HK

Mychand: Geez....be patient will ya! You'll see...you'll see!

*********************************************

The vortex opened spitting out Quinn, Colin, Maggie and Remmy.

"OUCH!" yelled Remmy. "What the devil did I land on?"

"Looks like a cactus," replied Colin. "Here,let me help you."

Colin helped Remmy pick out the cacti needles and the group headed towards what looked like an old western town.

"Oh no," replied Maggie. "Not another western world. I swear, I am NOT singing again."

"Thank god," replied Quinn. He grinned as Maggie smacked him on the arm.

"I'm hungry," said Remmy. "Let's find a place to eat."

"Okay," replied Quinn. "Looks like a little cafe down at the end of the street."

The group entered the cafe and seated themselves.

"How long on this world?" asked Maggie.

"Looks like we are here for a week," replied Quinn. "Let's try to stay out of trouble this time guys."

"Hey," said Maggie. "I resent that! You are the one who attracted attention to us on the last world."

"Uh, I think it's too late," said Colin. "Is it me or is everyone staring at me?"

"No," said Remmy. "Everyone's staring at you."

A young waitress named Mary came to the table. "It is you," she said. "You have to help us. Meet me behind the barn in twenty minutes."

Before Colin could reply the girl hurried out of the cafe.

"What should I do?" asked Colin.

"I say we go meet her," said Quinn. "I'll go with you while Remmy and Maggie get us some rooms at the hotel."

"Sounds like a plan," said Remmy. "But be careful."

After grabbing a bite to eat, Colin and Quinn found Mary waiting for them as she had said she would.

"I thought you were dead?" she asked Colin. "I mean, I saw them bury you. How did you manage to pull this off?"

"I'm sorry," replied Colin. "I'm not who you think I am."

"No, I guess not," she replied. "I was hoping you were but maybe you can help anyway."

"How's that?" asked Quinn.

"Well, you look just like our Sheriff (looking at Colin) who was killed a few months ago," she said. "My brother was left to defend the town but he is no match against the Buckett gang. He went underground to find help. The Buckett gang were afraid of the Sheriff. Maybe if they thought he was still alive we could hold them off unitl my brother brings help."

Colin looked at Quinn.

"It's up to you bro," said Quinn.

Colin couldn't turn down a pretty lady. He agreed to help as much as he could.

***NOTE: Colin's double IS DEAD....no doubles! :o)

*****************************************
ST: That's it?

Mychand: Well, yeah...I have a hurricane about to blow me away so what do you expect?

SL4ever: Okay...not too bad but please don't let Maggie sing!

Mychand: Hey it's up to you guys...I'm outta here! Forgive the typos....not much time! :o0

Quinn and Colin headed to the hotel where Maggie and Remmy were waiting for them.
"So what's going on?" Maggie asked them.
"Colin's playing sherriff," Quinn replied. He and Colin relayed Mary's story to the others, and concluded by saying that Colin had decided to help out.
"I've got to head back and get started as sherriff," Colin told them, and left the hotel room. The others wanted to go with him, but he insisted that there might be trouble with this gang, and he wanted them to stay out of it as much as possible.

As Colin walked down the street towards the square in the center of town, many people stared at him, most in admiration for their Sherriff who had - seemingly - defied death. There were some who doubted it was really him, but the majority were thrilled he had returned. Very few hated him.
And only three of them were planning to murder him.
Colin knew none of this, however. He had no idea of the horrible way his double had died. The townspeople seemed friendly. He smiled at the people as he passed, wanting to seem like he was really the Sherriff. He didn't expect trouble from the townspeople, just the gang that was trying to disrupt their lives.
But-
-in the farthest corner of the Square-
-in the highest building in the town-
-deep in the deepest shadow-
-the man in black stood waiting.
His boots were black and leather. His pants were black and his shirt. His mask was black, blacker than raven. But blackest of all were his flashing eyes.
Flashing and cruel and deadly...

<MTwain looks at what Robin has written.>
MTwain: Hey! You can't do that! That's the Princess Bride, practically word for word!
Robin: What do you want from me? I have to go to physical therapy in 20 minutes, I don't have time to think of something original. Besides I thought it was fitting, after having used my Princess Bride thing as a threat against doubles.
HK: <looking puzzled> I don't know if that's allowed....
Robin: I don't care. I'm anti-creativity at the moment - so sue me. That's what school does to you. It stifles your creativity. MT, your turn, chickadee!

~Robin

<skit by sleepingtiger and HurriKain. Written by HurriKain.>

MT ignores her friends and starts to write.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mary's brother, Dex removed the mask and fell to the chair in the corner. His head pounded. What had they done to him? The Buckett gang had cornered him on the way outa town to get help and had forced him to dress like the evil masked villian. The last thing he remembered before his world went black was the lulling brittish accent of the leader of the gang, plotting his demise.

Dex moved the chair towards the desk to see if he could find something to cut his bindings.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The leader of the gang tilted his hat back to get a better look at the once dead sherrif. His brief look of disbelief was replaced by that of surprise when the man turned and smiled at him, tipping his hat. The leader turned to the men on his right; "Chris, Trace? Follow him". He lowered his hat and walked off to the salloon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maggie paced back and forth. She didn't like Collin taking off by himself. That bumpkin was gonna get himself killed. She picked up the revolver from the bed and headed towards the door. She looked over her shoulder and asked, "You two coming with me or not?"

