Chapter 3:

The trio walked down a bustling street as people rushed around, shopping and being merry.

"Wow. Is it Christmas already? Have we really been sliding for that long?" Michael asked.

"It's our first Christmas since we stopped the Kromaggs. We've got a lot to celebrate about this year, huh?" Rebecca replied.

"Yeah. I miss my family though." Sam said.

"Me too." Rebecca said. "After what we did last time we were there, I can't imagine they're getting along well."

"My parents had me back and now I'm gone again. I can't even imagine what they're going through." Michael said.

They started to walk into a store and Michael paused under the doorway. He pointed above Rebecca's head.

"Hey, Rebecca. You know what you have to do when you walk under mistletoe." Michael grinned.

"I do, but that's holly. Nice try, though." Rebecca said, as she walked past him.

"Well, when New Year's Eve rolls around, if we don't have to slide, do I get a kiss?" Michael asked.

"We'll see." Rebecca giggled.

Sam sighed as he watched the other two sliders joke around as they walked around the store. They walked into a store and Sam tapped Michael on the shoulder.

"I'm going to go for a walk. I'll meet you guys back at the hotel." Sam said.

"Okay." Michael said, quickly returning his attention to his conversation with Rebecca.

Sam strolled through Golden Gate Park, sitting down on a bench and putting his face in his hands.

"They don't even need me. I'm just dead weight. Maybe they'd have been better off if I never started sliding." Sam said.

"Do you really think that, Samuel?" a voice asked. Sam looked up to see that a short old man was now sitting next to him. He hadn't heard the old man sit down.

"Oh, uh, I was just thinking out loud." Sam said.

"Come on, Sam. You don't need to hide it from me. I know you're a slider." the old man said.

"Who are you?" Sam asked, starting to stand up.

"Just a friend, an observer if you'd like. I heard your problem." the old man said. "You feel like a third wheel."

"Yeah. Ever since they finally realized that they liked each other, they've been ignoring me. I mean, ever since we met our older doubles and they saw the version of themselves that never got together... Besides, they always solve the problems!"

"And?"

"And what have I contributed? It's like I do nothing. Michael was the one that helped Quinn stop the Kromaggs. Rebecca's gotten us out of a bunch of scrapes. I'm just along for the ride. I guess I feel like I'm unnecessary." Sam said.

"Did you mean it?"

"My wish that I never slid? Sort of. What have I done out here that's really made a difference?"

"Would you like to see?"

"Huh?"

The old man produced a small device from his pocket. It was vaguely timer shaped, and he aimed it in front of the bench. It activated and a portal appeared in front of them.

"What's this?" Sam asked.

"It's a portal back to Earth Prime. If you never slid that is. It'll be like you never left." the old man replied.

"I'm not sure about this. I mean, if this goes home I have to tell Michael and Rebecca." Sam said, starting to walk away.

"It's just for you. And I can't sustain it for that long, so you only have one shot." the old man said. "Is this what you really want?"

Sam hesitated for a moment, then thought to Michael and Rebecca back at the mall.

"They'll get along without me." Sam said, and he stepped through the portal.

He emerged onto the campus of Cal-U. Before he had a chance to examine his surroundings, there was an explosion and he ducked for cover. He looked around to see a ravaged landscape, one that was vaguely familiar to him.

"Sam, get over here!" a voice shouted.

Sam looked up, it was Rebecca, the Earth Prime version of Rebecca. He ran over to her and they ducked underneath a downed Manta ship.

"What are you doing out of the base? We can't afford to lose anyone else!" she shouted.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"What do you think is going on? The invasion!" Rebecca's double shouted.

They rushed into a building and shut the door behind them. Rebecca's double ran down a corridor and Sam followed.

"Okay, why are the Kromaggs attacking? Didn't Quinn stop them?" Sam asked.

"Quinn? Quinn Mallory? The Mags executed him six months ago. What's wrong with you?" Rebecca's double replied.

"I'm not sure. But this isn't what was supposed to have happened. We stopped the Mags. Me, Michael, and Rebecca. Well, the other Rebecca." Sam said.

"Michael? The guy who went missing right before this all started?"

"Yeah... I've gotta go." Sam said.

"Wait! You'll be killed!" Rebecca's double shouted, but Sam was already out the door.

