The next two worlds were extremely painful to witness, the first a world that at some point in the last twenty years had managed to nuke itself back to a few hundred million weary and desperate souls now at the county and township level of organization, but trying to retain vestiges of civilization such as literacy.
In the other, about a year earlier, the land-based nuclear arsenals had launched, and only the fast-thinking of Russian and American sub commanders at a friendship meeting in the Bering Sea and their subsequent 'fire it all up into the intersect paths' had reduced the transcontinental damage to ten percent of the expected devastation, and had pulsed much of the remaining in-range weapons. Two days had gone by, economies reeling and mostly crashing when the Hell Mouth opened and the demons spread across Southern California before the USAF nuked the infestation and pounded Sunnydale for three days before the Hell Mouth finally ceased its active status. A terrorist named Moloch had been blamed for the disaster, but they only had the third-hand account of a young man named Larry that the 'corrupter' had been killed by a few students before the demons were stopped.
The third world seemed normal in almost every way: no SGC, Sunnydale or other threat indicators existed. But after a German Imperial naval victory at Skaggerak, this world's history seemed to slow down in technological pursuits.
"So, Hooker, you guys sure you wanna settle down here?" Alexander asked as the grouped picnicked in the Grand Canyon, "The history is different and all…"
"Well, it might be stuck in the fifties, but there aren't nukes or bio-weapons or anything," the older man replied confidently, "And without the computer and id obsessions of our worlds, we can fit in here, even if Europe still rules most of the world."
"Yeah, that's strange, but after all those Bolshevik guys managed to kill all those industrialists in that big takeover back in the thirties, the Germans seemed to lighten up again once both sides had lost their nastiest leaders and the negotiators stepped in to stop the general strikes."
"Weird, but with the dollars still matching up with theirs, we're going to buy up a bunch of farmland and settle down, maybe I'll run for small-town sheriff or something."
"Okay, you pick a spot yet?" he asked the former police academy instructor, "the world's kinda large…"
"We took a vote, and we figured we'd up near Gilroy and Fresno, tomorrow if possible."
"Good thinking , it'll give you a whole day for us to respond if something comes up."
"And we appreciate all you've done, Alexander," Hodges added, "We've made copies of inventions and other stuff, so after a year or so, we'll start on those, so we can pay for college for all these kids of ours. And your starter money'll get us off well enough. Thanks."
Capricorn One had seemed almost empty without their recent friends, but after hosing out certain cargo areas, the extra space was nice.
Four more normal-enough worlds had been experienced, the Sliders deciding to cut down their exploration times down to a single day. As the entered the fifth, off of Catalina Island, the found themselves listening to a world experiencing an inter-dimensional invasion.
"The Kromaggs seem to be trying to takeover the place," Willow reported from her station, "And the tech of this world seems only to be around the nineteen fifties."
"How're the locals holding out?"
"Pretty well, but unfortunately this seems to be an all-out effort by the Kromaggs."
"Any of them nearby?"
"There are three Kromagg vessels attacking something in the LA area," Tara added, Maggie Beckett looking over her shoulder, "The others seemed to be racing toward San Diego."
"Sir!" Beckett called out, "Four smaller 'magg fighters have just come out of a portal twenty klicks away and are heading toward where Sunnydale would be if it existed."
"Any chance they're looking for us?" Alexander asked, "And have we been spotted?"
"We're still stealthy, but from their comm queries…they are looking for us!"
"What should we do Alexander?" Joyce asked, looking at the young commander, "Lay low and hope we slide out unnoticed?"
"Probably the best idea, and the Bennishes are promising me they're nearly done getting the coordinates indexed for a return to the SGC and Caprica, if not to our homes."
"You okay, Xan?" Dawn asked quietly as they transitioned into the next world, having done nothing to help the human population due to the sheer numbers of Kromagg units in the area.
"I will be, I just wish we could have done something for them…"
"I know, but sometimes we can't…"
"Yeah…"
"Yeah…"
"Janus is dead…" the shade of Jasmine gasped as it faded.
"The loop is broken…" the Brother Oracle gasped as it held onto Reality.
"But can only Restart with the Return of the Keys and the Focus…"
Hercules found himself in the ruins of the pantheons, not the façaded gathering points kept hidden from the mortals, but the place in time and space where each mountain seemed to house a convocation of gods and Powers.
"Why am I here?" the strong hero called out to the emptiness.
"To act as our contact with the Focus and the Keys," a chorus of voices whispered as on the wind, forty or fifty Beings gaining sufficient strength to transparently come into his view, another fifty or so Archangels armed and ready nearby.
"I do not understand," the demigod responded.
"We are all that remain of the Pantheons, throughout all the realities," the chorus continued, "It will take untold time to resume our previous roles, and Evil, while similarly dispersed, is still strong. But the First Evil has been split into its aspects, none able to blend or effect control of its others, trapped in whichever Reality it had asserted itself."
"So how am I to do this?" he asked, "I'm only one man."
"No, we are communicating with all of your selves in the different realities. Know that the reality to which you are returned, is your responsibility. It does not have the same future or non-human races as those with which you are familiar. We will send visions as we have information."
"Oh well, I was wondering how long I could keep my past from the others, but I'd like to bring someone with me if he's willing."
"He is already waiting for you…Now Go."
"Hey Boss! What's this about me being the reincarnation of a friend of yours?"
"Well, Mr. Harper, it starts as story of gods and goddesses…"