Remmy stood at the window watching Collin walk down the street. He turned and winced as he brushed his aching hind quarters against a dressing screen. He didn't think Collin had removed all of the cactus needles from that delicate area. "He'll be OK, I'm keeping an eye on him from here."

Quinn, looked up from the bed. "No, he's a big boy and asked us to stay here. We have to cut the apron strings and trust him mommy, I mean Maggie"

Maggie rolled her eyes and slammed the door behind her and stamped down the hall to the staircase that led to the lobby.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MT - <nervously bites her lower lip> Sorry guys, I was rushed. Need to get back to homework.
Blinker - <st and WJ holding him back> What kinda addition is that? The story didn't move forward at all.
st - Welll ... at least there's no doubles or dust involved!
WJ - Yeah!
MT - I'm sorry. I'm new. I didn't wanna ruin it. <weak smile>
st - <hands MT a non-alcoholic margarita> Here, have a sip and relax.
MT - <Takes margarita and picks up the torch> Who's next?
st - <Grabs sign-up sheet> Looks like Slider142.
MT - <Walks to S142 who is snoozing on the couch, his cowboy hat covering his eyes> Slider? Hey Slider? <nudges him gently>
S142 - <jumps up> Yes Maggie! Whatever you want!
MT - <giggles> MT sweetie. It's late, but it's your turn on the game. Sorry it took me so long.
S142 - <blush> Sorry, I was um, dreaming. It's my turn already?
MT - Yep.

S142 - <shaking his head> Whew, what a nightmare.
MT - Your turn ?
S142 - No, that dream. Never eat pizza before bed.
st - Hey, at least it didn't have JOC's singing in it.
S142 - It didn't ?
st - whoops...
Torch <recorded voice of Veronica Cartwright>- Just get on with it!
S142 - Ok,ok. But don't expect too much...

Maggie had picked up conversation with a local in the lobby of the western Chandler and leanred some interesting facts. This person had actually seen the shoot-out in which their sheriff had supposedly perished. Unfortunately, she had hardly had time to converse with him when a commotion at the bar drew their attention.

Meanwhile, in the saloon, a little boardroom meeting was taking place behind the thick smoke and pooltable bettings. The humidity of the room was raised by the entrance of the leader of the Buckett gang. All eyes averted from the slim shadowline that hid his dark lightning-black eyes from view. The invisible man walked slowly and pointedly towards the back table and laid a sinister hand on the dealer, who involuntarily jumped at the unwelcome touch. The cards fell from his hand and scattered onto the table, where players immediately pretended to be engrossed in conversation.
"I thought he was dead, McKinley..." drawled the leader. "Why is a dead man making his morning rounds?" The latter was said with a twist of lip that translated to his iron grip on the sweating card-shark.
"I, I..."
The twist turned into a snarl as the leader threw the dealer to the ground and a gun seemed to appear out of nowhere.
"You traitorous bastard!"
"Buckett!"
The leader turned around in a split second to see who had dared to speak his name. At the far end of the bar stood Colin, with Mary at his side. Buckett didn't change position, but only narrowed his eyes, unsure of what to do. Colin almost forgot what he was doing here.
"You're the sheriff!" whispered Mary. "Do something!"
Colin flinched. "What ?!" he whispered back.
"I don't know!" she replied fiercely.
In this time, the leader had holstered his gun and gave his full attention to this new oddity. The dealer took less than two seconds to crawl out the back door which, coincidentally, made him the first living organism to break the light barrier. Unfortunately no-one was paying attention, so physics remained dormant for the next few years.
A sign caught Colin's attention. What was it his brother was always saying ? Sliding meant improvising. "You'll have to check your weapon at the door, Mr. Buckett."
Colin tried to harden his eyes, but it was hard to feel confident against someone you couldn't make eye contact with. A corner of his scientific mind played around with the idea that maybe this was one of the reasons outlaws wore large hats. "Or I'll have to take you in for criminal possession of a firearm."
The various outlaws in the bar looked at each other and burst out laughing. Buckett couldn't help but snicker at the sheriff's intimidating language. Here was a new target, and one worthy of his sights. He slipped the leather catch off his pistol.
"Why don't you go back to law school, mister? Don't you think we all know you ain't our sheriff? Who hired you, that fool new sheriff's daughter?"
A curious crowd was gathering behind Colin, who was feeling more uncomfortable by the second.

Meanwhile, Dex had made his way down the stairs slowly and painfully. One of his legs had been shot, and someone had roughly tied a cloth tarnequin to the vein. He fell to the floor, gasping. What had happened ? He had been riding when suddenly he was ambushed and knocked out. He looked at his hand and dropped with shock the object he had been holding. It was the gun that had killed the sheriff.

