Okay, chapter two! I'll be a little longer, with a few more explanations. I'm still recovering from writing a climactic chapter of another fanfic I'm writing, so excuse my excited typings.
Oh, and mainstreet52: Thanks for the crit, but to be honest I can't get into the habbit of writing like that. It may be the preferred format on the site by a lot of writers, but it just feels wrong to me. I'm sorry if that makes it unreadable, but to be honest I can't really change that. Thanks for the praise, too! And I'm sorry if that sounded a bit snippy- I genuinely meant it. ^-^

Teensy, tiny edit to my comment there: Wow, it seems like every story I'm reading on the site uses that format. Hmm... I'll give it a go, but I might slip back into my regular way without realising.
Time to begin the test, I suppose.


Kirk whirled around, phaser at the ready before the man had a chance to injur him.

"Red alert! Kirk to Commander Scott, did you authorise a transport onto the Bridge?" The Captain announced, waiting for the Chief Engineer's response.

"'Course not, Cap'n. I'm not a fool!" Scotty's voice replied indignantly.

"I know you're not, Scotty, but a guy just appeared on the Bridge." Kirk responded, his phaser still pointed at the intruder. The man in question had the world's most bored expression for one with a weapon aimed at him.

"What- how did he get on board? He didn't transport, that's for sure!" Scotty's voice exclaimed. A few seconds passed. "Nope, definitely didn't transport."

"Oh, do lower the phaser." The man sighed, shaking his head in disappointment at the Captain. "It can't harm me, of course, but it's the sentiment behind it that hurts right here." The man placed a hand over his chest in mock sorrow. Just to worsen the effect, he stuck out his bottom lip.

"Captain, I believe the intruder is mocking you-" Spock began.

"Yes, Spock. I can tell." Kirk snapped. He was a little more irritated than he should've been, and regretted his outburst almost immediatelly, but said no more.

"Is that all I am to you? An intruder?" The man stared at Spock in mock hurt. "Well, I'll have to tell the Q that the human race is just as dull and hurtful as ever."

"It appears you are misinformed. I am not human, but Vulcan." Spock responded, ignoring the rest of the man's statement.

"Oh yes, yes. Human, Vulcan, Romulan, Klingon. What's the difference, really? Besides, I've hardly come here to differentiate between you all. To me, you're just as equally irritating and useless. Not to mention a savage child-race." The man waved Spock off, turning away. He made his way down to the Captain's chair and plopped himself down. "What do you think?" A bright flash engulfed him, and he was soon wearing the very same Captain's uniform as Kirk.

"I think that you're trespassing on my ship and sitting in my chair, not to mention calling us names." Kirk responded. He had tried to move earlier, but for some reason he was frozen in place. In fact, none of the Bridge crew were moving.

"Well I think I look like a dashingly handsome Captain, don't you?"

Kirk ground his teeth in response. This sarcastic man was driving him round the bend faster than one of Bones and Spock's arguments. He sincerely hoped that somebody would just stun him already.

"Well? Is no one going to answer me?" The man asked. There was a pause filled with awkward silence. "Oh fine. Be that way." He clicked his fingers, and suddenly Kirk found he could move again. The second he could, the Captain fired his phaser at the intruder. It hit him, but instead of causing the man to slump in the chair, it made him turn around and glare at Kirk.

"You know, you're not exactly backing up the argument that you're not a savage child-race by firing your weapon at me." The man explained with a tsk of disapproval.

"Oh, just tell me who you are already!" Kirk exclaimed, finally giving up on stunning the man.

"Finally! I thought you'd never ask." The man cleared his throat. "I am a member of the Q Continuum, a race of omnipotent beings. I've been sent here by my fellow Q to... oversee the changes that your little alternate timeline creates. They're a little concerned, you see. These next few years are crucial to your growth as a race."

Spock raised an eyebrow at the man's statements.

"I thought omipotence was highly improbable." The half-Vulcan pointed out. "I fact, I would go as far as to say that it is impossible."

"Oh do shut up, Pointy, you're spoiling my fun!" The man waved his hand in Spock's general direction. Suddenly, he could not open his mouth to speak. Remaining surprisingly calm, Spock merely pressed his lips together to form a disapproving line.

"Captain, I've alerted Starfleet to out situation." Uhura spoke all of a sudden, throwing Kirk off.

"You did what?" The man snapped, suddenly right beside Uhura, prodding at the Communications panel. She leaned as far away from him as she could, but was unable to leave. Spock watched on, unable to voice his irritation for more than just one reason.

"It's okay, I fixed it. They won't disturb us." The member of the Q stood up straigh again, and made his way back to the Captain's chair. "Besides, aren't we on a 5-year mission to explore space? We shouldn't turn back for my sake. I'd hate to put a dampener on anyone's mood."

"Who are you?" The Captain asked again, glaring at the man that sat in his chair. He rolled his eyes.

"I just told you that, Captain. I knew the human race were a thick bunch, but I didn't think they were this bad. Or are you just an exception? In any case, I am a member of the Q."

Kirk bit his tongue, trying his best not to strike out at the man. His knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists.

"I meant a name. Do you have a name?" Kirk's question was asked through gritted teeth.

"Oh. Well, I suppose you can call me Q, since we'll be working together for the next while." The man- Q- responded with a sigh. "Now, as much as I'm looking forward to spending time with you all, I have some more primitive humans to visit. They're playing poker, and I intend to win." Q rose from the Captain's chair and disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Spock, please tell me I hallucinated that whole thing." Kirk groaned, collapsing into his chair.

"I am afraid not, Captain." Spock replied. He frowned then. Clearly Q had remembered to un-stick Spock's jaw before disappearing.

Kirk rubbed at his forhead with his hand in a gesture of exhaustion. Finally, he exhaled.

"Call off the red alert, but get a security team to watch out for Q. I have a sinking feeling he's gonna be back sooner rather than later."


Well that went surprisingly well for a first proper stab at the new layout. It wasn't quite as lengthly as I'd hoped, but hey. Next time there'll be more.

See y'all next time!