Steam-Punks: Chapter 5: Going Beyond

“Journal Entry: December 3rd 1998

“In my travels, I have never come across such an oddity as the Ravine Craters! These craters held the lost coastal town of Ravine which mysteriously disappeared during a snowstorm in 1996. The craters are now a roadside attraction, attracting hundreds of visitors each year”.

“A most curious thing is that the government never did anything to find out what happened. Odd considering that the military used the factory to produce weapons. Congress refuses to send anyone to investigate, even after I showed reports of mysterious waves of energy pulsing from the northern crater”.

“Each test I run comes out differently than it did before. Just today I ran a radioactivity test and the results said it was 1.7%. But just the other day it said it was 2.4%. All I truly know is that I found this odd cipher of some sort scribbled in my book when I wasn’t looking. Maybe if I could crack that code, I could get more information”.

……………………………………………………………………

Chase looked over the page one last time. Nothing on the page made sense. Normally the book would have had some cipher wheel to break the code, but today it didn’t.

“What the hell does any of this stuff mean?” he asked himself for the tenth time.

He lay back on his bed. He was alone for the day; the others had gone out for supplies in the city down the road.

Chase would have gone, but he was tired from lack of sleep. He had been having nightmares. Nightmares that he couldn’t explain.

“Goddamn, I need some sleep” Chase pulled a pillow from the foot of his bed and threw it behind his head. As he did, a piece of paper fell from underneath the pillow.

Chase picked up the paper. A drawing of a cipher wheel with strange symbols in the sections was sketched on it. Chase noticed that the symbols matched the symbols in the book.

Chase went to work deciphering the code. As he did, he noticed that he felt funny.

He felt tired and growing cold. His body felt like a rock, a big one too. Chase ignored it, probably the lack of sleep doing this.

Finally, he finished the cipher. What it said was hard to describe. It looked like something written by ancient Aztecs or something. However, Chase managed to read it.

As soon as he did, something happened. Chase began shivering and coughing. It started like a normal cough, and then it became a hard one.

Everything in the room seemed like it was stretching away. Lights switched from brighter and duller. White blotches appeared in the corners of Chase’s eyes.

What Chase couldn’t see was that his eyes were rolling back into his head. But he could still see everything.

Chase heard sounds. Sounds that were distant, but grew closer. They sounded like church bells, gunshots and scrap metal being thrown from a distance.

Finally, Chase passed out. The white blotches became deep black blotches. The sounds overtook his sense of hearing. But Chase couldn’t see or hear them anymore.

……………………………………………………………………

Chase woke up on the floor. Rather than the soft carpet of his room, he felt like he was on a bed of cold steel.

“Jesus…” Chase got up slowly. He looked around. He seemed to be in a room of some sort. There was a desk, some wooden crates and a small control panel of buttons and switches on the wall.

“Where the hell am I?” Chase walked over to the desk. The desk was covered in papers. Some were letters to a place called O.C.M. Others were forms and notes about fixing machines.

One large piece of paper had a drawing of a tunnel filled with pipes, tanks and gears. In the tunnel, hanging from hooks, were large objects that Chase couldn’t make out. On the floor were grates and tubes that seemed to travel away to other parts of the tunnel. Words on the bottom said “BLEEDING LINE”.

Chase saw a lantern on the right corner of the desk. Chase picked it up and turned it on.

With more light in the room, Chase could see the walls were glass pipes and the ceiling was made of pistons.

Chase saw a door beside the control panel. He walked out onto a balcony, overlooking a large chamber.

As Chase walked down the steps, something clicked in his mind. He had seen this place before in his nightmares.

“Oh, this can’t be happening” Chase reached the bottom and began looking for an exit. He flashed the lantern around him.

He saw huge machines all lined up together. Huge factory boilers lined the opposite wall. Large glowing cylinders stood menacingly in the distance.

Stairs and catwalks lined the chamber, leading to rooms and booths. Freight hooks, holding crates and containers, cast strange shadows on the glass windows. The windows were barred and covered with tarps.

“Hello?” Chase said into the darkness, hoping for someone to answer. As he walked, he stepped into a pool of liquid. He looked down and saw what he had stepped in.

It was a huge stream of blood. It was pouring from a tipped canister. Blood was covering the machines, the floor and everything else.

