Melissa Clark's eyes flew open. She grunted.
It had happened...again.
Melissa sat up in bed. Her black hair fell across her face. She pushed it back and sighed.
No matter how many slides they fell through, it always happened. The same time every night, she shot awake. And then she could never get back to sleep.
Melissa looked at the door. If something bothered her, she could count on her sliding mates. No...she used to be able to. Now...Richard wasn't talking to her due to their breakup. Rembrandt was keeping to himself more than ever. And Randy...was with Ethan. Randy...who was her best friend.
"Grrrrr," Melissa said, turning back in her bed.
She wrapped her arms around herself. For a moment she imagined they were Randy's. She was back on that futuristic world with him. It was just them and no one else.
Now...she was alone.
A whir sounded through the air. Melissa shot out of the wormhole. She hit the ground...hard. She pushed back a cry.
Hands touched her shoulders. Melissa moved away from them quickly, standing up. She saw it was Rembrandt Brown.
"You okay, Girl?" Rembrandt asked.
"Yeah," Melissa said. "Rough landing, but I'm fine."
Melissa turned away quickly. Randy Heim and Ethan Bradshaw was in her way. Randy helped Ethan up. They were so comfortable with each other. Melissa could not remember seeing Randy as close with an Ethan double as he was with...
Her eyes narrowed. As he used to be with her. She felt her eyes watered so she looked around, frowning.
They were in a hallway. From the many brown doors, she would say a hotel. It was probably the Dominion Hotel.
"How much time?" Richard Hall asked.
"Three days," Randy said. "Looks like we're in the Dominion."
"So the tracker didn't work this time either?" Rembrandt asked.
"Or Quinn is around here somewhere," Richard added.
"Or a Quinn?" Rembrandt shot back.
"A little less negative," Ethan said.
"Reality, Thuggie," Richard said. "Come out of your love nest and see..."
Melissa did not even let him finish. She headed for the elevator. It opened instantly. She got in and pushed the button for down.
"Later!" she exclaimed.
The last thing Melissa saw...were four shocked faces.
Melissa stepped out of the elevator. She smiled. It was the Dominion lobby.
She headed for the door. She just could not deal with them. Rembrandt's desire to find Quinn. Richard's need to be a smartass. Randy...and Ethan.
Her eyes narrowed. Randy and Ethan. Just thinking of them made her blood boil...
"Excuse me, Miss?"
Melissa paused. Gomez Calhoun headed for her. She was used to him looking cheerful. He looked at her like she was a robber.
"Can I help you?" Melissa asked.
"Uh...no," Calhoun asked. "Where's your coding?"
Melissa frowned. "My coding? Oh. Uh..."
"Back off, Formy."
Melissa looked in front of her. Her eyes widened at the tall Goth guy that was in front of her. She had not seen him since she was on Earth Prime except a few scattered doubles.
"Thorn!" Melissa exclaimed.
Thorn looked at her for a moment.
"I think we need to talk," Thorn said. "Or are you trying to bring the President down on our heads?"
WHAT IF YOU SLIDE TO A DIFFERENT DIMENSION? A PLACE WHERE YOU'RE THE SAME PERSON, IT'S THE SAME YEAR, BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS DIFFERENT?
OVER SIX YEARS AGO, WE HAVE SEEN...
...A WORLD WHERE THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE NEVER TOOK PLACE...
OR
...A WORLD WHERE YOUR DREAMS OF BEING A STAR CAME TRUE...
OR
...A WORLD WITH A WAR BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT ALIEN RACES?
BUT...WHAT IF YOU COULD NEVER GET HOME?
SLIDERS: ALTERNATE SPIN-SEASON 7
EPISODE 6: SOLITAIRE
The elevator doors opened. Randy stepped out of them quickly. His eyes took in the Dominion lobby. While several people were around...including Gomez Calhoun...there was no sign of Melissa.
"No sign of her," Randy said.
"As if you care."
Randy turned around. Richard Hall was behind him. He smirked at Randy.
"More than you do," Randy said. "But I'm not going to fight with you."
"Any sign of Quinn?"
Randy looked over at Rembrandt Brown. He had a grimace on his face. Add on the stubble, he had been growing, Rembrandt could have been a caveman.
"Not that I can see," Randy said.
"I thought this time you had it," Rembrandt said.
"It's harder to pinpoint one signature in the seas of the multiverse," Randy said.
"But not impossible." Rembrandt's eyes narrowed on him. "And even if it was, all you have to do is go into a trance and make it possible. So what's the deal?" He stepped toward Randy. "Why are you holding--"
A figure got in between Randy and Rembrandt. Judging from the dark locks, he knew it was Ethan. Ethan had a hand on Rembrandt's chest, staring at him intensely.
"Back off," Ethan said.
Rembrandt glared at Ethan. Ethan did not seem to care. Randy tried not to blush from the protectiveness.
