Marvel's Avengers: The Extinction Key, page 14
For an instant, nothing happened.
Then the old man coughed up black spittle. Strange uttered a terrible cry of despair, but he kept his hand pressed hard against the old man’s brow. As Thor watched, the sorcerer’s flesh took on a distinct bluish cast.
“Strange!” Cap shouted as the warlock slowly toppled onto his side. Thor watched as Cap placed a finger on their companion’s neck.
“There’s almost no pulse,” Cap said. “He’s dying!”
The old man, Thor noticed, already looked better. His flesh had returned to a more natural tone and he was breathing deeply, eyes rolling about beneath their lids as if he was experiencing a vivid dream.
“Strange cured this man,” Thor said. “Somehow…”
“I don’t know what to do for him. He needs help.” Cap sounded more than frustrated. He sounded angry.
One of the bystanders came sprinting toward them, with others following at a slower pace. The frontrunner was young, not a child but not fully mature. She knelt by the old man, going on in a language Thor did not recognize. The elder coughed again, and this time he opened his eyes.
The girl’s cries became more excited and joyful. Jumping up, she threw her arms around Thor’s neck and gave him a hug.
“Tor,” she said. “Avengers. Kyeizu tin ba de?”
“It’s all right,” Thor said. “I think.”
The old man pushed up on one elbow and met Thor’s gaze.
“She says thank you,” the man said.
“You speak English,” Thor said.
“Learned in school,” the man said. “Also, I am a guide for tourists.” He nodded toward the burning building. “Or was, anyway,” he said.
“What happened?” Thor asked.
The man closed his eyes and grimaced in terror.
“Kainn myee kout,” he said.
“I don’t—”
“Scorpion,” the man said. “He was a scorpion.”
“Yes,” Thor said. “I saw. And the woman with the whip—but what did they do?”
“Scorpio,” Cap said. “The same guy Natasha ran into. His venom…” He shook his head, looking down at Strange, whose lips were as black as if he’d adorned himself with Egyptian kohl.
“Is he…?” Thor asked.
“Still alive,” Cap said. “Barely, though.” He looked up at the old man. “Is there a hospital nearby?” he asked him.
“The nearest is in Singu township,” he said. “More than an hour by car. Better ones in Mandalay, but that is further. You can fly though, yes? Perhaps there is time.”
“Which way?” Thor asked.
“To Singu? Northeast.” He pointed. “Just across the Irrawaddy River. It’s on the main street, not too hard to find. Some there will speak English. Look for older people. We had to learn in school.”
Thor looked at Cap. “I’ll take him there.”
Cap nodded agreement. “It’s better than not trying at all,” he said, “but I’d say it’s too late.” Thor bent to collect Strange in his arms. He had begun to whirl his hammer when the sorcerer groaned and his eyes slitted open.
His eyes were entirely black.
“Just… wait,” Strange croaked out. “Put me down. Heaven knows what they would do to me in a hospital.”
“You’re on the verge of death,” Cap said. “We have no choice.”
“Not my first time, Captain,” Strange said. “I have survived stronger poisons than this. I will recover. I need water, and to be out of the sun.”
“My house is not far,” the old man said. “He is welcome. You all are.”
* * *
THE old man’s name was Suta, and the girl—his granddaughter—was named Thawda. They lived in a modest brick house a few hundred yards down the road. Once inside, Suta spoke a few words to Thawda, who quickly brought tea and a platter of shriveled leaves that Thor gathered were snacks. Everyone, Cap included, took off their shoes or boots at the door, so he did also, albeit reluctantly.
Suta insisted that Strange be given the only chair in the house, so they propped him in it and helped him drink some water. After a short time, they gave him a little of the tea. The snack leaves were pleasantly sour, accompanied by ground nuts and chilies that would be far too spicy for most Asgardian tastes.
Cap asked Suta about the building that had just burned, which it turned out wasn’t a shrine but a museum documenting the history of the region and especially the Pyu Empire which had once ruled the area.
