Adam’s story:
Denique Caelum! Thaddeus Destine shouts with a broad grin as he battles the hordes of the undead. Thaddeus was a warrior born, with the ability to adopt the aspect of any beast, his strength, speed and fighting skill had never met their match until that winter of 1374 on the Tibetan plateau near the head of the Yangtze River when the Geong Si attacked.
Thaddeus and Adam had been escorting Thaddeus’s younger brother, Albert, to the Shalu Monastery in Shigatse. Still a very young man then, Albert had suffered terribly when he attempted to use his healing power to stem the plague of the Black Death that had swept through Europe. Adam cautioned Thaddeus to be careful. The warrior replied that Albert’s protection made him as invulnerable as Adam.
Adam had known of the Geong Si myth from previous visits to China, which he so foolishly ignored as superstition warning from the mountainfolk who had offered them hospitality on their journey. Though not the creatures of legend, the abominations were real. Mindless soulless shells, animated by the will of another.
Albert told Adam that in the mists lay the cause of this vile travesty. Even now, the monster is trying to control them. Thaddeus decided to tackle the creature, asking his little brother to assist him in whatever manner his pacifist nature permit and he will dispatch this insult to God’s fair Earth.
The mists lift to show their foe, a being with a voluminous purple head, red eyes and a ray gun. The creature remarked that they were more than human but not sons of Attilan.
Thaddeus snarled that he was no relative of that hellspawn. Whatever its origins, the creature continued they defy the will of Tral, so they must die. It fired at Thaddeus, who fell down the precipice into the yawning abyss.
At that moment, Albert who had never before lost someone he loved snapped and corrupted his gift to heal, using it as a weapon. The evil puppet master reeled and the zombies fell, but Albert did not stop, not until a final agonized scream choked in the monster’s throat. Then the berserker rage passed. And seeing what he had done, Albert kneeled and wept.
With a roar like nothing they had ever heard, a flying craft appeared from the mountain mist. Colourful characters of a peculiar kind emerged, assuring Adam and Albert they meant no harm. They explained that Tral had fled from a hidden city and was considered a criminal by their people, the Inhumans.
Present:
At the breakfast table. Rory exclaims that Adam met the Inhumans! Walter, still in his monster form, admonishes him not to speak with his mouth full. Undeterred, Rory continues: Which Inhuman? It couldn’t be Medusa and Gorgon and Karnak or do they live a long time too? Walter points out he missed the point. Thaddeus was killed. And Albert committed an act that haunts him to this day.
Pandora remarks Adam is not very good at this. Walter put him up to telling the twins a story to scare them off using their powers. What she really wants to know about is her mother. It’s complicated, Adam fights for words while helplessly looking at Walter. He says that every time or goes on to another story, Pandora sulks. Just because he thinks they are too young to know the truth. It’s just not fair!
Adam admits she is right. None of his other children ever developed their gifts before puberty, he explains so the twins’ situation is unique. Rory needlessly points out it’s because they’re twins and their powers feed of each other, to which Walter adds that they already have far too much to deal with for kids their age. No need to be coy, Wally, Rory insists. This is the 21st century. They know all about… everything. He’s not going to win that one, Adam points out. Perhaps it is time? Yes! Pandora shouts in excitement. Grimly, Walter agrees.
Rory recalls that Adam was born there in Ravenscroft in 1168 and went to Palestine in 1189 with the third crusade. And he said Mum was a genie, Pandora interjects. No, a Djinn, Adam corrects her, or at least that was the legend.
Adam’s tale:
A legend that caused greedy men to imprison her and others to scheme and make war to possess her power. So it was that, as a simple soldier in the service of Richard the Lionhearted, Adam was captured by the followers of Al Kadhaab. They had sought him out to fulfil the prophecy that a red-haired infidel would end the tyranny of Sujanna Min Raghbah, an evil sorcerer who enslaved a djinn in a valley hidden in the Zagross Mountains. There, Adam found a blasted landscape with the corpses of all those foolhardy enough to trespass in the wizard’s domain.
Present:
Excitedly swinging around his cutlery, Rory reminds Adam that he told them that part before. He killed the wizard, but Al Kadhaab double-crossed Adam and tried to kill him.
Pandora continues that Adam cut the rope suspending the crystal prison orb and Mom was freed. Yes, Adam recalls. In that moment, he thought he would die…
Adam’s tale:
But it was Al Kadhaab who was destroyed when the orb was shattered… while Adam was gently borne aloft… his injuries healed as new life flooded into him. And then she emerged from the light as she had in his dreams. Her thoughts were like music in his mind…
Present:
Adam’s tale is rudely interrupted as Dominic, clearly in pain stumbles into the room, moaning meaningless sounds. What ails him? Adam asks concerned as Dominic stumbles. Walter orders him to focus. In agony, Dom replies S’all aimd at maed. Noize… s’full o litezz. Lights… in his head? Walter asks. Dom tries to reply, but shouts in pain again.
