That afternoon, Calvin got off the school bus and headed up the walk towards his house. As he walked away, he pulled out MTM and switched him back on.
"Okay, now that we're away from the peanut gallery, what news on where the breach came from?"
"Almost got it," MTM assured him. "I'll need a little longer."
"Yeah, alright," Calvin sighed, pocketing him again and heading for the front door. "I wonder what I can do in the meantime…"
He pulled open the door and started to head inside.
WHAM!
Calvin found himself up in the air and doing a somersault, only to come back down and land on solid earth, getting a mouthful of dirt.
Dazed, he looked up and glared at Hobbes, who was rolling around on the ground happily. He tore at the ground excitedly, digging with his claws.
"Ah, there's something I can do," Calvin grumbled, dusting himself off as he stood again. "I can strangle a certain tiger…"
"Aww, did somebody have a bad day at school?" Hobbes teased.
Calvin growled and tore after Hobbes, who promptly leapt up and ran away, laughing his head off.
They ran around the house and headed off into the woods.
Hobbes kept a pretty good lead, leaping over rocks and under logs, while Calvin had to struggle along, trying to keep up with his stubby little legs.
Finally, things got a bit trickier when Hobbes scampered up a tree. Calvin was forced to stand at the base, panting and gasping, while he clambered up and settled on a branch.
"Ooh, you think you're so darn clever," Calvin growled.
"Precisely," Hobbes replied, sticking his tongue out at him.
Calvin circled the tree, trying to find a good place to start climbing, when he heard MTM beeping away in his pocket.
WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP! WHIRRP!
"Always when I'm about to kill my best friend…," he sighed, pulling him out again.
"Okay, I've got a fix on the hole," MTM announced.
"What hole?" Hobbes asked, not quite ready to come down yet.
"You remember that thing in the void I told you about?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, whatever it was, it somehow escaped from there to our world. The only way that is possible is if someone opened a hole in reality."
"I see. So we need to find out who opened the hole based on where it was opened."
"Correct. MTM, what's the verdict?"
"It came from underneath Old Faithful in YellowstoneNational Park."
Calvin and Hobbes stared at MTM for a few moments.
"Okay, doesn't Brainstorm have anything better to do?" Hobbes complained, finally coming down from the tree. "I mean, doesn't he care about dating?"
"He'd be hard up for a date with that hair of his," Calvin mused. "But never mind that. We need to go have a word with Frank about that hole he's opened. He probably doesn't understand what he's dealing with."
"Too true, and he'll never listen to Jack about it."
"Come on. Let's head back to our room so we can get to work on it."
They hurried back the way they came and reentered the house, bounding up the stairs towards their room.
Once they entered, they set to work.
"Okay, you get out the box so we can travel there. I'll summon Andy, Sherman and Socrates," Calvin said.
"Right," Hobbes said with a nod, heading for the closet.
Calvin primed MTM.
"MTM, teleport the others over here, will you?"
"On it," MTM replied.
There was a sudden flash of electricity, and within a few moments, Andy, Sherman and Socrates appeared.
Andy was covering his eyes with one hand and had been about to pour something with his other hand, while Sherman looked like he'd been writing something on a clipboard. Socrates looked like he was holding something up above his head.
They all seemed to clue in to where they were and looked around.
"Oh this is intolerable!" Sherman complained. "We were about to mix those chemicals."
"Well, if we get back and find the lab destroyed, I think it'll answer any questions you had," Andy remarked, looking rather relieved.
"Oh, this isn't good," Socrates mumbled. "I didn't get a chance to set the timer…"
Everyone looked at him.
"What precisely were you doing?" Calvin asked.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure the aftereffects will only be temporary," Socrates said reassuringly.
Everyone sighed.
"Hobbes, have you almost got the box out?"
"Found it," Hobbes replied, pushing it out and towards them.
"Oh, great, what's happening now?" Andy asked warily.
"We're not going to Tierra Del Fuego to do your homework, are we?" Sherman asked.
