Chapter 1: Go Forth, Tomb Raider Club!
Today was Arthur's day off. Or at least, it should have been. Cracking open his bleary eyes early that Saturday morning (on inspection of the bedside clock: five minutes past eight) all had been quiet, with birds chirping outside. A sleepy smile of satisfaction crossed the young Englishman's lips as he basked in the knowledge of having absolutely no obligations whatsoever, and snuggled into his pillow while pulling the blankets closer around his body. Ahh, bliss!
A harsh rapping at the door moments later destroyed the peace in one fell swoop.
"Arthur! Lève-Toi!*"
"Go away," he drawled, not bothering to open his eyes.
"You have to get up! Don't you know the time?" an incredulous and familiar accented voice retorted. Arthur's eyebrows tightened. Someone up there clearly had a vendetta against him – still, calling that one stingy canteen chef a cheap sod was not something he was going to take back, because it was true.
"Francis, if you come more than five inches past my door I will kill you with my bare hands."
"Arthur, Alfred and Ludwig are waiting for you!"
The Englishman's brain paused for a moment, as if waiting for the realisation to rise up from the depths and reveal itself. Sure enough, it did, and with it came a horrible sinking drop of despair and frustration. A muffled groan of 'Oh God' could be heard from the Frenchman outside. Arthur's brain unhappily faced the fact that he really had no good excuse to salvage the Saturday of leisure he had believed he was going to have. Hopes dashed, feeling lousy, he dragged himself out of bed and began to get ready.
"Tell 'em I'll be there in ten minutes," he called to Francis, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and opening his wardrobe. "Also tell Ludwig to take deep breaths," he added, smirking as he imagined how flustered the fastidious German would be right about now.
"You're getting a scolding, you know," the Frenchman said.
"Yeah, yeah."
A few minutes later, Arthur was dressed, presentable and opening the door to see a high-strung Francis shooing him out of his own dorm room.
"Go! Ludwig'll have my ass if you don't hurry up!"
"Alright, alright, I'm going!" Arthur snapped, swatting his hands away, picking up his pace and striding forcefully down the corridor. "Enjoy your morning frog soup!"
It was a stupid and childish insult, he knew, but right now Arthur was far too miffed to care, and turning the corner stomped down two flights of stairs to exit the building. He was immediately greeted by cool late-spring air which, sadly, did nothing to lift his mood. Crossing green he approached the main campus building of Kingsbridge College, a rather imposing Victorian structure which had previously been a grand manor house, belonging to some powerful aristocratic family in past centuries. But even its impressive aesthetic failed to strike Arthur as he entered from the west side entrance, maneuvering through corridor after corridor until he came across the door sporting a large sign with the words: TOMB RAIDER CLUB written in big, bold, blue letters.
Arthur sighed. At the beginning of their first year, Arthur had created the Archaeology Club, to which Alfred and then Ludwig, invited by the former, had subsequently joined. Their shared passion for the subject drove the club forward in spite of their small size. Several months previously, Alfred had suggested a club name change, to which Arthur was opposed. However, after much persistent pestering and the go-ahead given by the club leader (Ludwig), the Englishman was forced to yield and the Tomb Raider Club was born. No new people had come knocking, but, truthfully, the trio had gotten so used to the current arrangement of things that the subject of recruiting was never brought up again.
As soon as he pushed his way through the door, he was greeted by a very unimpressed German frowning at him from the front desk. The tall ash-blonde-haired young man was Ludwig, dressed the entire school garb seemingly out of force of habit, though Arthur suspected he just liked to show off his authority with it on. With the glasses, dark blue blazer, golden sweater, shirt, tie and violet-checked trousers, the German (club leader, hall monitor and prefect) certainly looked the part of the dutiful student. Somehow it stung.
"Ach, there you are," Ludwig said, seeing him. "We were wondering where you were."
"I forgot, alright? Let's just get on," Arthur muttered.
"Hey, someone rolled off the wrong side of the bed!"
It was Alfred, whose cheery voice only grated Arthur's nerves further. The bespectacled American watched him amusedly with bubbly blue eyes, sitting in the front row opposite Ludwig's desk, leaning forward in such a way that it was clear they had been talking before Arthur's arrival. Alfred also was wearing his school uniform, sans the blazer, which Alfred replaced with his old brown one. His own sweater was noticeably faded in colour, making it suit the colour of his blazer better. People would make snide remarks behind the American's back that his merit-based scholarship was proof of his 'poverty', and resulted in his 'shabby' look.
Alfred, despite this, was quite the school heartthrob, and an intelligent one at that, captain of the football team, and almost constantly followed by his adoring fans and other friends. Thankfully, he was able to be rid of them long enough to attend their weekly club meetings, which had been postponed to Saturday from the usual Friday afternoon due to a certain occasion that only Ludwig seemed to know anything about.
