The Academy of Super-Heroes Universe Presents E.U.R.O.P.A. Eurasian Union Ruling Order Paranormal Authority A Three-Issue Limited Series copyright 1999 by Tony Pi #1 - "RIDDLES AND TRAGEDIES, ACT I: Shadow of the Sphinx" [cover shows Castor and Pollux's faces...Pollux's smiling underneath a funeral shroud, while Castor's is miserable and crying, similar to the Comedy and Tragedy masks.] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EUROPA ROLL CALL ARC Claire Auger of FRANCE Kinetic Energy Battery ACTIVE YMIR Erik Qvenhild of SWEDEN Cold Projection ACTIVE ONI Saori Taya of JAPAN Astral Form/Magnetism ACTIVE RASPUTIN Yevgeny Sosnov of RUSSIA Illusions MEDICAL LEAVE CASTOR Cas Ierulli-Kiris of ITALY Telepathic Twin PSYCHIATRIC LEAVE POLLUX Pol Ierulli-Kiris of ITALY Telepathic Twin DECEASED HOTSPUR Harry Keane of ENGLAND Metal-Melting PROBATION LLYR Daffyd Glwych Garanhir of WALES Photon Manipulation CANDIDATE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [NOTE: All conversations are in French, the official language of the Eurasian Union, unless otherwise indicated. Hotspur speaks a basilect of Eurolac, not the acrolect of Eurolac that is steadily increasing in prominence in the Eurasian Union.] MORNING, JANUARY 5th, 2024 Claire Auger wanted to run, far away from the cemetery where Lieutenant Pol Ierulli-Kiris, agent of EUROPA, was being buried. She had always hated funerals. They had been taught to cope with death at the Advanced Sciences Institute of Eurasia, the training ground for the paranormal talents of the Eurasian Union, due to the twenty-odd cases of Neural Overload Syndrome. Over the years, she had lost many classmates and a few friends to burnout, as it was more commonly known. But this time, it was Pol...her best friend, murdered in battle with the Conclave of Super- Villains. What made things worse was what his brother Cas said during the eulogies. She knew Pol was in love with her; she wasn't blind. But if Pollux never had the courage to confess his love to her, it was none of Castor's business to tell the world. She wanted to run...but for Pol, the least she could do was to offer her condolences to his parents. Claire took a deep breath and marched through the blur of people towards the Ierullis and the Kiris. "Claire!" Castor embraced her, and an incredible sadness came over her. How Cas looked and sounded exactly like his twin, she thought. Only...Cas wasn't Pol. She once thought they were indistinguishable, but there were subtle personality differences that made them unique. There was a need in Castor's hug that scared her, and she pulled away. "Have you met my parents?" asked Castor, his tired face brightening. "No, I haven't," answered Claire. "This is my Mom and Dad," said Castor, touching the shoulders of the Italian couple, his birth parents. "And my Papa and Mama." The other two, a Greek couple, nodded. They must be Pol's birth parents, Claire thought. "This is Claire Auger...you know her as Arc." "The one that Pol..." Mrs. Kiris started to say, but her husband nudged her gently with an elbow. She glared at him. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Auger." Claire blushed. "Likewise, though I wish we met under happier circumstances," she answered. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Monsieur et Madame Kiris." Mr. Ierulli's face darkened and Mrs. Ierulli began to sob uncontrollably. "Pol was our son, too," said Mr. Ierulli, putting his arm around Mrs. Ierulli. The woman's tears proved too much for Mrs. Kiris, who embraced Mrs. Ierulli and began to cry as well. Claire realized she had committed a faux-pas. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean...I meant it was as much your loss as theirs," stammered Claire. "I'm so sorry." She couldn't handle it anymore. She turned and hastened into the crowd, pushing past Llyr, one of the students at the Advanced Sciences Institute of Eurasia who came down to pay their respects. "Claire, wait!" shouted Castor. She ignored his call and kept going, not caring where she went. She thought she also heard Jay Teller call out to her, and for a second she was tempted to stop and collapse in his arms. But that would make her feel even guiltier than she felt right now. How could she have forgotten, so soon after the eulogies? She must be under more stress than she thought. Pol told her before: the Dioscuri had a unique family situation. Back in 1999 in Umbria, Italy, two children were born at the same precise moment to two different