******

S142 <stretches> - Whewee! I'm beat.
LP <tipping hat sinisterly> - Err, what was that ?
misswelles - You made us wait two days for that ?!?!
S142 <backing away> - Hey, I had tons of homework yesterday!
HK - <conveniently forgetting about one-paragraph-palooza day> - Get him!
S142 jets, leaving the torch to LP. Later HK and misswelles returned, puzzled, not noticing one more hat added to the BritSlider group...

LP: Sigh. Oh well, You asked for it!

*********************

A commotion at the bar drew their attention.
"Hey, come quick!" cried a short, worried-looking man who had just run in. "Our Sheriff's back from the dead! He's confronting Buckett right now over at the saloon!"
The rest of the people in the bar looked either surprised, scared, or some mixture of the two. The little man ran back out the door on his mission to rouse most anyone he could, and the crowd he had gathered followed him out the door to see what was going on. Maggie thought about what Quinn had said about her not interfering and pointedly decided to ignore it. She followed the crowd in hopes of getting to Collin in time to be of some help.

A curious crowd was gathering behind Colin, who was feeling more uncomfortable by the second. Mary realized he was in need of some help and jumped forward.

"Now, Samuel Buckett. What on earth makes you think this is not our sheriff? It looks like him, don't it? Sounds like him too. I think you're the one who is mistaken. We all know it's our sheriff. Don't we?" She looked around the room for support, but no one would speak up and all eyes were busy finding something else to look at in order to avoid meeting hers. After a few frustrating moments' pause, Sam Buckett shook his head and began to chuckle.
"Looks like no one believes in you after all, sheriff…. or whoever you are! No one is certainly coming to your defense."
Collin stared back at him blankly. "Whether or not you believe me to be the true sheriff is irrelevant. You are breaking the law, and I intend to stop you from doing so."
"You do, huh?" retorted Sam and laughed a bit harder. "And just how do you propose to do that? I don't see a weapon on you." He eyed Collin up and down. "In fact, I don't see anything stopping me from killing you right now." He stepped menacingly towards Collin, steadying his pistol. Maggie, who had just made her way to the front of the crowd behind Collin, realized she was just in time. It was definitely time for her to do something.

"I'm stopping you!" she cried as she jumped in front of Collin.
"Maggie!" he whisper-yelled at her "What are you doing?!?" But she was paying no attention to him.
Buckett looked a mixture of startled, irritated, and amused at the present intrusion. He was definitely not used to anyone challenging him like that… particularly a woman…but considering how deliciously tantalizing this woman was, he decided he might be forgiving just this once. He decided he'd make her squirm a little first.

"Well now," Buckett continued, now addressing Maggie. "What have we here? Just who do you think you are, Missy?"

"I'm his deputy," she replied and aimed the revolver at him. "I'm placing you under arrest!"
Buckett cackled and said, "Well, if you're the arresting officer, prison might not be such a bad place!"

"Don't make me mad, Buckett," Maggie replied. "Drop your weapon.
"Id' advise you to do as the lady says," added Collin, who didn't know what else to do.

Buckett sighed in mock defeat. "Well, now, miss….I give up. You've got me." He holstered his gun and raised his hands towards the ceiling. "You can put the cuffs on me now." As Maggie moved forward to take possession of her prisoner, he suddenly dropped the surrender act and grabbed her, using her own revolver against her. About this same time, a couple of members of his gang stepped forward to aid their leader. Most of the crowd scattered at the sight of even more guns; however, Collin and Mary stayed behind…particularly because the guns in question were aimed directly at them.

"Ha ha!" cried Buckett to Maggie. "I've got you now!" He cackled with glee. "Give us a kiss!" He chased the struggling Maggie's lips with his own.

"Stop that right now, Buckett! I'm warning you!" cried Collin.
"It doesn't look like you're in any position to be warning anyone,"replied Buckett, and his cronies tittered in agreement. "Now, Missy," he said to Maggie. " Why don't you come with me and let me introduce you to my friends. We'll deal with this sheriff wannabe later." He and his gang members edged out the door, dragging Maggie with them. No one challenged them, and they were able to quickly jump on their horses and begin riding off. As soon as they were out the door, Collin ran after them, but he was too late. There was no other horse in sight, and they were already down the street. And Collin, being Collin, couldn't run very fast.
He was beginning to wish he had minded his own business. Now, because of him, not only was the town in trouble, Maggie had been captured and was in need of rescuing. This was turning out to be a very bad day.

******************
As Dex was realizing what he was wearing and what he had been holding, the door to the unfamiliar place he was in burst open. Two men Dex recognized as being Buckett gang members entered with another important-looking stranger right behind them.

""Hey! He's escaping!" cried one, and they both tackled him before he could make a move. They had him tied up again in a split second and were then introducing him to the important looking stranger.

"This is the federal Marshall, Dexter. He happened to be nearby, and he was kind enough to come see you, He's here to prosecute you for murdering the sheriff!" cried one of the men. The Marshall glared at Dex with contempt.

"But.." stuttered Dex. "I…I didn't…it wasn't…."

"Save it," said the Marshall sternly. "Everyone knows you used this masked villain outfit when murdering the sheriff so you could take his place. And you were seen again just yesterday at the marlow Ranch, where Marlow and 2 of his hands were murdered in cold blood. Thank god for these strong, upstanding citizens who were able to take you by surprise! Gentlemen, you have done a good deed and saved lives in this community! I think you for it! Now, take him off to jail!"

