AKA Nixer
???
At the sound of the final notes a grinding noise was heard. Like strained machinery, pumping in a rhythmic fashion (though noticeably frantic), something... blue was appearing. ‘Flickering’ would be a rather violent term to describe its arrival—‘fading’ was much more accurate. As it solidified, the blueness became accompanied by other details. The shape of a box with a rather battered wooden exterior—the grain of which not quite identifiable as any particular kind of tree. A black sign with white text stretched across the top on all the sides of the box; proudly emblazoning the words “POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX”—softly glowing yellowish-white as if backlit. A total of eight small windows with six panels each were directly below this sign, again on all sides of the box. A small, black-background sign on one of the front panels that wasn't quite legible from the distance and the smoke. And to top the whole package; a lantern perched on the roof, glowing merrily.
Of course, the tall object had materialized right on top of the cowering one—who would find himself somewhere decidedly not what the exterior of a seemingly wooden blue cupboard would imply.
After perhaps half a minute, the doors abruptly swung—forwards, which didn't look quite right—and out barrelled some horrendous being with broad teeth, bulging eyes, and sporadic curls upon his head; clad in fraying, billowing garments of a colourful variety.
The creature looked about, then stopped—backing into the now closed doors of his wooden box and clutching its corners in a white-knuckled grip. It looked like some cornered animal, taking everything in through its massive blue sensors that didn't seem to know when to blink. Its teeth became even more prominent as its lips stretched into an even further gri–
“What? No tea and biscuits? Remarkably rude of you, wouldn't you think?”
No fear, whatsoever. Just... a sort-of curiosity. The now identifiable man—a British-sounding man, at that—didn't seem at all fazed by this development. Rather, he looked more like a kid in a toy store. It was clear he was holding himself back from rushing over to each and every one of them in order to scrutinize them intensely.
Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 20th 2018 at 1:03:22 PM
bork
Ultimate Hope, Absolute Insanity
??? ZONE
In this mysterious land, a white portal suddenly materialized next to the blue box-like object.
From it came a 3'3" tall white hedgehog.
"Wait a minute, this isn't the Aquatic Base!", he shouted loudly.
The hedgehog looked around trying to process his sorroundings.
"Curses!", he yelled, punching the ground, enraged, "Now we won't be able of stopping the Sola—, he tried to say.
Silence, Silver, , from the portal, another 3'3" tall hedgehog, a black one, stepped out of the portal.
Being angry won't resolve anything... , the black hedgehog said coldly to the newly-named Silver, We should try to see what we can do in this place!
As he said that, the two looked around the place to see if there was someone that could give them valuable intel.
Until they saw an atrocity...and a man.
Silver looked at the creature warily.
Could you tell us what is this land? , the black hedgehog asked the man as he folded his arms.
Edited by Theyja on Nov 20th 2018 at 6:14:45 PM
You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you, since I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO DO! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?
Akuma Shogun
And so a lanky robot teleported into the area. Wait a second, where's that idiot Tuddrussel and that precious child Otto?! The mission will be an absolute bust without Otto. He's solved more missions than Tuddrussel and him combined.
Even with this massive setback, the robot calmly walks up to the group and asks, “Excuse me, good sirs... Do know you where we are, exactly?”
After asking that, the robot fiddles with his wrist computer to determine his exact location and time period. After all, there's a pair of talking hedgehogs and a guy who used a rather unorthodox method of time travel: a police box.
Edited by josh6243 on Nov 20th 2018 at 12:01:11 PM
Ultimate Hope, Absolute Insanity
??? ZONE
Silver stopped looking at the strange creature when the robot asked where were they.
"Well, we were asking ourselves the same question...", he replied to the robot
"We were just going back in time to do something and...we're here..., he stated to the robot.
Silver wondered if, like him and Shadow, the robot and the man also did travel back or forward in time...
Edited by Theyja on Nov 20th 2018 at 6:35:13 PM
You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you, since I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO DO! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?
With a side of fries!
