You know I had been expecting Supers or Mutants I knew, seen in movies or tv shows or even comics. I had been wrong. I didn't recognize any of them.

An otherwise normal green guy I suspected was the Teleporter, since everyone was touching him. A very attractive young lady, with purple hair. Sneering at everything. An average appearing brunette lady of around twenty five. She looked like a librarian, glasses and all. Lastly, a short but wide rowdy looking fellow. I was pretty sure he wasn't a dwarf but it would be hard to tell. No body was armed, or wearing anything that appeared to be special gear.

Then I got another surprise, a couple of them in fact.

Rage started speaking, "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Needed to get you out, before the local LEOs could find you." All trace of the earlier brogue was gone replaced by a faint Midwest accent. "Name is Harold Turin, I'm the head of the Special Enhance Persons Training, nice to meet you Mr. Simmons." He went in for a handshake.

I blinked. I may have even blinked a second time. Well, shit, that'll teach me to make assumptions. I returned the handshake, noticing that my hand engulf his along with a portion of his forearm. "Victor, please." I quickly returned his hand. He nodded.

The dwarf started chuckling, "Told ya he'd be confused." There was the Brogue. "I'm Dexter Fare. Call me Dex. Nice ta meet ya." He settled into the recliner.

Which meant, "Shifter or Illusionist." I stated. I turned to looked at him. I might have frowned. He might have blanched.

"You probably said something ridiculous." This was the Librarian. Her voice was pleasant, like hot coffee on a cold winter's day. "Hello, I'm Kari Mitchell." She was grinning like a certain cat. I nodded at her with a soft smirk.

She grabbed Purple Hair, "This is Tina Long. She won't talk. She hates you. Don't feel bad though, she hates everyone." If looks could kill, Kari'd be scoured from the World. Then Tina turned her head towards me.

I gave her my best impassive face, "People can be so disappointing." I thought I'd caught the faintest hint of a smirk before she huffed and threw herself onto the loveseat. Kari plopped down on it's armrest.

The green man came closer for his own greetings. "I'm Peter Pendergast. Please no jokes." He sighed, it was full of suffering, or as we old timers call it character.

"Teleporter." I was annoyed to feel them all tense up. "Don't freak out. Ya'll were touching him. Not anyone else. Easy."

Yeah, I don't fit the stereotype of the big dumb, but incredibly handsome brute. What do they call it? A himbo. Because until yesterday, I wasn't one.

Harold cleared his throat. "Soo Victor, I have to ask, where did you come from? I couldn't get much about you, other than a bank account, and that house is in your name." He didn't seem like much of an agent, more of a diplomat. Then again, a lot of diplomats pull double duty.

How much to tell them? Fuck it, I told the truth. Most of it.

"Different Earth. I don't know the mechanics of how I got here." I shook my head sadly. "Probably don't really want to know."

Kari chimed in, "A lot of guys like you back home? I hope so!" I was getting the impression she was hyperkinetic, always fidgeting.

"Haha, no. I was just an old divorced guy. Unremarkable. Maybe a little too smart for my own good, but not smart enough to make things work. No clue how I ended up like this. There were no Supers back home. Mutants or Aliens either. Pretty boring." No Devil Clowns either. Simpler times.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

"So ya don't know a thing?" Dex grumped, "Ya'd have no clue who've smacked ya for a misplaced eye. No thought as to who those nutters at the Mall were neither, I bet." Never happy this one, unless he was pissing in your cheerios. Or whatever the local equivalent was.

I rolled his words around.

"Nope. Other than I'd doubt ya'll will find anything in your files." I shrugged. "I suspect they're from out of town too." Or the Void, perhaps the mind of a fiendish Harlequin.

"That's an accurate assessment, " Harold's face was heavy. "It's a real mystery, on top of all the other strange sightings. The one fellow in armor we managed to take alive, doesn't speak English, and can't recognize modern appliances."

Out of time, as well as place.

