/
/
/
"That's an interesting thought, Woody," Kurt sighed, "But it has everything but the kitchen sink. We've got no transport, no weapons. We can only hope Simon's feeling merciful."
Suddenly, the colors in the room changed from red to blue, then black, and when it cleared, Arwin Hawkhauser stood in front of the CHARIOT door. He was dressed in his standard blue jumpsuit, and had on his big glasses, but he stood proud, holding a badge just like Kurt's.
"Need a hand?" he asked
/
"Arwin," Kurt nodded, acknowledging his presence, "Figured you'd show up. What have you got? Vortex manipulator? Dimension transponder?"
"It's a bouncer," Arwin replied
"No!" Kurt gasped, "You have a bouncer?"
"Built it from my dimension machine," Arwin explained, "Had to compress it into this wrist-strap by feeding it through a black hole."
"Wait, Arwin's in on this too?" London asked
"Arwin's from my dimension," Kurt explained, "He was something of an anthropologist, studying humans, and he decided he wanted to live with them."
"So he's not related to us or anything is he?" Zack asked
"No," Cody shook his head
"Oh, good," Zack breathed a sigh of relief, "Otherwise Arwin going on that date with mom would be really weird."
Cody buried his face in his palms. Kurt turned to Arwin, looking furious.
"You dated my wife?" he growled
"Now Kurt, I know you're mad," Arwin said, backing against the wall, "But first just think…"
"YOU DATED MY WIFE?"
"Um, excuse me," Ms. Tutweiller interrupted, "But would you let Cody go after Simon if Arwin went with him?"
/
Kurt reached to his robe pocket, and handed Arwin and Cody his badge.
"One way teleport to my ship," Kurt explained, "You guys know how Simon can be. Don't make any deals with him, don't try to reason with him, and don't use 'brother-guilt' on him."
"What's brother-guilt?" Cody asked
"It's how I get you to do my laundry," Zack replied
/
Arwin and Cody activated the badge, and teleported into Kurt's ship. It was very surreal; the entire place was almost completely black, with no walls or exits in sight. The only light was one beaming around a comfortable looking leather chair a few feet from Cody. He didn't even know what he was standing on.
"This is too strange," Cody said, "What, are we in outer space or something?"
"It's sort of another dimension," Arwin explained, "Same technology as your ship, but without the walls, floor, or ceiling."
Cody took out a roll of Mentos from his pocket, and threw one away. It went flying several feet; nothing stopped it.
"Simon!" Cody yelled
"Hello, brother…" Simon menacingly echoed
"Simon, surrender!" Cody ordered
A light turned on, with Simon beneath it. He was wearing a robe similar to Kurt's, only it was completely black.
"Amazing what you can find in other people's closets…" he said creepily
Cody drew his laser gun, pointing it at his half-brother. He pressed the button on the side, and the blade slid out.
"Where's Bailey?" he demanded
Another light turned on, revealing Bailey, trapped inside a large glass container. She looked very scared, but otherwise unharmed.
"You've got her inside a Tremas Trap?" Arwin asked
"Uh huh,"
"What's that?" Cody asked
"The container is very unstable," Arwin explained, "If the glass breaks, then so will Bailey."
Simon held up what looked like a pen-light.
"This will shatter it," Simon warned
"Don't do it!" Cody yelled
"Really? Are you sure you don't want me to just make a couple of air holes?"
He placed the shatter-weapon right on the glass.
"Drop your gun," Simon ordered
Cody slowly placed the gun on the ground.
"Good."
Simon took out his gun, and destroyed Cody's gun.
"It feels like you've just killed an old friend," Cody said quietly
/
Simon steered the dimension-ship to the SS Tipton, and forced Arwin to get out. He also confiscated Kurt's spare badge.
"Leave the bouncer," Simon ordered
Arwin begrudgingly took off his wrist-strap, and tossed it to Simon.
"Arwin, tell Zack he can keep my silver watch if I die," Cody said
"Cody, you won't die," Arwin reassured
"Just tell him, would you?"
"OK…"
/
The portal through to the Tipton opened up, and Arwin stepped through it. Simon closed it, and then turned to Cody.
"What's your plan, brother?" Cody asked
"You and I are going to the home dimension," Simon said, sitting in the chair, "I will kill several key members of the Delta Directive, thus putting Dad in the line of succession for Chief Director. With you as my hostage, he'll let me get away with anything."