Worried eyes scanned the timestream for any indicator of the current year. They couldn't help but notice that the colorful tapestry of winding clocks looked outlandish today. Things certainly should have been fine. This was a routine trip from the year 2112 and yet, the earless, robotic feline felt somehow lost. What's more the machine burdened with the task of taking him to and fro through the annals of time seemed to be acting with a will of its own. He tried to deny it at first— chalk it up to one of various parts that was wavering slightly with regard to performing it's function, but it didn't last. The machine darted forward like a missile , heedless of its pilot's cries and commands as it plunged into some unknown year. The slate came to a skidding halt in the dirt, seemingly tossing it's pilot several feet away from it. His mind would not register the impact as much as it did the strangeness of his surroundings. "When?," he moaned as he rose to his feet "When is this?" He swallowed, catching sight of some apparent residents that only aggravated his curiosity. "A pair of hedgehogs and a human?," he muttered nervously "Maybe I hit my head harder than I thought." He laughed a little and approached the group with the most genuine smile he could muster
AKA Nixer
???
“Human? I suddenly show up in a blue box like this and you think I'm human? Rather presumptuous of you,” the man hummed, seeming much more interested in the stout ‘hedgehogs’ than anything else—peering down at them unblinkingly. “Extraordinary. If you two were of regular biology your heads would've rolled off by now! You'll have to come into my TARDIS for a full examination when possible. When we have the time, of course...”
Trailing off, he moved onto the robots—a brief look of sorrow crossing his face before it broke out into a toothy grin as he waved at them merrily. He circled each of them in his study, looking them both up and down and seemingly only catching on to how creepy it seemed a good few seconds later on.
“Oh, don't mind me. Just inspecting. You never know. Stray bombs, recognizable model...” He sniffed the air. “Traces of artron energy. All looking to be temporally displaced so far. Am I correct?” he asked them all, turning to better address the whole group.
bork
His being had come forth riding a white mare, in a burst of light, and stopped right after. He had been throughout the planes of existence, and he could immediately tell that this was not one of them.
This was somewhere that light had never touched before...at least, not the one he was familiar with. He looked up, and sure enough, this place had a sun.
A sun that was ticking...
"...Well, now. This is different." He squinted at the ground, and the little timekeeper that was built into the side of a rock, and grass shaped like clock hands, and...you get the idea. As he so intelligently put it, "Guess I won't ever not know the time, eh? Come, we're going to figure this out...I think..."
It was a short trot, with him trying to weave his horse's hoofs in between the many obstacles in his path, before he came across an odd sight.
A grown man crying over a butterfly.
Ezalor huffed, but his sight couldn't exactly make out what condition the thing was in. Maybe too much time looking at the sun.
"All of you, hold still for a moment," he said to the men before he raised his staff. A light came from the jewel at the tip of his staff, and he held it out in front of himself as his arm trembled. "Shouldn't need to do much here, uhh—THERE IT GOES!"
A wave of healing light cascaded over all of them...and the butterfly, too.
Toa of Anarchy
The man with the rifle stood rooted to the spot, eyes wide and uncomprehending. Just a moment ago, he'd been prepared to put a bullet through the head of an idiot who'd broken history forever. He'd been interrupted when some kind of blue wooden box superimposed itself into existence in front of him, and a frizzy haired Englishman with the longest scarf he'd ever seen came barreling out like it was nothing. Before he could put his tongue to the question of who in the hell this man was or how he just did that, he and the rest of his party were approached by two creatures that almost looked like cartoon porcupines, some kind of gangly looking robot, and a short chubby anime-mascot looking figure. For the first time in a long time, he was genuinely speechless.
Meanwhile, the portly man had just found himself inside a strange room that had just phased into existence around him. Disoriented and confused, he scrambled about through the nearest door. He found himself bursting out onto the incredible scene, and when he turned back, he found a booth much smaller than the room he'd just been in. Finally, there came a sudden great rush of light from a distant old man, and the next thing he knew, the little golden butterfly the portly man just crushed was fluttering away, right before his nose.
"...Oh god..." he gasped. "Oh holy god, I'm mad. I've finally lost my mind! It's the stress, it's the time thing, some strange radiation. Did I even go on this blasted safari? Perhaps I'm still in bed-"
"Quiet, Eckels," barked the first man, "You're not helping."
