The Odyssey Fanfic 2/17/2009

Episode 40
Two Worlds Meet/
When Worlds Collide

In the Kid World..

Jay stood staring at the spot in 'The Wall' where just yesterday there had been a gaping whole. All that stared back was fresh new wall that had replaced and patched up the damage that had been done thanks to Fractal's bomb.

After all that had happened, everyone worrying about how their world would end if the wall was broken down, if grown-ups were introduced into their world how it would wreck everything. Yet nothing had happened. Not yet.

After the explosion, and he, Alpha, Flash, and Fractal stood gaping at the hole in the wall, and the world of the adults beyond it. Finger was laughing maniacally about how their world was over, and the adults would take over, restoring the order of things in some twisted way in his mind. But after a while, with the adults just staring back at them, but still making no move to enter, he finally quieted down.

"C'mon! What are you waiting for?" he shouted hysterically. "Don't you want to come in and take over?"

Equally brash, Flash stepped up and shouted at them as well, "C'mon! I'll take you all on!"

Still, the adults made no move. They appeared to be studying the children as cautiously as the children were studying them. Some more adults crowded around the hole, but still none would actually step through. Finally, Alpha spoke up.

"Finger was wrong. There's still a wall between us." Still the adults made no move to come through.

"They're as afraid of us as we are of them!" shouted Jay. That's when it sank in. She was right. The adults were glancing around into their world fearfully, observing how wild the children had become when left to run things themselves. They saw what a wreck the world had become. They appeared unwilling to give up their own world of peace and order just to take care of a bunch of kids.

Slowly, the adults began to back up and move away, moving out of sight of the hole. Panic took hold of Finger.

"Hey! Where are you going? Don't you want to take care of us and bring order to our world?" Tears of frustration and anger were visible on Finger's face as he began to lose it. "Don't you want to take care of us?!" As he fell to his knees, his pleas drifted off into pathetic mumblings to himself.

Jay looked around at his friends, and then back to the hole looking into the adult world.

"I don't get it. I thought they'd be interested. It's like they don't even care."

"It appeared as if they weren't quite ready to relinquish their own recreational pastimes or have their daily cyclic continuance interrupted!" Observed Fractal.

"He means," Spoke up Alpha, "They're not ready for us yet." Fractal nodded to her.

"So what do we do now?" Asked Flash.

"We wait." Said Medea simply.

"What about this bozo?" Flash pointed to Finger, who was still on his knees, rocking back and forth, muttering about something about a door.

"He," Said Media smirking, "Is going to his room, and going to stay there until he learns to play nice."

In the Real World...

His mom was still holding the recent pictures of Jay and his dad. Tears were welling up in her eyes, and she was sniffing. As uncomfortable as Jay felt, he stayed. He had to know how she felt.

"So what does this mean now?" He asked.

Mrs. Ziegler looked up at him with shining eyes. "I don't know Jay."

"Well, are you going to get back with him or what?"

"Jay! I don't.. I just don't know."

"But you have to! He's my father!"

"I know Jay. But its been seven years. I have a lot of questions to ask him and things to sort out. There are a lot of things I need hear from. And there's still Steve... Did Steve know?"

"He's the one who helped me find him." Jay stated reluctantly. "But he's my father! You have to give him another chance!"

"No promises Jay. I'll talk to him, but no promises."

"YOU HAVE TO!" Jay shouted as he ran out of the room.

In the Kid World..

The next morning, the gang headed back to the hole in the wall, only to find it had been repaired and filled in. Now there was only mismatched brick and cement filled in. As the kids stared in disbelief, Fractal approached the wall to examine it further. He pulled out some strange hand held device from his lab coat, he then proceeded to point it at the wall. He adjusted some dials and pressed a few buttons that began to glow when pressed, and waved the device around the area where the hole had been filled. After studying the readings for a time, he turned to the rest of the kids and gave them the results.

"Well, it appears the aperture has been completely congested, although rather shoddily I might add. The adhesive is still quite damp." The kids gawked at him for a bit before Alpha piped in.

