Chapter One

INDENT High in the mountains of Drakklar, hidden amongst the vast outcroppings of stone and barren peaks of jagged ice, the great Mage Merdemus sat within his ancient circle of power and concentrated all his efforts on the object in front of him.

INDENT Using all of his will, he sought to accomplish his goal- the task which had consumed over a millennium of his existence... the combustion of a small twig.

INDENT "Burn, damn thee!" he screamed- but nothing happened.

INDENT He focused all his energy- the result of thousands of years of intense training- but still, nothing.

INDENT Eventually, he decided on the only course of action left to him.

INDENT "APPRENTICE!" he screamed. "Fire! NOW!"

INDENT The Mage growled as his apprentice Eric obediently cast a small spell which ignited the twig.

INDENT Merdemus frowned. How was it that a Mage of the First Order, Lord of the Seven Disciplines and Master of the Forces Elemental could not accomplish this simple, in fact, childlike spell?

INDENT He decided that he did not wish to think of this any longer.

INDENT Getting up, the Mage stepped out of the circle of power and glared at his apprentice, who was busy warming his hands by the warmth of the crackling fire... the fire that had eluded him for so long.

INDENT Irked, he found some paper and a quill, scribbled out "Going to lunch-- clean up, thou art fired," handed it to Eric and then promptly plummeted off the side of the mountaintop after the ungrateful whelp shoved him from behind.

INDENT Wondering what had happened to his safety rail, Merdemus noted as he fell that the usually surly Eric had been acting a little too happy today.

INDENT "My reward, no doubt, for training a union apprentice," he thought just as he hit bottom.

INDENT Elsewhere, a pair of eyes gazing in a crystal ball watched his descent with a morbid fascination. "The shadow falls upon us once again, Merdemus."

INDENT Waking up at the base of the mountain some time later, Merdemus noted that he had a massive headache... one even worse than the kind he used to get playing "Kick the Dragon and Run," a cheerful sport involving a rather reluctant Dragon and hordes of athletic lads with exceptionally good muscular development in the legs, half of whom would mistakenly kick each other instead of the creature.

INDENT He shook his head and looked around for the village of Garath, which had surrounded the mountain when he had made his ascent 1,000 years ago. What he found were trees.

INDENT Lots of trees.

INDENT In fact, the only recognizable vestige of Garath was the huge boulder that had marked the center of town. Under it had lived Krek, known formally as The Belligerent Krek, Keeper of All Things Sickening and Foul.

INDENT Krek had been the local cook, and the only Gnome who had ever mastered grammar.

INDENT Merdemus looked around the boulder, and found the secret opening which was Krek's front door. Stepping inside, he invoked a minor light spell, and saw the Gnome himself sleeping on a slab of hard rock.

INDENT Gnomes were creatures whose height rarely exceeded two feet, and as such their tiny infant-sized faces were usually considered "cute" and pleasant to behold. This principle, however, did not hold when it came to Krek. Somehow this bloated thing had managed to grow to the size of a normal man, while retaining the facial proportions of an infant, and the warts of a toad on his chin. Merdemus winced at the sight.

INDENT Shoving the creature awake, Merdemus turned his head away as Krek's mouth opened and he remembered how the "Sickening and Foul" had become the Gnome's title.

INDENT "What you WANT?!" The moldering Gnome straightened up. "ME TRYING SLEEP here, you know!"

INDENT Merdemus covered his nose and tried to introduce himself.

INDENT "Ids BE, Berdebus!"

INDENT The Gnome shook his head, irritation growing. "WHAT?!" The fumes of his breath were now visibly wafting throughout the interior of the small boulder.

INDENT "Berdebus! The bage! The bage-" Realizing there was no way around it, Merdemus released his nose and hastily said "Merdemus. Lord of the Seven Disciplines, Master of the forces Elemental-"

INDENT "AHH!" Krek smiled and emitted more foul odor. Outside, the sounds of berserking animals fleeing for their lives could be heard. "The Mage!"