From elsewhere, the Griffin’s people who bear a grudge against the Clan watch proceedings. As Alpha suspected, one of the almost identical Omegas remarks. The one called Dominic perceives their high frequency scan wave lengths. He doesn’t know that yet and they cannot allow him to alert the others to their surveillance. They aren’t ready to strike. The feeble scientist referred to as Alpha orders them to increase scan intensity and fry his brain. Another Omega alerts them to two new contacts entering the cottage. The females – Kay and Sam – are returning.
An insecure Sam complains that her new spiky hairdo isn’t her while Kay assures her she looks great. They hear the noise from the kitchen. Dom is dying, Pandora shouts. No dear, Dom is just melodramatic, Kay decides and installs a sensory synapse block, causing Dom to pass out.
Kay explains what she did and asks the suspicious Walter if he thinks she’s so heartless she’d kill him. She does look like a witch, Walter retorts, referring to her new Frankenstein’s bride-style hairdo. Sam uncomfortably touches her own spiky hair as she explains they are going to a Goth-themed wedding. Kay suggests they call Newton and Rory gets the signal watch from the tea caddy.
Not in the house, Walter warns him too late, as the watch makes a blaring noise. Rory apologizes and wonders how the signal reaches Newton in the parallel universe he resides in. They all cover their ears as Sam suggests he let Newton explain it himself. He’s the family genius. Walter complains that the whole infinite alternate / multiverse thing makes his head hurt almost as much as…
Newton’s arrival. With a flash of light and a crashing noise Newton, the diminutive family genius, arrives.
So what’s the crisis this time, he asks amused. Adam explains that they need him to examine Dominic. Rory uses his power to lift Dom on the table for Newton to examine and Newton commends him on his growing skill at gravitational manipulation. While Newton begins the examination, Rory tells him he and Pandora can make themselves invisible now. Via gravitonic excitation of quanta? Newton asks unsurprised. If he means by curving light, yeah. Remarkable, Newton states.
Kay notes Adam holding his head in discomfort and asks if he is having another insight. No, he replies almost surprised. He feels… pain. He’s indestructible, Kay corrects him. He doesn’t feel… anything. He has since yesterday, Adam informs her. It been around the same time Walter transformed. There’s his answer, Kay needles. Walter’s self-pitying whining would give the sphinx a headache.
Newton comes to the conclusion that Dom is totally exhausted due to sensory overload and sleep deprivation. He could have told him that, Walter grumbles. What’s the cause? Could be increased environmental E.M. pollution or alternatively Dom’s becoming more sensitive. He can do a more extensive examination and eliminate the environmental factor if he takes Dom back to Ethera with him.
Hold on, Kay interjects and points an accusing finger at Newton. He told her he couldn’t take anyone to his world. He said it was part of his gift to cross the dimensional divide. Caught fibbing, Newton states apologetically that’s true… to a degree. It’s all very technical. He’s hiding something, Kay accuses him. She knew there was a reason he wears a psi-shield. She demands he tell her.
Interrupting her rant, he presses a button on his bracelet and teleports himself and Dom away. She never trusted scientists, Kay sulks. Newton thinks he and Pandora are remarkable, Rory repeats to everyone. Walter grumbles and Adam still holds his head.
The Guild Chambers: The mysterious guild still watches the Destines cottage surprised by the energy spikes. People appearing and disappearing inside the cottage. Can it really be happening? The data is accurate, the Guild Primus is informed. They are leeching it directly from Griffin’s satellite feed. What was Griffin’s reaction? Guild Primus asks. Unknown, comes the reply. Their surveillance of Griffin was always extremely limited and he ordered a total cessation when he leaked him the Destines’ address.
Griffin is dangerous. A scientific genius with a god complex – literally. His entourage, the Omegans, are the product of his experiments to create a super race. From the little they know, Griffin’s master plan went awry when some other group attempted to steal a piece of Griffin technology as they can see from the security footage they recovered. While the thieves and Griffin’s security kept each other occupied, the Destine children flew in and grabbed the device. A few days later, Griffin’s complex was completely devastated by fire and Griffin went into hiding. They assumed the Destines were responsible and judging by the amount of resource he has employed to observe the Destine family, Griffin has a major grudge.
Or he knows something they don’t, Guild Primus replies. They need more information if they are to control this situation. He gives the order to hack into Griffin’s archives to get some answers.
Dominic awakes on Ethera, facing Newton in his skimpily dressed muscular warlord body. Newton reminds him that his original self is on ice, stuck in a tube. He goes on to explain that conveniently time moves much faster there than on their Earth. How much faster? Dom asks. How long has he been asleep? Three days by Ethera time… less than nine hours on Earth. So that’s how Newton always responds to his signal watch and builds stuff so quick, Dom realizes.
Newton explains that he’s been working on an anti- stimulation aura to insulate Dom’s senses… think portable anechoic chamber. Sounds good, Dom admits. And impressed as he is with his warehouse, he must let him see what’s outside. The air smells sweet and he can hear waves. Okay, because it will be beneficial for his recovery, Newton decides, but this is between them, He doesn’t want Kay finding out. He needs his space and recreation.