THe gang members exchanged knowing, sly looks and dragged Dex off to the jailhouse under the supervision of the marshall.

"I've been framed!" cried Dex, but no one cared to listen.

***************************

LP: Ok, that's enough for me. I'm pooped. Been playing rodeo all day. Time for a nap. MissWelles?

Torch: Just get on with it!

LP: Bloody hell! I pressed the button by accident. When are we gonna get someone to be an actual voice for this thing instead of having a recording?

ST: Well, we're trying to figure out how to capture Wade's spirit. We know it's out there somewhere...especially since we all saw requiem. We're just having a little trouble.... <glances over to a circle of cave members trying to have a seance on the floor>

LP: A seance? Interesting...let me know if it works....

Mychand: So we'll skip her. Who's next anyways?
SL4ever: DAMN IT!!! IT'S HK!!!! And since he's off playing Slider, this can only mean one thing...MORE WAITING!!!
<just then, sleepingtiger walks in the cave>
sleepingtiger: Hey guys, what's up?
SL4ever: THE WAITING GAME!!!! That's what's up!
Mychand: mw just sent a telegram saying we can skip her, and HK became next...
st: Oh boy...I knew this was going to happen...<pulls out a strange garage opener>
SL4ever: what the Hell is that?
st: It's a Slider Retrieval Device. This will allow us to retrieve any Slider who has the same Quantum signature like this world, and it justs pull them back. The only drawback is that I could only retrieve three people with this thing...
SL4ever: Just retrieve HK so he can he do his bit on the damn story!
st: OK! sheesh...<presses a button and a green vortex appears...in a few seconds, HK flies out of it.>
HK: Owwww...wait a minute...where am I?
st: your home!
HK: who's gamemaster?
st: You are!
HK: Who's in the current cast of Sliders?
st: Remmy, Maggie, Diana, and Mallory. Now what ar...
HK: who's president?
st: MIcheal Dukakis!
HK: NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
st: j/k. It's Clinton. YOU ARE HOME!!!!
HK: <phew> how'd I get back? where are the others?
Mychand: No time to explain. You need to do your part of the story. <hands HK torch>
Torch <pre-recorded voice of Veronica Cartright>: Just get on with it!
HK: Man, we really need Wade's Spirit right about know...
< and with that, HK started to write>
Continues next reply...

Maggie was bound and gagged in what seem to be a log cabin. "Why did I let myself into this trap?" Maggie thought angrily. Just then Buckett walked up to her with a glint in his eye. "Well, how's my little deputy?" he said while carressing his dirty hand across her face then removed the cloth from her mouth. "Well, I'll feel better once you used a bar of soap." And with that insult, the gangleader slaps her.
"Hey now, you don't have the right to insult someone in their own home, missy. But I have to admit, your feistiness is a bit of a turn on." Buckett said as he start grabbing her chest. Maggie couldn't do anything major with hr being tied up, so she spit in his left eye. Buckett became angry and pulled out his gun, "Now, I could just kill you right now, since you're not ready to cooperate." he said as he readies his gun on her. Just then, two other men walked in the cabin, one more uglier than the next. "Boss?" said one of the men. "We have some interesting news."
Buckett put his gun away, and walks toward his men, "Well, spit it out!" He said menacingly.
"Well...we did everything right like you told us, and evrything went smoothly. That Dex guy is sittin' in the jailhouse now."
"Well, thats the best news I have heard all day. That guy was getting to be a problem. With him out of the way, we'll make our move tomorrow night..."

Dex was soon sitting on a dusty bed, with bars surrounding him on one side, hard-bricked walls on the other and the moonlight pierced through a window placed high on the wall. He's somehow had to convince the law officials that he was set up, but he can't do that while in here.
"Dex?"
"Wha...who's there?"
"Shhhh...up here!"
When Dex looked up, he saw Mary looking down on him from the high window.
"What are you doing here?"
"The bartender told me what happened. Are you alright?"
"yeah, I'm fine. I've been set up."
"I know. I would never believe that you killed the sherriff."
"I know, try telling the deputy."
"Don't worry. I know someone that could help. Just sit tight. I'll find a way to get you out of there....damnit, someone's coming...I'll come back to you...I promise...."
"Bye Mary."
And with that, Dex laid his head down and was soon asleep.
----------------------------------------------------------

HK: Man, that was a challenge. I didn't want to ruin it but I tried my best...but its great to be home again.
st: Not so Fast, Stormy! The Terrible Trio isn't done with you yet...<pressing another SRD button, which mad another green vortex appear>
HK: NO! I don't want to go back there!
st: Don't worry about it! <shoves HK in the vortex, then it closes>
st: Oh, I forgot to tell you another drawback... Once they cross back over the have no memory of being retrieved...
Mychand: Alrighty! Who's next?
SL4ever: DAMN IT!!!! DAMN IT!!! DAMN IT!!!!! It's Blinker!
<Everyone startes at st>
st: Hey I have to let this thing cool.

