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Heroes on the Halfscreen (pods6827 and MMRS)

"No no, don't worry about it," Steven said, holding a hand up placatingly, "The help you've given me gives me a starting point if nothing else, and it's more than I started with."

"I wonder..." Steven muttered, considering the information he'd been given. "Four heralds, could it be referring to the four heralds of the Apocalypse? War, famine, pestilence, and death?"
 
"That is a possibility, I suppose," Dr. Theopolis allowed. "Charlemagne certain could qualify as war, if your hypothesis is correct."
 
"I suppose I might as well give it a try," he said. Not knowing what else to do Steven placed a hand on the screen. "The Four Horsemen," the young man in toned, and in case that didn't work he followed it up with "War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death." He then pulled back, waiting to see what would happen.
 
The screen remained frozen on the scene of Buck Rogers that Steven had pulled Dr. Theopolis and Twiki from.

"Either that isn't the correct password," Dr. Theopolis surmised, "Or it wasn't the right way to deliver it."

"Biddi biddi biddi biddi --- Thank you Captain Obvious," Twiki commented.
 
"Indeed," Steven said, disappointed but not especially so. "I suppose I'll keep searching for an answer then."

He then turned back to the two figures. "With that out of the way, is there anything that you'd like to ask me? After the help you've given me I feel like answering a few questions is the least I could do."
 
"I suspect I shall need to contemplate this experience before I can construct a proper question," Dr. Theopolis answered. "Perhaps we might continue this conversation at a later date. Until then, Steven, perhaps you can return me to my own world?"
 
"Of course Doctor," Steven agreed, giving him a respectful nod before placing his hand out flat for Twiki to stand on,and once he was he placed them through the screen. "Safe travels to you," he said just before they went through.

Once they were gone Steven picked up the journal and opened it up. "Out of curiosity, did you ever figure out how to 'enter' an incantation when you thought of one?" Do I press a button on the TV and then say it, or what?"
 
On the television screen, the show continued, with neither Twiki nor Dr. Theopolis acting as if either had momentarily stepped out of their reality into another.

On the blank journal page, the following appeared.

Sorry Grandnephew. I just always figured that if I found the answer to the riddle, that how I was supposed to use the answer would just provide itself. So you're on your own there.
 
"I suppose that's something else I'll need to discover," Steven muttered under his breath, setting the journal down before a thought occurred to him. Standing up and heading downstairs he picked today's newspaper off of a table, plucking the TV guide from it's pages. "With this I won't have to do quite as much flipping channels to find something good," he said, starting to look through it.

It took a little searching, but Steven was able to find a few shows on tonight that he'd be interested in pulling one or two people out of. Game of Thrones, a couple of the various Star Trek series, and Xena: Warrior Princess would all be on tonight, among others. In addition he was pleasantly surprised that there would be an episode of Smallville on as well, meaning that he could see about getting the rest of his grand-uncle's magic items from Zatanna.

Before long the time had come for Game of Thrones to start, and Steven turned the channel to it just in time for the opening credits. He took a moment to consider who or what to bring out of the portal, eventually settling on Margaery Tyrell as she was on the screen at the time. Reaching into the portal he thought of her and tried to carry her back out.
 
Steven was shocked to see that his hand was empty upon pulling it out of the screen, realizing that this must be one of the unreachable universes that the Journal had mentioned. "A pity," he said as he started flipping channels once more, "There were a couple things I would've like to remove from there..." Even without the beautiful women, the show had some amazing weapons in it that he would've liked to have put on the wall.

Eventually he stopped on an episode of Xena, this time reaching in to bring out the warrior princess in question.
 
Steven was immediately rewarded by a nasty slice to his hand as the Warrior Princess, standing just a little over five and three quarter inches, launched herself out of his hand and landed nimbly on his bed.

Xena immediately sheathed her sword upon looking up at Steven. "My apologies," she began, "But you startled me. You look to be kin to Goliath. He was a friend of mine, and I would rather do no harm to any brethren of his."
 
Hissing lightly as he felt a sharp pain on a finger, Steven quickly pulled his hand back as Xena leapt over to his bed. "Don't worry, the fault was mine," he said, grabbing a tissue from nearby to stop the small trickle of blood from the cut, "I should probably have realized that trying to grab the famous Xena like that would end poorly."

"Thank you. Though I'm not one of Goliath's kin I wish you no harm. I'm only a wizard who is testing a magical item I inherited. My name is Steven Johnson, and it's a pleasure to meet you Xena." He inclined his head respectfully to her as he spoke.
 
"Well, you do look like one of his race, at any rate," Xena concluded. "A wizard and as big as Goliath. That must be some combination," she added with a chuckle. "And if you know of my reputation, then let me extend you the same assurance that you extended me. Goliath was my friend, and I took no joy in killing him. So what can I do for you, wizard?"
 
