Collision Course
By Colin O'Donnell
Near downtown New York, an ozone-y smelling column of smoke smoke rose up from Central Park, and two crimson blurs sped off from the scene, with cheers following them. As the blurs slowed down, they became visible as the two armor-clad heroes known and loved around the nation as the Meteor and Energy Eagle, who we know well as Michael and Jerry Scott. The Meteor was still flaming, and Energy Eagle’s hands were still sparking from the effects of his powers. Energy Eagle wore hard-light wings that were generated by emitters in his suit.
“Well, that was invigorating,” said Energy Eagle through his helmet, his green eyes blazing.
A technology-riddled gauntlet on the Meteor’s armor beeped, and a panel slid back to reveal a screen with the eternally cynical face of the chief.
“Meteor. Energy Eagle. We need you back at base now,” said the image on the screen.
“No worries, chief. The Slime Mutant nest is reduced to protoplasmic rubble,” responded the Meteor.
“That doesn’t matter anymore.” The chief seemed even more serious than usual, if that was possible. “It's a code red.”
The boys started. Code red meant global danger, possibly galactic. With a sonic boom behind them, they blasted back home.
They touched down at the front porch, and were quickly admitted in by the mechanical hinge on the front door. They dashed down the shifting stairs to the secret room, and slid into their seats for mission debriefing.
The holographic screen appeared with the profile of the chief on the display. His greying hair peeking out from his green beret matched the fine lines that etched around his eyes. A perpetual frown rested below an eagle nose.
“I’m glad that for once you understand the severity of the situation,” said the chief, his one good eye intense. “We don’t have a minute to lose.”
“What’s the problem?” asked Energy Eagle, retracting his helmet and revealing wild, curly brown hair.
“Ancient Egypt,” responded the chief. “The world’s first civilization. It has been suggested that aliens assisted in the creation of Egypt.”
“We know,” said the Meteor. “We've fought them.”
“Yes, and ever since then, we’ve been keeping tabs on major or hidden Egyptian structures. A few days ago, we noticed a ripple emanating from a hidden temple known as the Temple of Osiris. The Egyptians believed that through there, the pure of heart could be sent to the Underworld and be granted a wish by the god Osiris. The ripple has started to tear apart time, and unless we stop it soon, our world as we know it will be no more. Your mission is to find the cause of the anomaly, and stop it. Unfortunately, the cause is not only in space, but in time. In order to do this, you’ll be doing something new. You’ll be going back in time.”
“Back in time? How?”
“We have an expert on that subject,” said the chief, as a stunningly handsome and intelligent man walked in through a secret door, carrying a toolbox. “Meet Colin O’Donnell, inventor from the year 2031 and expert in time-travel technologies.”
Colin O’Donnell appeared to be around six feet five inches and loomed over the two boys. His dark brown hair fell into his eyes as he strode into the room. In his early thirties, his pale skin reflected his many hours in a laboratory.
“The dimension of time is much simpler than we perceive it to be,” said Colin. “It’s just the same as height, length or width, and we’re all walking forward through it at the same speed. The secret to time travel is to jog or to walk backwards.”
“Colin here will be assisting you with your time-jump.”
“It’s more of a time-run, and I won’t be able to accompany them on the mission. I’ve already traveled through time, and if I go to a new point, I risk tangling my timeline.” Colin turned to the boys. “You will, however, need an expert in time-travel to assist you.”
In walked a young teenager who looked a lot like Colin.
“Meet Colin O’Donnell, fourteen-year-old boy and aspiring inventor. He’s my present self, and while not as an expert as I, he has an impressive understanding of time for this period.”
Adult Colin pulled out various tools from his toolbox and began tinkering with the boys’ capsules.
“Do you believe in the theory of superior dimensions?” adult Colin asked the Meteor.
“No. What’s that?” responded the Meteor.
“The theory that there are dimensions above us that we are not and cannot be aware of,” explained young Colin. “To them, we may be nothing more than characters in a TV show, or extras in a video game… or characters in a story, just not self-aware. Sonic the Hedgehog doesn’t think he’s just a video game character, and Superman doesn’t think he’s a work of fiction. There’s no reason we couldn’t have been created, just like that.”
“That’s an impressive theory.”
