Ask Jim

Getting Rita to change Pete's mind was clearly not gonna work. I had one more idea though. We were going to talk to Pete's brother, Jim. It was still a bit of a long shot, but it was worth trying. "You want me to do what?" He asks. "We want you to call off his lawyer." "What makes you think I could do that?" "Because you're his brother." Jim nods slowly. "I am, but at the end of the day Pete's gonna do his own thing." "So, you're not gonna talk to him?" I ask. " 'Fraid not. I've been down this road before... well, maybe not this exact one, but I know how it'll end." "It could be different this time." I say. Jim shakes his head.  "Doubt it." "So, that's it then." "It's all I can do." "But you didn't do anything!" Olivia shouts. "Maybe not enough, but you should have thought of that before you blew up his bait shop." "We didn't blow it up." "Hey, I'm not saying it wasn't funny, but maybe you shouldn't have done it." "For the last time we didn't do it!" Jim backs up slightly. "Fine. You didn't do it." He glances out the dirty window. "Something catch your attention?" I ask. "Yeah, my brother's here, and it looks like he's got a friend."

Change Rita's Mind

"I ain' t happy ta see ya." Rita declares as she enters the diner. "We need to talk." "And I ain't gonna talk to ya either." Rita angrily shuffles to our booth a moment later. "Alright. I might have to talk to ya. But only because you're in my section." "You have to get Pete to call off his lawyer." Olivia says. "Why should I do that?" "Because the guy is ruthless." I jump in. "Good. Serves you two right." "What exactly did Pete tell you?" Olivia asks. "Well, he told me that you two exploded his business." "We didn't blow it up." I blurt. "That's not what he told me." "I'm sure it wasn't." Rita leans in. "Look, maybe you two didn't get your hands dirty with any devices, but I've got a mind to believe that you were in on it. Where I come from that makes you just as guilty." "We didn't do anything." I say. "Maybe you didn't. And maybe this fancy lawyer will prove your innocence." "It won't be a fair trail." I insist. "That's not my problem." "There is not a damn thing we can do to change your mind, is there?" Olivia says. "I'm afraid not. Now, if we're done here I got work to do." I grit my teeth. "There's just one more thing." "And what's that?" "I want the check."

Through His Heart

Chad Billington was going to be Pete's lawyer. This is the same lawyer who for reasons I don't remember locked us in the basement of his lush mansion. It's possible that Chad harbors no ill will towards us. It's even possible that he doesn't remember us, but I'm not holding my breath. I know the best way to change Pete's mind is through his heart, and I also know that Pete's heart works at the American Classic Diner. Rita doesn't start till later. Much later. We don't mind though. We can wait. Heck, this time I might even try the beef Wellington.

Pete's Message

Pete speed his pick up truck to us. He slammed the breaks when he was less than a foot away. After that he threw open the door and stamped his way to us. "You two are going down." "I believe you mentioned that before." Olivia says, as calmly as possible. "No. You don't understand. I called my lawyer, he's in love my case. So much so that he's gonna do this pro bono." "And that's supposed to make us scared?" "It should. He's famous." "What's his name?" "Chad Billington." Olivia and I turn to each other. "I take it the name rings a bell." Pete says smugly. "We might have heard it." I reply. "Just thought I'd let you know what you're in for." Pete walks away. We watch him drive off. "Chad Billington is the one who locked us in his basement, right?" "Yep" "Are we screwed?" I ask. Olivia sighs. "I hope not."

"What Have We Wrought?"

• "What have we wrought?" I ask, staring at the night sky. "We didn't wrought anything. It was already wrought." Olivia replies. "Maybe. Or maybe we sent it home." "You could be right." She says. "You think so?" I ask. Olivia shrugs."It's possible. All I know is that idea feels a lot better than the alternative." "What's the alternative?" "That we unleashed unimaginable chaos upon the world." "God, I hope that's not the case." Olivia nods. "Me too." There is a brief pause as we take in the infinite possibilities while gazing at the infinite sky. In the distance I see a cloud of smoke. I don't think anything of it at first. Then, I realize that it is a pick up truck speeding towards us. "Our friend's back." I say, pointing to the truck. "Oh, shit." "You think he's got good news for us?" I ask sarcastically. Olivia half smiles."Oh yeah. That can only be good news."

Space Fish

We slammed the door and searched frantically for a lock. Of course with our luck we couldn't find one. We did the next best thing though. We pressed our bodies firm against the door. Bam! Bam! "This door isn't going to hold." Olivia shouts. "I know, but we can't let it through." Bam! Bam! Olivia runs off. "Where are you going?" I shout to her. "It doesn't matter what we do. That thing'll still get through." Just then the door bursts open. I get a glimpse of its hungry mouth. It comes at me, but I quickly dive out of the way. I watch it move past me. After that it moves into the horizon and up into space.

Catch A Falling Star

The bright, shiny star beckoned us. It wanted us to snatch it out of the sky.  I stretched my arm as far as I could, but the star was still a good foot away. I even stood on my tip toes in an effort to catch it. Beads of sweat were rolling down my face. I was about ready to to give up when the star fell further. It was now within reach. I couldn't believe it. I could feel it's heat on the palm of my hand. Luckily, out of the corner of my eye I saw many massive, razor sharp teeth. I quickly grabbed Olivia. We ran as fast as we could. The gigantic, space angler fish at our heals. Thankfully we left the door wide open. We ran through it, and slammed it behind us.