couples - a rich Italian couple and a poor Greek immigrant couple escaping the chaos of the Godmarket a year before for the relative stability of Italy. Since Europe maintained a DNA database on newborns prior to the Godmarket, it was deemed essential after the disaster of 1998 which wiped out half the world's population to keep track of the reappearance of the Magene. When the computer reported an apparent glitch, two identical records being submitted from different hospitals, rumours of the miracle babies began to circulate. Later testing confirmed that the children's DNA fingerprints were identical, but somehow their DNA were completely different from both sets of parents. Some speculated that telepathic and nanotelekinetic powers during the pre-natal period caused simultaneous DNA restructuring to give life to the psychic twins. The religious, including the four parents, believed it to be a miracle. They raised the two children together, believing it best for the twins. Claire kept running, trying to outrun her falling tears. * * * * MORNING, JANUARY 7th, 2024 "She's still not back," said Castor as he entered Tony Drake's room in EUROPA's Parabiology Ward. "Don't you think we should look for her? Do you think she's in trouble?" Hotspur shrugged. "Damen. Who knows onde sie ist. Youz in or aus? Sit iffen yaz are." His Eurolac patois was sometimes difficult to understand, but he really had a way of getting his point across. Especially when he was mad...then it was time to step back from anything metallic. "Drako e Rasputin still be gagnen, th'lykke rats." "Hell, if I'm lucky enough to live through a neutron bomb exploding in my guts, I figure I oughtta milk my luck for all its worth," Tony Drake joked. "I'm not in the mood for games!" said Castor. "What if she ran afoul of the Vogue-ghouls? Or worse yet, the Conclave of Super-Villains?" "Five card stud, one-eyed Jacks are wild," said Yevgeny 'Rasputin' Sosnov, the illusionist and team leader of EUROPA, in his heavily accented English. Though the doctors said his spinal injuries meant he may never walk again, his hands were as agile as ever as he shuffled the cards with the finesse of a magician. He dealt the hole cards to each player at the table: the invulnerable Tony Drake of STRAFE; Jay Teller of STRAFE, ace marksman; Harry 'Hotspur' Keane, EUROPA's agent recently reinstated to the team, with the power to melt metals; and Saori 'Oni' Taya, EUROPA's newest member with the power of astral projection and manifestation as a magnetic ghost. "Arc can take care of herself. She needs some time to herself, Cas." Rasputin wore his poker face over his mask of bravery, like they were his illusions. "You look tired, Hotspur. Maybe you should be taking a rest," said Rasputin. "You too, Teller." "Tired? Nay, gruppa yaz ain't bin 'tired' less yaz raved 'vec th'Tymmytes. THEYZ machen yaz 'tired.' Deal on, migo. Ich gagne toute m'Euro stash fore lang," said Hotspur. "Yeah, one last hand," said Jay Teller, leaning back on the tacky orange couch in Drake's room, yawning. "Look, Castor, I don't profess to know about women, but I know this. You spooked her with all that talk about your brother Pol being in love with her and all. That's laying a guilt trip on her and that's not fair." Castor glared at Jay. "Some things have to be said." "Yeah, but not in front of the whole world!" snapped Jay. Castor snarled. "Don't push me, Teller." Oni calmly spoke. "Stop it, you two. I know where she is. She called, and asked me to keep her location a secret. She's fine, but she just isn't ready to see anyone at the moment. Look, I'll talk to her and convince her to come back, okay?" When Castor calmed down, Oni nodded, and went into a trance. "I guess she's out," said Rasputin. "I need to talk to her," said Castor. "Maybe it's best that you don't. I think Pollux's death's weighing on Arc's mind more than she cares to admit," answered Rasputin. Still dealing the cards absent-mindedly, he turned over the last card, and was surprised by the first round of face-up cards on the table: of the four, two were Jack of Hearts and two were Jack of Spades. "Merde," shouted Hotspur, grabbing the deck away from Rasputin and flipping through it. "Th'lusionist's bin cheatin'!" "I was not!" Rasputin looked down at his cards, concerned. He passed his hand over the cards, and two of them reverted to the King of Diamonds and the Ace of Spades. He frowned. "Not consciously, anyway." He flipped over the face-down card in his hand. Instead of a playing card, a Tarot card stared him in the face: the Hanged Man. "I think Pollux's death preoccupies us all," Rasputin concluded. * * * * MORNING, JANUARY 7th, 2024 Lying on the deck of a boat floating on the river, Claire watched the sun rise over Rome. Despite the blowing wind, the stainless steel windchimes she had hung up stopped ringing. Some force was causing them to become still. "Oni," Claire said without looking up. %How are you feeling, Claire?