A/N: First of all, bad me, for starting yet another story – I can't help when inspiration hits! Don't worry though, I won't neglect the others. I got the idea from the few stories that have been written about Howard and Vince meeting Noel and Julian, yet the concept of this one is very different. It might seem a little weird at first, but stick with it – although, I have to say, I'm not quite sure where it's going to go yet! Also, as far as I know, the psychic imagination theory is something only my friend and I have talked about, so if you try and research it and can't find anything, then that's why!

Disclaimer: The Mighty Boosh is the brainchild of Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. I own only the original characters and my overactive imagination!

xxxx

'A multiverse (or meta-universe) is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes (including our universe) that together comprise all of reality. The different universes within a multiverse are sometimes called parallel universes. The structure of the multiverse, the nature of each universe within it and the relationship between the various constituent universes, depend on the specific multiverse hypothesis considered.' - Wikipedia.

Some people believe completely in the theory of parallel worlds, in just the same way some people believe we are not alone in this universe.

There are many different theories; the Bubble theory, the M-theory – but no one apart from a select few (not necessarily in every universe) know what the truth really is. In this instance, a little thing called 'psychic imagination' has also been tossed into the mix for potential consideration. 'Psychic imagination' can be explained relatively easily, although it has yet to be proven, studied or even really talked about. Think of a book you love, or your favourite film or television programme, and then say to yourself 'what if that were actually real?'. Well, it may very well be. You see, sometimes, when these things are written, they are not always the work of a person's imagination alone. Sometimes, a seed is sown from something that really exists, in another world, so very far away from our own. What the writer thinks they have made up, their characters – they are actually living, breathing worlds and living, breathing people, who are controlled by their own thoughts and actions. The reality is not always an exact replica – there may only be one out of two people who really exist, or there may be extras. Certain characteristics may be different and lives may have taken a slightly different path. But, the essence is there, and that, eventually, is what gets picked up on.

What if, one day, two of these worlds collided?

Confused? Then read on...

xxxx

Parallel Earth – June 5th

A young woman, with glossy dark red hair and deep chocolate eyes, flapped about in her room, looking frantically for something seemingly of great importance. She let out a frustrated sigh and stomped out into the living room, where she was met with the impatient stare of an older man with out-of-control hair and small, hazel eyes. She stopped in front of him, hands on her hips, thinking she had very good reason to be panicking, although he probably wouldn't agree – in fact, he definitely, wouldn't agree

"You ready? We were supposed to have left by now."

The girl ran a hand through her hair and sighed again. "I can't find them!"

At that moment, a banging sound came from one of the other rooms. The man rubbed a hand over his face. "Vince! Will you please hurry up!"

Vince popped his round round the bedroom door. "Have either of you seen my straighteners? I had them earlier..."

The other man nearly exploded. "You don't need your straighteners! We're going to be camping! Where are you going to plug them in, hmm? Shoving them into the soil won't get you very far!"

Vince's bright blue peepers widened to gigantic proportions and his jaw dropped almost unattractively. Surely he hadn't heard right? "Are you telling me I won't be able to straighten my hair for a whole weekend?! No way!"

The young woman waved her arms in the air at the older man. "That's what I've been trying to tell you! I can't find my straighteners either!"

The man looked at her with a very bewildered expression on his face. "Didn't you just hear what I said?"

"Yes, but they're travel straighteners – run off a gas cylinder!"

Vince reappeared at the door. "Did you just say what I think you said? Where the hell did you get those? And why don't I have any?!"

The woman grinned. "Because they're not out yet – Danny got them for me!"

"Danny? So they're bound to be dodgy, then."

"Shut up, Howard. So, anyway, you can borrow them – when I find them," she said, grinning at Vince.

He nodded in appreciation. "Genius."

"For Christ's sake, can we just go!"

"I haven't finished packing yet!"

"Roseanna, I swear to God..."

"Hey, Rose! What do you think of this hat?"

"Eh..."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

Howard grabbed fistfuls of his hair, trying to resist the urge to scream. Why, whenever he had something planned, did this always happen? Hadn't they had days to pack? Hadn't he told them last night that they were leaving at ten a.m sharp? Hadn't he said 'you'd best get your stuff together now or you'll just be moaning when you have to get up earlier in the morning to do it. I'm not waiting for you if you're not ready.' Hadn't he? He had. So, why was he still here?

