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The caramel-haired seven-year-old walked up to the well-preserved body swinging upside-down from the tree. He tilted his head for a minute, then grinned at the two vultures sitting calmly on the overhanging branches. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy!" he giggled as he gave the body an extra push to make it swing harder.
The vultures both nodded as if they understood him and agreed totally, then watched as the boy headed towards the house across the way, quietly singing 'Another One Bites the Dust'.
Josh, Jason, Robbie, and Bork were enjoying the pool again for the fourth day in a row. Earlier in the week a freak lightning strike had totally taken out the county power plant and the hub that tied it into the national power network. Everyone was resorting to candles or generators and school was canceled until the connections were restored. Fortunately Kate and David had an industrial sized generator so things were normal around the house.
Josh was sitting on the edge of the pool and caught something out of the corner of his eye that looked like a kid at the window. When he turned to look however, there was nobody there. This went on for almost fifteen minutes before he looked and actually saw the kid standing there, giggling madly.
Before the kid could run off, Josh sprinted outside to see who this new kid was. He got outside and looked around; suddenly unable to find the visitor.
"Knock Knock!" a voice from right behind him giggled.
Josh spun around, but found no one there.
"Try again!" The voice repeated, now coming from the direction Josh had previously been facing.
"Up Here!" the voice giggled, coming from directly above Josh.
Josh looked up, then stuck his arms out just in time to catch the boy, who was falling slowly from .... nowhere! As the boy landed in Josh's arms, both of them were suddenly a foot above the pool. Before Josh could comment, he found himself in the water.
Bork, who had just sat on the edge of the pool, stood up quickly and looked shocked, "What? Where did you get a transporter from Josh!?"
"Transporters are soooooooo yesteryear!" said the boy, who was now hanging from the edge of the pool. As if making the point, Bork suddenly found himself standing on the diving board.
Bork started to grin, "Wicked! I love the Q... you are a Q, right?"
Jason changed from puzzled to interested in a heartbeat, "What? Star Trek? You serious, Bork?"
"Yeah," the purple maned boy nodded happily, "I was so amused seeing that TV show here..."
The boy giggled, "Sorry, Bork. Not a Q. We kinda move in... different circles!" He chuckled more before saying, "I'm a Mikyvis... and no, we don't shorten it to 'M's."
"A 'Micky-Mouse'?? Sorry dude; with ears like that there ain't no way!" Robbie giggled.
A second later, Robbie found himself swimming, and the boy giggled more. "Nice one, but don't mess with me when there's a pool handy!"
All of the now-wet boys climbed out of the pool, only to find themselves dry before they got two feet away. As they all turned to ask the boy who he was, the boy tilted his head. "Doug's awake!" he announced as a giggling baby appeared in the chair next to Josh.
The boy watched as Josh picked up the child, "Hey, little bro! You hungry?"
The others started laughing when their visiting Mikyvis stated, "Don't tell my Uncle Cory about this... mail order brothers... he collects them fast enough already!"
"Cory? Cory who?" asked Robbie.
"Patriarch Cory Short," came the reply. "I KNOW you've read about him! You guys hang out on 'The Fort' enough!"
Robbie blinked. "But... that's just a story..." he said slowly.
"Uh huh. Here, yes. But there are people who dream about things happening in other... umm, places, I think I should say. They write 'bout it. It's real, just not 'here'. The Clan really does exist." the purple-eyed boy replied with a grin.
Jason asked quietly, "Just who are you, dude?"
Just then Kate walked in. "Guys, lunch is .... about .... ready .... JOSH! How in the HELL did your little brother get out here! I just left the living room and he was sleeping with your Dad!"
The boy giggled. "Sorry Kate!" Before anyone was able to say anything all of them found themselves in the dining room.
"Okay, what the..." Kate started.
Jason interrupted her, however, "Okay. Enough's enough! Who are you, and what can you do!? This is freaky?"
"I'm Levi," Levi answered. "And I can do..." He seemed to grow to fill the room, and energy flowed around him. In a voice that was a dead ringer for Robin Williams, Levi bellowed out, "PHENOMINAL COSMIC POWERS..."
He shrank back down quickly to his normal size...
"In a cute, itty-bitty bod!"
"Dude! Where's your clothes gone?!" Robbie asked, while eyeing up Levi with appreciation.