"Is there a problem?"
Randy turned around. Gomez Calhoun stood behind him. He looked at them with suspicion in his eyes. Randy managed a smile.
"Just a friendly disagreement," Randy said.
"Good," Calhoun said. "So...you and your friend who ran out...you have coding?"
Randy frowned. "Friend?"
Then he realized it. There was no sign of Richard anywhere. He was gone.
"Son of a--" Randy started, heading for the door.
Calhoun was in his way.
"Do you have coding?" Calhoun demanded.
"What is coding?"
Thorn looked at Melissa. They had gotten away from the Dominion in Thorn's van. Now they were at some coffeehouse. Melissa took it and noticed that most of the people were dressed Goth or punk. Or both. Thorn definitely looked a lot like the Thorn she knew on Earth Prime...except for the hair. Still...he had his Goth edge.
"All this time of not wanting it and now you ask what's coding?" Thorn asked. He frowned. "Then again...look at you. You're looking like a Formy yourself."
Melissa looked down at herself. She was dressed in a green sweater with a plaid skirt and green stockings with black boots. Her jet-black hair has started to curl at the bottom. She was the opposite of how she was when she was Goth. A sign escaped her lips as she thought how she was back then.
"Well...things change," Melissa said.
Thorn's face darkened. "Not too much I hope."
Melissa shook her head. "Still me."
"Good."
"Thorn!"
A figure shot into Melissa's line of vision. She saw dark braids and black. Then it was on Thorn, hands encircling him. He hugged the brunette girl back.
"God, I was starting to worry!" the girl exclaimed.
"Paige...I'm good," Thorn said. "In fact...I ran into an old friend. You remember Melissa."
Paige. The name conjured up the redhead girl from the future. Randy fell for her. Of course, it didn't help that his mind had been messed with. It didn't hurt any less.
Paige turned to look at her. Her face darkened.
"Oh," Paige said. "I...didn't recognize you with black clothes on." She looked at Thorn. "Are you sure she didn't go Formy?"
Melissa frowned. Then she glared. She was definitely going to not like this girl.
"I was just asking her that," Thorn said. "So what changed?"
"Well..." Melissa started. She paused. "I...fell in love."
Paige quickly turned to Thorn. Thorn's forehead wrinkled up for a moment. Then he managed a smile.
"So," Paige said, "you did it for him. What was his name? Randy."
Melissa's face darkened. "How about we don't talk about that?"
"Well, Melissa, what would you like to talk about?"
Melissa wanted to wipe the smirk right off of Paige's face. However, this was a different world. And...she had to learn about it.
"Coding," Melissa replied.
"We should have fought them off."
Randy looked at Ethan. Ethan sat next to him on the bench at the police station. He frowned.
"We don't know how this world works," Randy said. "Let's not go off half-cocked."
"Isn't that your M.O., Genius?"
Randy glared at Rembrandt. He sat on the other side of Randy. He looked at him annoyed.
"Just look at the reality show world," Rembrandt said.
"No one asked for him to pick us up," Randy said.
"Maybe you should have gotten ahold of a paper first,"Rembrandt said. "Get a lay of the land. That's what Quinn would do."
Randy laughed. "The same Quinn that was romancing every new girl he saw even thought he would have to leave them? The same Quinn that steps into his double's shoes without knowing what's going on? That Quinn?"
Rembrandt frowned. "Hey now..."
"Then stop comparing to Quinn. I'm not Quinn."
"Ain't that the truth?"
"Could we at least had run for it?" Ethan asked. "Calhoun couldn't had caught all of us."
"I agree with Ethan," Rembrandt said. "This could be nothing, but trouble."
"That's a chance we'll have to take," Randy said.
Rembrandt narrowed his eyes on him. "Until you create a wormhole to suck up innocent people?"
Randy felt his anger boiling. "I did what I..."
"Had to do?" Rembrandt finished. "Have you really?"
"Yes," Randy said.
"I don't think so."
"You think?"
"More than you."
"Gentlemen."
Randy looked away. An older woman stood in front of them with a notepad. Her hair was in a bun. She woke a long black dress. On her chest was what appeared to be a red, white, and blue button. She looked at them through thin black glasses. It made Randy think of an old schoolmarm.
"Gomez Calhoun tells me you do not have your coding," the woman said.
"What's--" Randy started.
"We were in Canada backpacking," Rembrandt said, cutting him off.
The woman's eyes narrowed on Rembrandt.
"There's no Canada," the woman said. "Try again. The truth this time perhaps?"
"What appears to be the problem?" Randy asked.
The woman's eyes widened. Randy wondered why that was. Then she set her jaw.
"I hoped that you were citizens of the United States...which enforces coding to acknowledge that fact," the woman said. "Since I see you do not have it, that can only mean hat you are not citizens of the United States."
"Meaning?" Ethan asked.
