Calvin steered the Time Machine through the tunnel.

Everyone else, with nothing better to do, watched dates go by.

4065...4053...4044...4031 and so on.

"OK," Calvin said. "Everyone's back, now we just get back to the present, and I can recharge this thing before it runs out of power."

All eyes went to the Power Level meter on the dash.

The meter was on "60".

Calvin explained that 100 power was highest, and it went down by tens, and if it reached 10...

Then they were dead.

Sherman snorted, as if he was about to make some clever remark about it, but decided to be quiet.

At least until they weren't in the Time Machine.

Calvin continued steering.

Several more years zipped by them.

Just then, the power level switched down to "50".

No one noticed though.

They were still a long ways away from the present.

But after fifteen minutes of going, and the power level dropped to "40", that's when it happened.

ZAAAAP!

For a couple of seconds, the Time Vortex completely vanished, and all the screens on the Time Machine went blank.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Calvin, Hobbes, Andy, Sherman, and Socrates all screamed, as the Time Machine went spiraling for the black pavement at the bottom.

Then, at the last possible second, the Time Machine roared back to life, and the red vortex reappeared.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!" Socrates screamed.

"WE WERE ALMOST KILLED!" Andy added, panic stricken.

Calvin rubbed his chin, and studied the power meter.

"Oops." he said.

"HE SAID 'OOPS'!" Hobbes screamed. "ABANDON SHIP! IT'S EVERY TIGER, BOY, AND HAMSTER FOR HIMSELF!"

Before Hobbes, Socrates, Andy, and Sherman leaped out of the Time Machine, Calvin caught them.

How did he catch all four of them at once?

I have no idea.

"Will you guys cut it out!" He yelled. "There was just a minor disturbance!"

"MINOR!" Andy, Socrates, Sherman and Hobbes screamed.

"I don't have time to argue with you!" Calvin screamed, turning back to the controls.

The power level was now on 30.

He licked his lips, and continued driving.

It was then, that the vortex started to flicker.

All at once, the tunnel became a less brilliant red, and the outlines of mountains began to show through.

Everyone exchanged glances.

"Uh... Calvin...?" Andy started.

"Da da da!" Calvin yelled, holding a hand up to stop him from talking. "I know what I'm doing!"

"Ya know, I can give the Machine more power." Sherman said, crossing his arms.

Calvin made a sound with his lips.

"Ppphyt! Yeah right! Like I need you messing around with my invention,"

At that very moment the meter reached 20.

A red light began blinking, and an alarm went off.

"ALERT! ALERT! ALARM! ALARM! TIME MACHINE SHUTTING DOWN TO SAVE POWER!"

Everyone stared at the message.

"Calvin?" Hobbes asked.

"Mm, yes?"

"You programmed the Machine to shut down so it would save power?"

"Yes."

"And this saves us... How?" Socrates asked, holding a hand out.

"It doesn't. We're doomed." Calvin said.

There was a moment of silence.

"Calvin?" Andy said. "You're unbelievable."

Then, the vortex completely vanished, the Time Machine went dead, and now the box was hovering three miles above the ground.

"Sherman, about that offer of YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOURS!"

The Time Machine dropped.

Sherman crossed his arms, and turned away.

"I thought you didn't want my help, Calvin." he sniffed.

"FIX IT!" Hobbes and Socrates both screamed.

"Nuh uh." Sherman said, shaking his head.

"SHERMAN!" Andy shrieked. "YOU FIX THIS MACHINE OR I'LL MAKE YOU SLEEP IN THE GARAGE, AGAIN!"

Sherman's eyes popped open.

He grumbled to himself, and, with Calvin's help, of course, climbed into Main System.

There was a moment of silence.

Then Sherman stuck his head out.

"This thing's being fueled with apple juice?" he demanded.

"What, does orange juice have more energy in it?" Calvin asked.

"I still think he should have used grape juice." Socrates said.

Sherman sighed, and said, "Fine. Do you have any apple juice with you at the moment?"

"What, do I look like some kind of walking Hypercube?"

Everyone stared at him, as if he was some kind simpleton.

Calvin blinked.

"Oh... right."

Calvin reached into his pocket, and pulled out a glowing green box.

He reached inside it, and rooted through all the junk he had inside.

