AN: Argh! I'm sorry, guys. I've been working every day since my last update. Sorry! Oh, and I got a couple of requests at the end of "Things Just …" for future science club members to make an appearance, so here ya guys go!
CHAPTER NINE
Lucas frowned, looking back at the screen before him. "Um … I don't want to alarm anyone, but something's going on down there," He announced.
Victor moved him out of
the way, staring forward. "The device has been activated,"
He said, sounding surprised.
"What device?" Josie asked, leaning over. "The one that creates the wormhole?"
"That's not all," Lucas said. "Look. The machinery reports two people just came through the wormhole."
"Maybe its Marshall and Corrine!" Josie said, racing off. Lucas, Vaughn, and Professor Z were quick to follow. Victor only a few feet behind them.
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"That's the last time I go through the wormhole with you!" Someone snapped behind the door. Josie frowned, the voice sounding familiar. Victor approached, punching in the numbers for the lock and waiting for the door to open. When they finally slid open, two boys were sprawled across the floor. The first one, a redhead, groaned.
"Stop yer complaining," The one who landed beneath him grumbled.
Josie cleared her throat, and the two looked up, startled.
"Douglas?" Lucas asked with confusion.
"Da – eh, Lucas!" Douglas Randall (for those of you who haven't read Things Just Get Complicated pts 1&2, Douglas is Josie and Lucas' eldest son) exclaimed, sitting up and knocking the other boy off of him. "Wow, what a … a surprise. What are you doing here?"
"Hey!" The other boy exclaimed as his back hit the floor.
"Oh, sorry," Douglas said, turning and helping him up.
"Douglas," Vaughn said, grinning. "Long time, no see."
"Yes, well," Douglas said, clearing his throat.
"Oh, for Pete's sake! Where are we?" The redhead brushed his clothes off, and then looked up. "Whoa –ho-ho!" he exclaimed. "Check it out! It's -."
"Josie, Lucas, and Vaughn!" Douglas interrupted. "And Professor Z. Hee. Look, Pres, the gang's all here."
Douglas' younger brother gave him a strange look. "Have you been smoking something you shouldn't be?"
"Who are these people?" Victor demanded.
Preston looked him over, eyes widening. "No way! Victor Pearson? Wow! Okay, first of all sir, let me say it's an honor -." Preston tried to shake Victor's hand, but the man pulled away with slight disgust.
"Excuse me?" He demanded.
"Actually, I wouldn't mind knowing who you are," Professor Z added. Preston blinked.
"Hey, hey, hey! Look who lost some weight!"
Douglas cleared his throat. "Umm … guys, this is my younger brother, Preston. For those of you who don't know me – or more specifically, you, Mr. Pearson, I'm Douglas. We're sort of from the future."
"Douglas and two of his friends visited last year," Professor Z explained.
"It's great to see you again!" Lucas exclaimed, shaking hands with Douglas. "Although, you chose possibly the worst time to show up."
"Why, what's going on?" Preston asked.
"Everything!" Josie exclaimed.
"Does this have anything to do with the wormhole?" Douglas asked.
"Yeah," Lucas said. "How did you know?"
"First: Anything that goes wrong has to do with the wormhole," Preston explained. Everyone nodded in agreement to this. "Second, I remember Professor Zachary telling us about this."
"Really!" Josie asked, looking hopeful. "Then that must mean that you know how to fix it!"
"Hold up," Douglas interrupted, shooting his brother a dark look. "No future-talk, remember? What are the three rules of time-travel?"
Preston rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a stiff, man. I wasn't going to tell them anything! Except that, you know, I don't really know what happened."
"You don't know?" The group chorused.
Preston shrugged. "No offense, Z, but sometimes I have to zone out on your lectures. They're a little boring."
To this, Professor Zachary blushed slightly.
"Don't listen to him, Z," Douglas said. "Preston is a little slow when it comes to real things."
"How did you get here?" Victor finally demanded.
"Are you serious?" Preston asked.
"He's in shock, I think," Douglas said.
"Okay," Josie said, stepping in the middle. "I think we can establish that they came through the wormhole."
Victor narrowed his eyes. "Of course they came through the wormhole," He snapped. "But how?"
"Well, sometimes it just sort of opens up in the center of the science lab. Unfortunately, we'd gone back to try and find Jovee - our friend, when the wormhole opened up and we fell through … landing here, and now, of all places."