Before Chase could react, he heard something roar in the distance. There was a deep rumble and the machines began to move. Massive gears-shaped shadows rotated around and around on the floor. Steam hissing from escaped pipes echoed among the sound of machines.

“Hey! Anyone out there?!” Chase screamed into the machine room’s darkness.

Then, Chase saw a light flashing in front of him. Maybe there was an exit there. Chase ran up to it. As he did, the sounds of gunshots and bells filled his ears again.’

In one brilliant flash of light, Chase disappeared, leaving the bloody mess of a factory alone.

……………………………………………………………………

The lights woke Chase up. The smell of smoke and ash burned his nose and lungs. Coughing, Chase got up.

It was different now from last time. He was on the steps of a small wooden house that was connected to a lighthouse. Maybe there was someone inside.

Picking up the lantern he still had with him, Chase knocked on the door.
There was no answer. Instead, the door creaked open, letting a cloud of dust out.

Inside it looked a disaster zone. The boiler on the wall was ripped out and thrown on the floor. Tables and chairs were broken, plates were thrown out of cabinets and the carpet was burned black.

Chase kept walking. He came into another room that was much larger than the first one.

A series of computer-like devices were on a desk, flashing brightly. Papers covered in random numbers were scattered on the floor. Radars seemed to be flashing and wires, thick and thin, were connected to all computers.

“Hey. Anyone here?” Chase saw cold cups of coffee on a table. Surrounding them were playing cards, croissants and books. It was almost like people were living here, but they just…left.

Something above Chase made the room shutter. Chase saw a door on the far side of the room. Behind them was a flight of wooden steps that led up to the lens room. Chase quickly ran up.
The lens room was empty, save for the glowing object in the center.

It was a large color-changing mass. Electric bolts cracked out and zapped the floor. The background was shimmering and shifting behind it. The mass made the room nice and warm and it seemed to make Chase tired.

Chase shined the light from the lantern onto the mass. It zapped back into a small floating orb. Removing the lantern, the mass grew back.

“What the hell is going on here?” Chase went back down and shuffled out of the lighthouse.

Mist had fallen now and everything was grey. No one was around. Chase walked into the mist and began shinning his lantern up and down.

He saw something in the distance. They were misshapen and black smoke was pouring out of them.

As Chase got closer, he saw houses burning and crumbling. Graffiti was scrawled over them. The street was filled with rubble.

Then, a house began to glow and then disappeared. It returned a moment later, this time very different.

The house was completely repaired. It seemed like it was recently built. Flowers were planted in pots. Candles were lit in the windows. The house looked in better condition than it was before.

There was another flash of light and the house turned back to its ruined self. Chase walked over and touched the burning porch.

Nothing changed. The house stayed the same. Chase quickly moved away from the house.

“Man, this place is getting weirder and weirder”.

Chase began walking down the street. The lantern showed the streets were split open and filled with machines and rubble. Whatever happened here must have been bad.

Then, Chase saw a small courtyard in the center of the street. It was the town square. It didn’t look that badly damaged. The park was littered with scrap and rubble.

As soon as Chase stepped into the courtyard, he noticed something. There seemed to be a large indent in the ground like it was being pulled down.

Chase walked over onto the ground, feeling it wobble beneath him. It was almost like the ground was fake, a plastic covering.

Then, the ground sagged and Chase’s boots hit something metal beneath it. Chase gave the grass a kick and it rolled out away from him, like he was kicking a large roll of carpet out.

There was a metal door just hidden out of sight. It had two metal bars on it, locking it shut.

Chase stomped on the door, hoping for someone to answer. “Anyone in there? Hello?”

Then, the door’s bars slid away and the door opened. A hand reached out and grabbed Chase’s pants leg.

In an instant, Chase was dragged down into the hole. Quietly, the door slid back into place and the ground moved back over it.

……………………………………………………………………

The first thing Chase saw was a crossbow aimed at his head. Behind it was a woman with a dagger in the other.

“Holy shit…” Chase stammered out, eyes focused on the bow aimed to his skull.

Then, a voice rang out from somewhere in the distance. It was a man’s voice.

“Hey! Andrea, he’s just a kid! Let him go” Upon hearing those words, the woman lowered the crossbow.