"Right, Vince, shift it - now. Rose, you've got five minutes. I'll help you look."

Rose rolled her eyes and went back to her bedroom, nearly tripping over a pair of shoes that were left in the doorway. Vince hadn't moved, and Howard noticed this, getting even more annoyed.

"Go on, then!" he cried, waving a hand in his direction.

Vince pushed himself away from the door-frame and wandered over to the exasperated man, a small, sympathetic smile on his face. Howard eyed him suspiciously as Vince put his arms around his neck.

"You need to relax. It's a holiday – we don't need to keep to a schedule."

"But – oomph!" Howard's protestations were quickly cut off before they began when Vince assaulted his lips with his, drawing him into a deep kiss. He almost instantly melted into the smaller man, and Vince smiled against him as he felt Howard's hands on his hips, pushing him back against the wall. When Vince pulled away, grinning cheekily, Howard shook his head at him.

"Better?" Vince asked, tongue peeling out naughtily between his teeth. Howard wanted to bite it off, but he settled for chuckling lightly instead, despite himself.

"How do you do that?"

Vince looked up at him innocently, twirling a strand of hair around his finger. "What?"

"You know very well what, little man," he smirked, kissing him on the forehead. "Come on – you go finish up and I'll help my dozy little sister look for her straighteners."

xxxx

Earth – the universe as we know it – June 5th.

At the sound of the doorbell, Noel jumped up rather over-excitedly and ran to answer it. To say he was bored was an understatement – he'd just spent the past two hours reorganising his CD collection into alphabetical order, a task which would usually be more associated with Julian, his best friend and partner – in the professional sense of the word. Speaking of Julian...

"Hey!" Noel reached an arm out and yanked his mate through the door. "Thank God!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Julian asked, frowning as his arm got bashed against the door-frame.

"Boredom, Ju – that's what's wrong. You're rubbing off on me, y'know. I've just alphabetised my music! Do you know how wrong that is?" he shuddered.

Julian smirked. "We'd best get you out then, before you turn into me completely. Pub?"

"Yeah, all right."

xxxx

It didn't take Julian long to notice that Noel was no longer beside him – the silence gave it away pretty quickly. He turned round, and saw his friend peering through the railings of the park they were walking past, eyes squinting as he tried to focus on something. "Noel?"

Noel stuck his arm out and waved him over, not moving his eyes away from whatever had caught his attention.

"What is it?"

Noel pointed to a set of trees. "D'ya see that?"

Julian strained his neck as he tried to see what his mate was looking at. "See what?"

"There, between those two trees – something glistening."

Julian shook his head – trust Noel to get distracted by something shiny.

"I'm going to take a look." Noel shot off towards the park entrance and legged it towards the small, woodland area before Julian could say anything, so he settled for slowly following him instead, more to humour him than anything. He pulled at his collar as the hot sun sweltered against his neck. He really couldn't wait to get a cold beer and...

Noel had frozen, his face a mixture of awe and terror. He said nothing as Julian came up beside him, only just hearing him say 'bloody hell.'

Hanging in the air was what looked like a mirror of cracked glass, the sunlight bouncing from the shards in every direction, splaying out and making it sparkle white and silver, almost like it was moving.

Noel decided it was, and he wanted to run away, but something was pulling at him, an ethereal singing in his head, enticing him closer. The light made his eyes sparkle unnaturally, his black hair reflecting the silver rays.

Julian wanted to pull him away, but he too was entranced. He couldn't explain it, and he knew it could be potentially dangerous. After all, it wasn't everyday a shimmering... what was it? Some sort of gateway? Well, anyway, they didn't appear every day, in fact, they appeared... never.

"Noel..."

"I know," Noel replied, feeling the need to whisper as he edged closer, eyes fixed straight ahead. "We should go."

"I don't think I can."

"Me neither."

But fate had already decided that even if they had tried to run, it wouldn't have done them any good, for barely a second later a magnetic force shot out and dragged them both through, consuming them with light. Then, with a pop, the gateway disappeared, leaving only a static tingling and the taste of metal in the air.