"Well," he giggled, "how are you gonna tell I'm cute if I'm all covered up? Besides, it's not like you guys have anything on!"
David wandered into the room. "Has anyone seen Doug .... OOHHHHH ... how'd he get in here ... and why is he nude ... and who is our guest ... do I really want to know?"
Josh answered, half cheekily, "Yes, I've seen Doug; I did order him after all. He was teleported?" Levi nodded. "He was teleported by Levi here, minus the clothes... don't ask... This is Levi, obviously, and no, you didn't, but you do now."
Kate had to sit down when the table was suddenly set and the food appeared in the center of it. "I'll explain after we eat!" Levi said with a giggle.
The adults just shook their heads in wonder as everyone found themselves in their seats. Everyone filled their plates, then Kate looked to see how much was left. "What the ....." she exclaimed when she saw that the food looked like nobody had touched it yet!
"I wanna make sure nobody goes away hungry!" Levi giggled. "Oh, Bork, I filed a lawsuit with my lawyers at Dewey, Cheethum, and Howe on your behalf against the Inter-dimensional Chartreuse Cab Company for failure to let you off at your intended destination. Not only did they get the wrong timeline; they let you off in entirely the wrong universe!"
Bork chuckled as he siphoned a thirty-six inch strand of spaghetti into his mouth. Once he swallowed he replied "Thanks; I was wondering why some things didn't match up to the Mobil Inter-dimensional Travel Guide my former parents put in my bag! The cab company STILL hasn't figured out where my bag is at!"
Levi smiled. "That's normal; one guy lost his entire company in a supernova last week because they shipped it to the wrong place!" He paused then continued. "There's a good point to it though; the place you was 'posed to go no longer exists as of about five seconds ago!"
David glanced at Kate. "Hon, wake me up when this dream is over; I need to write it down, it could be a best-seller!"
"DAAADD!" Josh groaned as he picked up Doug to burp him. His parents had decided that since Josh had ordered Doug without telling them he was responsible for him. It wasn't much of a punishment though, since Josh enjoyed taking care of his little brother almost as much as he enjoyed Jason living in the same room as him now.
The group bantered back and forth throughout the meal; Levi answering questions about himself and some of the pranks he had pulled since arriving.
As the meal was winding down, Josh and Jason let out a thunderous belch. "Gawd," Josh muttered, "sorry mom, dad. Wow, that's good food!"
Levi giggled, but he did cast a long look at them both. "Wait here. I'll be right back!" He vanished instantly.
"I'd love to know how he does that!" Bork wondered.
"Same," echoed the others.
They waited for oh.... five more seconds before Levi reappeared... and something else. Something large, blue and shiney.
"What the hell is that?!" Kate asked, looking at the 2 foot by 1 foot egg like thing now resting in the middle of the suddenly cleared table.
"An egg," Levi giggled.
"An egg?" David repeated redundantly. They could clearly see it was an egg, after all.
"Uh huh. It's for Josh and Jason."
Both teens looked at the seven year old, "Wha? Why? What do we want with an egg?" Jason asked in bemusement.
"Weeeelll," Levi began, "I've sensed that you two are special since I arrived. This whole universe is different from my home. Magical..."
"Wait one second. Magic??" Robbie shot back excitedly.
"Uh huh. My home isn't. It's void of magic. Any magical creatures who go to my place lose their abilities. This place, though... it's very close to the major magical universes, so... I brought you two," and Levi looked back at the older teens, "this egg."
Josh handed Jason the baby and laid his hand on the blue egg, "What's in it?"
"Your companions."
"Companions? Plural?" Kate's eyes opened wider.
"Uh huh. They're twins. One each, if they want to bond with ya, of course... wait... oh, just checked, they will!" Levi grinned at the stunned boys. "Oh, and 'Goos' says to take care of his Nephews, or he'll come roast you both."
"'Goos'!! You've gotta be... THE 'Goos'??" Josh yelled.
Jason's face paled, "That means... dragons? This egg has twin dragons??"
Levi grinned wider, "Uh huh!"
David and Kate both looked over their shoulders at the authors. "That's it you two!" David growled. "Settle down or I'm taking my kids to a safer storyline!"
In a rather dramatic voice over, Iluvantir replied, "Live with it..."
"I DO know what a "DELETE" key is!" ACFan added with an evil gleam in his eye.
"Uncle AC!! Uncle Ilu!!! We're TRYING to tell a story here!!" Levi groaned.
