A New Beginning: Chapter Two: Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction.
Well, here it is, chapter two of the new saga. Hope everyone enjoys it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7jkJjCbens
At least twelve plus hours later, he wasn't sure, all Red knew was that his MP3 had suddenly cut off as the battery died, actually waking him from a deep sleep as the music that had been keeping him company stopped, leaving only the sound of the SUV's engine to occupy him. His eyes fluttered open slowly before he leaned forward, yawning as he rubbed his eyes to try and push the remainders of sleep away. He gazed over at the wolf, who, despite driving for this long without a bit of rest, still seemed in perfect condition, both physically and mentally. He didn't even show any signs of fatigue, which was kind of freaky considering how long he'd been behind the wheel. The drake's gaze shifted around as he leaned back once more in his seat, and he noticed two things right off the bat. One, it was dark, so he knew he'd been asleep for at least nine hours or so, and two... they were out of the mountains. His eyes glanced over to the speedometer, and he was shocked to see that they were pushing 100mph, he knew that they could be just about anywhere in the country if the convoy had going that fast for the entire time he'd been asleep... well, maybe not anywhere, but they had obviously covered a great deal of distance. He moved his chair up to gaze out the window, hoping to find some indication as to where they were, but except for the road ahead, he couldn't make out much in the darkness, so he really had no clue as to the convoy's current location. Red yawned again and sighed before turning to the wolf "Care to tell me where we are? Or am I still getting the silent treatment?"
The wolf finally showed some form of emotion, sort of... he actually yawned, but his eyes remained fixed on the road "Route 70, about sixty miles outside of Manhattan, we'll be at our destination in around an hour or so, maybe an hour and a half at most, depending on traffic. I'm sorry to do this, but I can't allow you to see exactly where we're going"
The dragon's eyes widened in surprise as he felt the prick of a needle at the base of his neck, the damn seat was rigged! "Ah, fuck..." He barely had time to blink in surprise before the drug's effects put him out like a light, his body quickly going limp in the seat.
***
Something he'd become rather familiar with... his senses returning as whatever cocktail of chemicals he'd been drugged with began to wear off as his eyes fluttered open, head pounding as the first thing he saw was a bright light "Dammit... what the hell is with everyone drugging me!?!" Red growled softly as he sat up? Huh... for once, he didn't wake up bound to a chair or in a test tube... at least something was new. He had truly been expecting to not be able to move, but when he realized he could move freely, and not only that, but he was lying on his back on a rather comfortable couch, the drake immediately figured he was dreaming "I knew I shouldn't have eaten three pepperoni pizzas before going for a ride... Ugh, could this day get any weirder?" He just had to ask... As his eyes opened fully and he looked around, slamming his fist into the couch's frame with a satisfying crack of wood , he knew this was no dream as a lance of pain shot up his arm. Standing up, or more likely staggering up as whatever he'd been drugged with still wasn't out of his system, the dragon scanned his surroundings before looking down in confusion to find that not only was he in a well furnished room and not some prison cell, but he also still had his clothes on, even his MP3 was still in his pocket "Okay... this is getting weird" Mumbling to himself, he took a second glance around the room and spotted a door, and for once the damn thing wasn't hidden behind a bookcase or some shit like that... but seriously, this was getting really odd. Walking to the door and reaching for the knob, he figured it would be locked and blinked in surprise when the handle turned freely and the door swung open, the hinges were even well oiled and didn't even creak in the least "Huh..." He eased the door open slightly and without a sound before peeking his head out to gaze down a long hallway with doors on either side, all numbered. He had been surprised enough as he had looked around at his surroundings and woken up without being bound in chains, but when he realized his room had no guard, he was starting getting worried. This was just too much freedom... of course, he didn't know where he was, and he could only assume he was in a building in Manhattan somewhere. Hell, he wasn't even sure of this as he could have been out for days for all he knew, but it never hurt to assume... well, that was a lie, but he was doing it anyways. Opening the door fully, the drake stepped out, eyes scanning each door for movement, but he saw nothing, heard nothing, didn't even smell anything... "Creepy" Creepy was an understatement, but he wasn't about to start bitching, for all he knew, there could be twenty guys armed with SMGs waiting at the end of the hall, so he sure as hell wasn't about to start complaining about the silence. Finally shrugging, Red walked out of the room and started making his way down the hall, still cautious, but almost relaxed. He oddly enough didn't feel threatened here, for whatever reason he felt like he was safe, despite what had happened... and then something clicked. No, not in his mind, he heard the sound of a lock being opened, of tumblers falling into place as one of the doors opened and... another dragon stepped out. He blinked in surprise, it felt good to see one of his own species, but it still wasn't that comforting and his muscles immediately tensed up, ready to spring should this other drake try anything. While the dragon didn't seem to notice the fact that