"Thank you," Steven said appreciatively, "As for what I require of you, truthfully I'm still in the process of testing my device," he gestured to the television, "So I've begun using it to bring some of the more interesting people in the multiverse to me." He looked down at the warrior princess before him, "And believe me when I say that you certainly qualify in that regard. Strength, will, and beauty all in one package, it would be quite rare for me to meet anyone like you in the world."
 
"Why thank you, kind sir," Xena said with a bow. There was quite a large amount of sarcasm in her voice, as well as general smartass-ness, but there was a hint of a sincerity as well. "Is there something that might need specifically, though?" Xena gave a sigh as she added, "I have to go save a beauty pageant."
 
"Ah one of those days is it?" he asked rhetorically, noting the sarcasm but ignoring it as he put his hand out to carry her back to the television. "I'll let you be on your way then. I'll see you again some time." With that he placed her next to the portal, letting her go back to her own universe.

With that test done Steven decided that now was as good a time as any to see about bringing Zatanna here so he could retrieve his grand-uncle's magic items. He was a bit curious as to what he might have left with her, so he quickly changed the channel to the one Smallville was on, the young man reaching in and trying to pull the magician out.
 
"Watch where you put those fingers!" a clear if tiny voice admonished. Suddenly Zatanna disappeared, then reappeared, her five and a half inch form looking up at Steven.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been so hasty about stopping you from copping a finger feel," Zatanna said with a hint of wickedness in her smile. Her face quickly transformed into somberness as she continued, "You must be the grandnephew then. Sorry about your granduncle then. He was a good guy, even if I had to keep on telling him No meant No. Not that I'm saying No to a good looking guy like you," Zatanna said with a wink.
 
Steven grinned at the flirty way Zatanna addressed him, the fact that she was only a few inches tall at the moment doing nothing to hide her curvy figure. The grin faded at the mention of his granduncle though, and he nodded solemnly. "Yeah, he was pretty great," was his response, his lips quirking back up as she mentioned the older man's persistence with her.

"I certainly wouldn't say no to you either," Steven commented, returning her wink alongside a flirty smile as he looked the magician up and down.
 
"Well, that opens the door to all sorts of possibilities," Zatanna said with a wink. "But I have a suspicion that your desires towards me aren't entirely carnal."
 
"Not entirely," he agreed, pausing his attempts to flirt with Zatanna to get to the primary reason he'd brought her through the portal. "According to my grand-uncle, he left a few items with you for safe-keeping. I'd like to know about what those items are."
 
"I'm sure you would," Zatanna replied. Zatanna unbuttoned her jacket and undid her cummerbund, revealing an odd-looking money belt around her waist. She sat cross legged on the bed and began opening pouches on the belt. "I hope you're not too disappointed by what he left. Mind you, everything he left you is pretty impressive. It's just not as impressive as being able to reach into other dimensions. Speaking of which," Zatanna continued, looking into one of the pouches on the money belt before putting her whole arm into it, "Did you reach in for anybody besides me yet?"
 
"Yeah, the Journal mentioned that they might not be the biggest or most important objects, but I think it'd be good to see what else he left me, and I saw that your show was on so I figured that now was a good time for it." He watched as Zatanna reached into her pouch, noting that it was clearly bigger on the inside if her entire arm could fit in there. "And yes, I reached in for a couple other people. A robot from Buck Rogers, Xena, and a character from a fantasy show that, unfortunately, seems to be unreachable."
 
"If it's unreachable, then it's probably not a real world. Just a figment of someone's excellent or bizarre imagination, depending on what kind of show it is," Zatanna observed. "Not all shows are other realities, you know. Most of them aren't. And here we go."

Zatanna pulled out what looked like just an old, beat up cigar box. The picture on top of the box was scratched up and partially defaced. Zatanna tossed the box away from her and, when it hit the bed, it suddenly became full sized.

"Once a day, any currency you put in there will be duplicated," Zatanna explained. "Pennies, hundred dollar bills, gold doubloons, you name it. But I'd use it carefully. Your government's treasury department would probably be unhappy to discover hundred dollar bills with duplicate serial numbers floating around, and if you suddenly started turning in gold coins, a lot of people would be curious where they came from. Your granduncle told me one of his first investments was a car wash. He'd roll the quarters each day that he collected, put them in the box and double his profits. It was slow but steady way of doing things."
 
"That explains a little bit," Steven commented, recalling how he'd once overheard two of David's children talking about how the man had gained a return on his investments surprisingly quickly. He picked up the box and turned it over in his hand, feeling the unassuming object before looking back to Zatanna. "Did he leave anything else with you?"
 
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