First fanfic, so don't flame :P
Disclaimer: Facilier is unfortunately not mine. *sniffles*
"Mia, are you sure you want to do this?" James asked nervously.
Mia looked inside the time machine tentatively, hoping that she would be able to work the thing properly.
"James, I've been working on this with you and the whole team for years. It doesn't make sense to not test it. And I'm not going too far anyhow, just a couple of years back."
"1994 is not just a couple of years back," he said hotly. "That's 21 years ago."
"Don't worry James! I'll be totally fine. But could you take me through the controls again? I know I'm going to forget it as soon as it's time to go." she said ashamedly, her cheeks coloring.
He rolled his eyes. "Yes my forgetful little child. Okay, so the lever is for how fast you want to go in time, and I don't care how fast you want to go, you aren't allowed to go faster than 2 years per minute or else you might end up far from where you wanted to be. Just insert the code on the paper Mr. Hofstadter gave you, type in the year date and time, and press the blue button. If things go out of control press the red button. Got it?"
"…Right. If I don't come back you should know that I will be stuck in the dungeon of King Tut." She said sarcastically.
"Don't worry Mia, I know you can do this. Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"
She smiled as she stepped inside the time machine, looking out at the starry sky and the garage where she and the team built the machine for the last time for a long while.
"I can handle myself. I'm a twenty year old young woman who helped built the first time machine in existence. This is only a month, 2 months max. I'll be back safe and sound."
She looked down at the ground, feeling uncomfortable.
"I know that Mr. Cooper really doesn't approve of using the time machine for personal purposes but… I want to know who my father was. I don't remember anything. I was only a year old when he died. Anyhow, I know I can work this hunk of junk better than any of you can." She said with a wink.
"Hey hey! Don't go calling this beautiful thing a 'hunk of junk'!" he said clutching his heart mockingly.
"Bye James. Thanks for everything." She said smiling as she stepped inside the machine.
He didn't want to worry, but he knew that Mia could be quite naïve. Like a kitten that thought of itself as a huge tiger. She could handle this, he reassured himself. She wasn't a child.
"Bye Mia. Be safe."
They both looked at each other for a moment before she pulled the door, closing it with an ominous thud. She stared at it, wondering if she would be able to open it again.
Calm down Mia, you're being paranoid. Everything's fine, she told herself.
She pulled out the crinkled paper that the head of the team had given her and started punching in the long code. Once she was sure that she had it right, she typed in April 7th 12:00 PM 1994 and pressed the blue button.
The time machine's engine began to roar and Mia dug her nails into the upholstery of the chair she was sitting on. About a minute later she began to wonder why everything outside was still the same.
James' frustrated face popped up on the computer screen causing Mia to gasp.
"Damn, you scared me. How come I'm not travelling through time?" she queried.
"Maybe because you didn't pull the lever?" said James sarcastically.
Mia ran her hand through her short, choppy black hair and sighed.
"Sorry James. Just a bit nervous."
James' facial features relaxed and he managed a tiny smile. "It's okay. Just—be careful alright?"
"I will."
His face flickered on the screen and the screen went dead. Mia took out the other note from her pocket that Mr. Cooper gave her which told her what was the recommended speed.
"1 month per minute?! Is this man kidding me?" she asked herself, raising an eyebrow.
She stared at the lever, imagining herself pulling it back all the way, moving at 100 years per minute, seeing nothing but a blur of colors from her window. Instead, she obediently put it at 1 month per minute.
She stared at the scene of her and the team working on the machine irritably. 6 minutes had passed since she first pulled the lever. The 2 years per minute mark looked ever so tempting…
She sighed and laid back in her chair. As she observed the little time machine she was in, she caught her own reflection in the mirror. Her gray eyes were just like her mothers. Everyone always said she had her father's smile. Even when she cried everyone said she looked exactly like her father. Perhaps that was the reason her mother couldn't bear to look at her cry but could handle her younger sister…
She tried to smile, to see that piece of her father in her, but it came as an awkward grimace. She rolled her eyes and blew the hair out of her face before staring out at the scene before her.
Just be happy you're going to see your father for once, she reminded herself as she looked out the window, mulling over her life.
About 20 minutes later she was still at the scene of the world turning from night and day rapidly, and her and the team coming in and out of the garage to make the blasted time machine she was sitting in.
She couldn't take it, couldn't stand the suspense.
She curled her slender fingers around the lever, hesitating to pull it.
He said that 2 years per minute was the fastest I was allowed to travel; therefore I could go up to that mark… couldn't I?
She tentatively pulled it back to the 2 years per minute mark, but as she was doing so the force from jerking from a slow speed to a fast speed made the box pull of clothes for 1994 fall from the shelf over the controls and onto her head.
She held onto the lever for support, but fell back into her chair as the contents of her box spilled on top of her. She moaned softly as she took the box off of her and the 3 or so pair of shoes that had clocked her right on the head.
She looked at the lever, horrified. She slowly looked out the window, and rather than seeing everything in fast motion, she could hardly see anything at all.
Her eyes widened and she jumped up in alarm.