"You!" cried Eckels with a jump of fright. "You-you-you keep away from me!" He stumbled backwards, then found himself running into the Doctor, and fell to his knees as he clung to the man's coat. "You've got to help me. This man, h-he's trying to kill me. He tried to shoot me in the head just now!"
"Yeah, well maybe I won't have to," said the rifle man begrudgingly.
"He- He would- ...you won't?" Eckles calmed down somewhat, while no less pale with fright.
The rifle man scanned the party of strangeness, before settling on the black and white animal duo. "You." He pointed hard at Silver. "What was it you said just now?...Something about time travel?"
Silver barely had time to respond, before suddenly there was a distant flash of light. A laser wheeled through the air from far away, carving the tops off a few little buildings. Echoing across the plains, there came an almighty noise that sounded very much like "WAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAHAAHAAHAAAAAH!" It seemed as though some great thing with a deep booming voice was currently bawling like a baby.
Edited by LizardOfAus on Nov 20th 2018 at 12:04:45 PM
AKA Nixer
???
“Well I think all things considering you've done a... decent enough job of keeping your head on straight old chap– and do... do kindly remove yourself from my coat, thank you...” The Doctor stated with his still unwavering yet now mildly disturbed smile, carefully but pointedly pushing the portly man a more respectable distance away.
“And yes, time travel. Though inadvertent it looks like—well, judging by the incredulous looks on all your faces. Why I suggested temporal displacement, actually. Much more accurate term for a case like this,” he called out to the rifleman, momentarily glancing at the weapon in distain before returning his attention to the portly one. “Still tense? Could have low blood sugar. Jelly baby?”
Screw the bizarre mismatched dimensions of his box, the real mystery was where on earth the paper bag of gelatinous sweets had come from. It almost looked as if he'd produced it from his sleeve—but it was a little too bulky for that to be physically possible.
...though then again, the box.
“Oof. Dear me. Someone's a crier,” he noted, visibly wincing at the bellowing wail that abruptly decided to assault all their eardrums. “Don't suppose that warrants concern, now do you... I'd hate to see the mother if that's what the infant sounds like...!”
Already he was moving towards the disturbance at quite the remarkable pace. Only to abruptly turn around, race back towards his box—and shut the door with the click of a lock. He grinned sheepishly, before retracing his steps—only to pause yet again as he gripped the upper arm of the portly man to gain his attention.
“...How are you at running, friend? Regular jogger?” he asked him quietly.
bork
With a side of fries!
Doraemon clutched the sides of his head in annoyance. He had no idea what this place was or who these people were, but it didn't matter. He'd produce the anywhere door and be back in Nobita's room before anyone knew what happened. He reached instinctively into the small pocket on his belly, his frustration building when the gadget refused to emerge. "That's malfunctioning too? and people wonder why I don't get the upgrades." he muttered to himself.He couldn't blame anyone for being upset, but this thing—whoever or whatever it was— was taking the sudden change far too seriously. At least one of them seemed to be taking it all in stride.
IF, Segami, Nepbike, and Histoire- Somewhere, Sometime, Probably.
"SHI-"
From somewhere (or, rather, sometime), two girls flew off of a garish purple bike, tumbling into the ground below. The bike, currently sideways from what one would traditionally expect out of an ill-fated attempt to break, tilted to the side a bit before falling down with a thud. One girl, IF, had brown hair, a green bow, a blue coat, and had her curse cut short. The other, Segami, had blue hair, a white outfit and skirt, and clearly wasn't a fan of the past couple seconds.
"Hey, y'all okay?" The first voice to emerge wasn't either of the girls, however, but rather seemed to come from the bike itself.
"Yeah, no thanks to you." IF picked herself back up from the ground, dirtied up from the fall
"Hey, I couldn't do anything. You're the one need to be careful of black ice and stuff."
"Black Ice... In...the timestream... Ugh, just shut it Nep..." IF took an opportunity to look around, as Segami also rose.
"Hey, Segami... any idea where we are? 'Cause this doesn't look like anywhere we've been."
