Highway 101 — 1:45 PM.
The Honda Ridgeline exploded onto the interstate like a bat out of hell. Horns blared. Tires screamed. Civilians swerved. And hot on their tail?
Three police cruisers. Two helicopters. One full-blown news broadcast.
Inside the pickup truck, chaos was the new normal.
"Holy SHIT, we made the news!" Jake hollered, pointing at the giant LED screen atop a building as they sped past.
The footage was live. Aerial view from a chopper showed a pickup truck flying down the highway—with four old-school cowboys and one unshowered maniac clinging to the wheel like it was a racing game.
News Anchor (on-screen):
"—and as you can see, ladies and gentlemen, the suspects are heavily armed, dressed in 19th-century attire, and have already engaged in gunfire with officers. We now confirm one fatality and multiple injuries. Authorities are treating this as a domestic terrorist incident—"
"Terrorist?" Arthur barked, cocking his revolver. "We've barely been in this world a damn hour!"
"I'M A WAR HERO!" Jake shouted out the window, clearly not helping.
Micah, still riding the open bed, flipped off a police helicopter. "You hear that, motherfucker?! Domestic THIS!"He fires two shots into the air for no reason.
Dutch, as usual, tried to maintain order. "Gentlemen, I believe it's time we strategize before this turns into our funeral procession."
"Too late for that," John muttered, reloading.
As the Ridgeline weaved between cars, Jake checked his phone again. Still 5G. Still full bars. Still getting texts from Davis.
"Yo, why's he texting me? He literally just saw the news, I'm the MAIN CHARACTER on CNN right now!"
Then the screen glitched.
Just for a second. But Jake noticed.
"Guys... weird question," Jake muttered, keeping his eyes on the road. "Did... did any of you notice something... off? Like—small stuff. Billboards? Street names? Brand logos?"
Arthur grunted. "Like what?"
Jake squinted at a passing sign. "That Starbucks logo... why does the mermaid have fangs?"
Nobody answered. Because nobody knew what the hell he was talking about.
But Jake's gut twisted.
Cut to Dutch, watching the sky.
Helicopters closing in. Cops gaining. Sirens closing from both ends.
He muttered to himself. "This ain't just a different time... this is a different world."
Jake stared ahead, sweat beading. "Wait... are you telling me...?"
Dutch met his eyes with grim finality. "Son... whatever world you came from? This ain't it."
Jake's blood ran cold. "Oh, god. I multiverse-hopped into the budget version of Earth."
John, reloading beside him, groaned. "Perfect. A world with more cops, less horses, and still no peace."
Micah just cackled. "I don't care what planet we're on. As long as I got bullets, I'm home."
The Ridgeline swerved again, slamming into the fast lane as more sirens closed in.
Jake screamed, "Buckle up boys! Shit's about to get sci-fi!"