Levi got hoisted up in mid air for an obvious snuggle. Iluvantir apologized, "Sorry, sweetheart. Carry on." He then was passed mid-air to ACFan who hugged him and said "Sorry Munchkin; go ahead and finish up."
Levi giggled as he was returned to his seat. "As I was getting ready to say; if Bork stays here there's gonna be a major screwup in this timeline. I can take him home with me and he'd be in a 'safe timeline' that his abilities won't mess with. Robbie; I know you like Bork for more than the wild sex you two have. Do you want to join him? You guys can visit anytime you want to; in fact if any of the rest of y'all wanna come over to my side I can set it up so you can let me know and I'll pop you over."
Robbie looked at the others, then hugged Bork, "Sure, I'm not leaving this sex-machine!" He paused as Bork blushed, then continued, "We need to pack!"
"Why?" Levi asked, totally puzzled, "the Clan will provide everything for ya. Besides, clothin' is optional!"
{Ummm .... Levi???} the author's chorused.
"Okay; but they're so cute nude!" Levi giggled. "Sometimes clothes are optional; but we've got kewl Clan uniforms to wear when we've got to wear stuff."
"So, when do we go? I can't wait to see the Clan!" Robbie bubbled.
Bork bounced next to him, "And I won't be the only alien! Wicked!!"
"No, but you're one of the strangest! The guys will LOVE your... ability..." Levi giggled evilly.
David and Kate chorused "We'll get to sleep!", which caused all of the boys to giggle madly.
Josh and Jason glanced at each other before Josh spoke for them both. "We'll miss you guys; but as long as we know you're safe and we can visit it'll be okay."
As Levi stood up he said, "Okay, guys? Ready?"
"Yup!" they both chorused.
"One thing," Jason asked quickly, "When are the dragon's hatching?"
"Oh, in about ten seconds," Levi giggled. "We'll pop back soon and bring ya over for a visit. Oh, and the animals in the yard? They are for the babies... they will grow soon! Bye!"
Levi vanished, as did Bork and Robbie.
"Ten seconds??" Kate gasped.
CRACK
"He was right! Look!" David was watching the egg as it began to crack and shatter. Josh and Jason pushed in close as the pieces fell apart to reveal two beautiful red-golden dragonlings. They staggered about on the table top on very unsteady legs, and gave out small hiccoughs of smoke and sparks.
"Oh, they are so cute!" Josh whispered.
**I am Tzorn** Jason heard in his mind. One of the babies moved towards him, and he had a small white spot on the top of his head.
**I am Zarsim** Josh also heard at that moment, as the other baby moved forward. This one had a black spot on the top of his head.
**You are our Riders** They sent in unison, **And we are hungry**
Kate and David could also hear what was being sent, but Kate had also noticed the back yard. "Animals... oh, god... Jason. You can get a few chickens for them if you want."
"Huh? We don't... have..." he trailed off as he looked out of the window. "Oh... my..."
There was a large number of cows and chickens now in the back yard. As Josh moved to the window to see better he could make out that each of the bovine had "Courtesy of Levi Richardson" tattooed on it's rump.
**Ah-hem! Chicken sounds good...**
To Be Continued ...... (Mischief Managed)
Notes from one of the authors:
If you read the CSU stories you already know about Levi - he's appeared in a few of them recently. For those of you who have not read any of the latest CSU chapters, the Mikyvis are a species that exist in almost all times, dimensions, and universes at once. They can make themselves appear whenever and wherever they choose. As such; Levi 'jumped stories' to make his appearance here - and is fully capable of relocating characters to another story! (Just ask the dragons...)
Ilu and I had a blast with this chapter; it was really fun working with him and I'm glad he added his immense talent to the project. I hope you enjoyed the ride, and whoever takes up the next chapter all I can say is 'Good Luck with the dragons!'
AC
Note from the other of the Authors... (giggle)
Okay, that was fun.
Mischief Managed!
AC is a great author to work with and I find that we are just as insane as each other. This story started so normally... okay, I'm lying... so sue me! (snigger)
Hope you all enjoyed reading it, and had a good few giggles along the way.
Oh, and for the poor sap who takes the next chapter? The Dragons are MY fault!
Hugs and God Bless!
Ilu
Editor's Notes:
I am duly impressed with this new one. I wonder who will take up the challenge.