Post by billybobjoe47s on Jan 1, 2013 21:49:47 GMT -5
Hello everyone! This is part of Arrival of a Stranger, the intro fic to my characters. Part II will be posted in the Back Alleys, as well as Part III.
Billybobjoe47s
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It was a rainy night on the Dimensional Island. This was a particularly dismal night, being nearly cold enough to snow, but instead ice water rained from the heavens. No one was foolish enough to be outside, especially at an already-dangerous place like Portal Park.
At midnight, one of a multitude of portals appeared in Portal Park. Make no mistake however, this was no ordinary portal. This portal was infused with light blue energy, arcing around the luckily-vacant park. Once it had opened fully, an attentive person (if one had been there) would have noticed the disturbing phenomenon of the Void- meaning this portal was from a dimension very, very far away.
The portal stopped its arcing of energy, and then a metallic blue streak plunged out of the portal and landed on the ground, forming a small crater in the short-cut grass in the park. Even as it landed, all the arcing lightning had converged on it and been absorbed within it.
The metallic blue streak was revealed to be a person- or at least a personage. A small, blue skunk, dressed in jeans and with light blue eyes, sat up off his face, which had been buried within the ground. “Why is it that whenever I go through a portal, I land on my face?” He complained to no one in particular. Looking around, he realized something, a literal light bulb popping into existence above his head, before landing on the goose egg already forming on his crown and bouncing to the ground where it shattered. “Ow!”
“Wait one second….. this isn’t the Retribution! Where am I?” He looked up, and even as he watched, the portal several feet above his diminutive stature began to close. “That shouldn’t be happening! Portals through Barriers never close!”
But even as he was protesting that impossibility, it closed with a small sucking noise, leaving him alone in a strange world, deprived of his companions.
He surveyed his location. “Well, I appear to be in a city, and this is a park… with several portals floating around. No wonder this place is deserted.” He looked behind him, and when he turned around, in his hands, appearing out of Hammerspace, was a data pad.
Booting it up, he waited as an hourglass appeared on the screen. A cheerful voice emanated from the pad. “Greetings Successor! How may I be of assistance today?”
The stranger held it up. “I need to know what universe I’m in, and the location of this city.”
The pad complied with a, “Certainly.” A green laser grid swept over the nearby buildings, and a small camera on top of the pad flashed as it took pictures of the clouds.
The stranger waited patiently, but after several minutes passed, he asked, “Well? What’s taking so long? I need to get under cover.”
The pad murmured, “Unknown. Radio scans and tachyon frequency analysis indicate this is not a surveyed universe…. One moment.”
A few seconds later, it lit up a bright green, and the pad satisfactorily exclaimed, “I have it! This may be good and bad news, however. We are currently located on the Dimensional Island, the crossroads of an entirely different reality. My creators had just begun to map this location before the Great War and Dissent, but locations of landmasses should be correct within one foot, unless artificial intervention has occurred, which it well might.”
The stranger asked apprehensively, “And the bad news?”
The pad replied, “With your current level of skill and power, it is impossible to reopen the portal that brought you here. You will have to find a greater source of power or train yourself to muster the required energy.”
The stranger groaned. “And how long do you estimate that would take?”
The pad said apologetically, “Fifteen years.”
The stranger sat down abruptly. “Fifteen years? The Multiverse will be destroyed by then if it’s missing a Great Hero. Any other alternatives?”
The pad said, “If you could find an existing portal, you could use it, or if you were to find other individuals with the same abilities as yours, you could pool your energy, allowing for a return to your quest. My estimate is that there is a 50% chance of finding another such as yourself on such a large crossroads of the universes.”
The stranger sighed. “Well, first order of business is to find cover. Any suggestions?”
The pad blinked. “Affirmative. According to my scans of the city area, there are several back alleys with sufficient cover, although erection of an energy barrier or watchman trap is suggested, due to the high probability of thieves, footpads, and gangs in such an area. Any better cover is unlikely, due to the absence of a known currency and a lack of such currency.”
The stranger asked, “Which direction?”
The pad replied, “What conforms in this universe as North.”
The stranger asked, “Do you have a full map of the city area?”
The pad replied, “Affirmative, I have compiled a detailed map of all areas within 3 miles, although any further is not accurate enough to show.” A map blinked on, first showing the Dimensional Island, with most areas greyed out except for a small patch. The map zoomed in to the small patch, showing the street layout, as well as 3 routes showing the best areas to rest until daylight.
“Good,” the stranger said, standing up. “Oh, and Traveler?”