"Nope. Can't say I do."
"Well, this is just great... Ah, the bike!"
IF rushed over to the bike, righting it back up.
"Argh, It's going to take a century to clean this...Please don't tell me anything is broken."
"Um... I think I'm alright." The bike, "Nep", responded
"Here, let me check." A small fairy came hovering over to them.
"Right, thanks Histoire." IF mentioned, nonchalantly.
"You're a lifesaver. Or I guess... Soulsaver? Bodysaver?." The bike exclaimed as Histoire began looking over it.
Segami- Same Place, Same Time
While IF looked over the bike with a solemn, focused expression, Segami went over to the now consolidating group.
"Hey, what's today's date? Anyone know?"
It was an innocent enough question at least... though it took an odd turn when Time Travel seemed to be a common thing. There was time to question that later, though, right now someone's getting a rifle pointed at them. She'll deal with that fact, and the crying baby, later.
"Hey, I'm a time traveler too. What about it?" She figured it would be a good idea to give negotiations a shot... though she wasn't very good at it.
Time can be a funny thing on the best of days, and an absolute nightmare on others. For any outcome of any possible branching decision, time can opt to rewind itself until eventually, the other path is taken, knowing or not. Where one person should succeed, time can cause their failure. When a person should perish, time will ensure their survival.
Case in point, a part of reality in this new world seemed to ripple and shimmer in an unstable and wild manner, before a woman seemed to just...fade in, the irregularity around her disappearing as quickly as it came. At first, the woman was as still as a statue, hands crossed across her chest, but as if the gears within her suddenly came to life once more, small twitches of movement could be seen, until her arms came to her side at last, eyes opening.
A minute or two passed, as if the woman was coming to terms with the reality she now found herself occupying, and finding it lacking. Eyes scanning the land, and beings, before her much like a predator upon its hunting grounds, the exotically dressed and adorned woman's face morphed to now hold a sneer upon her face, clearly disdaining the world that was to be her new home for the time being. Upon hearing a baby's cry, albeit a cry that was much louder than a normal infant's, the sneer seemed to intensify upon her face, eyes betraying a simmering urge to silence the horrid noise at its source.
Proud member of the AGOG community.
Akuma Shogun
Larry 3000 - Time Traveling Wierdos
As turns out, the hedgehogs were just as confused as the robot was. The robot sighs in frustration as the lights on his “mouth” flash in an annoyed manner. His eyes even roll for good measure.
“Great... You are in the same boat as I am. If you want to know who I am, just call me Lawrence 3000 or Larry for short.”
And then a strange, earless feline showed up. Judging by how he was able to pilot that machine with ease, albeit crashing it into this area, he might be a robot. But that's just ridiculous! Larry theorizes that his programming is feeding him dumb ideas. That Tuddrussell might have an effect on his robotic psyche.
“Huh? Who might you be, strange cat?”
The human then proclaims that he's not human, which is poppycock. If it breathes, talks, and walks like a human, then he's human. While he's being studied, Larry rolls his eyes and sarcastically quips, “And what is your species, I wonder?”
Larry covered his “ears” because of the crying child. He observes the other members of this group for a bit and comes to a frightening conclusion. Oh, Larry's Programmer, Tuddrussel would be tolerable than these jerkwads.
Edited by josh6243 on Nov 21st 2018 at 6:23:20 AM
With a side of fries!
Doraemon cleared his throat "I am Doraemon," he informed, trying his best to be heard over the incessant wailing. It was a little hard to concentrate with everything happening so rapidly, but on the bright side, he was making friends. "I'm a robot from the year 2112," he added with a smile. He extended his hand intending to shake Larry's, "Who might you be?"
The Wrong Timeline
"Come on, come on." Trunks mutters as he looks out of the cockpit of his time machine. Well, his mother's time machine. Still, he knew he wasn't at the right time period, much less the place he was supposed to land. And if he couldn't give Goku his heart medicine, everything would be for nothing.