"Jovee's missing?" Vaughn asked, looking concerned.
"Who's Jovee?" Victor asked.
"She's another member of the science club," Preston said.
"Wait, you're a member of the science club?" Lucas asked, pointing at Preston.
"Hey, I may be young, but I know what I'm doing … half of the time, anyways."
"Did Jovee go through the wormhole?" Vaughn inquired.
"Well, we're not exactly sure where she is. She might have been just at Cheerleading practice," Douglas said, shrugging.
"He can't help it," Preston added. "He gets worried."
"Why would you get worried about Jovee?" Josie asked. "I thought you two hated each other because of an old family rivalry."
Preston snickered. "Old family rivalry?"
Douglas nudged him in the stomach. "Jovee and I get along now," He replied.
"Yeah, especially when you're making kissy-face on the couch," Preston gasped, grinning.
"Shut up!" Douglas exclaimed, his ears flushing a bright red.
"You and Jovee?" Vaughn, Lucas and Josie chorused.
"Will everyone just stop talking?" Victor commanded. Everyone froze, looking at the intimidating man. Then Preston cleared his throat.
"Well … I never thought I'd get the chance to hear the Great Victor Pearson tell me to be quiet. I must say, it's kind of cool."
"Ignore my idiot brother," Douglas said. "He sort of … idolizes you, Mr. Pearson."
"As great as that is," Victor said, giving Preston a confused look. "You said you knew about the situation."
"Oh yeah, the situation," Preston said.
"Okay, have Marshall and Corrine returned?" Douglas asked.
"Not yet," Lucas said. "They left yesterday."
"So they will come back," Josie said, looking hopeful.
"Well, yes," Preston said. "But they have to do something, first. Remember, Josie, Everything happens for a reason." Then he grinned. "I always wanted to say that."
"You listen way too much to the janitor. But yes, there is a reason for Corrine and Marshall's disappearance, though it may not seem that way to them just yet. There's also a reason why the press received that tape," Douglas said.
"Who gave them the tape?" Josie asked.
"Well, that's debatable," Douglas said uneasily. "But the main theory you've had is that it was the Janitor."
"The Janitor," Victor repeated incredulously. He looked to Professor Zachary, who'd remained silent thus far. "The Janitor?"
Professor Zachary shrugged. "He's always sort of … there."
"He knows things he shouldn't," Josie added, looking back at the two.
"I'll say," Preston added. "And the guy never ages. What is up with that?"
"It's too bad he can't help us now," Douglas said.
"Why not?" Josie inquired.
"Well … he's not here. It's not exactly his job to help out with this particular situation. I think he's required by his bosses or something to just stay quiet," Preston said.
"So how do we figure this whole thing out?" Josie demanded.
Preston and Douglas exchanged uncertain looks.
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Ms. Sletzki rolled her eyes and sat back. "Let it go, Lyle. I'm not telling you anything about the wormhole."
"We've been through this five-thousand times," Commander Holt snapped.
"And my answer is not changing," She replied. "If I wanted to tell you about the wormhole, wouldn't I have? You should just leave the school. You're only making more trouble for yourself."
"And how's that?" Colt asked, seeming amused.
"You really think the people are going to tolerate you taking Josie and the others hostage to learn more about some wormhole?" Ms. Sletzki demanded.
"Commander?" A timid officer poked his head into the room.
"What is it, Private?" The commander demanded.
"Well, sir. They, uh, they apparently caught the girl," The man said.
Commander Holt grinned, looking pointedly at Ms. Sletzki. "See, there? I'm sure she'll be much more useful." He got up and stepped out of the room. "Where are they keeping her?"
"Right over here, Commander," The private said, opening the door to a dark room.
"Where?" The Commander inquired as he stepped inside. Collin stepped out of a corner and pushed a rag against the Commander's mouth. After a few moments he passed out, and the Private quickly stepped inside, closing the door and transforming back into Tyler.
"That went better than planned," Tyler said, looking smug.
"What are we going to do with him?" Collin asked. "The guy must weigh five-thousand pounds."
"Don't over-exaggerate," Tyler grumbled. Together the two lifted the man up and tied him firmly into a chair. Then Tyler stretched out and morphed into the Commander. "I won't be long," He said, turning away.
