Marci had seen enough. She pulled out her cell phone and called her own dorm room. Amber answered.
"Hello?"
"It's me. Weird crap's going down in the theory building. Fourth floor. Liz is in trouble."
"I'm sorry to hear that, but there's nothing I can do." Amber hung up. Marci didn't know what to think.
"Pull!" Dr. Urant said. He and Liz gave one final tug against her arm. They fell backward, pulling free of the disc and bringing with it the person that held of Liz's arm. A dust-covered young woman rose up through the disc and then collapsed onto the stage floor.
Liz forced her arm out of the girl's grip. Clearly weakened, the girl remained prone on the stage floor. She wore a leather duster a few sizes too big for her, boots with rusted metal spurs, and a simple bowler hat. Her entire body, including her shoulder-length brown hair, was covered in reddish-brown dirt.
Dr. Urant took Liz backstage. The disk stopped glowing and humming with its grey light. The various sharkskin cells fell into their original place, sealing the gap created by the girl emerging through it.
The girl gathered her strength by taking a few deep breaths. She stood up, looking at everyone in the audience. Her eyes showed both confusion and anger.
Under her coat, the girl wore a button-down beige shirt, along with a pair of beat-up blue jeans. Some well-worn and scuffed cowboy boots completed the package.
The girl threw open her coat, revealing a pair of holsters at her hips. In a blink, she pulled out two pistols, the old-fashioned shiny metal kind.
"Is this the Temple?" she said. "Somebody talk."
Most of the students raised their hands, the instinctive movement of someone with a gun pointed at them. Marci raised her open palms as well, in the hopes that the strange girl would see she wasn't armed. Despite her fear of being shot, Marci couldn't help notice the girl's striking light brown eyes.
"You Temple sonsabitches are going to pay!"
Dr. Urant cautiously approached the girl. "Miss, there's no need for..."
The girl pointed the gun in her left hand toward the ceiling and fired. Everyone in the audience jumped tensed, and some of the girls in the crowd shrieked. The girl then kept both guns trained on the audience as Dr. Urant backed up.
"All right now," she said. "Where am I? Is this the Temple?"
No one answered, so Marci took the initiative. "No."
"What?" The girl aimed her right gun right at Marci.
"This isn't a temple. It's a school. Mirai Academy."
The girl paused. Her eyes flowed over the crowd as confusion was replaced with cold concentration. She also took short glances at the machinery on the stage and the lights above her.
"I ain't where I was."
On her knees, Liz was still crying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Shaddup!" the girl said. "Nobody move. I'm leaving."
Keeping both guns aimed on the audience, the girl carefully stepped off the stage and walked up the right aisle toward the exit. Marci again noticed the girl's eyes as they surveyed the crowd, examining each face, carefully scanning for any sense of danger of aggression from anyone in the room.
Just as the girl reached to her side to press against the exit, Marci heard a familiar rush of wind from outside.
The entire room shook for a moment. Debris fell onto the stage in a cloud of dust, leaving a shaft of light from outside flowing down onto the stage.
Future Girl slowly floated downward, illuminated by the sunlight from outside. Marci almost shouted "Amber!" but she knew better. Marci could almost feel her fellow students relaxing around her, as they figured Future Girl would save them.
"Drop the guns," Future Girl said.
The girl fired two shots at Future Girl. Marci and the rest of the students ducked down upon hearing the loud shots boom across the amphitheater. When she looked up, Marci saw Future Girl holding her fist in front of her. She opened her hand and two bullets clattered to the stage floor.
"There's no need for that," Future Girl said.
The stranger ran out the exit door. In a pink and blond blur, Future Girl blasted through the air and into the exit after her.
From outside the room, in the theoretical building lab, Marci heard another gunshot.
"I have to see what's going on," she said to Wendall, but more to herself.Marci stumbled over the people in her row, stepping on several toes, and thenran for the exit. She heard Dr. Urant crying for her to stay in her seat, butshe darted forward anyway. Marci just had to see Amber in action again.
# # # #
Next: None of your beeswax.