11:50 pm. February 26. A lone 1997 Toyota Camry floats down the highway in Vista, California. Inside is Elouise Fischer. She's just left her nightly shift at a Waffle House and headed to her second job at the 24/7 bowling alley. This would be a normal night for Elouise, but tonight was different.
In just 10 minutes, she will be celebrating her 21st birthday. That is, at least for the next half hour until she gets to work. And this was a yearly reoccurrence.
At the young age of 5, her family home caught fire. The flames trapped her parents and brother inside but luckily she was able to escape; but not without leaving burn marks across her back. This unfortunate disaster resulted in her relocation into the local orphanage. Years and years passed and she still remained in the system. Once the parents were aware of the scars on her back, they changed their minds and rejected her. This leads her to learn to survive on her own. At the age of 16, she started working part-time jobs after school to save up money for her future. And sure enough, when she turned 18 she had to leave the orphanage. She finished high school and continued working multiple jobs to stay afloat, earning herself a dirt-cheap apartment and a used Toyota Camry.
She takes exit 27 and continues her expected course. 5 minutes til' midnight but her expression remains the same: exhausted. She tunes the radio in hopes of catching a station that plays a notable song but fails. Instead, she leaves it on a random radio talk-show; the words just barely coherent.
"A crappy radio station for a crappy day," Elouise monologues. "Why would I ever think that being 21 could make my shitty life better. All I can do now is buy beer that I can't afford and vote for a president I don't believe in. Wonderful!" Elouise begins to release all of her pent up anger from the workweek.
"As if, at the stroke of midnight, I would wake up in king-sized bed surrounded by servants who will cater to my every whim." She looks to her dashboard watching the digits switch, as she lets out a deep sigh. "It was worth a shot."
A bright flash irrupts 20 feet in front of her car and morphs into a swirling pink vortex. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Elouise slams her right foot on the break and grips the wheel bracing for the mysterious impact. The car skids across the asphalt and becomes enveloped in the swirling light, leaving a cloud of smoke and black tire marks in the street. The second the car is completely through the mysterious pink glow, it closes up and leaves the road empty once again.
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On the other end, Elouise's car skids to a complete stop. Her voice still screaming, knuckles still white from her grip, and her eyes tightly shut. After a few seconds, Elouise slowly opened her eyes to notice her car is surrounded by trees.
"Did I swerve into the woods?" She wondered aloud. "And what was that light? I could have been really hurt!" Elouise questioned.
Elouise undid her seatbelt restraints and got out of her car. Fearful of dents or scratches on her already POS, Elouise immediately rushes to the front bumper. She didn't care if it looked crappy, as long as it drove. Her whole way of survival right now is her multiple jobs. If she didn't have this car, she wouldn't be able to get to all of them. But it was fine. The same dents and scuffs as before. She lets go of her breath she didn't know she was holding, glad that everything was okay. Instead, her mind wandered to the bright pink light she was engulfed in.
'Am I sleep-deprived, or did that really happen?'
Looking at her watch she catches the time. 4:26 am.
"Shit! I'm late for work!" 'How is that possible? Wasn't it just midnight?'
Scrambling back into her car, she dismisses her current situation with only the thought of her job on the line. Realizing she's not hurt and her car still drivable, Elouise gets back in the Toyota and buckles up. She peers over her shoulder to reverse back into the main road when she is shocked even more.
Trees. Just trees.
No sign or the road anywhere.
"But... but, how? Where's the road? I was just there." Elouise is speechless. Her mind is wizing in all different directions. 'How is this possible? Where's the road? What was that light? Where am I?' Elouies's body begins to feel 5 times heavier and she turns back around and drops her arms and head over the steering wheel, inevitably laying down on the car's horn. The dizzy sensation envelops and Elouise passes out.
Minutes go by and the constant blaring horn catches the attention of a hiker in the forest. An older gentleman enters the cleaning in the woods; his facial expression well deserved. Seeing a vehicle in the middle of the forest much farther from any road in the area.
