watchtower_rebirth | Suddenly Somerwhere Else

Current Location: Elsewhere

And then, the world turns, and they are somewhere else. Someplace impossibly old. It's a dizzying spin, even for the mightiest among them, but in an instant, Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner, Abdullah El-Amin, Black Adam, Freddy Freeman and Jay Garrick find themselves in the market of an ancient city, its towers reaching high toward the sky, it's buildings opulent and clean ... but empty.

At first, there appears to be no life in the city at all. But then, a cat appears, perched in a window. It is black and sleek, and it regards the visitors curiously, but makes no move to either run nor greet them.

Elijah takes a moment to take stock of the situation. The timely intervention of Shazam (note to self: Not the one he thought it was at first) seems to have quelled the fight between Jakita and Adam. Jakita looks a little banged up, but none the worse for wear. And then there's Abdullah ...

"Mr. Garrick," says Elijah. "It's an honor to meet you in person. I've followed your exploits since the '40s. In fact, I was in Keystone in '43, tracking down the Shade, and saw you two go at it. Quite inspiring."

He had actually interviewed the Shade, afterward, for that year's Planetary Guide. Both encounters caused him to believe that the number of superhumans would only escalate in the years to come. Still ... He shakes off the nostalgia, and turns to Adam.

"Lord Adam," says Elijah, cordially. "I apologize that this whole situation has gotten out of hand. We meant no offense. We were simply trying to make contact with this young man here."

He nods toward Abdullah, who is still wound tense, but seemingly not preparing to attack immediately.

"Abdullah El-Amin," he says, not making any sudden movement toward the boy. "My name is Elijah Snow. I've been looking for you for a long time now. We have some things in common."

Abdullah regards the man, but it's difficult to read his reactions beneath the mask.

"They call me the Ghost of the Desert, now" he says, levelly. Elijah chuckles, and nods.

"Heh. They call me the Ghost of the Twentieth Century," he says. "Maybe they're running out of cute nicknames."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

first_shazam

Adam looked levelly at Snow, then at Jay. "The vision you saw regarding Doctor Fate." Adam said. "You mentioned a "Ghost of the Twentieth Century."

Adam trailed off, then refocused on Abdullah. "What was your business in Kahndaq?"

From:

planetaryguide

Elijah Snow has many tactics for extracting himself from bad situations, force and subterfuge being the most commonly employed. But sometimes, you find yourself in a situation where you have to pull the card most rarely used: the truth.

He calmly asses the situation, particularly Adam, and knows that neither force nor lying are going to work here. Also, he still doesn't know exactly where here is.

"My associate and I," he says, nodding toward Jakita, "are what we call 'archaeologists of the impossible.' I've spent the better part of the past century exploring and cataloging the Earth's mysteries and secret history, such as ..." he gestures to the city around them.

"We came here with one goal, to seek out and make contact with Mr. El-Amin here, although I'll admit, I was secretly hoping to find this city. I came looking for it once in the '30s, and came up empty handed."

Elijah stops to catch his breath, and take in his companions. Adam's might and fury. Garrick's nobility ... they impress him, but he's still uneasy around metas this powerful.

"Anyway, I came looking for our Ghost of the Desert because I have reason to believe he has a role in protecting the world sometime in the course of this century, and that role has put him and others like him in danger."

Abdullah tilts his head slightly at the news, as though he were trying to get a read on Snow.

"We call Mr. El-Amin and others like him 'Century Babies,' born at the stroke of midnight on the first day of the century on the Western Calendar. He was born at the beginning of this century, I'm the last remaining of the previous crop."

From:

first_lightning

"That explains the nickname, then. You and I need to talk, Mr. Snow, about a few things - but first, can someone fill me in about all this?"

Jay looks around, and gestures at the city.

"Where are we, and why did Adam and I stumble into an active firefight?"

From:

planetaryguide

"We are in my home," says Abdullah. "The Lost City of Ubar. I have lived here since I was a child, orphaned by an al-Qaeda attack in Kahndaq. These two ..." he gestures toward Elijah and Jakita .. "stumbled upon an ISIS cell, one that was set upon wreaking havoc in the city of Shiruta."

Abdullah lowers his head a bit, signifying a modicum of sorrow.

"I am cursed to see evil, where it lives. I sense no evil in these two, nor in Mr. Garrick. I am sorry we had to fight."

He then lifts his chin again, and straightens his back.

"But this is a war I fight. And victory is measured in blood."

Edited Date: 2016-12-29 03:30 am (UTC)

From:

jakita_wagner

Jakita has no such compunction to stay still, roaming to the edges of the market making certain that they are indeed alone.

This also provides her the opportunity to evaluate her health, as that fight had taken more out of her than she'd like to admit.

From:

planetaryguide

Elijah is a little surprised to hear that he and Garrick have to talk .. briefly, he wonders if he'd stumbled upon some Planetary Guides from the '40s where he left his observations about the man's powers and his suppositions about what would eventually be called "The Speed Force." But this doesn't feel personal.

Jakita's parameter inspection doesn't escape his attention, either. And she's correct ... there HAS to be more people here than just the cat, if this is where Abdullah grew up. Surely, he didn't live here alone. The thought chills him, which is not a sensation he's accustomed to.

"The Century Babies are one of the planet's autonomic defense systems," he explains. "They're here to shepherd the planet from one century to the next, to protect it. Although from what isn't usually apparent until the moment. A slew of them died in the 1950s, defending the Earth from an extradimensional incursion by ..." He pauses, glances at Garrick, and continues "...superheroes from an alternate world, come to eradicate the population of our world and replace it with the people from their own, which was about to be destroyed. Another one, Jenny Sparks, died in space at the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 2000. She electrocuted a giant space monster that was coming to transform the Earth into its new home."