Opening the cockpit, Trunks jumps out onto the ground. He looked around at his surroundings, and was immediately confused at what he saw. Was this planet's sun a clock? Where exactly was he? And that's when he noticed group of people near a blue... Telephone booth? It looked like one of them had a rifle of some kind-
"WAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAHAAHAAHAAAAAH!" Trunks covers his ears as he heard what sounds to be a infant's cry, though, it is much lounder and much deeper than it should be. He stops covering his ears as soon as the crying stops.
"Well... I certainly wasn't expecting that." He mutters. He then looks back at the slowly growing group. Either they know what's going on, or they're just as confused as he is. But, with no other options, Trunk slowly lifts off the ground and flies towards them.
"So, any of you know what's going on?" He asks them. "I'm kinda in a hurry."
Akuma Shogun
Larry - Time Traveling Wierdos
So Larry was right, that feline was a robot. And he's from 2112 AD? How fascinating!
“Ooh. You're from 2112 AD, huh? I'm from year 1 million AD. I am Larry. What's 2112 AD like?”
Larry returns Doraemon's handshake with one of his own.
And then another ship crash-lands nearby. What the, pardon the language, heck's up with this place and crash landing?! If Larry had a nickel for every crash landing, he'd buy out Time Squad.
“Sorry, but I don't. You can ask the others, though.”
Edited by josh6243 on Nov 20th 2018 at 10:17:48 AM
Ultimate Hope, Absolute Insanity
??? Zone
Silver has heard a strange smiling creature's nervous muttering,"What's wrong with it, you're a raccoon", he said to the raccoon creature.
I didn't ask you examine us, I asked you where the hell are we... , the black hedgehog said coldly, being annoyed by the man's childlike "fanboying".
The black hedgehog sighed as the man went to the robots and fanboy at them...this was wasting their time...
But the man said that all of them were temporally displaced: "I suppose we are...", Silver said, looking insecurely at the two robots and the man...who really knows about this stuff...
"Yeah...that wa—", Silver tried to say as suddenly the strange and twisted sound of a crying baby echoed through the land. Silver covered his ears.
What the hell!!! , the black hedgehog swore in shock at the sound.
Then, two girls in a bike suddenly appeared in a bike...after a while, it stopped.
Apparently, to the surprise of both hedgehogs, the bike could talk...there was also a small human thing that approached the girls and bike...
As the blue haired girl asked today's date, the black hedgehog said: Well, nobody knows where the hell are we, so I bet nobody here know what is today's date... , he said crudely, annoyed.
Then, a...sorceress...appeared from nowhere...and joined the group... "Something wrong?", Silver asked to the sorceress as she made a horrifying sneer because of the strange wailing baby sounds.
As the robot introduced himself, Silver says:"Well...nice to meet you, Larry...my name is Silver The Hedgehog, and him...", he said, pointing at black hedgehog,"He is Shadow The Hedgehog, but please, just call us Silver and Shadow...", he said.
The raccoon creature introduced himself as Doraemon. "Well, Doraemon, I come from the year 2206", Silver said to Doraemon,"...Just...to tell you..."
Then, a lavender-haired teen comes out of his strange time machine and asked something about where were they... I'm afraid nobody here knows where are we... , Shadow said with slight CrossPopping Veins, being tired of hearing people ask the same question.
Edited by Theyja on Nov 21st 2018 at 1:20:59 PM
You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you, since I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO DO! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?
Fear me
Beginning of Time
-An egg-shaped machine ripples through the barrier of space-time, landing without a whisper. From it jumps out a woman in decidedly non-futuristic clothing, save for a shimmering piece of fabric, wielding a large wooden club. She looks around at the landscape in some confusion and at the huge furry mammals with some hunger.-
Hm? This place not Time End. Blue big-rat? Big spike-rat? Eat?
-As she notices the other, equally confused people around her, a piercing scream as of a colossal infant echoes through the air, along with a beam of light cutting through several buildings.-
Baby scream! We find baby!
Ultimate Hope, Absolute Insanity
??? Zone
Then, a cavewoman came out an egg...thing?
"What's wrong??", Silver said to the cavewoman.