"That's odd." Calvin said. "I knew I had it in here, somewhere."

Andy looked over the edge of the machine.

The ground was coming up fast.

"Calvin!" He yelled. "Hurry up!"

Calvin stuck his arm deeper into the Hypercube, and tried to find the...

Suddenly a grin formed on Calvin's face.

He pulled his arm out of the Hypercube holding a jug of freshly squeezed apple juice.

Sherman leaped back into the panel, and came out, again, holding a small black tube.

Calvin took hold of the lid on the bottle, and tried to get it off.

It wouldn't come off.

Calvin tugged and pulled at the lid, but it was on too tight.

"Well, this is certainly unfortunate." Calvin said, finally, taking his hand off the lid.

Socrates hit the switch blade in his paws, and threw a wild punch at Calvin.

"AAAA!" Calvin screamed, trying to jump out of the way.

SLASH!

Socrates made three long cuts in the apple juice bottle.

Calvin stared at the jug.

"Oh." he said, watching the apple juice flow out.

Quickly he put the rips next to the tube, and listened as the juice flowed down it, and into the tank.

When it was full, Sherman put the lid back on, and leaped into the Machine.

"OK!" he yelled. "Let's get out of here!"

"And we shall!" Calvin grinned, putting the juice back into the Hypercube. "Just as soon as this things loads."

Calvin pointed at a small loading bar on all the screens.

There was a moment of silence.

"CAAAAAAAAAALVVIIIIIIIIIIIIN!" Hobbes, Socrates, Andy, and Sherman screamed, as the ground came up at ninety miles per hour.

Calvin frantically started pushing buttons.

Then, the computer finished loading.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

Electricity went flying around the box, and then it vanished.

The Machine began spinning.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Everyone screamed, covering their heads.

Then, the Machine started to slow, and the wind started to quiet.

Calvin's eye popped open.

They were in his room.

Calvin's eyes cut from side to side.

"We're home." He said.

Hobbes was the next to open his eyes followed by Andy, Socrates, and finally, Sherman.

"We're back!" Socrates yelled, leaping out of the Time Machine. "YES! OH YES! OH YES! YES! YES!"

"Well," Sherman snorted, stepped out of the Machine with Andy's help. "I think you owe me a thank you, Calvin."

Calvin stared at Sherman.

Then a grin formed on his face.

"Yes... I suppose I do, don't I?" He said, in a low, sneaky voice

Andy and Sherman exchanged glances.

"What are you going to do to him?" Andy asked.

"I'm not going to do anything." Calvin said. "Someone else is."

"What are you going to do!" Sherman demanded. "TELL ME!"

"Come on, Shermie." Andy sighed. "He's just trying to scare you."

Andy picked up Sherman.

"Now have you learned your lesson, about fooling with Time Travel?" He asked, shaking a finger at the hamster.

Sherman rolled his eyes.

"Yes." He growled.

"Good." Andy said. "Now let's go destroy that Time Machine thing you made."

And with that, Andy said goodbye to Calvin, Hobbes, and Socrates and then walked out the door.

Calvin, Hobbes, and Socrates waved goodbye.

"Oh, Socrates?" Calvin sang just then, throwing his head around. "Wanna earn five bucks?"

"Keep talking." Socrates grinned, leaning against the wall.

Later that day, Socrates installed cameras into Sherman's lab, and released a trained cockatiel into it.

The cockatiel, perched on Sherman's desk and shelves, continuously knocked several delicate items off them and sent them crashing to the ground.

Sherman had a lot of things to say about that.

And most of them were seven syllable words, and they made Calvin, Hobbes, and Socrates all burst out in insane laughter, watching it on the big screen TV in Socrates' house.

And that's the story.

Sherman destroyed his Time Machine, and from then on, just ignored everything that Calvin and Hobbes did.

According to him, a genius has better things to do than see what a couple of idiots are doing.

So, I guess that's the end.

No, I don't know where a Socrates got a trained cockatiel.

The End

Voice work

Pamela Segall Adlon: Calvin

Tom Hanks: Hobbes

Ryan Stiles: Socrates/Knight 1

Andrew Lawrence: Andy

Colin Mochrie: Sherman/Knight 2

Bill Murray: Dad

Jennifer Love Hewitt: Mom

Tim Allen: Sheriff

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