% The windchimes vibrated at the right frequencies to produce an approximation of a voice. The sound was strange to hear, but surprisingly evocative of Oni's character. "Better," she answered. "But still angry. I just want to shout out all the anguish I feel." %Over Pol's death?% "Not just that. At all the deaths we had to endure while at the Academy. Riita Koskinnen, my roommate. Eduardo Ferreira. Aniela. Erszebet. Pavlos. That boy with the darkness powers." %You mean Pwyll. He was in my French class.% "Yeah. And Vang. Thierry Bergeron. And all the others who died of Burnout at ASIE," said Claire, referring to the Advanced Sciences Institute of Eurasia, the Finnish training ground for agents of EUROPA. "There's a curse on EUROPA, and it's getting worse. Things haven't been the same since Pollux died. Castor's not thinking straight, Rasputin's parapalegic, and Ymir's not comfortable making decisions as acting leader. And Hotspur! They only let him back because that was one of Pol's last wishes." %We all hurt, but like my mother said after my father died...we all must move on. Come back, Claire. Everyone's worried about you.% Claire sighed. "Give me the rest of the day. It's tranquil here." %Whenever you're ready,% chimed Oni. The windchimes resumed their dance with the wind. * * * * AFTERNOON, JANUARY 7th, 2024 Everyone on the EUROPA team and Teller were called into General Pushparajah's office. Arc was conspicuously missing, but Oni assured the general that she was on her way back, by evening. "Thanks for coming, Lieutenant Teller," began Kugan Pushparajah, director of the Eurasian Union Paranormal Ruling Order Authority. "I thought you should also be informed of the upcoming mission, though we do not require the assistance of STRAFE. A prison transport to Siberia, if you'll forgive the cliche." Rasputin raises an eyebrow. "Lorenzo Archangeli?" Pushparajah nods. "Rebus. The government's worried that the CSV might mount a rescue, and Rome can't handle that, not with Italy still recovering from Sultry's hurricane. The citizens are on the brink of riot, from two angles. The Vogue-ghouls want to canonize Rebus, while the Pollux fanatics want to hang him. Needless to say there would be chaos if they clashed." "From Rebus to Hangman...what's next, Search-A-Word?" joked Jay Teller. "Seriously, Lieutenant Teller, the situation must be nipped in the bud before it turns far worse." "So...covert transports to prevent any incidents. I assume Peryton will also be hidden away?" asked Rasputin, referring to the other CSVer in custody. "He will be transported to a classified location, under Anchored guard as well as being escorted by members of EUROPA. They deemed the Siberian prison camp unsuitable for a para who's a flyer." Castor snorted. "He demands no less punishment than the man who killed my brother. May I request that I be assigned to escort Rebus, sir?" Pushparajah sighed. "Ah, team assignments. In two days time, Oni and Hotspur will escort Peryton to his new home. Also, Ymir and Arc will escort Rebus to Siberia. Rasputin, you are hereby placed on medical leave until such time as you regain your mobility. Ymir is promoted to Acting Leader in the interim. Castor, you are placed on mandatory psychiatric leave. Neither of you..." "Mandatory psychiatric leave?!" shouted Castor. "I can't even go on a simple prisoner transport mission?" General Kugan Pushparajah sighed. "Lieutenant...Cas. You are too emotionally involved in the Rebus matter to be objective about it. Your anger will cloud your judgment. If you go, you might be tempted to do something you regret. Do you think Pol would want you to sacrifice your career for petty revenge? Especially since he worked so hard to prevent Harry from committing the same mistake?" "I know what Pol thinks! Too much so. Rebus killed a part of me. Pol and I were closer than telepaths. We were mirror images of each other. We were *Dioscuri*. Pol would avenge me, in my position. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." "You've just proven my point. You are still angry about your brother's death. Don't obsess over Rebus...trust in karma to punish him, just as karma rewards your brother in his next life." "You don't trust me at all!" Ymir coughed, and the water particles in his breath crystallized. "I'm sorry, Cas. That was my recommendation. I think Pollux's death's weighing on your mind more than you care to admit. I think his death preoccupies us all." He reached out a hand to touch Castor's shoulder, but Castor grabbed his hand before Ymir could finish his action. Ymir's touch was, as always, cold. "Et tu, Brute?" said Castor, pain in his voice. "It wasn't personal, Cas. As Acting Leader, I need to take into consideration the safety of the whole team. I felt you would have jeopardized the assignment with your vendetta." The ambient room temperature dropped a few degrees. "I thought you were my friend," spat Cas. "Now you talk like Rasp. Cowards, the both of you! You've got *his* words coming out of your mouth. Go backstab someone else." He turned back towards the general. "I want back on the team, sir. I want to be on this mission." "Absolutely not. You failed your power evals, and you are off the team until you pass that, pass your psych evals, AND your physicals." "And if I pass them in the next two days?" "*Then* I will reinstate you to active duty. Otherwise, you are not to interfere with this mission, or attempt to confront Lorenzo Archangeli. Do we understand each other?" Through his clenched teeth, Castor hissed, "Yes." "Dismissed. Ymir, Rasputin...a word." Castor was the first to storm out the door. The others soon followed, except for Ymir and Rasputin. "Just wanted your opinion on the Castor situation. Will he be fit for duty in the next two days?" asked the general. "A snowball's chance in Hell," Ymir and Rasputin replied simultaneously. They turned to look at each other, surprised that they were thinking the same thing. * * * * LATE EVENING, JANUARY 7th, 2024 Castor was confident he could pass most of the tests. Physically, he was sound, and he could certainly bluff his way through the psych profile. The power eval, however, was a different matter. There was only one person he could think of who would help him...and it would not entirely be ethical. But he was toeing the line already. He knocked on the door. "Whozzafa...?" grumbled Hotspur drowsily. Castor pushed his way into Hotspur's room, and shut the door quickly. "Harry, I need a favor." "Whyzzafa shaddich halp yaz? S'bloody insens t'wake me auf jetzt. 'Smere one hour since I t'bed. Lemme sleep." "Look, you owe Pol for getting you back on the team, and helping me's like helping him. Just promise me you won't tell a soul about this conversation." "Y'loco, Cas, djeknow? B'fak, shoot. Vas can I do f'yaz?" "You joined the Church of Tym shortly after you were expelled, right?" Hotspur nodded. "You still have access to Emp?" Hotspur raised an eyebrow. "I'm offa drogen. Teep mich, sou clean! Not kosher t'get me t'peche on m'Tyms." "No, I'm not asking you to betray your friends. The Emp is for me." Emp was short for Empowerment, a designer drug that was claimed to boost a user's Tesla Index for a brief period of time. Emp was restricted in the Eurasian Union, because users ran the risk of their powers going wild, and even heart failure. Furthermore, the user's body quickly adapted to the drug, meaning it could only be effective two, or at most three, times. The Church of Tym still used it to boost their powers, under the claim that they are trying to reach a higher level of awareness. "Ne, why?" "Ever since Pol died, my telepathic powers had been waning," confessed Cas. "The last time I was able to use them was to establish a link between Ymir and Rasputin, to save baby Carl. I still have a vestige of it, but there's no way I'm going to pass the Carlson Test again without a little extra help." The Carlson Test was a highly advanced test of telepathic ability, where the subject tried to project words and images to a target who had already been tested as having a low Tesla Index. "If I can't pass the Carlson Test," continued Cas, "There's no way I can get back on the team. If I can't get back on the team, I can't carry on Pol's legacy. Please, Harry. For the love of Pol." Hotspur pondered this for a brief instant. "This gonna mete, Casboy, this gonna mete. J'in case they teep mich...s'ain't m'Idee!" "I'll take full responsibility," said Cas. "And I swear...this will be the only time I use it." "Justifiez all yaz