he wasn't alone and turned around to relock the door, Red took in every detail in seconds, even down to the cologne he was obviously wearing. The drake's scales were a calming ocean blue, at least what he could see, the rest of the dragon's body was concealed by a two piece grey suit, along with a black tie and a pair of black leather dress shoes. The ocean blue dragon was likely a sky dragon, judging by his scales at least, although some might assume he was a water dragon, the lack of any form of fins and the fact he actually had wings suggested against it. He also held a brown leather briefcase in his left paw... taking a chance, Red decided to forfeit the advantage he held, surprise didn't seem necessary. Even though this dragon looked rather well muscled, he didn't appear to be a fighter... "Hey... mind telling me where I'm at?" He asked, leaning against the wall as he stared at the sky dragon curiously.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH68Z6ysqZs
Oddly enough, the other drake didn't jump, didn't even flinch as he heard the words and merely turned slowly to face the fire dragon "Ah, you're awake, Mr. Aindréas, we were getting worried that our dear Smith had miscalculated on that injection and that you wouldn't wake up" The dragon's smile was genuine, his body relaxed, an odd contrast to the red dragon standing just a few feet away, ready to strike at the slightest indication of an attack.
"Yea, it was so nice to be drugged... again. You know, it would have been nice to avoid that, it's not like I had any reason to try and flee, and I don't like being drugged" He said, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
The other dragon looked apologetic and nodded in understanding "Yes, we know, but for security purposes, you could not be allowed to see where you were being taken. I hope you can accept our apology and understand the reason behind this..." The dragon moved away from the door and walked past Red, seemingly unconcerned with how tense he was "If you'll just follow me, Mr. Aindréas, we have much to talk about, and things have been delayed long enough. It is time for you to see what and why you were brought here..."
Shrugging, he followed the other dragon down the hall, wondering just what was in store for him, or why the fuck he was here in the first place. There were hundreds upon hundreds of trained assassins and mercenaries in America alone, although most kept to the shadows, he was having trouble figuring out why they had sought him out... of course, it may have had something to do with the virus in his body, but... nah, couldn't be... could it? "So, you know my name... I'm already getting used to that, but as I told Smith, I don't know your name"
"You may call me Devin, if you wish"
***
What seemed like at least an hour later... no, actually it had only been about thirty minutes... Luckily they'd let him keep his watch as well as his MP3. Of course, with all the empty halls and winding corridors, plus what seemed like an endless amount of staircases, all going down, plus add all that to the fact that the blue dragon leading the way hadn't said a word since they'd started walking, and Red was just about to explode. Each of the staircases had been going down, and while he would have never guessed how far down they were without a bit of careful calculation, he didn't have to. The occasional sign on the wall had the base's layout, or whatever the fuck it was, even the depth and location. He taken the short time to stop, saying he had a cramp and taking the chance to memorize the maps before moving on. But now, he hadn't seen one of these signs for at least ten minutes and probably another two floors, and this was making him nervous... and then they stopped... right in front of a brick wall. Of course, even before Devin placed a paw on the wall, Red knew it was nothing more than a door leading to another room; he wasn't oblivious to the subtle grooves and lines on said wall. And just like that, the wall split down the center just as Devin touched it, not even making a sound "Damn, quiet little thing, isn't it?" Devin merely nodded and proceeded forward towards another set of doors, this pair was actually normal and Red followed, the mechanical doors behind him sliding closed as he moved past them. Devin placed a palm on a pad on the wall before entering a code, an electronic click sounded before he opened these doors as well, ushering the other dragon to follow.
To say that the room beyond was populated would have been an understatement... As he followed Devin through the doors, his eyes widened in shock as he gazed around the room... if it could really be called that. The enclosure was the size of a fucking warehouse, hell, it was probably bigger than that, but Red couldn't see the far wall of the room, of course, there was enough equipment blocking his line of sight that this really wasn't saying much. Not that the enclosure wasn't huge, it was enormous in fact, and he couldn't help but gawk at the amount of creatures in the room, plus the amount of hardware. Being he had gotten used to seeing no one but Devin, it was like a slap in the face when he stepped through those doors, and yet... everything seemed organized. Even with so many creatures moving around, and he didn't feel like even looking through the list of species he saw, there were too damn many... even with all these creatures, he saw none of the usual office type pandemonium, which was shocking in itself "...Holy shit..." Mumbling under his breath, the drake just stared; Devin didn't seem to mind the delay and waited patiently.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Devin asked, smiling at the other dragon's surprise. He couldn't blame the other dragon's shock in the least... after spending so much time in an empty room, coming to this section tended to do the same thing to him if he hadn't mentally prepared beforehand.
