Chapter 1- A Strange New World

Winter, a new beginning for the Underworld. A change that would leave everything different forever. Dan, a scientist, a close friend of Denida, the President of the Underworld; had been experimenting on a mysterious gate for the Underworld. Made from an unknown alloy he had never seen before, it intrigued Dan. He was very excited. It had been discovered after the end of the war with the Dark Angels. The gate was huge and would use an extraordinary amount of power. What fascinated Dan most was the mysterious alloy it was constructed from. For all the advances since the war, he had never seen anything like it.

Today he got it working. Dan danced in excitement while his assistants laughed. Then he ran to call Denida. It had required vast amounts of power, so it was a difficult and dangerous task, but he’d finally made it happen.

***

Denida stopped at the door of Dynasty, his castle, as his cell phone rang.

“Denida?” Dan asked as Denida picked up the phone. “I got somewhere!”

“Dan? What is it?” Denida looked at his watch.

“I made a discovery. You want to see this.”

Denida wanted to brush him off, but if Dan really had made a break through with the gate, it was too tempting to pass up.

“Alright. I will stop by, before I head into the office.” Denida hung up the phone, still very curious about what Dan had discovered, maybe something with the alloy, the metal held great potential.

He put the phone away, ready to hurry off, but Nina sat at the dining room table, her shoulders slumped.

“Nina?” He sat down beside her. She looked at him with a face wrinkled in worry.

It must be serious, Nina was always in control.

“Daniel,” she replied.

“What’s wrong? Where is he?”

“I don’t know Denny, Daniel is always running around, up to no good.” Nina sighed and looked down at her tea.

“I will have a talk with him. Dan has got something very intriguing to show me.” Denida kissed her goodbye. The grounds were too big, and Daniel knew every place there was to hide. Denida would talk to Daniel when he got home.

***

Does he now? Daniel stood just outside of the room where his mom and dad were talking.

This sounded interesting. Why should his dad have all the fun? He slowly snuck by the door, while his parents were still talking.

Outside, he saw his dad’s car. He looked around him to be sure that no one would see him and ran over to it. He opened the trunk; good thing it wasn’t locked. He climbed in and held the trunk closed. His dad had often talked of the many things he’d seen and done, so it was time for Daniel to have his own adventure. He heard the stories about Dan when his dad didn’t think he was listening. He had a secret scientist friend, who had a secret lab and some gate.

His dad came out to the car not long after Daniel had hidden in it, too late to change his mind now. His dad quickly set the car into motion. Daniel had to hold his giggles back with his hand over his mouth. They drove around for a while, Daniel almost regretted hiding in the trunk. Maybe he wasn’t going anywhere interesting after all? The car finally stopped, drove a short distance, then stopped again. His dad got out, he could hear him talk to someone.

Daniel climbed out as his dad walked into the building. Daniel ran toward it, but he couldn’t go in the same door. He’d get caught for sure if he went through the same place. Daniel was about to give up when he noticed a small window he could fit through, a little way from the door.

When Daniel climbed through the window, he heard his father’s voice, so he followed the sound and saw his dad talking to Dan.

“You got it powered up, I see.”

“Yes.” Dan nodded excitedly. “We can finally see what is on the other side.”

The gate looked cool, especially since it was flickering with lights. He could see his dad and his dad’s friend, Dan through the gate, though they were wobbly like he was looking through water.
Enough hiding, he decided it was time to let his dad know he was here and wanted to help. Daniel jumped up and ran to his dad, taking the shortest route, through the gate.

***

“Dad.” A voice came ringing from across the room. What’s Daniel doing here?

Denida turned and looked towards the gate, and saw Daniel run into the gate from the other side. The Gate gave a big buzz, and Daniel vanished.

The gate went dead silent, and the lights disappeared along with the buzzing sound. Denida’s heart almost stopped in terror as Daniel went through the gate. The shock of seeing him vanish froze him. Dan’s team ran to the gate, but no matter what they tried, they couldn’t get it back on.

Denida opened his mouth, and the only words he could think of came out.

“We need…” Denida knew deep down what he wanted to say, but he couldn’t finish his sentence. He just couldn’t shape the words. His mouth just wouldn’t listen to him.

***

The atmosphere in the lab was tense. Nina had arrived in no time. If looks could kill, Denida and Dan would both be lying dead on the floor.

