Chapter 1:
The trio walked down a bustling street in the middle of San Francisco. It was normal, aside from huge billboards, proclaiming an upcoming musical film about a founding father.
"I can't believe that it's been six months since we started sliding aimlessly again." Rebecca said.
"What I can't believe is how they made a musical about Aaron Burr. I mean, seriously, a hip-hop inspired musical about a founding father? I think that cinches it that this isn't our Earth." Michael said.
"Yeah, although the soundtrack is pretty good." Sam said. "How much time do we have left?"
"Let me check." Michael said, pulling the timer out of his pocket. "Three minutes."
"Just enough time to buy a hot dog." Sam said as he started to walk towards a hot dog cart.
"But not enough time to eat it." Rebecca said, grabbing Sam by the arm and pulling him back.
"Aww, come on!" Sam said.
"I am not cleaning sauerkraut out of my hair again." Rebecca said.
"Jeez, it happens once and you don't let a guy forget it." Sam said.
"Come on guys," Michael said. "Let's find a quiet place to slide."
"Does that quiet place always have to be an alleyway?" Rebecca asked.
"It's the only place that there's no one around to see it." Michael replied. "Would be nice to not have to step in garbage juice before we slide, though."
"Let's go." Sam said, sulking. "I bet the next world is going to have outlawed hot dogs..."
The trio walked down the alley and stopped near a gate at the end of the alley. Michael held the timer and aimed it at the gate. He activated the timer and the swirling blue vortex appeared. The trio jumped into the vortex as it closed behind them. They emerged on the other side, landing on a dusty road. They stood up and looked around. Sam started looking over the horizon as Michael noticed something behind him.
"Dusty road... hey, maybe this is James' world." Rebecca said.
"I don't think so." Michael said as he walked over to a torn up section of road. "Looks like an earthquake... That's weird."
"Not really. This is San Francisco, we are known to have earthquakes here." Rebecca said.
"No, I mean that this looks fresh. Like it happened yesterday." Michael said.
"It's very possible that it did. We'd better be careful of aftershocks." Rebecca said.
"Uh guys, we've got company." Sam said as a military-like jeep drove up towards them.
Three people, two men and a woman, dressed in torn clothing with dirt all over their faces got out, aiming shotguns at the trio.
"We don't want any trouble." Michael said as the trio put their hands up.
The trio was led into the back of the jeep where they were tied up, and patted down, with the woman taking the timer out of Michael's pocket, and one of the men, a large man with sunglasses, got into the back with them, as the other man and the woman got in the front and started driving.
"So, what're you? Humaggs or something?" the large man asked.
"Humaggs? You mean Kromaggs?" Sam questioned.
"Humaggs, Kromaggs, they're all maggots to me." the large man replied.
"We're not Kromaggs, if that's what you think." Rebecca said.
"Showed up the same way that they did with your portal and all. You here to finish the job?" the large man asked.
"Finish the job? It looks like they razed the planet and got what they came for." Michael said as he looked over the landscape.
Suddenly, as they drove into the ruins of a city, a man on a motorcycle drove up beside the jeep and revved his engines. The man who was driving lowered his window.
"Frank! Josie! Daily quake in 20 minutes!" the man on the cycle shouted.
"Now? But we've got Magg spies and the closest jail is a half hour away." the man in the driver's seat, Frank shouted.
"Better find some shelter, you don't want to be here if something comes down." the man on the cycle shouted as he veered off and drove away.
"Damn!" the woman, Josie, shouted before poking her head into the back of the jeep. "Gordon, what should we do?"
"There's an intact building a few blocks down Blue Jay Way. Make the next left. If we can bide our time there, we should be good." the large man, Gordon, said.
"Daily earthquake? What are you talking about?" Michael asked.
"When the Mags left, or rather, when they disappeared, everything started going crazy. Daily earthquakes in California, flooding on the Eastern seaboard every two weeks on the dot." Josie said.
"When did this all start?" Sam asked.
"About six months ago, right Frank?" Josie replied.
"Yeah. A week or so after the Mags dropped off." Frank said.
"Uh oh..." Rebecca muttered.
"Here we are. Pull in here." Gordon said, ignoring her.
The jeep pulled into a parking lot, covered with rubble, near a metal dome.
"That it?" Frank asked.
"Yeah, let's get in there before it starts." Josie said. "Bring the spies, too."
"We're not spies. We're explorers!" Sam retorted.
"Shut up and move." Frank shouted.
The trio was led into the dome, which was devoid of anything on the inside, save for a door. The group sat, as the trio were tied up with Gordon sitting there aiming his gun at them the whole time. Michael was leaning against the wall, staring sadly into space. Frank and Josie were looking over the timer as the room rumbled as the quake raged outside.
"This call the Manta ships?" Josie asked as she held the timer as if it were a plague rat.
"It doesn't do any sort of calling any more. It used to be a cell phone, though." Rebecca said.