"No, nothing so trivial," Calvin assured them. "Turns out Dr Brainstorm has ripped a hole in reality, and in doing so he's let some sort of creature into our world."
"Oh, those mad scientists," Socrates sighed. "When will they learn?"
"So I figure we need to go down there and confront him about this. Should only take a few minutes really, but I want us all there to be on the safe side."
"Why do we always have to come on these little adventures with you, anyway?" Sherman demanded. "Does it not occur to you that we have lives?"
"You're all essential!" Calvin protested. "Look, I know we don't necessarily like each other all the time, but what it all boils down to is that we make a good team. We all have our little niches to fill."
"We do?" Socrates asked.
"Sure! I have my unbridled genius, Hobbes has his agility, MTM has his gadgets, Socrates has his cunning, Sherman is clever, and Andy is…"
Calvin trailed off as he stared at Andy, who waited patiently for him to finish.
"…really important," he said at last, looking a bit sheepish.
Andy glared. "I'll accept that for now, but I want something better by the end of the day," he said firmly.
Calvin nodded. "Okay, all aboard everyone," he said.
Everyone climbed into the box.
Calvin opened the window before he climbed in as well.
"Alright, all aboard for Yellowstone!" he yelled.
And with that, the box rose into the air and flew out the window.
Upon returning safely to their lab, Dr Brainstorm and Jack were now working on a new device to stop the living smoke.
"Okay, let's see…," Dr B said, looking over his tools and various blueprints. "What could we use?"
"What've we got?" Jack asked, looking bored.
"Well, we've got the pogo stick that doubles as a letterhead stamp."
"No."
"Okay, we've got a fishing rod that can link with satellites and fillet a trout."
"No."
"Uh…we've got a whoopee cushion."
Jack stared at him. "Is it just a whoopee cushion?"
"Well, it's not necessarily a whoopee cushion in the traditional sense…"
"Then what is it?"
"When you sit on it, you hear Glenn Beck's delusional rantings."
There was a long moment of silence as Jack comprehended this.
"Why?" he asked at last.
"Hey, I'm trying to dominate the world here! I have to be open-minded!"
Jack sighed. "We'll save that as a last resort," he said.
"Fine…"
Dr B went through some more blueprints, trying to find something that might work.
"Oh, this is hopeless…," he grumbled. "I'll have to create something utterly new if we're going to beat this thing!"
He got up and headed for the workbench, picking up his toolbox and lots of metal and wiring along the way.
Jack watched him, sighed again and headed over towards him.
Dr B set to work writing things down on a new set of blueprints, trying to find a new design that was practical for his needs.
"Why don't you just use a vacuum cleaner and a mind filter?" Jack asked, sitting down next to him. "You'd get this done a lot quicker."
But Brainstorm didn't even look at him. He was too engrossed in what he was doing.
Finally, after a few seconds of drawing on the blueprints, he looked up.
"Pass me a wrench," he said, reaching for some metal.
Jack rolled his eyes and handed him a wrench.
The cardboard box zoomed across the country, blazing its way to Yellowstone.
"Nearly there," Calvin said, checking his watch. "We should be at the Park within the next fifteen minutes."
"Say, MTM?" Sherman asked. "What precisely is it that came into our world?"
"Yeah, is it some sort of mutant beast bent on devouring us all or just some sort of void troll that wants us to turn our music down?" Socrates asked.
"I can't tell, I'm afraid," MTM replied. "I can't identify just what it is. It's not of this world."
Calvin stared intently ahead. His eyes widened slightly at what was in the distance.
"I think I can see it now…," he said. "It's right on the horizon. Hobbes, get a better visual."
"Coming up," Hobbes said, pulling out a pair of binoculars.
As the box sailed smoothly along, he looked determinedly ahead, getting a decent look at the quickly-approaching park.
"Whoa…," he breathed.
"What is it?" Calvin asked.
"Hold on. I'm getting a second opinion. Andy, take a gander."
Andy took the binoculars and looked ahead.
