WHEN DIMENSIONS COLLIDE
Chapter 1: The No Good, Really Bad, Weird Day
"I swear I'll find a way to get even with that ferret-face bastard if it's the last thing I do." Ron snarled, fists clenched, face red with barely suppressed fury.
"Come on, Ron. He's not worth it," Harry sighed, resignedly.
A very dirty trick had been played on his friend during Quiddich practice. And, of course, it had been the usual instigator, Draco. No one was seriously hurt except for Ron's pride but that was more than enough to get the red-headed boy to lose his temper and attempt to swing at the blond. Harry had to drag him off as Ron already had too many points against him.
As they walked into potion's class, Draco couldn't resist shoving Ron into the door. Sighing in disgust, Harry knew full well that trying to retaliate was a wasted effort as it always came back to bite them in the ass. So as much as he'd like to teach Draco a lesson himself, he knew it wasn't worth the loss of points to their house. He'd had enough of that over the last three years.
He did his best to soothe his friend's temper. Sometimes it annoyed him that Ron simply couldn't learn to ignore the jabs. This was getting past being tedious behavior now-a-days and beginning to wear his own patience thin.
It had already been a tough day. It didn't help that as soon as everyone had taken their seats, Snape breezed in and set them a lesson that had to do with making a strange, unknown potion.
"The lesson is on your desks. Read it carefully then retrieve your ingredients and complete the task before end of class. No explosions, stupid mistakes, or failure to complete the task will be accepted. I must be elsewhere, so you are on your own." And with that announcement, Snape stunned them all by leaving the classroom, shutting the door behind them.
For a long moment no one moved, too surprised by this odd behavior from their teacher to get working. But gradually, by ones, twos, and threes, they all began reading the lesson, accompanied by much muttering and complaining.
Her voice low, Hermione worriedly stated the obvious, "No teacher is supposed to leave without a proctor in their place, especially in a class as dangerous as this one."
"It's odd alright but I'm not complaining," Ron said, shrugging. He was already studying the list of ingredients. "At least he won't be hovering over us like a bat as usual. Besides ... " he waved the lesson plan at them, "... this doesn't look too difficult for once. Take a look. There's not many ingredients to it."
Harry and Hermione frowned at him then read the lesson. "I don't know, Ron," Harry said, after a moment's reading. "Sometimes, easy translates into something nasty." He nervously looked about then scowled when he received a smirk and obscene gesture from Drago. Gritting his teeth, he watched the blond Slytherin pain-in-the-ass head for the potion's ingredients cabinet. "I'm surprised Malfoy hasn't caused trouble by now," he said softly, deciding to wait till Sytherin was finished to get his supplies. Looking over the lesson plan again, he noticed something amiss.
"Wait a minute ... There's nothing on this that tells us what the potion's for. That's even odder than Snape leaving."
Hermione frowned, eyes worried as she too looked closer at the paper. "That's not right! To learn this we need to know what it does so we know if we did it right. I don't like this at all. We'd better pay close attention to the task and look over each others work."
"Sure, whatever … probably a good idea anyway. I don't fancy failing since it sounded like old sour puss had something really nasty up his slimy sleeve if we do," Ron grunted not as disturbed as his friends were.
To Harry's surprise Draco and his lackeys didn't bait them as they made their way back to their stations with their arms full of ingredients. How very odd. Perhaps they too didn't like Snape's ultimatum nor the fact the professor had left them alone. Why else would they give up the chance to really hassle him and his friends. Nothing about this felt right.
Shaking his head, he went up to the cabinet and drew out his ingredients. Returning to his desk, Harry spilled out the supplies then set about doing the task.
As if a ripple in a pond, the entire class must have felt uneasy too because no one acted up or talked too much. Perhaps some thought they were under observation. It wouldn't surprise him if they were.
So the room remained quiet except for the sporadic conversation between partners, some complaints about the potion, and the sound of ingredients being chopped, crushed, and added to the cauldrons. Soon a rather nauseous scent filled the room making everyone grimace in disgust.
"Fah! This is worse than any we've made so far." Harry choked, trying not to inhale much of the purple fumes rising from his caldron.
"I just wish I knew what we were making. It's very disconcerting to make a potion we have no idea what it does or what it's for. It makes all this even more confusing," Hermione gasped and wiped her streaming eyes that burned from the fumes. She was forced to step back and attempt to get a bit fresher air into her lungs though with all the caldrons streaming the same scent ceilingward, that was hard to find.
