FATR: Sage and I have been working on this RPG for a while now. All my creativity is being put into this, and as such stories are being neglected. For my readers, Sage and I have agreed to post this on the site. I've tried to fix most of the blatant typos, but for the most part, it is posted in it's entirety.Sage's parts are written in bold, mine are in plain text. We don't own Spider-Man, anything related to The Dark Tower, basically all we own are Sage, Ana, and the snooty airline person. Forgive the disorganization, it is a work in progress. We're making it up as we go along. And by the way, CKCrimson King. It's a dark tower thing. Enjoy chip chip one!

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Ana sat on the plain, staring out the window at the night sky. However, all she could see was blackness. How boring. If her lap top hadn't run out of batteries, she could be drooling over the sexy sexiness that is Otto Octavius right now. On the other hand--if the sleeping lady next to her wasn't being such a bitch--Ana could have been ogling her eight-limbed sex god using the overhead light and her favorite comic book.

Across the aisle, peering down in hopes of seeing some lights, however faint or misty, Sage sat with her discmin cranked, the Linkin Park ignored by the deaffish senior sitting beside her. She had batteries, a 24-pack; there was something to be said for the traveling music junkie, really....It was understandable, though; listening to music was an alternative to sleep...

There was a jolt of turbulence and the fasten seat belt sign blinked on. Ana grinned. She loved turbulence, it was just the thing to spice up this long boring flight. Just like a roller coaster.

A few people looked uncomfortable, a few, like Ana, were grinning, and others continued to sleep soundly, for lack of better things to do.

Ana continued to peer out the window, even as the turbulence intensified. The lady next to her awoke with a squawk as a particularly hard jolt sent her orange juice flying. Ana was just glad her treasured comic books were safe in her bag.

Throughout all of this, Sage had still been watching carefully for a glimmer of lights below, unable to hear anything but the introduction to Place for My Head; as a result, the change of the hair-color of the woman in from of here, for example, went largely unnoticed.

Ana looked up from cradling her bag of comic books and yelped. The young woman next to her had turned into an old man. Ana popped her belt and jumped up to look around. Had the woman moved? The people across the way were different as well, except for the girl with the head phones. "Um... sir... what happened to the woman who was sitting here?"

The man gave her a strange look. "I've been sitting here the entire flight, dear. I don't know anything about any woman."

The rest of the flight passed quickly, although with a vague confusion. However, it was not until the plane was cleared out, and the passengers were greeted by a sign welcoming them to New York that the basis of that confusion was recognized, and spazzed out over; Sage, still clutching her carry-on, blinked, froze and began muttering an interesting string of obscenities for lack of a constructive reaction.

Ana stood in the terminal staring at the sign. She felt a mild sort of panic beginning to set in. She had somehow gotten on the wrong plane, and was now miles away from anyone she knew with only twenty bucks, a month-old stick of gum, and no where to go. Well, she had her Otto baby, at least. It was childish, but she didn't care. When things got bad, she ran to her dolly like a sissy little girl. "It's not a dolly, it's an action figure," she muttered as she dug around in her back pack and pulled out her six inch dr. octopus action figure. It was the perfect size to fit in the palm of her hand, and the softness of the rubber coat was always a comfort to her.

"I am so profoundly screwed," The Wee One was muttering to herself, or to her muse, which was both sad and random. Usually comments were directed to an inanimate object, or---what? "Let's see..." On AIM, didn't she know somebody in New York...so some help wouldn't be too far, right? Of course, finding the contact required finding a computer, and it wasn't as though she had a library card with her. Some money, yes, having been traveling a fair distance, regardless, but New York was not Bangor, by any stretch of the imagination. "...Once again," A smack down via the Law of Universal Spite.

Ana swung her bag onto her back and looked around, trying to think rationally. "Okay, I have to find someone who looks official..." She went up to the counter by the loading doors, one hand squeezing her action figure as though he were the only source of safety. There were already people talking to the man behind the counter so Ana stood patiently awaiting her turn.

Sage's plans turned out similar; might as well try to figure out what twisted jest of fate had resulted in this misjaunt. She joined in the line, and, waiting as patiently as possible, was nine songs into Meteora before eight people had passed; would she be done before the CD? Doubtful.

As Ana waited, she fiddled with the tentacle attack feature on her action figure. She tried positioning the claws different ways, thinking about the behind the scenes ockumentary on her DVD. Let's see, there was the attack position, the defense position, the ball position--used for smashing through things, tee hee. Ana looked around the unfamiliar airport, goldfish attention span kicking in. The girl behind her was listening to music. There was somebody pointing in her direction and whispering. Ana looked over her shoulder, trying to see what they were talking about, but her turn at the counter came before she could get that far on that train of thought.

"May I help you?" Spiritual brother to a Mr. Stewart Ullman, the man behind the desk raised an eyebrow, tone indicating he'd rather do anything but.

