THE MOMENT
Connor rose up just high enough to peek out through the broken window; hopefully without being seen. The city streets were deserted once again and the sun hung in the blue, cloudless sky. Now was his best chance to move if he was going to. He moved quietly and made his way outside. He took in a deep breath of fresh air before starting in the same direction he'd been headed for the past several days. He didn't know where he was going, he knew little to nothing about this world he was in now. But, he wanted to at least be consistent and try to move forward in a single direction.
Despite the unusual things he'd seen, something about the silent city on a sunny day put him at ease. He was surrounded by empty buildings and for the rest of the day until sunset, he could pretend that he got what he wanted. He asked to be sent to another world; but, he didn't want to deal with any sort of wizards or dragons or anything like that. He asked for something different. It took less than a day to realize he should have been more specific.
He slowed his pace as he came to an intersection and stopped to look around the corner; just in case. Connor didn't expect to find anything; but, like many times over the course of the past few days, he was surprised. Though, at least this time the surprise came with a rushing sense of relief instead of terror. They were people! Three teenagers, two girls, and a boy, walking in his direction.
The boy had bright, neon-blue hair and wore a black robe with green detailing around the cuffs and collar. One of the girls had curly chestnut hair with a streak of hot pink running through it. She wore a dark pink ninja-like outfit complete with a mask covering her mouth. The other girl wore a green and brown robe; she had a pair of golden-blonde double-plaited braids, one on each side of her head.
Connor pulled back before they noticed him. He didn't want to scare them by charging straight at them. Instead, he chose to wait a few seconds, then he would casually walk forward into their view.
"They mostly come out at night on this server...," Connor heard a male voice as he was about to take a step forward; but, he froze. They, or at least the young man, knew something about this new world he found himself in. He suddenly wasn't sure what to do next. He wanted to know more; but, he didn't know how trusting they would be of a stranger.
"...so why are we here in the daytime?" a female voice asked with playful annoyance as they drew closer. Connor retreated and stepped through a broken glass door to hide inside what was once a bakery. He crouched near the door and hoped they would walk by without noticing him.
"Because that's only mostly; the rare I need comes out during the day," the boy answered as the group walked into view. "It should be somewhere around-," The boy was interrupted by several things happening at once. The first was Connor screaming in panic.
As he crouched, he felt a stiff, dry, heavy hand land on his shoulder and he heard a threatening groan. He shouted and sprang forward through the door; but, he tripped and landed on the sidewalk.
"HELP!" he pleaded as he scrambled to get to his feet again.
"Oh, there he is," the teen boy chuckled as the three strangers turned in Connor's direction. Once he was on his feet, Connor dashed toward the trio; but, he froze again. The boy knelt to touch the ground; then, the street blacktop cracked open. A white skeleton climbed out of the street and marched toward Connor.
He was too paralyzed with fear to move; but, that didn't keep him from screaming in horror. He was now sandwiched between two undead monstrosities. The approaching skeleton and the decomposing zombie baker behind him.
"Hey!" the girl with golden-blonde braids called out. "You don't want to be in the middle of that fight!" Her advice reached him as the skeleton walked past. He was quick enough to catch on and bolted at the trio.
"Hi, I'm Crystal," the braided blonde introduced herself once he reached the group. Her initial friendliness helped put Connor at ease as the rest introduced himself.
"Alis," the pink ninja waved at him.
"Surge," the boy half-nodded while keeping his attention on the undead battle.
"I'm Connor...," he nodded at them. He felt at ease enough to look back. The zombie was assaulting the skeleton with a rolling pin. "...what's going on??" he asked.
"Surge is on a quest; we're just tagging along," Alis replied.
"I don't know what that means...," Connor shook his head. "Who are you? Where did you come from? I haven't seen another person in days..."
"What's your favorite number!?" Crystal asked quickly.
"What?" Connor asked.
"He's not a Unique," Alis responded directly to Crystal, then she turned to Connor.
"It's kind of an explanation...," she said. "...but, the question is, do you want to stay here with the zombies or do you want to see some other Earths?"
"Will you help me see different ones?" Connor asked. He'd already come to terms that he was on another Earth that wasn't his own; that was what he asked for. But, it didn't occur to him until that moment that there might be other other Earths.
"Sure!" Alis nodded. "We can go as soon as Surge is done."
"Why aren't you using any abilities?" Crystal asked to hurry him along. Surge shrugged without looking away from the battle.
"My minion has to win one on one; that's the quest." Connor turned and studied the ongoing battle. The baker was successfully breaking off pieces of the skeleton; but, it reformed whole again between blows. "...this might take a while; you should go ahead and go."