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NEW BOSNIA
Part 5: The Land of Plans and Castles
Catalogue of Universes:
- SW10 (Superhuman World 10) plus variants MW01, MW02, TW03
- LNH (Legion of Net.Heroes / Looniverse) plus variant Tooniverse, incorporating elements of the Charlton Universe
- MV (Marlo Vivo / Super Wizard from Space)
Dramatis Objecta et Personae:
- Scott Stiles, a.k.a. the "Super Savior", from Earth-SW10 ("Superhuman World 10").
- Psychovant the Duck, from Earth-SW10. Current location unknown.
- The Sultan Hope Springs VII, resident on Earth-TW03 ("Earth-Turkworld").
- Two "Kubrik's Kubes", cosmic artifacts from the "Looniverse" ("Earth-LNH").
- Atomic Rabbit / Atomic Bunny, from the "Charlton Universe" circa 1955, via the LNH Tooniverse.
- Gavrilo the Super Hermit Wizard Monster Bee from Beyond, from the universe of the Super Wizards From Space ("Earth-MV").
- Tor the Monster Bee, originally from Earth-MW01 ("Earth-Tyrmj"). Stung by Gavrilo.
All characters and items are now on Earth-TW03 ("Earth-Turkworld") unless otherwise specified.
What Has Gone Before:
The superhuman former basketball player Scott Stiles, also known as the Super Savior, has led 144,000 religious refugees from his famine-stricken Earth to an alternate Earth whose leading power is Turkey. The Turks were ready for them. They were captured near New York City by the army of this universe's Sultan, Hope Springs VII.
A hermit wizard monster-bee from yet a third universe was sucked along with the refugees. He used his wizard powers to resist capture, stung one man, then saved Scott Stiles and flew away. The stung man became a monster-bee and followed. They hide now in a warehouse in Bayonne, New Jersey - known as New Bosnia here.
Mr. Stiles went out exploring, and heard about the True USA - which only goes as far west as Denver. Meanwhile, the bees captured a bunny and a duck - Atomic Bunny and Psychovant the Duck. Those were depowered, though Psychovant could still speak.
The Sultan began planning against the invaders. He has many consultants with many plans to deal with bees. One plan began with an artillery barrage. In the resultant combat, the monster bees and Psychovant the Duck (with powers restored) all broke loose from Scott Stiles' party. With nearly nothing left, Scott hooked up with a True USA agent.
Then the bunny spoke.
Previous Episode: New Bosnia Part 4: The Land of Guns and Women (www.eilertech.com/stories/2011/newbosnia4.txt)
Wednesday 25 May 2011
Scott woke up in a bed. A nice human bed. In a bedroom. He'd stripped to his boxer shorts.
"Oh, right. The safe house."
He'd left his clothes in a pile on the floor. The bunny was sleeping on them. Scott said quietly, "That's okay, li'l guy. I've got other clothes."
Soon he was dressed, and down a stairway. In the kitchen, the woman from the night before was talking into some sort of headset, cabled to the wall. She looked at him, gasped, said, "Must go now", and hung up the headset. Then she asked, "What happened to you??"
"Oh, right. I got shot in these clothes."
"What? Just now?"
"No, the other day... What kind of spy gear is that?" Scott pointed at the headgear.
"It is a telephone. Do you not have those where you come from?"
"We do, but they look different... Your name is Natalie, right? Where exactly are we again?"
"Sorry. I am indeed Natalie, but location is need-to-know basis only."
"If we're working together, I need to know."
"Fine. Rahway."
"Thanks..." The word Rahway meant nothing to Scott. "Might as well get to business. What do you want with me?"
"Want with you? ... Oh. Want from you."
"That's one way of putting it."
"You speak weird English. Anyway... You were with the prisoners in the Meadowlands. We would set them free."
"Who's 'we'?"
"I am an agent of True United States of America. Southron USA is working with them too. Turkish takeovers of New York Free City and Russian America have them all worried."
"Them? What about you?"
"I am Kurdish. We are..."
"Say no more. We have Kurds too."
"Thank you. If we arm your prisoners, will they fight?"
Scott thought for a second. "A bunch will. We brought a small army. But the New Sentinel's there too. He's even better than an army."
"Fine. We sneak in with supply convoys tomorrow."
"No!" Scott and Natalie both turned, as a voice squeaked from the doorway. The bunny was awake. And he said, "Get... cubes!"
Natalie was stunned, but Scott wasn't so surprised. "So you do talk, li'l buddy... Cubes of what?"
"Kubrick's... cubes! Power objects!"
"What? Stanley Kubrick has power objects?"
Natalie shook her head. "You two make no sense. But Turkish Embassy in New York has two cube-shaped artifacts of some sort."
"So, storm the Embassy for some power thing? Or free an army? I vote for the army."
"Now you make sense, Mister Scott Stiles Super Savior From Beyond."
...
Meanwhile in the Turkish Embassy...
In a makeshift lab, technicians were analyzing two cubes. One had scattered colors and the other all black, but both were inactive.
A young bearded man in sunglasses and a turban entered the lab. A technician blinked, and then bowed. "O my Sultan! We were not notified!"
"I visit in secret. This is common in war zones."
"Yes, O Sultan! We have heard of the artillery battle yesterday!"
"Indeed... Might I examine that cube?" He pointed at the colored one. The technician handed it to him.
"I shall have to guess at the rules, but..." The Sultan started moving the faces of the cube, faster and faster, until his hands were moving so quickly they were blurs.
He stopped. The cube now had one color on each of its six faces. And it was glowing.
"O Sultan! Your agility and wisdom are amazing!"
"But of course. Sultans have secret powers." He put the cube in a pocket. "But you may serve too... Please direct me to a secret exit."
"Yes, Sultan! I live to serve!"
...
Outside the Embassy, the Sultan removed his glasses. His eyes spouted flame. He grew wings, then took flight. Then he grew a duck beak, laughed gratingly, then said, "Decisions, decisions."
He was really Psychovant the Duck, using his shape-changing powers. And he was on the move.
To Be Continued in New Bosnia Part 6, The Land of Blood and Honey!
Author's Notes:
Psychovant is a cyborg from a world where Rubik's Cube puzzles exist. So he has programming which lets him solve that puzzle. And he has motivation to help move stories along. Which I appreciate.
Of course I concentrate on Powernaut stories. (www.eilertech.com/stories/powernaut/index.htm) But I am working nine weeks ahead of Powernaut deadline now. That means I have just finished one series, completely drawn another such that it is ready for coloring, and started drawing the one after that. And that doesn't count my traditional one-week break between series. So I should really channel my obsessive-compulsive energies in another direction, at least for one afternoon. So I have driven this story one day forward.
(signed) Scott Eiler, 17 January 2015.
Atomic Bunny / Atomic Rabbit is a 1950s character of Charlton Comics and is now public domain. All other characters in this fiction are copyright 2015, Eiler Technical Enterprises.
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