"Well?" Hobbes asked.
"It looks like…a huge black cloud is hanging over the Park," Andy said slowly.
"That's what I thought."
"So what does this mean?" Socrates asked. "Has this creature somehow managed to swap Yellowstone National Park with Seattle?"
"We'll find out when we get there," Calvin said.
And they zoomed on ahead.
Fifteen minutes later, after much work and toil, Brainstorm finished his device and gave it a good rub with a rag to get excess oil off of it.
"There," he said, feeling rather pleased with himself.
Jack looked up from his magazine. "So, what is it?"
"This is the device that shall be our salvation!"
"Oh yeah? Howzat?"
"Well, once I activate the controls on this device, it will send a signal that will disrupt the smoke's physical structure and leave it powerless!"
"Wow, really?"
Brainstorm faltered slightly and held the device awkwardly in his hands.
"Er, well…theoretically, of course," he said unsurely.
"But of course," Jack replied. "So what's that creature up to, anyway?"
Brainstorm scowled and set the device aside, heading over to the computer. He checked the readings and then looked up at the screen.
"Let's see…," he said. "Let's just do a worldwide scan for interdimensional energy, and we should be able to…"
But he trailed off when he saw the results.
"Strange…," he mumbled.
"Now what?" Jack asked, not looking up from his magazine.
"According to this, the creature hasn't gone anywhere. In fact, it seems to be focusing primarily on Yellowstone Park."
Jack glanced at the screen in confusion.
"I wonder what it wants…," he pondered.
Calvin and the gang sailed in with the box, arriving in no time over the Park.
"Okay, weird weather aside, what do you guys think?" Calvin asked, looking around the area.
Everyone took a good long look at the park and its inhabitants, but they couldn't find anything all that odd.
"Nothing much to see," Andy remarked.
"Yeah, nothing except for those people all staring up at us," Socrates said, pointing down at the people.
Calvin and Hobbes exchanged glances before taking a better look at the people.
Indeed, all the tourists, tour guides and so on were staring up at them, seemingly fixated. None of them budged. In fact, they didn't even seem to be blinking.
"Okay, this is getting a touch frightening," Hobbes remarked.
"Yeah, I mean, I know we're pretty darn popular, but really," Calvin agreed.
Suddenly, something rather dense went whizzing past them from below.
"Whoa! What the heck was that?!" Calvin cried.
Sherman looked up at the object. "It looks like a rock!" he remarked.
"Well, how did it get all the way up here?" Socrates asked.
Everyone stared at him.
"…What?! It's a legit question!" he protested.
Suddenly, another rock flew past them.
"Why are they throwing rocks at us?!" Andy demanded.
"Two possibilities occur to me," MTM said, feeling the need to speak up.
"What's the first one?" Calvin asked.
"They think we're witches and are trying to kill us."
There was a silence, during which three more rocks went flying past.
"Okay, and the other one?" Calvin sighed.
"They're just plain old trying to kill us."
"Yeah, that seems a bit more likely, somehow," Hobbes remarked.
"But why?" Socrates asked.
"Well, I think we can tell they're not necessarily in their right heads at the moment," Sherman remarked, peering over the side. "Oops, incoming!" he squeaked, ducking back into the box.
BANG!
One of the tourists had scored a direct hit, and the box was suddenly jolted to the side.
"Hey!" Calvin shouted angrily. "You're gonna scratch my wheels!"
"But it doesn't have wheels," Hobbes pointed out.
"Not yet, but I was considering it…"
BANG! BANG!
Two more rocks flew through the air, both striking the box, and causing it to go barreling sideways.
"Okay, hang on. We need to get out of their reach!" Calvin said, leaning back a little bit, pulling on the front of the box.
Suddenly, they were all climbing higher and higher into the air, until finally they were ten thousand feet in the air.
"Wow," Calvin said, peering down through the clouds at the park. "I think this is the highest we've ever been!"
"Well, I think we've been pretty high before," Hobbes said, thinking back. "Remember the magic carpet?"
