SLIDERS: ALTERNATE SPIN
EPISODE 13: NEXT LEVEL (S1 finale)
(second part)
 Randy felt the thought. The voice was very familiar to him. He shivered as he realized who it was.
 It was Chad Owens, a student who had allowed himself to be experimented on by a double of Randy's. He had allowed himself to become an unstable weapon of power. The last time Randy had seen him he was allying himself with an alien.
 The explosion dragged Randy's thoughts back to reality. He heard Melissa's scream and turned to her. She looked in horror at the spot where the vortex had been. There was just a black spot where it had been.
 "Is everyone okay?"
 Randy looked to see who was talking. He recognized the man as Dr. Donald Smith. He was part of the group of scientists who experimented on Chad.
 "You don't look insane so I'll say that my field extended just in time," Smith said.
 "Field?" Randy said.
 "Actually, you--your double--invented it before his death," Smith explained. "He thought if Chad gained telepathic ability that the psi field would cloak your thoughts. It worked."
 "What's going on?" Nicole asked. "What's that thing? Who is he? Who are you?"
 "It's a long story," Melissa said.
 "I suggest we go back to the Dominion," Smith said. "Things are about to get a little hairy. Heim, could you help me with--"
 Randy looked. There was no sign of Chad at all. It was like he had simply vanished.
 "Where did he go?" Melissa asked.
 "I don't know," Randy replied.

 The vortex opened among the trees. Richard flew out of it and landed under a tree. He took in his surroundings. It could have been the park except there were more trees and bushes.
 A whir came from the vortex again. Professor Brown fell on a bush.
 "Proper?" Richard managed to say.
 "I am just fine," Brown said as he stood up.  Richard turned toward the vortex. He was expecting Melissa or Egghead to slide in any second.
 Then the vortex exploded in front of him and Brown.
 "Oh my God!" Brown muttered.
 "What just happened?" Richard asked. "The vortex just exploded."
 "You just answered your own question," Brown said. He walked toward the spot where the vortex was. The only sign that it was there was the fact that the glass was black. "The vortex should not have exploded. How could this had happened?"
 "Better question, Proper...what does this mean for Melissa and Egghead? We have the timer after all," Richard said.
 Brown looked at Richard. Richard could see the fear in his eyes.
 "I do not know, Mr.. Hall," Brown answered. "I do not know."

 "I can't believe Chad just vanished," Randy said.
 "Do not worry, Heim," Smith said as he worked on an object on the coffee table. "Chad...Owens is still here. I would have detected if he vortexed out. I still have time."
 "Time to what?" Randy asked.
 "What's even going on?" Melissa said as she sat next to a crying Nicole. "Why were all those people like zombies outside? Will they turn back to normal?"
 "I'm afraid not," Smith said as he continued to work on the object on the table. "Once that thoughtwave hits, all people of this parallel Earth are affect permanently."
 Nicole stopped crying to look up at Dr. Smith. "Are you saying...my Richard...he's going to..."
 "I think he can find a way to help, Nicole," Melissa said. She looked at him. "Right?"
 "Well...I..." Smith tried to look for the right words.
 "We will, Nicole," Randy cut Smith off. He looked at Smith. "So...what happened?"
 "Chad's powers had been amplified by that alien," Smith explained. "It's like what our government were going to use him for...on an interdimenisonal scale."
 "What were you using him for?" Melissa asked.
 "Phase Two would have been to use him on a country as a supersoldier," Smith continued. "The alien has amplified his telepathic powers like an atom bomb and uses him as such. Over the last few months, I have been able to track him thanks to Heim's sliding technology. He was very into it it seems. I've been trying to make amends by trying to stop Owens."
 Smith held up the object in his hand. "However, I cannot figure this thing out. I was hoping you would."
 Randy looked at the object. It just looked like a helmet. He looked at Melissa. She just shrugged her shoulders.
 "I'll see what I can do," Randy said finally.

 "Will you stop asking me that, Mr. Hall? For the last time, I do not know what I am going to do!" Brown yelled at Richard as they walked through the forest.
 "You got to have thought of something, Proper," Richard said. "We have the timer after all. Maybe you can slide us back."
 "The last time we did that," Brown said, "the timer got fried and we had to get jobs for two weeks on the next world."
 Richard grinned. "Then maybe we should just leave them anyway."
 "Not an option," Brown said firmly.
 The two of them made it out of the forest. What stood before them was a village. Where once there were skyscrapers there were brick house. There were streets made of clobberstone where streets once were made of steel.
 "Hmmm," Brown said. "It looks very Revolutionary era."
 "Yeah," Richard said. "Right down to the hanging over there."
 "Huh?"
 Brown turned to look in the direction where Richard pointed. People gathered around a platform on the corner. A man was on it with a nook around his neck. Two men stood before the man. Brown recognized them almost immediately.
 "It is them," Brown muttered.
 "What? What are you talking about?" Richard said in surprise. "Who are them?"
 "They are the men from the other world," Brown explained. "The men who dropped the Old Testament book. And that man about to be hanged...he is the storekeeper of the other world."
 "Hey! You're right!" Richard said. "Good eye."
 "So will you repent?" the blond-haired man asked the old man.
 "No," the old man replied. "I've already said what I've said."
 "Yeah. You said God does not exist!" the dark-haired man said.
 "Logically, that is--"
 "Shut up!" the blond-haired man said.
 "Death!" the dark-haired man said.
 The crowd started to chant along with the dark-haired man. Brown started to head forward, but he felt a hand on his arm.
 "Don't," Richard said. "You know better."
 The blond haired man pulled a lever. Brown turned around as the crowd cheered on the hanging.
 "We better make ourselves sacred," Richard said.
 Brown barely heard him over the cheering from the crowd. As Richard led him away, Brown turned to look at the crowd. Some of them were jumping for joy at the death. It sickened Brown's stomach.