The assistants kept looking over at Nina’s face, then trying something else.

She was even more angry than Denida if that was possible.

“How could you let this happen?” Nina pointed at Dan. “This is your lab. And you,” she turned to face Denida, “you were so eager to play with your new toy, you couldn’t even check to see your son was safe.”

“Look.” Dan put his hands up to fend off Nina. “I’ve got a device that should be able to control the gate from the other side. He handed her the device. She could hold it in her hand as it was the size of a cell phone. It had the mysterious alloy at the center.

“Why not from this end?” Nina’s fingers curled into claws. “You should never have had it on.”

“The controller isn’t technically ready yet.” Dan stepped a little further from Nina. “We found it with the gate.” He still looked scared of her.

“Who knows where Daniel is now, or with whom. He is just twelve years old, a child.” Nina was starting to show tears in her eyes, which she tried to fight back.

“I will get him back. I promise.” Denida hugged her to try and calm her worries, but it did little to ease his own concerns. Nina looked back and nodded in agreement. Denida and Nina looked deep into each other’s eyes, as they held a deep conversation.

“This is experimental. We don’t know what is on the other side. Or if you can get back.” Dan moved in between them and the gate.

Denida and Nina ignored him, Denida knew how risky it was, but Daniel was their son, after all.

The Gate buzzed, and all the lights flickered back on.

“It’s back,” a lab assistant yelled.

“Showtime.” Denida ran over to the gate.

“I think we should send troops, we don’t know if you could return or what is on the other side. So, I really…” Dan ran in front of Denida.

Denida couldn’t continue to the gate, but he just shook his head.

“No.” He hugged and kissed Nina tenderly. “I will bring him back.” He smiled at her and took the controller from Dan.

“Wait.” Dan pointed to the controller. “The controller is sensitive, don’t touch it, unless you want to use it as it takes a while to get ready again.”

Denida nodded. “Watch over her.” And he continued through the gate. As soon as he vanished, it powered down, like it had the first time.

“We need the Colonel,” Dan said. “I have a feeling we will need him.”

***

Denida arrived on the other side of the gate in a forested area. There were no green aliens here, at least. But unfortunately, no Daniel either. Where could he be? Wouldn’t it have been smartest to stay here? It had only been a few hours, but Daniel was nowhere to be seen. He decided to search the area, maybe Daniel would be in the forest surrounding the gate. This forest felt familiar, but maybe he just was imagining it. He yelled for Daniel several times, but there was no answer, and he found no sign of him within the forest.

He could hear cars passing by so he headed towards a nearby road. Maybe he would have better luck there. He hoped Daniel had ventured towards the road too. He so hoped Daniel would have ventured in the same direction.

When he reached the road, he stopped dead in his tracks. On a building across the road, he saw something, he recognized;

Clearly embedded in the building. Denida knelt behind a bush. He searched the building for any clues to explain why the symbol was even there. He’d designed it himself after the war with the Dark Angels. What was this building? He was sure he’d never seen it before; yet it had his symbol on it. This place had a lot of soldiers walking around. They wore the same symbol, but other than that, their uniforms were unknown to Denida. He walked casually down the slope, trying not to cause any of the soldiers to suspect him. He circled the building scoping it out. After he checked out the place a little, he went over to a soldier, who seemed to be on break. He was having a smoke, leaning up against the wall outside the front of the building. Maybe Denida could find out what this building was?

“Hey.” Denida pointed back towards the building with the symbol. “Big building here. I really like the symbol on it.”

“Get out of here bum. This is a military installation.” The soldier pushed Denida to get him to leave.

Denida didn’t want a confrontation, so he walked away. Military installation. Very interesting, because the soldiers wore his symbol, but other than that there is nothing I recognize. As he was starting to leave, he noticed a movement, that caused him to a complete halt.

Inside the building were more soldiers, and Daniel stood in the middle of them.

“Hey. I said move it.” The soldier yelled at Denida, but Denida couldn’t leave without Daniel, but if he attacked the soldier, the rest would be all over him.

“I can’t. That is my boy in there, why is he in there!” The soldier looked towards the building, where Denida pointed.

“Well?” Denida started to grow impatient.

The soldier pushed him towards where the soldiers surrounded Daniel.

“This guy says he’s the boy’s dad,” the soldier said when he got to the rest.