And so they wait....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Samuel Buckett looked around and swore. He threw his cards down.
"Except for my cards, everything's goin' pretty well. Dex is in jail, I
got a chick in the back room . . . it's goin' pretty great boys."
Suddenly, he stiffened. Then he covered his ears. "What IS that?!?!?"
Horrendous screeching was coming from outside. The door burst open
and Quinn ran in, singing at the top of his lungs.
"And into my MIIIIIIiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnddddd.....YooooOOOOOoooUUU
CAAAAAaaaaaaammmmmmEEEEeeeEE...Given me HOOOOOoooooooop-
pppPEEEEEE....Sweeping the COOoooooBWebs of SAAAaadness awaaa-
AAAAAy from my . . . "

Sam looked up and started screaming. "NOOOO! Anything you want!!!
Just stop!!"
Quinn stopped. "Okay. Let Maggie go, Leave town, never come back.
Fair enough?"
He couldn't get out of his chair fast enough. "Oh--okay. C'mon boys."
They fled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

misswells looked up. "Short, sweet, to the point. How do you like it?"
HK picked up the manuscript and read it over, murmuring to himself.
"Hmmm . . . pretty good, pretty good . . . WHAT?!?!?! NOOOOO!!!!
misswells, what did you do?!?!?!"
"Well, you guys didn't think you'd get off THAT easy, did you?"
"But, you took away the story!"
"So they'll slide. Another world. C'mon, have some imagination."
misswells looked around. "Let that be a lesson to all: I'll get it on the
weekend!" :-)

~Sorry, people!~

***
In the meantime, a small group is playing "Pin the skedaddle on the whatcha-ma-callit." They're having some trouble, however...
Slider_Sarah<to the blidfolded MTwain>:Where on earth are you going?! You're facing the wall!
BritSlider: Left! Left! No, wait, that's the nose.
Aelita (who is here for some reason):That's not the nose, you idiot, the nose is over there.<points at some ambiguous spot>
BritSlider: If that's the nose, then what's this long knobby thing down here?
Slider_Sarah<rolls eyes>:That is *obviously*...
MTwain wanders off and pins the skedaddle on SL4ever.
SL4ever<grabs skedaddle>:Ow! What the heck are you guys doing?! I'm trying to write over here!
Slider_Sarah <points at MTwain> : Dead body number one...
MTwain pins the skedaddle on Slider_Sarah.
Slider_Sarah: Hey, you didn't even have your blindfold on! At least fake it right!
Meanwhile Slider142 gets a step ladder and prepares to change the Story Game entry for longest game...
st : Does this mean I can skip town for a few days ?
TM : Hey, this shouldn't count as longest game, nobody's been writing!
Chaser9 : Hey, I've been writing!
TM: For the game...
Chaser9 : Well, you should've been more specific!
Slider142 : Well, it goes on the list anyway.
HK enters the room. Slider142 coincidentally vanishes.
HK : Hey, has anyone seen that blanket I had lying around ?
st : You mean the Wade Welles Mem...<gets buried by food scraps before she could finish>
misswelles runs by being chased by the Probability Police.
Southern Slider : Hey, how come the pp are after misswelles? I thought they were only for doubles.
HK : Dunno. Just seemed appropriate. Speaking of which, why is Aelita in the cave ?
Aelita : Good question...
***
Well, just filler....bored.... :-)

(One week later...)

Quinn struggled for breath. He'd landed face down in two inches of rainfall, and it was not pleasant.

Mercifully, Colin lifted his brother out of the water. Maggie and Rembrandt sloshed over, and the four of them looked over their surroundings.

"So, how much time we got on this -- UFFFF!!"

Remmy was shoved to the ground by another man flying out of the vortex: the outlaw, Samuel Buckett.

Squinting in the rain, he aimed his gun squarely at Quinn. "I've been shootin' twenty years and I've never once missed a mark," Buckett declaimed. "You hum one note and you've got an exit wound I could pitch several metric tonnes of molasses through."

"That's a... nice metaphor," commented Rembrandt.

[There you are. Want to send them back to Western World, say they have two minutes or something. Want to develop this Earth with Buckett, say they have a few days.]

=====
MTwain: Is it just me, or did he do a sub-par job of staying true to the characters' personalities?
ThomasMalthus: Yeah, I don't recall Remmy having such a sarcastic tone of voice...
Robin14334: Or doing everything so *fast*!
SL4ever: Wait a minute, I recognize this. This dialogue is lifted from a "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip!
Blinker: So I can't even think up original post-seg banter. Shoot me... please.

____________________________________________________________

Samuel Buckett held the gun to Quinn's temple. The fear in Quinn's eyes was clearly evident . . .

Buckett's finger began to pull on the trigger. The falling rain would not keep him from his target. Without warning Maggie delivered a devestating kick to Buckett's face. "Military training . . . I forget sometimes." Buckett's gun went off as he hit the ground and the timer fell from Quinn's hand.