Edited by Theyja on Nov 21st 2018 at 1:21:37 PM
You might know everything I'm going to do...but that's not going to help you, since I KNOW EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING TO DO! STRANGE, ISN'T IT?
With a side of fries!
Doraemon pondered Larry's question for a moment. What was 2112 like? He shrugged, "Sleek shiny buildings and a gadget for just about everything." In all his travels through the timestream, he didn't recall ever going to one million AD. "What's your time like, Larry?, he asked nervously. Talking was good. It distracted him from the chaos, but his shield of bravado couldn't withstand the presence of the cavewoman that believed him to be food. He leapt backwards drawing his Air Cannon defensively, "Y-Y-You'd better stay back. Whaddaya think I am, a Yummy Bun?"
Fear me
Ayla, Beginning of Time
Not hear, spike-rat? Baby scream! Maybe monster around!
Ciri had simply appeared.
While some methods of traversing space and time involved fanfare, arcane recitations, strange machinery, and grandiose displays, she simply appeared. And right now she had appeared in the midst of a rather odd bunch of folks. Blast! She had manage to go several months without this sort of thing happening, just her luck!
"Pardon me, I'll be going now," she said....
And stayed right there.
That was rather awkward.
"Or not..." she exhaled. So this was going to be one of those types of days. So far there was a box, and old wizard, a golem of some form, multiple talking furry creatures, a barbarianess who really ought to wear more clothes.... What was she staring at again? She shook her head. Right, the cluster of people. In addition to all that, there was also some manner of succubus, some men in strange a tire, a handful of girls including one who mentioned she was a....
"Excuse me, time traveler?" she half-asked, half-demanded of Segami. "Don't tell me you have the Elder Blood."
She blinked.
"And what sort of mount is that?" She gestured at Nepbike. It was no Kelpie, but the strange contraption still had, well, presence.
Toa of Anarchy
"I- Er- Well- Erm-" Eckels had a horrible feeling that no matter what his answer, he'd be having to make a run for it anyway. As if that wasn't bad enough, now there was a new flood of people arriving, if you could even call some of them people. Two teen girls on a motorbike, a woman with horns on her head and tattoos on her face, a couple different people with impossibly pale hair, a cavewoman with suspiciously well-groomed hair, and did he just hear the motorbike talk?
"Everyone QUIET!" The bellowing voice came from the man with the rifle, who looked about the assembled horde with a steely gaze. "Let's assess the facts here. All of us are time travellers, correct? Some from the past, some from the future, not all of us human, and none of us intending to be...wherever this place is. Now then, first thing we've got to do is scout out the area, maybe get our bearings. That starts with getting over to wherever that damn noise is coming from, and making it quiet. Agreed?"
As the talk went on, one more entrant, a teenage girl,
arrived at the group, gingerly sidling into the crowd and giving a cheery smile and wave to whoever spotted her slipping in. Meanwhile, the baby's wailing began to very gradually subside.
AKA Nixer
???
The Doctor had gone from increasingly elated to mildly concerned and then dreadfully anxious at the sheer amount of displaced travellers showing up all at once. The variety was fascinating, yes—but it was with a horrific realisation did he note that none of them were identifiable to him as a species. Even the humans had technology or other attributes he'd never seen before.
Was this phenomenon dragging time travellers through universes?
Briefly, he scanned the others again. The two spined ones of cartoonist physiology. The robots of unknown make. The cavewoman. The levitating one with lavender hair. The...
Good grief.
“Time Lord,” he finally answered Larry—despite his snarking question regarding his species being already lost to the chaos. “And yes, best not stand around dawdling. Any more show up, just drag them along. We can explain as we go. But trust me; this is more than a simple strange occurrence. Something pulled us here. Possibly for some dastardly reason.”
He paused. “That or we all simultaneously fell through a rift in the Vortex. Equally possible, but a bit unlikely. Nevertheless, we're wasting daylight. Assuming this world revolves, of course.”
Edited by Enirboreh on Nov 21st 2018 at 12:27:42 PM
bork
Through space they flew. Through time they roamed. Into the fixtures of the distant past, off through the variables of the farthest future, nothing was beyond their reach. For them, today was merely a starting point, and all yesterdays and tomorrows could be experienced as one continuous 'now'.
