A/N: Starts out with events from the episode "Malcolm Films Reese."

Disclaimer: I don't own the MitM characters or the dialogue at the very beginning of this fanfic (which is from the episode itself).

Chapter One: Wish to the Alternate Universe

Reese's POV

I couldn't believe it.

I confided my thoughts and feelings in Malcolm and he down-right betrayed me. And for what? Just some stupid school project of his.

As I sat fuming at one of the tables at school, he walked up and sat down next to me.

"This is an official apology," he said, "I'm a terrible person and I'm sorry. What I did was horrible, even by our standards. And, let's face it, we've set the bar pretty low."

When I didn't reply, he continued, "Look, I'm begging you, tell me what I can do to fix it. Anything. Just say it and I'll do it."

I turned to face him. "Sure. Fly backwards around earth like superman and turn back time to before I thought we liked each other."

I grabbed my backpack and walked away. I didn't want to be around him-or anyone else at that school for that matter-so I decided to just leave the campus, even though the day wasn't close to being over. I didn't care.

After a short while, I came upon Jefferson street, the place where my wishing hole was.

I went up to the tree and peered into the hole. Thoughts of a few days back when I said 'I wish Malcolm and I could be friends forever' filled my mind when I arrived.

But this time I would wish for something different.

I bent over and closed my eyes. I didn't care if anyone was watching me as I whispered my new wish into the hole.

"I wish I were somewhere else right now."

When I opened my eyes, I was expecting to see the same old houses and the same old boring scenery.

But it was...different.

The usual neighborhood houses were replaced by an expansive forest. Plants I didn't recognize sprouted from the ground every which way and a weird mist coated the floor.

There were no strange sounds or bright flashes that usually occur when people supposedly teleported to other places. This new forest just...appeared before me.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud, though I didn't see anyone in sight.

I looked back at the tree and noticed it looked exactly the same as it did before. The only thing in the place that remained the same. Shrugging, I started walking around this new place.

After taking a few steps, two soldiers emerged from behind a couple of trees and approached me. They were both clad in full suits of medieval style armor and looked startled by my presence.

"How did you get out?" one of them asked me, stopping a several feet in front of me.

"Get out of where?" I asked.

The two soldiers exchanged glances before one of them withdrew his sword and walked even closer to me.

"You're coming with us," he said.

"What?" I said, "Where? I didn't do anything. And who are you guys?"

I started backing away, but before I could escape, one of them ran up to me and grabbed me, slamming me against the tree behind me.

"You should know better than to escape without your weapons," he sneered, turning to the other soldier, "the king shall be pleased with us. Do you have the rope?"

I tried struggling against his grasp, but this soldier was way too strong. While the other soldier reached into a bag on his belt to grab some rope, the one holding me reached up his other arm and placed his blade across my neck.

"Don't even try to escape," he said.

I stopped struggling but as I reached back, I felt the hole in the tree and remembered this was the wishing tree. This wasn't at all what I expected to happen, so maybe I could take my wish back?

Before I could say anything, another figure clad in a full suit of armor appeared. At first I thought he was a friend of these soldiers, but then I noticed the design on his shield was different than the others.

The newcomer let out a battle cry in a voice that sounded a bit strange, but awfully familiar to me, before charging at the other two soldiers. Startled, the soldier holding me let me go and turned to face his new enemy.

The three of them fought, mainly bashing their shields against each other but sometimes swinging their swords elaborately. I pressed myself against the tree, too afraid to run but I also didn't want to get in the middle of the fight.

After a short while, and to my surprise, the newcomer won the fight. As the other two soldiers lay fallen on the ground, the one who saved me panted and then approached me.

"Are you okay, brother?" he asked, sheathing his sword.

"Brother?" I asked.

He appeared to nod before standing upright and removing his helmet.

"Oh, Malcolm," I smiled, even though I was still a bit resentful at what he did to me earlier, "it's you. Couldn't understand you there for a moment, what's with that weird accent? But thanks for saving me there. I hate to admit it, but I was actually kind of scared there for a moment."

He gave me a really confused look. "Malcolm? Who are you talking about? It's me, Marcel."

I suppressed a chuckle. He looked exactly like Malcolm, why would he refer to himself by that weird name?

"Why are you calling yourself Marcel?" I asked, "And who were those guys, anyway?"

He looked down at the soldiers then back up at me before saying, "you don't remember? What have they done to you this time, Russell?"

"Who's they?" I asked, "And why'd you call me Russell?"

Before Marcel could reply, a couple of horses whined in the distance and strange voices echoed through the forest.

Marcel's eyes widened. "Run!"

He started running and grabbed me by the wrist, dragging me along with him. I wasn't sure what was happening, so I decided to just follow him.

As we ran along, I started thinking through this situation more. This guy looked just like Malcolm but referred to himself as Marcel. And he thought my name was Russell?

Then I thought about what I had said to Malcolm earlier. Turn back time. What if he had been able to turn back time but we ended up in the middle ages instead of just a few days earlier?

I shook my head at that ridiculous thought. He certainly couldn't do that. Maybe these Marcel and Russell guys were our twins? I remember Malcolm once said something about alternate universes and dopplegangers. He started rambling about the probability of them existing and other boring stuff.

Maybe this guy was Malcolm's alternate and Russell was mine? I didn't think the wishing tree had the ability to transfer me somewhere else. But that explanation sure as heck would be a lot more interesting than this just being a dream, so I went with it.

