Meanwhile, Calvin was getting on the bus to head home for the day. As he sat down in his usual seat by the window, who should come sit by him, but Susie.
"Hi Calvin," She said taking her backpack off and putting it into her lap.
"Mmhmm," Calvin said, uninterestedly.
"I'd say today was pretty fun, huh?" Susie continued.
"If you say so," Calvin yawned.
"What was your favorite part?" Susie asked.
"Just now as I was getting on the bus." Calvin said.
Susie rolled her eyes.
"You just don't have enough patience, Calvin," Susie started. Calvin rolled her eyes, realizing she was going into lecture mode. "If you applied yourself more, I guarantee you'd get better grades and would have more fun all the while. I mean I know where you're coming from. If I didn't study and got bad grades I'd be impatient with school, too, but since I study before each test or assignment I have a better relationship with my schoolwork. It really is a lot more fun than you think it is Calvin. For example if you..."
WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP!
Calvin and Susie both jumped at the sound that suddenly started blasting out of Calvin's backpack.
Slightly relived to be away from Susie's rambling, Calvin frantically dug through his backpack looking for the MTM.
"What's that?" Susie asked, slightly shocked at the noise.
"It's an alarm! Level five! Something going on in the void!" Calvin shouted in terror.
Susie rolled her eyes.
Calvin pulled the MTM out and started pushing buttons on it.
The alarm quickly went off and numbers flashed across the tiny screen.
"It's gone!" Calvin exclaimed. "That's impossible! It's just gone!"
"What's gone?" Susie asked.
"The something that MTM was tracking!" Calvin said. "There's been a breach in time and space and now it's gone!"
"What does that mean?" Susie asked.
Calvin heaved a deep sigh.
"It means that a hole has been ripped into the fabric of reality! Someone or something has torn open a portal between this dimension and the void and whatever was on the other side got into our world!"
Susie stared at Calvin for a long moment.
"Erm... OK..." She started, slowly starting to inch towards the edge of the seat away from Calvin.
"There's only one thing to do!" Calvin declared. "MTM! Identify the breach location! We need to know where the whatever got in!"
"Righto," MTM yawned. "Should take a few minutes, however. I'll let you know,"
"Right then! There's hope for the salvation of reality, yet! So what were you saying, Susie?" Calvin said looking up.
The seat next to him was empty.
Calvin looked all around, before he finally saw Susie walking to the back of the bus and sitting down in another seat.
He sighed.
"Poor deluded dopes. They just can't wrap their minds around how much they're gonna die, at the moment."
"Shameful," MTM agreed.
All the smoke having phased through the ceiling, Brainstorm deactivated the quarantine chamber, and cautiously stepped outside.
"Well..." He said, looking around. "That was weird. Do you suppose we should be worried about that?"
"Well, let's see," Jack said. "It's an interdimensional pitch black smoke that patched into the speakers and said it was the future, tried to attack you and upon failing to do so, it went through the ceiling to reemerge in Yellowstone where there are thousands of people, from which it's going to do god knows what. I'd say we should probably be a little bit on edge."
Brainstorm glared at Jack.
"Real funny, Jack. Now quick! Patch me into Yellowstone's security cameras! We need to see what it's doing!"
Jack sighed and pushed a button on the console.
The screen above then went to static for a second before an image of Old Faithful appeared over it.
Everything seemed normal.
The tour was going on and another group of people were at Old Faithful waiting for it to blow.
Brainstorm and Jack exchanged glances.
"And here we see Yellowstone's most popular attraction, Old Faithful. This is one of many geysers from which..."
Someone in the group raised their hand.
The guide turned to them.
"No, there's nothing living underneath it." He said.
The hand went down.
"Now then, this is one of several geysers within the park which are heated by..."
Suddenly, the ground began rumbling.
Everybody began looking around with concern.
"Don't worry, this is all quite normal," The guide assured them. "Earthquakes here are actually quite common since we are built on a volcano."