A man stepped out from the shadows. He had rough stubble on his face, surrounding his brown eyes. He wore a factory worker’s uniform and was carrying a wrench in one hand and a bottle of rum in the other.

The woman looked sheepishly over at the man. “Sorry about that. You know how the Kings are trying to recruit children, David”.

“Andrea, not every boy and girl are working with those rich bastards” David looked over at Chase and helped him up.

“Sorry about that. Andrea’s just a little too jumpy when it comes to surprise guests. She’s a sweetheart, believe me”.

Chase brushed himself off and glanced around. “Where am I exactly?”

David looked over his shoulder. “Come on, we’ll talk about it over some lunch. You must be starving from what’s going on outside”.

……………………………………………………………………

Andrea kicked the rusty old furnace, watching the hot coals glow with every strike. David and Chase sat at a nearby table, talking.

“So where am I?” Chase said, drinking from the cup of cocoa he had made.

“Ravine. Or what’s used to be Ravine” David said, pouring rum into his cocoa.

“What do you mean?”

“You see, Ravine was originally in one fixed spot in the universe. Something the military was working on must have went haywire and somehow put us in one dimension while we were in this dimension. This trapped us between those two dimensions, leaving us sealed away from everyone else in the world”.

“So, what else happened here?”

“After a few months, two groups formed. The Engine Kings and the Comuni Fighters. The Kings control a huge engine that used to be in the factory downtown. They want to use to use that engine to power their machines which power the electricity and water supplies. As long as we stay here, they will try and tax us and do all sorts of stuff like that”.

“And those Fighter guys?”

“They’re made up of the workers, the middle-class and all those guys. They want to rebel against the Kings and use the engine to get home”.

“OK, but what would they need with an engine?”

David looked at Chase from his hot chocolate. “I have been working on a machine. A machine that could open a small tear in the time-space continuum that we could use to bring us home. I need the engine to power it up”.

Chase watched as Andrea walked over to the table with what seemed to be a plate of hot glazed ham.

“Uh, I’m starving. Let’s eat” Chase pulled a strip of ham off of the pile and shoved it into his mouth. As soon as he did, he gagged.

“Bleh! What is this stuff?”

“A pound of expired ham” Andrea said. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to the taste”.

Chase sighed and reached for some salt. As he did, his satchel fell open and everything inside fell out.

David leaned forward and handed Chase his revolver. Then, he saw the book. He picked it up and stared at it.

“Chase, how long did you have this?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe a couple months. Why?” Chase was nervous. Everyone he met wanted V to fuel some sick plan of theirs.

“Chase, do you know how powerful this book is?”

“Yeah. Want to see?” Chase took the book and opened up to a page he never read before. He read the cipher and waited for something to happen.

A fine white sheen appeared on his hand. Small clear icicles appeared on his fingertips. Ice grew up and around his limbs. Sprinkles of snow fell from his skin. Then, his body went back to normal.

“Okay” David said. “Try something”

Chase nodded and focused on his arm. A small snowball appeared in his hand. Chase threw it onto the ground.
As soon as the snowball hit the ground, the ground froze over in a sheet of ice. David looked at the ground and back at Chase.

“That’s nice. A good defense. Now do you have anything stronger?”

Chase thought for a minute. Then, he had an idea. He read the “Shock Bolt” power. In a moment, his arm flashed with electric energy.

Rather than release a bolt of electric energy, he began forming an electric ball in his hands. The ball began to grow and release bursts of electricity.

Chase launched the ball away from him. The electric orb hit the ground and exploded. A wave of electric energy burst out, briefly killing the lights.

“Alright” David smiled and put his hand on Chase’s shoulder. “You’re going to be a great help”.

………………………………………………………………........
David pulled the levers and turned the valves around him. Steam hissed from pressure release pipes, gauges flipped back and forth between readings and chains rattled and shook.

The trio was in the Machine Room of the bunker. David was starting some generators to start the machine he had. On the other side of the room, Andrea was showing Chase her stretching ability.

“Okay, hold on” Andrea grabbed her mouth and pulled it down, stretching it. Chase stared in confusion and amazement.

“Wow! How can you do that?”

