C h a p t e r X V I

L o o k i n g F o r G r o u p

“Where are they going?”

Kaitlin was watching as Moroni’s men took off charging in the direction Brian and the other Gadiantons had previously been seen.

“They have run to aid their commander. They will not let him be taken prisoner by those robbers.” The lead Ninja replied.

“What happens if they catch them?” Richard asked, looking nervously in their direction.

“They will kill them all. No Gadianton is permitted to live!” He replied forcefully.

“Oh great, they’ll kill Brian too.”

“I thought Brian was immortal?” Kaitlin said.

“We don’t know that for sure. Heck, we don’t know anything for sure anymore!”

The lead Ninja pulled out his sword, followed by the rest of his men. “Worry not, young ones. We will accompany Moroni’s soldiers to help reclaim your friend, and our Nephite leader.”

Richard opened his mouth to say something, but just closed it again. “God speed. We’ll be tailing as closely as we can.”

The Ninjas bowed their heads solemnly, then turned and took off into the jungle raising the call of war. Richard watched until they were out of sight, and then pulled out the time-remote. He turned back on the silver screen, and saw the same bizarre time-disturbance reading.

“What do we do now?” Kaitlin asked.

Richard shook his head. “We follow, and hope that they can stop Brian…”

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light from behind, and the two turned around to see a figure standing before them. He was clad about in some sort of military jump suit, and had a time-remote in his right hand. He stood still for a moment, looking between the two of them, and then lunged forward.

“RUN!” Richard yelled.

Richard instantly spun around and sped forward. He looked back in time to see the mysterious man grab Kaitlin by the wrist, and pull her back.

“Kaitlin!” Richard turned back around, and pulled out his shot-glass. Before he could do anything, a burst of static energy from the stranger’s time-remote hit Richard’s hand, and he dropped the glass. The glass shattered upon hitting the ground. He gasped, and slowly looked back up at the stranger, still holding his remote pointed at Richard.

“I’m not here to harm you.” He shouted. He then lowered his remote and let go of Kaitlin. “I’m one of the good guys.”

“Really? Let me guess; you’re gonna say you built the Door or something, and that that thing is all for the greater good, and that one day all the world will come to recognize you genius and that you’re some kind of amazing revolutionary that we should all bow down to cause of the freakin’ Door!” Richard ranted. Kaitlin raised and eyebrow, and slowly looked over at him.

The man smiled, and took a step forward. “Actually, I only helped…”


*     *


Screams and smoke filled the air as the Gadiantons charged through the small village. Brian led the way, his sword held high. All around him carnage was spread abroad, as buildings were torn down (or set on fire), houses ransacked, and people scared off into the jungle. Right behind them, joining in the attack, was the famous Captain Moroni, who Brian had only just captured and enslaved under the power of his sword.

Brian stopped to bend down and pick up rock. He then turned and threw it across the street at a local trying to make a run for it. The rock connected with his head, and he screamed as he went crashing into a neighboring building, easily plowing through the thatched material. Brian laughed, and reached down to pick up another, but saw something in a nearby fern, off the side of the trail by the jungle’s edge.

He crawled closer, and realized it was a blinking green light. As he pulled back the ground foliage, his eyes were greeted by a strange site. Buried partially in the ground and covered with moss and dirt was a black, box-like device. It was about as big as a hard-cover book, and had a control panel on the unburied surface. In fact, the controls looked very similar to those of the time-remote he’d seen the Gang using before.

Brian grabbed the edge, and pulled it out of the dirt. The surface was very hard, but felt rough like concrete instead of smooth like metal. It was completely black, and had nothing on the exterior besides the control panel near the top. The blinking light had come from the silver screen above the dials, which was showing the image of a vibrating pattern. The pattern looked just like the one he’d seen on their time-remote before leaving the World Trade Center. It was just somewhere where the line rose vertically, and then descended back into order.

He stood back up to his full height, and continued to stare down at this strange device, all while the Gadiantons continued to pillage in the background. If ever insight crossed through his mind, now was one of those times. The dots in Brian’s mind started connecting one by one, and he slowly looked back down at the device in his hand. A wide smile slowly crept across his face.

He quickly adjusted the dials on the control panel, trying to mimic how he’d seen Richard do it. He then set the time duration, and pushed the glowing blue button in the center. There was a bright flash of light, and Brian was gone.


*     *


The sunlight was beginning to fade across the apocalyptic landscape. There was a thin point along the horizon where the bright orange clouds didn’t completely block out the sky, allowing sunlight to shine in before the sun disappeared for the night. It made for one spectacular sun-set, even if everything around Kenzi and Aero was destroyed or burning down.

