Matthews Industries, Seattle, Washington, August 7, 2008.

I was putting the final touches on my latest invention-just a little gadget that would change the world as we know it. That might sound humble, but it's hard to be humble when you're as smart as I am. They tried to test my IQ once when I was a child, but all I can tell you is that my results made Einstein look like a kindergartner. All the other little kids made fun of me in school, but that just gave me more time alone to tinker and invent things. Now at the ripe old age of 20, I own my own multinational technology company. Take that you little brats.

Suddenly, one of my assistants came barreling into my lab, bursting with excitement. I looked up, doing my best impression of Spock and said, "What is it Tom? What has got you so worked up that you would come barging into my personal lab and interrupt me while I'm working?" I asked.

"It's finished Mr. Matthews, we've finally done it. Come with me," Tom said.

I knew what he was talking about and although I felt excitement rise up in me, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high as I got up from my seat and followed him to a big lab that had a level 5 security clearance. After being approved for entry by the retinal scanner, we went inside to see a huge machine that was connected to large generators.

"This is it Mr. Matthews. Today we make history. " Tom said.

I nodded while I looked over the machine that would change history. Literally. If it worked, I would be able to travel in time.

Ever since I read "The Time Machine" by H.G Wells when I was eight, I had been fascinated with the prospect of traveling to the past and into the future. Two years ago, I had my assistants start working on the machine I had designed and now that it was completed, I anticipated all kinds of adventures.

"You're right Tom. Are the security measures in place?" I asked.

"Yes sir. We have been running full diagnostics and everything has been fully calibrated, we should have no problems at all," Tom said.

"Good. Now let's start it up," I said.

Tom turned to the men working at the consoles and nodded and the men started up the machine.

"Power to stage one emitters in 3, 2, 1," one of the men said and a beam of light started coming from the machine.

"Everything seems to be running smoothly. Stage 2 emitters starting...now," the man said.

The beam seemed to stop in midair, then widened into a large circle of what looked like shimmering water. We all held our breath as we waited for the portal to destabilize. When it didn't, everyone began cheering and clapping.

"It worked! We did it everyone!" I exclaimed, feeling awe.

"Yes...we did. ladies and gentlemen, we have made history," Tom said.

Suddenly, alarms started blaring and the hole started to get bigger.

"What's happening?!" I yelled in dread.

"The energy levels are still rising!" one of the men shouted in panic.

"Shut it down! Now!" Tom screamed.

"We're trying! It's not shutting down!" The man yelled in terror.

"Alert security and evacuate the building! We need to get everyone out of here!" I shouted.

Then, the hole started imploding and began sucking everything in the room toward it.

"Oh fuck me, we just opened up a black hole. What have we done? God help us all," I thought in horror.

I grabbed the nearest railing, trying to prevent myself from being sucked in, but as my feet began to lift off the floor, something hit my head and everything went black.


Acmetropolis, California, February 5, 2767.

"Oh God, my head," I thought while I was regaining consciousness. Slowly getting up, I looked around to see where I am.

From what I could see, I was standing in an alleyway and when I walked over to the exit, what I saw made me gasp out in disbelief.

I was in a large city, but that wasn't what shocked me. What shocked me was seeing honest-to-god hover cars flying above me. The clothes that the people were wearing were completely different then mine. I saw a police officer walking by, wearing what appeared to be a law enforcement uniform complete with a duty belt. He was looking at a holographic screen that appeared to be projecting up out of his watch.

I began to walk down the street, looking at everything in awe when I suddenly crashed into someone, sending me, books and the stranger to the ground.

"Fucking Hell! Careful!" The stranger exclaimed in pain.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was..." I trailed off when I got a good look at who and what I bumped into.

I didn't know what I was looking at, the stranger was a brown anthro coyote that was wearing glasses and a lab coat. Judging by his voice and build, I concluded that he was male. The coyote was kneeling down, grumbling in irritation and picking up the books he had dropped. I tried to stay calm and help him out since freaking out would cause a scene.