Arthur scowled at the American, hovering at the end of the row.
"Well, being woken up on a supposed day off by a Frenchman banging at your door doesn't exactly encourage a tap-dancing mood," he said gruffly.
Alfred pouted and then grinned widely.
"Aw, don't worry, we're gonna have a good time." Alfred turned to the German. "Aren't we?"
Ludwig blinked, as if caught off-guard, then nodded.
"Kiku wants us all down in Lab 10," he explained. "The project he's been working is finally finished and he wants us all to see it. " The German chuckled suddenly. "He called me this morning - I never thought he could get so excited."
Arthur only looked mildly interested, while Alfred was raring to go, delighted by the news. Filing some papers into a folder and tucking it under his arm, Ludwig turned towards the door.
"Let's go."
"Yeah!" Alfred pushed himself up from his seat with vigour, quickly heading for the door, passing Arthur and giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Come on, gramps, you can sleep after we're done here!"
Arthur uttered a 'humph', but followed the other two out of the main building and across to the other end of the spacious playing field, where, within a white-washed lone laboratory that had once been part of the old science block, Kiku Honda was expecting them.
"Ah, good morning! I'm so glad you could all make it!" Kiku, a small, unassuming Japanese student clad in a white lab coat, plastic goggles pushed up on his head, hurried over to them in a rare state of flustered excitement. Surrounding him were all manner of wires, machinery, gadgets, chemicals in Pyrex containers, all confined to the outskirts of the room, bringing particular attention to the large object covered up in the centre. Kiku had been given special permission to reserve Lab 10 for his use only, which was rarely in use due to its age, having been left out of the sweeping refurbishments and left empty until Kiku got his hands on it. The lab itself was isolated from the rest of the campus buildings, away from prying eyes. Kiku had made sure his work would be entirely undisturbed.
The faint humming of engines and the bubbling of liquids filled the air.
Ludwig smiled at his friend. They had bonded in the first year over their scientific interests as well as other similarities.
"No problem. You've been talking about this project of yours since we met – we couldn't miss it."
"Morning!" Alfred greeted, giving the Japanese a one-armed hug. "So you're finally done!" When they broke away he said, looking round: "You really must've worked yourself half to death to do all this. How do you do it?"
Kiku smiled a small, secretive smile.
"Perseverance, determination, and salmon sushi," he said, without a hint of irony, before making his way over to the very large mass, concealed by a huge, heavy white sheet. Alfred laughed loudly, Ludwig smiled appreciatively, and Arthur couldn't stop a small curl of the lip.
Standing to one side of it while his witnesses gathered round, Kiku smiled proudly and said: "This, my friends, is the culmination of a boyhood dream [he had a strange habit of referring to himself as if he were an old man], years of planning and years of old-fashioned hard work. It is an honour that you three should be the first eyes other than mine to see it finished. And so, without further ado—"
With both hands, the Japanese pulled off the sheet in one good hard pull, sending the whole thing sliding away from the body of the treasure it hid and collapsing in a heap of fabric on the floor.
Arthur, Ludwig and Alfred stared, momentarily at a loss of what to say.
"…Is that a Volkswagen Golf?" Ludwig asked at last, his brain trying but failing to make any sense of it.
It was indeed a Volkswagen Golf, but enhanced for a purpose completely unlike its makers' intention. Its entire exterior was reinforced with some kind of metal, probably steel, and its wheels were similarly fashioned, and it was clear from the pistons and wires lying behind the gleaming silver rim that its wheels far more powerful than that of a normal Golf. Inside was a glowing array of buttons, dials and screens inlaid in the dashboard, and who knew what else was stored in the compartments. Otherwise, the interior was much the same as any Golf, as appearances went – polished black leather seats and all. It was essentially a cyber-Golf, built like a tank and smelling of the showroom.
Arthur stared, aghast.
"What in the blazes…?"
"A time machine," Kiku explained, unfazed by the general silence and stupefied looks, smiling proudly. "Or a time Golf, to be exact."
"A what?"
"I've always wanted to visit the past," the Japanese went on, a nostalgic glaze in his eyes as he looked into the middle distance, like an elder recalling his wild teenage antics. "To understand it, to feel it, not just through old relics and history books. I wanted to have the power to experience what the peoples of old experienced, with my own body, mind and spirit. This is the result of that dream."
"You're bloody mad," Arthur said, looking at Kiku as if he thought exactly that.
Kiku only smiled.
"Perhaps a little madness is necessary for a breakthrough."
Ludwig and Alfred exchanged bewildered looks. They were seeing quite a different side to their little science friend than they had been used to, and they didn't know what to make of his claim either. The German, always the mediator, tried to diffuse the feeling by drawing attention to the Golf, approaching touching the sooth steel armour.
