The Jazz Masquerade
Part One: Invitations
the 54th tale of agc
written and created by Mark Bousquet
2201 / JUNE
THE BLISS
"Daimon Hellstrom, so happy you could attend!"
The ruler of Earth's Hells looked up to see a man dressed in the garb of a 1950's earth magician approach. "Hello, Rigby. So nice to see you again."
The magician removed his top hat, bowing low. "Rigby the Magnificent is at your service, my lord."
Daimon snorted. "Do not play word games with me, magician. You serve your own needs."
Rigby placed his hat back atop his head, tapping it once with a flourish. "So you say," he grinned. "Are you here to celebrate the victory of Doom?"
Daimon's face turned dark. "I am here on business, Rigby."
"Business?" the magician frowned. "Business is not allowed aboard the-"
"Don't worry, you'll get your show." A grin played upon Daimon's face. "It will be a festival of magic and blood to go down in the annals of the Jazz Masquerade."
Rigby smiled, "Well, so long as we get some entertainment out of the business. What ceremony will you be performing?"
Daimon's grin broke into a full smile. "The Ceremony of Ionic Bonding." Pause. "We're creating a new army of Angelux."
Rigby beamed with excitement, "Excellent."
THE EVERYTHING ENGINE
The Three Ladies of the Engine - Mantis, Luna, and Crystal - walked the massive, unending halls of the Everything Engine, deep in conversation.
"I do not know if this is wise," Crystal cautioned.
Mantis countered, "This one believes it is time. We must find the Celestial Messiah. It is the Messiah who will lead us into the next Everything, Crystal, and he has been missing for far too long."
"But to bring in an outsider to succeed where we have failed," Crystal said, shaking her head. "It could be unwise." She turned to Luna, "My daughter, as one who once lost you for a time, I know that I would have done anything to bring you back to me. I fear now that you are doing the same, that your motivations for finding your son may be more emotional than wise."
Luna turned to her mother. "I understand your concerns, mother, and it is true that I miss my son. How could I not? But we now believe that I am the Celestial Madonna, and that my son is the Celestial Messiah. As Mantis has indicated, we are at a time when the end of the Everything appears to be upon us. I would not be fulfilling my role as the Madonna if I did not prepare my son to be ready to create the next age."
"I understand," Crystal said slowly, touching Luna's arm gently, "but to bring in outside help … we have hundreds here who could take on this task. Adam Warlock could accomplish this."
"No," Luna shook her head, returning her mother's touch. "The work we do here is too important. Any from inside the Engine that we send back into the world cannot be trusted. We know this to be true. Or have you forgotten about Hank Pym, mother?"
Crystal's stomach turned, "No … no I have not forgotten about Henry, daughter."
"And we know," Mantis pressed, "that if we send Adam, he will become Magus. We cannot risk that."
"No," Crystal's shoulders slumped, "we cannot. Let us hope, then," her eyes found Luna's, "that Brono and your other child do not fail us."
Luna winced, but her voice was strong. "Attumidunn is my daughter of blood, mother, but I was taken from the mortal plane while she was a babe. Who she is, what she becomes, is something I have had nothing to do with."
"And yet," Crystal's voice softened, "you gave her life."
"Attuma gave her life when he raped me," Luna spat. "I bear her no ill will for what was done to me, but she has found her parenting elsewhere. I will not pretend to be a mother to her now." Luna then turned and left Mantis and Crystal behind.
THE RAVEN - ASGARDIAN STARSHIP
HYPERSPACE, AKA "THE SURF"
Brono sat at the controls of the Raven, one of the few Asgardian starships ever built. It was a small model for a space ship, based on the design of the Avengers Quinjet, but modified for deep space travel and battle. Angelica, sitting in the passenger seat beside the Norn King, remembered Dani taking her out for flying lessons several years ago and telling her it was three times the size of a basic Quinjet, and could hold a crew of twenty comfortably. Angel smiled at the memory; Dani insisted, after it became painfully obvious that Angelica and horses were never going to mix, that the girl learn to ride something, and on Asgard it was either a horse or a spacecraft.