“I grew up near here,” Suta said. “My father told me the stories of our past. Archaeologists came when I was a little boy, and I volunteered to help them dig. Mostly I removed dirt for them, but it was very interesting to me. When they built the museum, I studied to get a job there. I hoped one day they would expand it, but… now it’s ruined.”
“Will your country rebuild?” Cap asked.
“I hope so,” Suta said, “but the government has many concerns.” He fidgeted a little. “Can you tell me why?” he asked, finally. “Why my museum was destroyed?”
“They didn’t care about your museum,” Cap said. “They were looking for something.”
“I know,” Suta said. “They questioned me, but I did not know what they were talking about. They laughed at me and said I knew nothing.”
“Did they find anything?” Thor asked. “Did they take anything from the—?”
Abruptly Strange began coughing. Suta signed for Thawda to bring him more tea.
“No,” Strange murmured. “I’m fine, thank you. Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Thawda told me you took the poison from me,” Suta said. “If I had a million times what I have, I could not repay you.”
The sorcerer did look better, Thor thought. His color had improved —he was no longer blue—and his eyes had returned to normal.
“SHIELD analyzed that toxin after the New York incident,” Cap said. “It’s supposed to be pretty nasty stuff.”
“I am… acquainted with many poisons,” Strange said. “Over the years I have been exposed to more than my share. Even so, this was more virulent than I expected. Not entirely of this Earth, or any of the realms I ordinarily frequent. I miscalculated my ability to adapt.”
“You seem to be doing okay,” Cap said.
“Fortunately,” Strange said. “But I was expecting, you might say, an ant bite. It was more like being dropped into a pit of cobras.” He took a deep breath. “That’s an analogy,” he said. “I’ve actually been in a pit of cobras, and it wasn’t nearly as bad.”
“You saved this man from certain death,” Thor said.
Strange shot him a sidewise look. “That’s the minimal definition of my job,” he said. “You don’t get extra credit for doing what you’re supposed to do. And you did your part, god of thunder. Another few seconds and there would have been no help for him.” He paused. “You saw them? Scorpio and Virgo?”
“Yes,” Thor said. “They fled, using their bracelets before I could deal with them.”
“Did they have the Key?”
“I don’t know,” Thor said. “I was just asking Suta, but… what does it look like?”
“Oh,” Strange said. “Did I neglect that part? It would be helpful, I suppose.” He lifted his right hand and stretched out his index finger. He traced a design in the air, leaving a faint golden line to mark its passage. The line formed a cross with a loop at the top. The short line of the cross was bent slightly upward.
“This reminds me of an Egyptian symbol,” Thor said. “I once met this god named Horus—”
“The Egyptian ankh is similar,” Strange said, “and I would love to hear this story about Horus. Someday. But for now—did you see anything like that?”
“I did not,” Thor said, “though our encounter was brief.”
“I have seen it,” Suta said.
All eyes turned to him. Thawda said something, low and fast, but the old man shushed her with a motion of his hands.
“Where?” Strange demanded.
“In the museum,” Suta said. “I saw it in the new section, down below. Not an object, but a carving. A symbol. I noticed it because it was so different from other Pyu inscriptions.”
“This symbol,” Strange said, “down below. Was it in a… cave, or a basement? A shrine of some sort?”
Suta nodded. “Only discovered recently, beneath the building. It was quite strange. Not just the symbol, but everything—altogether different from other things of that period. The archaeologists say it was a shrine dedicated to star formations.”
“Was there anything else—unusual about it?”
Suta hesitated. “I’ve been a museum keeper for many years,” he said. “I used to go down there, sometimes at night. There was—a sort of presence. Not of a person. More like a place I thought I could see sometimes, from the corner of my eye. Like a thing seen in the desert that isn’t really there.”
“A mirage,” Cap said.
“And that’s where Scorpio went?” Strange pursued.
“He made me take him, and the other. The woman with the whip.”