"He means its been filled in and the cement is still wet."

"No kidding!" Shouted Flash angrily.

"But what do we do about it though?" Asked Jay.

"Is there anything we can do?" Asked Medea.

"I could perhaps procure enough materials to make a second charge to unobstruct the cavity." As the kids just stared at him, he sighed with obvious frustration and said, "I could make another bomb."

"No! Are you crazy? We're lucky the last one only tore a whole the wall. The next one could destroy the whole world!" An exasperated Alpha said. "Don't you know when to stop?" Fractal suddenly became very interested in the designs in the dirt around his shoes.

"Look, maybe it got bricked up for a reason." Reasoned Alpha. "They clearly weren't ready to deal with a world full of kids."

"Yeah, she's got a point. I'm sure not ready to listen to a bunch of old people who think they know what's best for me. We should just leave it be." Flash spoke.

Medea caught Jay looking forlorn as he stared at the wall. She walked up and wrapped his hand in hers. "Don't worry Jay. We just weren't ready for it. When we're ready, we can worry about it then. Just let it go."

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm bored. I've got better things to do than stare at a wall all day." As Flash began to walk away, clearly done with the scene, he looked down and rubbed his stomach. "And I'm hungry."

The others began to turn around and head back towards the tower, minus Fractal who had begun taking readings again with that strange device of his. Alpha turned back and called to him, "Fractal! C'mon!" He snapped out of his data reveries, and ran after them.

Medea had her arms wrapped around Jay, and seemed to be mostly guiding him back. Finally Jay broke free, and looking apologetic he said to the others, "You guys go ahead. I'm just gonna stay behind for a bit."

"Are you sure?" Medea asked worriedly.

"I'm sure. I'll be fine. I just need a few moments to be alone." When Medea didn't follow the others immediately Jay smiled and reassured her, "Save some pizza for me, OK?"

Medea smiled back, "OK." She then walked after the others.

Now, here was Jay, alone with his thoughts, the wall, and the hole that wasn't there. He kept going over it all in his head, but it didn't seem to add up. After all the fuss, and all the adventures he'd gone through, he didn't expect to just be ignored by the adult world. And yet here they'd gone and filled up the hole, just dismissing Jay and the other kids.

He shook his head. Maybe he was being too hard on himself. The stress with suddenly becoming leader of this world, having all these kids to look after, then worrying over the bomb, trying to rescue Medea, and then the standoff with Finger, it had all taken its toll on him. His thoughts were muddled. Maybe Medea was right, he just needed to let go.

But try as me might, he couldn't stop thinking about the wall. It just didn't make sense. Deciding to occupy himself with something other than this mystery, he decided to go back to the tower. As he began stepping over the rubble that remained from the explosion, he nearly tripped on two large pieces of the wall that had caught his foot. He regained his balance at the last minute, and as he righted himself something caught his eye. He bent down to brush away some of the rubble and dust to get a better look. What he saw made his eyes widen and his breath catch in his throat.

"Hey!" He exclaimed, "What's this?"

Back at the Tower...

A filthy looking Finger is seen crawling around on the floor in a tiny room with barred windows. On the 15th floor, he would have no hopes of escape without barred windows. But escape seems to be the last thing on the prisoner's mind. The floor is cluttered with toys, a baseball glove here, a remote controlled car there, puzzle pieces everywhere. He seems to be looking for something, but unable to find it. Just then, the door opened, and a small hooded figure steps in. Finger doesn't seem to notice, even when the figure calls his name.

"Finger! Hey- Finger! C'mon, I'm here to free you." Finger just continues to crawl about in search of something that continues to elude him. "Finger, how far have we fallen, huh old friend? Look at this place. Such a shame to see you being kept here like this." The hooded figure then pulls his hood back to reveal a scarred face obscured by shaggy hair. The scarred face of Savage, Finger's old first in command, confidant and favorite sparring buddy. The wicked grin he wears seems to have lost a bit of the ferocity he always seemed to have in abundance before hand.