"It hath been too long since I traversed the ocean of space," Brono said, turning to smile at her. "And almost as long since I hath been on such a noble quest."
Angel smiled back, feeling foolish. She couldn’t count the number of times her and Attumidunn had talked about Brono back when they were teenagers, dreaming about marrying him. They would giggle as they talked about sitting beside him at the royal court as his Queen, presiding over a glorious time of peace in the decades after the Eternal War had ended. It was all so innocent, and seemed lifetimes ago, though it couldn't have been more than five or six years, at most. And now, here she was, sitting beside the object of her younger dreams in the days after the Eternal War. But there was no court, nor any peace.
"Thou art quiet, Angelica," Brono said as Raven silently sped through the silver clouds of the Surf. "And despite my outward joy, I too feel an inward sadness over the events of the past two months."
Angel shook her head, and ran her hands through her shoulder-length hair. "Everything's changing so fast - Ben's the Cosmic Protector and living on Hala, K'Zan is the new Herald of Galactus, Thanos is dead, Doom has returned … I feel like we've missed all the little things that, next to the end of a 200 year old war don't seem all that significant. But no one has been able to talk to Toomi about the fact that Ben dumped her so coldly on Hala. He barely said anything to her about it. It just ended, without warning, without any sort of closure." Angelica shook her head, turning to look out the window at the beauty that was the silver clouds of the Surf. "Eshir is going to try to talk to her now. I hope she's okay."
"As do I," Brono replied in a somber tone. "We are entrusted with a mission most serious, and we shall all need to be at our best."
"And when will you tell us exactly what this mission entails?"
"Before we arrive at the Bliss."
"What's the Bliss?" Angelica asked.
"A luxury resort spaceliner."
Angel raised an eyebrow. "What will we be doing there?"
Brono let a crooked smile spread across his young face. "We're going to a masquerade ball."
ASGARD - THOR ODINSON HALL OF PEACE
The Council was in session.
"We cannot ask him to do this!" Dani Moonstar yelled, slamming her fist down on the thick wood as she glowered across the Council's oval-shaped table to stare at Ben-Vell Parker, the new Cosmic Protector.
"And why not?" Ben asked, turning to his left to look at the new king of Asgard, Beta Ray Bill. Already the weight of rule was showing on the cyborg face and shoulders of their new king, a man Brono had taken to calling "King William the Beta Ray," a name that had, unfortunately for Bill, begun to take hold. "Steve Rogers is our most valued soldier, is he not? Why shouldn't he take on this new assignment?"
"This is the Supreme Intelligence talking through the mouth of a babe!" Moonstar snapped angrily.
"Aye, it is," King Bill nodded, noting that neither Kovar the Accuser nor Cable looked as if they wanted anything to do with this discussion, "but there is logic to the words, Moonstar. If what Brono tells us is true, the return of Von Doom casts a pall over the Everything to erase the joy it now feels at the end of the Eternal War. The stakes have been raised, and there is logic to requesting Steve taking on this role."
"We do not even know if Brono's source can be trusted," Skrull 4 interjected. "As far as anyone knows, the Center of Everything and the Everything Engine are myths. The idea that Three Ladies of the Engine came to him to reveal the return of Doom is … troubling."
Ben looked at Skrull 4 thoughtfully. "Can we take the risk, 4? I'm certain King William will tell you that when I was a student of his I was rather lax in my studies. But even I know the name of Doom. We cannot risk doing nothing. Cable," Ben said, turning to the Earth Ambassador, "would you not say a few words of Doom from personal experience?"
"It is the will of the Shi'ar," Ash'lin spoke to the King, cutting off Cable's words, "that Captain America be asked to undertake the role Ben-Vell and Kovar have presented today. Majestrix Deathcry holds the Captain in the highest regard, and feels this new role will best help inspire our troops against the army of Doom." She turned to Dani. "But on a personal note, I think it would be a waste of time and resources. His tenure as Cosmic Protector was a failure."