"But we are citizens," Randy said, looking at Ethan and hoping he could read eyes.
"Then where is your coding?" the woman challenged.
"Shouldn't how we look be enough?" Rembrandt shot back.
"You do not look American to me," the woman said, crossing her arms over her chest. "An American would have coding."
"How about how we talk?"
"Any non-American can hide their accent with practice."
"So what you saying? I'm some terrorist?"
The woman smirked. "Are you?"
"What is that suppose to mean?" Ethan asked, standing up.
Randy noticed several eyeprints fell on them. This was not good. He looked at the woman again.
"We're not terrorists, Ma'am," Randy said. "We're just travelers passing through."
The woman frowned. "To where?"
"Why do you want to know?" Randy asked.
"Have you looked at a map lately?" the woman asked.
Randy frowned. "Apparently not."
"Obviously," the woman said. She turned to the left. "Felix, take them to the cell."
"Cell?" Rembrandt said. "Are you serious?"
"There's only one way we deal with people with no coding here," the woman said. "Contain the threat."
"Threat?" Ethan uttered. "To whom?"
"The United States of America."
"Hm."
Richard thought Melissa and Brown would laugh if they saw him now. He had been at the library, researching this world. All the years, he had given research the middle finger yet here he was. If he didn't know better, he would think he was...
Richard frowned. He could not finish the sentence. He was him. Yes, it wasn't his body...but it was him. Rembrandt was just an idiot.
So...there was some kind of war with Iraq. And the United States...
"Oh," Richard uttered.
Richard got up. He headed for the library entrance. Maybe it was a good idea he got away from...
A figure shot up in front of him. Richard paused. His eyes widened as he saw who it was.
"Excuse me," Laura Carmichael said, "do you have coding?"
"Hey, everyone! Look at who I found!"
Melissa walked into the apartment. Three pairs of eyes stared at her. She gestured silly.
"No one important...really," Melissa said.
"Got that right," Paige mumbled, pushing past her.
Melissa glared at Paige. She was really starting to dislike that girl.
"Liz? Is that you!"
The figure shot at her before Melissa could react. Next thing Melissa knew she was in a bear hug. The person pulled away, revealing it was Eve.
Melissa resisted the urge to freak out. It wasn't really Eve Albright, the dark slider she knew. It was only a double. There wasn't much difference between the two from what Melissa could tell. Just like Dark Slider Eve, this Eve woke black leather. This Eve had braided black hair though. She looked at Melissa, smiling.
"It's been...wow...forever!" Eve exclaimed. Eve looked Melissa up and down, frowning. "Though...what's up with the clothes?"
Melissa frowned. She did not think she was going to like this Eve either.
"That's cuz she's a Formy," Paige said.
Eve turned around. Paige had sat down on the couch with some of the other Gothheads. Eve narrowed her eyes on her.
"Those of us who really know Liz know better," Eve said. She glanced at Thorn.
"Right, Thorn?"
Melissa saw Paige go red. She was not blushing. It was anger. She looked at eve who was smiling. She smirked as well. Maybe she would like this Eve after all.
"I trust Melissa," Thorn said.
"As do I," Eve said.
Melissa smiled. "Good."
Eve glared at the room. "Anyone else got any questions?"
There was no mistaking that tone. It was a tone Melissa was used to from Dark Slider Eve. She was not one to mess with.
Melissa looked about the room. Most of the Gothheads said nothing. Paige shook with annoyance. Melissa looked at Eve.
She thought she was going to like her.
"I say," Eve said, "we party."
"The United States of America? What in the--"
Rembrandt only made it halfway out of his chair. Several police officers were in the area in an instant. Randy stared at them. Then he noticed it.
All of the policemen had the same button on as the woman. Randy narrowed his eyes on them. The same buttons as the woman. He had all he needed to know.
Then Randy felt it. He tilted his head to the side. Then...he let go.
Rembrandt stood half up off the bench. Policemen quickly surrounded the area. He looked at the scene surprised.
The United States? These people could not tell they were citizens. What kind of world had they slid to?
"I suggest you--" the woman started.
Suddenly, Randy shot up. He aimed at the nearest policeman, knocking him in the chest. The policeman knelled over. Randy rolled over the bent-over policeman's back, getting the other man in the chest. Then he kicked that man into a third policeman. The policeman had no time to recover before Randy got him in the chest, too.
The woman's jaw was dropped. Randy did not appear to notice. Rembrandt frowned. Randy was in a trance.
Then...Randy blinked. He looked at his hands. He quickly turned to Rembrandt and Ethan.
"Run," Randy said.
Richard sat silently in the room. Laura Carmichael had brought him here. Something about he didn't have coding. He was really not liking this world.
Hmmm...Laura Carmichael. On Earth Prime, he had killed her in a hit-and-run. Randy's rival Bufford had seen it all and blackmailed him into trying to steal Randy's invention...the sliding machine. Later on Richard found out that Laura...was from another Earth. Naturally he found out because her brother Peter wanted him die. He had been looking for redemption since.
