Chapter 19

Enik smugly gloated over his captives. "You humans never fail to entertain me. I was planning on your arrival, though not this soon. I must concede that I am curious as to how you got here. Your Sleestak would not have been able to get you here so quickly. Tell me what you did."
John and Bill hesitated before answering. They didn't want to reveal who they were just yet. The hope was that the black Sleestak would think that the men were their doubles and that they would have to be so careful not to touch anything that they wouldn't be a physical threat. Then, if they could spot Enik holding the device that could send Holly home, they would surprise attack him, grab it, and save the girl. John decided to buy time by letting the black Sleestak's ego answer his own question. "Surely someone of your 'superior' intelligence can figure that one out," he said sarcastically.

Enik paused before speaking. "Must have been my counterpart. Only one with real intelligence could figure out how to travel between universes, which of course, rules out either of you. No matter."

While Enik was talking, Bill and John saw Chaka sneaking around to free Holly. John needed to allow Chaka the chance to undo the crystal net, so he had to keep Enik's attention on himself and Bill.

Enik continued his rant, noticing the humans' footwear. John was pleased. Part of the reason that he altered their shoes and lined them with crystals was to confuse Enik into believing their ruse. The plan was clearly working. The Altrusian continued. "My counterpart is clever indeed. I see you have adapted your shoes to enable you to exist in our universe. Using crystals as soles is quite clever, but no matter." He pointed his weapon at Bill.

Meanwhile, Holly started to feel queasy. Bill took his eyes off Enik and saw that his "sister" was glowing. The twelve hours had expired. The reversal of the effects of Enik's machine was complete.

At the same time, Chaka sneaked around and loosened the crystal net, allowing Holly to escape. But despite the good intention, the paku's timing could not have been worse. Holly was about to drop to the floor when Bill yelled, "HOLLY NO! DON'T LET GO OF THE NET! THE MACHINE WORE OFF! DON'T TOUCH THE FLOOR!" Trusting Bill, Holly hung onto the net for dear life. Even Bill was amazed by how much he could care about someone who just looked like his sister.

Enik ignored what was happening at the crystal net for the moment and continued to point his weapon at Bill. "One of the beauties of my little toy is that it can short out crystals." He turned toward Holly. "Holly Marshall, if you would be so kind as to not drop to the floor until I kill your brother, I will be with you in a minute. Now observe." He fired the weapon at Bill's feet. The human fell to the floor but to the black Sleestak's surprise, Bill did not die. He merely got up. "How is this possible?" asked a confused Enik. Suddenly he figured it out and his arrogance quickly turned into anger. "YOU! YOU'RE THE HUMANS FROM THIS UNIVERSE!"

John spoke up, amused by Enik's confusion, "Didn't it ever occur to someone of your 'supreme' genius that we might not be who you think we are?" He took a step toward Enik, who adjusted his weapon's settings just before John could punch the black Sleestak in the mouth. The human stopped in his tracks.

Enik regained his self-composure. "My weapon has just been set to kill. Do not move. But before I kill you, I must know…how could the humans of this universe even learn of my plan? I always assumed that you either died or left this cursed place. It was a good decision to stay hidden from me. I never dreamed that you could be so foolish that you would ever return here. But why come out of hiding now? You do realize that I will destroy you as soon as I am done with this one."

Bill answered firmly. "Enik, never, ever, underestimate what a human will do for his family, even if that family is from another universe."

"UNCLE JACK!" Holly cried, not knowing what else to call him, "I can't hang on much longer!"

John had not forgotten about Holly but with the weapon pointed directly at him, he simply could not act.

Enik turned his eyes toward the blonde. "Holly, it seems that your real family was too cowardly to attempt to rescue you themselves. But no matter—I'll just kill them later. This trick only bought you a little bit of time. You once interfered with my business, and now, at long last you're going to pay." He pointed his weapon at the young woman. She closed her eyes and thought of her family one last time, hoping that they would be okay without her. Then she heard the weapon discharge.

But somehow, she was still alive and she was still clinging to what was left of that net. Holly opened her eyes to see her father, or at least, his counterpart, wrestling with Enik. The mere sight of Rick's double almost caused Holly to lose her grip, but she maintained it.

Rich had arrived just as Enik was about to fire. He hit the Altrusian with a tackle that would have made his high school football coach proud. The two struggled, and fighting with a determination fueled by years of guilt over letting his own daughter down, Rich threw the black Sleestak, still carrying his weapon, into the pit. Rich would not be denied this day.

The Sleestak god groaned as Enik screamed. Seeing Holly's predicament and resisting the urge to grab her, Rich yelled to his brother. "John, take off your shoes! Open them up as wide as you can and put them on the ground so Holly can slip into them. It won't be comfortable, but she won't die."

