Our heroes accost Juan at the entrance to "Toad Lounge" when up arrives a young twenty-something lad in a black leather jacket and beanie who instructs Juan to let them inside the lounge. This new rascally-looking fellow explains to the party that strange events have been happening since a strange artifact was unearthed at a large construction site in wetlands near the bay, a large maybe 3' length bookish thing wrapped in what appeared to be some sort of black reptile hide.
He says for Juan to open the storeroom, and there the party sees "The Librarian" recently left for dead who is very much alive. "Greetings," says the wormy creature, "I was wondering how long it would take you all to show up."
"Unfortunately an insanely powerful... thing... has be acquired by an insanely ambitious person in this time. This person has allied themselves with an academic who knows a very tiny bit of what you might call magic which is how I ended up here. Also unfortunately, forces from beyond time, essentially two alternative futures, have appeared to obtain this... thing... which appears to have relevance to some ultimate fates of the Multiverse."
The windows of the Toad Lounge are smashed with shouts of "Police!" "Down on the ground!"
"Run now," says the Librarian.
Juan shows the adventurers a private entrance which appears to lead off into a metallic hallway harshly lit by intermittent florescent light set depressed in the ceiling. Departing the party briefly hears a barrage of gunfire before the door closes.
The party moves forward for a time, realizing this is not some city walkway or building, rather a long, long passageway of rust, uncertain lighting, and foul smells. They immediately retrace their steps intending a return to Toad Lounge, but the doorway has vanished - only more passageway heading in the opposite direction.
Walking back in their original direction for a number of minutes, the party spies a soldier moving along in front of them. The mage-thief silently creeps up on the person from behind, only to discover the creature is an armed zombie!
A battle ensues attracting several other of these armed walking dead - dangerously lethal with high tech blaster weapons - however, the adventurers dispatch the zombies while suffering only moderate wounds. So they press on eventually discovering what appears to be a transit station for some type of railway operation.
Within this terminal there are windows indicating a stormy atmosphere outside, so the mage-thief endeavors climbing up to the ceiling to create an exit for he heroes. This is almost disaster as the new egress exposes interior to powerful winds bearing rains of damaging acid before mage-thief can re-seal the opening. Thus the party decides to follow the rail path tunnels to find what purpose they were made to come to such a harsh display.
Encountering toothy, bulbous demons along the way the party eventually arrives at a gargantuan, domed chamber where an enormous cyber-enhanced demon is waiting...
Although terrific damages are sustained, the adventurers triumph against the cyber-demon, but are no closer to resolving their dilemma of how to escape this demonic metropolis. Looking out through the domed skylights, off in the darkened distance on a small range of hills on the periphery of the metropolis, Man-With-No-Name sees a fat, golden Buddha temple. "That is where we must go," says he...
Man-With-No-Name and half-orc barbarian, being the fastest and the strongest of the group, wrap the others against the acid raining down and run toward the temple, and once arrived Man-With-No-Name achieves entry through the temple's, seemingly gold, only door.
Inside, a disembodied voice speaks - "A pleasure to finally see you again, lo these many, many centuries passed." It is the voice of Matsuhara Yotsuya from the timeship. "Yes there are forces at work that in this branch of time were overcome by demons and chaos. Still there are other branches yes, and you all have unfinished business in Blackmoor. There was something of the Baron's daughter, yes. Wouldn't be helpful she was not saved, yes." The voice bids them to rest and replenish supplies. When ready, off the adventurers will go through time again as they are beginning to seem something of the epic forces to influence power and control of the Multiverse...
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