INDENT Merdemus nodded. "The Mage."

INDENT Krek's mind quickly began to hurt itself rather badly. It was trying to figure out what all this meant. So this was a bage. Now, it thought, what was a bage, what was it doing here, why was it doing it here, and why was it doing whatever it is it was doing in the first place? It gave up under the load.

INDENT Krek stared blankly. This Mage looked like a human man. But then most Mages were human men, because otherwise they would be human women and thus also Mages. Hmm. Confusion. The long, striking nose, brown hair in monk- like haircut. The Ego that even his simple mind could detect. Ahh, yes!

INDENT "The one could not light simple twig! Remember YOU now."

INDENT Merdemus frowned. "What happened to the town?"

INDENT Krek growled. "Come outside. Will show."

INDENT The two emerged from Krek's rock. Merdemus noted that a small patch of the forest around the cave had suddenly been defoliated. The trees had turned away from the boulder as best they could, dropping their leaves in defeat as their roots withered away. Even the insects had all left the immediate area. Not even an ant could be found on the ground.

INDENT "That happened." Krek growled. " After you left, me was trying to sell cooking door- to-door. No reason, everyone started running away far. Me followed, trying get them to listen, but some evil force must have taken them. They dropped dead at feet. If me ever find who did this-"

INDENT Merdemus' hand by this time had almost become permanently affixed to his nose, but it was no use- the stench was too strong- even magical protection was becoming useless. One of the Seven Disciplines that Merdemus had learned was the art of immortality, but Krek's breath was testing its limits. There was only one choice left.

INDENT The Mage looked evenly at Krek, then fell down and feigned death.

INDENT Krek noted this and looked up, shaking his fists at the sky and screaming "Evil force! One day me DESTROY you! SWEAR IT!"

INDENT Yawning, he went back into his cave and dozed off.

INDENT Merdemus waited until the smell had wafted downwind before getting up. He jerked around as he sensed something behind him, but this part of the forest had been cleared of all life thanks to Krek.

INDENT The shadows were playing tricks on his mind, he decided.

INDENT Moving forward, the Mage looked back up the mountain that he had just come down from, and marveled at the height. He sighed, wondering if it was worth it to try and become part of the world again after all this time- a third of his life- had been spent on the mountaintop.

INDENT Merdemus felt a strange compulsion to go back up the mountain, but then realized that the homicidal apprentice was still there, up on the mountaintop... probably awaiting his return with fiendish glee and a variety of sharp knives. It would take little effort to return to the summit and smite Eric, but that would be counterproductive at this stage. The little grub had actually summoned up the courage to attack his master-- finally taking the first step towards becoming a Mage in his own right. Like every good teacher, Merdemus now was obliged to step aside and let the boy grow.

INDENT The Mage smiled to himself. Yes, he thought-- he would wait. He would wait until the grub had gotten a little stronger, fat with his own imagined power. He would wait until Eric had the hubris to come down the mountain and chase after him, probably with an arsenal of pathetic spells at his command. Yes, Merdemus decided. He would wait until the moment Eric was a real Mage, then he would smite him. That would be much more stimulating.

INDENT Dusting off his coarse brown robes, the Mage decided to find another village and get on with his life.

INDENT "No! Go back! Go BACK!" The watcher pounded his fist on the table, causing his crystal ball to move slightly. "Don't force the cycle to repeat again!"

INDENT He watched Merdemus move off, and sighed. "Very well, Mage. We are committed to the path."

INDENT Levitating, Merdemus rose above the canopy of the forest and proceeded to look around for any sign of intelligent life that might be able to lead him to a village or town of some kind. He was so preoccupied with the thought of getting to a town that he entirely failed to detect the presence of a massive glass-and-steel city coming slowly into view. Merdemus was too busy looking down at the trees, hunting for signs of small wooden houses nestled within.

INDENT After an hour of skimming the treetops and dodging birds, he finally spied what looked to be two people near a small table of some kind.

