Fifteen - Pt. 11 -

 I retract my earlier statement that there was no physical effect crossing the mirror.
My head was starting to feel a bit woozy and my stomach felt like it had been flipped over like a pancake.
My unstable center now made my knees feel like jello and I almost collapsed several times.
Though this could have also been the fact that moments earlier the ship crashed, I hit my head hard against the grate floor, and then I had a monster nearly suffocate the life outta me without even touching me. So yeah, maybe it's just the trauma talking.

The atmosphere of the house was entirely different now.
It was no longer dark and foreboding, but warm and rather inviting.
Lavish decorations of an old Victorian age with a lot of candle light and a soft melody playing from the distance which sounded much like opera.
I looked all around for any signs of trouble and there was none. This house appeared to be safe.

My eyes turned from the hallway I had entered to the stairs leading to the next level.
Then to the wall next to me which had many a framed photo hanging on for dear life, of various people and landscapes that held a more aged quality compared to our HD version of today's piccy piccys.
The music, I found, was growing a bit louder the closer I drew out of the hallway.
Until the hallway finally came to a stop and the music was playing as loud as it was allowed to be and I was now entering a posh little living room that was by far the most extravagantly decorated.
 And in this posh little living room, at a carefully decorated table, was a group of my fine comrades.
Plus a man. A man with large glasses, crazy hair and a long frock coat.
All eyes turned to our party as we entered, a pretty little tea set spread out on the table as cups from said set hovered just next to their lips.
"Ah!" The man spoke with a gentle voice laced with a peculiar accent I couldn't make out.
He swallowed his tea before setting his cup down and starting to get up. "There you are!"
Velma, Shaggy and Scooby sat next to one another, the two boys scarfing down some biscuits and tiny cakes while she sipped her tea in a very polite manner.
Jim and Joker were whispering amongst themselves as Jim applied some sugar into his cup, stirring it with a tiny spoon.
Daphne and Fred rushed to their friends to greet them, thankful that they were okay.

"I've been waiting a frightfully long time, honestly. Quite rude to keep me waiting!"
The man ran to turn off the music, as I stood with my hands at my hips, my eyes gravitating between the seated ones and the strange nameless man.
"What in the blue blazes is all this?!"
Mulder glanced around, shaking his head a little.
"Nice to see you all having a little tea party while a bunch of kids are no doubt about ready to be killed."
"Mm!" The man turned. "They actually will not lay a hand on those children until you arrive."
Our attention was piqued. He sat back down and picked up a bowl which was filled with what appeared to be pudding. "They are brilliant in how they plan, really. It's just..their ego. Their ego always gets in their way, I'm afraid. As does all villains. It's part of the great complex.."
He leaned back and crossed his legs, eating his pudding between talks.
"It's a ritual, you see! Quite fascinating. They are literally obtaining children from various points in time and planning to transform their very souls into ones dripping with darkness and horror!"
"To do what?" Scully questioned.
The man pointed with his spoon, jerking his whole body forward. "TO RELEASE THEM! They are placing them exactly back where they found them as basically virus carriers..the virus? EVIL!"
He took another hasty spoonful of pudding.

Daphne gasped, "How awful!"
"Mmm..my dear, it only gets worse...those children are going to be returning to their families. And the darkness will take over these families as these children viciously attack their own kin, their own friends..their own worlds. Do note that they are being returned also to the worlds they originate from. And that means a further spread of evil and villainy in the worlds you are not yet able to conquer."
Jim nodded, his own legs crossed and sipping his tea like a complete little gentleman.
"The professor is very insightful. He has many vibrant theories of the soul, psychology and travel between time and space. I should be a professor..."

My brows were raised and my head kept tilting like a confused puppy.
"Wow, that's awesome..now, w h o  t h e  h e c k  a r e  y o u?"
"Ah!" He shot up at that second, setting down his pudding, and ran to me.
"Sarah Demens, the delightfully spirited Character Queen! Come to save the worlds we all call home!"
He took my hand and shook it eagerly. But I wiggled it out of his grasp.
"I know who I heckin am, I mean you, you picklehead!"
"HmmmmMMmMMMMmmMmmm.." He nodded as he held his chin thoughtfully, staring down at me like I was a fresh experiment to be studied. "Spirited, indeed."
My eyes widened.
"What are you implying, sir?"
"Ahh..yes!" He turned to the side and nodded some more, staring at another wall.
"Oh my god.." My face fell in my hand.
"Quite!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Quite WHAT?!" I squeaked.
"Quite so!"
"I'm leaving." I immediately turned for the door, but the strange man who refused to identify himself instantly grabbed me and pulled me back the other way.
"You're not seeing the big picture here, Mrs. Demens!"
"I'm not getting the details TO see the picture!" I instantly perked though when I realized the 'Mrs' bit.
"Wait..'Mrs.'???"
He stopped and held a finger up as he searched our large party. "Someone here is your husband.."
"I swear to God, Jim!" I sent Moriarty such a venomous death glare so suddenly that he literally spit out what was in his mouth and dropped his tea cup on his lap, causing him to dance wildly from his chair.
I wanted to cry.