Sam ran through the campus, seeing Manta ships fly through the air, and Kromagg soldiers running rampant. Sam stopped when he saw a familiar figure wearing all black.

"James!" Sam shouted. The man didn't respond. "Hey you!"

James turned around and looked at Sam unfamiliarly.

"I don't believe we've met." James said.

"James, it's me. Sam. Sam Evans. Oh, that's right, I never slid. What's going on here?" Sam asked.

"You don't know? Oh, this is going to be fun." James said.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "You said that they tricked you into helping them! Why are you letting this destruction happen?"

It was the last thing he thought before James reached into his pocket and pulled out a small device that he aimed at Sam. The device shot out an electric blast. Sam's vision faded as he fell to the ground in front of James.

He awoke in an interrogation room. He was slumped over a table. He sat up to find he was chained to the chair. The door to the room opened, and a large Kromagg walked in. A large Kromagg that Sam immediately recognized.

"Tiberius!" Sam said.

"I see you've heard of me. That was pretty stupid of you, getting yourself caught like that." Tiberius said.

"So what happens now? I get sent to work camp or something?" Sam asked.

"My, my, you seem to know a lot about our procedures. But yes, that is likely what will happen." Tiberius replied.

"Then answer a few questions for me. How did you do this? Find Earth Prime and kill Quinn and all that." Sam asked.

"Well, it was pretty simple. Quinn's group eventually ended up on a world we could track and the Empress managed to get their home coordinates from their unique dimensional signature. After dissecting one of them... Rembrandt, I think it was." Tiberius replied. "That was a good day."

"What about Michael and Rebecca? And why is James still working for you?" Sam asked.

"Michael and Rebecca... oh, you mean that student who went missing from your world and the girl. I do remember them. The fact that the boy managed to resist the brainwashing in the simulation was quite impressive." Tiberius replied.

"How did you catch them? Didn't Michael manage to overpower James?"

"James?"

"Your agent, Michael's double. When he checked in, Michael beat the mind wipe and managed to overpower him!"

"That's right. How do you know all this?"

"That's not important. You captured them after that, didn't they escape?"

"Oh, they tried to. They didn't get very far. They were arguing so much that they hadn't made it farther than the corridor before we caught up with them. They've been on one of the Empress' private prison worlds ever since."

"And what about James? Your agent, he told us that you tricked him into helping, since you promised no one would get hurt, but why is he going along with it now?"

"Well, after he was overpowered, I planned on letting him rot in a cell until his world was destroyed but... I figured he was still of use to me, so I reprogrammed him."

"You brainwashed him!"

"That is an apt comparison."

"This can't be happening. I couldn't have made that big a difference. I was the one that kept them together? I was wrong... I was wrong old man! I take it all back!"

"What are you blathering about?"

"Nothing."

"Anyway, you'll be put in a cell and processed. After that you can be assigned to a work camp."

Sam was dragged to a cell, leaning on one of the guards for support before the guard shook him off and tossed him inside. Sam slumped down and sat. The guard walked away sneering.

"I guess this is it..." Sam sighed. "Or is it?"

Sam opened his hand to reveal a key card, which he waved into the force-field, which lowered.

"Guess they didn't learn their lesson in this timeline." Sam chuckled. "Here's hoping that Tiberius is using the same outpost world..."

Sam rushed down a corridor, passing several cells. Sam looks around at signs and turned down another corridor. He stopped inside a room filled with several computers and devices scattered on top of tables. Sam scanned a table and picked up a Kromagg timer.

"I'm going to need help for this." Sam said.

He ran to a computer and input various parameters until he came upon the coordinates he was looking for.

"Here goes nothing." Sam said as a Kromagg alarm began to blare. He entered the coordinates and activated the timer.

Several Kromaggs stormed into the room. Sam smirked and hopped into the portal, which closed behind him. Sam emerged from the portal in another Kromagg corridor. He looked around and ran down a corridor, stopping in front of a force-field and put his card into it. The field lowered. Sam stepped inside.

"Hey. I need your help." Sam said.

"Sam? Oh am I glad to see you!" a voice shouted. A figure emerged from the shadows, Michael, who was ragged, wearing torn clothes.