“Thanks,” said adult Colin. “It’s one of my best.” He backed away from the capsules. “It’s done. They’re time machines now. They should be able to take you back to the day you need to go to. And take this,” he handed Michael a large wrist computer. It was a ring as long as Michael’s forearm, with one flat, elevated side with the screen. The computer slid onto his wrist, and merged with the armor, melding with the metal and assimilating itself into the structure. “It’s linked to that point in time, and when you’re finished, it should be able to slingshot you back home. But if you spend too much time there, the connection will break. Think of it as a rubber rope around a stake. It starts here, and it’s set at the stake. You’ll still be going through time as you travel, and if you walk too far from the stake, the rope will thin and break. It’s also the only way to communicate to us back here, so don’t lose it or you’ll be running blind.”
“Thanks.” Michael, Jerry, and young Colin got in the capsules. The edges of everything glowed, and the heroes felt a sense of going at amazing speed without moving. The world in front of them disappeared, and as everything outside went backwards, the time machines developed fins and what looked like a jet engine and suddenly lifted off. They were sent across continents as tsunamis left land and retreated back into the ocean, water flowed backwards, and the sun set in the east several times a minute. When they finally got to land, everything suddenly slowed to a crawl and then froze as the heroes landed. With a flash, the machines disappeared, as if they had never been there. Jerry stumbled, and threw up on a nearby camel.
“Quite a rush, isn’t it?” came the voice of adult Colin through Michael’s communicator. “It does take a bit of getting used to. In my vessel, there were no windows, so I couldn’t get that overwhelmed. But I guess I didn’t account for those capsules being clear!”
Michael looked around. On one side of them was a bustling city, with street vendors yelling out prices in Arabic. On the other side was a vast expanse of sand, with pyramids peppered across the landscape.
“So. We’re in Cairo. But I don’t see the temple anywhere,” said Michael.
“The Egyptians were smarter than that,” said adult Colin through the communicator. “The things important to them, they hid. Tombs, crowns, documents, they’re all hidden with the intention of never being found.”
“So the Pyramids—“
“Fake. Pharaoh Khufu is more likely entombed in Ethiopia somewhere.” A map appeared on the communicator with a flashing red dot. “The map is courtesy of your organization. What’s it called, again?”
“It doesn’t have a name.” responded Michael. “Too much of a security risk.”
“O-kay. You’re at the center of the map,” an arrow appeared on the map. “The dot is the main chamber of the temple. You need to get there in two hours, or you won’t be able to come back.”
“Two hours? Don’t we get at least twenty-four?”
“It’s the twenty-first century, not the twenty-third,” said adult Colin. “Just wait.”
The three started moving towards the desert. They quickly came across a mountain.
“The map says it’s in there,” said Michael.
“How? I don’t exactly see a door,” said young Colin.
“I’ll fly up and get a bird’s eye view, see if I can find an entrance,” said Jerry. Hard-light eagle wings formed on Jerry’s back.
“Oooh! Are those how you fly?” asked young Colin excitedly. “I bet they bend gravity at the timespace fabric level, right?”
“Nah,” said Jerry. “They’re really just for show.” He flew up and circled the mountain, sending a couple of tourists running, screaming about giant vultures. Jerry touched down, a successful look on his face. “The door’s on the other side of the mountain.”
“It’ll take HOURS to walk around the mountain!” complained young Colin. Then he blinked. And started. They were at the door.
“Try nanoseconds,” said Jerry.
Michael bent down and observed some fresh footprints in the ground.
“Someone’s been here,” he said. “And not too long ago, either.” The rocky door was being held open by a metal shovel. They slowly walked in, and the shovel snapped. The door slammed closed after them.
It was pitch black inside. Young Colin pushed a button on his wristwatch, and a light on the watch turned on.
“Now we’ve got some light in here,” said Colin. Michael and Jerry activated tunnel lights on their helmets that made Colin’s watch look like a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur. “I’m sticking with my watch,” said Colin.
As they walked on, they passed a section of the tunnel littered with dead frogs.
“What happened here?” whispered Michael as they passed the slaughter. “Who did this?”
As they looked up, they saw a rock wall in front of them. The tunnel was a dead end.
“That can’t be right,” said Michael. “The communicator says that the path is behind that wall.”
“So, what do we do?” asked young Colin. “Just turn back?”