“Oh. So, when this boy claimed to be the son of the President, this man thinks he’s it?” Another soldier replied sarcastically. The soldiers laughed. Denida looked at the soldiers, who didn’t recognize either of them. But they had the UW symbol here, how could that be, if no one knew Denida?

“This boy claims to be the Colonel’s son, and the guy claims to be his dad. Something isn’t right.” The sergeant raised his gun towards Denida.

“Wow. I will take my son and just leave.” Denida raised his open hands up.

“Or we could just kill you here.” They all aimed their guns at Denida. But before it went any further, another man came running over from behind them.

“Stop. The Colonel wants to see them, both of them.” Denida knew only one man called the Colonel, could it be him? It would make sense with the symbols being here. He was willing to follow them to this Colonel of theirs. They led him and Daniel up endless stairs to the very top floor of the building. Each floor they passed had more guards. It seemed very strange to Denida, but he couldn’t take his mind off the possibility of this being the Colonel.

When they reached his office, his guards frisked both Denida and Daniel. When they were satisfied, they knocked on the big door they were guarding.

“Enter,” a voice yelled from within. The guards opened the door, so Denida and Daniel could go in, then closed it behind them with a bang. The man at the desk looked exactly like the Colonel. Was it the same person?

“I am the Colonel, President of the Underworld.”

Denida couldn’t get himself to talk. This man looked and sounded so much like his friend, but how did he end up as a President?

“What the…” This isn’t the Underworld I know.

“You claim to be the son of Denida, the President?” The Colonel asked Daniel, who just looked over at his dad. Daniel looked as stunned as Denida felt. Whoever this man was, it was not the man he knew. The Colonel was President, maybe Denida never had existed here. But it couldn’t be, there was the symbol he’d designed.

Denida walked over to the desk and leaned towards it, took a deep breath.

“How can you not know me?” The Colonel looked up at Denida and stared into his eyes while Denida’s heart thumped.

The Colonel chuckled and leaned back in his chair.

“Guards.” Several men stormed into the room.

“I am sorry Mister, never seen you before. Get them out of my sight. They’re crazy. Kick them out of the compound.”

Before Denida could object, they had grabbed him and Daniel and escorted them back out of the building. Denida was at a loss, he knew the Colonel very well as a soldier, he’d fought beside him against the Dark Angels. How can this be?

“I want to go home,” Daniel said. Back to the gate, they went. Through the forest, away from this strange place, wherever it was. Denida was still a little annoyed at Daniel for sneaking along with him and going into the gate. But it wasn’t important anymore, Daniel finally had his adventure. Denida wished he hadn’t though. As they got back to the gate, Denida noticed they weren’t alone this time. He pulled Daniel down with him so they wouldn’t be spotted.

Chapter 2: The Colonel vs Denida

Several of the soldiers stood between them and the gate. The symbol on their uniform still bothered Denida.

“You know, this is just like the other one, it doesn’t work!” The one guard moaned.

The other one. Intriguing! But not important now; getting home is.

Denida and Daniel snuck past while the two guards were talking about the gate. They made it back, relieved to be going back home, and away from this odd place. Denida took out the control Dan had given him. He followed the instructions, but the gate did nothing. He tried moving closer, from different angles, but still no reaction from the gate.

“It won’t work?” Daniel asked, worry in his eyes.

Denida shook his head and put the controller away. He sat down next to the gate, giving up. Maybe Dan had been wrong about the device. They never had tried it on another gate, after all. He took a deep breath. The other Gate. The guards had talked about another gate.

“Stay here, I will be back!” He went back to where the two guards were still talking.

“Why are we even here?” One of the guards asked.

“We are supposed to watch it. The Colonel wants it moved to where the other one is.”

The guards stopped talking when Denida stepped on a branch. Snap. They turned and raised their guns, peering into the bushes then split up to approach from two directions.

Just what Denida had hoped for. The first guard, he ambushed from behind, grabbing him and breaking his neck. The skills of war came back to Denida when killing was necessary. Daniel wouldn’t understand though, so Denida felt a twinge of regret.

The other guard called for his friend but got no reply. He looked nervous now, his finger on the trigger, as he moved cautiously in Denida’s direction. This was not good, not what Denida had hoped, as he needed this guard alive, to tell him where the second gate was.

“Anyone there? I got a gun here, show yourself!” The guard yelled, waving his gun. Daniel stepped out of the bush. The guard turned and raised his gun, but before he could fire. Denida came up on him from behind and knocked him out.