"Here, let me help you with that," I said, kneeling down and picking up any books that were still on the pavement and handing them over to the coyote.

"Thanks," He replied, looking grateful.

"I'm truly sorry for what happened, I wasn't looking at where I was going. God, I'm so embarrassed," I said sheepishly.

"It's okay, it was just an accident," The coyote said, brushing off any dirt that was on himself.

"Say, are you a scientist? I couldn't help but notice the labcoat you are wearing," I asked him.

"Not exactly. I'm just starting at Acme Tech today," The coyote said.

"I'm sorry? I'm new here. Acme Tech, what's that?" I asked.

"The Acme Tech Institute. It's a prestigious university where you go to learn to be one of the greatest inventors in Acmetropolis," The coyote explained, looking proud.

"Acmetropolis? Must be the name of this city. But where have I heard the name Acme before?" I thought. I wracked my brain to figure out where I had heard that name before. Suddenly, my eyes widened at the realization of where I had heard it before.

"I remember! Acme is that company that was mentioned in those Loony Tunes cartoons. Why the Hell would someone build a city and name it after a fictional company that sells products that had a habit of backfiring on that poor coyote. Wait. Coyote?" I thought in slight disbelief.

"Sounds interesting, maybe I could enroll in that university," I suggested.

"I don't know, Acme Tech doesn't just let everyone in. You not only have to be really good at science and technology, you also need to pass the entrance exam, which is very challenging for most who attempt it," The coyote explained.

"You don't need to worry about that. Who knows, maybe we'll be lab partners when I do pass the exam," I said.

"Maybe. Say, what's your name? If you're going to enroll in the Acme Tech Institute, then I'm going to want to know who you are," The coyote asked me.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Ethan Matthews. How about you?" I asked.

"Tech E. Coyote, it's nice to meet you," Tech introduced himself while we shook hands. Paws. Whatever. I was reeling over the coyote's last name, and trying not to be rude.

Once we were done introducing ourselves, Tech offered to show me to the university so I could look into applying for the entrance exam. As we headed to Acme Tech, I thought about how my life was going to be a lot more interesting from now on.


Acme Tech Institute, Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772.

After I passed the entrance exam, I was lucky to be paired up with Tech as his roommate and we had been working together ever since. Although most of our time together went by quickly and we had become good friends, an unfortunate incident did happen during that time. A year ago, we were tutoring a woman named Mallory Casey, who was designing and creating a machine that would amplify brain wave patterns. When she had presented her final project to the Professors, Tech and I found out to our horror that she was going to use this invention to drain the intellect from the Professor's minds and transfer it to herself, leaving them brain dead. Luckily, we stopped her by deactivating her project at the last minute, but our sabotage caused a misfire of energy to hit her, causing her head to enlarge in size. When the police arrived to arrest her, she swore vengeance on us as she was being escorted out of the building. Tech and I swore to each other that we would never use our intellect for harm, like Mallory.

Tech and I were putting the final touches on our senior thesis project, preparing it for demonstration, while the professors were staring at us impatiently.

"Tech, Ethan, you're keeping us from lunch. Now are you two going to demonstrate your project or not?" One of the professors asked us in irritation.

"Yes sir, we just need to make a last few adjustments and we should be good to go. Okay Tech, run final safety diagnostics," I said. Tech started the process and the Professor threw up his hands in frustration and jumped up out of his chair.

"Oh for God sakes you two! Get out of the way, I'll turn it on myself!" The man exclaimed, moving us out of the way none too gently and reaching for the button near him. My eyes bulged in horror as I reached to prevent him from touching it.

"Wait! Don't touch the..." Tech tried to warn him but it was too late.

The Professor pressed the button and our project exploded, sending Tech and I flying through the wall. We slowly picked ourselves up out of the rubble and Tech continued, "...self destruct mechanism."

We were covered in cuts, bruises, and soot. I was coughing and fanning the air around me while Tech retrieved what was left of our project, and cradled it, staring at it in despair.

"Our baby," Tech whimpered, looking like he was about to cry.

Then the professor came storming out of the hole in the wall, coughing and waving the dust away, glaring at us.