“The dimensional jump was pretty good to me” Andrea said, releasing her mouth. “And I’m sorry about almost shooting you back there”.

“Water under the bridge” Chase said. “But what am I doing here?”

“I need some help starting up the Trans-Dimensional Generators” David said, sitting on a large plush chair he had salvaged.

He pressed a few buttons on the control panel. The generators began starting up. The sound of whining alarms and crashing metal filled the room.

Then, something happened. There was a loud crash and the room began to shake. Everything slowly ground to a halt.

“What the hell was that?” Andrea said, looking for any damage.

“Goddamn Control Rods snapped” David kicked the panel in anger.  “Only spares are in the factory downtown”

“Well, what are we going to do?”

David looked over at Chase and smiled. “Hey Chase, do you want to help me with something?”

“Sure, what do you want?”

“Go to the factory and pick up some of these pieces” David handed Chase a slip of paper.

“Why do I have to go?”

“You, being outside of this place, can bypass the dimensional barriers. It’s only a 10 minute drive if you take the Land-Speeder”

David walked over to a garage door built into the wall and opened it. There was a small speeder in the little room.

It had huge caterpillar tracks on its end and two massive double engines on the sides. A pair of metal blades stuck out to the front.

David looked at Chase and threw him a pair of keys. He also gave him a small box.

“When you get to the factory, give this to the guy in the basement”.

Chase nodded and walked over to the speeder. He put the key in the ignition and heard the speeder roar to life.

As the door to the ramp up to the surface opened, Chase heard David shout something to him.

“Remember, its past curfew! So be careful!”

Chase gave a small nod and sped out into the misty town of Ravine, uncertain and afraid.

……………………………………………………………………

It was going well as Chase drove down the road. It was hard though as rubble was blocking the roadway most of the time.

“What did he mean by curfew?” Chase said as he swerved around some metal.
The answer came soon enough. As Chase neared the factory plaza, he saw a group of soldiers driving down the road. One was on the roof, scoping out for enemies.

“Hey!” The soldier said, pointing at Chase. The truck revved forward and drove over to Chase.

Chase, using his lantern as a headlight, saw the words “ENGINE KINGS MILITA” scrawled on the side.

“Oh shit” Chase gunned the engine and drove as fast as he could away from the truck.

Then, he remembered something. He took out V and quickly read the new “Frozen Fist” code. In an instant, a ball of snow and ice was in Chase’s hand.

Chase threw the ball behind him, freezing the road in a thick sheet of black ice. The truck skidded as soon as it hit the ice patch.

The truck slid down the road until it slammed into the side of a building. With the threat briefly stopped, Chase had time to hide.

He saw an alleyway down in front. He drove the speeder inside and shut off the lantern. There was a building beside the alley.

Chase ran inside as fast he could, praying there weren’t any more soldiers.

The building was a church. The stained glass windows were shattered, pews were turned to splinters and the organ was nothing more than keys and strings.

Chase walked down the aisle, looking everywhere in case of surprises.

“Hello Chase”

Chase grabbed his revolver and fired. The bullet missed the nun, who was standing behind him. It was a nun Chase knew all too well.
“Oh, it’s you. How did you find me here?”

Helena smiled. “I just had a hunch”

She pulled a piece of paper from a pocket hidden on her clothes. She carefully unfolded it and smoothed it out.

Helena looked at Chase and began to read it.

……………………………………………………………………

“Dear Angelo”

“I have overheard a predicament you have had involving disposing your “products of business”. Now, I have no reasonable idea on how such a powerful mafia group such as yours could have such trouble not being detected from authorities, but that matter is not of my business”.

“I have written this to offer you an opportunity to solve this problem. Take the “products” to the cavern mouth on the outside of the city and dump it into the hole. I will take care of the rest. But, I would want some payment for this. Why? If you don’t, I’ll alert the authorities on that hideout of yours at the docks. I’ll accept about $1,000 dollars and if you do this, I’ll keep your enemies off your trail”.

“Chase. D. Shustack”

……………………………………………………………………

“What the hell? I never wrote that!”

Helena smiled and patted the hair on Chase’s head. “Well, this is your handwriting, isn’t it?”

She smiled and looked out the broken window. “Your friends are a big help to us. They will keep things safe. For now”

“What?”