Quinn began to look around for the timer. Rembrandt spoke, "So what do we do about Buckett?" Quinn picked up the timer and spoke, "Remmy, I think that is the least of our worries." Quinn held the timer up for all to see . . .the bullet had passed right through it. There was a bullet hole in the center of the device and sparks were flying from it. The readout went dark. "You know the drill. If we don't fix the timer . . . ." Maggie, Colin and Rembrandt chimed in in unison, "We're trapped here for 29.7 years . . ." "Shouldn't be a problem for you Q-Ball . . . You've done it enough times . ." Rembrandt was interrupted by the sound of a gun. Quinn's eyes glazed over and he fell to the ground clutching his shoulder. Through the rain, Rembrandt and the others could make out the figure of Samuel Buckett. He spoke, "Who's next?"

____________________________________________________________

Chaser9:Well, how's that for some story twists?
Mychand: You shot Quinn!
SL4ever: And blew up the timer!
Blinker: And not even in that order . . . .
HK: Oh boy!
Chaser9: Hey! After all, I haven't done any "fun" sliders writing in weeks . . . had to have a "little" fun. . . Anyway HK, whoever's next can step up to the plate(Depends if you want WJ or SS) . . .HAVE FUN! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SS takes a deep breath and expels it. What the hell have I gotten myself into, she thinks. It looked so easy on the outside. Oh, well.....can't never could and won't never will, so I might as well do something. <dips quill into ink>

***********************************************************
"Looks like you guys are in a mell of a hess." Buckett observed. "Your leader is down and your timer is out! I would say it's lights out for the rest of you."

"Don't count on it, Buckett." said Colin through clinched teeth. "There has not been an episode yet that we have not gotten out of whatever someone put us in. We will think of something. Is that not right, Maggie." Maggie didn't answer. "Maggie?"

Colin turned to see Maggie on her knees next to Quinn. She was crying........crying buckets! <ooooo, sorry...couldn't resist...SS>

Colin rushed to her side, with Remmy close behind. "Maggie! What is it? Quinn is okay, right? It was just a flesh wound.....please, say that it was!" Colin said, as he looked down at the unconscious form of his brother.

Maggie said nothing. She just continued to sob over the lifeless form. Remmy's shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes. Colin looked at both of them and then to his brother. He refused to hang his head. He would not give up the fight. Colin rose and turned toward the menacing Buckett. He would end this feud now...... or die trying.

***********************************************************

SS: Okay, okay. That's enough. Look! My hands are shaking. Oh, the pressure!

Brit walks over and reads over her shoulder.
Brit: Hey! You didn't even address the busted timer issue! Now I have to do something about it.

SS: Well, Brit honey. <batting eyelashes> That's what you get fouh tryin' to buttah me up, honey. <continues to bat eyelashes> Nevah try to outfox a suhthun lady. It just canNOT be done......honey!

SS dusts her hands off, winks at Spaz and exits the cave. There is a glass of White Zinfindel with her name on it just waiting, and boy! does she need it.

------

Okay, get to work, Brit!

And so, BritSlider began to write..............

-----------------------------------------

Remmy saw Colin advancing on Samuel Buckett; the outlaw looked somewhat less than worried!

"Hold up there Colin, I know he shot your brother but he's got a gun; think about what you're doing!"

Samuel sneered at the unarmed man getting ever closer. He levelled the gun with Colin's chest, and smiled in a rather unpleasant way. "You better just hold it right there sunshine. Now, your brother isn't dead, it's only a flesh wound; nothing a few weeks in bed won't sort out. Don't make me kill you, I'm sure you really wouldn't want that."

Maggie was still crying as she held onto the unconscious form of Quinn. He did have a pulse, weak and thready as it was; but it was there. Falling back on her Marine training she began to administer emergency first aid; pressing hard onto the wound to stop the flow of blood. Remmy felt like a mere spectator in the proceedings as Colin seemed determined to get himself killed.

"You.....shot......my.....brother!!!!" Snarled the normally placid Colin.

Samuel let a smile play across his lips; "That's right son, and I'll shoot you too if you take one more step towards me."

Colin evidently wasn't in any mood to listen, and as his next step touched the ground; Samuel's left hand flew to the gun as in the blink of an eye he fanned off the five shots remaining in the chamber. Maggie flinched at the sound of the shots, and Remmy cried out, but through the smoke and smell of cordite it was clear that Colin was still standing. A little surprised at this himself, Colin gave his body a quick look to see if there were any bullet holes there; he certainly hadn't felt any.

"What the hell!" Gasped the disbelieving outlaw; "I shot at him five times! I ain't never missed a shot in my life, and now five bullets stray from their mark? This can't happen!"

Just then, everyone's attention was drawn to a shimmering green vortex that had suddenly appeared not ten feet above Colin's head. Before he had chance to do anything but look at it; a meteor the size of an SUV came out of the vortex, and landed on Colin; squashing him into the ground with an audible 'crunch'! Bits of brain tissue and blood seeped out from under the fallen rock. The stunned silence lasted a moment longer, until a second, smaller green vortex appeared a few yards to the left of the last one. Remmy and Samuel both dived for cover, not wishing for a repeat performance! But out of the vortex stepped a young lady in a striking uniform. It took a moment, but then Remmy recognised her.

"It's you, the lady from the Probability Police!" He cried.

"That's right Mr. Brown, just doing my bit for cosmic harmony," she said with a grin.