Richard felt his forehead wrinkle up. He got out of the chair, running his hands through his long wavy brown hair. He was on his way to redemption...when Mr. Stone killed him. Now he was...what was he?
He heard a cricking noise. He turned around to see that it was the door opening. Laura entered, closing the door behind her. He stared at her, not knowing what to say.
"You okay?" Laura asked.
"Yeah," Richard answered.
"Good. Now...what were you thinking?" Laura demanded, frowning. "Are you trying to wind up in jail?"
Richard opened his mouth to talk. No words came out. Okay. Wasn't expecting that at all from a Laura double.
"Well?" Laura said, putting her hands on her hips. "Answer me. Or should I assume you're an undercover Gothhead?"
"Goth?" Richard uttered. "Sorry, sweetheart. I got better taste."
Laura looked at Richard up and down. She smirked. "I can't tell. I mean...look at that hair."
"Hey!" Richard said. "Back off the hair."
"Fine," Laura said, throwing her hands up in surrender. "All I'm saying is that only the gothheads appear to have the guts to stand up to the government. The rest of us just do it in subtle ways." She held out her hand. "Here."
Richard looked down at her hand. In Laura's hand was a red, white, and blue button. He looked at her, frowning.
"What the heck is that?" Richard asked.
"You want to get around...be seen as a citizen of the United States?" Laura asked. "You're going to need this. Everyone wears them...or else."
"Or else?"
"Let's say it's not a good idea to be anything other than a citizen of the U.S. of A.," Laura said.
"Oh."
"You know what?" Laura said. "Come with me."
Laura headed out of the room. Richard stood there, staring after her. This sooo screamed bad idea. Especially if there was a double of Peter Carmichael. Then again...when had Richard Hall ever backed down from trouble? And he was Richard Hall after all. Right?
Richard headed out of the door behind Laura.
"Hmmmm..."
"Find something interesting?" Rembrandt asked.
Randy looked up from the computer screen. Rembrandt was a few feet away from him. They had made it to the library a while ago. Interestingly enough, no one had given them a glance. Randy was sure it was because of what he had taken off the policemen. Three red, white, and blue buttons. Or...their coding.
"She mentioned map earlier," Randy said. "So...I took a look at one. The United States isn't fifty states anymore."
"Oh."
"It's consolidated continents on this side of the Atlantic...and the Pacific...and apparently a good part of Africa."
Rembrandt frowned. "What?"
Randy touched his...coding. "And everyone is marked with one of these...knocks down any illegals."
"How did this even happen?"
"Iraq."
Randy looked over at Ethan. He was at a computer as well. He looked at the two of them.
"The United States got into some war with Iraq," Ethan said. "Some people said it was over hidden weapons. Others said oil. even some conspiracy theorists had thoughts. Anyway...not a good idea to mess with the United States. They bombed the place out." He frowned. "And that's when it started."
"It?" Rembrandt asked.
"The fear that there could be consequences," Ethan said. "Better to be a control freak. After all, the United States was the superpower. It could do what it wanted.
"So...they did. Under the cover of putting troops in countries they felt was a potential threat. The President exercising his executive office rights in wartime. Then...annexing. You're no one...unless you're a citizen of the United States. So coding began to tell the difference. And I think we should get some new ones."
"That doesn't sound good," Randy said.
"Why?" Rembrandt asked.
"The buttons work like a...electronic ID card," Ethan said.
"Meaning?" Rembrandt continued.
"Meaning they could be tracking us as we speak," Randy said.
"Or have you."
Randy looked up. The woman was there. There was also a dozen policemen behind her. Randy looked around the library shelves. He could make out shadows. He knew it was other policemen.
"Uh...this isn't good," Rembrandt said.
Randy stood up. "No...it isn't."
Randy looked around. He wondered if he could take most of the policemen if he went into a trance again. He knew he would seethe policemen as equations. Then it...would be simple.
CLICK!
Randy looked in the different of the sound. Something like a grenade flew through the air. Randy looked at Rembrandt and Ethan.
"Run!" he yelled.
Randy dashed for the shelves, knocking over a policeman. He turned around in time to see the grenade explode. Then he heard it.
A whir. Suddenly, a vortex of blue light shot into being. Screams ran through the library.
Rembrandt ran for him. He grabbed Randy.
"Come on!" Rembrandt yelled.
"But--" Randy started.
"No time!" Rembrandt cut him off.
Randy felt his feet move. However, his mind raced. He had not imagined it. It had been a vortex.
But whom?
Melissa headed down the street. Eve was at her side. They giggled.
She realized that she...was smiling. How long had it been since she had a good laugh? She'd been too busy surviving...or dealing with Richard's bitterness...or dealing with Randy...and Ethan.