She tried to push the lever back to the starting mark but it wouldn't budge. She gave up after 10 seconds, rubbing her hands and feeling childish enough to make a face at the inanimate object. She looked over the control panel frantically and her eyes caught the emergency stop button. Feeling grateful that James had actually labeled the button, she slammed her palm down on it.
The time machine started to rock violently and she was thrown to the floor. Her gray eyes rolled up in her head and she fell unconscious as the machine shuddered to a halt.
Mia's eyes fluttered open and she suddenly remembered where she was. She looked out the window and all she could see was a dew rays of sunshine piercing the darkness that she was in. She slowly got to her feet and looked outside. She had landed in an alleyway that only contained a few garbage cans and boxes. And of course, the newest addition: her.
Where on earth have I ended up? She asked herself, nearly laughing because it was such a legitimate question. For all she knew she could be in Florida. She hoped she had somehow landed in her hometown Toronto, where she lived for all her life, but it didn't seem likely.
She knew that wherever she had ended up, even if the machine was in perfect working condition, she wouldn't be able to get out of there for a month. Not unless she had the code to reprogram it.
She got up and flicked a switch. Harsh white fluorescent light flooded the little machine, making Mia squint and cover her eyes. She blinked rapidly and quickly surveyed the machine for any obvious damage. There was no external damage as far as she knew, but about damage in the internal workings of the machine, she wasn't quite sure.
Although she knew it was futile, she punched in the numbers to go back home.
"The time machine built by the Cooper Hofstadter Corporation has suffered serious damage to section C-13 and D-27 of the main hard drives and therefore cannot perform the operation of travelling through the time space continuum. We are sorry for any inconvenience."
We are sorry for any inconvenience? Was Cooper drunk when he programmed those words? Those are the words you see on a sign that the cashier puts up on the conveyor belt when she's done her shift. Those are the words you hear when you try to call someone but the call won't go through.
Not when you're being informed that you might have to stay in whatever time you ended up in. She could be in 1950 for all she knew.
It may have been easy for the female robotic voice to say, but for Mia, her whole world was turned upside down.
She numbly turned around, pulled the latch on the door and stepped outside.
She crouched down and felt around for a switch underneath the time machine.
Dear God, please let this thing work, she prayed as she found the switch. She pulled on it and after a bit of flickering, she was crouching in front of a stone wall. She smiled as she put her hand on the invisible machine.
Getting up, she dusted her hands on her jeans. She took out the mini camera she bought a week before and snapped a picture of the alley she was in, or she would be completely lost by the time she came back from her wanderings.
She took a big breath and quickly stepped out of the alley. She took in the scene around her, awestruck.
There were men in suits and women in pretty dresses walking around on the streets. The sun shone down on the river nearby. Musicians with their little cans lined the streets, filling the air with lively jazz music.
Streetcars carried people to and from work, and Mia felt like she was in a totally different world.
Tiana walked into the kitchen to see how everything was going. The cooks were hard at work, frying, boiling and flipping all the food in sight. She smiled at Naveen, who was ordering the chefs around.
"Now Naveen, what have I told you about harassing people?" she said, hands on her hips.
Her husband turned around, surprised.
He gave her a charming smile."Well uh, they are not working properly! I mean look at this man here. He cannot mince at all!"he said, pointing at the chef beside him. He pushed him to the side, took the knife and minced the vegetables within seconds. The chef crossed his arms, annoyed.
"Now Naveen, no need to be a show off. The poor man just came in last week. He's doing fine for a starter in Tiana's Place," she said, patting the chef's back and giving him his knife.
"Ah, you stick in the mud, I was just having some fun!" he said jovially.
She pointed a wooden spoon at him and said with a grin, "This stick in the mud's husband better get to work, or the special tonight will be Minced Naveen!"
"Okay okay! I shall get to work, no need to worry!" he said in mock fear. He laughed and gave Tiana a quick kiss before heading back to his station.
Tiana shook her head at her husband, but nevertheless a smile danced upon her lips as she went out the kitchen doors.
"I'd like to get some service here please," called a deep rich voice.
Tiana spun around to see a man sitting at a table with a tall menu covering his face.
Strange, she thought. Francis usually reminds me if there was someone waiting for service.
She walked over to him and asked, "What'll it be, mister?"
The man chuckled as he put down his menu. There sat Dr. Facilier. The man who Tiana had thought she had gotten rid of.
"Shadowman..." she breathed. Her blood ran cold.
"Miss me?" he asked with a smirk.
Tiana blinked rapidly, hoping she was just hallucinating. But no. He was still there, ill fitting suit, fancy shoes, black cane, skull top hat and all.
"You…you're supposed to be on the other side," she said. Suddenly breathing had become a chore.
He grinned; hand on the purple glass ball of his cane, enjoying the sight of Tiana trying to wrap her head around how he was back, and in her restaurant.
I checked the fanfics for The Princess And The Frog, and alot of my ideas were already used, and I didn't really see anyone doing any time travel stuffstuffs, so I decided to do it myself. :)
Once again, it's my first fanfic, so don't flame! .
Reviews really motivate a writer to keep on writing ya know, so... ;) *hint hint*