Remmy was a little taken aback by that statement. "What in God's name do you mean by that? You just dropped a meteor on his head!!"

Agent Laura took a deep breath before speaking. "I know, but he should have died when he was shot by the outlaw here. No one can survive five bullets shot from the gun of an expert marksman at a range of ten feet; it breaks the laws of probability. So we had to redress the balance."

Remmy could barely speak, but he did anyway. "You just dropped a meteor on his head!!"

Agent Laura could see she was going to have trouble with this one, but that really wasn't her concern any more. "Yes, Mr. Brown. I am well aware of what has just transpired. Maybe next time people will think twice before advancing, unarmed, on a bad guy that is pointing a gun at them! I'm fed up with people getting away with that crap just because they are the good guys. Anyway, my work here is done; I'm going home." And with that she pressed a button on her belt, and disappeared into the green vortex that opened up behind her.

Those left just stated at the squashed remains of the former Slider.

"So," ventured Samuel, "where do we go from here?"

"We've still got to get that timer fixed," said Remmy. "Otherwise we're not going anywhere for another twenty-nine point seven years!"

Samuel reloaded his empty revolver, then twirled it back into the holster. "Well, I guess you'd better get started then!" He said with a sly grin.

-----------------------------------------

BritSlider sat back from the desk, satisfied now that his work here was done.

SS: What in sweet heaven have you done mah deah?

st: You killed Colin! With a meteor!!

Brit: I know. I just thought it was time to introduce a little tragedy into the proceedings.

HK: You know, Sarah's going to kill you when she sees what you've left her with!

Brit: I guess, but she doesn't get back for a few days yet; so that gives me a good head start!

And with that, BritSlider carefully placed the torch in it's special holder by the desk; and walked out of the cave. Anyone who observed his departure would have noticed him checking the skies for meteors before he left the safety of the cave; you just can't be too careful these days! :-)

Sarah: Alright! Alright! Just don't expect anything half decent.

-----

"But we don't know how!" returned Maggie, almost defiantly through her tears, but not removing the pressure where she was trying to save Quinn. "Only two of us would even have a chance of managing this. One of them just had a meteor dropped on them by the probability police, although I think it's beyond him anyway and the other is lying on this floor barely clinging to life!"

Samuel Buckett waved his gun in her direction and shouted like the madman he was: "I don't believe you! You're lying! You must be!"

In front of the gun jumped Remmy, desperate to play peacemaker here. "Look, man, neither of us are scientists. She's an ex-marine and I'm a singer. Neither of us would have a clue where to begin on something this advanced…"

"Hey!" interrupted Maggie, "I resent that!"

"It's true isn't it?"

"Well… yes, but… I still resent it!"

Remmy just rolled his eyes and continued, "…but if we can possibly get Quinn well enough to work on it, we might just be able to get off this world."

Suspiciously, Buckett eyed Rembrandt carefully. He wasn't sure he believed them, but he wasn't sure he wanted to be stuck here, where ever he was. Back home he had control, but after the freaky ride through that blue tunnel thing, it didn't look like he was anywhere near home. He'd come back after them for revenge, they'd destroyed what he had and he wanted revenge, but he didn't want to extract it where it meant nothing. One of them was already dead, he didn't understand who this 'Agent Laura' was, but he gathered she was not someone to mess with. He'd downed another of them, but it turned out he was the one he needed to keep alive. The dark-haired chick was gonna be the last to go, preferably he'd get her home and break her there. She was a little too feisty right now. He had no idea what a marine was, but at times she could make herself rather more than a nuisance. "Why should I believe you? You wrecked everything."

"Yeah… we're… er… sorry about that, but we had to do it," answered Remmy. "We always have to right what we think is wrong, nothing personal."

The outlaw's eyes narrowed as he glared.

"I assure you that if we can fix this timer, we'll take you back to the last one and let you stay there." What Remmy didn't voice was that if they timer was too far damaged, they might not be able to get back to that Western world, but he didn't think it would go down too well.

"Hmmm." Buckett pondered that for a while. What options did he have? None really. "Okay," he growled menacingly, "I'll play along for now, but this gun does not leave this hand."

Remmy spread out his hands, palms up. "Whatever you say, man." He was scared that this crazy psycho might shoot again, he was obviously quite easily capable of it.

Gradually, the rain ceased and Rembrandt ventured forth to see what he could find.

"Oi!" shouted Buckett, "We all stay together!"

Reluctantly, Remmy returned to the group. "I think I see a town out that way," he pointed in the direction of where he had been headed. "Our best bet is to go there and see what medical help they can give Quinn, or what timer parts they can supply."

Between them, Remmy and Maggie were forced to prop Quinn up, as well as stem the bleeding since Buckett insisted that he walked behind them so he could see them at all times. It wasn't easy for the Sliders, Quinn was a tall man and by no means was he particularly light, but they had to manage somehow. At least they discovered a pathway some while before they reached the town, although as they neared it looked closer to a village.

There was something strangely familiar about this place, both Remmy and Maggie noticed it, and even Quinn once he was able to pry his eyes open a little. Quinn concentrated all his efforts on trying not to be a burden, so he never followed through with the thought, but Rembrandt did. He wore the barriers down until finally he worked out why it was so familiar.

