<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #8040BF">John Henrick</span></span></div><br/><br/>John felt like he was falling through endless empty space. Then he hit the ground hard with a loud thwack. Slowly, he tried to get up, but his limbs wouldn't listen to him. His thoughts were muddles and he was trying to make himself think through the strange fog that had settled in his mind. He could taste his own fear in his mouth and the taste of metal. He couldn't even form words in his head to ask himself what had happened. What had he just seen?<br/><br/>Moments later, or maybe hours later, a woman screamed. The sound pierced through him and he would have cringed away if he could move. She was speaking in French, but it sounded accented, foreign.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry, I don't know...I can't speak....Oh my gosh, who did this...Someone please help! It's okay sweetie the man's just resting."<br/><br/>John thought it odd how her voice managed to change pitch so effortlessly. And sure, he was just taking a nice nap on the floor in...the thought couldn't come to him. He couldn't remember where he was or why he was there.<br/><br/>"I already called, they're on their way," Another woman's voice said.<br/><br/>"What do you think happened?" A man's voice. Apparently more people had joined the party since he was last able to pay attention.<br/><br/>He could hear French being thrown around, people wondering what had happened to him, if he was probably a drunk or, "maybe he was trying to steal the paintings."<br/><br/>Paintings. The word seemed to snap something inside him back into place and he screamed. The entire crowed screamed too and fell back, some tripping over the one behind them.<br/><br/>John looked around, faces were staring at him in shock.<br/><br/>"Trust me," John said, "your day is going much better than mine."<br/><br/>He saw blood on the floor and realized he had blood in his mouth, that explained the metal taste. A museum worker helped him up, speaking in French and suggesting that he wait for an ambulance. John wanted to refuse, but when the light headed feeling hit him, he decided he should probably listen.<br/><br/>As they waited, he looked over at the thing that had caused all this. John had to fight down anger and panic. David was gone. He failed. The man with the bowler hat wasn't in the painting anymore.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;"><span style="color: #00BFFF">David</span></span></div><br/><br/>He woke up in the midst of a soft red light blinking and the sounds of sirens going off. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. Everything still felt like a dream. The siren kept sounding off. It wasn't a completely irritating sound oddly enough, but it was a bit loud. He walked over to the door and the cold briefly shocked him before he remembered that the door was made of ice. He grabbed the key from around his neck and blew into it. The ice turned to vapor and he walked through. It solidified behind him.<br/><br/>He looked up and own the hall. Red siren lights were flashing up and down the hall, evenly spaced out some distance apart. He looked at the door in front of him. The door belonged to Tessa's room.<br/><br/>What in the world? David clearly remembered that her room was really far away from his. It could just be another copy of the door, but with the weirdness of this place, he doubted that was the case. To the left, in the distance, he could see the lights of the dining room they had been in the night before. To the right, he could see the entry way. He made his way to the dining room but no one was there. He wondered what Tessa thought about the sirens.<br/><br/>"Door two million seven thousand, six hundred and seven." A voice, female, but different from Echo, sounded out of what were probably hidden speakers. "Please make your way to the Heart." There was a pause and David wondered what she meant by, The Heart.<br/><br/>There were a few breakfast items on the dining table. He grabbed a slice of buttered toast and took a bite. He should probably try to find this Heart place, but where was he supposed to start looking?<br/><br/>"Found him," Echo's voice came out fierce and determined. "Recalculating door exit parameters." She sounded urgent. "David, Tessa, please meet in the dining hall as quickly as possible."<br/><br/>A few moments later, Tessa walked into the dining room. He smiled, "There's breakfast if you want something."<br/><br/>Someone cleared his throat behind him and David turned to see the caretaker holding some fresh clothes.<br/><br/>"Monsieur," he said calmly, "you might need better attire if you're going to travel across space-time to save the universe."<br/><br/>"What?" David asked, then looked down to realize that he was in his boxers. His eyes widened and he finished the rest of the toast, grabbed the clothes and quickly put them on. He blushed at Tessa and then changed the subject.<br/><br/>"What's going on?"<br/><br/>Echo's voice chimed in, "I have detected the location of a demon who is about to acquire the Law of Enlockment. Up until now, he has had free reign to capture the Laws. It stops now! David, Tessa, your task is to prevent him from stealing the Law from his safe place in Krackmora Castle. He is safely placed as one of the King's servants."<br/><br/>"Hold on, this is moving kind of fast," David said, "what is the Law of Enlockment?"<br/><br/>"The Law of Enlockment is one of the Eight Laws of the Lesser Seal. The Lesser Seal holds some very dangerous demons. In addition, the Law prohibits entry into the Hollow World, which holds the cage housing the Lesser Demons."<br/><br/>"Wait what are..."<br/><br/>"I'm sorry David, but I don't have time to explain everything to you," Echo said, the urgency in her voice was starting to worry David.<br/><br/>"What are we supposed to do?" David asked, in a very serious tone. Up to now, it had all just been weird talk, but they were talking about action now.<br/><br/>"I'll explain on the way," The Caretaker said.<br/><br/>"On our way to where?" David asked - when the entire room suddenly starting moving up. "Holy crap!" David almost fell al over if not for the chair he used to steady him. Suddenly, the table itself was retracting down into the floor. In it's place, a large globe of soft glowing light rose. It was large, like something you might see at a museum. It was taller than they were. The entire room seemed to shift into what looked to David to resemble an observatory. The walls seemed to melt away and the cosmos replaced them. It was strange, feeling like they were traveling through space. David felt like he might throw up when the room suddenly stopped.<br/><br/>"Floor Two Million." The other voice said. She must be the Switchboard, David decided.<br/><br/>A door opened up onto a hallway and David could feel heat emanating from it. He could see doors lining either side of the hall. Each looked like they had a different combination of fire and other theme.<br/><br/>"Notes, there will be lava. Good luck." The Switchboard announced.<br/><br/>"You've got to be kidding." David said.<br/><br/>The Caretaker stood before them with a grim determination. "This will be your first mission. It will be dangerous, but you must always remember that you have a destiny unlike any other. You have a strength within you that we have not seen in thousands of years. Beyond these doors, is the door to the world you must go into. I will hand you a book with the most important information you require." He gave the book to Tessa. "Your weapons will appear beside you. They are not ordinary items, they will have special properties of their own, which the book will explain. Here is a sack with food and other essentials." This, he gave to David. The sack, was actually a tiny cloth bag that could fit in his pocket. David shrugged and put it away in his jeans.<br/><br/>David looked at Tessa, "I don't know if I can handle this," he said.<br/><br/>The moment was frozen for a short time, before the Caretaker finally said, "Time to go."