"Well, you see..." Ana shifted nervously. "I'm a bit lost. I'm supposed to be in Bangor... but it seems I got on the wrong plane?"

"And, miss, just what are you suggesting I should do about it?" He stepped back, crossing his arms and not allowing the eyebrow to drop.

A spot behind Ana, CDs were being switched.

Ana shrugged and looked at her feet. "Well, I..." she put both her hands on the desk. "I don't have any money, or anywhere to stay... What should I do?"

"Providing me with a ticket as some evidence you didn't just waltz in off the street, looking for a free ride would certainly be a start."

Ana nodded, "Right. Okay, hold on..." She put her action figure on the desk and swung her back pack onto one shoulder so she could dig through it. Her search of every pocket yielded nothing. She frantically searched every pocket of her baggy black boy's jeans but only came up with an old crumpled admit slip. "Dammit, I must have left it in the back of the seat." She picked up her action figure and leaned on the desk imploringly. "I don't have it, but you have to believe me, please."

"...Well, I will help you." He scribbled something down on a small form and set it briskly on the counter-top, pushing it to her side. "To help yourself. Go to the airport bus, take it. If you're still on the grounds by the time the next flight leaves, I'll see to it, personally, that you're removed from them. Now, with that," he gestured with the pen at said form, "You won't have to worry about bus fare, isn't that nice? Now, don't waste my time; leave. Next!"

Pulling back her headphone without turning them off, the Wee One moved forward, beginning to explain.

"Hey, I was supposed to get to Bangor, but ther--"

"Another?! GO! Out with you!" This time the scribbling was on a sticky note, and Uliton, a tall, hemmhriodal fellow, leaned over the counter to slap it onto the girl's shoulder, and nudge her to the side. "Again; next!"

Ana stopped walking for a minute to glare at the man behind the counter. He was yelling at some other poor girl now. "Bastard," Ana muttered. "I how could I waltz in off the goddamned streets... I swear," this was directed at her action figure, "if you were real I would have you kick his ass. No one would dare say no to..." She walked away fantasizing the way only a totally obsessed fangirl can about what would happen if her Otto baby was real and here right now.

"The hell was THA--"

"Go! Out of here, with your little friend!"

"Go to hell!" This last comment of Sage's was the result of receiving a stronger nudge, which was more of a push. Lugging her bag, she caught up to Ana and made a small opoponax gesture. "Hi. Apparently we're assumed to be in on something; what did you say to piss off Jeeves back there?"

"I think I ended up on the wrong plane. I'm supposed to be in Bangor, the stupid airline brought me to New York, and the power hungry bastard behind the counter went all ballistic because I couldn't produce my ticket stub. He was, however, nice enough to give me a bus pass," this comment was laced with sarcasm. "Which doesn't do me an ounce of good because I have no where to go with it."

"Harsh. Harsh! And I feel your pain....a stewardess took my stub when I got on the plane, hence my total lack of proof, and right now, I should be asking Stephen King to sign my ankle in marker so I can go get it tattooed on." She sighed. "Well, looks like we're both screwed. I'm Sage, by the way," 'Sage of Darkness' was embroidered, in red, on the side of her black duffel bag, above a verse of Plato--"Were that we were better met."

Ana grinned. "Stephen King is the master of horror, him and Wes Craven. I'm Ana by the way. Would you like to join Otto and me on our bus ride to no where?"

"You like King, you like cheesy horror, I have nowhere to go, no reason not to." The grin was returned, and Sage laughed a little at their sad situation. "You know, this is one of those times where I think it would be a good idea to find someone vending some sort of junk food, sit outside, and hope CK throws something our way."

As they started waking together, a thought occurred to Ana. "Hey, did you notice anything... weird during the turbulence?"

"I was looking out the window almost all the time--I don't get to travel often--but don't stewardesses usually switch in the middle of a flight, or not all?"

Worry wrinkled Ana's brow as she thought about this. "I didn't think that they changed at all, but I never pay much attention to them anyway. I just could have sworn the person next to me... I mean, I know women don't spontaneously age forty years and turn into men. Right?" This was a serious question, and she looked to Sage hoping for a serious answer.

"With the exception of Barbara Streisand, yeah." She blinked. "...I missed a lot, didn't I?"

Ana laughed despite the distressing situation. So much for serious answers. They were approaching the front doors of the airport now. "Either you missed a lot or I have finally gone off the deep end. Though, I heard somewhere that if one is willing to entertain the idea that one is crazy then one is actually quite sane." She stood on the sidewalk, already feeling the smog curling its evil fingers into her lungs. "Now what?"

Sage's grin widened. "What? I'm serious; there was this one before/after makeup picture I found, on the internet....so, no comment on that." She paused, considering. "We hop the bus and stay on it until we see some decent reason to get off?"