He continues, "Come my friend, let's reclaim what we've lost! Let's bring this world to its knees, show it the true face of chaos. And then! Then you can step forward to reclaim it, as the hero I know you to be, the savior you're destined to be!" The old sparkle of violence shows in Savage's gleeful grin for a moment as he's lost in the reverie's of the past he shared with Finger. Then a shuffling sound starts him, as Finger crawls to the wall, and with a stray crayon, begins to draw scribbles, his face locked in concentration. His scribbles become barely discernible figures of cats, giraffe, dogs, cows and other animals, all drawings which appear to be of a preschooler's quality. Savage slowly comes to the realization that Finger has gone away, to an ancient time where such hieroglyphics held so much more meaning than anything he could grasp now. Savage's heart, if it can be called such, comes its closest to feeling the emotion which is know as sadness. Yet, the pain in his chest is more akin to loss, and disappointment. This reflects in his face as he gapes at his lost commander and friend. All his plans which had included Finger would now have to come to fruition without him. For a moment, he is lost. Trapped in between emotions that he would feel were it that he had any sense of morality, and between those that he is simply unable to feel due to his animalistic nature. His mouth opens and closes a few times, and no words come out.

He looks like he's on the verge of tears, when suddenly he jumps back up. his expression is again almost gleeful. He looks back at Finger and speaks, "Well old friend, it looks like I'll have to go on ahead without you. When its possible, I'll come back for you," he says although he doubts his words are heard. "Maybe after I've shaken the world up a bit, and caused some truly beautiful works of... destruction, it will be enough to bring you back to your senses."

He then pulls his hood back up, opens the door, and leaves, quickly and silently slips out the door. Finger continues to draw on the wall, muttering to himself about 'waiting' and 'the right time'.

In the Real World...

Jay walks into the comic shop, a box in his arms. Nathan is organizing comics on the shelf, but turns to greet Jay as he enters.

"Greetings. What can I do for you today?" Nathan asks politely.

"I want to know how much I can get for all these old baseball cards." Jay promptly puts down the box.

Nathan slowly blows air out of his cheeks, as he opens the box and sees the number of cards. He carefully picks up a few, and bringing a magnifying glass out from his pocket protector and begins to examine them. Donna appears in the background, helping to organize comics on a rack in the front of the store.

"Well, they appear to be in good condition, but I'd have to go through all of them and look up their value before I could give you an approximate total."

"But that could take all day!" Exclaims Jay.

Nathan scoffs. "Two or three days at the least!" Jay is clearly losing patience. "Look, I'm sorry, but otherwise I couldn't give you more than 20 bucks, given how many there are, and how many could be common cards."

"20 bucks! That's it? I've been collecting these since I was seven, they have to be worth at least 100. Do you know how many old cards are in there?" At this, Donna turns and comes towards the two to see what the commotion is.

"No, I don't! That's the point, I need to go through all the cards so I can find out the value."

Jay looks around frantically. He sees Donna has now joined them, but continues to look around the store. "Where is he?" he demands.

"Where is who?" asks Donna, although she seems to have a good idea already.

"Where's Flash?"

"Flash?!" Donna and Nathan exclaim in unison. They turn to each other in confusion, but neither has any idea. They turn back to Jay.

"You know! He's our friend." Still, they continue to stare at him. Jay, if possible, becomes more impatient and uses a patronizing tone. "Long hair, he works here."

"Keith?" Donna voiced.

"Yeah, that's what I said." Claimed Jay.

"No, you said 'Flash'." Corrected Nathan.

"Well, whatever. Where is he? He knows my card collection better than me. He can tell you how much this is worth."

"Well, it is his day off, but he said he might come in to help out for a few hours." Nathan stated.

"Yeah, yeah, I needed the cash. Gotta save up for a new ten speed. What's it to ya?" Remarked Keith as he waltzed in the front door.

"Keith! Just the man I was looking to see." Jay said enthusiastically.