Michael laughed. “Kid, you don’t get super-strength and then get defeated by a wall.” He balled up a fist, pulled back, and punched. His hand went right through the wall. Literally.
“It’s an illusion!” said Colin. “A thousand-year-old, light-bending illusion! How on Earth did the Egyptians pull that one off?”
They crossed the “wall,” and on the other side was a vast cove, littered with beautiful diamonds and rubies and other precious gems.
“Colin, are these stones real?” said Michael into his communicator. A laser slid out from the machine and passed a light over a nearby emerald.
“Yup, they’re real,” said adult Colin’s voice. “But it’s anyone’s guess how they got here.”
Jerry noticed that some gems had been broken off and were missing.
“Look at all this!” exclaimed young Colin. “With this I could buy a new iPod, a Parrot AR Drone 2.0, and still have enough left over to go to MIT! Ok, MIT is what is really important.”
“Wait!” said Jerry. “I don’t think we should take anything from here. There’s something not right about this place.”
They continued to explore the cavern, marveling at the natural beauty, until they came upon a black skeleton, with several glowing gems sitting inside his exposed ribcage.
“I knew there was something weird about those gems,” said Jerry.
They heard a hiss and a yell from the next room, and ran through the passage to a sandstone tomb chamber. The sarcophagus was opened, and there was a corpse in a pharaoh headdress disintegrating on the floor.
“Is that…” said Jerry.
“The pharaoh Akhenaten,” breathed adult Colin through the communicator. “The lost king of Egypt.”
Then they noticed an average sized man lying unconscious on the floor, with a safari hat next to his head, and another intense looking blond haired man kneeling next to him with a backpack and a first-aid kit. The unconscious man had two puncture holes in his leg, and was foaming at the mouth.
“So you’re the ones who came before us!” said Michael to the conscious explorer.
“Yes!” said the explorer. “My friend’s been bitten by a cobra, and if we don’t do something soon, he won’t wake up! Please, help us!”
Young Colin rushed over. “Do you have any alcohol in there?” he asked the explorer, who pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Colin took out a plastic cup from the first aid kit and began to rummage inside the explorer’s backpack. He took out what looked like a root, crushed it up with a stick, mixed it with the rubbing alcohol, and spit in it. The explorer made a face. “Saliva is said to have certain healing properties. That’s why cats lick their cuts,” explained Colin. He took a syringe from the kit and filled it with the mixture, shook it, and injected the unconscious man with it. The man’s eyes fluttered, and he awoke.
“I didn’t catch your names,” said Michael.
“I’m Zachary,” said the explorer lying on the floor. “And this is Jacob. Thanks for saving me and all.”
Suddenly, the explorer Jacob crept up behind Colin and hit him on the head with the first aid kit and knocked him unconscious. He pulled a gun out from his backpack and pointed it at Colin’s head. “Don’t even think about it,” said Jacob to the heroes. “If you try anything, he won’t be waking up.”
“Do as he says, Michael!” said adult Colin. “If I die in the past, it will rip the continuum to shreds!”
“The wrist guy has the right idea,” said Jacob.
“Jacob? What are you doing?” exclaimed Zachary. “He wasn’t doing anything!”
“You think I care about that?” said Jacob. “The only thing I care about is getting to that temple and wishing for the human race to return to the Iron Age! Technology has destroyed us! Destroyed us all! Don’t you see?”
“Then why did you wait for me?” asked Zachary.
Jacob cackled evilly. “Didn’t you know? The ritual of transportation requires a sacrifice! I was planning on using you, but now I’ve got this boy!”
“This is madness!” said adult Colin.
“SHUT UP!!” yelled Jacob, shooting the communicator, frying it in a shower of sparks.
“No!” cried Jerry. “We’re lost in the past!”
“You guys are time travelers?” said Zachary in surprise, gaping.
“All of you! Come with me!” said Jacob, dragging the unconscious Colin along.
They walked into the main chamber of the temple, which was tiled with a pearly-white rock, and Jacob placed Colin on the floor. He pulled a lever, and walked to the middle of the room. “Everyone out!” yelled Jacob. “Except you,” he said to Zachary. “I want you to personally witness this.” The Meteor and Energy Eagle walked outside the chamber, bracing themselves for what was about to pass.
A light began to emanate from the ceiling. “Yes… yes!” said Jacob. “Accept me, and grant my wish, Osiris!”
YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, boomed a powerful voice.
“YES!!!!!” cried Jacob.
ZACHARY, YOU ARE PURE OF HEART.
Jacob’s face became a mask of horror. “NO!!!!” he screamed. “I AM THE WORTHY ONE!!!! CHOOSE ME!!! CHOOSE MEEEE!!!” He screamed as a blackness similar to the one on the black skeleton spread across his body. His muscle shriveled up and his skin was stripped from his flesh, leaving only bone that swirled around in the air before cracking apart into a million pieces and falling away to dust. Ashes to ashes.
The light from the ceiling enveloped Zachary, and he levitated. There was a bright flash of light, and Zachary disappeared. The ceiling turned into a looking glass, and the heroes could see their friend meet the Egyptian
God of the Dead.
Osiris was as tall as a mountain, sitting upon his golden throne, with a crook in one hand, and a flail in the other. An Egyptian crown rested upon his blue-skinned head, and his glowing white eyes dubiously inspected the new arrival.
“WHAT IS IT YOU SEEK? FAME? RICHES?” asked Osiris.
“No thanks,” said Zachary. “I’d just like to see my friends get back home.”
Osiris raised an eyebrow. “THIS IS YOUR SOLE WISH?”
“Yes, please. Just that.”
“YOUR WISH IS GRANTED.” Osiris waved his hand, and Michael, Jerry, and Colin began to glow.
They stretched, thinned, and were sent flying and tumbling back through the time vortex, passing by some nutjob in a flying police box yelling, “Bowties are cool!”
They landed hard on the metal floor of the base, groaning. Jerry crawled to his capsule and upchucked his insides.
“You’re back! How on Earth did you get back?” said adult Colin, jumping out of one of the swivel chairs and hugging Michael. He started skipping around, happily muttering, “An unaided time flight! That’s never been done before!”
Colin groaned and slowly came to. “Did we win?” he asked.
Michael chuckled. “Yeah, little dude,” he said. “We won.”
“Meteor, that was amazing!” said the chief on the screen, actually smiling. “The timestream is back to normal! What object was warping time?”
“Not an object, chief,” said the Meteor, looking up and remembering Zachary. “A man.”
Near downtown New York, an ozone-y smelling column of smoke smoke rose up from Central Park, and two crimson blurs sped off from the scene, with cheers following them. As the blurs slowed down, they became visible as the two armor-clad heroes known and loved around the nation as the Meteor and Energy Eagle, who we know well as Michael and Jerry Scott. The Meteor was still flaming, and Energy Eagle’s hands were still sparking from the effects of his powers. Energy Eagle wore hard-light wings that were generated by emitters in his suit.
“Well, that was invigorating,” said Energy Eagle through his helmet, his green eyes blazing.
A technology-riddled gauntlet on the Meteor’s armor beeped, and a panel slid back to reveal a screen with the eternally cynical face of the chief.
“Meteor. Energy Eagle. We need you back at base now,” said the image on the screen.
“No worries, chief. The Slime Mutant nest is reduced to protoplasmic rubble,” responded the Meteor.
“That doesn’t matter anymore.” The chief seemed even more serious than usual, if that was possible. “It's a code red.”
The boys started. Code red meant global danger, possibly galactic. With a sonic boom behind them, they blasted back home.
They touched down at the front porch, and were quickly admitted in by the mechanical hinge on the front door. They dashed down the shifting stairs to the secret room, and slid into their seats for mission debriefing.
The holographic screen appeared with the profile of the chief on the display. His greying hair peeking out from his green beret matched the fine lines that etched around his eyes. A perpetual frown rested below an eagle nose.
“I’m glad that for once you understand the severity of the situation,” said the chief, his one good eye intense. “We don’t have a minute to lose.”
“What’s the problem?” asked Energy Eagle, retracting his helmet and revealing wild, curly brown hair.
“Ancient Egypt,” responded the chief. “The world’s first civilization. It has been suggested that aliens assisted in the creation of Egypt.”
“We know,” said the Meteor. “We've fought them.”
