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NEW BOSNIA
Part 3: The Land of Smoke and Soapflakes
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.
- The Chancellor Wyatt Ferguson of the Council of Ordered Realities, originally from Earth-SW10 but now resident on Earth-MW02 ("Earth-Council").
- 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. (The Confederacy is "Southron USA" here.) Meanwhile, the Turks attracted the super-bees to the rhododendron patch of the Staten Island Gardens, and gathered biological extracts for analysis. There the bees captured a rabbit and a duck - Atomic Bunny and Psychovant the Duck. Those are currently depowered, though Psychovant can still speak.
The Sultan, along with the visiting Chancellor Wyatt Ferguson from yet a fourth universe, began planning against the invaders. The Sultan has many consultants with many plans to deal with bees. One plan seems to have begun.
Previous Episode: New Bosnia Part 2: The Land of Coins and Diners (www.eilertech.com/stories/2011/newbosnia2.txt)
Tuesday 24 May 2011
There was a whistle in the sky. The wall of the warehouse crashed open.
Another whistle. Something flew through the hole in the wall, and spewed smoke.
Scott Stiles said, "Huh?"
Psychovant yelled, "You $#@!head! Incoming fire has the right of way!"
"Right... Time to bug out! Tor! Gavrilo! Move it!"
The two Monster Bees flew... deeper into the warehouse.
"Huh??"
"Y'know, when bees are under stress, they gorge on honey?"
"Riiight... How do you know this?"
"Y'know I'm a cyborg duck, right? I'm a walkin' Wikipedia... Leave 'em!"
"No! In this organization we don't leave people behind! Or ducks, or bees, or whatever!"
"Ehh, wasn't your Super-Savior Rapture full of people left behind?"
"Yes it was. But no more!" Scott Stiles picked up Psychovant and the little Atomic Bunny, and chased the bees.
As Psychovant had predicted, the bees were feeding. Scott yelled, "Hey! Fire! Time to go!"
The bees went.
Psychvant said, "Well goody for them. Now we gotta fly. You're a Super-Savior, you can fly, right?"
"Nope."
"Well, sorry 'bout your luck. See ya!" The duck started flapping his wings.
"Not so fast!" Scott Stiles had a hand around Psychovant's legs. "We stay together!"
"Well, 'we' better chase those bees then!"
Scott dashed outside with the duck and the bunny, and looked for the bees. What he saw first was snowflakes drifting down - but it wasn't cold! "Huh?"
"Ptui!!" The duck spat. "Soap flakes!"
"Soap flakes? Why??"
"Bees hate that stuff!" Psychovant pointed at a covered bus stop. The two bees were huddled inside it.
Scott looked up. Blimps floated there. One had a searchlight - which zeroed in on the bus stop.
Scott put the bunny in a pocket. Then he picked up a stone, covered his eyes, faced up at the blimp, and threw.
The searchlight went out.
That grating duck voice said, "Really? You just took out that thing blind??"
"I can't fly, right? I got to be good for something." From Scott's pocket, the bunny squealed amusedly.
"... Gavrilo!" The wizard-bee jerked to attention. "I can't help you with the soap flakes. But you can shield yourself!"
Gavrilo stayed still and silent. But the other bee said, "He waitzzz for your orderzzz."
"Right, thank you Tor." The bee bowed. "Gavrilo! Shield this bus stop, err, this structure, and twice the length of your body around it!"
A glowing, crackling shield appeared above them. Scott thought crazily, this was a lot like teaching Sunday school. Being literal was helping.
"Tor! Let us mount up on you!" The bee bowed again, and Scott climbed on. "Gavrilo! Fly out of here! Tor! Follow him!"
The party lifted into the air. Scott could see artillery shells flying toward them.
And the bees were flying toward the cannons.
To Be Continued in New Bosnia Part 4, The Land of Guns and Women!
Author's Notes:
I publish these fine New Bosnia stories on rare occasions when I tire of drawing Powernaut cartoons. This is one such occasion. I'm about to end the 1969 series, which is my second longest ever. So I'll have earned a break - yet I'm upwards of four weeks ahead on art, not counting any breaks. As such, I've spend one of my usual productive art days finishing this New Bosnia serial episode instead. And I'm going to squirt it out before I can think too much more about it.
I'm filling this story with dialog, which is something I really ought to practice more. But I still believe in short things to read. So this episode is short. I'll probably produce twice as many New Bosnia installments as I originally planned. That will make the total somewhere around eight.
As I publish, there is a Rec.Arts.Comics.Creative High Concept Challenge on for Fictional Nations. If New Bosnia doesn't qualify, something in this story will. But I don't have a good track record of cramming the challenges into my stories and then winning the award, and I'm not going to throw this challenge in to my story just to make the contest look bigger. So I'm going to sit this one out for once.
(signed) Scott Eiler, 27 September 2014.
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