Only moments before he had been running down the stairs. Now he was stood at the bottom of them his face in his hands, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Not again…"

Were the only words he could muster. On the verge of another mental breakdown. It had been such a short time since the incident that had left him mentally scarred and his friends good as dead. The Professor was trembling keeping his eyes closed tight as he tried to ground himself.

The problem is he wasn't particularly the best at grounding. Most of the time he'd just punch a hole through the wall and call it a day. And today…was one of those days. He kicked at the ground angrily. The man yelled angrily at nothing, not words, just animalistic yells of anguish.

Tears began to stream down his face. Even after the time he'd spent away he hadn't properly expressed or allowed himself to feel his emotions. Now they were all pushing their way out in the messiest way possible.

"What did I do to deserve this…?"

He asked no one in particular. Not expecting an answer but he did get one.

"You didn't deserve it. Old friend."

Came the voice of someone he hadn't heard the voice of in years. One of his old university friends from amongst the stars.

"Don't sneak up behind a man like that, Judge!"

"And since when were you so judgemental?"

The Judge laughed at his own pun then his stoic expression returned. Emphasized by a brisk cool fall breeze.

"Since I lost everything…"

There was silence, a few students had gathered round to see what the loud noise had been but now all they saw were two men talking. Business talk as well, causing the group to disperse rather quickly. How boring, little did the group know, it was anything but.

The two stood in silence for a long time. Then they embraced just standing there holding each other for what felt like forever. Before the Professor stepped back.

"What's wrong? You never show up unless something isn't right!"

"Precisely, and what isn't right is your very existence. But you already knew that."

"Yes, but. That isn't why you're here."

"You're correct. I'm here because the very fabric of existence is at risk."

There was a brief moment of silence. Letting the both of them take in the gravity of the situation. The Professor looked up at the other man raising a brow.

"But how could the very idea of existence be destroyed?"

"Just like you became part of it from the nothing. It can be destroyed and return to the nothing."

The Professor began to pace, he looked rather uneasy.

"So, you're saying something or someone is destroying the very fabric of reality down the seams?"

"Exactly. And you're the only one that can help."

One look from Judge and the Professor knew this was an honest statement. He heaved a small sigh shaking his head.

"I don't know. Last time. It really hurt."

"I'm aware of that. But not doing anything will hurt worse. You'll lose everything. Even the people that survived the attack."

The fact he didn't have a choice didn't make it any easier. But after a few moments of silence the Professor nodded. Heaving a small sigh he slid his hands into his coat pockets.

"Okay. I'll help. But keep John out of this. Keep everyone out of this…you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear…"

The Judge walked off humming a tune that the Professor knew all too well. One they'd heard back where he grew up. A calming yet rather disorienting song of peace and tranquility. Without a thought he began to hum it too. Walking the opposite direction to the other, home.

Now, you may think home would be some residential place. In reality it wasn't. In fact it was a strange building with no markings, a base of operations for some of the most elite scientists on the planet. Not that anyone would think that. It was run down and overgrown with weeds on the outside. Though, that was the point, it kept unwanted eyes off of them and people on the street had spread rumors about people going missing there. No one dared to make a proper conclusion of those events and the Professor and his colleagues were rather glad about that.

The Professor looked left and right, making sure no one was looking before sneaking around to the back of the building, putting a pass-code into the door keypad. It lit up with a green glow and he opened the door and walked inside. He closed the door quickly behind himself.

The inside unlike the outside was in brilliant condition. In fact it had the smell of a newly cleaned room. He walked down the hall to his office where he found a meeting was being held. He grabbed the door handle and swung it wide open eyes darting left to right stunned just as much as the people in the room which had been speaking about what they were to do if he were dead.

"Well, good thing I'm not! Time's just been a bit wonky."

"We know, what's taken you so long to get back?"

One of his colleagues asked. A brow raised at him.

"Time. I don't know what's happening fellas…but I don't think we're alone here today."

"What do you mean by that?"

Another colleague spoke out of turn and the Professor slapped a hand across their mouth.

"Shhhhh…something's here…"

He motioned for everyone to remain silent, stepping back out into the corridor. Then he saw it, his eyes widening in shock and a hint of fear.

"Professor, what-"

"I said SHUT UP!"

He snapped suddenly before they all heard a shriek and footsteps thundering down the hallway towards the room where they were sitting ducks.

The Professor gets slammed out of the way by what looked like a cloud of smoke. He let out a yell of agony as he slammed into the glass window of another office room. The Professor groaned in pain and shakily got to his feet. Turning but when he looked back down the hallway the strange entity had vanished in its entirety. Leaving both himself and his colleagues stunned.

The two that had talked to him moments before ran out of the room to find him bleeding a golden color. They carried him to his room as he fainted from the shock laid him on the bed and left him alone. They knew he'd rather die alone than have someone look over him as he slept.