"Should I rescue him now, and try to force those two to help? Or leave Mike here for a while?" wondered Blake.
"Mike's right about one thing... He's going to need their help to get home. From what I gathered in my time waiting out here, I think I better go home for now. Let them continue to try to figure out what happened..." thought Blake, after listening in on the conversation for almost two hours.
Back in his own car, he took off the mask, and rubbed his face. "I'll go back tomorrow night, and see if there's any progress. I can't believe they actually kidnapped him! I'm in way over my head..." whispered Blake.
The Next Night, in the laboratory at Appelt Industries:
"That's right! I think I figured out how to access his world, but I need to know the exact date and time when the event occurred. Then this little beauty will take us to my first Nobel Prize!" said Collins, pointing towards a handheld device that very much resembled a pistol with a megaphone attached to the barrel.
"Congratulations, well done!" Appelt praised.
"Thank you, but I never could have done it without your help." Collins replied sincerely.
"I'm going to get some chips and soda from my office, Collins. It's going to be a long night trying to figure out exactly when Larry and Mike switched places. Is there anything you want?" asked Appelt, as he walked towards the door.
"This is it! It's now or never..." thought Blake, as he crouched by the locked door.
"Sure. I'll have a water and a power bar, if you have any?" asked Collins.
The knob turned and Appelt stepped out. He turned around. "I have water, but - " he replied, suddenly cut off as a strong pair of arms wrapped around him, and shoved him back into the laboratory.
Using twist ties, Blake had the very out of shape Appelt secured in seconds.
"It can't be Larry from this world! He'd never have the nerve to grab anyone. How many of him are there?!?!" exclaimed Collins, his eyes wide.
The scientist was agile, but totally unprepared. As Collins made a dive towards the strange device, Mike jumped and shuffled to intercept him, and both landed on the linoleum in a heap.
Blake used twist ties to secure him as well, then helped his friend up off of the floor.
"Are you okay, Mike?" asked Blake, as he removed a set of keys from Appelt's pocket.
"Fine now that you're here! I thought I might be stuck in this room for the rest of my life." said Mike, as he presented his wrists then ankles, and was soon a free man.
"Sorry! I was here last night too, but I listened at the door. It sounded like those two needed more time to figure things out." apologized Blake.
"I'm glad you waited. It seems that everything is almost ready now. I can't wait to get home! But how are we going to get them to cooperate?" asked Mike.
"Oh, I have a few ideas..." Blake replied, grinning.
To be continued!
To read the entire collection so far, click here!
Cover image made in Canva using their gallery