"I used to think you two were brilliant, now I think you two are just crazy. Leave and don't come back," The man said sharply before turning around and storming back into the hole.

"Wait! It did work before you blew it up! Just give us a chance!" Tech cried out desperately.

"Forget it Tech, he's not going to listen. God, what a dick," I said bitterly.

"But it does work. If only someone can see that," Tech said, looking crestfallen.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking and I saw people running away, screaming in terror.

"What the fuck's going on?" I thought uneasily, then I saw an honest-to-God giant meteor, a huge bright light with a fiery tail, plummeting out of the sky and crashing into the bay several blocks away. Instantly, the massive shockwave approached us, sending people flying as it destroyed buildings and cars in its wake.

"Run!" I screamed in terror.

I jumped on Tech to shield him, just as we were knocked unconscious from the pressure of the shockwave hitting us and sending us airborne.


I groaned as I was regaining consciousness, feeling like someone had gone to town on me with a sledgehammer.

"What the Hell happened?" I said out loud. I must have been out for some time because the sun was setting and it was getting dark.

I looked around and even in the dim light, I was completely horrified at the devastation I could see. Buildings everywhere were destroyed and the totaled cars littered the landscape. I could see several people and parts of people near where I was laying on the ground.

"Oh God," I said softly in disbelief, feeling like I was going to vomit from seeing the carnage all around me. I looked for Tech and caught sight of his lab coat nearby. I shakily got to my feet and limped over to my friend.

"Tech! Holy shit!" I sobbed.

My friend was barely recognizable. A large chunk of what looked like concrete was on his head and he had been impaled through the chest by some flying rebar. If Tech wasn't wearing his lab coat, I might not have recognized him.

"Oh God Tech...I'm so sorry," I barely said as I pulled the concrete off my friend's head. I turned away, unable to look at the damage I had uncovered.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a green glow surrounding Tech's body. As I watched in astonishment, his head reformed back to normal, the rebar was ejected from his chest and his torso completely healed up. Before my eyes, Tech had completely regenerated back to his old self and began to stir, groaning.

"What the fuck?" I thought incredulously.

"Ohh my head...Ethan? What happened? Why are you looking at me like that?" Tech asked me.

"Tech, A minute ago, your head was caved into a bloody pulp and your torso was shredded. You've just regenerated from the damage," I explained, causing Tech to start gaping at me.

"Ethan, what you just said is not scientifically possible. No one can heal up from the kind of damage you just described," Tech said skeptically.

"Well you did and now we need to get to safety," I said firmly.

Suddenly, a police helicopter flew overhead and shined it's searchlight down at us.

"If you can hear me, look up and wave," The pilot said through the megaphone.

Tech and I waved, and the pilot responded "If you can walk, head to the stadium. The Red Cross and the National Guard have set up an emergency shelter there for survivors."

Then the pilot turned the helicopter toward a collapsing parking garage and flew off to help a person on the top level who was waving for help.

"Come on Tech, we need to move. It's not safe here," I said seriously.

Tech nodded and we started limping to the stadium, helping anyone that was still alive along the way.

We were almost to the stadium when a building near us began to collapse and a giant anvil fell out of a top floor window and plummeted directly at our heads.

Before I could yell "Oh fuck me!" in horror, Tech had raised his hands in an attempt to shield himself. The same green glowing energy appeared around his upraised hands and shot toward the falling anvil and debris, surrounding it all and halting it in midair. Tech and I stared up at the floating anvil in shock.

"Tech, how the Hell are you doing that?" I questioned him breathlessly, not knowing what the Hell was happening anymore.

"I don't know. This is incredible," Tech said in awe.

"Well, however you are doing it, let's just get to safety so we don't die," I said.

Tech nodded and lowered his hands, directing the debris to settle gently in a safe area nearby. I could see that across the face of the anvil were the large letters "ACME." I felt hysterical laughter bubble up and out of me. I managed to gasp out, "Who keeps a sixteen-ton anvil on the top floor of a building?"

