A deadly bomb is ticking. Me and my friend have four hours to save earth from becoming space dust. And on top of it all, two armed weirdos from the bad guys' side were pursuing us. Sounds like the storyline of some cheesy post-apocalyptic movie, doesn't it? You wish.
It all started on an average friday night. The moment I fell asleep, I woke up and found myself on top of my friend Ryan. 'OUCH! Get off me!' I rolled off. He couldn't have been pleased when he found my bulky frame on top of him. I got up and scanned my surroundings.'Remind me what we're doing here?' The landscape was desolate and barren, with no sign of flora or fauna anywhere. 'Where are we?', Ryan asked, dusting the red dust off himself. I looked down at the regolith and saw something shiny. Frowning, I picked it up. It was a metal canister. I turned it over, and something plopped into my hand. It was a small scroll. I opened it carefully and gestured for Ryan to take a look. It said:
The Prophecy
Great destruction the ancients gave,
Two heroes from Otherworld shall save
Our world and theirs from being razed
Towards the plateau they must gaze.
There is a code, with clues right here
Both of you shall conquer fears:
Of the force that devours all life
It can't be fought, and will cause strife.
'Ohhh kay', Ryan sighed. 'That sounds creepy. What does it mean?' The "crazy-scientist-who-always-threatens-to blow-up-the-lab" part of me came into action, and I analyzed the prophecy again. 'Hmmm, the plateau. Any idea where that might be?' We looked all around us, until Ryan said, 'Could that be it?' I craned my head, and finally saw it. It loomed over the horizon in the distance. We weren't close, but it looked like it'd be huge. 'Don't get to see stuff like that everyday', I grumbled as I broke into a jog.
After half an hour, we took a break to catch our breath. 'With our luck, the "great destruction" will be right on top', I said. I looked back, and exclaimed. Two figures in grey were standing there, trying their best (and failing) to look like macho henchmen. One of them was thin and had a long mop of blond hair. He quite like an evil Brad Pitt cloner. The other one was HUGE in every dimension imaginable. The Brad Pitt clone spoke first. 'You must be wondering what the prophecy means.' 'Who are you?', Ryan asked. He had started to tremble. Dodging the question, Fake Brad Pitt said, 'There is a bomb on top of the plateau. It's going to boom in, oh, about three hours.' 'WHAT?!', me and Ryan exclaimed.'And what have we got to do with it?', I asked.
'Didn't you read the prophecy? You are from Otherworld.'
'But the bomb is in your world. What does it have to do with ours?'
'Our world and yours are closely intertwined. It's like a parallel dimension,'
I absorbed this all, but Ryan stared at me with a blank expression.
'Run that by me again?'
The henchman in front of us took off his watch and tossed it onto the ground in front of us.
'We'll meet you on top.'
And POOF! They vanished. I picked up the clock.
3 : 28 : 09
'We'd better hurry', I sighed.
We trekked up the slope of the plateau. The summit was far away, and I didn't think we'd make it on time. Time and again, we stopped for short breaks. Now it was Ryan who was taking the lead ; I wasn't really built for climbing mountains. The watch now showed