"What does it do?" Frank asked, sharply.
"Well, I can't explain the entire theory, but long story short, it allows us to travel to parallel universes. We are not of your Earth." Sam said.
"Neither were the Mags." Gordon said.
"Funny that you mention them. We actually spent a good portion of the last two years fighting them. We actually might be responsible for all these natural disasters, cause we're the reason the Mags disappeared." Rebecca said.
"What do you mean?" Josie asked.
"Well, we, and our allies, created a device to remove all the Kromaggs from every universe. And we did that around the time that your problems started." Rebecca replied.
"If you did that, why are you here?" Frank asked.
"Well, we sort of lost our ability to get home, so we're traveling randomly, following our mission." Sam said.
"Which is?" Gordon asked.
"To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no one has gone before." Sam replied.
"Don't give me that Star Trek crap." Frank snapped.
"What's wrong with your friend?" Josie asked.
"It's my fault..." Michael muttered.
"Oh, he gets like that when he feels responsible for bad things happening." Rebecca said. "Since what we did might be responsible for your daily earthquakes, he's all mopey. He got like that when we first got stranded from our worlds."
"How is it your fault?" Frank asked.
"We're not sure but we removed all the Kromaggs from every universe, the immediate removal of several million beings might have had adverse consequences." Rebecca replied.
"Earthquake's over. Let's move." Gordon said.
They were taken out of the dome once again and tossed back into the truck. Frank started driving, and they were on their way again.
"What exactly were the Kromaggs doing here, anyway?" Sam asked.
"Something involving a climatic manipulator. That's what they called it anyway." Josie replied.
"Wait, did you say climatic manipulator?" Michael asked, snapping out of his trance.
"Yeah. We can't read Mag, so we're not sure what it does." Gordon said.
"It's not my fault." Michael said. "Take us to it."
"Not so fast. We still don't trust you. What if you're here to finish what they started and everything's been a cover?" Josie asked.
"Trust me." Michael said. "The manipulator is what the cause of your problems is."
"It's offline. The power source was damaged during the escape and riots after the Mags split. If it doesn't work, how could it be causing quakes and hurricanes?" Frank asked.
"If you bring me to it, I could explain." Michael said.
Frank turned the truck onto another path and started driving towards the desert. Gordon turned around to face the front of the jeep.
"What are you doing?" Gordon asked.
"Going to the Kromagg's old base." Frank replied.
"You believe their story?" Josie whispered.
"Listen, they obviously have something to do with the Mags. We're capable of taking them down if they go rogue, but if they can stop the quakes and tornadoes, it's worth a shot." Frank replied.
The jeep arrived in front of a blown out building. The remains of Kromagg tech, including the wing of a manta ship lay on the ground. The trio were let out of the jeep as Michael spied Josie putting the timer into her pocket.
"So, where's the manipulator?" Michael asked.
"Inside." Frank said. "Gordon, keep an eye on them I'm gonna scope it out with Josie."
Frank and Josie walked into the rubble of the building and Gordon eyed the trio uneasily, as they huddled together.
"Are you going to explain to us how you know about this thing?" Rebecca asked.
"Back when we were on James' world, he had a cache of Kromagg data. One of the data packs mentioned a device they were using to manipulate worlds to their needs. Why destroy a planet with a weapon, when you can make it destroy itself?" Michael replied.
"That's horrible!" Sam exclaimed.
"It is, but the good thing is, I can stop it, provided we can get it working again." Michael said.
"How long did the timer say we had when we got here?" Rebecca asked.
"I didn't get to look at it before we were taken hostage." Michael replied. "Maybe we can ask the woman."
Frank and Josie started walking back towards the trio. Gordon led the trio closer to Frank and Josie.
"Coast's clear of scavengers. We can go in. You think you can fix it?" Frank asked.
"Yes. But I do need to ask one favor. Can you read off the numbers on our device?" Michael replied.
"What does the number mean?" Josie asked.
"It's how much time we have to save your world." Michael replied. "If it hits zero, your world is doomed."
Sam and Rebecca nodded their heads affirmatively as Josie looked at Frank. He nodded and Josie looked at the timer.
"Uh, first two numbers are zero. Second number is zero, five. Third number is forty five..." Josie started.
"About six hours." Michael said. "Let's get to work."
Michael moved pieces of metal off of a control panel and brushed the dust away. Gordon stood by the door with a gun as Sam and Rebecca looked around the room, followed by Frank and Josie.
"This is the main control panel. I think this part is what manipulates the environment to cause the disasters. That other panel must be the power source." Michael said.
"How do you know?" Frank asked.
"Well, this panel has the word manipulator on it, so I just assumed." Michael replied.
"You read Mag?" Gordon asked.
"You spend a lot of time in the same Kromagg prison cell, you start to learn the words written on the wall." Michael replied.
"You were in one of the Mag jails?" Frank asked.