Melissa paused in front of a barbershop. Her image was reflected back to her. She was dressed in a no-sleeved black tanktop with a black skirt. Her nails had been painted. She had on dark eyeliner. It was almost like she was back on Earth Prime after the Ben double who died. The only difference was she had her long jet-black hair again. Back then, she had an extreme short cut.
A hand touched Melissa's arm, causing her to jump. She sighed as she saw it was only Eve. She looked at Melissa with concern she would never expect the real Eve to have.
"You okay, Hon?" Eve asked. "You look like you've seen a--"
"Ghost?" Melissa finished. "Yeah, Eve, I have."
"Forget Paige," Eve said. "Just a jealous wannabe."
Melissa smirked. "Forgotten."
Eve laughed. "Wicked, Girl."
Melissa laughed. Yes, it was wicked. It was fun in fact. She had forgotten what that was like. Maybe it was about time she was more fun. More wicked.
Melissa grabbed Eve.
"Come on," Melissa said, heading into the barbershop.
Randy pushed through the double doors. He saw he was in the back of the library building. The rest of the campus laid out before him. Students wandered around, completely oblivious to what just happened.
A vortex. A blue vortex had opened up and swallowed up a lot of policemen. It was very similar to what he created on French Revolution World. Which meant it could be...
The double doors shot open again. Rembrandt pushed out, falling to the grass. His breath came quickly. He turned to look up at Randy.
"What...the hell was...that?" Rembrandt heaved out. "Never mind. I...know. But...what was that? What...did you do?"
"I didn't do--" Randy started.
"Didn't you learn anything...from that French Revolution World?" Rembrandt asked. "Oh...wait...no."
Randy glared at him. "Do not make this about me?"
"Isn't it?" Rembrandt challenged.
"I did not do this," Randy said.
"Okay...if it wasn't you...or one of your many doubles...who was it?"
Before Randy could think of a reply, the double doors opened. Ethan ran out. He paused near them, frowning.
"Why are you two standing here?" Ethan asked. "We best be running."
Ethan ran off without another. Rembrandt stood up. He glared at Randy like he was about to beat him senseless.
"I'm too old for this," Rembrandt said.
Then he took off after Ethan.
Randy stared after him. He was getting fed up with the resentment. He had not done the vortex bomb.
He looked back at the double doors. Then he broke out in a run. It would have to be a mystery...for now.
"Uh...no way."
Laura looked over at Richard. They had taken a walk into Golden Gate Park. Now they were back among the buildings. She had him outside a barbershop. Richard pulled away from her. Laura looked at him, her eyes full of surprise.
"Well, you can't stay like that," Laura said.
"I'm not cutting my hair," Richard declared.
"Well, you'll stand out otherwise," Laura said. Her eyes narrowed on him. "Trust me. You want to be as Formy as possible."
Richard frowned. "Formy?"
"Conformist."
"That doesn't make me feel better," Richard said.
"You really don't have a choice," Laura said.
Richard looked at the barbershop. He touched his long brown hair. He had allowed it to grow almost since he came back. Then...Richard Hall had had short brown hair Prep Boy looks. Richard now looked like a hippie. When had it happened? Why? Did he want to stay how he was now...or how he used to be?
"Fine," Richard said.
He entered the barbershop. He said he was Richard Hall. It was about time he looked it.
"Whoa."
Melissa managed a smile. Eve followed suit. They were arm in arm in a warehouse building at what looked like a big giant goth rally. She liked that the guys oozed her new short bob.
"Liz?"
Melissa turned around. Thorn was behind her. His jar was open. He looked up and down, surprise clearly on his face.
"Liz...uh..whoa...wow," Thorn uttered.
"You like?" Eve asked.
"Oh...very much...wow," Thorn managed.
Hands grabbed thorn from behind. Paige's head popped up from the right. She smiled.
"Now, why did you--oh my God!"
Paige's eyes had hit Melissa. They were wide with shock. Then they narrowed in anger.
"Well...look at you," Paige said simply.
"Yes," Melissa said, stepping away from Eve. She stared at Thorn. "Look at me." She reached up and lowered thorn down, kissing Thorn on the cheek. Then she looked at Paige with a smirk. "You two have fun. Eve."
Eve came up beside her. Melissa wrapped her arm back in Eve's arm. Then they kept walking, leaving Thorn and Paige in the dust.
"I never did like that girl," Eve commented.
"I think I'm gonna love this," Melissa added.
The two of them giggled.
"You okay?"
Randy looked up at Ethan. They were in Golden Gate Park. They had gotten ahold of more...coding. Now Randy stared at the one they weren't using. It was only a matter of time before the police tracked,them down again. And next time they might not be lucky.
"No, Ethan," Randy said, "I'm not." He held up the last coding. "I have to find a way to recreate this so they can't find us again. The last thing we need is--"
"--a wormhole appearing out of nowhere and sucking up people to who knows where?" Ethan finished.