At the same time, Elouise begins to regain consciousness; no doubt thanks to the constant horn. The hiker knocks on Elouise window hoping she was alright. That sound immediately catches her attention and she turns her neck to find the man out her window. "A person!" she yells unbuckling her seatbelt and stepping out of the car.
The hiker looked the role down to the T. He wore a plaid elbow-length t-shirt with a cargo vest and matching shorts. He had on a large camping backpack, decently used hiking boots, and held a long walking stick in his right hand.
"Are you okay miss?" The old man asks with worry in his eyes.
"I'm okay, but I'm seriously confused. I'm not quite sure how I got here. And I'm not sure where here is either." Elouise takes a better look at the forest around her. The sunlight from the rising sun shines through the treetops to the forest floor. The grouping of trees only wide enough for hiking trails. No possible way for a car to get to the clearing.
"You're in Lumiose Park. Did you not know?"
"Oh, no, I'm afraid I usually drive through this strip to get my j... MY JOB!!" she screams mid-sentence. Elouise scrambles back to her car and digs through her purse for her cellphone. Now that she is positive that she won't be able to make it to work, she tries to call her manager to apologize and hope she can get someone to cover her shift. Grabbing her phone she dials the number and brings the phone to her ear.
"I'm sorry, but you're in an area outside your providers' network. Goodbye." says a recorded line on the other side. 'Outside the network?'
"Oh, don't worry miss. I know a short path back into town. You can use a phone booth there." 'Phone booth? Those are still around?' Elouise questions in her head. And before she could ask, the old man was turned around; already walking back to the trail he came from.
'Should I follow?' This is a stranger, and even in the home, I learned about stranger danger. But he's my only way out." Elouise runs through her options.
"Are you coming, miss?" Says the old man, at the forest edge.
Elouise thinks for a second and grabs her stuff from her car. A backpack with a spare change of clothes, a small laptop given to her for her 18th birthday from an old manager, and her purse. Elouise takes a last look at her car as she closes the door and locks it. She straps on the backpack and jogs to catch up to the hiker.
"Yes, I'm coming." And so they begin the walk through the woods to the town of Lumiose.
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Meanwhile, in another dimension...
Everything in the office was normal. The employees' voices talking on their phones and typing on their keyboards blended into a mundane background noise that no one seemed to notice.
Just then, Ironically on queue... the alarms went off. Every fluorescent lightbulb in the building shut off and was replaced with flashing red lights and a constant blaring alarm. Each employee dropped their calls, stopped writing their emails, and looked up at the lights.
No panic. No screaming. No chaos. At the back of the room was an office, wall to wall with windows, but with the blinds shut. The Boss's Office. The doors swing open revealing their employer with a determined expression. He storms past each desk and the employees, in turn, stand up and watch him silently stride to "The Information Room."
No one, besides the boss and his agents, has ever set foot in that room let alone seen the inside. Once the door closes, the alarm shuts off and the lights return. Two agents rush in and stand guard by the door ensuring the boss's privacy.
Even amidst all the mystery of the room itself, the situation unfolding is clear. They all know what's about to happen, and immediately shift gears. Organized chaos ensues. Employee's speedwalk from file cabinet, to file cabinet. Each knowing exactly what to do, but still secretly wondering what is playing out behind the doors of "The Information Room."
The boss stormed in and shut the door. There along the back wall is a huge monitor screen above a panel of flashing buttons, colorful switches, and numerous levers. After typing a few things and pushing a few buttons, the boss initiates a video call. A man dressed in uniform, covered in patches and medals appears on the monitor. He begins with a salute.
"Give me the news General."
"Our radars show a huge surge in the dimension D-27 And P-896. But... its, it's not...."
"Spit it out, man!"
"It's different. It's a huge surge! Something we've never seen before." The General finally gets out.
"Rick?" The boss questions.
"I'm afraid not, Daniel. It's a different energy signature entirely. I'm sending over all the information we have on it to you now."
"Thank you, General. I'll send my agents immediately."