INDENT Lowering himself onto the ground so as not to startle them with his approach, Merdemus walked over to the couple. Both were bald, and wearing clothes that seemed to be made of frayed blue sackcloth. They were smoking leaves of some kind.

INDENT Moving closer, he saw one of them point to the sky, roll his eyes about and mutter, "Cosmic, man! Totally radical!"

INDENT The bald girl followed his gaze and exhaled, "This is awesome man! I saw a guy flyyyyin'... killer!"

INDENT Merdemus touched the boy on the shoulder and asked, "Didst thou say 'Cosmic'?"

INDENT The boy did not look at Merdemus, his gaze seemingly fixed in the middle distance. "Yeah, man. This is like, so Cosmic... the COLORS, man! Look at the COLORS!"

INDENT Merdemus withdrew his touch. "Ahh. Thou art accessing the Cosmic. I see. I will not bother thee whilst thou art practicing thy magic."

INDENT He walked away. One of the first thing aspiring Mages had to learn was how to access the Cosmic- although, Merdemus thought, those two did not seem like aspiring Mages. Actually, he had known an alchemist who had behaved in much a similar matter. That poor fellow had been most thoroughly stoned- though Merdemus was hard pressed to recall if that had been before or after the angry villagers had arrived. He shook his head and came to a large clearing where many people were simply standing, as if in wait for the arrival of an important personage- but surely they could not have known of his arrival this quickly?

INDENT Walking up to a man that was looking at his wrist for some reason, Merdemus tapped him on the shoulder.

INDENT "Pardon me. Why art thou standing here?"

INDENT The man squinted at the Mage, then noted his robes and spoke.

INDENT "Father... sorry. We're waiting for the bus."

INDENT Merdemus stared at the man quizzically. Then he smiled.

INDENT "Thou confuses me with a member of the Priesthood. I am a Mage of the First Order, Lord of the Seven Disciplines, Master of the Forces Elemental."

INDENT The man nodded absently. "That's nice."

INDENT Eventually, a long metallic object came clambering down a path near the clearing. To Merdemus it looked like an exceptionally bloated Knight that had somehow been put on wheels. He reasoned that this had to be the "bus."

INDENT Waiting until everyone else had boarded, he stepped up and spoke to the man he assumed was in charge.

INDENT "Will this device take me to a village or township?"

INDENT The bus driver grumbled "Exact change please."

INDENT Merdemus scowled. "I have seven gold florins. Will that do?"

INDENT "Exact change please."

INDENT The Mage sighed. "I do not have thy form of currency."

INDENT "Exact change please."

INDENT "Where mayst I obtain 'exact change'?"

INDENT "Exact change please."

INDENT By now, the other passengers had become weary with the delay. Thirty seconds was just too much.

INDENT One woman rose up and yelled "He's a priest! Let him on for free already!," to which the man Merdemus recognized as the one he had talked to while waiting for the bus replied, "He's not a priest. He's a Wizard," prompting a general chuckle from the passengers.

INDENT The woman scowled. "It's not nice to insult the clergy."

INDENT Merdemus raised his hand imperially. "'Tis true. I can transmute this whole vehicle into gold if it will pay thy fee."

INDENT The bus driver kept staring out the windshield. "Exact change please."

INDENT Merdemus scowled. He raised his hands up and yelled, "VAS CORPOS DEL MATRICULUM DE BUS INTO GOLD!," at which point the bus, tires and all, was turned to gold.

INDENT Unfortunately, it was now also beginning to sink into the ground. While the passengers gawked at the sight, Merdemus snorted and proceeded to walk off towards the sunset.

INDENT As the Mage moved down a lonely stretch of road, a man ran up to him, clothing torn and tattered in many different places. There was smoke coming from some smoldering patches on his shirt. His eyes were wild- but with fear or anger, Merdemus could not tell.

INDENT "You there, Mage! You're coming with me!"

INDENT Merdemus frowned. "What?"

INDENT "You got us into this mess!" The man rushed Merdemus, but the Mage simply stepped aside.