A few moments later he returned to the room to see Ms. Sletzki playing with the objects on the desk.
"That was fast," She said.
"Huh?" Tyler asked. Ms. Sletzki turned to look him over.
"I said 'that was fast'. I thought you were going to talk to Josie."
"Yes, well, I figured I'd give her a few moments to herself," Tyler said, taking Principal Durst's seat.
Ms. Sletzki looked at him with vague confusion. "Right," She said slowly.
"Now, where were we?"
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"We're really sorry, Principal Durst, but we really can't watch him," Corrine explained, handing the baby back to the Principal. "It's incredibly important."
"I just don't understand," Principal Durst said, shaking her head. "Mr. and Mrs. Pearson were adamant about having a babysitter tonight. You can't just cancel on them."
"It's a bit difficult to explain," Marshall said. "But we can't stay here. We have to get back home."
Principal Durst looked down at the baby uncertainly. "But I don't know how to take care of children," She protested.
"You're a principal, aren't you?" Corrine asked.
"Not for babies!"
"I'm sure you'll have no problem handling it, Principal Durst," Marshall said, patting her on the arm. "It's not like you're responsible for how he behaves. Or … how he will."
Principal Durst gave him an odd look, before nodding, as if she understood what he was getting at, but that she didn't want to know anymore.
"Alright," She said, giving the baby a slight bounce. "If you must go …"
"Thanks, Durst," Marshall said. "You won't regret this."
"I hope not," Principal Durst said. Marshall and Corrine dashed out of the room, leaving Principal Durst to look down at the baby, who looked up at her. Then she winced.
"What is that smell?"
Marshall and Corrine dashed into the science lab, closing the door softly behind them. Then they approached the flooring uncertainly.
"It has to open sometime soon," Corrine said.
"It won't open." The two turned around with surprise to see Jovee Pearson (Vaughn's daughter from Preston and Douglas' future) step out of the shadows.
"Jovee?" Marshall asked with concern. "What are you doing here?"
"I got pulled into the wormhole," She said, shrugging sheepishly.
"How do you know the wormhole won't open?" Corrine asked.
"Because the wormhole doesn't connect here on this date," Jovee said. "I can't say I know a lot about the wormhole, but I know there are two specific dates where the wormhole only connect in one place."
"Why?" Marshall asked. "And where? How can we go home?"
"Believe it or not, we'd have to use the wormhole at Pearadyne," Jovee told them. "And why? Because tonight the accident will occur."
"The Pearadyne Labs accident?" Corrine gasped. "That's tonight?"
Jovee nodded. "October fourth. I've been waiting here for you guys for the past fifteen minutes."
"Wait, how did you know we'd come here? And how did you get here?"
Jovee laughed. "I came out of the wormhole here, but it won't open again. And I knew you'd come here because I'm from the future, remember?"
Marshall flushed lightly. "Oh yeah."
"So how do we get back home?" Corrine asked.
"Umm … we're going to have to use the wormhole at Pearadyne," Jovee said, wincing.
"During the accident?" Corrine demanded.
"Yeah, and we have to get going soon before it's too late," Jovee said, moving quickly to the door.
"Too late for what?" Marshall asked.
"We have to be in that wormhole before Josie comes back for Corrine, just like she did that first time," Jovee said. "Or else the disasters could be … catastrophic."
"You do realize you're doing the weird cryptic-thing again, right?" Marshall asked as the three darted down the halls. Jovee tossed him a grin.
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"Remind me again what we're doing," Marshall said.
"We're going back down to Pearadyne," Corrine repeated for the sixth time. "To warn Victor and Sarah about the accident, and to use the wormhole to get back home."
Marshall swallowed. "Right. And how do you think they're going to feel when we just barge into their labs squawking crazy talk about an accident where Sarah Pearson dies?"
"They can't get mad at us for changing their future," Corrine reasoned. "Now help me with this. How do we get the elevator to open?"
"The key's usually over here," Jovee said, feeling around on the wall with expertise and give a button a good press. The elevator doors shot open.
Corrine frowned, and then turned to Marshall. "How does she know the way to get in?" She asked.
Marshall shrugged, while Jovee blanched, quickly darting into the elevator. "Come on, guys!" She called. They quickly stepped in beside her. "Going down."
