FicWad

Chapter 3: Ser

(Michael)

Michael Fullerton sat in the basement of his house. His friends Todd Hart and Ethan Miles were also in the basement along with him. He was wearing a Johnny Cash shirt and blue jeans, common attire for him. Todd was wearing a Pantera shirt and shorts. In his hands was an electric guitar, and he was playing an Iron Maiden song, The Trooper. Ethan was wearing a black shirt with a quote from Socrates on it- translated from Greek, it read "The only thing I know is that I don't know anything", a perfect example of a self-defeating tenet of logic. He, too, was wearing blue jeans.

The three of them were relaxing after a hard school day. As is common for teenagers, they had all been suffering from a case of the Mondays- it was the first school day of the week. The three guys had not quite adjusted to going back to school from a weekend. Then again, there is more than one person who finds it difficult to adjust from a weekend. Michael sat down on the couch and sighed.

"It's going to be a long week." he flatly stated. Todd and Ethan nodded.

"It already has been." Ethan said, his characteristic wit coming to the surface.

"Well, that's a pretty grim prediction for how the rest of the week is going to be." Todd chimed in, looking up from the tablature he had been reading.

"Yeah, but it's probably true." Ethan responded. He looked down at the floor, then at the ground. Out of nowhere, there was a pop, a thud, and the sound of a woman's voice saying "Oof!" From her voice, she sounded to be about twenty-six to thirty years old. Todd jumped.

"What the hell was that?" he asked Michael and Ethan. Both of them shrugged, their eyes as wide as Todd's had become.

"I don't know, but we had better go check it out." Michael posited. Todd opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Michael had already gone upstairs. The next thing Ethan and Todd heard was Michael screaming, as well as a surprised shriek from the woman's voice.

"What's going on?!" Ethan exclaimed. His eyes had become even wider.

"I don't know, but we ought to get our asses upstairs and see what the problem is!" Todd responded before he, too, rocketed up the stairs.

"Hey...Wait for me!" Ethan shouted, running up the stairs.

When Todd and Ethan had came up to the first floor of Michael's house, they saw the reason that Michael had screamed. The owner of the voice that the three of them had heard was standing in front of Michael, her hand extended towards him. She had somehow created a flame in her hands and was holding it in front of Michael. The light from the flame she held reflected in her glasses.

"Don't touch me!" she exclaimed, not realizing that Michael intended no harm.

"Dude! I wasn't going to!" Michael retorted. "Get that flame out of my face and listen to me!" he continued. Ethan began to flail his arms around.

"MAAAAH-GIIIIIIC!" Ethan cried before forcing his hands forward. Normally nothing would have happened- Ethan only shouted "MAGIC!" as a joke. But this time, a small blue laser-like object shot from his hands and hit the flame that she held in her hands. She recoiled as the flame went out. Michael and Todd's eyes immediately went from looking at the person standing in front of them to looking at Ethan's hands.

"Dear God...Ethan, you just...You actually used magic!" Michael exclaimed in surprise. Todd continued to stare at Ethan's hands in amazement.

"...Who are you?!" the woman asked, incredulous at Ethan's newfound ability. She had never thought that people from outside of her world would be able to use elemental powers, much less the power that canceled hers. In fear, she backed away from Ethan, worrying that he would use those same powers to kill her.

"I am Ethan, the random guy from...somewhere!" Ethan confidently proclaimed. Todd again turned his vision to the stranger. He noticed that, even though he didn't know her name, she looked familiar... He then remembered a picture that he had drawn of her. Clay had given him a very rough sketch of her and asked Todd to use his talent at drawing to make a better version of it. A light came on in his head as he recognized her.

"Wait...I've seen you before! You're Catherine...Catherine Wheel!" Todd shouted. He was correct- that was indeed her name.

"Catherine Wheel-Balan, now..." she corrected. "But...how did you know who I am?" Catherine asked, baffled at how Todd knew who she was when they had never met in person.

"You see, Clay here is writing a story about this guy named...hold on, what was his name, Michael?" Todd said, turning to Michael to inquire as to what the man's name was.

"Dennis Ryunosuke Balan, I think...I don't exactly remember." Michael told Todd. When he said "don't," he slurred it just enough that it sounded like he was saying "dun". Catherine gasped.

"You know him, then?" Todd inquired of Catherine. She nodded.

"Yes, you could say I do...given that he's my husband and all." she replied. It was Todd's turn to nod.

"You two got hitched, then?" Michael asked her. Yet another nod, this time from Ethan. All eyes were on him.