Keith looked a little wary at the fact that they were gathered there, apparently talking about him and expecting him as well. "Alright, what's up? What'd I do now?"

"Nothing, that I know of," answered Nathan, "But Jay here claims you know his baseball card collection well enough to give me a value for a selling price."

"Yeah, he's got a decent collection in there. I'd say its worth about 75."

"75?!" Jay becomes exasperated. "I've got some good cards in there! What about all the first editions I have? Those are hard to find! 90 at least!"

"Fine!" Keith turns to Nathan,"There are some good first editions in there, I'd say its worth about 85 - 90."

"I'll give him 90, but it had better be worth it." Nathan picks up the box, and takes them in back. Before the back door closes, he adds to Keith,"Or else it's coming out of your paycheck."

Keith glares at Jay. "They had better be in mint condition. He's a real nitpicker when it comes to cards and comics. What's your problem anyways? Why do you need to sell it so bad? You've had those cards for forever!"

"I need the extra cash. I don't know where I'll be heading after this."

Donna and Keith exchange glances. Donna speaks up,"What does that mean?"

"I just told my mom that my dad is still alive."

"Does she believe you?" Pipes in Keith.

"I shower her pictures of us from a photo booth the other day!" Jay snaps.

"OK! Geez..."

"But that still doesn't explain why you need all this cash." Continues Donna.

"If my mom and my dad don't get back together, then I'm running away. There won't be any point in staying if they're not back together like the way they used to be. You guys should come with, it would be an adventure."

"Jay, you can't hold such expectations. Your dad was gone for seven years. Your mom moved on. She has Steve now. You can't just expect her to get back with your dad after all this."

"Why not? He's my dad! They should be together! She missed him for so long, she can't just give up on him now!"

"I hate to tell you this Jay," Keith speaks up, "but Donna's right. You can't expect all this just because you want it. Your mom's her own person, she can make her own decisions. And if my dad suddenly come back, my mom wouldn't just take him back. He walked out in the first place."

"But that's different! My dad had his reasons. He was trying to protect his family." Reasoned Jay.

"Look, I know this is tough for you Jay, but just imagine how touch it is for your mother." Vocalized Donna. "This isn't just about you. You may have known this whole time your dad was alive, but your mom didn't. Now its like he's come back from the dead. This might change everything for her. But it could not be the change you're looking for. She's an adult, and she can make her own decisions. She has every right to go through with marrying Steve."

Nathan walks back from the back room, heads over to the register, and begins to count out 90 dollars.

"No! She doesn't need to, my dad's back. You guys don't understand. You haven't been through what I've been through." Nathan walks over and hands him the money for the cards. Nathan then notices his glasses need to be cleaned. "And if you guys aren't with me, then I'll runaway by myself." Jay storms out the door.

Donna and Keith both let out exasperated sighs. Nathan speaks up, "What was that all about?"

Keith pipes in before Donna gets a chance, "Jay's dad came back from the dead, and expects his mom to just get back with him, when she's already about to marry this other dude. Jay's going to head to Mars if she doesn't choose his dad." Donna rolls her eyes at Keith's lackluster explanation. Nathan suddenly becomes excited at the mention of the drama.

"Well, I can see how difficult it would be for Jay's mom to accept her long lost husband as a revenant, and Jay's need for worldly escape. It reminds me of an early issue of Zombie Soldier..."

"Nathan," Butts in Donna, "give it up." Nathan then remembers he has some other things to reorganize on another shelf.

In the Kid World, at the Tower...

Flash stomped down the hall with a determined look on his face. As he passes a doorway, Medea steps out, looking around briefly. Upon seeing Flash walking away, she calls to him and runs to catch up since he only slows.

"Did you get everyone together yet for a meeting?" Asked Flash curtly as Medea walks quickly beside him.

"As many as I could, there's still quite a few on their way down. I couldn't get everyone from every club, plus we still need someone to guard Finger, and the entrances." Answered Medea.

"What about the diggers? I need to talk to their leader pronto." Flash said, sounding like he meant business.