Another hand went up.
"Yes, you in the back." He guide said.
"Why would someone build a giant tourist attraction on one of the world's largest super volcanoes?" He asked.
The guide paused.
"Erm... If you'll come this way, we have the Yellowstone gift shop." He said, turning towards a nearby building.
The inquirer rolled his eyes.
Suddenly, the ground started shaking again, this time more violent than before.
Several people were knocked off their feet as the ground shook like mad.
Then, Old Faithful starting spewing water into the air.
Everyone turned and watched the event unfold.
Several people noted that the water seemed a bit darker than usual.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the black smoke exploded from the geyser and shot out in all directions in large tendrils.
Realizing that that probably wasn't supposed to happen, people started screaming and rushing in all directions in a typical group panic.
The smoke covered the entire area of Old Faithful and engulfed everyone around it.
The screen Brainstorm and Jack was watching was now completely black and the screaming from all the tourists slowly died down.
A deathly silence moved in.
Brainstorm and Jack stared at the screen.
"Well..." Brainstorm said. "That's not good,"
"Nope," Jack agreed. "Probably not."
Brainstorm thought for a moment. Finally he came to a conclusion.
"Alright Jack! We must defeat this entity of unknown origin!" He declared.
"I see," Jack yawned. "And why might that be?"
"Clearly, I have brought this creature into this world, which means I have to take it out!" Brainstorm said, heroically. "Plus, I don't want it taking over the world before I do!"
"Mmhmm," Jack said, rolling his eyes.
"TO THE BRAINSTORM ROCKET!" Brainstorm announced racing out of the room.
Jack sighed and followed him.
He climbed into the rocket after Brainstorm where he found him frantically pushing buttons and closing everything up.
He flipped a switch and a loud hissing stung through the cabin of rocket.
"Airtight!" Brainstorm giggled. "Alright Jack! This may very well be our last day alive! Any closing words before I ignite the engines?"
"We're out of Dr Pepper," Jack said, rooting through the ice chest filled with soda at his feet.
"Good enough. BANZI!" Brainstorm screamed igniting the engines and aiming the rocket for the exit.
Fire spewed out of the rocket's engines, throwing them forward.
The boulder beside Old Faithful flipped over as the rocket exploded out of it.
Brainstorm leveled the rocket above the geyser and looked around.
"OK, Jack, We are facing an enemy of unknown power and evil! Therefore we must be cautious in our quest and be aware of all our surrounds until we figure out if this guy's a wimp or not." He whispered. "What do we do first?"
Jack reached into the glove compartment, and pulled out a magazine.
"Avoid the plume of black smoke that's heading towards us." He said, opening it up and leaning back in his seat.
"What?" Brainstorm said, looking up.
It was then that he saw it. The smoke was hurling towards them with ominous lights flashing from inside it.
"AAAAUGH!" Brainstorm screamed, covering his eyes seeming to forget that there was a steering wheel in front of him.
The smoke enveloped the rocket and searched for any crack or seam from which it could get into the cabin, but was unsuccessful.
Brainstorm, remembering that the rocket was airtight, quickly grabbed a microphone on the console and started shouting into it.
"I AM ADDRESSING THE BIG BLACK SMOKE THING THAT'S BOTHERING ME, TODAY! I demand you go back into the void and give me all your power so I can rule the world!" He screamed.
Jack rolled his eyes.
Upon Brainstorm's outburst, the smoke around him began to disperse and he could see the area around him, again.
Taking advantage of the situation, Brainstorm began pushing buttons on the console again and looking around for something to defeat it with.
"Quick! Jack! Use your scanning technology to determine what happened to all the people around Old Faithful!"
Jack looked out the window.
"I dunno," He said, turning back to his magazine. "They all look fine to me."
Brainstorm stopped what he was doing, and looked out the window.
There were still people running around in terror, but the majority of the group was now standing quite still. They were staring off into space and their arms held stiffly at their sides with their fists clenching and unclenching.