“Yes, and ever since then, we’ve been keeping tabs on major or hidden Egyptian structures. A few days ago, we noticed a ripple emanating from a hidden temple known as the Temple of Osiris. The Egyptians believed that through there, the pure of heart could be sent to the Underworld and be granted a wish by the god Osiris. The ripple has started to tear apart time, and unless we stop it soon, our world as we know it will be no more. Your mission is to find the cause of the anomaly, and stop it. Unfortunately, the cause is not only in space, but in time. In order to do this, you’ll be doing something new. You’ll be going back in time.”
“Back in time? How?”
“We have an expert on that subject,” said the chief, as a stunningly handsome and intelligent man walked in through a secret door, carrying a toolbox. “Meet Colin O’Donnell, inventor from the year 2031 and expert in time-travel technologies.”
Colin O’Donnell appeared to be around six feet five inches and loomed over the two boys. His dark brown hair fell into his eyes as he strode into the room. In his early thirties, his pale skin reflected his many hours in a laboratory.
“The dimension of time is much simpler than we perceive it to be,” said Colin. “It’s just the same as height, length or width, and we’re all walking forward through it at the same speed. The secret to time travel is to jog or to walk backwards.”
“Colin here will be assisting you with your time-jump.”
“It’s more of a time-run, and I won’t be able to accompany them on the mission. I’ve already traveled through time, and if I go to a new point, I risk tangling my timeline.” Colin turned to the boys. “You will, however, need an expert in time-travel to assist you.”
In walked a young teenager who looked a lot like Colin.
“Meet Colin O’Donnell, fourteen-year-old boy and aspiring inventor. He’s my present self, and while not as an expert as I, he has an impressive understanding of time for this period.”
Adult Colin pulled out various tools from his toolbox and began tinkering with the boys’ capsules.
“Do you believe in the theory of superior dimensions?” adult Colin asked the Meteor.
“No. What’s that?” responded the Meteor.
“The theory that there are dimensions above us that we are not and cannot be aware of,” explained young Colin. “To them, we may be nothing more than characters in a TV show, or extras in a video game… or characters in a story, just not self-aware. Sonic the Hedgehog doesn’t think he’s just a video game character, and Superman doesn’t think he’s a work of fiction. There’s no reason we couldn’t have been created, just like that.”
“That’s an impressive theory.”
“Thanks,” said adult Colin. “It’s one of my best.” He backed away from the capsules. “It’s done. They’re time machines now. They should be able to take you back to the day you need to go to. And take this,” he handed Michael a large wrist computer. It was a ring as long as Michael’s forearm, with one flat, elevated side with the screen. The computer slid onto his wrist, and merged with the armor, melding with the metal and assimilating itself into the structure. “It’s linked to that point in time, and when you’re finished, it should be able to slingshot you back home. But if you spend too much time there, the connection will break. Think of it as a rubber rope around a stake. It starts here, and it’s set at the stake. You’ll still be going through time as you travel, and if you walk too far from the stake, the rope will thin and break. It’s also the only way to communicate to us back here, so don’t lose it or you’ll be running blind.”
“Thanks.” Michael, Jerry, and young Colin got in the capsules. The edges of everything glowed, and the heroes felt a sense of going at amazing speed without moving. The world in front of them disappeared, and as everything outside went backwards, the time machines developed fins and what looked like a jet engine and suddenly lifted off. They were sent across continents as tsunamis left land and retreated back into the ocean, water flowed backwards, and the sun set in the east several times a minute. When they finally got to land, everything suddenly slowed to a crawl and then froze as the heroes landed. With a flash, the machines disappeared, as if they had never been there. Jerry stumbled, and threw up on a nearby camel.
“Quite a rush, isn’t it?” came the voice of adult Colin through Michael’s communicator. “It does take a bit of getting used to. In my vessel, there were no windows, so I couldn’t get that overwhelmed. But I guess I didn’t account for those capsules being clear!”
Michael looked around. On one side of them was a bustling city, with street vendors yelling out prices in Arabic. On the other side was a vast expanse of sand, with pyramids peppered across the landscape.
“So. We’re in Cairo. But I don’t see the temple anywhere,” said Michael.
“The Egyptians were smarter than that,” said adult Colin through the communicator. “The things important to them, they hid. Tombs, crowns, documents, they’re all hidden with the intention of never being found.”
“So the Pyramids—“
“Fake. Pharaoh Khufu is more likely entombed in Ethiopia somewhere.” A map appeared on the communicator with a flashing red dot. “The map is courtesy of your organization. What’s it called, again?”