Randy looked down. "Yeah."
A moment passed. A shadow moved over Randy. Then Ethan sat down beside him. He reached out and touched Randy's hand.
"And that worries you?" Ethan asked.
"I know Rembrandt thinks it doesn't," Randy said, "But it doesn't. And I have to deal with that. It's on my conscience. I do what has to be done."
"And sometimes what has to be done isn't pretty," Ethan said. "I know." He squeezed Randy's hand. "Right ow...you need to concentrate. We still have to find Richard and Melissa after all."
"Yeah...that."
The day was pretty much over. Still there was no sign of either one of them. He hoped they were all right.
"Okay," Randy said. "You keep lookout. Let me concentrate."
Ethan grinned. "That's my boy."
Randy grinned as Ethan stood back up. His boy. It felt nice to be someone's boy for a change. To have someone on his side.
Then Randy's eyes rolled back in his head. He gave himself over to a trance.
"Gag."
"Shut it."
Richard looked at Laura. "Make me."
Laura smirked. Richard gave her a fake smile. Then he looked away at what was in front of him: a lot of gothheads.
Then he realized it. He had grabbed his hair. He was rubbing it.
His long ponytail...gone. He...was gone, trapped under a lot of black and short brown hair. He was not used to it anymore. He was not used to...himself.
"Why are we even here?" Richard asked.
"It's obviously you don't want to just pass," Laura said. "Maybe Phillip can help you. He's good at that...in his own way."
"I bet," Richard commented.
Laura continued through the crowd. Richard was right behind her. He again found himself wondering what he was getting into. Maybe this being with Laura...being around her...would endanger her. Did he want another Laura on his conscience?
Then again...when did he get so anal? So...straight-laced? Did redemption mean he was a goody two-shoes? He used to be able to have fun. What happened?
Laura paused. Richard bumped into her. He glared.
"Hey!" Richard yelled. "Why did you--"
Richard looked past Laura. The words caught in his mouth. In front of them was Melissa Clark and Eve Albright...dressed in Goth gear. Melissa looked back at him. There was something about her...
His eyes widened at the same time as hers, recognition taking over. It was his Melissa. Not a double, but MELISSA. At the same time, Melissa realized it was Richard.
Eve pulled Melissa forward. Laura also moved forward. Her eyes stayed on them.
"Hello, Eve," Laura said. "Melissa. Long time no see."
"Thanks," Melissa said simply.
"And what brings you here, Laura?" Eve asked, taking in Laura's sweater and blue pants. "Especially dressed like that."
"A waywarer and Phillip,"Laura said. "He doesn't care about my clothes. Where is he?"
"Phillip?" Melissa uttered.
"She means Thorn," Eve said. "He's somewhere back the way we came."
"Thank you," Laura said icily.
"Welcome," Eve said icily.
Richard grabbed Laura by her waist. He flashed a smile at the girls.
"Come on, Hon," Richard said. "Let's find this Phil."
"Yes," Laura said. "Let's."
They walked away from the girls. Richard managed to look behind him. Melissa was looking at him. He threw her a lopsided grin.
Now THAT...was something Richard would do.
"He was kinda hard, right?"
"What?" Melissa asked.
Eve looked at Melissa. "Laura's waywarer." He turned to look behind her. "He definitely wears those leather pants."
"Oh, hush," Melissa said, jerking Eve's arm.
"Did Eve just say that Richard was hot? Her Richard? Well...not really her Richard. They had broken up. Melissa was too wrapped up over Randy and his...relationship with Ethan. Richard noticed and did not like it.
"Jealous?" Eve asked.
Was she? Since the breakup, Richard could not stand her. She could not stand him. They went off on each other. She tried to get back with Randy. He had chosen Ethan. She still had feelings for Randy.
So why did she feel a tinge of jealousy as Eve oozed Richard?
Did she want him back?
Randy blinked. He looked down at the coding. A grin spreaded over his face. He believe that he had done it. He had figured out to do the coding. The police should not be able to find this one. Now he needed two more buttons for Rembrandt and...
Randy looked around. He was on the bench alone. The night sky was clear. He did not see anyone around.
He stood up. His mind raced. He knew Ethan was suppose to be lookout. Meanwhile Rembrandt played decoy around the park. They both should be around him right now.
Randy reached into his pocket when he heard it.
A whir.
Suddenly, the air in front of him exploded into a circle of blue light. Randy fell back onto the bench. He groaned as his back was hit with pain.
A whir sounded out. A figure emerged. It was followed by another whir. More figures shot out. Randy's eyes widened as he saw who it was.
Dru Preston and Miashuyhi Kims stood on either side of Rembrandt Brown. They were dressed like twins all in black with jackets to match. Meanwhile, Ethan was in front of him, a gun to his head. The holder of the gun glared at Randy.