 "So you're sure this...gizmo will track him?" Melissa asked Dr. Smith as she walked along the sidewalk.
 "If Heim made it...yes," Smith replied simply.
 "You have a lot of confidence in my double," Randy replied next to him.
 Melissa saw Dr. Smith look at Randy. There was no mistaking the pride in his face.
 "I respect your...your double's ability," Smith replied. "He was a brilliant man."
 "CHAOSBRINGER!"
 Melissa turned to her left. There was a man running around chanting the word repeatedly. Near him, a guy rolled around on the ground.
 "Rich..."
 Melissa squeezed Nicole's hand. She had barely said anything since they left the Dominion to find Chad. It did not take a rocket scientist to see that she was not taking this well.
 "He's okay," Melissa said reassuringly. "You'll be with him before you know it."
 Melissa looked at Randy. He looked at her with a cease in his forehead. She just shrugged her shoulders at him.
 "Make it stop!"
 "Chaosbringer!"
 Melissa ignored the people's yells. She knew she would start to panic like Nicole. It may look like they were the last humans on earth, but she was sure Randy and Dr. Smith would figure this out.
 Randy had gone back to talking to Dr. Smith over the device they had worked on together. Melissa wondered how they planned on finding Professor Brown and Richard. They could be anywhere.
 "Could be anywhere. This Earth or another."
 Melissa stopped walking. She turned to her right. A dark-haired woman emerged from the shadows. She looked as if she didn't notice the four people.
 "No signs of the Dynasty," the woman continued. She started to walk pass Melissa. "Still...what is our purpose?"
 "A weapon to purge the disease that is humans."
 Melissa turned to see Richard...his double walking toward them. His face was alive with a smirk.
 "It worked on Earth 357," Richard's double continued as he walked toward them. "The human Owens devoured that world. No human survived his thoughtwave. He could be useful in the coming war."
 "And Mallory?" the dark-skinned woman asked Richard's double.
 "Missing, therefore unimportant," Richard's double said as he stopped in front of the woman. "Owens is the key."
 "Rich?" Nicole muttered. "Are you in there?"
 "He cannot hear you," Smith said to Nicole.
 "Well, dammit! Help him!" Nicole snapped.
 "Nicole, calm down," Melissa said.
 "What is this?" Randy asked Dr. Smith. "Is Chad somehow possessing these people?"
 "We just saw a memory," Smith said. "Various thoughts in his mind are now in other peoples' thoughts. Eventually, they will all burn out."
 "Not if we find Chad," Randy said.
 "You will find him."
 Melissa turned to see Nicole looking at Smith and Randy. Her face was like an animal about to attack its prey.
 "This is you scientists' fault!" Nicole lashed out. "If you haven't played God, this wouldn't have happened!"
 "Nicole!" Melissa found herself barking.
 "It's true!" Nicole yelled at Melissa. "I've had enough of this!"
 Nicole pushed Melissa out of her way. She ran for a second. Melissa heard her gasp and saw why.
 Chad floated in front of her. His expression was one of annoyance.

 Brown just looked out of the window of the inn he and Richard had managed to check into. The people just went about their business.
 He turned to look at the timer. It was countdowning at the moment. They had a couple of days before they slid again. The question was: to keep sliding on for home or find their companions.
 Richard's words stuck in his mind. Perhaps HE could figure out what Mr. Heim could not. Or what if the next slide was home for them? Mr. Heim had proven that he was reckless time and again to the point of the others. Maybe he got what he deserved.
 HOWEVER, Brown thought, Melissa did not deserve to be stuck on a world that was not hers.
 "What's up, Proper!" Richard yelled as he walked into the room. "I got eats!"
 Brown looked at Richard as he sat a basket full of clothes and bread on the nearby table. He frowned at Richard.
 "Bread?" Brown said. "Just bread? And where did you get the currency to get these clothes?"
 "Hey! You get what you can when you don't have the...currency," Richard replied. "You can get killed for wearing that. Too...scientist guy."
 "Well, I am sorry that I am not baroque enough for the people here," Brown said.
 "You'll just lucky black people are equal here."
 Brown frowned at Richard and grabbed his clothes out of the basket.
 "I think we should decide what is to be done with our companions," Brown announced.
 Richard folded his arms over his chest and frowned. "You know I think we should leave Egghead."
 "What about Melissa?" Brown challenged. "Have you just forgotten all about her in your vendetta against Mr. Heim?"
 "No," Richard replied.
 "We are going back," Brown said. "I might not be as brilliant as Mr. Heim, but I will get us back."