“It doesn’t have a name.” responded Michael. “Too much of a security risk.”
“O-kay. You’re at the center of the map,” an arrow appeared on the map. “The dot is the main chamber of the temple. You need to get there in two hours, or you won’t be able to come back.”
“Two hours? Don’t we get at least twenty-four?”
“It’s the twenty-first century, not the twenty-third,” said adult Colin. “Just wait.”
The three started moving towards the desert. They quickly came across a mountain.
“The map says it’s in there,” said Michael.
“How? I don’t exactly see a door,” said young Colin.
“I’ll fly up and get a bird’s eye view, see if I can find an entrance,” said Jerry. Hard-light eagle wings formed on Jerry’s back.
“Oooh! Are those how you fly?” asked young Colin excitedly. “I bet they bend gravity at the timespace fabric level, right?”
“Nah,” said Jerry. “They’re really just for show.” He flew up and circled the mountain, sending a couple of tourists running, screaming about giant vultures. Jerry touched down, a successful look on his face. “The door’s on the other side of the mountain.”
“It’ll take HOURS to walk around the mountain!” complained young Colin. Then he blinked. And started. They were at the door.
“Try nanoseconds,” said Jerry.
Michael bent down and observed some fresh footprints in the ground.
“Someone’s been here,” he said. “And not too long ago, either.” The rocky door was being held open by a metal shovel. They slowly walked in, and the shovel snapped. The door slammed closed after them.
It was pitch black inside. Young Colin pushed a button on his wristwatch, and a light on the watch turned on.
“Now we’ve got some light in here,” said Colin. Michael and Jerry activated tunnel lights on their helmets that made Colin’s watch look like a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur. “I’m sticking with my watch,” said Colin.
As they walked on, they passed a section of the tunnel littered with dead frogs.
“What happened here?” whispered Michael as they passed the slaughter. “Who did this?”
As they looked up, they saw a rock wall in front of them. The tunnel was a dead end.
“That can’t be right,” said Michael. “The communicator says that the path is behind that wall.”
“So, what do we do?” asked young Colin. “Just turn back?”
Michael laughed. “Kid, you don’t get super-strength and then get defeated by a wall.” He balled up a fist, pulled back, and punched. His hand went right through the wall. Literally.
“It’s an illusion!” said Colin. “A thousand-year-old, light-bending illusion! How on Earth did the Egyptians pull that one off?”
They crossed the “wall,” and on the other side was a vast cove, littered with beautiful diamonds and rubies and other precious gems.
“Colin, are these stones real?” said Michael into his communicator. A laser slid out from the machine and passed a light over a nearby emerald.
“Yup, they’re real,” said adult Colin’s voice. “But it’s anyone’s guess how they got here.”
Jerry noticed that some gems had been broken off and were missing.
“Look at all this!” exclaimed young Colin. “With this I could buy a new iPod, a Parrot AR Drone 2.0, and still have enough left over to go to MIT! Ok, MIT is what is really important.”
“Wait!” said Jerry. “I don’t think we should take anything from here. There’s something not right about this place.”
They continued to explore the cavern, marveling at the natural beauty, until they came upon a black skeleton, with several glowing gems sitting inside his exposed ribcage.
“I knew there was something weird about those gems,” said Jerry.
They heard a hiss and a yell from the next room, and ran through the passage to a sandstone tomb chamber. The sarcophagus was opened, and there was a corpse in a pharaoh headdress disintegrating on the floor.
“Is that…” said Jerry.
“The pharaoh Akhenaten,” breathed adult Colin through the communicator. “The lost king of Egypt.”
Then they noticed an average sized man lying unconscious on the floor, with a safari hat next to his head, and another intense looking blond haired man kneeling next to him with a backpack and a first-aid kit. The unconscious man had two puncture holes in his leg, and was foaming at the mouth.
“So you’re the ones who came before us!” said Michael to the conscious explorer.
“Yes!” said the explorer. “My friend’s been bitten by a cobra, and if we don’t do something soon, he won’t wake up! Please, help us!”
Young Colin rushed over. “Do you have any alcohol in there?” he asked the explorer, who pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Colin took out a plastic cup from the first aid kit and began to rummage inside the explorer’s backpack. He took out what looked like a root, crushed it up with a stick, mixed it with the rubbing alcohol, and spit in it. The explorer made a face. “Saliva is said to have certain healing properties. That’s why cats lick their cuts,” explained Colin. He took a syringe from the kit and filled it with the mixture, shook it, and injected the unconscious man with it. The man’s eyes fluttered, and he awoke.
