C h a p t e r I X

M e, M y s e l f, A n d Y o u

The Gang stat frozen on the spot.

Aero was still around the corner, and hadn’t come into view yet. Her footsteps got closer, and a person could be heard grunting. Jon’s hand slowly grabbed the hilt of his sword and waited.

Aero finally came around the corner, with something in her mouth. When she finally came into complete view, they could see that she was dragging a hooded figure.

She stopped in front of the Gang, and dropped the figure. She made some purring sounds, and it almost looked like Kenzi could understand her.

“Who ever this is…they just tried to ambush us…” Kenzi said, turning to face the others.

Jon finally pulled out his sword, and had a look of total contempt. He looked down at the hooded figure, and walked forward.

“Let us find out who our ‘would-be’ attacker is…”

He stopped, and kicked the figure in the side hard. The figure groaned, and tried to roll over, but Jon kicked him again. He then reached down, and pulled him up by the scruff. He punched him in the stomach, and then lifted up the hood, revealing the face of another Jon.

Jon instantly dropped his sword, and stumbled backwards. “HOLY MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND…something…” Jon said, now lying on the ground looking confused.

The second Jon had a glazed look about his eyes, and almost appeared as though he’d been drugged. There was a thin trail of dried up blood from his mouth, plus a few extra scars. One eye was a little bruised, his hair was longer than normal, and it almost seemed possible that he looked a little older. All in all, though, it was still the same Jon.

The entire Gang just stood and stared open mouthed at him. Jon finally gathered his senses, and stood up. He got his sword, and went back to the other Jon.

“Who are you?!” Jon said, sticking the sword to his throat.

The glazed Jon sat there for a second, and then looked around quickly, like he’d just been awakened from a dream.

“Crap! I got it wrong AGAIN!”

The other Jon rolled backwards, so that Jon couldn’t slice his throat. The first Jon, not expecting that, had no time to try and strike. The other Jon pulled something out of his pocket, and then there was a brilliant flash of bright light.

As the second Jon disappeared, there was a burst of static energy that hit the remote in Richard’s hand. It happened so quickly that the Gang never knew what had happened. There was a second burst of brilliant light, and the entire Gang was sucked through time again, in a bright white light sensation.

It was like floating underwater, while being pushed forward through the current. There was bright white light everywhere. This must be what it felt like in quantum weirdness. Just as quickly as it started, the bright light cleared, and the entire Gang fell, hitting the ground with a thud.

They had actually landed on their feet, but being as unprepared as they were, they all fell backwards. Everyone groaned, and slowly began to sit up.

“We have got to find a way to land…” Kenzi said, standing up, and dusting herself off.

As the rest stood up, they began to examine their surroundings. It was a jungle like area, promoting the idea that they were still in Nephite times. Richard, however, turned and saw something strange a few yards away. It was a light source, but unlike a torch, there was no dance of flames, and it was glowing a bright white blue, almost like a halogen light.

“What is that?” Richard said, pointing towards the light.

“Pretty…” Brian said, staring off into space.

Jon looked back and forth, and then started forward. “Come on.”

They all walked forward slowly, and approached the strange light source. As they stepped past another tree, it came completely into view. It was a halogen light, but it was hanging to something above them, almost as if it ascended all the way into the sky.

“What the heck…?” Richard said, examining this strange site.

Below the light, however, they realized was a wall, painted to look like the edge of a jungle. Kaitlin looked back up, and realized that about twenty feet up was the ceiling…they were indoors.

Brian looked along the edge of the wall, and spotted a closed door about ten feet away.

“Holy crap! We’re home!” He shouted.

Brian quickly took off, and floated straight through the wall.

“Let’s go!” Kaitlin exclaimed.

With Aero in the lead, they all ran towards the door. Kenzi grabbed the cold metal knob, and twisted it open. They walked through in single-file, and exited into an office-like hallway.

The walls were covered with all kinds of posters, most of which were fund-raisers, but a few had the title, “Reptile Gardens”. Brian was right where he had come through the wall, staring at something on the wall.

“What is it, Brian?” Richard asked.

“A calendar…” Brian said, still staring at it.

They all came forward, and looked at the date. None of the days were scratched out, but the month was June, and the year was 2000.

“Holy crap!” Jon yelled.

“What?” Kaitlin asked.

“I went to this place in two thousand.” Jon said, rather thoughtfully.

“Wait; are we when I think we are?” Richard asked.

“Yes we are.” Jon added in.