He pauses to see how his companions are taking the story. It would all sound a bit far-fetched, except ... well ... check them out.

"The last survivor, besides myself, Doc Brass, was murdered by an assassin from a fictional universe a few weeks ago. His missions done, he had dedicated himself to research, learning how the Earth's myriad defense systems worked. Brass had no surviving enemies, so I can only assume he was killed for that research ... research which would have lead the murderer to Abdullah, and the others."

From:

sixgodstories

Freddy wished he could say he was surprised at this turn of events. But as his adolescence has been infused with the power of six deities, and spent chasing colorful metahuman schemes, he simply wasn't.

A trip to what appeared to be an ancient city, turned after a bolt of Despot-summoned lightning? It was probably Tuesday. Brushing himself off of any airborne dust and residual magic static was first priority. Second was to get down to the story so far. And he knew exactly who was responsible.

Turning to Kahndaq's monarch, he steeled himself for the likely violent retort. "SERIOUSLY! What did you do now!?" As soon as he was upright, he rotated his left foot around. The Power of Shazam was slowly healing his mortal self, but not fast enough for the young hero. "Came to find answers. Got a fistfight, and you trying the bolt on...on...whoever!" He flailed his arms in animated frustration.

From:

first_shazam

"I was defending my country against intruders, and she wasn't exactly holding back." Adam almost said that with a smile. "She fought with honor. What were you doing here, Freeman?"

From:

first_lightning

Jay leaves Adam and Freddy to their discussion, as he focuses on Elijah.

"The spirit of God's vengeance used to make the coffee at our weekly meetings, so you'll have to forgive me if I don't find much of what you said all that far-fetched, Mr. Snow. But the Helm of Nabu needs a new bearer, and Green Lantern and I had a vision shared with us that suggests you're the fellow to help us."

From:

sixgodstories

"I was following a lead. Since Billy and Mary haven't been seen since the Conflict, any possible idea or trace of them is MY priority. The Marvel family takes care of its own, and as much as I hate to say it...You're family too, Adam."

Powers or no, Freddy is closing the space in on Black Adam and not backing down. "But I guess that's not priority to you, is it? Lets use our gifts instead to slug it out with anybody who looks at you wrong. Its typical Black Adam." He punctuates his words by getting in almost touching distance of the elder, finding himself nose to abdomen.

From:

first_shazam

If Freddy's intent was to provoke Adam, it didn't work. Adam instead looked at Freddy evenly. "My first responsibility is to my people. To Kahndaq. Elijah's associate presented herself as the immediate threat, and I acted accordingly. I broke no laws in my country...I should know, I make them."

"As far as the Batsons, I have not seen them since the Conflict. I truthfully have not seen much outside of Kahndaq since the Conflict...it was particularly devastating to Kahndaq and we have focused on rebuilding. The visit from Jay Garrick was the first I've had from a Westerner since the conflict."

"If you look around you, we have more immediate issues than Billy and Mary. I am working with Jay currently out of the respect I hold for him and for the Justice Society. Perhaps we should have this discussion later. Unless, of course, you would like to "slug it out", since you're currently looking at me wrong. If that's the case, Freeman...just say the word."

From:

sixgodstories

"And that's the biggest problem. Making, judging, executing those rules." He finally realized that he was slightly out of his weight class with an Omega level like Adam. Especially de-powered. But the statement was far too inviting.

"We'll have our rounds again. I'm sure of it. For now, my word is easy. SHA-ZAM!" The sky opened up and sent the summoning bolt downward, striking and then activating the Younger Marvel into his re-powered form.

"Now? Now we've got to figure out where and when this is..."

From:

jakita_wagner

Returning from her loop around the market, Jakita just sighs and looks around at the assorted men currently posturing at each other.

"Don't worry boys, you're all appropriately studly. And...", addressing this to Elijah, "it appears that we are the only ones here, at least from what I was able to see, aside from that cat."

From:

first_shazam

Adam nods, then turns to Abdullah. "It would appear that if you are fighting terrorism in Kahndaq, we should discuss some things when this is over. I welcome those who would stand for the people of Kahndaq."

He looked around. "You will pardon my staring...I have been familiar with this land for...let's say a long time...and I never knew this existed."

From:

planetaryguide

"Indeed. Like I said, I've been looking for it since the '30s," says Elijah. "It appears to rotate between parallel Earths. Legend has it it was a refuge for those fleeing violence. Which matches up with the last time I got wind of it, back when our young Ghost of the Desert first disappeared."

Elijah glances at Abdullah, who says nothing.

"But the first time I tried to find it, I was also looking into other old legends ... the Wizards Nabu and Shazam, and rumors that their champions were going to reappear."

Snow turns his attention toward Garrick.

"I'm more than happy to assist the JSA in any way I can," he says. "Or, well, I'm happy to help you, and maybe together we can help these youngsters. Still ... Funny coincidence all of those pieces from the '30 all rearing their heads here at once. I'm not usually fond of coincidences."

Edited Date: 2017-01-05 01:08 am (UTC)

From:

planetaryguide

Abdullah starts at the realization that Elijah has been watching him his entire life, but does not respond. Instead, he turns to Adam.

"Lord Adam," he says, bowing his head in the deferential manner of a soldier. "I hold you as the true and rightful Lord of Kahndaq, and my service to you is second only to my service to the Gods."

From:

first_shazam

Adam nods his head. "Then your first duty to me will be to assist myself and Mr. Garrick in getting to the root of what's going on...and by extension, the others gathered around here."

Adam looks at Jay. "This realm is here, as are champions of Shazam. It would follow that the new champion of Nabu is somehow connected to here as well."