“Something’s coming, Chase. Something that will destroy everything you know and love.  You and your friends are the sole protectors keeping all that from coming happening”.

“You’re crazy”.

“Chase, I’m your friend. I will protect you when the time turns to that. My friends and I have been keeping those government agents off of your trail, so a little thank you is in order, at least”.

Chase sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Fine. Thanks for that. Now, I have to get going”.

Helena smiled. “I believe I can help you with that”

She put her hand on Chase’s head and began shouting a strange chant. A glowing light filled the room and Chase felt himself going into a trance.

As he saw everything fade away, he heard Helena talking.

“Just remember I’m sorry for everything that happened to you. Just know I’m sorry”.

……………………………………………………………………

“Get up, kid. Come on, get up”

Chase felt someone shaking him awake. A man, clearly Latino or Mexican in nature, was shaking him by his shoulders.

“Okay! I’m up! I’m up!”

The man nodded and sat down on a chair. “You came up here and passed out at the door. I took you in and tried waking you up”.

“Where am I”

“The Ravine Factory” the man said. “My name is Juan Ramirez, only bastard to be alive in here. Why are you here?”

“This man named David sent me here to pick up some Control Rods or something”.

“David? David Burrows?”

“Yes. You know him?”

“He was my friend. I thought he died a few months back” Juan got up and began looking through some crates. “What does he need? Control Rods?”

He looked through some crates for a few moments and looked back at Chase. “Don’t have any. Sorry”.

Then, the two noticed something odd about a crate. It was glowing and shimmering. In a flash of light, it disappeared.

It returned a moment later, full of Control Rods. Juan quickly grabbed some, right before the crate disappeared and returned empty.

“What was that?”

“That, my man, was a reality shift. It’s when one thing in another reality comes here. Like that crate. Here it was empty, but in that other reality, it’s full”.

Chase put the pieces in his satchel. Then he remembered the box he had put the satchel.

“Oh, David wanted me to give this to you” Chase took out the box and gave it to Juan.

Juan opened it. The box was a small sketch pad, along with a few pencils. A note attached to it said “Something to keep you occupied”.

“That’s it? He wanted me to give you a present. I guess he thinks I’m Santa or something”.

Juan smiled and put the pad on the desk. He looked over at Chase and smiled.
“You better go. It’s getting bad out there and…”

“BANG!”

A huge crash rocked the factory. A smell of smoke followed after. Juan looked up at the roof.

“Shit, they found us”

Chase knew right off the bat it was the Kings. They must have been leading an attack on the factory.

Juan opened a door hidden behind some crates, Chase following closely. They ran up some steps up into the loading docks.

Above them, airships with rocket turrets were attacking the factory. Soldiers were storming the factory, stealing as much machinery as they could.

Chase saw the Land-Speeder in front of him. He motioned over to Juan.
“If we can get to that speeder, I’ll take us out of here” Chase opened V to the “Shifter” cipher. As soon as he read it, his arm became a liquid black mass.

Then, charging it, he formed a black ball and threw it near a group of Kings. The ball did not do anything, but sit there.

“What the hell was that?” Juan whispered.

“Hell if I know” Chase said. “Let’s make a break for it”.

The two ran as fast they could onto the speeder. A King saw them.

“Hey! That’s Corporal Ramirez! Get him!”

The group of soldiers ran forward. As they passed the black ball, a series of tendrils burst out and swept them into the air.

“Come on, kid” Juan said arming his large metal golden gloves. “Gun the damn engine”
Chase revved the engine and the speeder speed forward. He drove the speeder to the edge of the island. Rather than fall off, there was a bright flash of light.

The next thing they knew, they were traveling along the factory plaza road.

“What was all that back there?”

“I’ll tell you later. First, we have to find David”.

……………………………………………………………………

The city was covered in soldiers. But not enemy soldiers. It was the Fighters. They had taken over the large chunk of Ravine while the Kings were destroying the factory.

Chase and Juan came to a checkpoint. The man at the booth saw Juan.

“Corporal! Thank God you made it out of there. David and his girl are waiting for you at the hideout”.

The gate opened and the speeder went on. They reached the bunker at the square and climbed down into the tunnels.

David and Andrea were in the armory room. A man and several soldiers were talking to them.

