limbo.

After a few seconds, one your eyes get adjusted to the dim light, you can make out what appear to be two large groups of figures in the distance.

After observing them for a few seconds, the group off to the left seems to mostly disappear, leaving only two shades behind.

The two shadowy figures move towards your party. Within a few seconds, you can make out features on the pair...



"Greetings once again, my intrepid assosciates. I see you have added several new members to your ranks since we last met", the man without the mask says to you.

The man with the mask, however, remains curiously silent.

GM's Note.

Benni blinks her eyes several times as Thanos, a character out of comics shows up and blasts them into nothingness. As she looks around wide-eyed into the blueness and two more comic book characters she recognizes walk up: Doctor Strange and Bolt, she takes a deep breath, "Oookay, well... this must mean the Many World Interpretation by Everett is correct and somehow when connecting the O.T.D to a power source I activated something and destablized my quantum signature and sent myself to this universe by...." obscure quantum physics theory and how she set up the Orphu Teleportation Device 10 minutes later, "Or I have gone completely insane as my brain was fried by the resulting overload and I am dreaming right now. Oh, I am Alohi Benedetta Ricci, please call me Benni. I am from a Earth with no superheroines in it. The Avengers are just comic book characters to me and you'll were never in the comics when I read them as a child, although they were." Benni points to Dr Strange and Bolt, "Mr X, I am not 7 ft tall, I am 5 feet tall. And what the HELL!!!" Benni finishes as she throws up her hands in complete confusion.

State of Clothing

X looks around and coughs for a moment while his eyes adjust to the room. He stares at his hands for a minnute while his eyes adjust. X starts talking under his breath while his eyes change.

That has never ever ever happpend to me before. I have never been wrong about the application of powers. This pisses me off to no end. I hope that second thing does not happen. I would not have the ablity to handle it here. X then looks up at Benni while she talks.

My dear you are 7' tall right now. It seems that you need adjust to life at that height. Well what do you know Dr. Strange good to meet you again. It has been a long while scince the last time I saw you Doc. Now Dr. strange were in the universe are we now then hum. X begins to look for something in the pokets of his trench.

"The fact that we all have been summoned here, to the Astral Plane,", Dr. Strange begins to explain "is due to a magical contingency I put in place. It means that you must have encountered Thanos again. Or that he is close to obtaining another of the Infinity Gems. Or both."

"The Infinity Gems are a set of 6 colored stones, each allowing the user control over one aspect of existance: Time, Space, Mind, Soul, Reality, and Power. Black Bolt and I have reason to believe Thanos may have already obtained the Mind and Power gems and he is searching for the others."

"I have had premontions of Thanos' return and, for some reason, I know that some of you are to be involved in defeating Thanos...but the future is uncertian and I cannot be certain which roles you individually must play. What we do know, however, is that in order to defeat Thanos, it is imperitive that you obtain the rest of the Infinity Gems before he does. That's why I have gathered us all here. The gems become more difficult to find as you find more of them, so we must split up and seek out the remaining four gems individually. Black Bolt and I will pursue the Space and Soul gems. We need you to break into two teams and search simultaneously for the Time and Reality gems. Although I cannot assist you further in person, I have created a scroll for each of your search parties that can offer some assistance in your quests..."

Still more to come.

Maelstrom came to, floating in dreamy blue with his head in Cap's lap. How embarrassing. Looking about himself, he said with surprising calm, "Ah. Not again. I remember how this goes..." Then he looked about and found his companions still alive. He blinked. Then he smiled. "Oh. That's different than last time. Good."

Or in Maelstrom's case, he figured he was adrift in a whole new universe somewhere, just like before, only this time he wouldn't be alone for years and years. Good thing they liked one another.

Beorn was flabbergasted. "Hey! I remember you from the park! You closed that rift!"

Maelstrom remembered why he'd passed out now. The woman. He looked at her and was a little moon-struck. She was like him. Someone else like him. She couldn't be from his world could she? He was certain he'd destroyed it. He remembered dying, several thousand times actually, and he was pretty sure everyone else had as well. Still, though, here she was with a story so close to his own. He knew what kind of confusion she'd be feeling, though at least she hadn't spent an eternity floating in deep space before finding this earth. He drifted toward her and put out his hand. Without thinking, his form gradually expanded until he was proportional to her. He didn't even seem to notice as it happened.

"Miss Benni. I'm Beorn Brokson, and you are confused by all this. I know. When we have a chance I will help explain it all to you. Be calm. You're among friends."

Then the Doctor began his explanation and Beorn's attention was pulled to him and his fantastic, awful explanation...

