There is an old myth spread across the Multiverse about the Running Man. It's said his very steps bring about destruction, pain and doom. The Running Man's myth is a story about a monster without a home, running from one place to the next. It is said that the Running Man will only stop if the Multiverse is destroyed.

This is not that story, but it's close.

Chapter One: Like The First Time, But Not.

Sage was free from obligations for the first time in decades. The war was over and the right side had won. Not only that, but there seemed to be a concentrated effort on the part of Battle Force 5 and the Council of 5 to stop her from doing anything for a while. She needed to relax, to take a day off, they'd said. Instead of feeling comfortable, she felt bored, and that was an old feeling as well. She didn't have any projects worth working on in a time of peace and prosperity. Tezz didn't need an assistant for his pet projects- he was far too arrogant for that, and far too protective. Vert, AJ, Stanford, and Zoom were out of town, conversing with the Government about a perceived Alien Threat and opening up diplomatic relations. Agura was working on her car, listening to the radio and occasionally singing along in an off-pitch tone. The Cortez brothers were quietly playing video games, or at least attempting to be quiet—occasionally their enthusiastic shrieks and hollers broke through the muffled door. And Sage was bored.

So she tried to make the most of it. Sage left the Hub via the back door and made her way into the desert to meditate, or at least think in a more natural space. She had a lot to think about, at any rate, even if she had little to actually do. The Blue Sentient floated slightly across the flats, feeling like a tumbleweed buffeted by events beyond her control. As she reached the peak of a hill, she stopped and surveyed the area. The flat, red land stretched for miles outwards, into the hazy mountains and then the clear blue sky. The shrubs of plant life sat still and squat on the earth, and the entire scene looked like how the inside of a dehydrated person's mouth tasted.

She closed her eyes. The Multiverse was safe from threat. Yes, there were lingering factions of the Red Sentients who wanted clemency, independence and the like, but negotiations were ongoing. She realized that the differences between herself and her brother were not as great as she hoped; yes, she fought for peace, and he fought for war, but they were still fighters when one got right down to it. She found herself almost hoping for conflict. Rawkus was threatening that something worse was coming, but it was a distant threat. Vert was trying to open up dialogue between the Earth's governments and the Sentient Council of Five, but so far that wasn't going well. Still, she had no doubts in his ability to connect people.

The rest of the Battle Force was bored too, she guessed. They were managing to amuse themselves, but didn't really have anything to stick around for. Did they? They were united by the need to defend the Multiverse from the menaces of the universe- what was the group without those menaces? Did it matter? Sage adjusted her meditative stance slightly, and frowned in concentration. She didn't know what to do with herself, either. She could stay on Earth, with her friends, or she could go back and counsel the council of fi—

Friends. That was it, that was the reason they lingered together so. They didn't want to leave each other. As far as Sage could tell, none of her friends had had close family ties, except perhaps the Cortez's. They wanted to stay together, as a family, and a group of friends. But without an excuse for their teamwork, how long could the familiarity go on for? Sage was deeply troubled. It was her duty to go back to her home and help the Sentients rebuild, but she wanted to stay with her friends. To stay with friends was no real reason to abandon her people, but at the same time it was the only acceptable one.

She let out a sigh of exasperation, and was just readying to leave when the sky ripped open. The tear looked like two long electrical bolts connected at each end, and in the middle there was a dark void, flickering with infinity and the look of a place between places, whatever that look might be. Sage had barely collected her thoughts from the confusion and the frustration when a man fell out of the crack in the sky and hit the ground. The fall looked painful, but he dragged himself back to his feet, and turned to the rip, waving his hands slightly. The rip got much smaller, and he turned back to his path and ran, limping slightly. The rip couldn't have closed entirely, however, for a blinding light flooded the sky, and it was opened again.

Through it came a battalion of silver cars, scarred and ugly looking from unknown battles. Sage began to float down the hill, swiftly and yet hesitantly, wondering what to do. She realized that the man who was running looked far too similar to Vert for her to dismiss the incident. Sage headed closer to the chase, contacting the Battle Force Five to hone in on her location. The silver cars surrounded the man, who fruitlessly attempted to back away. They were revving their engines and seemed animal-like in their pursuit, like cats playing with a mouse before they devoured it. A tall man in a silver suit got out of one of the cars. She couldn't see his face or any other features, but his stance made him seem like a person of authority. She mentally nicknamed him "commander".