"...Um...never mind." Ethan mumbled, seeing that his joke had not gone over very well. Catherine shot him a dirty look. "Hey, I was just trying to be funny." Ethan replied.

"...anyway, yes, we did get married." Catherine stated.

"Do you two have any kids?" Michael asked. Catherine giggled.
"I have a son...his name's Clifford Joseph Balan...but we call him King." Catherine responded. "He'll be four soon." she added.

"I see...well, none of us have any kids...but then again, none of us is older than 17." Michael responded.

"That would be kind of odd if you did..." Catherine replied.

"So...how'd you get here?" Michael asked. Catherine took a breath.

"To make a long story short... Ryu and I were just sitting on our front porch, talking about things...and before we knew it, we were torn away from our world and brought here." Catherine said.

"I know this is changing the subject, but I have a question...how did you make the fire from your hands?" Ethan asked, intrigued by Catherine's ability.

"Well, the members of the family I belong to, the Wheel family, inherit the ability to manipulate fire at will...It would appear that you have something similar." she replied to Ethan.

"Well...I guess we have something in common, then." Ethan mused. He held his hand flat, palm up, and concentrated his vision into the center of his palm. "MAGIC!!" Ethan screamed, and as if on command, a stalagmite of ice shot up from his hand. "Like that?" he asked.

"Yes, pretty much like that." Catherine answered. Todd waved his hand to get Catherine's attention.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but Catherine...you have any idea where Ryu is? I'd like to meet him..." he inquired. She shrugged.

"I haven't seen him since we were transported here." Catherine said. Todd tilted his head.

"Does he have a cellphone?" Todd asked. Catherine nodded. "Well, have you tried calling it?" he continued. She thought for a second, then shook her head no. "You ought to try calling him, then..." Todd finished. Catherine took out her cell phone and tried to call Ryu. She attempted to call him several times, but after the third time that he didn't pick up, Catherine stopped trying.

"No, I don't think I can reach him..." Catherine stated. "I wonder where he is..." she added, trailing off.

"As do I..." Michael said.

(Amber)

Amber Santos was running slightly behind schedule. She and her friend, Natalie Miles, were riding together to the orchestra concert at New Albany High. Their friends Natalie White and Kevin Warth were performing in the orchestra tonight. They sat in the back seat of Amber's mother's van. Amber looked out the window of the van as Natalie listened to a portable music device. Amber looked at the clock that she had on her wrist.

"Two minutes left to get there...looks like we're going to be a little late." Amber thought to herself. She went back to looking out the window when someone fell on top of her. To the touch, the person was warm and furry all over his body. Natalie, upon seeing who it was, shrieked in a fit of adoration.
"Oh my God! Are you THE Ratchet?!" Natalie squealed, true to how a fangirl would be expected to react. She immediately latched onto him and began to cuddle against him.

"HEY! Get off of me!" Ratchet yelled, but Natalie was holding onto him too firmly to be removed.

"Ohmygodyou'resocuuuuute!" Natalie giggled, her speech reaching such a speed that it seemed to run together. Ratchet continued to struggle in a futile attempt to escape from her grasp. Amber's mother, Ms. Santos, turned around, hearing Ratchet's voice.

"What's going on...and who are you?" Ms. Santos asked, looking directly at Ratchet. He was struggling as hard as ever to shake Natalie off of him.

"I'm Ratchet..." he said just before lunging. "GET OFFA ME!" he shouted, still failing to free himself from Natalie's iron grip.

"O...kay..." Ms. Santos responded before focusing her view back on the road.

"...mmmphhh..." Amber said, trying to say something to Natalie but failing, due to being wedged underneath Ratchet. She didn't hear what she said because of Ratchet's protesting. "MMMPPHHH!!!" Amber exclaimed, trying to get Natalie's attention.

Natalie stopped trying to cuddle Ratchet for a minute. She looked around. "Amber, where did you go?" she asked.

"Mmm mmhite here." came Amber's voice from underneath Ratchet.

"Oh, sorry." Natalie said, embarrassed. She moved over to the opposite side of the back seat so as to let Ratchet wedge himself in between the two girls. He fit in without too much trouble, as this was the back seat of a van. Amber, her vision no longer obscured, turned to her left and saw Ratchet sitting in the seat right next to her.

"...Ratchet?!" Amber exclaimed. "How did you get here?" she asked. Ratchet shrugged.

"Well, Clank and I were at home one day...and the funniest thing happened. We just got sucked from our house and dropped in this world..." Ratchet explained. As he explained this, Amber's mother parked the car in the New Albany High parking lot.