As I was wiping hysterical tears away, Tech said, "Really? We need to get to the shelter before anything else falls on us!"

"Yes," I gasped, trying to regain my breath, "...Anvil... ACME... are you fucking kidding me?"

We heard another rumble as the building we were standing next to began to buckle and crumble.

"Holy shit! Move!" I yelled urgently.

Tech turned to look up and fell into the path of falling debris.

"No!" I screamed in horror, reaching my hand out to Tech. As I watched, my arm stretched like rubber, wrapped around Tech's torso and yanked him out of danger. When he was safe, my arm unwrapped itself from Tech's torso and returned to normal, causing me to stare at my hands in disbelief. All I could think about was how that should have really hurt, but it didn't. I was stunned.

"Ethan...how did you do that?" Tech asked me.

I didn't say anything and kept looking at my hands. Somehow, I had the unnatural ability of elasticity. I kept theorizing how this happened and my thoughts turned to the meteor that fell from the sky.

"Could the meteor have done this to us? It seems like whatever had happened to us has somehow altered our genetic code down to the cellular level. Whatever the case may be, we need to do some tests to find out how much of our genetic code was altered," I thought.

"Tech, we need to figure out what happened to us and see if other people were changed like we were," I said.

"You're right. But what we need to do first is get to the stadium for shelter," Tech said.

We arrived at the stadium to find a line at the front gate. Volunteers were going up and down the line, looking for people who needed immediate medical attention and bringing them inside first. When we got to the head of the line, volunteers at a desk were filling out a form for each person, checking people in, and telling them where to go once they went inside the stadium.

"Are you hurt? You need any medical attention?" the woman asked us.

"No, we're fine. A bit shaken up though. Is there anywhere here we can lie down? I am exhausted" I said.

"There are plenty of beds still available. We have the cots numbered in the tents down on the field," the woman said, handing us each a number. "Let's get your paperwork done, then you can go inside, and a volunteer will help you find your spots."

A few minutes later, our intake forms were complete and we stood up to go inside. "Thank you, Ma'am," I said to the woman, "Come on Tech, let's get some rest."

A volunteer showed us to the right tent and pointed out our cots. Tech and I walked over to the beds and I sat down, pretty much exhausted. I looked around, seeing people looking scared and injured. Among all the people, I saw a male grey anthro rabbit talking to a yellow anthro female rabbit that was wearing a torn up cheerleading outfit. I saw an anthro black duck dressed up in a poolboy outfit, sitting on a bed and looking irritated while a large brown Tasmanian devil that was wearing a wrestling outfit was walking around, speaking gibberish to anyone that was nearby. Lastly, I saw a male road runner talking rapidly to a few doctors that looked like they wanted to strangle him to shut him up.

"Things are never going to be the same again," I thought, lying down and settling in to get some sleep.


Location Unknown, Acmetropolis, California, March 7, 2772.

A lone figure in a red hooded cloak was standing in front of various screens and monitors that were showing different parts of Acmetropolis. The figure was a tall woman with blond hair and green eyes.

"What have you done brother?" The woman said, hating herself for getting innocents involved in her war against her brother.

"If I don't find a way to stop him in time, all of Earth will be destroyed, and every innocent life will be wiped out," The woman commented to herself as she kept watching the monitors.

Suddenly, an alarm went off and her attention turned toward the security sensors. The sensors had sprung to life as they had detected several anomalies on the screen that showed a map of the city. From what the woman could see, there were seven different blips in one location.

"Hmm...interesting, seems the meteor my brother had unleashed on the planet has caused some unexpected side effects," The woman concluded while the computer played back to show seven different individuals, six anthros and one human exhibiting different abilities. The woman felt intrigued at seeing the abilities being displayed and she wondered if those seven people could be what she's looking for.

"Perhaps they could be Earth's only hope. Computer! Analyze subjects and list all information about them!" The woman ordered.

The computer complied by processing data from the images of the seven people that were on the screens.

"Now I just need to find a way to bring them together and hope that they will help," The woman thought, preparing for a way to gather them together.