The Continuum Worlds Forum

Dust covered everything.
Plastic wrapping covered tables and chairs, as well as the barstools and the piano, protecting them from the thick layers of dust that had accumulated over the years.
First order of business...The fire place.
Finding a broom, he quickly swept out the dust and then stood there...looking. While the fireplace itself was ready for a fire, the flue was probably clogged with dust that would make starting a fire somewhat...unhealthy.
For a long moment he gazed at the fireplace and then contemplated his own hands. Did he still have any of the old energy? Could he call it up now?
At first there was nothing...no tingling...nothing. Then, slowly, as if in disbelief that it was being called forth after such a long time, a feeble glow surrounded the fingers of one hand. It would be enough.
Crouching down he clambered into the fireplace, after making sure the flue was open, and pointed his glowing hand straight up.
It took a bit more concentration and a lot of grimacing, but finally a thin tendril of energy shot forth.
Of course the result could have been predicted. The energy cleared out the dust, to be sure...but that dust had to have some where to go and it did...straight down...into his face!
Sputtering and coughing, he scrambled out of the fireplace, wiping his face (and smearing the dust) and clearing his eyes, he glared at the dust that now covered his carefully cleaned fireplace...the dust that had not ended up on him, that is.
Using the broom he once again swept it out and then, purposely ignoring the dust covered empty bottles of beer on the bar, made his way back to the rear of the Cafe, stepping through the backdoor to where they had once kept the firewood for the fireplace when it wasn't buring with mystical green energy. Gathering an armload, he return to the fireplace, and after using a knife to shave some kindling, he quickly had a respectable fire going.
He closed the protective gate that prevented sparks from flying out into the room and then turned his attention to the one place that had been his favorite perch in years gone by.
He moved to the piano and working carefully to avoid sending clouds of dust into the air, peeled back the plastic covering the stool and the keyboard and took a seat.
At first, he simply looked at the keys and then tried plinking a few and smiled to see that, even after all this time, it was still in tune. He hesitated and then smiled....within moments he was well into a rendition of "I like that old time Rock and Roll"!

From outside, the subtle chords of "Smoke on the Water" came barrelling in!

Clay heard the service door to the Cafe open. He heard so very familiar voices entering from the back.

"Ella?" Jake's voice carried, "are you going to open the bar on the house for this one?"

"You bet, Jake!" Clay heard Ella's chipper elfin voice approach. "Just give me a couple of seconds to wash up and then I'll head in."

"We beat it!" Hipkarma exclaimed, "We solved KOVID-13 before it could get off of New Krypton in Clay's MVP-1 probability!" Then Clay heard a full-throated roar, the Amazon yelling triumph, "Woo Hoo!" He heard a door open...more like being ripped off the hinges.

"I never thought that would take so long," Linda Danvers chirped from the back of the Hall. "Now all we need to do is to detune the piano, find Clay, and reopen the Cafe!"

"So glad Stee has the distribution so well in hand!" Ella exclaimed before her tone changed. "What's all this dust doing here? How long have we been gone?"

"Longer than we thought, this time," Hipkarma replied. "I wonder if we were time-displaced? Poor Clay, he must be worried!"

"Now the cell phone finally works," Jake groused before exclaiming. "Hey gang! We've lost years!"

Clay felt wind in the Cafe as windows opened and closed; the elf was blowing dust out of the bedrooms.

He watched with amusement as Jake walked in to the upper gallery.

"Guys!" Jake called back as he glanced down at Clay. "I found him! He's looking a bit hungry and... I'll call for pizza. Kind of goes against my grain, but I'm hungry, too!"

"Clay?" The elf peeked out. "How long have you been here?"

"Not long," Clay offered. "I'm a bit thirsty, though."

"More than a bit dusty, too," the elf pinched her nose in jest. Then the beam that held the front door closed lifted out of the braces and opened on its own. And with a burst of wind, the dust that remained in the Cafe exited the front door into the mid-day sun.

Clay shook his head, welcomeing his friends as they reclaimed their familiar perches: the elf and Linda at the bar, Jake checking the supplies and calling in an order, Hipkarma reacting with fury when she witnessed the effects of time on her kitchen.

Jake stepped in with an oddly shaped keg of Beer.

"Straight from New Krypton, courtesy of Barr-El," he quipped as he tapped and poured beer from the keg into the clean glasses that Linda scavenged. "Welcome home, Old Man!" Jake presented Clay with a mug of the Kryptonian beer.

In the kitchen, hair pulled back into a rough ponytail, the amazon scrubbed furiously. Personally insulted at the mess time had wrought, she grumbled, determined to reclaim her domain.

As a dusty hand pushed back a stray strand of hair, Hipkarma heard the banter out front and smiled.

She’d allow them the pizzas without too much complaint. Everyone was hungry after all. Once she got her space sorted again though, well, she had a woodfired oven for a reason!

It was good to be back. With everyone helping, the place would soon become a haven once again.

His eyes closed, Dylan let his fingers continue to move over the keys as his mind swept back to the beginning and smiled. How shocked they had all been the first time one of the people they had considered one of their "muses" had walked through the front doors.

That had been when there was only the three of them. That wouldn't last long, though. More came: Hip, John, Mike, Stee, the Laughing Vulcan, Brian...and even Chip. Other faces came to mind but the passage of time had obviously made recalling their names an impossibility at the moment.

So into his memories, Dylan was not even aware of the first song ending and starting the next.

His mind wandered through the years, through the good times, the hard times, and the bad times. He did not shy away from the thoughts of the bad times...he embraced them as heartily as he embraced the good times. They were a part of life. They taught lessons...and yes, sometimes you failed the test at the end of the lesson...but you don't just throw your hands up and walk away especially when it comes to friends and family....and friends that have become family!

A loud...thud...jarred Dylan out of his memories and his fingers faltered on the keys. His eyes flew open and energy engulfed his hands as he wiped around to confront whatever threat had appeared...only to stand beside the piano with a perplexed look.

By the bar, Jake...JAKE...was stepping back from a large barrel of beer with a grimace...his hands on his lower back. Ella...Really?...was at the bar on a stool...smiling as she lifted a piece of pizza, catching sight of him in his defensive stance before she could take a bite.

And from the kitchen came the unmistakable happy grumbles of Hipkarma as she grumbled about an elf who took short cuts in cleaning...especially in HER kitchen!

Cleaning? Dylan looked around and noticed that all the dust in the ba was gone....all the dust except the dust he wore.

"What's wrong, old man?" Jake asked, prompting Hip to step into the doorway of the kitchen.

Dylan looked at the three of them....
"Where....How...Nevermind...I don't want to know!" He stopped and narrowed his gaze, looking up over the bar. He found what he was looking for in a clear space of wood above the huge mirror. He pointed one hand at the spot and, taking a deep breath and let the energy flow. It was over in a flash and all that remained was a faint smell of burnt wood.

He then beckoned to the others to join him where he was and pointed. There, above the bar, in Dylan's horrible handwriting were the words "The Continuum Cafe" and right below them the words "Family owned and operated since 1999"

Gathering all three into a group hug, he softly murmured: "Welcome home, family!"