Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, I've been way too exhausted from work to write worth a damn, I would've added the "OC" tag but I didn't know how to add it, either way, enjoy Chapter 1. I will try my best to not use the screenplay format for dialogue, I need practice with that kind of writing after all.
Chapter 1- Awake and Paranoid
A circular hole the size of a semi-truck tire with a semi-liquid form and the appearance of static on a tv screen violently ruptures open in the center of a creek surrounded by a small patch of woods.
Lightspeed's armored right hand shoots out of the hole first, blindly probing for something to grab onto and hoist himself up with.
After a few seconds of blindly grabbing at the air and water of the creek, Lightspeed grabs hold of a rather large boulder, and shakily hoists himself out of the fissure bridging the gap between the Void and wherever he ended up with his right arm, before collapsing to his right side in the middle of the creek with the crystal clear water simply flowing around him.
The surge of adrenaline he had left over from his encounter with the vile creature he so despised and feared was very rapidly starting to wane, and with it, any strength he had left to get up after crawling out of the hole, where he lay motionless, not even having the energy left to form a coherent thought.
Just like a pin-prick to a fingertip after a few seconds, the dimensional rupture was gone and sealed just as quickly as it appeared, leaving Lightspeed for lack of a better term… stranded.
Not that being stranded mattered at this point anyways, if anything, this was the best possible outcome given his current physical state.
He was in no position to be stuck in the Void with the creature and her equally vile menagerie of re-animated and mutated cadavres that were nothing but crude echos of the beings that inhabited the countless dimensions long since absorbed and conquered by her.
Thankfully Lightspeed hadn't been followed by the creature's underlings, and there was nothing to accompany him but the quiet but still audible "trickle" of the creek meandering around him and the rocks near him.
From what little of the environment around him whose view wasn't obscured by an underwater view of the creek due to a solid three quarters of his helmet and eye visor being submerged, Lightspeed could clearly see that the dimension he had been marooned in wasn't nearly as arcane and alien as expected and was in fact, not much different from his own.
A dark and cloudy night sky that looked like it was about to burst with rain, and several easily identifiable species of flora belonging to a temperate forest or woodland that was a standard sight back home were the last things Lightspeed saw of his surroundings before succumbing to a state of semi-consciousness.
Hours passed by in what seemed like seconds in the trance-like state Lightspeed found himself in as the battle between his iron-clad will and the physical limitations that came with being human raged on.
Superhuman or not, he was still human at the end of the day.
Unbeknownst to Lightspeed, the break of dawn was on the horizon, albeit the orange glow that normally accompanies it was entirely muted by the dark cloudy overcast.
Before the battle between his will and the weakness of his own humanity could drag on into the afternoon, a deafeningly loud "crack" of thunder roared overhead, jolting him wide awake like a shot of military grade combat stimulants to the heart.
Within milliseconds of the "crack", a torrential downpour begins to fall from the heavens above, which quietly but audibly begin "clattering" against the un-submerged parts of Lightspeed's plate armor like raindrops hitting a tin roof.
Without warning, two voices begin echoing down the creek from Lightspeed's right, as if they were coming towards him.
"Aw man, now we gotta go home, just when I was starting to have fun too." the voice of a small childwhined.
"I know Tuck, I know, but you know how Mom is, she'll give us one heck of a chewing out if we get our clothes muddy." the voice of a male adolescent that sounded similar to Lightpeed's age replied.
This was a situation that Lightspeed had been terrified of ever since he was first captured by the void entity a year ago, being marooned in another dimension that was free from the void's influence and having a "contact" scenario occur between him and a sentient inhabitant of said dimension.
He was an anomaly in this world, and there was no knowing what could happen if he came into contact with any living thing here.
For all Lightspeed knew, everything in this dimension besides the very ground and water he was laying on and in could be made of antimatter, and upon physical contact with him would annihilate everyone and everything in a several thousand mile radius.
And that was just one of the potentially infinite scenarios that contact with the inhabitants could do to him, even if they didn't intend for said incident to occur.
And who knows what he could do to them, the bacteria that was on him and his armor that were harmless to him could be a world ending plague for them.
Either way, Lightspeed would have to take on a strict non-interference and contact avoidance protocol for the sake of the safety of both parties involved.
The only problem was, Lightspeed couldn't get up, and there was no guarantee that he'd have enough time to crawl on the ground to get out of sight before they were within viewing distance of him, that was of course… assuming they weren't already.
