Chapter 1: The Arrival

Ouch!!

What the hell was that... he must have a concussion... maybe he hit his head on the car or something when he fell.

Slowly he pulled himself up out of the grass. GRASS??? Where was all the damn snow???

He sat in the grass and looked out at the jungle, blinked a few times, then closed his eyes. He must have really hit his head, maybe he was having that heart attack or a stroke. Slowly he checked the back of his head with his gloved hands. Everything felt good.

With a slow breath he opened his eyes... still jungle.

He realized everything was blurry... damn I've got a concussion for sure. Reaching up he pulled off the glasses he always wore and everything came into the crystal clear focus. Still jungle.

"What the hell..."

So much light. At first, he thought it was a car's headlights. The prismatic swirl made him doubt that, but maybe some kind of weird refraction through the frost? And where did the music go? Falling. It scared the shit out of him. The inner monologue was gone. There wasn't room for thoughts any more. Only adrenaline-fueled panic. His scream was interrupted by the ground.

AJ bolted upright from the fresh ground beneath. If what occurred before was sensory overload, this was not much better. An unfamiliar environment with many details to take in. His hands were paler... and... thinner? His breathing was... lighter? Why did he sound like that? And why were his clothes so huge? Only one thought could really pierce the haze of feelings he was experiencing.

"What the fuck?"

The voice that came out startled the absolute hell out of him. Panic was returning. He stood up, looking down at himself. Thick winter parka. Red, button-down shirt. Skull pendant still there. He had to reach down to stop his black jeans from falling down. His other hand started patting himself down. The panic stopped. A numbing state of shock set in. The inner monologue returned. I have breasts. Did I have a stroke? It all feels so real. And so hot. Am I dead? Is this an afterlife? I don't know where this is, but it looks like a fantasy movie. He noticed the others then.

"Wh-where are we?"

It didn't really matter that they looked like they didn't know either. It was all he could think to say.

---

She just stood there, her eyes glowing like bright embers and flicking around with concerned observation. A pale-skinned, raven-haired beauty in ill-fitting men's clothing.

Novac simply lay where he'd fallen, waiting for the pain to subside. His eyes remained closed. This isn't going to end well, he thought grimly. The guards must have heard his scream. Being caught with a joint in a dark corner of the prison…that was beyond bad. He'd lose his privileges, and worse, become a laughingstock.
Something felt wrong. Why the scent of grass and flowers? Why was the ground so soft? And why was it so warm?
He heard voices—a man's and…a woman's? Impossible. There were no women in prison.
Novac opened his eyes slowly, then sat up, stunned. "Holy shit, what the hell happened? Where am I?" He stared at the people surrounding him. "Who the hell are you?"

The man dressed in a dark colored North Face coat and an grey winter cap was still sitting in the grass, holding a snow shovel. The remnants of snow melting in the new higher temperature.

As others started standing up, he was initially startled by some strange appearances. He considered panic for a moment, but his brain vetoed the entire situation.

"I'm dead... have to be. Maybe a coma... laying right there in my driveway... yep."

He glanced up at some passing bird and then at those others who had apparently fallen also. They seemed as confused as he was.

Novac, still reeling from the shock, saw the same confusion in the others' faces. He stood, his prison clothes suddenly feeling too small. He seemed to have grown during the fall. His gaze landed on a man covered in what looked like impressive green body paint, like real skin. "Dude," he said, "Wash that off. Heard it causes cancer. But give me the artist's number—Halloween, you know? Does he do Klingons?" He glanced at a pale woman bundled in winter clothes.
It was winter!! They were in trouble. He needed out of the prison garb. Hot enough. He stripped, hiding the clothes. "Those aren't a good idea here," he told the others. "I'm Novac. You guys look like you don't know where we are either?"

AJ listened to the exclamations of the others, watching them intently. It seemed even the green, orc-looking one had no idea where they were. Maybe he's not supposed to look like that either. Despite the surreal visuals of the world around them, his senses were acting much the same. The warm air clung on his previously cold skin. Raising his hand to his forehead, there was a significant heat. Fever? And my hair is straight. No more thick waves. Looking at the smart watch that was no longer snug on his wrist, it displayed no signal. So, this really must be some kind of cosmic joke. Maybe God is real, and he decided to finally change the channel out of boredom. Or I'm dead, having a stroke, or starring in the next Jumanji movie. Would that make me Jack Black?