“Yes?” The pad, Traveler, replied.
“Please, call me by my real name.”
“Very well, Brennan.”
Billybobjoe47s
******************************************************
It was a rainy night on the Dimensional Island. This was a particularly dismal night, being nearly cold enough to snow, but instead ice water rained from the heavens. No one was foolish enough to be outside, especially at an already-dangerous place like Portal Park.
At midnight, one of a multitude of portals appeared in Portal Park. Make no mistake however, this was no ordinary portal. This portal was infused with light blue energy, arcing around the luckily-vacant park. Once it had opened fully, an attentive person (if one had been there) would have noticed the disturbing phenomenon of the Void- meaning this portal was from a dimension very, very far away.
The portal stopped its arcing of energy, and then a metallic blue streak plunged out of the portal and landed on the ground, forming a small crater in the short-cut grass in the park. Even as it landed, all the arcing lightning had converged on it and been absorbed within it.
The metallic blue streak was revealed to be a person- or at least a personage. A small, blue skunk, dressed in jeans and with light blue eyes, sat up off his face, which had been buried within the ground. “Why is it that whenever I go through a portal, I land on my face?” He complained to no one in particular. Looking around, he realized something, a literal light bulb popping into existence above his head, before landing on the goose egg already forming on his crown and bouncing to the ground where it shattered. “Ow!”
“Wait one second….. this isn’t the Retribution! Where am I?” He looked up, and even as he watched, the portal several feet above his diminutive stature began to close. “That shouldn’t be happening! Portals through Barriers never close!”
But even as he was protesting that impossibility, it closed with a small sucking noise, leaving him alone in a strange world, deprived of his companions.
He surveyed his location. “Well, I appear to be in a city, and this is a park… with several portals floating around. No wonder this place is deserted.” He looked behind him, and when he turned around, in his hands, appearing out of Hammerspace, was a data pad.
Booting it up, he waited as an hourglass appeared on the screen. A cheerful voice emanated from the pad. “Greetings Successor! How may I be of assistance today?”
The stranger held it up. “I need to know what universe I’m in, and the location of this city.”
The pad complied with a, “Certainly.” A green laser grid swept over the nearby buildings, and a small camera on top of the pad flashed as it took pictures of the clouds.
The stranger waited patiently, but after several minutes passed, he asked, “Well? What’s taking so long? I need to get under cover.”
The pad murmured, “Unknown. Radio scans and tachyon frequency analysis indicate this is not a surveyed universe…. One moment.”
A few seconds later, it lit up a bright green, and the pad satisfactorily exclaimed, “I have it! This may be good and bad news, however. We are currently located on the Dimensional Island, the crossroads of an entirely different reality. My creators had just begun to map this location before the Great War and Dissent, but locations of landmasses should be correct within one foot, unless artificial intervention has occurred, which it well might.”
The stranger asked apprehensively, “And the bad news?”
The pad replied, “With your current level of skill and power, it is impossible to reopen the portal that brought you here. You will have to find a greater source of power or train yourself to muster the required energy.”
The stranger groaned. “And how long do you estimate that would take?”
The pad said apologetically, “Fifteen years.”
The stranger sat down abruptly. “Fifteen years? The Multiverse will be destroyed by then if it’s missing a Great Hero. Any other alternatives?”
The pad said, “If you could find an existing portal, you could use it, or if you were to find other individuals with the same abilities as yours, you could pool your energy, allowing for a return to your quest. My estimate is that there is a 50% chance of finding another such as yourself on such a large crossroads of the universes.”
The stranger sighed. “Well, first order of business is to find cover. Any suggestions?”
The pad blinked. “Affirmative. According to my scans of the city area, there are several back alleys with sufficient cover, although erection of an energy barrier or watchman trap is suggested, due to the high probability of thieves, footpads, and gangs in such an area. Any better cover is unlikely, due to the absence of a known currency and a lack of such currency.”
The stranger asked, “Which direction?”
The pad replied, “What conforms in this universe as North.”
The stranger asked, “Do you have a full map of the city area?”
The pad replied, “Affirmative, I have compiled a detailed map of all areas within 3 miles, although any further is not accurate enough to show.” A map blinked on, first showing the Dimensional Island, with most areas greyed out except for a small patch. The map zoomed in to the small patch, showing the street layout, as well as 3 routes showing the best areas to rest until daylight.
“Good,” the stranger said, standing up. “Oh, and Traveler?”
“Yes?” The pad, Traveler, replied.
“Please, call me by my real name.”
“Very well, Brennan.”