Ch 1: Sparks

"Jared… Jared!" A medium sized tanned hand moves back and forth spastically in front of Jared's face. He rapidly blinks, regaining his grip on reality.

"Number six, what are you getting fam?" Shen asks politely yet firmly. Jared, still zoned out, shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders while sipping out of the red mug of coffee. The duo look back at their laptops examining the question while Shen nibbles the very end of his pencil's eraser.

"Well…to be perfectly honest, I have no idea." Jared replies while sighing.

Shen looks at him disheartened, taking a long sip of his energy drink. "I'm not quite sure either" He replies, "It's too early in the morning for this shit. How does this professor expect any results on this?" he continues, tapping his foot in thought.

He looks over at his stargazing roommate, "You got something on your mind though Jared?" He asks curiously. As he says this, Jared is once again broken out of a daydream, slightly startled.

"Wha… no no, I'm just…tired is all." Jared replies, garnering a suspicious look from Shen.

As they continue their work, only speaking to discuss problems, a girl with light brown hair approaches their table. "Hey, did you two ever figure out how number eight worked? I've got no idea so figured I'd ask." she says slightly annoyed at her inability to solve it herself.

"Well if there's anyone you should be asking, it's the guy over there." Shen replies motioning with finger guns towards Jared who is running numbers on his calculator.

Looking up from his work, he pushes his glasses back up and retorts, "I'm not incredible at these problems, but I can show you the mechanics." He says while putting his arm behind his head. While he assists with the work, Shen stretches out, elbows slightly popping as he slides down the plastic desk seat. Letting out a yawn, he sleepily turns to the right watching as Jared is concluding his explanation. After taking a few notes which Shen shows from his notepad, she gets up from the table, thanking both of them.

"No problem Marin, just let us know if ya need us." Shen replies with a smile blooming on his face.

He spins around in his rolling chair towards Jared happily, "I'm glad we are finally with this section, I've nearly fallen asleep twice now." He jests, getting an sarcastic eye-roll in response. "So what's your plans the rest of the day man?" Shen questions, his brain slowly warming up to full productivity.

"Me? Well... outside of classes, I've been working on a project with some friends, but outside of that, I'm planning on taking the most of the rest of the day off." He answers.

"Well hey, that's nice, I'm planning on the same. Though, I may hit the gym later tonight, I know it's not your style, but I'd enjoy the company." Shen concludes, hoping for positive response.

"Well... I would... but I'm a bit busy tonight, I'm sorry." Leon returns, slightly annoyed that plans intervene.

"Aww alright." Shen replies keeping up his positivity, despite the rejection. He leans back stretching out his arms, then his legs. He looks down at his wristwatch eagerly realizing that the class is only a minute from ending.

As a shrill bell signifies the class change, Shen waves his goodbyes to Jared and continues out into the crowded hall. Jared meanwhile stays behind, the professor calling for him eagerly. His bombastic voice echoes across the now empty lecture hall.

"Look at this!" The elderly man says eagerly, sliding multiple pieces of scratch paper and photos across the desk to Jared who walks down the steps to meet him. "It's nearly complete, this is such a scientific wonder, it'll change the world forever." He continues excitedly, slowly opening the steel door behind the classroom leading into a similar sized back room. An enormous oval shaped metal ring surrounded by numerous wires and stabilizers sits ominously, nearly hitting the 10 foot ceiling.

The professor bounces over to it excitedly while Jared slowly scans the room making sure nothing is out of place. "In just a few short weeks, we'll run a test for stability, from there, it's only a matter of exploration." He says shaking with excitement while Jared continues to examine the machine.

"I can't wait for the test, but I still can't believe you allowed me to help you… and all of those other scientists" Jared replies while contemplating to himself.

The graying professor looks at him as though he cannot believe what he just said. "Jared, I'm not certain as to why you even think such things. You should have some more pride in your work." he announces leaving Jared surprised at the confidence in his voice. After a few minutes of tinkering, the two leave the room, Jared packs up his stuff in a backpack and slowly exits the classroom still deep in thought.

As the day ends, Jared and Shen finish their classes and return to their dorm room. The light buzzing of the microwave and the adjacent dorm's music are the only things that break the silence.

"Man, I'm pooped." Shen says attempting to alleviate the quiet atmosphere. He lies on the top bunk grinding out a game on his 3DS. "Make sure you get plenty of sleep though Jared, you've seemed tired the past few days." He persists.

"Trust me, I'll be fine, don't worry." Jared answers, pulling a pot pie out of the microwave and putting it into a bowl. He carefully hands it to Shen, while grabbing an identical one off of the small brown side table holding the microwave.

The two sit on their bunks eating the hastily prepared meal. "I still can't believe they are letting you take such rigorous courses as a freshman." Shen states, shaking his head. "I mean, I'm a junior yet we are taking nearly the same stuff." he resumes after a larger bite, slightly smacking despite his attempts to contain the meal.

Jared methodically skewers a chunk of chicken, then scoops a few mixed vegetables and breading, cools it off with a light breath, and responds "Well…I guess I'm just a bit above average. But I appreciate having a cool roommate like you." he replies.