Calvin thought back. "Oh yeah… Man, that was a long time ago!"
"You guys had a magic carpet?" Andy asked, looking very confused.
"We did for awhile. Then Mom sold it and got a new non-flying one."
"We sat in the backyard for an hour trying to get it to work," Hobbes sighed.
"Yeah, at least the box has Warp Factor V."
"Whatever," Sherman sighed. "What about the people?"
"I'd reckon their minds have been manipulated in some way," MTM said.
"How so?" Calvin asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe we can ask that giant black cloud heading our way."
Everyone stared at him in confusion before turning and looking around.
"Oh, wow…," Socrates groaned.
The giant cloud of smoke was heading out for them, reaching out for them with smoky claws. A pair of red eyes was glaring out at them, and a strange rumbling sound could be heard coming from it.
"You know, I hear Palm Springs is gorgeous this time of year," Calvin said at last.
"Lovely. Let's exude," Hobbes agreed.
And the box span around on it's axis and roared away.
The cloud gave chase.
Everyone held on as the box tore around the Park, going up and down and twisting around like a roller coaster.
The smoke kept reaching for them, growling loudly.
"MTM, what the heck is it?!" Calvin demanded.
"I can't tell. I can't get a decent scan on it from here," MTM replied.
"Well, what do you need?"
"I need someone to hold me a bit closer to it."
"Fine then. Socrates, you're in the back! Hold him up for the scan!"
"Righto!" Socrates said cheerily.
He picked up MTM and turned around in his seat, holding the CD player out towards the cloud.
"How's that?" he shouted.
"Got it," MTM replied. "Processing…"
Calvin tried to keep up speed, but the cloud was still catching up.
"Processing…"
Socrates watched as the red eyes in the middle of the cloud grew brighter.
"Ohh, that can't be good," he muttered.
"ANYTIME, MTM!" Calvin shouted.
"Processing…," MTM continued.
Socrates wasn't sure, but he was almost certain he could hear a crackling sound coming from the cloud.
"Okay, I've got it sussed. I think it's a—"
KAZAP!
A blast of red electricity shot out of the eyes and struck the underside the box, causing it leap in the air for a moment before going into a corkscrew spiral down to the ground.
Everyone screamed in blind terror.
Smoke billowed out from an unknown source of the box.
"SOCRATES! I NEED THE MTM!" Calvin shouted.
Socrates managed to turn around and get the CD player back into Calvin's hands.
"MTM, WE NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING!"
"Like what?" MTM asked calmly.
"MTM, WE ARE DROPPING FROM ROUGHLY TEN THOUSAND FEET! WHAT DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD DO?!"
"Stop dropping?"
Calvin growled angrily.
"Alright, alright, keep your hair on. I've got in hand."
At that moment, a flash appeared around the box, and they realized that they had been encased in a force field.
They finished falling towards the Earth, and finally they hit the ground, landing in a mound of loose soil, sending it flying everywhere.
Everyone managed to stay inside the box during the crash, and they all got up, dazed and confused.
"Everyone okay?" Calvin asked, rubbing his head.
"Yeah, we're fine," Hobbes said, checking around.
"You sure?"
"Okay, hang on, I know how to find out," Andy said grumpily. "Anyone who's dead, raise your hand."
He looked around, but no one raised their hand.
"There you go. We're all alive."
Everyone glared at him.
"Look! It's still coming!" Sherman exclaimed, pointing at the sky.
The black smoke was still reaching for them, closing in.
"MTM, keep the force field up. Maybe it won't be able to get in!"
"Roger."
The smoke finally closed in on them.
Suddenly, the world went black. The smoke was encircling the whole force field, trying to find a way inside, but it was no good. It was airtight.
"I hope somebody brought snacks," Hobbes remarked. "I have a feeling we'll be here for awhile."
"Maybe it'll get bored with us and leave," Andy suggested.
"How would smoke get bored?" Sherman demanded.
"Well, I'm almost certain it's alive," Socrates said. "That electricity came out of it's eyes."