“Come on, Dave!” the man bellowed. “Just give us some supplies!”

“Listen, I don’t want anything to do with this whole bloody war. I’ll give you some ammo and food, but that’s it”.

David gave the man some crates of food and ammo. The men nodded and walked out past Chase and Juan.

“Hey, there you are” David said. “Surprised you made out of the factory before they attacked”.

“Well, we got out of there fast enough” Juan said. “Now what do we do?”

“First thing we do is start the machine again” David took the parts from Chase and went back to the Machine Room.

Andrea looked at the two and smiled. “You know, I’m not one to do this, but…”

She pulled the two into a massive hug. She then quickly let them go and ran off after David.

“Well…uh…that was weird”.

……………………………………………………………………

The generators began humming and clanking actively once again. David fussed around the control panel mumbling stuff under his breath.

Chase looked around as he sat alone on an empty crate. He wondered how the others were doing. Maybe they were looking for him.

“Hey, Chase” Andrea said, holding a drink of alcoholic drink. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I just…miss my friends”

“Well, it’ll be alright. As soon as we start this thing, you’ll go home and find your friends”.

Then, there was the sound of machines roaring into activity.  David looked back at them worried.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“That’s not our machines. I think something is trying to come down”.

Suddenly, two huge drills crashed through the roof. The drills turned back and let a flow of soldiers come in.

Juan, on instinct, punched the ground with his golden gloves. A shockwave sent soldiers flying up into the air.

“Come on. We have to get out of here!”

The group ran up into the streets. The whole city was being attacked. Soldiers on different sides were shooting wildly. Fires roared through the city. Airships crashed to the ground, exploding in flames.

“Andrea! Get Chase out of here! Get him to the lighthouse!” David screamed, firing his shotgun into a crowd of soldiers.

Andrea and Juan looked at each other and nodded. Through the mist, they saw the color-changing lights from the lighthouse.

It took a bit, but the trio was finally at the lighthouse. Chase could feel the extreme heat from inside.
As the team got inside, they saw the machines in the other room activating themselves and shaking wildly.

“Alright, Chase. Get inside the lens room and hold on. We’ll be here working on the machines”

“But what about you guys! You can come with me!”

Andrea looked at Chase. “I have to stay here and help David and Juan. Don’t worry about us”.

She then turned Chase around and pushed him up the stairs. He ran up into the lens room.

The mass was glowing brighter and brighter. Juan and Andrea were working on the machines keeping the portal open.

Then, the portal burst open. Chase looked inside and then downstairs.

“Hey! Thanks for all the help! I’ll try and be back here!”
With that, he walked into the portal. Everything went white and all one could see was Chase’s silhouette walking against the white.

……………………………………………………………………

Chase woke up on his bed. He looked around. Sunlight was pouring out from beneath the crack on the door.

He opened the door and saw the group eating breakfast. Nikko looked up from his donut and gave a chuckle.

“Hey, he’s finally up”

“How…how…how long was I out?”

“Today’s Thursday”

“Huh” Chase sat down. He felt upset for some reason. He wanted to tell his friends about what he had seen, what he had done and what he had learned.
“Oh hey” Jaye said, looking over a map. “We’re by the Ravine Craters. I heard that place is popular. We could go see that”.

Chase smiled and said nothing. He had seen enough of Ravine for a few days. And he wanted to help them.

……………………………………………………………………

Juan sat on the bench at the ruined bus stop. He was tired. The whole day was one big mess.

“Hey Juan”

Juan looked back. David and Andrea were there, holding a bottle of soda.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“Well, it’ll take a few weeks to fix the machines, but we’ll be good”.

Juan took a drink of the soda. He saw several houses beginning to reality jump.

The houses disappeared. They came back standing bright and new. Cars lined the streets, looking factory fresh. The smell of furnace smoke filled the air.

“Do you think” Juan said. “That the other Ravine is just us. Where we didn’t go crazy and try to kill each other?”

“God only knows” David said, putting his legs up on a fallen trash can. “God only knows”

The three friends talked about things. A lot of things. Maybe they talked about what to do next. Maybe they told jokes or stories.

As they talked, the cold mist seemed to grow a little less dense. And with that, Ravine went silent again.