“Yeah,” Cap said. “I’ve made her acquaintance.”
“Did they find anything?” Strange asked. “In the weird place?”
“The scorpion-man went in,” Suta said. “He became like smoke, but I could still see him. When he came out, he was angry. He shouted at me.”
Strange closed his eyes and breathed out a long, slow breath.
“So they didn’t find it there,” he said. He looked back at their host. “Yet you say you have seen it? The symbol I showed you.”
“A carving of it,” Suta said. “A depiction. There was a stone slab, like a grave marker, but with no grave underneath. It was inscribed with Pyu writing on the front. Normal things—but on the other side, something else.”
“What do you mean?” Cap asked.
“Symbols,” he said. “Strange. Lines and sketches. Stars, I think, and your symbol.”
“What became of this slab?” Strange asked.
“They destroyed it,” Suta said. “First the scorpion-man read it. Then he touched it and it crumbled into dust. I tried to stop him, but he was strong. He knocked me down. That was when Thor arrived.”
“Like the stele in the mountains,” Thor said. “They attempt to cover their tracks, to keep us from following them.”
“Can you pull your trick again?” Cap asked Strange. “With the amulet? See it before they destroyed it?”
“I fear too much time has passed,” Strange said, “and I’m too weak. If I push further into the past there will be problems. It’s not impossible, but I will need to recover more fully, and I doubt we have time for that.”
“Were there any photographs of the slab?” Cap asked.
“In the museum,” the old man said. “They will have burned. Perhaps the government office in Naypyidaw has copies. The archaeologists, too.”
“Do any of the archaeologists live nearby?” Cap asked.
“No,” Suta said, shaking his head.
“We don’t have time to track down photographs that may not exist,” Strange said. “Each second that passes, the Zodiac draws farther ahead of us and nearer their goal. Did they say anything about where they were going?”
“Not that I understood,” Suta said, and he looked strangely pleased. “But—I have something. It could be of use.” He stood and left the room, returning a few moments later with a large sheet of paper that had been rubbed over with some sort of dark gray material, like ash or charcoal. Thor was puzzled at first, but then realized he could make out strange runes on the paper.
“I was curious,” the old man said. “I wasn’t supposed to, but I made a rubbing of the stone, as a keepsake.”
Strange closed his eyes, exhaled, and drew a deep breath.
“I could kiss you, U Suta.”
The man took a step back, eyes widening.
“No,” the sorcerer said. “It’s an expression. I won’t touch your head.” He pointed toward the rubbing. “May I see that?”
Now that he looked closer, Thor saw that there were figures, as well. Some were familiar—the scorpion, the lion, the crab, and so forth. And the image of the Key, in not one but several places. He thought it looked familiar, but in a general way.
“Is it a map?” Thor asked. “A star map?”
“Yes,” Strange said. “I believe so. But it is also a map of the world, in a sense.”
“Really?” Cap said. “I’m trying, but I can’t make head nor tail of it.”
“It’s not like a modern map,” Strange said. “The exact shape of the continents isn’t important. It’s more like a conceptualization, or a flow chart. It shows the relationship between places sacred to the Zodiac. The wells in particular.”
He pointed. “You see this in the center of the map. That’s where we were before, the Well of Indara in the Kopet Dag mountains. It’s where this cult originated, so Scorpio placed it in the center of the world, both in time and space. It’s the beginning.” He moved his hand up. “And here we are in Hanlin,” he said. “Further away in space, but also in time.”
Strange kept moving his finger along the map.
“This shows the stars aligning in different ways,” he said. “Just as different days come under influence of the different Zodiac signs, so do various parts of the Earth. We were attacked by Gemini and Sagittarius at the crypt of Indara because their signs are strongest there right now. This place favors Scorpio and Virgo, but there is a progression. The next place to look is here.” His finger traced to the very edge of the rubbing.
“Where is that?” Thor asked.
“It’s an island in the Pacific,” Strange said. “If my guess is correct, it’s the capital of the Saudeleur Kingdom—Nan Madol.”