The bus pulled up relatively quickly, probably the great one apologizing for sticking the two girls in such an unfortunate predicament. It was a start, at least. Ana and Sage climbed on board and found two seats next to each other. As the doors closed and the bus pulled away, Ana put her back pack between her feet and pulled the crumpled admit slip out of her pocket. She commenced trying to pick the little ball up with the lower pincers of her action figure, failing the first two times.

The third was greeted with some applause. "Bravo! Any idea where we get off?"

"Nope." Ana looked around. "If we can get to a computer or a phone, I can try to contact home, I suppose."

"Same." They rode on in silence for a little while, it being interrupted by one of the world's more childish temptations; "Hey! Looks like there's lotas of geese i this park, let's get off here?"

Ana raised her eyebrow at Sage, then slowly grinned as well. "Yeah!"

"Yes!" Shortly, the Wee One was standing in a small crowd of the birds; assuming they were going to be fed, they had gathered around her. This continued for a moment, then there was an indignant honking and rustle of half-flaps as a small sprint ended with one of the older geese being held on the ground, wings to its back. "Third catch!"

Ana laughed as she jogged after Sage. "Yay! You caught dinner! Now we can..." She trails off as she hears a loud and all too familiar boom. Her eyes show puzzlement for a moment then light up as a queer sort of hope dawns. She turns to Sage, eyes all aglow. "Do you hear what I hear?"

"Hmn?" She blinked, straightening up, the goose seizing the chance to waddle away. "That thud?"

"Doesn't it sound, well, familiar?" Ana barely waited a second for the response. She was off in lala land now. "Come one, let's go check it out!" She took off across the park, again barely waiting for a response.

"Wait up! I have shorter legs!" Now, and only now, the discmin was paused, cutting off the screams mid-verse in By Myself. "For the love of god, hold on!"

At least the geese were cheered.

Ana stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, gazing up in awed delight. It didn't matter if it was real or a show. If the red and blue figure she saw flip through the air and land on the side of a building was real, then you know who couldn't be far behind. Sure enough, a figure in a dark trench coat appeared over the edge of the building, metal tentacles gleaming in the sunlight. "Oh... my... god..." Ana gazed on in wonder and shock as the two figures continued to fight.

"... I... second that..." Indeed. If the situation was resolved without extensive personal injury, Sage resolves, then she was definitely going to get a tattoo of the Crimson King's crest in the near future! "This is awesome!"

"It's... Otto..." Ana gaped. "He's real! He's really real!" Ana clutched her action figure to her chest and jumped up and down, squealing. "My eight-limbed sex god is REAL! OTTO!"

"Man, it goes beyond that! Other realities are real, which means there has to be more, which means there has to be all, which means ALL of it's true, real, whatever!" The tower, too, somewhere. "Huzzah!"

The two men, half way down the building, stopped dead in their tracks. Otto had his claw fastened around Peter's neck, and Peter had a webline attached to one of the other tentacles. Otto looked at Peter and blinked. "Did you just hear that?"

"...well, this is great. They must've heard something." Sage snorted, and lightly whapped Otto's fangirl. "Need to know a little more on the present situation before drawing any attention to ourselves, or at least we should!...don't tell me they're looking this way, they're going to look this way, yes, they are looking this way..."

"It's not his fault, really. He's not a bad guy, but the tentacles... I would still love to be taken hostage, though. I mean..." Ana stopped babbling as what Sage had just said slowly registered. "Oh, I guess you're right, huh?" She blushed sheepishly.

"Yeah, but it's a little late for that." She shrugged, sighed, smiled, and laughed her oh-dear-god laugh, gesturing in the direction of the comic-book characters. "Seeing as we now have their attention, and most people have vacated the area..."

Ana looked up to see Otto beginning to descend the building. She grinned at Sage. "It would give us a place to stay, would it not?" She giggled.

"...oh, man, so, what? I have to be the responsible one this time? You can't do this to me...." Laughing, she trailed off. "You know what? We're insane. Of course, we're also broke, lost, and sojourners...and just standing here, chatting patiently."

"While the world's sexiest super villain approaches, possibly with intentions to take us away and shackle us up in his secret lab..." Ana trails off as she ponders the fact that this might not be so bad.

Sage shook her head, able to stop laughing but not without a grin remaining. Well, she'd grin at anything, something which had been helpful in the past. "If it's all the same to you, I'd like to avoid being shackled to anything...but, it's a road less traveled."

"I wonder if he knows who Spider-Man is yet. I mean, just think, you and I know who Spider-Man is. Just imagine what we could do with that information!"

"Rule E-bay? Seriously, though, it would be interesting to see just how far we could get trying to explain the differences of reality without actual proof...If not deemed nutters, at least."

Ana grinned and patted her bag. "I never go anywhere without my trusty comic books, just in case a situation like this arises. Well, not just like this, but... well, you know what I mean." She turned to the approaching octopus. "What would happen, do you suppose, if someone here saw them?"