The raggedy running man crawled backwards, away from the commander, and desperately screamed out a cry of fear. Sage was rushed into action, using some of the psychic energy she had managed to store to blast back a few of the cars. "Leave this planet, and the boy, alone. Both are under my guardianship, and if I catch you here again, I will destroy you." She said, hoping she sounded intimidating. The silver cars seemed to think so, as they turned away, back into the brink. The commanding man paused for a long time. He and Sage stared at each other. He gave a barely perceptible nod, then backed into the car, and through the rip in the sky. Sage made her way over to the young man, as quickly as she could. He did look really very similar to Vert- structurally, she analyzed, it seemed that they were twins. But this man was stringier than Vert was; he looked malnourished, as though he had lost his life to poverty and running. He had passed out at some point, and was covered in blood and scars. One of his hands was clenched shut over something, and he had deep bags under his eyes.

The clothes he wore were blue.

It was at that moment the members of the Battle Force Five that were still in Handler's Corners pulled up, in response to Sage's call. Agura was the first out of her car, all business, leaping to the boy's side. "Is that Vert?" Came Spinners voice, as he clambered out of the Buster.

"No," Agura said, looking to Sage for confirmation, which the Sentient gave, "He is very much similar, but this one appears to be older..." Agura continued, and then looked closer, "No, he's younger." She moved her fingers up one of his arms, "There are at least two fractures in this arm, and another that's healed wrong. It seems like he's been living rough for a while, and maybe... I don't know. Sage?"

"We should take him back to the Hub," said Sage, "He needs medical attention. This not-Vert was being chased by a group of what I would guess to be people." She felt faint of a sudden, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll need to power down for a while."

Spinner caught Sage's crystal as it fell to the ground, as Sherman carefully helped Agura place the stranger in the Buster. "What's going on?" Sherman asked Agura over the radio, as they began the drive back to the Hub.

"I have no idea," replied Agura truthfully.

Tezz coughed, "My instruments appear to be showing a major transdimensional anomaly- one that appears to have bruised the very fabric of this universe. I cannot comprehend the amount of power one would need to make that happen."

Sherman replied, tapping out equations as he drove, "At least 15 Sentient power stations at 100% capacity if in a two-inch model of this multiverse—I can't calculate what the power needed would be for an actualization…" Sherman replied

One could almost hear the wheels turning in Tezz and Sherman's heads, and as they got back to the Hub the two hastily made their way back to the lab, leaving Spinner and Agura to deal with the stranger. Agura knew some about fixing bones, but it was usually Vert or AJ who dealt with the injuries. They did the best they could with what they knew, and awkwardly stood in the 'hospital room', unsure of what to do next. "His hand seems to be held pretty tight around something- that can't be good for him," Spinner muttered, "Let me try and get it out-" He had barely touched the stranger's hand when the man's eyes burst open, and he sat upright.

"Sorry, I didn't-" Spinner began, but Agura could tell it would be useless to reason with the stranger. His eyes were wild and afraid, like a caged animal—he was probably barely conscious of their words. Ignoring the splints on his wounds, the stranger leapt out of the bed, slammed Spinner into the wall, and put his fists up. Agura backed away, her hands raised in surrender. The man stared at her for a second, looking slightly dazed, and sprinted past her. She knelt beside Spinner, who groaned and cursed. Satisfied that Spinner was okay, Agura stood and followed the stranger out.

She watched him from a distance, signaling for a curious Tezz and Sherman that they should stay in the lab. The stranger seemed to know somewhat instinctively where the exit was, because he was following the right path to get to it. The stranger sprinted up a flight of stairs, Agura cautiously following, as he ran across the garage, past the kitchen, and slammed open the front door. On the other side of the door was a surprised looking Vert Wheeler.

TIME

AN/ Well, this is what I'm going to do with my time until I get my Acceleracers DVDs back. I'll be working on the Junkyard, slowly, but the inspiration bug hit me. Sorry people who want more Junkyard, I'm trying, I swear! I hope this will at least be entertaining in the meantime. Please comment, and point out any errors I make, because I am a derp and tend to screw up a lot.