"They've been sent for too-"

"And a messenger? I need to send the word out, on the double!" He cut her off.

"Yes! Flash, what's this all about?"

"I'll tell you when I tell everyone, I don't like repeating myself." He added quickly, "Have you seen Jay? Why isn't he here yet?"

"He's been sent for, listen Flash, you can't keep me in the dark about this! What are you planning?" Demanded Medea, stopping short, forcing him to stop as well, to answer him.

"Look, it's about the wall! Much as I'm not into have some stupid adults tell me how to live my life, something isn't right about that hole being filled in. It doesn't sit right with me. And I intend on finding out what's really going on." With that, Flash headed into a hallway to give orders to a waiting messenger on roller-blades.

Medea sighed, then went to get an attendant. "Has anyone seen or heard from Jay yet?"

"Last I heard, he was seen on his way back from the wall. He should be here soon" The attendant answered before walking off to talk to a group of kids who'd just arrived for the upcoming meeting.

Medea leans against a wall, visibly flustered. She gazes into nothing, a look of longing on her face. "Oh Jay, where are you? We need you here...I need you here."

Elsewhere in the Tower...

Fractal is comparing two test tubes full of different colored liquid in his lab. He then goes to write his readings down on a blackboard. He then goes to a computer to type these results in, and does some further analysis of all the data he has. Alpha is seated at a table nearby, going over some papers, trying to make sense of them. She seems apprehensive. And Fractal's constant going back and forth is visibly annoying her.

"This can't be." Mutters Fractal, who then goes back to his test tubes. After staring at them for a time, making sure he has the exact readings on them, he then goes back to his blackboard. From there, he goes back to the computer to recheck the readings he has there. Alpha stands up as her frustration has reached critical levels.

"Fractal! Would you just sit still for one moment? What are you buzzing around back and forth for anyways?" She steamed.

"I'm sorry Alpha, but these readings just don't add up. I mean, they do, but not to the solution that would make the most signification." He said.

"And just what signification is made?" Asked Alpha.

"Why, the one that says the work concluded on the wall was done by other than those of experienced laborers for whom it appears to have been done by." Stated Fractal.

"Fractal, why don't just ever just get to the point!" Shouts Alpha. Clearly frustrated beyond belief with his dramatic notations and ideas of being a scientist and presenting data, she continues, "Fractal, why do you choose to talk like that anyways? I mean, I don't have any problem with it, I can actually understand all the words you use. But most of the time no one else has any idea what you're talking about." Queried Alpha.

At this, Fractal turned to her with a look of pride, and spoke, "In the name of knowledge and language, I refuse to dull down my speech for the sake of consensus just for a bunch of unread simpletons." He spoke the last part with a certain angry finality.

"Right, sorry I asked." Said Alpha apologetically. "So, what were you saying about the work done on the wall?"

"Yes, as I was saying," Fractal went on, grabbing a pointer from a workbench, he used it to point out his various calculations as he went on, "this work was most definitely not done by experienced laborers. Based on my readings and studies of the adult creatures, they, being much older than us, are clearly more experienced in most or all kinds of work, labor, or just about anything else, having done it most of their lives. With all that experience, it would be no problem for them to rebuild a hole of that diameter in a mere night."

Alpha stared at him, "OK, so it still sounds like the grown ups did it."

"Wrong!" Corrected Fractal, waving the pointer at her. "That reparation was shoddy, extremely hurried, and downright messy." The pointer was whipped down on a table to accent each point. "Even by my calculations of the grown-ups, for them to do such a speedy job, it would be more than possible for them to rebuild a hole, and do a much more efficient job than that which was done to the wall."

Alpha stood up abruptly from her chair. "Wait a second, you're saying the grown ups didn't repair the wall?"

"That, my dear," Said Fractal as he shortened his pointer, "is exactly what I'm saying. Get your things together, Jay will want to hear this." He grabbed a few papers and printouts for himself.

"We have to tell Flash and the others too." Said Alpha as she headed towards the door.