"Yep." Sam said. "We were sort of Public Enemy Number Two to the Kromaggs."
"Really?" Josie asked, incredulously.
"Well, sort of. The Kromaggs had a grudge against a friend of ours, so we were dragged into it by matter of association." Rebecca replied.
"Can we get a generator plugged into this thing?" Michael asked as he pulled a wire out of the rubble near the power source.
"We've got a car battery in the back of the truck." Josie said.
"That'll do." Michael said.
Frank walked off towards the truck and Michael kept pulling wires from the panels. Sam and Rebecca looked over the device, as Josie and Gordon watched them intently.
"Okay, so basically, this is what happened. The Kromaggs were developing a new type of weapon. They like destroying worlds and razing them for resources." Michael pointed to the panel. "This is a climatic manipulator, though it does more than manipulate climate. It's designed to cause natural disasters. Like earthquakes."
"That part we get. Why is it still making them if the machine is turned off?" Josie asked.
"Presumably, they used it once, and then when they left, no one reversed it, so when the machine was damaged, the disasters were still happening, since the environment hadn't been reverted to how it was before the machine was built." Michael replied.
"So the disasters will keep happening until the world is either destroyed, or the machine is repaired and someone reverses the damage." Rebecca said.
"Precisely!" Michael exclaimed.
It was then that Frank returned, carrying a car battery. He set it down by Michael, who took wires out of the panel and started attaching them to the car battery. The machine began to spring to life, and the control panel lit up as buttons began to flash.
"Fantastic. Now to figure out how to use it." Michael said.
"You don't know how?" Frank asked.
"Hey, I said I knew what it was, I didn't say I knew how to operate it. Can't be that hard though." Michael replied.
"Allow me." Rebecca said. "James taught me a thing or two when I was stuck on his world."
Rebecca pressed a few buttons. At first, it seemed like nothing was happening, then the machine began to respond. A list appeared on the screen, listing various natural disasters, like earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes, with frequencies next to it. A beeping sound started, and Gordon checked his pocket, looking at a small device.
"Three minutes to the weekly lightning storm." Gordon asked.
"Okay, so turn all the frequencies to zero." Sam said. "Then we can get out of here."
"That's what I'm doing." Rebecca said. "Michael, give me a hand."
"Got it." Michael said.
The list began to get smaller, until the entire list was blank, all frequencies at zero. Gordon checked his watch and began to look around.
"It's not raining." Gordon said.
"There's no lightning. Not even a cloud in the sky." Josie said.
"They did it." Frank said.
"We did it!" Sam exclaimed.
"Not quite. One more thing." Michael said as he disconnected the car battery and set it aside.
He picked up what appeared to be a piece of a metal pipe. He gripped it in his hands, before slamming the pipe into the machine.
"What are you doing?" Frank asked as he ran up to Michael and grabbed his arm.
"Stopping this from being used ever again. Unless you want more earthquakes." Michael replied.
"Anyway, give us our timer and you can go on your way. We'll find our own way out." Rebecca said, going to take the timer from Josie, who pulled it back.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked.
"Not so fast." Gordon said. "There's a lot of unchecked Mag technology. If this happens again, we'll need someone to fix it."
"Hold on, we need our timer back. If it hits zero, something bad happens if we don't have it." Michael said.
"I guess we'll have to see what that something is." Frank said.
"I really didn't want to have to do this." Michael said. As he said it, he ran into Frank, pushing him backwards, and making him fall over the car battery.
Rebecca kicked Josie's leg out from underneath her and grabbed the timer from her as she fell. Sam knocked Gordon's gun out of his hands. Rebecca ran towards the front of the facility, as Sam and Michael followed behind as Gordon fumbled on the floor for his gun. They made it outside.
"How much time?" Sam asked.
"Thirty seconds." Rebecca replied.
"Why does everyone we meet try to betray us?" Michael asked.
"Let's get out of here!" Sam shouted as Frank, Josie and Gordon, with their guns drawn.
They rushed down a hill and Rebecca activated the timer, and the vortex opened. Rebecca passed the timer to Michael and rushed in, followed by Sam. Michael turned around and saw Gordon, Frank and Josie approaching, he hopped into the portal. Gordon, Frank and Josie got to the bottom of the hill as the vortex closed. They tossed down their guns in defeat and started walking away.
On another Earth, the vortex opened and the trio fell out of the portal, landing on the ground. They brushed themselves off.
"Please let this be a normal world." Michael said as he looked at the timer.
"Uh, Michael... I don't think this is a normal world." Sam said.
Michael turned around to see another vortex open behind them. They ducked out of the way as three figures emerged from the vortex, two men and a woman, all roughly thirty years older the trio. One of the men stood up and looked around, noticing the trio. He turned to his companions, and then back to the trio. He adjusted his glasses, before smiling.
"Oh my god." Rebecca said.
"This is..." the man started.
"Incredible!" Michael exclaimed.
To Be Continued...