"Oi, I just want to get done already. This stuff stinks," Ron coughed. He squinted down at his instructions and tried to make out the spell that finished this potion. Raising his wand, he coughed again then spoke the words of the spell and made the appropriate motions with his wand.
And that's when things went truly weird. Instead of affecting his caldron's ingredients, the spell bounced off the rim of the caldron, zinged off across the room making everyone duck and weave, shouting in fright or anger. The spell zapped to the front of the room hitting the black board dead on then vanishing.
No one moved at first. All stared at the black board.
"Way to go Weasley!" Draco snorted after nothing seem to happen.
"I don't see you doing any …" Ron's retort was cut short by a flash of unearthly light coalescing from the black board.
"Oh this can't be good …" Seamus muttered anxiously.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"SWAT Kats! Get out of here!" Commander Feral shouted, his huge laser pistol in one massive paw as he tried to avoid being taken out by their enemy. He and his Enforcers were trying their best to keep from getting zapped by the Pastmaster's watch while also trying to keep him from stealing something from a nearby locked museum case.
The SWAT Kats were just arriving through a vent in the ceiling, using their grappling lines to get to the floor. They ignored Feral, as usual, and took up separate positions to better attack the Pastmaster.
In the next few minutes things would become rather chaotic and weird. Later, those involved, could not say how the incident came about nor how it ended but strange just wasn't a good enough word to describe it.
The incident started with the SWAT Kats jumping into the fray despite Feral's angry shouts, shooting different types of armament from their glovetrixes to try and bring down the Pastmaster or, at least, try to get the pocket watch that was the creatures main and most devastating weapon.
Feral gave up trying to get rid of the vigilantes. It was always a waste of time and breath anyway.
"Spread out … try to hem him in but watch out for that weapon of his," he ordered his Enforcers.
They jumped to do his biding, hiding behind anything they could as they moved closer and closer to the ugly little troll firing bolts of energy at them. And doing a very good job at keeping them all at bay while he continued to do whatever it was he was here to do.
While one paw fired the watch's energy at them, the other was breaking the glass of the case and fishing out the book he'd come here to retrieve.
Growling angrily, Feral dared to take time and look behind him. Scowling, he glared ineffectually at the civilians on scene. Yes, they were keeping near the door and out of the way, but their safety wasn't guaranteed. Shaking his head and ducking a bolt headed for it, he concentrated on the battle ahead rather than the stupid non-coms behind him.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
In their sheltered corner near the door stood Megakat Museum's Curator, Dr. Sinian. She was here, of course, to see what the Pastmaster was trying to make off with this time so she could report its loss to the board of directors. Something she hated doing.
Beside her was the Deputy Mayor Calico Briggs, who happened to be visiting the museum for an upcoming event. Poor timing on her part but then, she was never very lucky in these things.
Just behind and to one side of her stood star reporter Ann Gora from Katseye News, her camerakat, Jonny, doing his best to try and film the action from the other side of the door that led into this room. She had just managed to slip inside ahead of the Enforcer cordon that was evacuating the building. Anything that had to do with the Enforcers and omegas was top news fodder which was why she was here risking her neck … as usual.
"Do you have any idea what the Pastmaster might be after this time, Dr. Sinian?" Ann asked, holding her microphone out to the curator.
Dr. Sinian rolled her eyes and looked resigned. "I don't know yet ..." her voice trailed off as she stared at the scene then saw what the Pastmaster had taken and sighed. "It's an ancient book. The latest find of Dr. Harrow and his team at the newest dig in the Tymurr dessert. It's a religious text, we think. I have no idea why he would want it."
"Who can ever guess what's in that creature's mind. I just want him gone. I just wish we could keep his skeletal butt out of our time. I'm fed up with dealing with him," Callie suddenly said, her tone harsh and disgusted.
"You and me both. The museum board of directors are flat out tired of paying insurance for things we can't keep for long thanks to the omegas," Dr. Sinian said, disgusted as well.
Ann looked at them both with surprise. This wasn't a normal response she got from the pair. Not that she didn't completely understand the feeling of helpless anger. Unfortunately, before she could ask any further questions, the battle intensified.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
The Pastmaster was disgusted and annoyed. On this trip, he'd done all he could to attempt to sneak in and get what he needed, the a special book of spells the museum archeology team had managed to unearth in an ancient city far from his former home, and get out without being seen. He had some hope this different religion's spell book might be of use to him in his plans. But things had gone bad from the beginning when he'd managed to trip an alarm just when the SWAT Kats and the Enforcers were doing a patrol only blocks away. Very poor timing on his part. He'd also opted to not bring any of his normal mythological creatures to help defend him as they would be seen and defeated his attempt at being discreet.