I frowned, "What does it sound like?" I was a bit curious. I wondered if them were dragged here or just made whole clothe.

"A little like Old English, and a little like Spanish. A smattering of others. Truly odd." Peter was geeking out a little bit. Oh ho, a language buff. Makes sense.

"Hey, Vick." Tina spoke up. "Why didn't you use your gun?"

Kind of jarring.

I took a survey of their faces, only Harold didn't seem to be wondering the same. Yeah, okay.

"A few reasons." I ticked them off on my fingers.

"One, I wanted to test my physicality. New Body, not sure what it could do, figured it'd be crazy. Two, Twenty or so guys, seven rounds, no extra mags. I'd end up using my hands, or one of their weapons, anyway. Three, I've not tested the gun yet, it could be unreliable. Lastly, and most important, overpenetration. Even without testing, I was certain a 500 grain round would blow through anyone I was aiming at, medieval armor or no, might hit some poor shopper on the other side, just trying to get away."

Unsaid, something in me really wanted to crush and smash.

Harold was nodding. The rest were just staring.

She gawked, "Were you a soldier?"

"Huh, no. Just a hobby. When I could afford it, I'd get range time, run drills, that kind of thing."

She blushed and slumped, "Oh." Most of the rest of them seemed pensive.

I thought maybe she felt attacked.

"Don't worry. Most people have no clue what guns can really do. I didn't either. If you want, I could teach you."

"O-Okay. Let's do that." Tina stammered.

So Cute. Not a fan of the tsun, though.

"Whoa there Mister, you want to get to her, you have to go through me." Kari with a shiteating grin, eyeing me like I'm last piece of cake.

While, I'm positive she was just stirring the pot, "I find your terms acceptable." I intoned in lower register. Two can play.

That got a laugh from the whole crowd. It felt nice. Honest joy.

Peter started couching, "I can't believe you said that with a straight face."

"That's a classic right there." Dex was howling.

When it died off, Harold ask, "You seem a decent fellow. How would you like to join SEPT?"

I calculated the pros and cons.

Pros. Government job. Okay people. Time to train up.

Cons. The Guide. The Devil Clown. Who or what ever else is watching.

I mulled it over. "I have questions." He nodded.

"They've no firearms training, what about combat tactics in general?"

"Some. The emphasis of the program is to train their powers to counter extraordinary threats."

Workable. Expandable. Good.

I ask, "Would I get access to training areas, were I could cut loose, and not destroy everything?"

"Absolutely." He was still nodding. Probably trying to prep me to agree.

"Could I have information on, I guess, everything. Not sure where to even start to investigate the differences between our Earths. I need danger projections. At least basic political events and current standings. What the most popular search engine is."

I could probably get by with whatever their google doppelganger was.

Nodding continued, "Of course."

Next, I need my own space.

"Can I go home?"

"Yes." He smiled at that.

Money. Resources. Compensation.

"The Big Question." I watched him closely, "What do I get?"

The nodding stopped. "We have a generous salary and benefits package. Dental included. Bonuses per mission."

I smiled big showing teeth. He backed away quickly.

Huh?

What'd I do?

I reached up to feel my teeth. My eyes got big.

Sharp and pointy, a front mouth full of shark teeth. The back had bone crushing molars, like a hyenas.

Fucking Troll blood! How didn't I notice? The Burgers and Porkchops were so easy to chew.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

Harold calmed down, "No I'm sorry, I just wasn't expecting that."

I chuckled, "If it makes you feel better, I didn't know."

"Make a Bloody shark jealous." Dex joked.

Kari joined in the fun, "Your poor girlfriend." Giggling.

Another round of laughter. I really missed this feeling I was starting to get.

"You understand, that who or whatever put me here could snatch me elsewhere at anytime?"

"We get that." Peter this time. Yeah, a Teleporter would.

"Then, I'm in."

They seemed like good kids. I'd help them as best I could.

I hope I didn't scrudge over all of their lives.