User blog:Kwiksilver/Destination 3000 - Part 2

James woke up.

He was tied to a chair in a dimly lit room. The ropes were uncomfortably tight. A lone lightbulb hung from the ceiling. James realised that his satchel was missing, along with his Vortex Manipulator.

"Finally, he's awake," said a voice. "Let's interrogate him, we've been waiting long enough already."

Gareth came out of the shadows, his flippers crossed. Luke also materialized, with a green penguin following him that had attacked James before.

"Where am I?" asked James. "Who are you? Where's my stuff?"

"We're asking the questions, buddy," said Gareth. "First, who's side are you on? Are you with Roulain, or are you from Ternville?"

"Don't be stupid, Gar," said the green penguin, "Ternville's hovering over Trans-Antarctica. If anybody left the city, they'd be blasted by Roulain's missiles."

"Ternville?" said James, "I'm no tern. Why would I be there?"

The green penguin turned to Luke. "What is wrong with this guy? Everybody knows Ternville's the HQ for the Resistance. Almost no terns there now."

"Gotta remember, new era, new rules," muttered James to himself. "Who's Roulain?" he asked Luke.

"What did you just say?" asked Luke, his eyes fixed on James. "New era?"

James was silent.

"It all checks out," said Luke, turning to Gareth and the green penguin. "Time traveler. His funny watch is a Vortex Manipulator, I recognise it from the history books."

"And I'm not with that Roulain guy, whoever he is!" said James, frustrated, "Just untie me!"

"Why should we?" said Luke, "I know myself that time travelers can be good or bad. How do I know you're not Roulain's henchman?

"Hey, look what I found," said the green penguin. He held up a small card. It was James' Bureau of Fiction ID.

Luke snatched the card and scrutinized it in the dim light. "The Bureau was just a legend...long ago, five creatures controlled this world. Apparently, our ancestors worked for them."

"I know, I do," snapped James. "Isn't this enough to let me go?

BATTERY RUNNING OUT, FINISH LATER.