"Enough," King Bill said, letting out a quick, short breath. "I will not have bickering over hypotheticals of hypotheticals. This is his decision, after all. Just because," Bill looked at Ben, "Steve Rogers has been replaced on the Council with the change in mantle of Cosmic Protector, does not mean I will think any less highly or him, not will I order him to do something that goes against his wishes. The Council has no say over who wields the power."
King Bill rose from his chair, took in the eyes of all the Council's Ambassadors, then made his decision, "We will ask Captain America to come to us tomorrow, and then we shall present our cases to him. It will be his decision, and his alone, if he would so choose to raise Mjolnir from the ground, and be blessed with the power of Thor."
"It should be put to a vote of the Council," Ben said quietly, but forcefully. "And if it is our will that he raise Mjolnir, then he should be ordered to do it. The stakes have never been higher, King William."
Bill looked at the young man who only months ago had hidden in the rafters of this very room, spying on them with the enthusiasm of youth, and now sat with them as a hardened young man. Bill's words were the stern words of a King who did not want to be questioned. "If you disagree with my decision, Cosmic Protector, you, or anyone else, is welcome to come and attempt to raise Mjolnir for themselves. The hammer, I remind you, is waiting where it fell, for any and all to attempt to lift it skyward. Mjolnir will choose its own wielder - Doom or no Doom."
THE RAVEN - TRAINING ROOM
"I said I wanted to be alone." Attumidunn rose to her feet and unsheathed her sword.
"I don't care what you want," Eshir replied, raising an arm to send a small wave of magnetic energy towards Toomi, knocking the sword from her hand. "Wow," he deadpanned, "you're wearing clothes."
Toomi's face tightened in anger.
"Granted, it's your same basic armor design with a black, skin-tight undergarment, but I can't remember the last time the whole world couldn't see your midriff."
Toomi screamed as she ran across the room at Eshir, who waited patiently for her to traverse the twenty-foot distance, then ensnared her in a magnetic grip, holding her body completely in place in mid-air. "Let us get something straight, Attumidunn," he said in a low voice that held no kindness. "You are going to get someone killed if you continue to mope about like this. I am sorry - truly - at how Ben ended your relationship," Eshir let her gently to the floor, "but you must overcome your depression. You have been coasting for far too long. No," he put up a hand, stopping her, "I am not interested in your excuses. Your most recent adventures have been disappointing. You have spent too little time training, and too much time growing despondent."
"Go to hell, Eshir," Toomi glared. "What would you know about love?"
"Is that what you think you and Ben were in?" Eshir asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you were just having sex."
"He loved me! And then he just … he just …" her shoulders slumped, "he just left me," she finished weakly.
"Oh grow up, Toomi," Eshir threw up his arms as he turned to walk away. "You're even more immature than K'Zan when push comes to shove."
"I am not!" Toomi fumed. "I'm a Valkyrie!"
Eshir turned around, "Then start acting like one. If any harm comes to Brono, or gods help you, Angelica, you will have me to deal with Attumidunn." He glowered at her with icy grey eyes, "And then you shall know real pain."
ASGARD - THE QUARTERS OF BEN-VELL PARKER
"Tell me about this Attumidunn girl," Thalia whispered in Ben's ear as they cuddled beneath heavy blankets.
"There's not much to say," Ben sighed, rolling away from his new lover. "We were in love, I think, at some point, but after a while …"
"There was just sex."
Ben rolled his neck around his shoulders, and they could hear the cracking of bone on bone. "Not really even much of that. We just sort of … lost interest, I guess. Things got hectic once Franklin Richards returned and our relationship just seemed less important."
"Why do you think that was?" Thalia asked, kissing his blue back.
"I really don't know," Ben said, rising from the bed.
"Do you have to leave so soon?" Thalia asked.
Ben nodded. "I have a mission to fulfill for the Supreme Intelligence."
"Let Kovar handle it," Thalia suggested, moving out of bed to stand behind him. "Someday all the Accusers will serve your needs. Let Kovar get accustomed to the practice now."