Wow, Dominic exclaims a moment later. Outside, he sees a paradisiacal landscape, pink sky, calm waters and skimpily dressed gorgeous women picking fruit. The colours are so clean, Dom marvels, and there isn’t any static. The people here prefer low-tech and a natural science, Newton explains. Yeah, they all look like very nice people, Dom remarks, looking at the skimpily dressed girls.
Flustered, Newton admits that his personal staff are all androids. This place requires a lot of maintenance and they double as security. Two gorgeous ladies offer the two of them refreshments. With a smirk, Dom recalls that Newton’s last robot drones looked like tin men with antenna coming out of their heads. He… er … made improvements. You dog, Dom laughs.
Back at Ravenscroft, it is evening and Sam and Kay leave, dressed up in their Goth costumes. Are they sure it isn’t a Halloween party? Roy asks. Who has a wedding at night? When the bridegroom is a billionaire and owns Blasco Castle, he can indulge his stylish whims, Sam retorts. Kay tells her to lighten up. She’s starting to sound like Walter. They get into the car and Pandora shouts after them to take lots of photographs.
Adam looks out of the window of Walter’s study and announces they have gone. Good, he might be able to get some work done and return to normal, Walter announces, typing on his old fashioned typewriter. As his fingers are too big, he uses pencils to do so.
Adam asks him if he believes Kay’s presence might have something to do with his uncontrolled transformation. Walter doesn’t know, but insists she is a bad influence on the twins. She thinks Walter should use the family wealth to give the twins a better life… but he thinks they need to know striving is part of the human experience. Being given everything – not having to work – turns a person into someone like Kay or…
…or Vincent? Adam asks. He doesn’t think…? Walter asks hesitatingly. Adam touches his shoulder calmingly and remarks Walter has taught the twins well. He should stay here, write and try to relax. He will take the twins out on their patrol. He has neglected them and Walter for far too long.
In Griffin’s lair, the scientist with a grudge against the Clan and his artificial humans, the Omegans, are watching the Destines. One Omega, Raee, informs him that three contacts have left the cottage flying (the twins doing so under their own power, Adam with one of Newton’s antigravity belts). Raee remarks that Adam is visible in the normal spectrum but does not register on higher scanning wavelengths. The fragile albino scientist is fascinated by this, but this isn’t the time to investigate this phenomenon. He orders the other Omegans, Giee and Phaa, to initiate all of the containment protocols for activation of the binary set. As they proceed to do so, Griffins grins evilly, contemplating whether they can produce the effect they achieved on Walter. Those brats have cost him dearly and he wants to see them suffer.
Up in the air, the three Destines are flying toward London. Rory points out that they could be more effective crimefighters if they lived in the city – like Spider-Man. Living in the country means they have too much empty territory to cover before they can begin their patrol. Adam replies that he believes in fate. They are all where they are meant to be and wishing otherwise is a waste.
Pandora suggests they could use the journey time to talk… Adam could continue the story. Adam agrees and wants to begin. Suddenly, Adam screams as he is covered by a lightning effect. First, they believe Adam’s belt is shorting out but suddenly Pandora falls and, a moment later, so does Rory. Their powers aren’t working.
Adam, now covered in the painful energy effect, nevertheless flies after the two of them (his artificial flight not being affected) and grabs the twins, ordering them to hold tight to the belt despite the effect hurting them as well. He snaps open the buckle so the twins are left with the belt while he falls.
The lightning effect becomes stronger and stronger, like burning him up. Rory tries to calm Pandora that Adam is indestructible, but suddenly he is gone and the effect with him. Pandora fears he’s exploded. Vanished, not dead, Rory replies. He’s immortal. He can’t be dead. He can’t, he repeats, as if to convince himself.
On Ethera, Dom still admires the world’s beauty. He’d happily live there. No need, Newton assures him and shows him a device in the shape of a bracelet. He explains that the sensory isolation shell generator is finished. But there is only one way to test its effectiveness. Dom has to go back to Earth and open his senses. Dom hesitates, anticipating pain. He’d rather stay there where it’s so peaceful. At the moment, Newton replies while opening a dimensional portal, there are times when it can get rather nasty.
As if on cue, vines spring from the ground and tie Newton. Oh no! he mutters at the sight of a newcomer, a gorgeous, scantily-clad blonde on a flying machine. He calls her Satyr-nun and asks her not to while she tells him she warned him not to make any more synthetic men.
She fires at Dom, who falls through the dimensional gate… to rudely land elsewhere. He gets up, surrounded by odd trinkets and feels that he is still in motion. The floor beneath him is riveted steel… no ground vibration… gravity is fluctuating. He looks outside the windows. No sound from outside; he is in some sort of spacecraft. A cross-time-train in actual fact, comes a voice. And it belongs to Excalibur, Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler finishes, surrounded by the rest of the team.