"This looks like Colin's world!" he exclaimed, and then winced as he remembered that Colin was now squashed under a huge meteor.

"What?" snarled their captor.

"The world Colin grew up on; it looked just like this!"

-----

Robin14334: And what do you call that, missy?

Sarah: I got stuck! I know it's kinda implausible and I didn't take it very far, but I got stuck! It was the best I could do!

MTwain: Just a sec, shouldn't you be on that other world for that skit of the TTrio's?

Sarah: Oh… yeah. Well, that was taking so long I gave up waiting and came back for a bit. Either that or I missed the rest.

Wrldjmpr: Is that a hint?

Sarah: No <nods head vigorously>

<the TTrio roll their eyes>

SL4ever: Is that rule saying that I have to be in every skit still in effect?

Slider142: Well, you are now so it doesn't matter.

Torch (voice of Sabrina Lloyd): Will you get on with it?

LovePigeon: Who pressed the button?

<no one admits to it>

SouthernSlider: Someone must have! The séance hasn't worked yet! Or has it…

<Chaser9 spots misswells sneaking away from the torch>

Chaser9: Aha!

Misswells: Well, I want to see where is goes!!

Sarah: Oh yeah! Here ya go, Tigger, have fun! If that's possible :-)

SS: You gonna finish it?
LS/st: No. That's TM's job.
SS: Oh. Right.

*******

Several hours later the group huddled in the outer offices of the town doctor. He was tall and thin with a shock of white hair. Aside from his constant need to blink because of the copious amounts of dust in the air he seemed capable. "Folks yer friend'll be jus fine."

"When can we see him?" Maggie imaptient as always asked.

"Soon. Soon." The man mumbled a few other things, but no one could understand them. "Son you wanna move that barrel now?"

Buckett lowered the gun. In many ways this world reminded him of his own. The group had already ascertained that there were none of their doubles alive around these parts. Buckett was still wrapping his mind around the daunting prospect of doubles--let alone Agent Laura.

***

On another world...

Mary and Dex surveyed the damage. The bodies of four federal marshalls and several of the Buckett gang littered the ground. "Now about this hole in the sky?" Dex looked at Mary.

"Strangest thing. Sucked all five of them through was what they said."

"That's just not possible. No one leaves before their story is written."

"I know Dex, but maybe they were just small fry.

********

"You can't do that." HK shouted.

LS: Ooooops.

LS/st~Peace and Love

Both women shrug their shoulders. st moves to the desk and begins to write.

~~~~~~~~~

No sooner had Buckett lowered the gun than the good Doctor sneezed. He startled the bewildered Buckett who shot the Doctor. Maggie gave a blood curdling scream worthy of a B movie queen and Remmy slashed at Buckett wildly with a scalpal (sp).

By the time Maggie quieted the Doctor and Buckett both lay in pools of blood. Neither man was yet dead, but they were obviously in excruciating pain.

***

As the rays of the new morning sun hit the flimsy hospital building Quinn hobbled into the main room. "You hurt your arm not your legs," Maggie spat.

"Thanks for sharing your firm grasp of the obvious." Quinn eased himself into a chair. "What's with the other two in there?" He motioned to the room housing Buckett and the Doctor who were both moaning quite loudly. "Can't you give them anything for the pain?"

"No. I'm afraid I'll give them too much and kill them."

"Where's the timer?"

"Good question Qball."

"Remmy!" Quinn wiced as Remmy went to hug him.

"Sorry man. Here's the timer." Rembrandt Brown laid the remote control device on a wooden table. A bullet had sliced through the bottom half of the device creating a perfect little hole.

"If I can patch this with some metal to conduct the current we should be fine. Do you still have the bullet?" Rembrandt shook his head.

"Wait a minute." Maggie reached for Buckett's gun--it was sticky from the pool of blood it had rested in all night. "How about this?" She pulled a bullet from the chamber and wiped the blood from it.

Quinn slipped the bullet in the hole and the display lit up. "One minute." Quinn exhaled the words. "Talk about cutting it close."

As the three viewed the vortex Quinn looked around for Colin. "Where's Colin?"

In unison Maggie and Remmy replied, "the bastards killed Colin."

~~~~~~~~~

Sarah: Uh. Tigger what about Buckett and the Doctor?
HK: You aren't just gonna leave them suffering like that are you?
st: I could kill them?
Sarah: I don't think you should kill them.
HK: I'm with Sarah.

~~~~~~~~~

An hour later the Doctor's assistant came into the hospital building. Gazing at the obscene amounts of blood she shuddered slightly. "Doctor?"

A soft moan was the only reply.

Opening the door she viewed the Doctor with blood soaked bandages and another man who sported a slashed arm and stomach.

Upon finishing with the clean up of the men and the building the Doctor's assistant poured herself a cup of tea and demanded answers from the two men.

Blinking furiously the Doctor mumbled something unintelligable.

The other, introduced as Buckett simply stated, "You wouldn't believe me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

st: Better?
HK: It's done.
Sarah: And it looks like all the loose ends are tied up.
st: Thanks.
HK: Thanks for ending it.
Sarah: At least it's over.