The Watch – Part 158:

Tom fell to the floor with dizziness. Amy’s legs gave way from underneath her, forcing her to sit down on the ground. I was the only one standing, but was out of breath. The sudden burst of adrenaline had used up my body’s energy in one go so now it has to make more.

‘What the hell was that?’ Amy asked. ‘Where are we?’ I could see that Tom was about to throw up so I turned my back to face Amy and waited for him to recover.

‘I transported us through the Void,’ I explained to Amy. ‘We’re currently in another parallel world.’

‘What parallel world?’ Amy asked, looking around to see if she could find anything that would help answer her question.

‘That I cannot tell you,’ I admitted. ‘I hit the random button. I can only tell you what we can see already,’ I said looking around myself. We were standing in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a field. From the looks of it, we were on a version of Earth, so at least we would have some familiarity.

‘But that isn’t what I asked?’ Amy said after she had drunk in where we were. ‘I meant, what happened back there. The meteorites?’

‘I can’t answer that, either,’ I admitted.

‘What the bloody hell was that?’ Tom said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. ‘What the hell did you do to me?’ he asked.

‘You took a trip through the Void,’ I explained.

‘The Void?’ he asked sceptically.

‘You know, what lies in between parallel universes,’ I said.

‘Are you telling me that we’re now standing on a different planet?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ I answered simply.

‘Woah,’ he said before bending over once more and going for another round. I turned my back again.

‘How come I don’t feel as affected as I did before?’ Amy asked.

‘Your body gets used to travelling through the Void the more times you do it.’

‘That’s why you’re the only one standing and we’re the ones on the floor,’ Amy stated.

‘Pretty much.’

‘Why were there meteorites suddenly in the sky?’ Tom said, wiping his mouth once more.

‘I don’t know,’ I said again, honestly. ‘What confuses me is how come no one was alerted to their presence. I mean, four meteorites can’t just appear out of nowhere, can they?’ I only just realised how stupid that question is. Of course there is every possibility that four gigantic meteorites can appear out of nowhere, just as it is possible for me to travel from one world to another.

‘How come you didn’t do anything?’ Amy asked.

‘There wasn’t enough time,’ I said. ‘Even with the watch, there was nothing I could do.’

‘Does that mean our world; planet Earth is no longer… you know.’ Then it hit me. That sudden knowledge that our world is now in pieces. Every life form gone in a matter of seconds. The human race and every other species extinct, gone, no more. My not answering was all that Amy needed, and she bowed her head.

‘But you can fix it, can’t you?’ Tom asked. ‘You can save the world from those meteorites.’

An idea popped into my head. I wasn’t complete, but it was enough for me present to the both of them. ‘I have a plan.’

‘Let’s hear it,’ Amy demanded, curiously.

‘Basically, I’m going to go back through the Void, back to our home world, go back in time, find the four meteorites and change their course.’

‘That would create another timeline, and subsequently another parallel universe,’ Amy figured out from recent experiences.

‘I know.’

‘You’re going to create an entirely new parallel universe,’ Tom said wide-eyed with amazement. ‘I knew you could do anything, but that is some serious anything. That sounded better in my head,’ he admitted before going for a third round. I guess everyone suffers from the effects of travelling through the Void differently.

‘So how are you going to stop the meteorites, then?’ Amy asked still sitting on the floor.

‘Push them out of the way,’ I shrugged, ‘something like that, I guess.’

‘You make that sound so easy,’ Tom said through deep breaths. ‘I think I’m done.’

‘Good,’ Amy said. ‘I was this close to throwing up myself.’

‘So let me see if I’ve got this straight,’ Tom said, ‘we were having fun at the concert, dancing and having fun, when suddenly four meteorites appeared out of nowhere, completely obliterating the entire planet. In the meantime, you transported us here to safety and then you are then going to go back to our world, and back in time to before the meteorites struck the planet and stop them from ever doing so, which in turn will make a new parallel universe.’

‘Sounds about right,’ I smiled casually.

‘Alright,’ Tom said, just accepting it.

‘You sound more cheerful than I thought you would be,’ I said.

‘What’s there to be sad about,’ he said. ‘At first, I was too busy throwing up to be sad, and now that you’re going to stop the world from being destroyed, there really isn’t anything to be sad about,’ he said unintentionally darkly.

‘You just made the planet being totally and utterly destroyed, everyone and every animal becoming extinct and everything that everyone has achieved being destroyed in a matter of seconds, as if it’s just another day,’ Amy argued. That statement hit Tom hard. He realised that he had overstepped the line.

‘Sorry,’ I said. ‘I just got a bit carried away, that’s all.’

Tom’s genuine apologetic tone made Amy sigh with sympathy. ‘It is understandable that you are feeling the way you are, what with all that’s going on. It is a lot to take in at first, but, whether or not Sebastian’s going to save the world, it still happened. We’re still here because it happened.’

‘I know,’ he said, bowing his head, but then noticed the puddles of puke on the floor and grimaced before looking back up at the two of us.

‘Are you two going to be alright for a while whilst I go back?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, we’ll be fine,’ Amy said, as if she’s done this before.

‘You sure?’ I pressed. ‘You did just go through the Void after all. And you, Tom, that was your first time. To be honest, I’m quite surprised that you are as strong as you are. Amy and I both fell asleep as soon as we reached the other end.

‘You know me, mate,’ he said, burping, which made Amy screw her face up with disgust. ‘Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?’ he joked.

‘Oh, you really don’t want to be asking that,’ I chuckled with a hint of seriousness. Tom got the message and his smile quickly faded. I inputted the necessary commands into the watch: Changing my clothes to the suit that I usually wear during times like this, giving myself the power of flight and strength, and the ability to breathe in space.

‘Right, I’m off,’ I said, with my finger on the button.

‘Good luck,’ Amy said. ‘Hopefully, when you get back, I’ll be on my feet.’

I pressed the button and disappeared from where I was standing, going through the Void once more.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)