Now, their journey was underway. Perhaps it was a routine flight through the ages, for those who were experienced at their craft. Perhaps it was the first time they'd ever embarked upon a journey across the time warp. Perhaps it was through their own power, on the wings of their own equipment, or perhaps they rode on the coattails of other, more experienced travellers. Whatever the case, off they flew, fly and will fly, on a journey through the history of their reality...
Suddenly, something was awry. The flow of time was jerked from their grasp. Like an automobile on an errant pool of mud, they found themselves yanked off course, into a skid beyond their control, and then...out they popped, re-emerging into the physical realm once more. But...what was this? Where was this new place, let alone when? If the powers and devices of these travellers could read the time and date, it would be the zeroth hour of the zeroth day of year zero, and it always would be, here in this strange new location, beyond the reach of ages, in a reality far flung from the one they knew, and yet...so very, dangerously close.
The hour had come. The hand about to strike. Let the chimes begin...
Off in the outskirts, a large blue man picked himself up out of the mud. Usually, he'd be more than happy to wallow in the stuff if it meant not having to get back to work, but this time he was a little confused, seeing as he hadn't even meant to end up in there. Getting back on his feet, he had a look around, and it was immediately apparent he wasn't where he was before. Above him was a dark violet sky, filled with stars and galaxies. Around him, sky blue hamsters the size of horses with clocks hung on chains around their necks hopped about aimlessly. The sandy ground and leafless trees were covered in drooping clocks of all shapes and sizes, while a running river wound his way past him with stopwatch lilypads drifting along them. Of course, none of this was unusual for him. But the clocks were different, he didn't recognise the layout of the stream, and what the heck was that village off in the distance?
"Hmmm...Hey, where's my wheel?" That was the last thing he remembered. He was riding atop the hamster-drawn wheel, minding his own beeswax, when suddenly there was this skid in the road, and he fell right through into wherever this was. The hamsters were still around, looking just as lost as him, but there didn't seem to be any wheel. "Better find it soon, I guess. Hope it didn't get totalled from the crash, 'cause then I'll be in real trouble." Let's see now...not over there...not by there...not behind the tree, not under this cool mud- no, focus. Gotta finds the wheel, mustn't play around with- oh, hello, what's this?
Sat on a small mound, overlooking a view of the plains and the village beyond, there was some kind of strange machine. It almost looked like an open booth, with platform and a handrail in front of it. The platform had these coloured arrows on the bottom, laid out in a square- no, two squares, all the arrows pointing out from the centre. The main booth was covered in tacky colours and blinking lights, with a sign at the top showing a name in a radical and unintelligible print. The main feature of the booth, surrounded by speakers, was a screen showing a computer generated lady dancing about behind coloured arrows going up, and a caption saying Do you want to play?
"...Heck yeah, I wanna play!" The blue man clambered aboard. The moment his muscled feet touched the centre of his control pad, the arrows lit up and the machine hummed to life.
G♯4, F♯4, E4, B3...
In the air above, a castle blinked into existence. A dark and twisted architecture, suspended above the ground, resembling something between a reaper with scythe and a grandfather clock. Inside, a myriad of gears and chimes would be ordinarily be ticking and chugging away. But now the rhythm is off, the gears grind, and the building is flung into disarray. At the centre of the home, three spirits tried to recover their bearings.
"What in the world was that?" said one.
"Some sort of tremendous discharge from the gateway," said the second.
"Is it so much to ask to keep this equipment orderly and well maintained?"
"The least you could have done is given adequate warning."
The two became aware that the third is being very quiet. They turned their eyes to the third of their party, who was currently laying against the wall, eyes wide, breathing heavily with lungs he did not have.
"Well, out with it, man! What's the meaning of this? What in this world or the next is going on here?!"
The spirit's response was as much a shock to him as it was to the others. "...I...I...don't know!..."
E4, G♯4, F♯4, B3...
An assortment of men in dark combat gear with green highlights slowly got to their feet, massaging their heads. One adjusted his eyepiece and called out to the rest, "Status report!"
