Chapter 1: A New Adventure
"Are you ready for adventure, Hobbes?" Calvin asked the tiger sitting in the box behind him.
"I still can't believe you talked me into this," Hobbes groused, slouching forward.
"Hey, you're the one who decided to come for snacks."
"The last time we did this, you made me throw the snacks away!"
"Okay one, that was the second trip we had ever made. Second, we're not even going to the Jurassic period."
"We aren't?"
"This time, we're going to the future!"
"Really?"
"Yeah! We're going to steal something and pass it off as our own invention!"
"Didn't we try this already?"
"Those were the dinosaur photos, we never actually went that far into the future."
"You know," Hobbes began, starting to get up, "It seems like something bad always happens when we use this thing. So, I'm getting out while the getting's good."
"Too late, we're going!"
The tiger fell down into the box as the world slid… away…
… slid away into a world of forming and reforming squares…
…slid away into a world of shining stars…
…slid away into w*r!? o4
a large being made of eyes and flesh
robed in a horned helm with skeletal wings
draped over like a cape
the dark god regarded the miniscule box with contempt
and flicked it away with a single finger
…slid away into a cloudy city skyline.
-C&HLN-
The box fell down toward the ground, spiraling out of control. The boy and the tiger were launched from the box and started falling toward the unforgiving ground.
Hobbes started panicking, and after a few moments of doing the same Calvin pulled out something that he thought would be useful.
ZAP!
Large claws wrapped around Hobbes and the box as the transformed Quetzalcoatlus caught them and flapped his wings toward a large city square.
"You packed the Transmogrifier gun?" Hobbes asked, once he stopped flailing.
"Yeah," Calvin squawked. "I thought it would come in handy considering what happened the first two times."
"I'm not arguing," Hobbes commented as Calvin landed and set the box down. "In fact, I wonder why we didn't bring it along back then."
Before Calvin could answer, there was a dark purple crackle, and he turned back into a nine-year-old boy.
"That's why," he said, picking himself off the ground. "The transformation matrix is suspect to chronotrion radiation generated by time travel, and the transformations have a high risk of ending early."
"Point taken," Hobbes said, before looking up at the sky. "It looks like it might rain soon, should we move the time machine?"
"Better not risk it getting wet," Calvin answered, and the pair of them stashed the box in a nearby room with a bunch of suitcases and a doll's raincoat and went to explore the strange city they had landed in.
-C&HLN-
"It's strange that we haven't seen any people yet," Hobbes said as the pair walked down the empty streets.
"Maybe rapture happened," Calvin guessed, prodding at another empty suit that laid in the street. "Or some kind of an attack that destroyed the bodies but left the clothes."
"Still, this place is giving me the creeps."
"Let's check that building over there," Calvin suggested, stepping down off the sidewalk and onto the street…
Something hit him on the back of the head. "Ow!" he cried rubbing the spot and looking at what had hit him. "A peach?" he asked, picking up the fruit. "Who the heck throws a peach at someone?"
"Look, there's someone there!" Hobbes said, pointing at a rabbit-eared figure that disappeared around a corner.
"Hey!" Calvin called, running after them. "What was-"
"Incoming!" Hobbes cried, grabbing his friend and lugging him into a shadowed doorway.
No sooner than they were completely hidden in the shadows, a mechanical shape barreled down the street. The whirling mass of parts came to a stop in the middle of the street and assumed a bipedal stance.
"WhErE iS hE?" it growled, its voice metallic and gravelly and demonic. "tHeY sHoUlD bE hErE. tHeY hAvE tO bE hErE! tHe CyClE mUsT cOnTiNuE!" With that last ominous proclamation, the beast began knucklewalking up and down the street.
The two friends snuck through the shattered door behind them as soon as the beast's back was turned.
-C&HLN-
"Is it still out there?" Calvin asked, leaning against the wall.
Hobbes peaked over the windowsill to see the beast still stalking the street below. "Yep."
"Well, that's just peachy," I say, taking out a smoke and lighting it. It was always tough when you pick up a tail. And the gorilla outside was one of the biggest tails I had ever seen in all the years in my line of work. I am Tracer Bullet. I am a private eye.
