by The Eurostar, T5 and GoozX
With a snap of his fingers, the sky was clear. "Better," whispered Turkish Stringfellow. He sensed illusion since the first moment. It was all fake.
Ma Kalunga was gone, each of his friends is on the ground, sitting back over the grassy meadow that covered the top of the hill. Around them, the crowd was applauding and praising the heroes.
Turkish was puzzled: he had opened the eyes of all his friends over reality, but somehow this reality was not what he was expecting.
From a corner, one man shouted, "Great! Great! This will be the greatest play of the season!"
It was the same man who came to ask for help, when he arrived in the utopian reality.
"Are they back there?" wondered Turkish. "Is this reality after all?"
In a secluded place, Ma Kalunga, Aurochs, and K'tl, hand in hand, circled around a pentagram. The Scorpion brothers and Dr. Zachary Knell, battered and bruised but alive and well and thirsty for revenge, watched them with curiosity and inquisitiveness.
The three magical individuals whispered enchantments, while their three different forms of magic blended into something Earth had never experienced before. The spell grew, and took control of the Castle of Crossed Destinies.
"Who are you?" Turkish asked the black-dressed man.
"Leone Ferrarini, director and producer of the new psycho-drama sensation of the year, kid!"
Mick Harrison stood up and went over to Turkish. "Psycho... what?"
"Psycho-drama, kid! What you called movies back in your time!"
Mick looked at Turkish, and then to Sam Dawson and Danny Hearn, who had joined the two.
The black-dressed man continued. "The last mission I asked you to perform... was just this: a performance as actors. Obviously, I couldn't tell you, or your acting would have suffered greatly! You have played your battle in the other dimension so that every person on Earth can live your adventure, your greatest adventure."
"This make no sense..." began Sam.
Danny interrupted him. "Actually, it does. In my time, what you call movies are individual sensory experiences. You don't see actors and actions, you FEEL them. It's like you live the story for an hour or two."
Tobias Christopher, who had just joined the other four, said with suspicion, "Even so, it's impossible that in six months you have advanced technology so far."
"Six months? Who said six months? You have been away for six years!"
Pete Glover and Lance Lorenzo, who had just recovered, arrived. "No, no, you said six months," Lance yelled.
The man looked at M'xy, who was still separated from Mick. "Actually, I remember. He said six years."
In the secluded place, K'tl laughed without smiling.
The man continued. "I believe that the faces of your friends should testify for what I said."
Sam's eyes went to the face of Michelle Campbell. She was beautiful as ever, but clearly in her mid-twenties or maybe even more. Same was for Donna Dover, Lance's girl, and for Rebecca, Tobias' girl, and his son, Lucky. Edulcore Cicciotto, Nowhereman, and Sonja Ljzavet all look older as well, some five to ten years older.
Dr. Henry Quantos arrives. "Okay, okay, the movie could end this way, Ferrarini. My friends now have decisions to make. The chairman of the United Nations wants to ask the MBL to take the role of the world's government. They have no time for the cinema!"
All the heroes look at each other, terrified, and only then they find out that one of them was missing. Naecken and Grimm had returned, but Dirk Bell was nowhere to be seen.
Naecken looked at his team with calm, white eyes, his now-blue body clothed in a white robe, similar to a monk's. He smiled. "Now, now, friends... let's not get all upset. Here we have tranquility and harmony. All your loved ones are here. See, here comes our friend Eurostar and his son. Maybe they want to greet us."
Sam looked around at all the smiling faces. He held the back of his head, expecting it to hurt, only it did not. Wiping his eyes with his hand, he turned to go back into the apartment complex. Michelle walked up to him to stop him.
"Where are you going?"
"I need rest. Whatever just happened, where we just got back from, took a lot out of me."
"I understand, but there is something I have waited years to give you." Before Sam could respond with the usual questioning response, Michelle pulled him closer and kissed him. "I tried to forgive you a long time ago, but it was too late."
Sam was silent, pleasantly surprised to say the least.
"I've waited for your return. I want us to be together. Forever."
Sam responded, but not with words, instead kissing her back. This was his dream, a dream he didn't think possible, but it was. Holding hands, they walked back into the apartment complex.
Passing through the main room of the complex, it was as though no one else existed. The place was all to themselves. Entering the elevator, Sam pressed the button for floor seven, but he didn't notice as all the buttons lit up in red. A shadow engulfed the area around him. He panicked as the elevator shot up passing each floor like lightning. Michelle was gone, and just as fast this dream was turning into a nightmare for him. The elevator stopped, and the shadows were gone. With a low ping the doors opened to the fourteenth floor.
Sam was now dressed in a prep school uniform, a black bag thrown over his shoulder. His appearance was slightly changed. His features were softer and not as defined. Subtle, but it made the difference of a few years.
Sam looked all around. He didn't know what to think. That was when a figure stepped closer toward him.
"Welcome home," the voice said in a tender loving fashion.
Sam was frozen, his eyes widened, his body still. A single tear rolled down the side of his cheek. He could only muster up a single word. "Mom?"