Seconds later the group stepped out of the elevator. Jovee looked around. "You guys find the Pearson's. I'll find the wormhole."
"Don't leave without us," Marshall warned.
Jovee smirked. "Why would I do that?" She asked. Then she skipped away.
"Where do we go?" Marshall asked.
"Over here," Corrine said, taking his hand and pulling him around the corner.
"How do you know where we're going?" Marshall demanded.
"I've been here before, remember?" Corrine countered.
"Right," Marshall said. "Just like you were here with Vaughn."
Corrine refrained from rolling her eyes. "Right over here." The two turned the corner to see a younger Corrine peering around a corner.
"What's going on?" Marshall asked.
"Sarah Pearson's about to erase my memory," Corrine said, just as Sarah noticed younger Corrine. The two spoke for a moment, and then Sarah erased her memory, sending the girl off in another direction. Corrine and Marshall had to dart behind a coat hanger so that younger Corrine wouldn't notice them.
"We only have about eight minutes before Josie shows up," Corrine warned.
They quickly approached the lab just as Sarah Pearson continued to set the events into motion, thoughts of home in her mind.
"No!" Corrine exclaimed, coming to her side.
Sarah looked at her, startled. "Didn't I just …? Wait, aren't you two supposed to be watching Vaughn?"
"He's with Principal Durst," Marshall explained.
"You have to get out of here," Corrine added, grabbing the woman's elbow. "This place is going to explode."
"What?" Sarah asked, just as the alarms went off. "What's going on?"
"We have to get you out of here, now. I know you want to go through the wormhole, but we can't risk it. You have to escape, now," Corrine insisted.
Sarah looked back at where she'd left Victor, and then at Corrine and Marshall. "I don't understand."
"There's no time to understand, we've got to go," Corrine insisted.
"We have all the time in the world," Sarah said, pulling away. "Please, tell me. Who are you?"
"The truth is," Corrine said with a sigh. "We're from the future. We came through the wormhole in the science lab. And we know that if you don't escape from here now, then you're going to die in this accident. Or at least vanish."
"You know my son, don't you?" Sarah asked.
"Yes," Marshall admitted. "We're friends with him."
Sarah nodded. "Well, we might as well try to change this future you spoke of. But I have to got through the wormhole."
"Look, guys, I think I found it -." Jovee froze as she saw Sarah standing before her. She frowned. "Don't I know you?"
Sarah looked at Marshall and Corrine. "Another traveler?"
"She's from further in the future than either of us," Marshall said.
"We don't have time to get to know each other," Jovee said quickly, grabbing Corrine and Marshall's hands. "We have to go … now! Josie will be here any minute."
"Who's Josie?" Sarah demanded as the four moved quickly towards the wormhole.
"She's another one of our friends," Marshall explained.
"She'll be coming here for the younger me any minute," Corrine added.
"Here we are," Jovee said, punching numbers into the device and watching it move apart for them. They stepped inside.
"What are you kids doing here?" A nervous technician asked.
"They're with me," Sarah said. "You should get out of here, Robert."
"Let's go!" Jovee called over the noise. Sarah stepped up beside her.
"You three should go first," She said. Jovee nodded and the turned to her. "I'm Jovee, by the way. Jovee Pearson. See you around, grams." Then she jumped through the wormhole, leaving Sarah to smile after her. Then she quickly turned to Corrine and Marshall.
"Go!"
"You're coming with us," Corrine announced. Sarah nodded, and together the three jumped through the wormhole …
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"Look, I'm sure the wormhole's going to open up soon," Preston said, looking back at the device as it began to swirl on its own.
"Listen," Douglas said. "You have to shut down the energy of the wormhole. If you don't, then he'll control over everything. Whatever you do, you must not let him get to the wormhole."
"Who?" Josie asked.
"We gotta go," Preston said.
"Wait -," Douglas started just as Preston jumped through. "Also, you can't let whatever he says get to you, or even stop you from going through with your destiny. You must not let him win!"
"How do I stop him?" Josie asked.
"Together," Douglas said. He glanced at the wormhole. "I've said too much. See ya guys in the future!" Then he jumped through and vanished, leaving the group to stare.
"I don't understand," Josie said. There wasn't time to think on it, however, as the wormhole was still spinning.