"We need to talk," Jared Heim said, tossing his hair back.
"Phillip!"
The tall man turned. Richard frowned. He had only seen Thorn on a couple of slides. None of them had him as a Gothhead. He was chatting with a petite brunette who was currently glaring at Laura and him.
"His name is Thorn," the brunette said.
"Run alone, Paige," Thorn said.
Paige frowned. Then she headed past Laura and Richard. She made sure to give them a nice glare. Laura headed for Thorn, ignoring her.
"I really need your help, Phillip," Laura said.
"I don't see how," Thorn said.
"I found him," Laura said, gesturing to Richard. "He had no coding whatsoever."
"Really?" Thorn said, raising a hand for a high five. "Damn the man!"
Richard high-fived him. "Ditto, man!"
"He does want to be a Gothhead and obviously say no coding," Laura said. "So I thought you could get him in touch with our other associates."
"Jared you mean," Thorn said. "Sorry. We're no longer on speaking terms."
"What?" Laura uttered.
"His mind is on a whole other game," Thorn said. "Me? I'm all for in-your-face quiet protest. He wants out and out vengeance. Could take us all down with the United States."
Richard frowned. That did not sound like a good thing. Maybe he should get Melissa and blow...
Suddenly, the ground shook. Richard turned around. Explosions went off around where Melissa and Eve had been.
"Melissa!" Richard yelled.
The door opened. Randy was pushed in by Dru. She shut the door quickly. Randy glared at the door. Then he turned around.
He...was in the den. One of the walls was made completely of glass, revealing a balcony. Randy frowned, seeing he was in a penthouse. He also saw his brother outside, staring off into the sky. He headed for him.
Jared Heim made no move as Randy opening the sliding door. He close it behind him. Then he took a step toward Jared.
"Who are you?" Jared asked, not moving.
Randy paused.
"I mean...I know you're not my brother," Jared said. He looked at Randy with coldness in his eyes. "He's dead."
"Oh," Randy muttered.
"They killed him," Jared said, looking away. "All he wanted to do was be a Formy. Even converted a Gothhead. And...he was in the wrong place at the wrong time without coding. They saw him and Melissa as non-citizens. They were gunned down. My only living relative...gone over a mistake. I could not let it stand. And with Physics on my side, I could do something about it."
Randy's mouth opened. No words came out. Apparently, his double wasn't into Physics here...but he was into Melissa. He was not sure how he felt about that since he was with Ethan.
"So who are you?" Jared asked again.
Randy stared at him. A moment passed. Jared's head snapped in his direction. Randy looked into his eyes and saw the barely controlled rage.
"You know who I am," Randy said.
"You're not my brother," Jared said almost silent.
Randy took a step forward. Jared tensed up. His hand reached down to his leg where a gun was in a holster.
"You're a student of Physics," Randy said. "You can figure that one out." He took another step. Jared flinched. "I'll give you a hint. My brother Jared...was stillborn...on my Earth."
Jared's eyes widened. "I...I had a theory that...these vortexes I opened...led to another Earth..but I wasn't sure..."
Randy's eyes widened. "What? Are you saying--"
"Opening them blind," Jared said.
Randy frowned. "How could you?"
Jared glared. "Because they needed to pay." His face darkened. "They still do."
"No," Randy said.
Jared frowned. "No? You're not in charge here, little brother."
Randy smirked. "So you believe me?"
Jared went back to his glare. Randy was right. To Jared, Randy was his brother. No matter what world, he was him.
"Would this be what I...what he want?" Randy challenged. "Could you...can you really destroy his memory like that?"
Jared looked away. Randy kept looking at him. It made Randy think of Rembrandt's words. Rembrandt called him reckless for the last few months. Yet he did what needed to be done. Now this Jared double...was reckless.
"Jared," Randy said, "I need your help. Will you help me?"
Melissa's eyes shot open. She was laid out on the floor. There was rumble fromt he building all around her. There was also dead Goths. She pushed herself up.
"What in the world!" Melissa started.
She turned to the right. Her breath caught in her throat. Eve stared back at her with open dead eyes from the rumble that caught her.
"Oh my...Eve!" Melissa cried.
"Nobody move!"
Melissa looked in front of her. Gothheads scattered around the warehouse building. Meanwhile, policemen stormed into the area. She saw one grab the nearest gothhead. He tore open his black shirt.
"No coding!" the policeman barked.
Then he knocked the Gothhead out with his nightstick.
Melissa shot up quickly. She started to dash. Paige jumped up in her way.
"This is your doing, isn't it?" Paige snapped. "None of our gatherings got raided. None! You brought this down on us!"
"No, I didn't, Paige," Melissa said. "Eve's dead. We need to find Thorn and--"
Melissa started to move past Paige. Paige got in her face again. Before Melissa could react, Paige grabbed her by the arms.