"I see...well, you can explain more of it to us while we're walking out towards the school." Amber stated. Ratchet looked at her with an expression of curiosity on his face.

"Why are we going to a school this late at night?" Ratchet asked.

"The Hazelwood Middle School orchestra- the middle school that Natalie and I go to-" Amber began before Ratchet cut her off.

"Hold on...So this girl that couldn't keep her hands off of me is named Natalie, then?" Ratchet inquired. Natalie pretended like she didn't hear what Ratchet said as Amber nodded. "Okay then- continue." Ratchet said.

"Anyway, the orchestra of the middle school that Natalie and I go to is performing here tonight." Amber finished. Ratchet's eyes widened.

"Hmm...well, where exactly are we?" Ratchet inquired.

"...We're in Indiana." Amber replied, not quite sure as to what Ratchet had meant.

"So the planet we're on right now is called Indiana, then? Interesting. I've never heard about a planet named that..." Ratchet mused.

"No, that's not the name of the planet we live on..." Amber replied. "We live on the planet Earth..."

"...Still haven't heard of it." Ratchet responded. "What galaxy are you in?" he asked.

"The Milky Way galaxy..." Amber said. Ratchet was still drawing a blank.

"Yeah, you must be pretty far away from where I live." Ratchet stated. "Of course, I do live in the Solana galaxy..." he added, looking tensely at the ground. The name sounded familiar to Amber, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. The only response she gave Ratchet was a tense nod.

As she nodded, however, the four of them- Ms. Santos, Ratchet, Amber, and Natalie- reached the door. Ratchet was the first to get to the door, and he held it open, as it was only proper for him to do so. The four continued into the hallway. Ratchet could hear the sound of the orchestra playing- he wasn't particularly a fan of classical music, but hearing it live awoke a strange sensation in him, making him feel as if he was flying.

The four sat down in the auditorium. Amber and her mother sat down, several seats apart from each other. Ratchet debated the location in which he should sit. He wanted to sit down by himself, away from Natalie. But as if by magnetism, he was being drawn toward Amber. He could not help but sit down next to her. Natalie quickly followed Ratchet, sitting down right next to him.

The four of them watched the orchestra perform. It seemed that something was missing from the performance, but as far back as they were, it was not immediately apparent. Amber, while her eyes scanned the orchestra, noticed that two of the seats were empty. Those two seats were the ones that Natalie White and Kevin Warth would have occupied.

"Natalie...perhaps you didn't notice...but...Natalie and Kevin aren't in the orchestra today when they should have been." Amber stated, speaking into Natalie Miles' ear. Natalie, too, looked into the orchestra and noticed that the two were missing.

"...Hmm...that's strange...I wonder what happened." Natalie responded to Amber. Amber shrugged.

"I hope it wasn't anything bad." Amber said, though in the back of her mind, she had a feeling that the two were in grave danger. As Mr. O'Rourke stepped up onto the stage to conduct the next song (the orchestra had more than one conductor), she noticed that he had a tourniquet on his arm.

"Natalie...I think something bad did happen." Amber replied, to which Natalie sadly nodded.

"I wonder what..." Natalie trailed off. Ratchet, lost in thought, was looking still ahead, not really seeming to notice the injury to Mr. O'Rourke's arm. He had other things on his mind.

As the performance went on, Ratchet's curiosity about Amber grew greater. Strangely enough, he was becoming attracted to her- even though he was a Lombax and she was of a race he had never seen before- a human. Knowing that she barely knew who he was, he sat absolutely still until he could no longer bear it.

During the applause after the orchestra played the piece Serengeti Breeze, Ratchet tried to cuddle close to Amber. His efforts were immediately met by a hard backhand slap to the front of the face, but in addition to the front of his head being attacked, the back of his head was met with a hard slap from Natalie's hand. The combined force of the two blows resulted in a very deep stinging sensation spreading all over Ratchet's head.

"What are you doing?!" Amber angrily mouthed. Ratchet shied away, mortified with what had just happened.

"How dare you! I want to be the one who gets to cuddle you!" Natalie fumed, again being influenced by the fact that she was a Ratchet fangirl. Ratchet now buried his face in his hands, embarrassed beyond the limits of any normal human being, or Lombax as the case might have been.

"So these are the sort of people who dwell on Earth...I don't think I like this place." Ratchet thought to himself. He didn't know it, but his experience with the two Earth girls wasn't the last incident he would endure while on the surface of this unknown world...