“Daniel,” Denida yelled. “I told you to stay put!” He sat the guard back up and smacked him across his face to wake him back up.

“Hello. You mentioned a second gate?” The soldier looked around.

“Where is my friend?”

“He is gone. And so, will you be, if you don’t answer me.” Denida held up the guard’s gun.

The guard took a deep breath. “Alright. The Colonel has the second gate in his room, at his office, in the UW-building!”

“We already were there. There was no gate!”

Denida’s hands tightened on the gun. Only Daniel watching kept him from hitting the man again.

“I said his personal chamber! It lies in the back.” Denida sighed, he had to return to where he had just escaped from.

They had no choice, not if they wanted to get home. He could not be as silent as he wanted, not with Daniel beside him. He needed to find another way. Denida tied the guard up.

“Why not just let him go?”

Denida looked at Daniel. “Because it would be open season on us!”

Denida put the guard’s uniform on to get access to the building. He planned to appear as if he was escorting Daniel in. Not a great plan, but it would have to do.

Denida stopped, as they got to the road, and turned to Daniel.

“I know this is hard, but you need to remain quiet in here, no matter what happens!”

Daniel nodded.

From the forest, Denida watched the building with the symbol.

After a shift change, none of the soldiers remained who had seen Denida.

After half an hour, Denida brought Daniel up to the front door.

“I have discovered this boy!”

“So?” A guard remarked as if he didn’t find him interesting.

“He had this.” Denida took out the controller, which had a piece of the mysterious alloy embedded into it. The guard looked very interested now.

“Come with me.” The soldier hurried inside the building, insisting they follow him. He led them back to the top of the building with no stops, to where the Colonel was.

At the top floor, their luck ran out. The same guards stood at attention outside the Colonel’s door.

“You!” One of the guards shouted and aimed his gun at Daniel. Denida pushed him to the floor,

then used the soldier that escorted them as a shield while they fired at him. As the man crumpled to the floor, Denida shot the two guards with the soldier’s sidearm, then listened for anyone else coming. No alarm sounded, but he was certain the Colonel knew a threat approached.

When they went into his office, he was nowhere to be seen. Denida readied his gun while holding Daniel behind him.

“Colonel? I know you are here!” Denida yelled. “I don’t want to hurt you; I just want to use the gate!”

***

This was not good, Daniel crouched in the hallway where his dad had pushed him. Dad’s done something really stupid! The Colonel started shooting, and Daniel could see his dad crouched behind the desk.

“You made an error by returning. You’d better leave, before others hear the gunshots!” The Colonel is right. Daniel looked to where the elevator was still open. He ran down the hall and dragged a leg from one of the guards between the doors. The other guard slumped against the door. Daniel didn’t like looking at them. This wasn’t the adventure he’d been hoping for.

He remembered the stories his dad told about the Colonel. They’d both been legendary soldiers in the war, only his dad had been selected to lead the country after the war. And the Colonel, his security.

“We can’t.”  His dad yelled.

The Colonel didn’t reply but opened fire. The gunfire made Daniel wince. He wanted to help his dad, but he’d been told never ever to touch a gun, but one of the guards had a club on his belt…

***

The shooting lasted less than a minute before Denida’s magazine was empty. The Colonel cursed from where he hid.

“You don’t have any bullets left, do you?” Denida yelled after a few minutes of silence.

“Do you?” the Colonel replied. They both chuckled. Denida tossed the gun out into the room and stood up.

“No.”

“You want the gate? You’ll have to go through me. I want that controller you have.” The Colonel got up and faced Denida, who nodded back at him. A second later, Denida rushed at the Colonel. Denida was an equal match for the Colonel, whose techniques he knew well. But every move he made, was countered. The style was the same as the Colonel he knew, but this Colonel was stronger and faster, Denida couldn’t land a blow on him, and he couldn’t block the attacks forever.

Denida was starting to lose, as the Colonel got more blows that struck through Denida’s defenses. He forced Denida into a corner. It wouldn’t be easy to escape this Colonel a second time. Denida desperately tried to block the flurry of kicks and punches.

“Sorry, Daniel, I’ve failed you.”

“Yes, you have.” The Colonel grinned, still punching and kicking him.

The Colonel stumbled, Daniel stood behind the man hitting him with a club until the Colonel fell to the floor. Daniel didn’t stop hitting and screaming until Denida grabbed the club.