Richard held up the remote, and looked at the dials. Besides the one that set the year direction, there was another one labeled, 'Year', and he saw eight more digits: (6)-/-(1)-(6)-/-(2)-(0)-(0)-(0)-/-(AD). He lowered it away from his face, and looked back at the calendar.

“Then we are saved, and in trouble at the same time…if it is two thousand, then we still have five years to catch up with the main time-line.” Richard said.

Brian cocked his head and said, “Well, what can you do?”

In the corner, petting Aero, Kenzi made a suggestion. “If the Door was in the church before, couldn’t we just go back, and ride it to the present?”

Everyone paused, and thought about this. It was completely plausible, but the question was whether or not the Door would allow them to jump forward. Then again, the freakin’ thing sent them back into the Book of Mormon.

“I don’t know…” Richard began. “We don’t really know why it opened before…or why we got sent back to where we landed.”

“What the heck, let’s do it…but first, we need some clothes.” Jon said, examining the Gang, and the strange Nephite attire that they were all wearing (excluding his Lamanite loin-cloth).

They all continued down the hallway, and walked through the exit out into the parking lot. In the distance were the lights of Rapid City, South Dakota. Who’d a thought they were only a little over two hundred miles and five years away from home. As they continued walking Jon left the rest of the group, and headed towards the nearest car. He pulled out his sword, and smashed the window in.

“Jon! What are you doing?!” Kenzi said, suddenly seeing this strange behavior.

Jon began feeling around under the floor mat, and found an extra pair of hidden keys. He put them in the ignition, and started it.

“Do you expect us to walk all the way to Rapid?” Jon asked sarcastically.

Everyone looked hesitantly, but then slowly got in. Luckily, there was just enough room for Aero.


*     *


The car slowly pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot, and came to a stop at the farthest edge, carefully away from attention. Jon looked out the window he hadn’t smashed, and smiled at the glowing sign on the store.

“I like Wal-Mart. They are always open. Even on holidays.”

“How are we going to pay for this?” Richard asked.

“We’re gonna jack it.” Jon said simply.

“Wow, this trip has hardened you, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Jon said, getting up, and stepping out of the car.

He turned around, and faced the rest of the Gang.

“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” He turned back around, and walked towards the Wal-Mart.

As Jon disappeared through the sliding doors, a wide smile crossed Brian’s face. He floated right through the car and towards the Wal-Mart as well.

“Brian…” Richard said warningly. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Brian said quickly, slowly turning completely transparent.

Fifteen minutes passed, then half an hour. About an hour later, Kenzi had to take Aero out behind the lot for a quick bathroom break. As they got back in, Jon came through the sliding doors with two duffel bags, each over one shoulder. As he approached the car, Richard noticed that Jon had a wide grin on his face.

“What are you so happy about?” He asked curiously.

“Well…let’s just say Brian can come in handy some times… At least he causes a good enough distraction for me to get this stuff.” Jon said, as Brian reappeared behind him.

Jon set one of the duffel bags in the trunk, and opened the other one. Inside were several modern outfits, which he handed to them one by one. Richard happened to notice quite a few non-perishable food products in the bottom of the bag.

“What’s with all that extra stuff?” Richard said, pointing to the remaining items.

“Oh, those…” Jon paused for a second. "We have a couple of things to undo in the past, and once we get home…we will have to fix it.”

Richard suddenly realized what Jon was implying. But Jon had gotten a little too many supplies.

“Jon…I know there may be a few things that need fixing, but just remember that we’re not going to be staying for long…understand?” Richard said, trying to keep his voice low so that Brian couldn’t hear them.

Jon had a hurt look on his face for a few seconds, but shrugged, and continued setting the supplies in the trunk.

“Look, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” Richard added, trying to resolve the matter quickly.

Kaitlin and Kenzi came walking around the corner from behind a brick wall that divided the parking lot from the city. Both of them had normal clothes on again.

“Alright, how do we look?” Kenzi asked.

Jon held up his thumb in agreement, and Richard said, “Uncommonly good clothing, for exceptional people…”

Jon started the car engine, just as Kenzi and Kaitlin shut their respective doors. Aero growled for being in her uncomfortable position, so Kenzi shifted to try and make more room. As Jon shifted into drive, a random thought crossed Richard’s mind.

“Jon, why are you driving? Kaitlin and Kenzi are the ones that have licenses.”

Jon lowered his head in defeat, and slowly turned to send Richard a demonic look. Meanwhile, a wide smile crossed both Kaitlin and Kenzi’s faces.

fin


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