"I can't," Ben sighed. "Kovar doesn't know about it. In fact," he said, turning around to kiss Thalia lightly, "he'd probably try to stop me if he knew. He's become rather fond of Captain America."
THE RAVEN - A HALLWAY
"What do you mean we weren't in love?" Toomi snapped at Eshir's back as he walked away from her.
"Oh, come on," he snapped back, turning on her. "Isn't it obvious? It was to me, and I daresay, anyone else who would actually care to look at it."
"Explain it to me."
"You must be joking," he looked down at her with scorn.
Quicker than Eshir could react, Toomi doubled him over with a quick punch to his stomach, then unsheathed her sword and snapped it to the back of his neck. "Maybe you're good enough with your powers to remove my sword, Eshir, but I doubt it."
Before Toomi knew what had happened, her body was shot directly off the floor and slammed into the ceiling, where Eshir held it in position. Looking her square in the eyes, he broke her grip on her sword, and it tumbled to the ground with a loud clang. Then slowly, for the second time in minutes, Eshir dropped Attumidunn to the floor. He shook his head, "Damnit, Toomi, what will it take? Angel's tried talking to you honestly and openly about what Ben did to you, but you turned her away. Fine. We figured if that didn’t work, maybe my more direct approach would work, but I guess that can't reach you either." Eshir looked at her worn eyes and frowned. "Maybe there's no way to reach you.
"But in case you haven't noticed, our little group of Orphans is no more. Ben's gone to play Cosmic Hero and K'Zan's off with Galactus. That leaves three Orphans left." Eshir picked up Toomi's sword and handed it back to her. He tried reaching out to her, but his voice was stiff, cold. "You didn't notice that your interest in Ben, and his in yours, inexplicably lessened after Angelica's announcement of her Osborn legacy? As soon as she stopped showing interest in Ben, the two of you almost didn't know what to do with each other."
Toomi sheathed her sword with a loud clang. "That had nothing to do with it."
"Of course," Eshir nodded, then dropped the subject. "Let's go. Brono wants to talk."
THE RAVEN - BRIDGE
Standing in the small bridge, Angelica, Toomi, and Eshir listened to Brono fill them in on the return of Doom. "I can not stress, my young friends," he said somberly, "what this doth mean. Doom is the Ancient Evil laid down in the Prophecies of Grey. Worlds will fall to him on rumor alone."
Angelica cleared her throat, then said, "The Prophecies also mention the Ancient Good, Brono. They prophesize the return of the Ancient Evil - which has long been theorized to be Doom - is to be followed by the return of the Unspeakable Good."
"And who would that be?" Eshir asked.
"No one doth know," Brono said, shaking his head. "The Prophecies of Grey are clear only in hindsight. They never mention the Unspeakable Evil by name, either, so it may not truly be Doom. But people will believe it's him, and rather than risk being one of the hundred thousand burned worlds that the Evil is prophesized to destroy, they will side with him for safety."
"For safety?" Toomi asked. "What has Asgard and the Council brought them for the past 200 years?"
Brono's voice dropped low. "War. Doom offers peace."
"At the price of tyranny," Eshir said flatly.
"But peace, nonetheless, Maximoff," Brono replied. "That is why we have been charged with the mission we have. We are going to search for the Ancient Good."
"How?" Angel asked. "We don’t know who the Ancient Good is. How can we find someone-"
Brono raised a hand. "There are other prophecies, Orphans, older prophecies. It is the belief of those who have chosen us for this quest that the one they seek is also the Ancient Good of the Grey Prophecies."
"Who?" Toomi asked.
Brono answered, "The Celestial Messiah."
"And who has charged us with this task?" Eshir asked, feeling a seed of doubt emerge in his stomach.
Brono's eyes never left Toomi's. "The Celestial Madonna herself." He saw that his words hit Toomi hard. "We are going to search for your half-brother, Attumidunn, at the urging of your mother, Luna." The Norn King reached behind him to punch a button on a console, and an image of a half-plant, half-man being flashed before them as a three-dimensional holographic projection. "His mother doth believe this to be his current appearance. The look of a human, but the green look and feel of a plant, befitting his Cotati/Human heritage. He goes by the name Rahnotok, which is translated as 'He who saves the world'."