"It's probably just another Kromagg mind trick." another voice said. Another figure stepped forward, revealing Rebecca.

"No, the Mags wouldn't know about him. This is Sam, my best friend from my Earth." Michael said. "We were going to slide together but..."

"Yeah. Listen, we've got to get out of here." Sam said. "This is wrong. But we can fix it."

"What do you mean?" Michael asked.

"I'll explain later." Sam said. "We have to go."

"I don't believe him." Rebecca said.

"Rebecca listen. If you ever want to see your family and friends again, I'm your only chance." Sam said. "Hey, that's right. I am the reason you made it back, if this is what happened without me..."

"What are you talking about?" Michael asked.

"Never mind." Sam said, taking his timer out. He looked at the countdown. "Okay, we've got to wait a little bit, so we should get out of here. Mags will be following me here any minute. Let's go."

The trio ran out of the cell and down a corridor. An alarm started to blare and Sam cursed under his breath. Kromagg guards surrounded them.

"I told you it was a trick!" Rebecca shouted.

"Just shut up! If you hadn't stopped our first escape this wouldn't have happened!" Michael shouted.

"Both of you, shut up! And run!" Sam shouted as he kicked one of the guards and grabbed his gun. "Hey, didn't know I could do that."

Sam blasted the Kromagg with the gun and started blasting the other ones. Michael and Rebecca followed him as they made their way down the corridor. Sam stopped when he saw Tiberius at the end of the corridor. He tried to fire the weapon, but it refused to fire.

"I should have figured you'd have pulled something like this." Tiberius said. "I'll enjoy doing this."

"This way!" Sam turned around and started to run back down the corridor. The other two started to follow them. Tiberius came around the corner and Michael stopped.

"Go without me! I'll hold him off!" Michael shouted.

"No!" Sam shouted, as Tiberius fired his weapon. Michael crumpled to the ground.

Sam started to fumble with the Kromagg timer as Rebecca looked at Michael's body lying on the ground.

"I've almost got it. I just need to activate it before the window and they can't track us." Sam shouted. "I've got it!"

Sam activated the portal and looked back long enough to see Tiberius fire his weapon again. Rebecca attempted to jump into the portal, but the shot hit her and she dropped to the floor.

"NO!" Sam shouted in anguish. Tiberius continued walking. "You bastard!"

Sam jumped into the portal, which closed behind him and emerged on the other side in a pile of snow. Sam started sobbing.

"I was wrong... I WAS WRONG YOU HEAR THAT, OLD MAN? I was wrong!" Sam cried. "I take it back!"

"Sam, are you okay?" a voice asked.

"Of course I'm not okay, my best friends just..." Sam started before pausing. He looked up to see Michael and Rebecca standing over him.

"Guys! You're alive!" Sam shouted.

"Of course we're alive. Though with the way those holiday shoppers were acting I'm as shocked as you are that we made it out unscathed." Rebecca laughed. "We've been looking everywhere for you. It's like you weren't even on this Earth."

"You have no idea. I just had the strangest... dream? Hallucination? It felt so real!" Sam said.

"What are you talking about?" Michael asked.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're okay." Sam said. "Thanks to me."

"What do you mean, thanks to you?" Michael asked.

"If I wasn't around you guys would never have stopped arguing enough to get anything done." Sam said.

"That's not true." Rebecca said. "We're capable of being rational adults without you around."

Sam started to respond, but saw a short old man standing near a streetlight.

"I'll be right back..." Sam said, walking towards the old man.

Sam ran up to the streetlight.

"Hey, thanks for bringing me home." Sam said.

"Excuse me?" the old man asked.

"Don't do this, we both know that you helped me see my own worth by showing me an alternate world where I had never slid. There's no reason to do the fake not knowing what I'm talking about, only for you to knowingly wink at me as I walk away." Sam replied.

"You're very genre savvy." the old man said. "Samuel, do you understand your importance now?"

"I do. They'd never get along without me." Sam smiled.

"Then my work is done here." the old man said, and began to walk away.

"Hold on! Who are you, anyway?" Sam asked.

"Like I said. Just a friend." the old man said. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas." Sam said.

"Sam! Come on! We have to slide!" Michael shouted from across the way.

"Coming!" Sam shouted as he started to run towards his friends.

To Be Continued...