The calm before the storm. That's all this chapter really is, and that's why it's so short. Just beware of the random crap.

Chapter Ten

In less than a minute, Jimmy was completely alone. No trace of Rachel remained. Slowly he began to register voices filtering through the trees all around him, the sounds of the police. Jimmy jumped back onto the return pad and slammed the button, right before a helicopter spotlight lit up his clearing, giving the solar panels mounted on it extra charge.

When Jimmy popped back out, he knew at once that he was back in the present day, or very near to it. The world seemed much slicker than the world he'd left, and there were plenty of people with phones. He was still in Beika, but he'd warped to right outside the Moore Detective Agency, or what was left of it. The place looked like it had been hit by a bomb and left abandoned for ten years. In the ruins of the Café Poirot were numerous stone graves, along with a plaque detailing the reasoning and the aftermath of terrorist attack that had destroyed the lives of the Sleeping Sleuth and his family. It was a horrendous sight, and Jimmy knew exactly who it was. It wasn't terrorists; it was the Organization taking revenge.

Jimmy walked through Beika, observing the changes that had taken place. Many of the buildings were abandoned, probably fled due to the attack. Whenever he did see someone, they would always look at him in horror before running inside and locking the door. Jimmy was unused to seeing this, since in the Beika he knew, Jimmy Kudo was well liked and well respected. That was when someone called 911.

"Is this the police?" the woman asked frantically, scrambling away. "I think there's a fugitive wandering around on 5th street!"

Jimmy realized who the woman was talking about and turned to run, but was interrupted by a police cruiser.

"Halt!" said Inspector Meguire, hopping out of the car and holding him at gunpoint. "Jimmy Kudo, you are under arrest for attempted murder, armed robbery, and many other crimes that I can't remember. Now, get in."

'Who am I now?' Jimmy thought to himself as the car drove away.

XXX

It turned out that whoever Jimmy had been before he shrank, his new self was completely opposite. Meguire was interrogating him as soon as he got plopped down in at interrogation room at Police HQ.

"So we've finally got you," said Meguire, poring over his notes. "It's hard to believe that the brightest young detective I've ever known could've turned to a life of crime. Of course, it's entirely understandable considering what happened. I mean, your girlfriend got killed by the terrorists. But I never expected you to join them. It's completely unlike you."

"I swear, Inspector, I have no idea what you're talking about," said Jimmy.

"Yeah, that's what you said last time, too," said Meguire. "You claimed you were a mole in a criminal organization. If you were a mole, you wouldn't have killed those police officers! You wouldn't have robbed ten banks in a month! Finally, you wouldn't have started dating that scientist. The whole 'immortality drug' is just a load of baloney if you ask me." The Inspector kept badgering him, but Jimmy couldn't stand it. He was used to being on the other side of the chair. He was handcuffed, but he still had his wits. He realized that he still had the return pad in his pocket, so he threw it on the floor and activated it, disappearing right from under the Inspector's nose.

The next thing he knew, he was falling face first out of the time machine, where Stewie and Brian were talking about something totally random.

"Who the heck are you?" Stewie demanded, pulling a gun out of his pajamas and aiming it at him.

"I'm a man in trouble," said Jimmy, putting his arms up. "I need your help to fix the timeline. This is an alternate future."

Stewie looked at him with a mixture of surprise and anger. "Why should I trust you? I don't even know who you are!"

"You're Stewie Griffin, age toddler. You have an exceptional mind and you've invented many things, like the mind control ray and the time machine. I'm Jimmy Kudo, a detective. Now, can you help me?"

"Fine," said Stewie, putting the gun away. "What happened?"

"You got replaced by an evil man with the disguise abilities of the Phantom Thief Kid. When I found out, he used your mind control ray to take control of my friend Rachel and we both got tossed into the time machine. From there, Rachel accidently set into motion a nightmare, which ended up killing her."

Suddenly, the door burst open and Joe strode in, with full use of his legs. He pointed a shotgun at Jimmy. "So, you're Kudo, huh? I could get a promotion for bringing you in."

"Please, Mr. Swanson," said Jimmy, once again not understanding why he was on the wrong side of the law. "I'm not causing any trouble."

"I beg to differ. Just last week you robbed and killed a man in cold blood. Besides, you're a wanted felon. I can't let you leave."

"Let's leave," said Stewie. He and Brian then shoved Jimmy into the time machine and locked the door. "Where did you go?" asked Stewie as Joe started trying to shoot the lock off.

"January 8, 1996," said Jimmy. Stewie pressed the button just as Joe burst into an empty room.

As this story is starting to wrap up, so must the adventures of the time machine. After time is restored, it'll only be a matter of time before Jimmy and Stewie come out on top.