Brainstorm blinked.
"Hmm, yeah they do." He said, thoughtfully. "I thought the smoke had done something to them for a minute there..."
Jack shrugged and turned the page.
Suddenly, one of the people who was holding still, staring off into space, lunged forward and grabbed someone who was attempting to run away.
"AAUGH!" The person screamed, as the possessed person pulled him back.
Almost immediately after it made contact with him, the man stiffened, his eyes blanked out and he began clenching and unclenching his fists.
Jack watched all this from the rocket.
"No wait a minute," He said. "I think there might be something wrong with them..."
Brainstorm looked out the window.
Suddenly, the possessed people started chasing after the unpossessed, running them down, and as soon as they made contact, turning them into part of the smoke's ever growing army.
Brainstorm and Jack watched.
"That's probably not good," Brainstorm said.
"No, probably not." Jack shook his head.
Suddenly, the windshield was engulfed in black, again, as the smoke attempted to break into the rocket again.
Brainstorm glared at it.
"Do you mind?! I'm trying to watch the crazy people!" He shouted.
The smoke formed once again into a humanoid shape in front of the rocket, and the speakers inside began to crackle.
"You are powerless against me Doctor Franklin Brainstorm." It said in its deep threatening voice.
"I demand you tell me how you know my name!" Brainstorm ordered. "That's cheating!"
"I can see you for you are," The smoke went on. "I see everyone for who they are. They are weak. I do not need any outside source to know who you are."
"YES YOU DO!" Brainstorm screamed.
"I can see the whole of time and space," The smoke said. "Everything that is, everything that was, everything that may be, and you harbor a dark future."
"YOU DON'T SCARE ME WITH YOUR CLICHED LINES!" Brainstorm screamed.
"You do have to admire him for his patience," Jack admitted, turning the page of his magazine.
"He is returning," The smoke said, pointing its finger at Brainstorm.
"YEAH WELL, YOU'RE NOT COOL!" Brainstorm shouted back.
There was a moment of silence.
"Who's returning, just out curiosity?" He asked, finally
"And you, one known as Jack," The smoke went on. "Something's in your eye,"
"Mmhmm," Jack said, still not looking up.
"OK, seriously!" Brainstorm said. "You're about as impressive as Nostradamus! I think we've all had enough!"
And with that, the mad scientist slammed his fist on a button and a laser shot out of the rocket and hit the smoke.
For those unaware of the physiology of smoke, I will key you in on it. Lasers don't work on them.
Brainstorm stared at the smoke for a long moment, before pushing another button and activating his next weapon.
A rocket launcher lowered out of the belly of the ship, and aimed for the smoke. Two rockets were then shot out of it, and through the smoke monster.
Brainstorm glared at him.
"Well, that's just not fair!" He spat.
"Well, let's see, the rockets and lasers didn't work. Have we tried a simple vacuum cleaner?" Jack said, still not looking up from the magazine.
"Shut up, Jack, I'm thinking!" Brainstorm snapped.
Jack shrugged and turned the page, again.
Now bored with Brainstorm, the smoke turned and suddenly dropped to the ground.
"HEY!" Brainstorm screamed, offended at its departure before he could destroy it.
The smoke passed through several more panicking people, hitting them with his little mind-control trick, then shot off down the street in search of more to infect.
"We have to figure out what this thing's up to!" Brainstorm said. "But there in lies the problem. This guy doesn't really like to talk as much as most bad guys on this show."
Jack sighed.
"I think it's pretty obvious what its doing," He said. "It's smoke. Therefore it can get through someone from which it can control their brain. Which is why it had no use for me, being an artificial life,"
Brainstorm paused.
"The smoke inside of the infected person then works as a virus which will then in turn infect whoever else they touch." Jack continued. "The current order is to attack anyone who isn't infected."
"How the heck did you work that out?" Brainstorm demanded.