“I think he’s had enough!” Denida looked at his old friend.

Denida checked that the Colonel was still breathing. He had some serious bruises from Daniel, but other than that, he was OK.

Denida led Daniel into the Colonel’s private room. There it was, just as the soldier had said. Denida took out the controller again; took a deep breath and turned it on. In the next second the gate buzzed, and it lit up. He smiled at Daniel.

“Thank heavens, we can finally go home!” Denida took Daniel by his hand, and they went through the gate.

Chapter 3- The Last Dark Angel

Home! That was the thought both Denida and Daniel had when they came out from the gate.

“Where the hell did we end up now?” Daniel looked at the dark world they’d arrived in. His dad looked up, then went back to the controller.

“No. It isn’t working here either. We must need a second gate here too.” Denida sighed as he put the controller away. Denida looked up again, and for the first-time paid attention to where they were.

“This feels familiar.” Denida frowned and examined their surroundings again. “Wait, no, it cannot be!” He rushed forward. “No.”

Daniel scrambled up the hill after his dad.

“It can’t be,” Denida said again.

“What can’t?”

“You would think being in a world where our Underworld symbol and a Colonel we didn’t know was bad. But that was nothing compared to this!”

“What?” Daniel grabbed his dad’s hand, still confused. Sure, the place looked gloomy, but how could it be that bad? Denida fell to his knees.

“I am not the president anymore, there is no president here,” Denida whispered in despair. “Say hello to the dark ages Daniel, a place ruled by the old and ruthless, vicious control!”

Daniel looked at his dad, heart pounding. He didn’t like seeing his dad this way.

“We were once ruled by the Dark Angels. They are back.” Denida pushed himself to his feet.

“We have to find the second gate, and we must avoid the Dark Angels.” He started to walk down the hill. Daniel followed close behind, seeing monsters in every shadow.

“The Rebel force is our only hope, we need to find them.”

“How?”

“The Colonel!” Daniel thought about the man they left on the floor on the other side of the gate. He didn’t like the idea of finding that man again. Maybe he should have brought the club, but his dad had made up his mind.

***

            Morning came, even in this shadowy world. Denida stretched the kinks out of his body, then practiced the close quarter’s combat, he had learned from the Colonel. Daniel tried to follow along. Denida looked over at his son, but he didn’t say anything. Daniel could use the diversion. Besides, it might benefit him someday.

When they’d finished, Denida’s stomach growled. If he was hungry, Daniel must be famished.

“Come, Daniel, we can’t stay here. I have an idea of where we are and where we need to go.”

“Dad, is finding the Colonel, really such a good idea? He’s going to be mad at me.”

“He will be the Colonel, but not the same Colonel.”

Daniel’s face scrunched up in thought.

“Remember,” Denida said, “That Colonel didn’t know me. So maybe this one won’t either, and he won’t know about the other one.”

Daniel shrugged. If Denida was confused, he could only imagine what was going through Daniel’s head.

They crept through the woods until they arrived on the outskirts of a town.

The people walked with their heads down. No one smiled or laughed. Denida rubbed his eyes, even though his left eye didn’t work, it still occasionally ached. Seeing the fear again sent pain knifing through his heart. He’d sworn to himself no one would ever have to feel this again.

“We’ll go around the outside of the village.” Denida led Daniel away to the right. “I know where we are now.”

One house, further from the town than the others, looked deserted.

“You stay here.” Denida put Daniel up against a tree where he’d be hidden by the bush. “Don’t wander off. The soldiers here won’t be as nice as the others you met.”

Daniel gave him a wide-eyed nod.

Denida crept toward the house, using every bit of cover he could until he could peek in the window. It was empty. Like in his world, the Dark Angels must have sent the inhabitants to do something for them. No one was home, he slipped through the door and grabbed whatever food he could find and tossed it in a bag. Then he returned quickly to where Daniel waited. Denida remembered how intense the control had been with the Dark Angels. There were Dark Soldiers here too like there had been in his world.

After they had eaten, Denida led Daniel towards a training ground the Colonel used which Denida remembered from his world. He made sure they stayed as normal as possible, so the dark soldiers wouldn’t notice them.

It was still morning when they arrived at the training grounds. Denida and Daniel stopped on a cliff, where they could clearly see anyone coming. He could be wrong about the Colonel, but if this world and the people truly were similar, it was a good guess.