We stopped near a large fallen log between two standing trees. On either side of the log were several large bushes, creating a small hiding space between the trees. Marcel bent down and started crawling under the log. I followed him and tried avoiding the spiny bushes nestled against the trees' roots as we settled into the cramped space.

"We should be safe here," he whispered, "they can't fit through while we're here."

I nodded, looking through the holes in the bushes and trying to listen for anyone else. There was nothing but silence, occasionally interrupted by rustling of what I assumed were small animals nearby.

He was panting heavily and shaking a little bit.

"Why are you so terrified?" I asked, "You did fine against those soldiers back there."

"We can't get captured again," he whispered, "we just can't...and be quiet."

We both fell silent. Even though I didn't hear them coming, there was always a chance those soldiers could come by a while from now.

After what seemed like hours, Marcel finally relaxed a bit, saying that the others must have gone a different way and they weren't after us.

I nodded. "Oh, by the way, my name's Reese, not Russell."

"Reese?" his eyes widened, "Is that what they did to you? Made you forget who you truly are?"

"Who are they?" I asked, "Those soldiers back there?"

"You don't remember do you?" Marcel frowned, "Riding along in the forest with your men, ambushed by King Lucan's knights?"

I shook my head. "That wasn't me, that must have been your brother. Look, I'm not Russell, I'm his twin. I'm not from around here and honestly I don't know exactly how I got here. But I'm not who you think I am."

Marcel still didn't look convinced. "His twin?" He turned away and started talking aloud, mostly to himself, "I wonder what kind of magic they used on you this time?"

"Magic?" I asked, "There's no magic involved. I'm Russell's...alternate. Doppleganger? Those two words mean anything to you?"

He continued to stare off into the forest. "Last time they used magic that affected your memory for a couple of weeks. But it wore off after a short while and it wasn't this bad."

I sighed and put my head back. Malcolm was a genius so I presumed this doppleganger of his was also a genius. But apparently he couldn't even understand my simple explanation.

"I give up," I said, exasperated.

Alarmed, Marcel grabbed my arm. "No, Russell! Don't give up on your life. We need you."

I pushed him away. "Relax, man, I wasn't going to give up my life. And for the last time, I'm not this Russell guy."

"Oh," he said simply, relaxing a bit. He continued to stare at me with those blue eyes before adding, "you need help. We need to get to the castle as fast as we can."

"I don't need-wait, did you say castle?" I asked.

He nodded. "Father should be able to help us."

Before I could say anything else, hoof steps sounded from nearby and Marcel stiffened up, quickly putting his hand over my mouth and giving me a if-you-say-anything-I'll-kill-you look.

"We know you're in there, sons of Lord Hugh," someone nearby said, "you can't hide for long."

I didn't recognize the voice, but I assumed they were soldiers like the ones who attacked me earlier. As I peered through the bushes I could only see horses legs pacing around right outside the opening to our little hideout.

"Maybe we should just force them out," the other soldier said, "they're stubborn lads."

"One of them is armed," his comrade replied, "and it's more entertaining to just threaten and wait. We have nothing better to do anyway, just think of the reward the king will give us."

"What was the ransom last time?"

"About 25,000 pounds."

I wasn't sure what a pound was worth, but since it was in the thousands, I assumed it was a lot.

But why were my family's alternates worth so much?

Rushing footsteps echoed through the forest and someone else came along, panting.

"Two soldiers are injured back there," the newcomer said, "we need to help them."

"But the sons of Lord Hugh are here," one of the soldiers protested, "if we leave, they'll get away."

"And their ransom is worth more than those other soldiers," the other pointed out.

"There's no one else out here," the newcomer said, "this must have been the work of those two sons. They're stronger than you think."

"We're knights," one of them boasted, "we can handle them."

I glanced over at Marcel and noticed his eyes closed shut. He removed his hand from my mouth and grabbed his helmet.

Was he seriously planning on crawling out and fighting them?

The land grew dark for a moment and a loud, angry roar blared through the forest. The horses panicked and started whining, bucking and refusing to listen to their master's commands. The land grew light again, but was momentarily covered by a shadow again.

"It's a wild dragon," the newcomer shouted, "we have to get out here fast."

This time the knights didn't argue and instead started issuing commands to their horses. After it appeared the knights gained control of their animals, they rode away, leaving the two of us behind in our hideout.

Marcel remained perfectly still and quiet, so I did the same. Soon, a large figure descended and landed near our hideout, sending a strong wind blowing through the bushes at us.

As I peered out through the bushes, I could see only giant, scaly feet digging at the ground and moving the dragon along. The beast made grunting noises and paused for a second before walking towards us.

The dragon lowered its head and glared at us through bright green eyes. It growled before letting out a deafening roar.

I froze, glancing over at Marcel. He slowly reached over to unsheathe his sword and kept his eyes averted from the dragon's direct gaze.

The dragon stopped roaring when it noticed Marcel's blade. It started growling and backed away a bit.

When it was several feet away, it bent down its body and jumped up. Sounds of its wings beating echoed through the forest as the dragon flew away.

Marcel lowered his sword and sighed. "That was close."

"Why did it go away?" I asked. I didn't think Marcel's sword would be that strong against that beast. Especially in the position we're in.

He shrugged. "I don't know. But we're in the dragon's territory and need to head out now."

He quickly started crawling out the hideout and I followed suit. When we were both out, he looked in both directions and pointed towards the right of us.

"That way should lead to the village," he said, "follow me."

We started running towards the village and I looked back, making sure that neither the dragon nor those soldiers were following us.

When I looked ahead again, I realized we were heading further and further away from the wishing tree.

What in the world had I gotten myself into?