The Flip Side
by Theseus
The diner was quiet, which didn't surprise the waitress. It was
usually quiet around this time of day. The lunch crowd had just left
and the diner was virtually empty. It was located in a town barely
large enough to support it. The owners had tried to sell repeatedly,
but no one seemed interested in buying. So it remained, and everything
seemed frozen in place as the owners began their slow descent into
bankruptcy. The waitress sighed. At least she'd have her job for a
while longer.
In another corner of the room, Theseus, a member of the Jihad's
newest organization, the Verthandic Rangers, turned from the window and
looked around the room. The diner was a quiet establishment, not quite
run down enough to be called shabby, but working at it. It looked as
though the owners hadn't given it proper attention for a long while.
Theseus's reverie was broken as the waitress came over and asked
if he wanted more coffee. She was making a real effort to look as if
she had much more important things to do, so rather than disappoint her,
he smiled and politely declined. As she walked away, his cell phone
rang.
Normally, Theseus would have been using his Linker, but he'd
lost it somewhere. He had asked Comms for a replacement and they'd
given him a cell phone. Not one to complain, he'd accepted it and gone
on to more important things. He let his phone ring for a moment until
he started getting irate looks from some of the patrons. He sighed and
pressed the call button on his phone, nearly dropping it as the voice on
the other end shouted just loud enough for everyone in the diner to
hear:
"Thes! It's Nexxus! Kats has been kidnapped! We're putting a
rescue team together and you're on it! We need you here at base, NOW!"
His ears rang and he wondered if he'd heard correctly.
"Wait. Could you repeat that?" he said.
"Look, Thes, I don't have time to explain. Just get to the
base. You'll be briefed when you get here," she replied.
The phone *clicked* as Nexxus hung up, and again Theseus
wondered if he'd heard her correctly. He decided it didn't really
matter, as he'd find out when he got back. He called to the waitress
and told her to cancel his order. He slid a bill under his coffee cup,
picked up his coat, and walked out the door. The waitress watched him
leave and wondered just who the strange man was, and who his loud caller
had been...in the end she merely sighed and went to see if anyone needed
more coffee.
Theseus looked around his quarters and decided that at some
future date he really should do some cleaning. His stuff was scattered
all around the room. When he'd moved in, he hadn't really bothered
putting anything away: he'd just dropped his cases in any available
place and left them there. After that, he'd been busy taking care of
other things and hadn't really had the chance.
He stepped around the debris that covered the floor and moved to
the closet at the back of the room, where he took out the only thing
he'd bothered to put in it, his uniform. As Theseus changed, he
wondered if he'd be much help. At one time he'd belonged to a very
powerful magical order called the Guardians, but, for some reason he
wasn't entirely sure of, large portions of his memory had been erased.
However, it was returning, very slowly. He just hoped it would be there
when he needed it.
Theseus walked into the briefing room and sat down. He was one
of the first people there, so he had a few moments to wait. He hadn't
had much sleep the previous night, so he leaned back in his chair and
tried to rest his eyes. He was just drifting off to sleep when a loud
*WHAM* nearly made him fall out of his chair. Looking up, he saw
Malaclypse the Seeker standing over the (now slightly cracked) podium,
holding a sledgehammer.
"Right. Now that I have your *attention*, we can begin the
briefing," he said.
As Mal outlined the mission, Theseus was concerned to find that
they'd be facing an entire nation of magic users, when he couldn't even
remember the most basic of spells.
The briefing lasted about five minutes. When it was over, the
people selected for the mission filed out to get their belongings. As
Theseus walked to the elevator he couldn't help but wonder if they could
pull it off. Going into the middle of a hostile nation in another
dimension, getting past an army of magic users, rescuing Kats, and
making it back out alive...it seemed impossible.
As the elevator took Theseus up to his quarters he decided that
it didn't really matter, as long as he did what he was paid for.
As Theseus walked through the arches that led into the
Dimensional Research Center, he was assaulted by a myriad of senses.
The smell of oil, the hum of machinery, and the sheer size and planned
chaos of the massive room were a total delight to him. He walked toward
the large platform in the middle of the room, and stood transfixed by
the strange geometric forms suspended over what could only be the
gateway.
He'd been standing there for a few moments when the ever-present
hum violently increased in volume. He didn't know what this meant, but
whatever it was, it would be interesting. Suddenly the lights went out
and a multi-colored glow was cast about the room. The hum turned into a
screech and then subsided. As the spectral lights continued unabated,
Theseus looked for a moment into the glowing void.
When he turned, he saw several people lining up at the ramp
leading into the gateway. He quickly crossed the room and found a spot
at the back of the line. He'd been standing for a moment when he was
shoved roughly from behind.
"Oh, sorry 'bout that," a female voice said.
Theseus turned around to see a rather short, skinny woman
standing in line behind him. He could see his reflection in her
purple-tinted cat's eye glasses. The pants of her uniform looked a few
sizes too large, and her bangs were sticking up. All in all it made for
a rather unique look. Sort of like a punk Japanese tourist.
"I'm Maruchan," she said, smiling apologetically.
"Theseus," he replied.
Suddenly something at the back of the room erupted in a shower
of sparks. Theseus couldn't help but wonder if they'd ever see the
other side of the gate. Mal, whom he recognized from the briefing,
yelled something Theseus didn't catch. Things were rapidly becoming
chaotic. He grinned in pure delight.
"What are you smiling about?" asked Maru.
"Oh, nothing." Theseus paused. "It's all very interesting,
isn't it?"
"Uhh...I guess," she said, backing away a few inches.
A moment later, Nexxus popped into existence right next to them
and shouted over the noise. "Okay, people, let's go!" She turned and
walked into the gate.
"Well, it was unusually nice to meet you," Maru said as they
made their way up the ramp.
"Likewise," he answered as the man in front of him stepped into
the gate.
"Well, see you on the flip side."
Theseus didn't wait for Maru's reaction. It was his turn now.
He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and stepped into the abyss.
To be continued...