The two of them were sitting on the edge of a drainage gulley that was made of concrete, and snaked through the suburbs of whatever city they were in. There had been a fence preventing people from getting in here, but most of it was torn down, so getting in had been no trouble. Before them laid the ruins of a once large neighborhood. A few of the charred houses still stood, but most were lying in piles of rubble. The gulley below them was completely dried up.

Kenzi rubbed Aero’s ears, and sighed. They had spent their day hiking through the city, coming across nothing new, and no sign whatsoever as to how they had gotten there. Kenzi was still mystified by the mysterious voice that had called out to her before they had been brought here…wherever here was. It was looking pretty grim for them. Besides the scraps in an old grocery store they’d come across earlier, they had no food, water, or shelter. And they still had no idea what to expect. What kind of dangers were there waiting for them?

“What are we going to do, Aero?” Kenzi said aloud.

Suddenly there was a chuckle from somewhere behind them, and Kenzi jumped up quickly. Aero growled as a figure stepped around from behind a nearby truck, which had crashed into a telephone pole. It was a guy, and he looked to be in his late teen years. He was wearing a black jacket, and some slightly burnt jeans. He chuckled again as Aero growled, and continued to approach them. Kenzi took a step back, but stopped when she realized the gulley was right behind her. The guy finally stopped about three feet away from her face.

“Hey, pretty thing. What’re you and your pussy cat doin’ out in these parts?”

Kenzi frowned, and slapped him hard across his face. “Back off! Unless you’d like to play with my pussy cat…”

“Ooooooo, she got you good Tom.” Another hooligan stepped from around a corner, and approached his buddy. “This one’s a wild spirit.” He said, stopping on his left. They were cornering her in, but she could still get out on their right. After all, it was just two of them, and she had a jaguar.

“Look guys, I wouldn’t be so cocky around a full-sized jaguar.”

“She’s right.” Finally, a third one stepped forward on the right, completely blocking off her escape. He also had what looked like a 9mm in his left hand. “Good thing I got myself here some animal control.”

Kenzi’s eyes went wide with fear as she looked between the three creeps and their gun. Aero had stepped back, and was now taking a defensive position.

“Come on, babe. We’re your kind of company…” The original creep stepped forward, but stopped instantly as Kenzi’s claws connected with his face. He screamed, and shielded his face.

“Go Aero!” The two turned, and jumped down the side of the gulley. A shot went off from their gun, taking out a chunk of the concrete inches away from her head. Kenzi slid down the diagonal surface, while Aero ran the entire way to the bottom. Another shot went off as she reached the bottom, this time missing her foot. To her left was more gulley, but to her right she could see a drainage tunnel.

She stood up quickly, and with Aero in the lead, blitzed across the open towards the over-sized pipe. Suddenly, several more of the thugs started coming down the side of the gulley, blocking off her entrance to the pipe. She turned around, this time to see thugs coming down on both sides of the gulley. Aero hissed, and crouched near Kenzi’s feet.

A quick count revealed about eight of them, including the original three she met up on the street. They circled around, giving her about five feet of space. Several pointed and laughed, while others taunted Aero, pulling her tail. The one she heard called Tom stepped forward, the gun now in his hand. He had three bloody scratch marks across his face, and was fuming with anger.

“Big mistake…! Who wants to have some fun, boys?” He yelled out, a look of triumph in his face. The others all laughed and cheered.

A look of an anger crossed Kenzi’s face, and she began to feel a rage never before experienced. As she looked among the faces, a single thought ran through her mind; I wish they would all burn!

Almost as if the thought had been spoken aloud, the jewel on her ring began to glow with energy. Kenzi raised her hand up in astonishment, watching as the jewel got brighter and brighter. A steady flow of fire erupted from the crystal, and burned up Tom. Kenzi spun around, covering the others with a fine burst of fire. Like hit pigeons, they all scattered, most screaming bloody-murder as they quickly disappeared.

The fire ceased, and Kenzi regained her composure. Her face was covered in sweat from the intense heat. She looked down at Aero, who had ducked down to avoid being burned, and back up at the now normal ring.

“What the heck is with this ring?!”


*     *


“Oh my gosh… What have we done…?!” Richard was standing rigid, resting against the side of a tree. Kaitlin merely stood silently, a look of terror in her eyes. The scientist stood nearby, his arms folded, observing how the two reacted to his message.

“Did you say two time-lines?” She finally asked.

“Yes… But as I said before, everything can be restored to its natural order.”

Richard shook his head. “I still can’t believe it… All the damage we’ve done…” He stood up straight, and stepped forward. “What do we need to do?”

“First we need to find your friends.” The scientist said.

“Well, we might be able to find Brian, but Jon and Kenzi could be in the middle of the apocalypse for all we know.” Kaitlin said.

“Not to worry. Locating them should be fairly easy.”

Richard raised an eyebrow. “How is it you know so much about our journeys through time?”

The scientist smiled. “There’s a lot I know that you’d be surprised to learn…”

fin


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