Me and my buddy were holed up inside a warehouse on the bad side of town, said tough prowling around the door. Seemed like he was looking for us, why I couldn't tell you. So me and my pal were planning on hanging out here until the heat was off of us.
Then he came into the room. He was tall and thin, reminding me of an owl. Especially with the big bushy hair and beard. He walked with a limp, leaning heavily on the cart he was pushing.
Upon entering the room, he blinked, eyes barely visible behind his cracked and fogged glasses. "How very peculiar," he said.
I stepped forward. "Who are you?" I asked. "What is this place?"
The man looked at me. "I am known as the Librarian," he answered. "And this place is now known as the Pale City. It had another name, long ago, but those who care about such things are now longer among us."
"What happened here?" my buddy asked, straightening his tie.
"Don't you know?" the Librarian asked. "YOU caused it."
"What?" Calvin asked, startled out of his daydream.
"It's too late to escape," the Librarian continued, growing larger. Picking a book off his cart, he placed it in front of the boy and tiger. "The Transmission and Hunger have chosen their hosts, and the loop is closing. If you can, read this. You might learn something. And remember, nightmares are also dreams." With that, the dream faded, and the monster walked away on his clawfoot feet.
-C&HLN-
The book was a collection of newspaper articles, the latest one dated thirty years from the pair's future.
"I don't get it," Calvin finally said. "'Superhero Businessman Disappears Into Portal?' 'New York Flooded By Ink?' 'When Pistachios Attack?' 'Tree Monster Conquers Japan?' What's up with these newspaper titles?"
"Hey, look at this one," Hobbes interjected. "Doesn't that guy look like you?"
Calvin looked over. On what had been a front-page article was a man that looked surprisingly like him. And in the background…
"Hey, look at that tower. I think I saw that as we were falling."
The title of the article had rotted away due to water damage, but the rest of the paper was readable. "CEO Calvin Ca… aw, they got my name wrong," Calvin complained. He then brightened. "Hey, I'm going to be a CEO! I'm going to have my own company!"
Taking the paper from him, Hobbes continued reading. "…of CI Limited announced the completion of the CI Signal Tower, to broadcast all new transmission, and to bring the forgotten dreams of childhood to life…"
The tiger turned the page, but a slip of paper slid out of the book. Picking it up, Calvin opened it and began reading it.
"From what I can tell, the source of the blood magic comes from the Tower that fool has constructed. He must have found a copy of the 'Nicronian Grimoire-" Looking up at Hobbes, he asked, "What the heck is that?"
"Beats me," Hobbes said, his tail all bushy. "But I bet that it's nothing good."
Turning back to the book, Calvin continued reading, skipping over a damaged section. "-the artifact in the tower, soulbound to the private eye inside. Under its compulsion, the Thin Man is forced to carry out the will of the Chaos-Bringer in maintaining this desolate wasteland in which we live. But be warned. If the Thin Man should die, the artifact shall remain, and shall choose a new vessel. But if the artifact should be destroyed, the Soul of the last bearer shall be ripped from the owner's body, leaving an empty, hungry shell."
Looking back out the window, he relaxed slightly. "The coast is clear," he said. "We can make a break for it."
"Right," Calvin said, putting the paper and book into his jacket. "Let's get out of here before something else comes up."
-C&HLN-
It started raining on their way back, producing a grumble from Hobbes muttering about wet fur. But he stopped upon reaching the alcove, where a terrible sight awaited the two of them.
The time machine was gone.
-C&HLN-
After a bit of searching, they were able to find an abandoned hospital that was easy to break into. Well, easy for someone with a Transmogrifier Gun. Throwing aside playing cards that transformed back into the doors in midair, Calvin entered the mostly abandoned lobby, Hobbes following behind keeping an eye out for anymore monsters.
There was a snack machine in the reception area, but it didn't accept the coins Calvin had in his pocket. Eventually, Hobbes had enough, and tipped the machine over. The pair started rummaging through the spilled snacks and took the time to plan their next move.
Then Hobbes heard someone in the shadows.
AN: Welcome back, friends. Thank you for coming to listen to my ramblings of the world of Miniscule Nocturnes. The snippets will mostly not be in any chronological order, although I will try to get some sort of timeline wrangled out.
Stay well, and stay safe.
-LibraryNexus