"Don't think so, Bitch," Paige hissed. She looked past Melissa. "Hey! Here's a non-code! Right...HERE!"
Paige shoved Melissa away from her. Melissa tripped over her leg, causing her to spin around. She managed to get her balance again. A policeman stood right in front of her.
She only had time to manage a gasp. The policeman had his nightstick out. He swung it at her.
"Melissa!"
Richard fanned through the panicked Gothheads. He resisted the urge to smirk at them. they were suppose to be all though. They ran away from the police like little girls.
"Melissa!" Richard yelled again.
Then he saw her. Paige struggled with her. Suddenly, she pushed Melissa into the path of a policeman. Melissa spun around. The policeman knocked her out with the nightstick.
"Hey!" Richard yelled.
He ran for the scene. On his way, he passed Paige. He punched her in the jaw. A smile crept onto his face. Now he really felt like himself.
He made it over to the policeman. He lunged forward. The policeman wasn't prepared. They both fell to the floor, Richard on top. He punched the policeman, knocking him out.
"Melissa?" Richard uttered, running over to her lifeless body.
He felt her pulse. He smiled. She was alive. Good.
A shadow fell over him. He looked up to find several policemen descending on the two of them.
"Crap," Richard uttered.
Then he heard it.
A whir.
Suddenly, the air ripped apart. A blue wormhole emerged into existence. The policemen flew into it. Meanwhile, a second wormhole opened up by Richard and Melissa. A whir sounded off. Figures popped out of it. Richard smiled as he saw Rembrandt and Ethan.
"Nice to see you!" Richard yelled over the wind. He gestured to Melissa. "Some help?"
"Melissa!" Rembrandt yelled, kneeling.
Whirs sounded out again from the wormhole. Dru and Kim popped, dressed like something out of the Matrix. Meanwhile, Randy and Jared Heim exited next. Both wormholes immediately closed. Jared looked at Randy.
"Is this th--" Jared started.
Gunshot rang out. Screams echoed through the building as more Gothheads scattered. Richard looked at Randy. His eyes widened.
There was a bullet hole in Jared's forehead. No one had time to react as his eyes went toward his forehead. He fell to the floor...dead.
"Oh my...," Kim uttered.
"Jared?" Dru added.
Randy ran toward Jared's body. He quickly pulled ot a device. He quickly started to fiddle with it.
Richard looked around. Policemen ran for him. He looked at Randy.
"Better rush that, Egghead," Richard said, panic in his voice.
"'And the total number at this moment is at 100. One hundred people without coding. No way of knowing which one was responsible for the incident at the University of San Francisco library that left a dozen policemen missing. The mayor hopes to have some leads soon. Is this the first wave in a new battle between the United States and...'"
"Oh, turn it off!"
Randy turned around. Richard walked into the den. Randy had gotten Jared's device working. He slid them back to Jared's penthouse. They had been there since...to Dru's dismay.
"Just looking at the tragedy," Randy said. "That's a lot of people who had nothing to do with us."
"And one who did," Richard said.
Randy frowned. "Oh?"
"I was there with a Laura Carmichael double," Richard said, his eyes on the television. "No idea if she even got out." He looked away. "Another fine mess I've gotten her into."
"I thought you--"
"You thought wrong," Richard cut him off.
Randy stood up. He knew Laura Carmichael was a touchy subject. It was bet to let it drop.
The door opened. Randy saw it was Rembrandt. He felt his back stiffened. Rembrandt looked at him with a grimace.
"So another fine mess you--" Rembrandt started.
"Not me," Randy said. "Jared."
"You Heims are no--"
"You know," Randy said, cutting Rembrandt off again. "I'm tired of your bitching. You do better."
Rembrandt glared.
"How about we ponder Goth Melissa?" Richard suggested. "Dark days coming when she's like that right?"
Randy frowned. The last time Melissa was Goth, she hated Randy for a Ben double's death. She herself almost died. She didn't though, but she had a dangerous death wish.
The door opened again. Ethan walked in. Melissa was behind him.
"Is it time?" Ethan asked.
The whir sounded through the air. Melissa slid out of the wormhole. She landed on her feet. She smirked.
It was time for a change. She looked around. They were in an alleyway. She saw Richard climbing out of a trash can. Rembrandt was standing up. Meanwhile, Randy helped Ethan up.
Melissa stared at them. She glared. Then she rolled her eyes. Whatever.
"So how much time do we have?" Melissa asked, stepping forward toward the entrance. "I don't want to be spending all my time in an alley with love--"
"Well...look at you."
Melissa turned around. A blond-haired girl stood behind her. Her long hair was in a ponytail. She was dressed in a black tanktop with leather pants. She stared Melissa up and down.
"Cassandra," Melissa said.
Cassandra smirked. "What did you expect?" Her face darkened. "We'll be taking Randy Heim now."
THE-END
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