The Colonel finally approached it. Daniel and his dad looked at each other. Denida’s suspicions had been right, the Colonel was training here.

“Remember, yell if there is any danger! And stay hidden.” Denida was worried about Daniel, but he needed the Colonel’s help. He got up and walked towards the training grounds.

Inside, the Colonel practiced his fighting technique. Denida slowly approached him. Not the best time, if he remembered right.

“Colonel?” Denida asked cautiously.

“You talking to me, mister?”

Denida let out a deep sigh, as the Colonel clearly didn’t remember him.

“Yes, I am a part of the resistance! We heard talk of a gate sort of thing?”

The Colonel stopped and stared at Denida. He worried for a second, the Colonel knew him after all. But the Colonel’s eyes only showed puzzlement.

“I’ve heard rumors about a gate in the Angel’s fortress.”

It just had to be in their house, wouldn’t it!

“Do you want to overthrow them?” Denida was a little shocked by his own words, but hadn’t he done it before?

“Overthrow? Are you nuts?” The Colonel looked pale and glanced around.

Now the words had been said, Denida knew it was the only way forward.

“Why not? The time is ripe!”

“Time is ripe,” the Colonel muttered to himself. Denida could see the fire he remembered in his eyes. He knew he had him with that remark. Denida went outside and waved for Daniel to join him. The Colonel led them back to the resistance hideout.

Once again, Denida led the rebellion, with Daniel involved too. If the Colonel helped, they could get to the Gate, and a successful rebellion would be a good by-product.

“We need to plan our strategy.” Denida wondered what else was different in this world. But they would make history, regardless. They all looked at him, wondering what he was planning.

“This is what I think we must do.” Denida outlined the strategy they used so successfully in his world once.

“This is nice, except you are forgetting the most important part,” The Colonel said as he looked at Denida’s plan. Denida looked at him, with a raised eyebrow. The Colonel laughed and shook his head.

“The seven Dark Angels, you say? There is no seven, only one.” That was news to Denida, how could one angel be behind all this? Who could claim to be…. wait!

“WHO?”

Denida rushed over, grabbed the Colonel, and pushed him up against the wall.

“What… is…  his… name?!” He yelled, his heart racing.

The Colonel replied after what felt like an eternity.

“Danyel!”

Denida let go, it was the answer he expected, but also what he feared.

“My name?” Daniel asked in a small voice.

Denida didn’t look at his son as he spoke in a defeated voice.

“I named you after an old friend, but spelled differently.” He sighed. “This one was the leader and the only one not killed of our seven Dark Angels. He was the worst of them.”

He turned around and looked at Daniel and the Colonel.

“Now it seems, he is here too, and leading the darkness. Why don’t we finally put an end to the Dark Angels!”

All this didn’t add up. In his world, there had been a group of Dark Angels, but not here. Was this Danyel from this world? How could this be? He couldn’t say too much, he needed the Colonel to get to the gate.

“How exactly do you know Danyel?” the Colonel asked.

Denida looked around, to be sure his son was far from where they were, so he wouldn’t hear.

“I come from a place, where he led seven Dark Angels. I had dealings with him, and we became friends.”

“And you overthrew them?”

“Yes.” Denida looked at him, wondering if he was getting suspicious, but the Colonel only seemed curious.

The Colonel fell back into his seat. Returning home was no longer the priority for Denida. He wanted to make sure he got the last Dark Angel. He did not want him to escape this time.

“Dad, if we only just got the gates working, how did Danyel get here before us?” Denida was about to reply to that. How did he? Were the Dark Angels using the gates too? Maybe it wasn’t the Danyel he knew?

“I don’t know. We should ask him, if it is him.”

Denida could not use his original plan, if it truly was Danyel, he too would have been there. Maybe, if it was him. These worlds confused Denida. He focused on a new plan with no other choice. At least Danyel would not be anticipating it. Besides there was only one, not seven Dark Angels now. His idea was a diversion so all the focus would be on one area, while they snuck in.

“Dad, I’m coming, I’m going to help.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“The gate is there, I have to come.” Denida couldn’t argue with that point. He looked over at him preparing with the Colonel’s resistance soldiers. Daniel turned back to the Colonel.

They gathered outside the fortress of Danyel the Dark Angel. The Colonel sent most of his soldiers to the other end of the castle with careful instructions.