"Yeah, we tigers get bored if our prey can't be eaten after a certain amount of time," Hobbes pointed out. "With any luck, it'll just get tired of waiting and find someone else to terrorize."
Calvin picked up MTM.
"Okay, MTM, you got interrupted before. What is that thing?"
But MTM didn't reply.
"…MTM?"
A bit tension was hanging in the force field now as everyone waited for an answer.
"Maybe he was damaged in the crash," Socrates suggested.
"Then why is the force field still working?" Hobbes asked.
Calvin gently rapped on MTM's casing.
"Come on, MTM, what's your problem?"
"Maybe it's his voice modulator," Sherman suggested.
Calvin checked the speaker grill that lined the casing. "Hmmm… No, that looks pretty clear. In fact, I can hear static coming from it."
"Any words?" Hobbes asked.
Calvin listened carefully. "I…can hear something, but it's very faint."
"Try the volume control," Andy said.
Calvin turned the dial on the side and listened as the voice grew louder.
"I AM YOUR FUTURE…"
They stared at MTM curiously.
"Call me crazy, but that doesn't sound like him at all," Socrates pointed out.
"Yes, thanks, Socrates. Solid deductive work," Calvin grumbled.
"Well, if you're gonna be like that…"
"I AM THE FUTURE…," the voice continued.
They stared again.
"Say, what if it's the…thing?" Hobbes suggested, pointing at the smoke encircling them.
"Why can't it just talk to us regularly then?" Andy asked.
"Because smoke has no mouth," Calvin replied, still staring at MTM.
The smoke continued speaking.
"Your names are Calvin, Hobbes, Andy, Sherman and Socrates. I am speaking through the Mini-Time Machine, known to you as MTM."
"Yes, very good," Calvin said, growing impatient. "Now how about you tell who you are and what you want."
"The one known as Socrates…," the voice went on.
Everyone stared at Socrates who looked a little startled.
"Er… Yes?" he asked carefully.
"There is something in your head."
Everyone tried to maintain their composure while Socrates looked confused.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" he demanded. "Am I being insulted by a cloud of smoke?!"
"They are coming for you…"
"Who are?"
"They are coming for you and your tail…"
Socrates looked at his tail, which had red stripes on it instead of black. "What does that…? Huh?"
"But they will arrive too late, far, far too late…"
"Okay, that's enough," Calvin said angrily. "If you're quite finished trying to scare us, maybe you can make your point!"
"You are all doomed… All of you are doomed…"
And with that, the smoke suddenly cleared and dissipated completely.
They all looked around in confusion.
"Now where did it go?" Andy asked, looking around.
And then suddenly…
KAPOW!
…MTM erupted in a shower of sparks in Calvin's hand. Everyone jumped back while Calvin dropped him in the dirt.
With a flicker, the force field shut down.
"What happened?" Hobbes cried.
Sherman looked down at the smoking CD player.
"The smoke must've found a way inside him, somehow. The transmission overloaded him. We'll need to fix him somehow."
"Great…," Calvin grumbled, fanning the smoke away and picking him up. "Now we're defenseless. The box is broken and the MTM is damaged. We'll need to improvise to stop that smoke."
"How do we do that?" Socrates asked.
"We'll have to find Dr Brainstorm and Jack. They live under Old Faithful, so we just need to find the boulder that leads into the lab."
They all looked around.
"Well, which way is that?" Andy asked.
Hobbes then noticed something. "Hey look! There's a map of the Park over there!"
They all ran over to the Park Map and looked at it.
"Okay, we're here…," Calvin said, pointing at the spot, "…and Old Faithful is…there!"
"It doesn't look too far," Hobbes said.
"We just need to get over there and find the boulder. Come on, guys, let's get going before more tourists try to throw rocks at us."
"How will we know a tourist when we see one?" Hobbes asked.
"Simple," said Andy. "Just keep a look out for someone wearing sandals and socks."
And they hustled up the path towards Old Faithful.