"Yes, sir!" The General gives a salute back and the screen goes blank. Daniel pushes a button on his watch and in walk two men dressed in suits, sunglasses, and earpieces. Without looking back at the agents, the boss speaks up.
"It's time again boys, gear up and meet me back here in 15 minutes.
"Yes, sir," they say simultaneously, and leave the room.
Those two men are Dean and Warren. Dean and Warren are the departments' top two agents in dimensional recon. They have stopped four possible world wars in multiple dimensions and have dealt with aliens from all over the dimensional plain.
Agent Dean Ellesworth stands tall at 6'3 with strong broad shoulders. His brunette hair is coated in gel and slicked back away from his forehead. Dean's whole family grew up working for the department. His father in the protection bureau and his mother in the lab corridor meant that he grew up expecting to fall in the same line of work. Fortunately, that's exactly what he wanted. Dean loved the tv detective shows when he was young. When his parents mentioned an academy training course for the Dimensional Travel Division, he was sold. Graduating top of his class granted him head agent for the DTD, alongside Warren Cassello.
Warren Cassello looks very similar to Ellesworth despite his darker complexion. Black hair slicked back with an absurd amount of gel. He is 5 years older than Dean but roughly of the same character. He loves his job and everything about it. Warren wasn't aware of dimensional travel until he graduated from the Police Academy and his potential was realized by the department. So they offered him the job and he accepted. Since then he has risen to head agent in the DTD where he worked alone until Dean joined the department. Since then they have been an unstoppable team.
Dean and Warren make their way down Corridor B and entered the Lab. Each individual there donned the traditional lab coat and goggles and was rushing around in organized chaos.
"Professor Ellesworth?" shouted Warren. A woman exited one of the many back rooms and noticed the two gentlemen immediately.
"Dean, Warren, I was expecting you two." The professor led the agents to a table in the center of the room. "How's my baby boy doing?"
"MoOoM," Dean whines jokingly.
"Okay, okay. I'll make this quick since I know you're busy." She pushes forward 2 plain black briefcases. "Everything you'll need is in here. Our Interdimensional Portal Gun which I'm sure you are familiar with, a memory manipulation pen, as well as your portable dimensional communicators. Also inside is a standard-issue sidearm raygun and an Immobilizer gun for emergencies. I also packed you some carrot sticks and ranch for a snack later. Warren, I put celery with peanut butter in yours since you don't like ranch" Professor Ellesworth finishes.
"Oh goodness Mom, thanks but we're leaving" Dean leaves with the briefcase, slightly embarrassed.
"Thanks, Mrs. Ellesworth" Warren tells her as he grabs his briefcase and follows his partner back down the corridor to the Information room. "Good luck boys." The professor yells back to the agents with a smile on her face.
Back in the Information room, The Boss begins the briefing.
"Listen up you two; we had a strange energy signature pop up on our radar. It's a strong force; one we are not familiar with so proceed with cation."
"Is it Rick Sanchez?"
"As far as we're aware, no." The Boss begins to level with the agents. "The energy signature is different than his portal gun. Similar but more powerful and unique. The surge traveled to dimension P-896; I've wired the exact location of the signature to the crew. Travel to dimension P-896, locate this oddity, and remove it from that dimension asap."
"Yes sir!"
"Good luck boys, contact me through your communicators if you're in a jam."
The agents finish with a salute to their boss and leave. They exit the Information room and step into the middle of the Agency. Surrounding the teleportation pad in the center of the room are multiple desks, computers, screens, and employees. One employee gets up from her desk and starts walking toward the two gentlemen.
"Is it Rick? What did he do now?"
"It's not, I'm afraid" says Warren with a slightly disappointed tone. "A strange energy signature was recorded traveling from one dimension to another with powerful force. We need to leave immediately."
"Understood, Agent" replies the female employee. She steps aside and motions the two gentlemen to the warp pad behind her. Once they stand upon the pad, Dean pulls his Portal gun out of his briefcase, inputs the dimensions name, and then shoots the gun. With a firm grip on their suitcases, they step into the portal to leave the DTD behind on another mission.