"I watch enough movies on the Sci-fi Channel to be able to figure these guys out, now," Jack said. "Repetitive plots at times but interesting what people do when they accumulate a lot of money and then say 'let's make a movie!'."
Brainstorm closed his eyes.
CRACK!
Suddenly a loud noise reverberated through the rocket. Brainstorm and Jack looked around.
"What was that?" Brainstorm asked.
CRACK!
Jack looked out the window.
"Hmm, looks like the Old Faithful gang are chucking rocks at us." He observed.
CRACK!
"What?!" Brainstorm hollered. "I just put a new coat of paint on this thing!"
Jack rolled his eyes.
CRACK!
"Well, this shall not stand! We're heading back to the lab, Jack! Prepare the..."
CRACK! RRRRRRRRRR! BWAM!
Suddenly, the rocket started shaking violently as a particularly loud crack sounded through the rocket.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Brainstorm demanded.
"It would appear one of the rocks went into the engine," Jack said, calmly, still reading the article.
An alarm started going off and the rocket began spinning in a downward spiral towards the Earth.
"MAYDAY! MAYDAY!" Brainstorm screeched. "JACK! WE'RE GOING DOWN!"
"I noticed," Jack yawned.
"WHAT DO WE DO?!"
CRASH!
Before Jack could respond, the rocket smashed into the middle of the road, jolting Brainstorm and Jack but otherwise keeping them unharmed due to the rocket's unexpected durability.
There was a moment of silence.
Brainstorm took off his seat belt and looked around his now wrecked rocket.
Jack had somehow managed to keep the magazine in his hands, and was only mildly interested in the event that just occurred.
"Well," He said. "More comfortable than most landings this rocket makes."
Brainstorm glared at him.
"Well, thanks a lot Jack! Thanks to you not saving us in time, I need to build a new rocket now!" He grumbled, moving around in his seat trying to get out.
"That's a shame," Jack said, uninterestedly.
"Now help me find the teleport before..."
WHAM!
Suddenly, a face planted itself into the window beside Brainstorm and let out a ear piercing screech, as it clawed at the glass.
"AAAUGH!" Brainstorm screamed, falling back in his seat.
Almost immediately the entire rocket was overcome by the group of mindless zombies attempting to get into the rocket.
Brainstorm looked around in horror as the light was slowly blocked by the amount of people climbing on top of the window.
"JACK! EMERGENCY! WE NEED THE TELEPORTER!"
"You left it in the lab," Jack said, turning to Brainstorm.
"WHAT DID YOU LET ME DO THAT, FOR?!" Brainstorm hollered, as the group started pounding the windows with rocks.
Jack shrugged.
"I think the teleporter for the teleporter is in the glove compartment," He offered.
There was a moment of silence.
"How long have we had a teleporter for the teleporter?" Brainstorm asked.
"The same time you tried to build the teleporter in the first place, but all it did was teleport other teleporters to you." Jack said.
Brainstorm thought about that.
"Hmm, weird. SO GET IT OUT THEN!"
Jack sighed, and reached into the glove compartment, while glass started to crack.
"You know, the thought occurs that we could initiate a mind filter on these people." He suggested. "Being smoke, it shouldn't be too hard to disengage the mind control."
"ARE YOU MAD?!" Brainstorm exclaimed. "Clearly this creature is some kind of interdimensional being of intense evil and insanity! IT'S TOO POWERFUL FOR SOME SILLY MIND FILTER!"
Jack shrugged, and pulled a small remote control out of the glove compartment.
He pushed a button on it.
KAZAP!
In the seat behind Jack, another remote control appeared.
Jack threw the first one away as Brainstorm snatched the other up.
"PREPARE FOR TELEPORTATION!" He shrieked.
"Yep," Jack said, getting his magazine, before Brainstorm hit the button.
KAZAP!
There was a flash of blue light and Brainstorm and Jack vanished, just as the window shattered and the group of people got into the rocket.