"We're not us any more. In a world that isn't ours any more."

Still staring at the smart watch, the background displayed was from his engagement a few years ago.

---

The woman slumped against a nearby arch, sinking back down to the floor. The wallet chain hanging from her jeans jingled on the ground. Looking away from her watch, she cast a despondent glare at the jungle beyond.

"Why?"

Her eyes began to glisten.

The man sitting in the grass with a snow shovel glanced at the others. He remembered a line from one of his favorite movies.

"You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he is expecting to wake up"

He could almost hear the deep voice in his head. He chuckled to himself.

"I was shoveling snow... slipped on the ice and fell a long, long way to land here."

Pushing the snow shovel away, he slowly removed his gloves and looked at his hands. They looked normal, not the same, but not green like the other guy. Seemed a bit larger than he remembered and lots more calloused than the soft skin of a computer programmer.

"It has to be a dream or something, right?"

"Well, nice to meet you, Al." Novak, now in his underwear, walked over to Al to shake his hand. "To answer your question...I smoked some weed that must have been laced with mushrooms or something. A sort of tunnel appeared; I walked through it, and here I am." Looking around, he continued, "So either I am hallucinating, or this is all real. Either way, this beats prison, so I'm not going to fret about it. I think we should have a look around...maybe we can find something to remedy your skin problem, or you're just my imagination, which means you have nothing to worry about."

Novak looked at the man's with the shovel. "And your name?" Reaching out to shake the man's hand.

"I was just driving home when it happened. Sudden blinding light when I turned to go down the alley. I just wanted to go home. But I just felt like I was falling. Until I landed here."

AJ kept staring into the jungle as he recounted what happened. After a moment, he looked back to the arch they seemingly came through. If there was a way here, then he would just have to find a way back or die trying. Still, this is pure fucking insanity. Multiversal shit... I don't even know what to think anymore.

"I'm... AJ. Since we're all introducing ourselves. And dude, why are you stripping? We're in some kind of fantasy land in the middle of a jungle. Put that jumpsuit back on before some oversized mosquitos bite you in places you can't reach."

---

She stood back up, tightening her belt as much as she could around her waist. Pulling herself free from the parka, it dropped to the ground. Stepping up to the arch that had been glowing, her hands begin to run around its edge, searching for any kind of sign.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, AJ. Now, that just leaves the guy with the shovel." He glanced at the man, who still seemed to be in shock, then turned back to AJ. "I'd rather not be caught by a passing police officer—or anyone, for that matter—who might recognize a prison uniform. Being arrested for escaping without a chance to explain myself isn't appealing. So, I'll take my chances with the mosquito." He smiled at AJ. "You were bigger before you fell through the tunnel, I presume? The way your clothes keep falling off suggests as much."

He had been reaching out his hand to accept Novac's offer "The name's..."

Then a burst from the forest and three armed monkeys rushed them... wtf.

Without thinking, Dalton dropped to a low crouch, in a few quick steps he covered the distance to the first attacker, quick jab to the head followed by a side kick to the midsection...

He immediately felt the bulky winter coat slowing him down as the first strike failed to come close.

Al was in the midst of approaching the rest of the group to introduce himself as they were attacked by the simian creatures. Seeing the man in the winter coat dart forward made Al aware to the danger, and he too turned to face the assailants.

As he raised his hands defensively, he felt a strange crackling sensation between his hands. "Screw it, no time to question it". He let the feeling build until a spark of electricity burst from his hands, arcing towards two of the creatures.

Ah, I don't think he realizes this place isn't our world any more. Well, if something like this is possible, who is to say we even came from the same world? I need to stop thinking so much. Just need to find a way back.

Without any clue as to how this portal worked, AJ let out a sigh that contained his hopes that this would be easy. He pulled his hands back, shaking them and staring at his fingertips. The sensation of magic was mystifying.

"Ah, yeah, you could say that."

---

The shrieks of the ape-like creatures pierced her ears. Fear and adrenaline flooded her veins as she turned to face them. A life or death situation was something entirely foreign. Still, it was a feeling more familiar than the flames inside sending an otherworldly heat through her veins.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Each breath was deeper and quicker than last. As the rush reached its apex, the inferno inside took over. Uncontrollably charging forth, AJ screamed, the light in her eyes intensifying as a roar of fire completed the cacophonous eruption.

Novac moves forward to flank the one in combat with Dalton.