The Doctor pressed some more buttons on the console and the TARDIS was once again in flight. "We don't have very far to travel," he said. "It's just like moving next door."
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Luke said.
"Do you know which genre we're going to, Doctor?" Thursday asked.
"No," he replied. "The TARDIS prefers randomness, I'm afraid." A moment later, they landed.
"Lead the way, Doctor," Zaphod said.
" Very well. But we'd best stick together. You never know who or what we might come across." He opened the TARDIS doors and the heroes found themselves standing on what appeared to be an ordinary city street. The TARDIS had materialized next to a van marked "Zeke the Plumber" but the street itself was deserted.
"Where is everyone?" Ron asked.
"They're probably too afraid of the Nothing to leave their homes," Hermione said. "And frankly, I don't blame them."
"I think I know where we are," Katniss said.
"Where?" Inigo asked.
Katniss pointed at a street sign. It read "Sesame Street". "I wish we'd had that show growing up in Panem," she said wistfully.
"Hey," Harry said, "Isn't that the Magic Schoolbus?"
"It is indeed, young man," said a voice. They turned around to face a bearded man with long hair. "This is children's television," he said. "If it was meant to entertain the kiddies, chances are you'll find it here. Allow me to introduce myself. Vink's the name, Dr. Vink!"
"Dr. Fink?" Katniss asked.
"No. Vink. With a va-va-va. Tell me, are any of you afraid of the dark?" Everyone shook his or her head. Or heads, in Zaphod's case. "Damn! Oh, can I say 'damn'? It's hard to tell what the rules are nowadays."
"Hey, buddy," Indy said impatiently, "We're looking for a way to defeat the Nothing. Are you gonna help us or what?"
"You'll have to figure that out on your own," Vink replied. "Most of us have given up. Anyway, I'm off to Good Burger. Ta!" He walked away.
"What a nutbag!" Ron muttered.
"I am not a nutbag!" Vink shouted as he disappeared from view.
"Well," the Doctor said, "Let's have a look around, shall we? If we stay long enough, we're bound to run into someone willing to help. I hope." They walked a few more blocks and came across a man and woman wearing business suits.
"Hello!" Zaphod said, waving. "Can you help us?"
"Maybe," the man said. "Depends what you need help with. I'm George Frankly and this is my partner, Pat Tuesday. We're from Mathnet."
"We're investigating the possibility that whoever's behind this might've come from this genre," Pat explained.
"That's great!" Thursday said. "I'm something of an expert investigator myself. And I also know what it's like to be named after a day of the week. Anything I can do to help you?"
"Sorry to disappoint you," George said, "but we haven't uncovered any evidence here. Whoever released the Nothing must be from somewhere else."
"It seems that our investigation has been a total waste," Pat said. "But hey, it beats teaching kids about math." George and Pat walked off, leaving the heroes confused and frustrated. Nevertheless, they kept walking down Sesame Street. It was not long before they encountered two more characters.
"Ah!" the first one said. "You all think you can defeat me? Well, you are mistaken. I am invincible!"
"We're not here to defeat you," the Doctor said, perplexed. "We're just looking for some help. Who are you, anyway?"
"I am Lord Zed! And this is my beloved wife, Rita Repulsa!"
"THE FACT THAT WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE DESTROYED BY THE NOTHING IS GIVING ME A HEADACHE!" Rita shrieked. The heroes all covered their ears in pain.
"I don't know about you," Indy whispered to Luke, "but I'd rather die than hear that woman speak again." Luke nodded. At that very moment, the Power Rangers appeared.
"It's all over, Zed," the Red Ranger said. "This may be the Apocalypse but that doesn't mean we can't have our final confrontation."
"And you think you can win?" Zed asked, brandishing his staff at the Rangers.
"Yes. Because we brought reinforcements." The Rangers parted to reveal the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
"Cowabunga, dudes!" the Turtles said. The Rangers and Turtles took their positions, ready to fight, but were interrupted by the arrival of a strange man wearing glasses and a striped shirt.
"Don't forget about me!" the man said. "I'm just as capable as the rest of you. For I am Artie- the strongest man… in the world!" Everyone stared at Artie awkwardly, unsure what to make of him.
"Um, Doctor," Harry said nervously, "Look!" He pointed at the sky and the Doctor knew instantly what was happening.
"It's the Nothing!" he cried. "Everyone, back to the TARDIS!"
"Run for your life!" the Red Ranger shouted. The Rangers, the Turtles, Zed and Rita all scattered. The heroes ran as fast as they could but Artie ran faster than any of them. He ran straight into the TARDIS and the others followed him inside.
The Doctor slammed the doors shut and pushed some buttons on the console. "That was a close one," he said as the TARDIS took flight again. He noticed Artie was looking at the ceiling. "Excuse me but what are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry, I thought this was my house," Artie said. "It's a little bigger than I remember it."
"You can tag along if you like. Just remember, this is my home, not yours. Got it?"
"I guess so. It's just too bad. I was really looking forward to fighting that Zed guy."
"Zed's dead, Artie. Zed's dead."
"They sure are including some pretty obscure characters, aren't they?" Crow said.
"Yeah," Servo agreed. "How are we supposed to care about these people if we don't even know who half of them are?"
"Maybe they're not thinking 'Who's going to get this?'" Mike said. "Instead, they're probably thinking, 'The right people will get this'."
"Hey!" Crow said. "That's one of Joel's sayings!"
"Mike, are you trying to be more like Joel?" Servo asked.
"Guys, let's not get started on the whole Joel vs. Mike thing, ok?" Mike said, exasperated. "Let's just watch the movie."