need, b'denk on what yaz macht," said Hotspur. "Ach, vamos. Nous allons chez Midas." * * * * PRE-DAWN, JANUARY 8th, 2024 It was a short and quiet trip to Venice, using EUROPA resources secretly. Hotspur had a knack of convincing people to do things for him on the sly; Castor always thought it was because Harry's Eurolac disoriented people enough to slip in subliminal suggestions. Midas turned out to be a member of the Venetian chapter of the Church of Tym who owed Hotspur a favour. The fat young man - probably Turkish - had the ability of tactile transmutation: anything he was touching turned to gold as long as he was touching it and concentrating, as long as the object was non-living and had no more mass than himself. While trying to his power work on things permanently through Emp, Midas had nearly died when the air around him started turning into gold. Luckily, Hotspur was there to save him by melting the transmuted air around his nose and mouth so that he could breathe, and extended his aura to Midas so that the molten metal would not burn him. "You sure you want Emp?" said Midas. "Just see what happened to me." "I'll risk it," said Castor. "I have little left to lose." * * * * NOON, JANUARY 8th, 2024 "Wait!" Claire intercepted the sliding doors and entered the elevator, and realized too late that it was Cas. Too late to run, she decided. Might as well face the music. She forced her grimace into a smile. "Cas...I want to apologize for my behaviour the other day. I should have been more careful, and I shouldn't have run." Cas stopped fidgeting with something in his pocket, and took Claire by the hand. Pol used to do things like that, Claire thought. The elevator doors closed. "It's okay...people make that mistake all the time, that Pol's just Spiro and Renata's son, just as I am just Enzo and Tula's. Pol and I shared more than memories," Cas paused and looked into Claire's eyes, his hand still holding hers. "Like family." "Cas...." "Claire, please. Just listen. I'm not sorry I said those things at the funeral. My brother cared for you very deeply. I know." "We were friends, nothing more. There couldn't be more." "It's not as black-and-white as that, Claire. We...he could sense your emotions. He saw in your heart..." "He invaded my mind?" Claire's voice was bitter. "He saw in your heart what you were afraid to see. What you buried under all those lies. You knew he would have given you the moon, if you but asked." "You say you know Pol, but Pol would not have done the things you say. Pol would never look into my thoughts without permission. There is nothing that I'm afraid of, least of all the fact that he's...*was*...my best friend." "You were afraid because he was a telepath!" Cas pressed on. "All your flaws, all your pain. You couldn't bear the thought that he might learn more about you than you're willing to share. You were afraid that he might stop loving you if he could see all that you were." Claire flushed. "Get. Out. Of. My. Head. NOW." A pained look flashed across Castor's face. "I haven't been using my telepathy. I can read it in your face." "What do you WANT me to say? You want me to regret not acting on impulses I don't think I have? Pol's gone, Cas. If he loved me so much, he should have said so. I didn't need to hear it from his brother." "But..." "But what? You may look like Pol. You may sound like Pol. But you have never known the Pol I knew, and you can never *be* Pol or bring him back." Claire pulled away. "Get out of my way, Cas. I need to see Jay before I go." "Go where?" "The assignment. Pushparajah's pushed up the schedule." "He CAN'T! We had a deal! I still have time to pass my power eval!" The elevator doors opened. "I have to say goodbye to Jay. You deal with the general. I have to go." Claire stormed out the elevator, forcing herself not to look back. Cas might see her tears. TO BE CONTINUED... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEXT ISSUE: Castor faces a dilemma, and his decision may change things forever for the EUROPA team. Hotspur must learn to control his temper when disaster strikes, and Arc comes face to face with Rebus, who enlightens her about a riddle whose answer may mean life or death. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: EUROPA characters, with the exception of Oni, Hotspur and Llyr, created by Marc Singer. Llyr created by Matt Rossi. Jason Teller and Tony Drake created by Dave Van Domelen. All other characters created by Tony Pi. Guest cover artist: Matt Rossi.