"Feign death, hopefully they'll think I'm a statue or something." lightspeed silently thought to himself whilst attempting to slow his breathing.
"Hey Brad, check out what I found!" tuck yelled, whilst pointing in Lightspeed's direction.
Assuming sound traveled in this dimension in a similar way to his own, this "Tuck" was now alarmingly close to Lightspeed, and the "contact" scenario Lightspeed had been dreading was starting to look more like a rapidly approaching inevitability than a worst case scenario.
A small and rapid pair of footsteps "slosh" through the muddy creek bed, stopping at what sounds like mere inches from Lightspeed's armored back, before abruptly walking forwards as their owner comes to a stop a solid foot and a half from Lightspeed's armored head.
Tuck begins to jump up and down in excitement, in utter elation over the "thing" he just found.
"Brad, hurry, come here, come here, check this thing out!" tuck yelled.
"Alright, alright, just be patient, these rocks are slippery and I don't feel like falling into the creek." brad replied with an irritated tone.
Much to Lightspeed's surprise, this "Tuck" was human, no slime, no tendrils, no reality warping, just a normal boy that couldn't be a day older than 10.
This black haired boy was wearing a rather muddy black and red long sleeved shirt, a pair of jeans and some rubber muck boots.
Regardless of the similarities between the two, Lightspeed's non-contact and non-interference policy would remain, if anything, for the safety of the boy and whoever this "Brad" was.
Lightspeed begins to hold his breath, hoping and praying that he can hold it long enough for Tuck and Brad to lose interest.
A larger sounding and less rapid pair of footsteps begin to "slosh" through the muddy creek bed near Lightspeed, coming to a stop uncomfortably close to Lightspeed's armored back, before taking the same route as the first pair and arriving in view of Lightspeed's visor just like Tuck did.
Just like Tuck, this "Brad" was human, and looks to be around Lightspeed's age, 16 or 17.
The red-haired adolescent was wearing a fairly clean white dress shirt with a black vest over it, with a pair of khaki pants and rubber muck boots.
"Wow." brad replied rather cooly, before giving off an intrigued smile.
"Who do you think built it?" tuck asked before turning his attention to Brad, as if expecting an answer.
"Probably something built, maybe some prototype plate armor from skyway patrol, your guess is as good as mine." brad replied.
At this point, Lightspeed was starting to approach his limit, try as he might, his force of will was rapidly losing ground as every part of his body and brain were all metaphorically screaming at him in unison to breath.
Tuck returns his attention back to Lightspeed (and more importantly his armor) and begins to extend his arm outwards as if to touch Lightspeed's helmet with his right index finger, much to Lightspeed's terror.
Much to Lightspeed's imminent relief, Brad reaches out and grabs ahold of Tucker's hand, stopping it dead in its tracks mere inches from touching Lightspeed's helmet visor.
Tuck turns his attention to Brad with a look of disappointment.
"I would prefer to have Jenny with us before we start messing with it to be honest, it wouldn't be right to leave her out of this." brad said whilst turning his attention to Tucker.
"Aw, but it could be hours before the rain stops, I hate that she can't come outside when it rains….stupid rust, stupid rain, stupid… everything." tuck moped.
"Relax bud, the rain'll be over before you know it, now come on, lets get home before mom gets worried." brad said with a reassuring tone.
The two boys turned around and departed, leaving Lightspeed behind to suck in a large amount of much needed air.
The name "Jenny" brought plenty of pleasant memories to Lightspeed, as it was the name of a very close female friend back home, but whoever, or whatever the "Jenny" that they spoke of was, he had no intention of finding out, he had to move, and quickly.
After allowing the two boys adequate time to disappear out of sight, and with strength and energy he didn't even know he had left in him, Lightspeed slowly begins to drag himself along the ground and out of the creek with his arms, digging into the ground with his fingers to gain any semblance of traction he could manage.
After what feels like an eternity of struggle, Lightspeed finally gets to his target, the stump of a large oak tree which he uses to prop himself up and onto his unsteady feet with.
Whilst catching his breath and using the top of the stump to prop himself up with his right arm, the deafening "roar" of multiple afterburners could be heard overhead, capturing Lightspeed's attention enough to look upwards.
Just a couple hundred feet above him, was an alien looking starship with the length and profile of a battleship, hovering and slowly coasting northwards, the exact same direction Brad and Tuck were heading.
Whatever intentions the crew of that starship had, Lightspeed had a pretty good feeling that they weren't there to be cordial…