Rich's brother did as he was told and Holly carefully stepped into John's shoes. Luckily, his feet were fairly big so it was an easy fit. When John made his modifications, he anticipated this need, so he also lined the inside of his shoes with thin crystals. Because of John's expert craftsmanship, no matter from the Beige Universe touched any matter from the Black Universe. She was not even that uncomfortable and more importantly, there was no explosion. Once Holly was confident that she was balanced and that she would not fall, she carefully let go of the net and breathed a sigh of relief when she landed on the floor safely. Finally, she was face to face with the man who looked and acted just like her father.

"Thanks Da…" she stopped. "You know, I don't even know what to call you."
"Dad is just fine by me." Rich said, grinning. Both were in awe of the situation. Both wanted to hug the other, yet both knew that neither could.

"Thanks, Dad," Holly said returning Rich's smile. She turned to Bill, John and Chaka. "Thanks to all of you."

"I miss my daughter more than you can imagine," Rich blurted out.

"I know how you feel. In my universe, it was my father who went home and I miss him every day," Holly responded.

Rich took out the devices that S'Latch had given him. "I guess we don't need this one," he said, putting the device that would restore Holly's ability to survive in her own universe in his pocket. "But," he stated, holding the other device, "we do need this one." He then explained the two devices to his family and to Holly. It was fortunate that S'Latch provided a second way to get Holly back to where she belonged. Sadly, Rich knew that the time had come to say goodbye.

"Well, your uncle and brother must be worried, so I think we should see if S'Latch's portal works."

Holly smiled. Rich pressed a button and a doorway did indeed open. He put the device on the ground and motioned for her to come toward it. "Take it. S'Latch made it out of the same material as the crystals, so you can hold it. Pressing the green button opens the portal, and pressing the blue button closes it. Once inside the gateway, you will be in neutral territory and you can take off John's shoes. When you are back in your own universe, close the portal."

"Thank you again," she said, picking up the device and putting it in her pocket.

"Hey, we're even," said Bill.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Rich, Bill, John, Chaka and Holly all turned to see a very angry Enik climbing out of the pit. He did not have his weapon, but it was clear that the black Sleestak was livid. "STOP!" He started toward the Marshalls.

"HOLLY, GO, NOW!" Rich shouted.

"I WON'T LEAVE YOU!" she responded, and she meant it.

"THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO! GO!" yelled Rich, as Enik and John started wrestling. Holly had the Marshall spirit in her, but she knew that Rich was right. She would not even be able to touch Enik in any way, and if she fell to the ground in the scuffle, she would be dead. Regretfully, she stepped through the portal. Despite the danger, Holly paused to look back. Remembering Rich's instructions, and knowing that shoes were of short supply in the Land of the Lost, she kicked off John's shoes and threw them back out of the portal, where they landed near Chaka. Then, she ran for her own family and prayed that Rich, Bill, and John would be all right.

Meanwhile, Enik and John were still fighting. Bill was about to rush in to help his uncle when Rich grabbed his son's arm and shouted, "John! Get out of the way!" Heeding his brother, John gave Enik one final shove to the ground and stepped back. Before the black Sleestak could get to his feet, he heard a strange sound. It seemed the humans had a weapon of their own and he recognized the feeling.

Rich had fired the other device that S'Latch had given him and he hit his target directly in the chest. Enik knew that he had seconds before his body structure would be completely rearranged. His only chance for survival was in the Beige Universe. Quickly, Enik ran through the open portal.

But he was not alone. S'Latch's portal was not a typical doorway. It was more like a tunnel, and a traveler had to move through neutral territory from one end of the tunnel to another. Holly was about three-quarters through when she looked back and saw Enik following. She quickly deduced what Rich had done and felt a sense of pride in her father's counterpart. But she also knew what she must do. She picked up her pace and sprinted for the exit to her universe. "HUMAN! STOP!" Enik cried out, as he began to sprint as well, running almost four times as fast as Holly.

With danger closing in, Holly reached the end of the tunnel and dove for exit. She popped out of the doorway to see Will and Jack, standing with beige Enik in the Lost City. Enik and Will had met up with Jack and Chaka at the river and they all returned to Enik's chamber to wait. Upon detecting the gateway opening near the pit of the Sleestak god, beige Enik was able to redirect it to his chamber where it was safe.

"HOLLY!" Will screamed.

"Will! Get out of the way!" she said as her brother complied. The three humans, the paku, and the Altrusian saw the black Sleestak charging toward them from the inside of the portal. Holly quickly took S'Latch's device out of her pocket and pressed the blue button.

"NOOOOOO!" cried Enik as the portal closed. Holly had shut the doorway just in time. Enik was trapped between universes, with no escape. He was still alive, but the danger was over.

Finally, reunited and relieved, the Marshalls thanked their Altrusian friend and returned to their temple.