"Officer Clean, okay."
"Officer Jaud, okay."
"Officer Dan, okay."
"Officer Vamme, okay."
As other such names were called out, the first man and his partner scanned the environment. "We appear to be in the middle of a small human settlement, possibly classified as village or hamlet."
"Sensors picking up high density of tachyon particles. Do we have a bead on place and time?"
"Negative. Each building here indicates a different country, school of architecture and period of design. Activity level...a little too quiet."
"Well, we'd better keep it that way. The last thing we need right now is to disturb-"
"What is this?!" A deep booming voice cried out in a plaintive tone, as a being of enormous size rose into the air. "We're not where we're meant to be! I do not like chaaaange!"
"Code red, code red, the baby's awake, repeat, the baby is awake!"
E4, F♯4, G♯4, E4...
Up and away, high in the heavens, there is a flash of light. A great spaceship, in the form of a sword, hangs in the air above the plains. Aboard the bridge, men in purple garb recover their wits, and mourn lost comrades. At the centre of it all, a man stands holding in his arms a woman that flickers in and out of sight.
"Update."
"Error. Temporal and physical coordinates are unknown. The time dissolution has slowed, but is still in effect."
The grim figure looked from the woman in his arms to the screen above, displaying all the strange sights in the world below. "I'll save you, my love. I'll save our entire timeline, and whatever force dares stand in my way...will be utterly destroyed."
G♯4, E4, F♯4, B3...
Back on the ground, an assortment of men and women fell out a hole in the air and collapsed in a pile of one another. A chorus of complaints went up about one person sitting on the other and pointy armour poking others in the derrière, but as the horde of oddly dressed men and women clambered to their feet and looked about, their grumbling and bickering gave way to murmurs of fear and discontent. In the midst of all of this, a wide brimmed red hat was picked up off the ground, and planted neatly atop a finely groomed auburn mane. A woman stepped forward, and the crowd fell into a deathly hush, as she looked about the strange buildings, at the castle floating in the distance, and up at the terrible sword in the distant sky.
"Well, boys and girls," she said. "Seems as though our little time spree will have to wait."
"What is this place?"
"When, thou dost mean."
"Aw, button it, ya great paloo-"
"Quiet," snapped the leader, wrapping her red coat tighter around herself. "Wherever and whenever, until we get out bearings, we're not safe out in the open. Let's move." Together, the group hurried away into the nearest building, and the comfort of the shadows.
B3, F♯4, G♯4, E4...
In the streets of this strange little settlement, there appeared from thin air a mass and tangle, a snaking and humming of wires and steel boxes, with an aurora that flickered now orange, now silver, now blue. A glass bubble of a lid came open, and a man inside snapped "Get out." A portly moustachioed gentleman came stumbling out of the machine and looked around, dumbfounded by this strange new environment. One after another, a group of men followed, staring all around at this bewildering world they found themselves in.
"What happened?" cried one. "Where's the office?"
"Forget that, man, where's the rest of the city?!"
"My god, is that a castle floating in the sky?"
"How in the world did this happen?"
There was a sudden cry, a warble of horror, from the first to exit the vehicle. Everyone sharply turned to see this man, resting on the ground, saying "No, it can't be. Not a little thing like that! No!" In his hand was a clod of mud, scraped from the slime on his boot. Embedded in the mud, glistening green and gold and black, was a butterfly, very beautiful and very dead. "Not a little thing like that! Not a butterfly!" he cried, as the little strip of creation fell from the dirt and drifted softly to the ground. Sat on the ground, he looked about frantically, before staring up at the others with a trembling chin and tears in his eyes. "Can't we," he pleaded to the world, to himself, to the group, to the Machine, "Can't we take it back, can't we make it alive again? Can't we start over? Can't we-"
He did not move. Eyes shut, he waited, shivering. One man breathed loudly, and stepped in front of the others. Standing above the trembling little thing, the man shifted a hunting rifle from his back, clicked the safety catch, and slowly raised it level with the other man's head...
...E3...E3...E3...
Edited by LizardOfAus on Nov 20th 2018 at 12:01:18 PM