"Translated from what language?" Angel asked. "Cotati?"
Brono turned to look out at the stars. "No, Angelica. It is the New Language, the language that the Messiah will teach the world after he has led us all into the Next Age of the Everything."
Eshir shifted uncomfortably. "I don't like it. We fight the Eternal War for 200 years to save the Everything from Thanos, and now, because of Doom, we're running off to find the Celestial Messiah to save us and lead us into a new world? Suddenly we're not good enough to win?"
Brono's head swiveled back to look at the Orphans, and they caught a playful grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I said we are going to find him, Orphans. Whether he is going to save us all, or whether he is the Ancient Good," his voice trailed off as he unsheathed his sword, "I do not care. But one should never look down upon a weapon. It doth not matter by whose hand victory is achieved, only that it is achieved, and with as little loss of life as possible. If Rahnotok can save the Eveything, I will certainly allow him to save it. But I would place my life on the strength of this sword, and the life of all on the might of Asgard and the Council. I like not the reliance on those I do not know. Rahnotok has spent his life in hiding. Perhaps that was time spent in proper preparation. Perhaps not. We will find him, if he is to be found, and take the measure of this man. I would like to at least meet the man who is supposed to save my world, wouldn't you?"
The Orphans nodded, smiling.
"That is well," Brono nodded. "Go to your quarters. You will find that you have been given elegant costumes to wear. Please change into them. You must look your absolute best."
"Costumes?" Toomi asked. "Why?"
Angelica turned to her friend. "We're going to a ball." She winked at Toomi. "Perhaps we can even teach Eshir how to dance."
ASGARD - THE QUARTERS OF STEVE ROGERS
Steve Rogers stood before Ben-Vell Parker, trying to stop himself from coughing.
"You are not well," Ben said. "You should remain here while your body readjusts to life without the power of the Cosmic Protector."
"No," Steve shook his head, looking again at the photo Ben had handed him. "If this being is back in the open, I'm going after him."
"At least let me help," Ben offered.
Steve eyed the young man cautiously, then nodded as his body was wracked with another fit of coughs. "Very well. Come, we must inform the King of our plans."
"Of course," Ben said, then allowed himself a slight smile as Steve turned his back to him.
THE BLISS
"We will enter in pairs, one half hour apart," Brono told them, handing Angelica an invitation. They stood in the hangar bay of the Bliss, huddled near the Raven. The Bliss was a luxury spaceliner that endlessly traversed the Everything. It was the most exclusive club in existence, a never-ending party of vast excess. "Mark my words, Orphans, thou will seest things here that will make your blood race as it has never raced before - both in fascination and disgust. This ship is where the elite of the elite indulge their vice. There are no cameras here, no security. Anything that you could ever imagine enflaming a soul's passion will be on display: drugs, sex, violence, bloodshed, pain, and torture in the myriad shapes of human pleasure. Thou must wear the masks I have provided thou with at all times. Thou will seest celebrities, businessmen, politicians, priests, heroes, villains - thou will giveth no indication that tthou recognizes them. This is the Jazz Masquerade, a dangerous indulgence of pleasure where all are welcome."
"You have been here before, then?" Angelica asked.
Brono nodded, frowning. "Aye. Good, Eshir and I shall enter-"
"Welcome, welcome, welcome, ladies and gents, to the Bliss!" a voice yelled loudly from beside them. They turned to see a middle-aged man wearing a top hat and coat with tails. In his hand he held a magicians' wand. "May I see your invitations, please?"
Angelica and Brono made a move to show him, but the magician waved his hand.
"As if the Norn King would ever need an invitation!" the magician smiled at Brono. "We have missed you, young King, and your darling mother. A pity about her fall, of course," he said quickly, before moving on. "Come, Brono and friends, let me escort you to the party!" He tapped his wand on the ground and a ball of smoke engulfed them quickly from below in a loud, bright flash.