INDENT "Explain thy words!"

INDENT "Your kind are always hiding in the shadows, aren't you! Now you and this MEFISTO start something you can't control and you run off, leaving us to handle the mess!" The man pulled out a device that was obviously a weapon of some kind. "You're comin' back with me- to NAFTA continent!"

INDENT Merdemus raised his arms, and thunderheads began to form over his head, rumbling ominously. The man laughed, pointing the small, box-like weapon at Merdemus.

INDENT "Go ahead, try it. Your powers won't affect me. The future will still be there."

INDENT Lightning lashed from the clouds overhead and blasted a patch of earth in front of the stranger.

INDENT "Desist," Merdemus growled, "or the next bolt shall surely striketh thee!"

INDENT "Heh." The man squeezed the box, and Merdemus felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his side. The lightning and clouds vanished. Somehow the stranger had blocked his control of the Forces Elemental!

INDENT "Why dost thou wish to attack me? I mean thee no harm." The Mage staggered back slightly.

INDENT Before the man could reply, he was enveloped in a greenish haze.

INDENT "No! Not yet! I had him! I had Merdemus!" The man screamed out in pain as he vanished.

INDENT With the departure of the stranger, Merdemus felt his powers return. He shook his head, wondering at the powers that man must represent.

INDENT Merdemus noted that the stranger had dropped a small card. He picked it up, but the words on it meant nothing to him. Putting the card away, he wondered where the man could have possibly come from. His instincts told him that on some level, that fellow had been just as much a stranger to this place as he was.

INDENT In a distant part of San Francisco, there is a place and time so utterly barbaric that only the hardiest of souls dare brave its treacherous paths for any length of time, and even they are forever scarred from the experience.

INDENT In this place, known to most as downtown, and in this time, known widely as rush hour, Miranda Jesmerelda Wright was desperately trying to catch a taxi cab.

INDENT Miranda's brain said she was on vacation... or so it kept insisting madly in an attempt to keep her from rushing back to the sanity and relative comfort of her work, as this day was proving to be anything but relaxing.

INDENT She whistled for cab. She yelled for a cab. She phoned for a cab. She threw a rock at a cab with a note in it saying "Pull over!," but for some inexplicable reason, the cab swerved away from her and knocked over a fire hydrant. Sighing, Miranda walked to her hotel.

INDENT The Adams Hotel was a grand old building nestled smack in the corner of one of the busiest streets in San Francisco. The exterior had all the trappings of a four star hotel, from the multinational flags that adorned its second story to the overly courteous doormen at the front who became unspeakably profane when denied their just gratuity.

INDENT Miranda entered the hotel and gazed for a moment at the interior of its lobby. The lighting was two magnitudes brighter than the sun's, and any surface capable of holding a mirror of some kind did so.

INDENT The borders of the lobby were defined on the left by a "Hard Shock Cafe" which blared out heavy bass music, on the right by a bank of pay phones and vending machines, and in the center by a massive wooden desk marked "Reception" behind which some elevators and a winding spiral staircase could be found. The whole place smelled like the inside of a new shoe.

INDENT Slowly, she made her way through the crowds and got to the reception desk, presenting her "Prepaid Supersaver Ultra Deluxe Vacation" pass to the desk clerk.

INDENT The clerk, who was a nearsighted pimply-faced teenager, snorted twice and pointed to the junker of a computer next to him. "Sorry, ma'am, but that room is occupied."

INDENT "What do you mean my room is occupied!?" Miranda brushed back some of her blonde hair and glared at the desk clerk. "I PAID for it yesterday!"

INDENT The desk clerk pulled out a sheet.

INDENT "Wriggle... Wriggly... Wright... Wright, Miranda J... room 6942- Oops.." He giggled like a baby.

INDENT Miranda's brown eyes glared. "OOPS?"

INDENT The desk clerk was now cooing with delight at his mistake.