The man simply glanced at Jim's comical scene and shook his head.
"No matter, you must not fret! The children are safe as long as you are away from them. This obviously does not mean, of course, that you should stay away. On the contrary..you must fight! Fight to save the children and save this world! Their villainous hold on it has nearly depleted the life of the planet and before long, it will start to visibly decay and die." "Die?!" Velma exclaimed in shock.
"Like..die die?!" Shaggy groaned.
He nodded.
I gasped softly as I realized. "The quakes.."
He pointed. "Exactly right. Disruption from another character from a different world results in the planet itself and everyone in it to be destroyed as any tampering from a foreign entity triggers the world's default self destruct system. It was designed to be that way by the original orchestrators of these worlds. However..that is what makes you different. Your interference with set timelines and the characters therein has no effect on the planets as you are MEANT to arrive and do such things. It is your destiny..the queen was chosen to lead and save the people!"
I almost wanted to scream. "I, uh, I er, wha--"
"You may be asking how I know all of this!"
"Yes, in many ways." Master inquired.

The man nodded. "I was told..through the great voice. Your arrival was prophesied..and I saw the villains' plans through a series of vivid, terrible dreams!"
He grabbed my wrist tightly. "They mean to capture you, dead or alive, yes? But what they intend is far more sinister than just taking you..they mean to use your abilities for their wicked plots..to kill and enslave and create dimensions of pure darkness!"
"Well that doesn't sound so bad." I half-joked with a smirk.
His brows furrowed. My face dropped. "I mean about the darkness bit, of course.."
"Hmm.." He turned his face away, but not his gaze. "You wish to know my name?"
"Well at this point, with all that we've been over together about the universe and all, I feel it would be rude to ask." I joked again, naturally..I really wanted to know the dang man's name.
"Professor McWaggle!"
"O h ."
I looked away.
"Why do you do this?"
I blinked repeatedly, trying to keep from busting out laughing.
"It's just..I..uh..that name is so..fancy..I just can't bring myself to..say it.."
"Mmm.." He nodded again and finally let go of my wrist. "Then what do YOU wish to call me?"
My eyes returned to him. "How about we mix it up and call ya McFessor?"
"McFessor!" He slammed his fist into his open palm.
"Why didn't my parents think of such a concoction?!"
What a freaking weird dude, yo. I dig it, though.

"Alright, then, Mr..McFessor." Mulder approached the man and shook his hand.
"I'm Agent Mulder, this is Agent Scully." Scully shook McFessor's hand, as well.
"These are our friends from-" "Mystery Incorporated." McFessor shook Fred and Daphne's hands.
"Yes yes, I know. You come from the distant future of this world.. of course!"
"Wait, this world?" Fred spoke. "You sound as if.."
"I'm not from here? Well that would be correct. I am foreign to this region! I am from an alternate reality of the Scooby Doo universe!"
The Mystery gang was shook. "Rawtrirate Rerarity?!"
"I have no conception of what that dog has said, but I'm sure the answer is no!"
"He just copied what you said, Professor." Shaggy corrected.
"Ahhh, yes! Then the answer is yes."
"Professor..how were you able to speak as a ghost?" Scully questioned.
"That is a mystery for another time, dear Dana Scully."
McFessor returned to his tea and took a sip before spitting it back into his cup as it was no doubt ice cold now. He cleared his throat and proceeded to set the cup back down.
"For now, you must prepare for battle! For the monsters await your arrival at the hospital."
He swung around, pointing. "As well as the children outside!"
We all jolted. "Children outside?!"
I ran for the window, Eleven and Mulder tagging along, and we peaked out the curtain.
Sure enough, dozens of kids were wandering around outside. All dressed up in costumes.

I perked right up. "Halloween!! That's right! It was right around the corner when we got here!"
"They have been waiting for this night to take more children."
"Perfect cover, since so many kids are on their own..and those creeps already look like monsters!"
Velma wagged her finger. "No one would suspect a thing!"
My heart raced. "How far back would we be in this timeline?"
"Ah, I suspect..decades!"
My eyes drifted. "Far back enough for an old man to be a boy?"
McFessor held his chin. "Yes, I think so.."
I looked back at him.
"And if someone was taken in the past, ripping them from the future...would I be too late?"
McFessor leaned in. "If that is the case..do not despair..if you save those children now..he is most definitely to return."

I stared at him for several seconds as I processed this....then something made me look back out the window. Bud's words rung in my ears.. that he put together an old astronaut costume and went out with his mom..just a six year old kid..and lo and behold...as I looked..a child opened his door and his mother was in tow. A child, roughly six years old, wearing an old astronaut costume.
He was smiling and running as fast as his little legs could take him as he carried an empty bucket meant for candy. I nearly choked as I inhaled in that instant. Bud.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!!"
I burst from the window and ran for the front door. "Hurry! We gotta save 'im!"
"Save who?!"
"Bud!! Now's our chance!!"
I grabbed the knob and turned and threw the door open and in that split second, I nearly had a heart attack. The entire room was either screaming, exclaiming or gasping, as the moment I opened the door, a tall and well dressed figure stood before us..but not the one you're thinking.

This particular figure screamed right back at us as he jerked his body in surprise, his mouth hanging open with widened eye sockets. This particular figure being a walking, living, sorta, skeleton.
"Oh my goodness!!" He exclaimed, trying to control his breathing. His body deflated.
"I'm so..so terribly sorry! I didn't mean..to disturb you, but..."
He then leaned in and grabbed me, bending his scantly long legs, as his skull face was teeming with fear. "You have to help me!! These creatures are after me and...I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM!!"
My eyes widened as I no longer knew which way was up and which way was down.

Jack frickin' Skellington was in Coolsville.