"Has it already started?" Angelica asked, rubbing her eyes as the smoke cleared.
The magician turned, smiling, his eyes sparkling. "I will like watching you, my sweet ... has it already started? My dear, it almost never ends! Now, please, don your masks."
"Do you have a name, good sir?" Eshir asked, stepping in for Angelica as the four dropped their ornate masks over their faces.
The magician stopped and bowed, then raised up and grabbed the dark red velvet curtain behind him. "I am Rigby! Rigby the Magnificent!" He tore the curtain aside and the three Orphans gasped. The sight before them was overwhelming. A massive crowd of people dressed in elegant costumes engaged in large doses of alcohol, drugs … and each other. The room was as large as the eye could see, with areas marked off by velvet curtain - in various shades of deep red, dark purple, and black. Everywhere they looked, bars serving alcoholic drinks and drugs marked the floor, and small rises emerged from the floor to form impromptu stages where men and women performed acts for all to see. Rigby smiled at them, "Welcome … to the Jazz Masquerade!"
The Jazz Masquerade to be continued …
Mjolnir will choose its own wielder - Doom or no Doom.
YGGDRASIL
Comments c/o bousquet22@earthlink.net
For a subscription to AGC, send an email to me and I'll add you to the agcverse mailing list at yahoogroups. You will receive every issue of AGC and TALES of AGC as soon as they are ready for print.
Let's get right to some mail this month:
I really enjoyed issue 51 and the new characters are great. I
can see Crawler fast becoming a favouite of mine, will she be
meeting up with her brothers and sisters at any time? Grim is
excellent too and a nice touch having his rocky skin chip as he's
too thin, I'd like to see him to meet up with a Storm or another
Richards as we know Johnny had kids (the Fantastics- I think) and
Reed and Sue could have had others after Franklin. Great to see
the Black Knight who was on my AGC tales request list, is this a
new Dane Whitman or the old one returned? Can't wait to see him
fight Lockheed!!!!
Those Summers boys or Grey in this case do love that time travel
don't they! I'm curious as to the Daredevil symbol he was
wearing. The Hellfire club could be very interesting it will be
nice to see some enemies on a less cosmic scale. I do love the
new setting but I would been English. Interesting snipets into
future stories by the way, Herc on a mission with his partner?
and a quest for Brono and the Orphans.Great issue
Dave Evans.
As for Tales issue 3 is Doctor Strange still sorceror supreme
or does he not qualify now that he's dead? and Doom has set up
camp in Chronopolis which could mean any number of characters
could appear from across the time stream
from the Guardians of the Galaxy to Attila the Hun.
Thanks for the letter, Dave. No plans for Crawler to meet up with her siblings anytime soon, or Grimm to meet up with any FF-descendants, but I'm sure they will have the opportunity sometime in the future. Stephen Strange is not the Sorcerer Supreme, but I'm sure you know that after reading TALES of AGC 4. ;-)
Now, two letters from Brent Lambert:
Dear Mark,
This story featuring Ikaris the Eternal revealed a great deal about his motivations behind killing Thanos and that is very much appreciated considering why exactly did he betray Thanos has been on my mind. I also like the conversation between Brunnhilde and Ikaris. The tone and mood of that part of the story reminded me of the times I've talked to ex-girls from a while ago. Now the price for the Eternals going back to Earth may not seem like a high one in the long run, but emotionally it is quite painful. This story brings a little humanity to the Eternals. I like it.
Sincerely,
Brent Lambert
Dear Mark,
You've outdone yourself with this story. It displays how sometimes good intentions can go horribly wrong and the fact that while knowledge is powerful it can just as easily corrupt because we all know the saying "Absolute power absolutely corrupts." Mark displays these themes wonderfully. And the role of Earth in things to come is steadily growing especially with the hint that the Lady of the Lake is doing something horribly wrong on Earth. A stellar story and I can't wait for more.
Sincerely,
Brent Lambert
Thanks for the praise, Brent!
Mark Bousquet
Northern Bear Productions
18 January 2003