"This is amazing," he said.
Kiku beamed.
"Thank you. I worked very hard to ensure the durability of the vehicle. First I…" He was off, blabbering away on which material made this and that work, what modifications he had made to the structure while keeping its shape and general appeal to the eye, and so on and so on. Ludwig listened, but as Kiku went on it was clear he was finding it more and more difficult to follow and understand everything he said. Alfred was totally lost after the first sentence, but Arthur snapped.
"Stop! Just stop right there!" he burst out. "You made me drag myself out of bed on a Saturday morning for this? Time machine my arse! I'm going back to bed!" Turning on his heel, Arthur was almost at the door when Kiku rushed over and held him back, clinging desperately.
"Arthur, please! Just a few minutes! I've been waiting for this for so long ... if it doesn't work, you can say whatever you like to me and go back to your room, but please ...!"
Arthur looked at Kiku's pleading face and his anger faded, as if it had just been a tantrum. He sighed, releasing himself.
"Oh alright…" he relented, "but if this turns out a whole load of hogwash, I'm leaving."
Kiku thanked him almost tearfully, bowing his head several times as he did so, before proceeding to tell the trio to please enter the vehicle. They did so, Ludwig in the driver's seat, Alfred in the passenger's, and Arthur sitting stiffly in the back.
"Have you tested this before?" Alfred asked, eyes transfixed by the glimmering dashboard.
Kiku nodded, watching them with eager black eyes.
"Yes – first on some animals and then with myself. No problems at all."
"Why a Volkswagen?" Ludwig asked.
"Oh, well, German engineering," Kiku replied, smiling. "Can't go wrong, right?"
Ludwig chuckled. "Right."
"It's a GTI model, by the way. Came out of the factory this year."
Ludwig, despite having ruled out the whole idea as completely fantastical, was nonetheless very pleased to be sitting in the newest model of his country's favourite car, and impressed with the creation of his friend.
Arthur stared at Kiku as if he was looking at another species.
"Where did you get the money for all this?"
"Don't we need some space to… you know, drive this into the past?" Alfred pointed out before the Japanese could give an answer.
"Ah, no. It will be necessary to drive once you get to your location, but to get there all that is necessary is the teleportation pad the car is currently sitting on. I thought it would be a more efficient method of getting around."
The trio looked out of the windows to see it. Lo and behold, the car was sitting on a large, round metal disk.
"Then how will we get back?"
"There is a portable one in the trunk."
"'There's a portable' - what in God's name…!" Arthur was quickly losing patience again. It was all too mad to be believed, but he had promised to hold out until proved right, so he stayed put.
Kiku moved over to one of his machines – the biggest one – and began pressing some buttons. The faint hum that had been in the background the whole time suddenly began to grow in volume. The screens on the dashboard of the bar switched on, buttons glowed white, speed dials twitched to life and a whirring noise could be heard from the pad below. Alfred was brimming with excitement, and it seemed he half-believed Kiku's dream was possible.
"The radio inside the car will connect to the machine here so I can communicate with you at all times. You also have headset devices for communicating when you are out of the car. I will explain in more detail when you get there." The excitement in Kiku's voice was evident.
"When we get where?" Arthur called out over the sounds.
Kiku's black eyes smiled.
"You are the Archaeology Club, aren't you? In a few moments you three shall be walking with the beasts whose bones you so love to study!"
"You're putting us back in time with the bloody dino—?!"
Arthur had no time to finish his sentence. The noise reached its peak and suddenly there was nothing but white. The trio yelled, shut their eyes and ducked as far down as they could for cover as they were thrown into the abyss.
They had no way of knowing how long they remained prone and helpless inside the vehicle. At length, the increased light shining on their eyelids told them something was different. An unearthly silence reigned. No humming of machines, no bubbling chemicals, no beeping of buttons. Gingerly opening their eyes, and raising themselves up, they were greeted by the sight to a lush forest outside their windows, surrounding them. Great trees hundreds of feet tall stretched for the bright sky just visible through the ceiling of leaves, the rays of the sun streaming down in thin streaks upon them. Rolling down his window, Ludwig let in the all-too-familiar smell of the trees, vegetation and the earth below. It was unnerving, how familiar their surroundings were, and yet how their guts told them it was alien.
Arthur had just opened his mouth to speak when a blood-curdling roar bellowed out from somewhere in the distance.
After the echoes had died, the radio crackled to life, and Kiku's voice could be heard.
Everyone, I present to you North America, late Jurassic period. I hope you are not too shaken up by your journey.
Somehow in the stunned silence that followed his words Arthur finally found his voice to speak.
"Bloody hell, man…" he whispered. "What have you done?"
[End of Chapter One! Hope you all like it so far. Feel free to comment and review :)]
Translation notes:
*Lève-Toi!: Get up!