“They will create the diversion soon, now we just wait.” He turned to Denida, who nodded back to him.

“So, you fought him before, this friend of yours?” the Colonel asked.

“Yes. In my world, he was the leader of them. After we overthrew them, he vanished.”

A huge explosion rumbled in the distance. The Dark soldiers guarding the entrance ran towards it.

“It’s time!” Denida jumped up and led them to the fortress. The rest of the Colonel’s soldiers were sent off in another direction, to cause a final diversion inside. It didn’t take long for the gunfire to start outside and inside the walls. With the firefight getting fiercer, they didn’t have much time. The three of them carefully climbed the stairs to the top floor.

Luckily Danyel, The Dark Angel must have felt very secure, because they only met a few soldiers, and none on the top floor.

Satanic relics filled the chamber. The Angel’s eyes widened in shock, as they pushed into the room, but it didn’t stop the Angel from snatching up a gun to open fire. They hid behind the statues of demons in all forms and shapes in the room. Denida made sure, his son was out of harm’s way.

“Welcome to my world, Denida!” The Dark Angel yelled as if they weren’t shooting at each other.

So, it was the real Danyel. This made him mad because Danyel had gotten away from him. The Dark Angel would not escape this time.

“Did you miss me?” The Angel said.

“No! You recreated the Dark Angels here, by yourself? How did you manage that? And how did you even get here?”

The Dark Angel chuckled. “Yea, how did I? Wouldn’t you like to know Denny!” The nickname from the Dark Angel’s mouth made Denida twitch. Striking something deep down. Nina called him Denny, but this Danyel meant something different. It had to go further back and mean something deeper, from the time Denida couldn’t remember.

“What’s wrong, cat got your tongue?” The Angel mocked Denida.

Denida pushed away his frustration at the gap in his life, stopping Danyel was more important.

One of Denida’s guns clicked. Out of bullets. The Colonel across the way was cursing, as he dropped one gun and readied himself to empty his second one. Denida caught his eye and put his gun with the last clip in the back of his belt.

“Stay here,” Denida hissed at his son.

“We’re out. We surrender!” Denida threw his gun out, followed by the Colonel’s. The Colonel nodded at him, as Denida went out with his hands up

“Good boy.” The Angel giggled and leveled his gun at Denida. “You never were very good at reserving ammo.”

“Want to tell me how you got here then?”

“The Boss wouldn’t like it.” The Dark Angel sneered at Denida. “You’ll have to die with your questions unanswered.”

“Boss?”

“The one who brought me here to continue the work of the Dark Angels, of course.” The Angel shrugged and grinned loudly. “But enough of this dilly dally.”

“Wait!” Denida shouted.

Danyel the Dark Angel raised his gun. “Nice seeing you again!”

Before he could fire, the Colonel pushed Denida aside, he grabbed the gun from Denida’s belt. He emptied the gun into the Dark Angel. The click of Denida’s gun echoed like an omen in the room. The Angel froze, then dropped his gun, and after what seemed like an endless second, he fell dead to the ground.

Denida ran to him. The Angel could not die yet, he still had answers Denida needed. But it was too late, the chance had passed.

“I found it, it’s here!” Daniel yelled.

Denida sighed and got back to his feet. He looked at the Colonel.

“Thank you for saving us.” Denida walked in after his son.

Denida took out the controller and turned it on, it worked this time.

“Guess we can’t go back through the same gates.”

“Where are you going?”

“Home.” Denida felt relieved to finally be going home. “Good luck with the recreation of your world after the Dark Angel. It was a lot of work for us.”

Denida and Daniel looked at each other and took each other’s hands before they walked through the gate. To home, they hoped. Denida left this world with more questions than ever before, and no one left to answer them.

This third time through a gate Denida thought he knew what to expect, but the world they stepped into stunned him.

It looked very high tech, there were robots sweeping the roads, and a lot of people were taking their pictures, like tourists at an exhibit. This wasn’t home after all.

Denida tried the control, just in case, but the gate didn’t work. Nothing to do but smile at the cameras, then find the other gate.

“Hey.” Denida stopped one of the tourists. “Do you know where the other one of the gates is?”

The man shrugged and muttered something in a different language. Figures.

“Daniel, let’s go!” Denida yelled, but as he turned, Daniel was nowhere to be seen. Denida was all alone among the tourists.