Part 0

John's heart raced as he set down his rocket pack and stepped into the lair of the denizen. It was cold and dark, he could barely see the hallway in front of him. Gripping his hammer in one hand he put his other to the wall for support and let it guide him further inside.

He swallowed back his fear as he rounded the corner into the room that housed the boss of his land. He rounded the corner. At first glance of the beast he dropped his jaw and his hammer. This thing was huge! Why did he even think he could... The hammer clattered to the floor, alerting the creature of his presence. John was frozen in place. He couldn't move. Couldn't even breath. The denizen opened its mouth and screeched:

bEEp bEEp bEEp

John's eyelids flickered and the ceiling of his room came into focus above him. He rolled over and flailed his arm sleepily toward the nightstand, managing to flick the off switch on his alarm clock. He rubbed his eyes with his other hand, slowly waking himself into a state able to comprehend the nightmare he had just experienced. He rolled out of bed and headed toward his desk, collapsing into his chair's cushion. He had to tell his friends about this one.

Surprisingly, none of his friends were online. No new messages either. Huh.

He shrugged and started sending messages of his own.

- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

EB: hey

EB: I had this crazy dream

EB: I'll tell you about it later

- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] -

He stood up from the chair and raised his arms above his head in a comfortable stretch. He started to head toward the shower, but reconsidered. Maybe he should tell Rose too? She might try to psychoanalyze it or something. She could tell him if it meant anything cool, and even if it didn't it might be good for a laugh. And while he was there, he figured, he could tell Jade, too. She had mentioned that she really liked dreams. He set his fingers clicking on his keyboard and sent the two of them similar messages.

But at the end of the day, none of them had pestered him back.

They never pestered him back.

John woke up to the sound of ringing. He mumbled under his breath and fumbled blindly for his cell phone on the nightstand, wondering who on earth was calling him now. "Muh?" he answered, utterly incapable of making any sound more coherent in his morning stupor.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!" a girl's voice yelled through the phone. He startled and quickly pulled the phone away to save his tender eardrums. When the squeal ceased he cautiously returned the phone to his ear.

"Thanks, Opal." He could hear giggling on the other line in response. "You know it's eight 'o clock, right? I was hoping to sleep in today."

"Oh, I know! I just had to be the first to wish you a happy birthday! How does it feel to be fourteen?"

"Not much different than thirteen really."

"I didn't think so! Anyway! Daisy, Wheeler, and I are going to come by and take you shopping for your birthday present in two hours, so be ready!"

Click. The girl hung up the phone and John rubbed his temples. He rolled out of bed, lamenting the fact that he was awake now. He began his morning routine knowing he would never get that extra hour of sleep he had planned back.

While pulling his new shirt over his head with a firm tug he reconsidered Opal's question. "How does it feel to be fourteen?" Now that he was more awake, it occurred to him that while today he might not seem much different than he was yesterday, he had changed a lot over the past year.

John looked over at the corner of his room that used to display an impressive collection of Matthew McConaughey posters. He chuckled to himself remembering the day he took them all down. Only one remained; "A Time to Kill" was left up next to the new shelves he had installed in the place of his shrine. Adorning the shelves were bowling trophies that he had won over the past few months. When Wheeler first suggested bowling, John thought it would be totally lame. He had complained the entire time, but after he landed his first strike he couldn't help but get excited about the game. It turned out he really liked it, and he was good at it too. Yes, he still liked McConaughey, but these achievements in his new favorite sport meant more to him now.

He smiled to himself and turned his attention back to getting ready. Taking a sweeping look around the room he considered what to take with him. On the table was his deck of cards, reminding him that he still needed to show Opal his new trick. He reached over and captchalogued them in his pocket modus.

Wondering how much time he had left, he flipped open his phone to check. Above the time display the icon informing him of a missed a call flashed. Someone must have tried to get a hold of him while he was in the shower, he assumed. He got a lot of calls these days, his friends were always so impatient! Always asking him to hurry to go places with them. Sometimes John wondered if it would be nice to just stay locked up in his room for a while, to enjoy his own space and not go anywhere. He remembered that it used to be that way, that a year ago he spent most of his time stuck at home, talking to his friends online.

He briefly wondered why he didn't talk to those friends anymore, but the thought quickly vanished. Did he ever even have friends online? What was he even thinking about just now?

In a daze of confusion he looked down at the phone in his hand. Oh yeah! He had a missed call from Wheeler. Most likely his bro was wanting to know if he was ready to go shopping with them. Rolling his eyes he let out a sigh. They were so impatient! Still, he knew the best change he had experienced this year was meeting them, they were always there for him, the best friends he could ask for.

He met Opal first. She moved in next door soon after his thirteenth birthday, and they quickly became friends. Later she introduced him to Wheeler and Daisy, and since then the four had become almost inseparable. Daisy had even bought him the new shirt he was wearing today as an early birthday gift. It was black with a picture of white ghost grinning slyly on the front, and it was his new favorite.

John headed to his desk, thinking that he wouldn't mention that he had got the shirt as a gift to Opal. There was no need to upset her by letting her know that she hadn't really been the first to wish him a happy birthday. He captchalogued his wallet to his back pocket before turning toward the door. Suddenly a flash of red caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Curious, he returned to the desk. There on the top was a red box that he hadn't noticed before. It looked almost familiar. Without thinking he reached to touch it, but was interrupted by his phone ringing.

Flipping open the phone revealed Daisy's picture on the screen, informing him that she was the caller. She hated the picture he set to her name, but it was his favorite picture of her. He thought she was cute with her chalky cat ears sticking out, rather than hidden by the pink princess hat she normally wore.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Are you coming, John? We're all outside waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'll be down in a second."

He shut the phone with a snap and peeked out his window. There his three best friends stood, looking up at him. Daisy waved a tentacle at him, and Wheeler gave a cool nod. If you didn't know him enough to notice, you wouldn't see the slight smile at the corner of his amber beak.

Suddenly something about the picture struck John as strange, but as quickly as the idea entered his mind it was gone again. He turned from the window and started toward the door.

The red package was still drawing his attention from the corner of his eye, calling him to examine it, to uncover its mystery. John bit his lower lip... his friends could wait just a second for him to peek inside, he reasoned.

Stepping toward the desk the strangest feeling came over him. It was as though he was falling with each step. The kind of falling only felt in dreams, where you never hit the ground. It took all his concentration to continue forward without stumbling. He focused on the box in front of his fingers, trying to ignore the impossible way his walls were flickering in his peripheral vision.

John stood in a void of white with the red box in his hands. He furrowed his brow, knowing somehow that he couldn't think about anything but the box. If his mind slipped again, he wouldn't be able to remember. From the depths of his mind he heard the universe silently screaming at him to forget.

He opened the box. Red text scrolled through his mind.

one day your gooberish ways are gonna land you in a jam and i know im going to have to get you off the hook but its cool i got your back bro.

John's mind was adrift in an ocean of deja vu. He was barely conscious of his hand reaching into a box and pulling out a ragged, dirty bunny rabbit.

This was his bunny rabbit. Of course! He kept it right by his bedside. It had been there every night since he received it from his best friend last year.

Except he didn't.

He had never seen this rabbit before.

John dropped to his knees and cradled his head in his hands. "What's going on? I don't understand!"

He looked around in a panic, trying desperately to figure out what was happening. All around him there was nothing. Not even the floor he had dropped to existed.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME! I... I don't understand!"

In the vacuum of paradox space, no sound was heard.