Well that was a wasted effort, however, the mission wasn't lost as he held firmly to his prize, clutching it beneath his arm. Now all he had to do was get out of here and not get captured. He spotted Razor getting ready to fire something at him. Time to be gone. Raising his watch, he fired at a hunk of alien rock hulking on a pedestal five feet to the right of him.
The huge rock had landed on their planet some decades ago and had been studied extensively by scientists before finally finding a home in the museum. It stood approximately ten feet tall by six feet wide, was very dense and heavy with a pitted surface caused by its long travels through the universe.
The energy from the Pastmaster's watch slapped the odd purple/blue meteorite and did something even he didn't expect. The huge piece of rock began to glow a rainbow hue at its center before a portal opened up. Through it was a strange looking warp hole rather than the medieval past he'd been going for. The Pastmaster stared at it in confusion. This wasn't what should have happened.
Where's my home? He thought, bewildered.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
As he stood there trying to figure out what had happened the forces arrayed against him used his inattention to attempt a take down.
The SWAT Kats charged from hiding on the left while Feral rushed up the middle. But before they could reach the sorcerer, the weird energy from the portal suddenly flung out and snatched everything in front of it. Which meant those in the cone of energy got to take an unexpected trip. Along for the ride were the SWAT Kats, Feral, Dr. Sinian, Ms Briggs, the Pastmaster, and four Enforcers. The rest of the Enforcers and Ann Gora and Jonny were missed by mere inches from being added to the group.
Then, just like a flashlight, the glowing energy blinked out leaving only the rock just the way it had been before.
Feral's assistant walked up to the rock and gaped in shocked dismay. Ann Gora ran up beside him and stared as well.
"They're gone! Ms. Briggs, Commander Feral, the SWAT Kats, and the Pastmaster have vanished. How are they going to get back?" She asked no one in particular. Her microphone was gripped in one paw but she wasn't speaking into it, too stunned by what had happened.
"This is really bad," Sgt Fallon moaned.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Harry gaped at the quickly growing portal of strange light that the black board had become. The coalescing light got bigger and brighter with every passing minute. Even eerier was the fact there was no sound accompanying the light.
"Maybe we should get out of here," Ron suggested nervously, beginning to take a step backward.
However, before anyone could move to leave the light exploded, blinding everyone and causing shouts of fear and panic. But, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the light vanished.
Smarting eyes streamed as every student blinked frantically to regain their vision. When they could what they saw made them wish they couldn't see at all. Standing there before the black board were nine strange creatures staring at them with the same looks of shock and fear.
Ron gaped and managed a strangled, "What are they?"
"I have no bloody idea." Harry responded, shaking his head and continuing to stare.
"They look like cats of some kind," Hermione shakily put in her two cents.
She was right, they did look like cats, if that cat grew to six feet tall, stood on two legs, wore clothing and carried what looked like weapons in their four fingered paws. All except one being who looked even weirder than the others. That one stood only three feet tall and looked like a walking, hump backed, skeleton with one eye, and wearing clothing that looked like a wizards cloak. That one eye glowed red and was searching its environs frantically for something, though Harry couldn't fathom what that might be.
"This isn't my home!" It shouted in a raspy voice. Holding up a huge pocket watch, it fired a beam at a nearby wall. A glowing portal opened displaying a green land and a castle tower.
"Yes!" It shouted in relief before leaping for the glowing hole.
"No!" One of the cat creatures dressed in some kind of colorful uniform and slim in build shouted, leaping forward, claws outstretched trying to catch the short creature.
"Catch him!" A second colorfully dressed and more broadly built creature bellowed, also leaping at the already disappearing short figure.
"Too late!" The tallest of the creatures dressed in some kind of uniform covered by a trenchcoat and holding some kind of gun, said grimly. It lowered the weapon and shook its furry head in apparent disgust.
The other leaping creatures had hit the wall and slid down when the portal disappeared. But they jumped to their feet as if they had springs in them, acting as if they hadn't just smacked a hard surface face first. The pair stared in angry dismay at the now blank wall.
"Well fuck!" The larger of the two griped, startling the students with his foul language.
"Now what do we do?" A feminine voice asked. She had long blond hair and was wearing glasses, which was a strange sight and had her clawed paws clasped in front of her chest, her odd face showing signs of distress and fear.
What was more shocking, at least to Harry, was the fact these beings spoke the same language as the students did. Before anyone could say or do anything they were interrupted by a new voice.
"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" Snape had returned.