 "Chad?" Randy managed to get out of his mouth.
 Chad floated in the air with no answer. His eyes narrowed on Dr. Smith.
 "Owens, listen to me," Randy said again. "That alien...he did something to you. You know it's hurting you. Let us help."
 "What if he resist our commands?" the dark-haired woman asked out of the blue.
 Richard walked over to Randy. He stared him up and down.
 "He will not," Richard replied. "Lurch!"
 It came out of nowhere. A flash of silver flew up at Randy. A shot of pain hit his chest. He looked down to see the cause: he had a knife in his chest.
 "Thank you, Dr. Heim," Richard's double replied. Then his eyes rolled into his head and he fell to the ground.
 Randy felt his own legs tumble from under him. The dirt came up to his eyes and everything turned black.

 "Randy!"
 Melissa felt the breath come out of her as she saw Randy fall to the ground. Dark red started to flow from the side of his body.
 "Rich!"
 Nicole headed for the other body that laid near Randy. Melissa watched her feel the body. Tears started to form in Nicole's eyes.
 "Rich, no!" Nicole cried.
 "Owens, you have to listen," Dr. Smith said. "This is not what we--"
 A rock shot up at Dr. Smith. He dodged it, but his bag fell to the ground. He reached for it in desperation.
 That was when Melissa heard it. A familiar whir as the sky opened up above Chad. The look on his face showed surprise. Melissa saw it and made a break for it.
 She grabbed the helmet out of Dr. Smith's bag. Chad was struggling against the wormhole while she ran for him.
 "No!"
 The dark-haired woman stood in front of Melissa. Her hand fell on Melissa's forehead.
 A feeling of warmth entered her. It filled her with such a calm feeling that Melissa stopped. She watched Chad get ripped out of the sky by the wormhole. It shut behind him.
 Melissa felt her mind going dark. She tried to fight it, but it was no use. Everything went black.

 "Ready?"
 "No," Richard replied as they stood in the forest. His arms were crossed over his chest. "Can't we just wait 'til the timer counts down to zero? Isn't this a risk?"
 "Yes, it is," Brown replied. "It is a risk that I am willing to take."
 "I'm not," Richard replied.
 "You won't have to."
 A group of men approached from the bushes. Brown recognized the two men from the hanging. He put the timer behind his back.
 "What are you two doing?" the blond man demanded.
 "Walking," Richard said. "People are allowed to walk, right?"
 "Of course," the dark-haired man said. "It's just you two are new to this town and we didn't know where you were from."
 "Canada," Richard lied.
 The blond haired man frowned. "Canada?"
 "Uh...yeah," Richard continued. "It's to the north. Snow. Trees. Angst-ridden singers. You know...Canada!"
 Brown saw the men look at each other. Some men just nodded their heads. The blond haired man frowned as he stared at Brown. Brown stiffened up.
 "What's behind your back?" the blond haired man asked.
 "It is...well I am trying to pick out something for my wife," Brown lied. "She is a woman who appreciates nature so I know she will lose these. I just thought you men would think me less of one if I...admitted to that."
 "How about you let us see it?" the dark haired man asked.
 "Yeah," the blond haired man added. "We can be the judge."
 "How about we just continue our walk?" Richard jumped in. "So much nature to see. So little time."
 "Good idea," Brown added. "Let us--"
 "Stop right there!" the blond haired man barked. "Grab them!"
 The other men grabbed Richard and Brown before they could run. One of them tossed the timer to the blond haired man. He smirked.
 "I knew they weren't from Canada," the blond haired man said. "There's no such place."
 "You idiot!" Brown insulted Richard.
 "It exist everywhere else!" Richard barked. "How was I to know--"
 "Silence!" the dark haired man yelled. "You have been found with something only a scientist would have. You die by hanging."
 Brown turned to Richard in shock. Richard's face was blank.
 "I knew we should have left them," Richard said flatly.

 "Ahh!"
 "Is everything okay?" Dr. Smith hopped into Randy's room.
 "Only hurts...when I laugh," Randy said weakly. "Any change?"
 Dr. Smith's face said it all. Melissa still had not waken up.
 "You're going to have to accept this," Smith declared. "I think Melissa's in a coma. She might never--"
 "She's going to wake up!" Randy snapped. Then he yelled because the sudden movement brought pain to his chest. "Any other bad news?"
 "For one, Nicole has vanished to who knows where," Smith said. "For another, by the time I leave this world, the population will have burned out from Chad's thoughtwave."
 Randy fell into a seat. He couldn't help, but feel this was all his fault.

 From Randall Heim's journal:

 'I, Randall Heim, am an idiot. I invented this machine, tested it a little, and involved friends (and Richard) in it. I thought it would be fun.

 Look at us now. Professor Brown and Richard are on some other world involved in who knows what. Melissa's in a coma and might not wake up. I got stabbed and recovering badly. All four of us are so far from home.

 All of this a result of something that I (and my doubles) did. Now I am alone. This is my punishment and I accept it without resisting.

 I am lost.


THE-END