“I didn’t catch your names,” said Michael.
“I’m Zachary,” said the explorer lying on the floor. “And this is Jacob. Thanks for saving me and all.”
Suddenly, the explorer Jacob crept up behind Colin and hit him on the head with the first aid kit and knocked him unconscious. He pulled a gun out from his backpack and pointed it at Colin’s head. “Don’t even think about it,” said Jacob to the heroes. “If you try anything, he won’t be waking up.”
“Do as he says, Michael!” said adult Colin. “If I die in the past, it will rip the continuum to shreds!”
“The wrist guy has the right idea,” said Jacob.
“Jacob? What are you doing?” exclaimed Zachary. “He wasn’t doing anything!”
“You think I care about that?” said Jacob. “The only thing I care about is getting to that temple and wishing for the human race to return to the Iron Age! Technology has destroyed us! Destroyed us all! Don’t you see?”
“Then why did you wait for me?” asked Zachary.
Jacob cackled evilly. “Didn’t you know? The ritual of transportation requires a sacrifice! I was planning on using you, but now I’ve got this boy!”
“This is madness!” said adult Colin.
“SHUT UP!!” yelled Jacob, shooting the communicator, frying it in a shower of sparks.
“No!” cried Jerry. “We’re lost in the past!”
“You guys are time travelers?” said Zachary in surprise, gaping.
“All of you! Come with me!” said Jacob, dragging the unconscious Colin along.
They walked into the main chamber of the temple, which was tiled with a pearly-white rock, and Jacob placed Colin on the floor. He pulled a lever, and walked to the middle of the room. “Everyone out!” yelled Jacob. “Except you,” he said to Zachary. “I want you to personally witness this.” The Meteor and Energy Eagle walked outside the chamber, bracing themselves for what was about to pass.
A light began to emanate from the ceiling. “Yes… yes!” said Jacob. “Accept me, and grant my wish, Osiris!”
YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, boomed a powerful voice.
“YES!!!!!” cried Jacob.
ZACHARY, YOU ARE PURE OF HEART.
Jacob’s face became a mask of horror. “NO!!!!” he screamed. “I AM THE WORTHY ONE!!!! CHOOSE ME!!! CHOOSE MEEEE!!!” He screamed as a blackness similar to the one on the black skeleton spread across his body. His muscle shriveled up and his skin was stripped from his flesh, leaving only bone that swirled around in the air before cracking apart into a million pieces and falling away to dust. Ashes to ashes.
The light from the ceiling enveloped Zachary, and he levitated. There was a bright flash of light, and Zachary disappeared. The ceiling turned into a looking glass, and the heroes could see their friend meet the Egyptian
God of the Dead.
Osiris was as tall as a mountain, sitting upon his golden throne, with a crook in one hand, and a flail in the other. An Egyptian crown rested upon his blue-skinned head, and his glowing white eyes dubiously inspected the new arrival.
“WHAT IS IT YOU SEEK? FAME? RICHES?” asked Osiris.
“No thanks,” said Zachary. “I’d just like to see my friends get back home.”
Osiris raised an eyebrow. “THIS IS YOUR SOLE WISH?”
“Yes, please. Just that.”
“YOUR WISH IS GRANTED.” Osiris waved his hand, and Michael, Jerry, and Colin began to glow.
They stretched, thinned, and were sent flying and tumbling back through the time vortex, passing by some nutjob in a flying police box yelling, “Bowties are cool!”
They landed hard on the metal floor of the base, groaning. Jerry crawled to his capsule and upchucked his insides.
“You’re back! How on Earth did you get back?” said adult Colin, jumping out of one of the swivel chairs and hugging Michael. He started skipping around, happily muttering, “An unaided time flight! That’s never been done before!”
Colin groaned and slowly came to. “Did we win?” he asked.
Michael chuckled. “Yeah, little dude,” he said. “We won.”
“Meteor, that was amazing!” said the chief on the screen, actually smiling. “The timestream is back to normal! What object was warping time?”
“Not an object, chief,” said the Meteor, looking up and remembering Zachary. “A man.”