INDENT "I... I- hee hee- over booked... I've never done that before... a first- heh... Here's- here's half your money back in full plus a free pass to the Bumblyworld amusement park." He proffered some cash and a crumpled piece of paper.

INDENT Miranda took the money and the pass, then looked away for a moment before grabbing the gurgling clerk by his lapels.

INDENT "I'm 120 miles from home- I paid for a room- and you OVER BOOKED!? And now, you give me HALF my money back and a free pass to BUMBLYWORLD?! Do I look like I'm THREE YEARS OLD?!"

INDENT The clerk gazed at Miranda's face. "Gosh, no... you remind me of the girl that said she would go with me to the prom and then dumped me for the Journalism major."

INDENT Miranda blinked. "What did you major in," she asked, wondering what curriculum vitae could have produced the genius behind the desk.

INDENT "Heh," he snorted. "Shop. I was the smartest one there! 240 on the SAT!" He began to snort and chuckle uncontrollably.

INDENT "I see." Putting him down, Miranda let him become silent, and then leaned forward, lowering her voice to as menacing as tone as she could possibly get.

INDENT "I want a courtesy car downstairs in five minutes, or I'm gonna go up to room-" She paused, and frowned. "What's your room number?"

INDENT "2... 227, ma'am..." the now pale clerk replied.

INDENT "Thanks. I'm gonna go up to room 227 and... well..." She paused, thinking of a suitable threat.

INDENT "I work for the Feds, you know. I'm a computer genius. I can get you audited by the IRS. But you couldn't possibly have anything they would want- so I'll have your boss audited, tell him you sent them there, and the next thing you know- you're going to be LIVING at Bumblyworld!"

INDENT She let every word sink in like a lead weight.

INDENT The poor clerk was almost whispering when he replied.

INDENT "You're not a Federal Agent... you're not dressed like one."

INDENT Miranda stifled a scream, growling out a tense "I'm on vacation."

INDENT "Yeah, right." The clerk frowned. "How do I know you're a Federal computer genius?"

INDENT Unable to find her ID in her purse, Miranda thought of something. "What's your hotel computer's password?"

INDENT The kid glanced over at the antique Timex-Sinclair machine's screen. "JMS-Babylon"

INDENT "Now see, I already knew that." She crossed her arms and waited to see if this kid was really as stupid as she thought he was.

INDENT "Wow!" The clerk pined visibly and hurriedly looked for a courtesy car, coming up blank. "We don't have a courtesy car..."

INDENT "Well, you'd better find something! And, who did you book my room to, anyway?"

INDENT "Some weird guy with a big parrot in a cage on his shoulder."

INDENT "O-K..." Miranda shook her head and went out into the lobby. In four minutes, a man appeared with a card that said "Veranda A. Write".

INDENT "Close enough," she muttered and headed over to the man. She was led to a rusty old van covered in gaudy colored balloons with a rotating frog's head on it. The man coughed. "Ms. Wright, no courtesy car was available for you, so I am pleased to present... the Bumblyland shuttle!"

INDENT Miranda groaned. "I thought it was BumblyWORLD."

INDENT "It is. This van is out of date. Keep it. We'll WRITE it off."

INDENT Miranda rolled her eyes as the man laughed at his pun. She then eyed the "Bumblyland Shuttle". Getting in, she turned the ignition key, and the rotating frog began to spin and RIBBIT in a deep voice. She drove off, wondering how stupid she must be looking at the moment.

INDENT Far away, the watcher looking through his crystal ball knew exactly how stupid she was looking. It was all intentional, of course. He had thought the frog was a nice touch.

INDENT It was good, he reflected, having a chance to prepare for the coming events this time around- not like the first iteration, where he had made many critical errors in his dealings with Merdemus and his friends. No, not like the first time at all...

INDENT He pondered for a moment how people could live totally insular lives, totally unaware that others were living and thinking in unique ways all around them, until the fateful moment when destiny or an external force brings a few of those people together for a meeting of the minds, usually just in time for a very nasty, horrible accident.

INDENT He grinned at the thought and continued planning the accident.