"Chaos, panic, disorder....nah, not really." The Wee One shrugged, shaking her head. "Probably confuse and disturb the hell out of the people featured, and not much else, but--crap!" Hurriedly, she pulled the headphones from around her neck, stuffing them into the discmin case, with the CDs, and pushing that into her bag, which, although held tightly, was not reshouldered. "Gotta protect that."

The Wee One couldn't have put her discmin away sooner because just as she did, a tentacle shot out and locked around her waist. Ana had a tentacle secured around her waist, and she had gone into an almost catatonic state of silence. However, where an uninformed outsider might interpret it as shocked fear, it was really shocked elation. It was any fangirl's dream to see the tentacles up close, even touch them, but to be held by one was just sensory overload.

There was a indignant squawk following this, and Sage had to twist to finish zipping her bag and secure her grip on it. "Damn, this is awkward." This comment was the truth, just precluded by evidence of bad role models.

Otto brought the two girls in close and eyed them. He didn't know who they were, but they would do. He turned to Spider-Man, holding the girls in front of him. "Don't follow me," he hissed as he rose up on his back tentacles and began stomping away.

"Oh, man..." If I hadn't been on so many fair rides which involved tight restraints around one's middle the reason for this being extended periods of inversion, the fantasist decided, I would so sick right now...As it was, though, if one overlooked the motion being made a bit odd, it wasn't bad; much better than a metal bar just there, and without the buckles of canvas straps, which seemed to constantly search for a home in one's hip, side, or thigh. And she still had her bag.

Ana was, for the first time in the last half hour, completely speechless. She ran her fingers over the segments, mouth not smiling, but her eyes were practically glowing. She looked across Otto's head at Sage and flashed her a ten thousand watt smile.

Unable to be heard, the reply was summed up in an upward glace and flick of the palm, the gesture saying just as clearly; 'God, just what are we into this time?' It was opoponax, but, hey, also interesting.

It wasn't as uncomfortable riding in the tentacles as Ana would have expected. She shifted a bit, rested back against her back pack, and made sure she had a firm grip on her action figure. "I say we just go with the flow," she shrugged, turning to admire the way the light wind ruffled Otto's hair.

"Not that many other options, are there?" Once more, the dear-god laugh tm! made a brief appearance. And why shouldn't it? The layers of reality this foreshadowed were astounding....not to mention the situation at hand.

The had covered several miles quite quickly due to the inhuman speed of Otto's super sexy tentacles. There was a little village of abandoned warehouses approaching on the horizon.

Well, patience was a virtue, but curiosity was stronger. By far. "Excuse me," Ah, but this was tricksy, finding a fitting point of reference in an event like this, "Dr. Octavius, but just to where are we going?" Relatively normal tone of voice, although being held by the tentacle and still keeping a tight grip on the duffel bag hadn't ceased to be awkward; speaking of the mechanical limb, it was probably a good thing Sage hadn't eaten much that day. Maybe an oatmeal bar on the plane, a glass of pop.

"For now your lives are currency, to exchange for some peace from that inane arachnid aberration. However, you also intrigue me. You're not from around here?"

Ana flashed Sage a look that meant 'Isn't he just so hot?'

"Nah," The zipper on the left side of her bag was beginning to open, due to the repeated jarring from the steps of the tentacles, and was promptly rezipped. "Actually, I'm from Saskatchewan..."

Ana was too shy to speak at first. Hey, it's easy to bubble and drool over the object of one's affections in private, but when faced with him, she couldn't find anything to say.

"Saskatchewan? I do not believe I am familiar with that place."

"Very flat part of Canada; think Children of the Corn, only with wheat, and old people, and you won't be too far off." She could only shrug. "It's like a bubble, I'm afraid."

Otto looked at the shorter one with a raised eyebrow. "Children of the Corn?"

"Horror flick, not a bad short story."

Otto set down outside one of the warehouses. "I see. What is your name?"

"I'm usually referred to as Sage or Wee One, and answer to either." She gave the warehouse an appraising glance, noting that the glass in the door hadn't yet been broken by vandals. "This is opoponax..."

Otto turned to the other girl. "And you are?"

Ana felt her cheeks getting hot and hunched her shoulders. "Ana," she whispered in a barely audible voice.

"...so..." Man, this was awkward, and desperately so. "If we could have an idea of what to expect over the next little while? 'For we are strangers with you, and sojourners, that we may recover, before we go hence and are no more?'"

Otto seemed to disregard this as he slid a little plastic card out of a latent pocket. He slid it into a crack between two boards. There was a chirp as the door swung open a crack. Otto deposited the card in the same pocket and pushed the door open. What met Ana's eyes was so amazing it temporarily washed all thoughts of Otto from her mind.