“Saudeleur,” the old man said. “They said this word. I did not know it meant anything.”
“Pohnpei,” Strange said. “That’s the name of the island.”
“So, we have a destination,” Cap said. “Strange, are you well enough to take us there?”
“I’ll have to be.”
“If you are too weak, I could summon the Bifrost,” Thor said.
Strange seemed to think that over for a moment.
“I can manage,” he said at last. “I fear the Bifrost might be too blunt a weapon for our purposes. You can call it to yourself, I assume, but having it take us somewhere else—we would have to travel to Asgard first, wouldn’t we?”
“Normally,” Thor replied, “but there are mysteries of the Rainbow Bridge only its guardian, Heimdall, knows. He might be able to move us directly there.”
“I’m weak,” Strange said, “but teleportation from spot to spot on Earth isn’t too taxing. We may need a favor from Heimdall later. Let’s leave him out of it for now.”
“He’s probably watching us right now, you know.”
“Then he knows I would rather do this my way.”
“Wait,” Cap said. He was still looking at Suta’s rubbing of the map. “Here—this is the Key again, right?”
“Yes,” Strange said. “That’s probably their next destination after Pohnpei. In case that, like the last two wells, didn’t work out. Scorpio must have known he was only hours from death when he reached Hanlin. His next destination would have been Nan Madol—the map gives it more prominence—but if he came up empty there, he wouldn’t have time to leave a hint. He had to hedge his bets.”
“So where is that?” Cap asked.
Strange frowned at the map for a moment. “In Alaska,” he said.
“Why not go straight there?” Cap asked.
“Well, because if the Key is at Nan Madol, we will miss stopping them,” Strange replied.
“But they can split up, yes?” Thor said. “There are twelve of them.”
“That’s true,” Strange acknowledged.
“So they probably sent teams to both places,” Thor said. “Perhaps we should also split up. Because if it’s at this other place, we’ll be wasting our time on the island.” He looked over to Cap for approval.
“He’s got a point,” Cap said, “but these guys seem to be getting tougher, like Strange said they would. There’s only three of us as there is.”
“We could contact Stark and Natasha. Banner might be persuaded to join us.”
“Iron Man and Black Widow have their hands full right now,” Strange said. “They can’t help us.”
“Are they in trouble?” Thor asked.
“I’m not certain,” Strange said. “They are in a blind spot, so to speak. I can’t see them. We must trust they can take care of themselves.” He leaned forward, gathered his feet under him, and stood. “We shouldn’t split up,” he said. “We’re having trouble as it is. We should go to Nan Madol. We’ll quickly know if the Zodiac has been there already.” After a moment he added, “We don’t have to seek clues this time—if the Saudeleur Kingdom is a false lead, we can go straight on to Alaska.”
“And if they already have the Key?” Cap asked.
“Then our mission becomes all the more difficult. Perhaps impossible,” Strange said. “They will be an order of magnitude more powerful than they have been up until now—but until the constellations reach full alignment, we still have some time to prepare. They had the Key once before, and were beaten. We can do it again.”
“I hope you’re right,” Cap said. “You have to be. As I recall, you said that battle caused a dark age that lasted for centuries.”
“I know more than Shaushka did,” Strange replied. “Our world will not suffer the same fate as hers, not if I have anything to say about it.”
“Okay, Doc,” Cap said. “You’re the authority here. Whenever you’re ready.”
Strange took a step. He wobbled a bit, looking as if he might fall down. When they moved to help him, he held up a hand to stop them.
“I’m ready,” he said. “U Suta, thank you again for your hospitality.”
The old man nodded. “Peace, happiness and well-being to all of you.”
“I don’t know about the peace part,” Thor said, “but I appreciate the well wishes.”
“Step near,” Strange said.
“Before we go,” Cap said. “You said that different Zodiac members have greater power in certain parts of the world. Our next stop—which of these people are we likely to meet there?”