I have to look it up, but I will need to spend some karma to do that size trick again. I'll edit in the expense shortly. Meantime, karma for a red result on telereformation.

Dice Roll: 1d100
d100 Results: 95

It looks like that isn't a stunt and I rolled a red, so lucky me, no karma.

Blackbird takes several long, deep breaths while he tries to calm his racing heart. Behind his mirrored shades, his eyes flick from side to side to ensure that the purple-skinned powerhouse is indeed nowhere to be seen and they are safe.

To suggest that the African-American had been apprehensive of their meeting with Thanos would be putting it mildly. After perousing the Avengers records on the man, Blackbird had felt entirely out of his depth - and the day's events had not at all disappointed him.

Required polite behaviour of a gentleman assisted nicely in jolting him back to attention. With a nod of greeting to Dr. Strange, Blackbird turned to the tall woman in their midst. "Ma'am, greetings once again. While I cannot pretend to understand the vast majority of what you have said - my expertise is in the practical hands-on application of tools rather than the theoretical sciences - I can assure you that I stand at 6'2" in these boots. You are - currently at the least - well above that."

And while Captain America may well be what this man strives to embody, he is still quite human. With a slight cough, he turns back to Dr. Strange before adding, "And it appears from your clothes that you may well have been five feet tall prior to your transportation. Dr. Strange - would you or your friend perhaps have anything more suitable for the lady?"

Cap looks questioningly at Maelstrom, as if wondering if Mal realizes he's doing the 'size thing' again...

"Ah...oh, yes..." With the entension of his finger, Stephen Strange makes the scorch marks disappear from Benni's clothes and they seem to alter in size to fit her current form more appropriately.

"These scrolls", Strange continues, "begin with an arcane passage which will allow you to find another spellcaster sympathetic to your mission. Present the scroll to that person and they should be able to help you to the next step of your quest. Once the gems are in your posession, King Black Bolt and myself will meet with you again. Now, go...and good luck to you. The fate of our very existance now rests in your capable hands."

"No pressure. Gee, thanks, doc", Captain replies.

GM Note:

OK, I need two teams:

Team A will have EnergyStar (PC) and Cap (NPC).
Team 2 will have Jericho Tesla (PC) and Radical Warrior (NPC).

Further GM Note.

"What.. 7 feet? You sure?" Benni blinks at Blackbird and then shakes hands with Beorn, "Didn't you win a gold medal in the Olympics a couple years ago?"

Benni gets distracted as she measures the length of Beorn's middle joint on his pointing finger and then uses that as the base of estimating others peoples height and eyes grow wide as indeed she does seem to be 7 foot now. "Umm..well.. it does seem that I am 7 feet tall now.. and buff.. feels like my body...but feels more powerful. Umm.. any one have a mir... aahh.. thanks.. umm... Dr Strange." Benni gasps in surprise as her clothes suddenly fix themselves as she looks down at her now buff and tall body and now fully clothed... having not realized the state of her clothing with her general state of disorientation.

Benni feels completely out of place as honest to god superheroes talk about how to save the world. She tries to stay in the background while trying to figure out how she is going to get home again...but that is going to be hard with the OTD completely destroyed. She also has to figure out what Quantum wavelength she comes from and what Quantum wavelength she is currently in.

"Ummm.. where should I go while you are recovering the... Infinity Stones. And Thanos..the big rock like guy did have two colored stones floating around his head, blue and red colored." Benni offers as she looks around the "blueness" to see if there is a place where a non-super powered person can stay. Benni pauses in thought, "Hm.. we are in blueness.. are we...some how in the blue stone?? Crazy idea, I know. I think the blue stone is mind... and since you all have super powers, anything is possible and he...thanos... somehow pulled our minds or bodies into the blue stone??"

Team

"That is a good question, ma'am," and Blackbird turns to direct it to Dr. Strange. "Sir, what exactly happened to us when the Captain turned Thanos' request down?"

Chain of command and formality. Both come easily to the military mind.

GM Note.

"With whichever team you choose, miss," the doctor responds. Perhaps sensing Benni's surprise, he continues, "yes, I'm afraid that your being here is no mistake. You must apparently have some role to play in these events as well..."

Benni feels herself swallow hard.

"Yes", Stephen responds, "those were the two gems he has managed to retrieve so far."

"Right now", the doctor explained, "we are actually in the Astral Plane, where I managed to transport not only our spirits, but our physical forms as well...no small feat, mind you...while we are here, we should be undetectable by anyone searching for us, as I currently have us hidden in a time pocket which is...well...let us say 'not quite linear'...

You were brought here as a result of the contingency I put into place. This was not the result of any action taken...or to be taken...by Thanos himself"