"Don't call him Dad!" Cody blurted out
"What?" Simon growled
"You don't deserve to call him that!" Cody said, "He's the greatest guy I've ever known! You're nothing but a shame to him!"
"Oh good, that will make this even easier," Simon replied coldly
/
Arwin ran into Cody's cabin, and into the CHARIOT.
"Where's Cody?" Kurt asked, getting up
"I'm sorry, Simon's got him," Arwin panted, "There was nothing I could do. He had Bailey in a Tremas Trap, he threatened to shatter it…"
Arwin took a deep breath; he had run from the sky deck to the CHARIOT in barely a minute.
"It's alright, Arwin, I'm sure you did what you could," Kurt said, patting his friend on the back
"By the way, Zack, Cody said you can keep his silver watch," Arwin added
Zack was confused.
"I don't have his silver watch," he said
"Oh," Arwin was confused, "Then why did he tell me that?"
"I don't know. Who does have the watch?" Zack asked, "Whoever has it, it's mine!"
Everyone looked at each other.
"I guess he gave it to Bailey," Ms. Tutweiller said
"Excuse me, what's so significant about this watch?" Kurt asked
"It's the homing beacon for the CHARIOT," Woody explained, "Back when it worked, you could just press a button and it would home in on the watch."
"Shame the Delta Directive got to the ship," Zack said
"Hey, we were just doing our jobs!" Kurt protested, "I mean, I could easily revoke the punishment, but he wouldn't learn anything."
Everyone figured it out at once. They circled around the time-console.
"It'll just take me a minute to deactivate the time-lock," Kurt said, sliding underneath the console
"I'll find the red button," London said
"She'll be at that all day…" Zack muttered
/
Kurt's ship was in the middle of transferring to the other dimension; unlike space travel, dimension travel was a long and complex procedure. Space was all connected; dimensions were separate. Simon had imprisoned Cody in a glass box, which he planned to convert to a Tremas Trap.
"Simon," Cody said, "There's a big difference between enjoying the fruits of the universe and recklessly tearing it apart."
Simon turned round in the chair, facing Cody.
"How can I enjoy it if I'm held back by the rules?"
He turned back round.
"The rules aren't that severe," Cody said, "Obey the local law, don't interfere with history…"
Simon sighed.
"If anything, my breaking of the rules improved the universe. I destroyed the Furiot Empire before its annexation of New Py'rk."
"But that war led to advances in technology. Because of you, their society was held back two-hundred years."
Simon sneered.
"Small price to pay. I'm a hero!"
"You just did it so you could profit from a company that delivered between the Furiot trade blockades!"
"Well…so what? That's your problem."
Cody's eyes darted to Bailey's Tremas Trap, just as the CHARIOT arrived. Bailey quickly got inside the ship, and it departed. Cody then he looked to Simon.
"Hey Simon, Bailey's gone," Cody said
"I'm not falling for that one, Cody," Simon replied, "No one can leave the glass without specific coordinates."
"Well she's gone," Cody said, "So I guess I can leave now."
"How can you leave?"
"I've had my teleport watch this whole time. I was just waiting for Bailey to be safe."
At once, Simon leapt up, brandishing his glass shattering weapon. He fired it at Cody; around him, glass fell to the ground. He had to get that watch away from him.
"Gotcha," Cody grinned
Simon reached to his gun and pointed it at Cody, and Cody merely slapped it out of his hand. Simon attempted to sock Cody, but Cody grabbed his brother's fist.
"Dad told me never to hurt anyone unless it was in defense," Cody said, "So this counts, because I'm doing it to defend the entire universe."
Cody yanked on Simon's fist, sending him slamming down face-first on the floor.
"Urgh…" Simon groaned
Cody reached inside Simon's vest, and took out both of Kurt's badges. He pocketed one of them , and placed the other in his hand.
"Simon, I'm going to leave you here," Cody announced, "The life support will keep you alive, but you won't be able to cause anyone any harm. Maybe you'll be able to think about what you've done."
"I'll be out of here in two days!" Simon growled, "I've got so many weapons of mass destruction that I've hidden in this ship!"
"Too bad you don't have an exit to use them on," Cody replied
And with one tap on the badge, Cody was out of there.
/