As he takes one last bite of his own meal, Jared looks up at Shen while putting the bowl in the sink. "I'll… be right back.." he states, nervously walking out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Shen considers just laying there and ignoring the absence for a bit, but after losing yet another reviver seed to a monster house, he closes his 3DS and hops down. Carefully Shen steps over a long charger connecting to a laptop on nearby desk. "I should ask what he has even been doing these past few night." He thinks to himself, unable to dissipate his curiosity. Taking one last bite of his meal, he reopens the door catching Jared leaving the dormitory. "Hey wait up!" He yells across the hallway jogging after him.

Hearing this, Jared quickens his pace towards the engineering lab, hoping to make it there before Shen confronts him. He produces a key from his pocket and unlocks the door to the lecture hall as Shen catches up.

"Hey Jared, I've been thinking about this, what have you been up to about this time every night?" He asks curiously looking at the now nervously stuttering Jared.

Jared turns around while opening the door, "Oh… nothing, nothing, I just… needed to grab something." He fibs walking further into the classroom. While walking backwards and talking to Shen, he hits his side on the corner of a table and attempts to play it off, much to Shen's dismay.

"Come on now… I wanna know what's going on considering that I heard you leave last few nights as well." Shen replies. He looks over at Jared pleadingly causing him to reconsider.

Jared stands there nervously considering his options until he eventually gives in. "Ugh… fine. But you must PROMISE to not tell ANYONE ELSE." He retorts emphasizing the end.

Shen eyes him curiously, yet still with a hint of concern. "Alright, I promise" Shen responds, not expecting much of anything of note.

Jared stares him straight in the face for the longest 30 seconds he had ever experienced. "What is behind… this door… is the world's first… transdimensional portal" he continues gaining a surprised, yet still confused Shen staring back.

"Sooo… what you are saying, is that you've been sneaking around at night, losing your sleep on this? He asks, garnering a surprised look from Jared who was not expecting that kind of response. "Though… to be fair… if I was in your shoes, I'd stay up all night screwing with this thing" He continues, chuckling quietly to himself while imagining possibilities. He slowly closes the gap between him and Jared who is surprised at Shen's seemingly lack of concern for the machine.

"Yes, that's… what I've been doing, but DON'T tell anyone ok!" He says slowly unlocking and opening the heavy steel door behind the speaker's desk and podium.

The now unlocked back room is illuminated at the flip of the switch by large stage lights from the ceiling. "Since you now know me… and a few other people's big secret, would you like to see what it can do?" Jared asks somewhat excited yet nervous to show off his work.

"Sure, how does it…" Shen cuts himself off knowing that the explanation was likely more than he could comprehend currently.

Jared opens his mouth but gets the same idea so he slowly closes it and walks towards a large metallic table with numerous switches and displays on it.

"So what does it even open to?" Shen asks, looking around the room like a kid in a candy shop. Jared punches on the keypad with blistering speed and suddenly a small portal with an ethereal glow illuminates the dimly lit room with a warped version of what appears to be outer space.

"This… is what we have nicknamed Ultra Space." As he says this the room begins to shake and the lights flicker.

Before he can elaborate, Shen shouts across the room, "Hey Jared… what was that?" Shen asks, looking around worriedly. As the room shakes more and more intensely, Jared rushes to the keyboard and hits a large red button causing electricity to shut off in the room. Despite this however, the portal continues to shine even more intensely.

He looks over at Shen anxiously, "A problem!" Jared yells as gravity begins to weaken in the room. Despite his frantic work on the controls, the portal refuses to dissipate, its frame beginning to distort as the portal continues to grow filling the entire frame until suddenly, the lab is enveloped in a white flash.

Slowly a keychain falls from a few feet up and smacks against the floor, creating a ring which echoes in the large, dark, empty room.

Author's note

Hello, Slowpokemasta here, and thanks for reading the first chapter of my fic. I worked pretty hard on it, despite its likely mediocre quality. While the goal of this endeavor is to create a fun story for the likely few of you who stick around, I also hope to improve my writing abilities as in just 2 years, I'll be entering college, and from there, a long term job. Reading and writing have always been huge hobbies of mine, and while I'm more of a speaker myself, it's still fulfilling to me to write elaborate plots and describe spectacular setpieces. This passion brought me into DND and now, my love of PMD and its many incredible fanfics have brought me here. Sorry this chapter was kinda dialogue heavy, I wanted to kind of slightly establish the main duo's characters and such, and the human world is kinda generic since…. we already are stuck in it and none of us are here for that (or at least, i'm trying to escape its monotony lol) but next chapter will include way more details about the environment and set pieces . I'd truly appreciate anyone leaving a review or comment and yeah… that's about all I've got. I shall hopefully upload a new chapter every week or two depending on studies and outside activities interference. My birthday is arriving on Oct 5th so apologies in advance for any delays. Thanks so so much for the support, I'll answer any questions Q style in each of these author's notes if you leave them in the replies/comments. Have a great week and stay safe out there

(Also made some edits based on helpful critiques from the comments and messages. Thank you guys a ton :) )

Edit: (Heyo, just a heads up for you new peeps, as you know im new to this sorta thing and these first few chs really aren't the greatest, as such I plan on rewriting them and editing them a bunch to achieve the quality im looking for once I get more experienced and become a better writer. Expect these changes around the release of Ch 15 (so that I'll have the experience to make them the best I can :) )