Nodding absently, Red picked his jaw off the floor "Damn... this place is... busy. Now I'm curious, this many minds must be doing something besides garbage disposal, and I doubt everyone here is just sitting on their asses all day, so... care to explain a bit? Or do I have to start guessing?"
Devin nodded as well and waved for the red dragon to once again follow him "Come, Mr. Aindréas, we have much to discuss"
***
One hour later...
Red drummed his claw against the table as Devin finished speaking, and while his outward appearance may have been that of annoyance, it had been quite some time since he'd paid this much attention to anyone "... So... you're telling me... You've built a device that allows you to transport a creature or creatures back in time..." He shook his head, recalling something that had been said earlier on "Sorry... my mistake... to another dimension?" He had trouble believing this; everything that had just been told to him went beyond everything he thought he knew.
"Yes" Devin answered smugly, nodding to the only other occupant in the room besides Red, Mr. Smith had been listening just as silently as the red dragon "Actually explaining exactly how this process works is something we're not even sure of... completely anyways. You see Mr. Aindréas, or would you prefer to be called by your first name?"
This caught him off once again "Uh... I... I guess you can call me Alastar... although it's going to be a bit weird getting used to that name again... I haven't used it in years, made it easier to avoid having some crime lord find my family... not that that matters anymore" He shook his head, sighing "Continue"
"Right then" Devin stood up and started pacing "As I said, we're still not one hundred percent sure as to how this process works, but we know it does work. Existence is divided into an infinite number of dimensions, each one a link to the past and future, and even the places in between. Now, as I also stated earlier, there are dangers to this type of travel... we have lost six good men during some of the earlier tests, and two more in the past year. The most recent two, we simply lost contact with them, and we assume they were transported as planned and may still be alive and safe, but to where they were transported is something that is unknown to us, along with their status. The original six... they weren't so lucky, but their deaths were all instantaneous, or so we assume. The most recent and up to date of the machines we have built have been successful in ten out of ten tests, each of the subjects not only going exactly where we sent them, but coming back as well. But while searching for a certain object in one of these dimensions, we hit a snag... The team we sent into this region vanished. We lost all traces of them, and we couldn't make contact through their communicators..." The drake trailed off, leaving it up to Alastar to finish.
Red sighed softly "So, let me get this straight... or see if I can finish... You want me to go to this dimension and find these missing men, am I correct?"
"Exactly" Devin smiled, nodding again "You can turn this offer down now if you wish, but I assure you, Alastar... accepting it will not only give you knowledge from a time long forgotten, but it will likely lead to quite an exciting time, to say the least"
His mind didn't respond at first, he was so unused to being addressed by his real name that it didn't register in his mind immediately "Hm... tell me, what was this team looking for that was so important as to risk their lives? Or are you going to tell me that they were just out for an evening stroll in the park" He couldn't make his tone any more rhetorical if he tried, and the drake wasn't about to be fed a spoonful of bullshit either. He wanted answers, and if he didn't get the truth, his answer would be a solid "fuck you"
Devin paused for a moment before answering, and when he did, he knew he would have to tell the truth... or at least part of it... "I will be honest with you, Alastar; we have been searching for an artifact, one that could prove extremely useful to our cause... I'm sure you've heard of magic. It is an art that has been all but lost in the past few centuries, and even the feral dragons left on this earth no longer remember its secrets. The object we seek has a great amount of power... If we could acquire this artifact, it could revolutionize the world and make it a better place to live in. War could be abolished completely, world peace could be allowed to reign... think about it. This earth could be a paradise"
Hm... secret company builds a machine that allows interdimensional travel and now seeks a relic which has been lost for thousands of years or more, even risking entire teams of, most likely trained soldiers, to find said relic... This didn't bode well with him, but he finally nodded "Fine, I'll do this thing that you ask, but I expect to be compensated for my troubles"
Devin and Smith both smiled in unison "Good, that's just what we wanted to hear. Now, if you'll follow Mr. Smith here, he'll start briefing you on everything you'll need to know..."
Well, hope everyone enjoyed the story, even if I did get rather lazy with the music selection >.=.> More will follow. Rate, comment, watch if you want, but mostly comment, it's what keeps me writing... course, that wasn't the only thing I got lazy with ^.=.^