Vinny didn't know what to expect, but he hardly expected that his first stop should be in a park on a bright sunny day, surrounded by trees, people picnicking, and the smell of flowers wafting on a breeze. The couple nearby who saw him appear stopped their lunch, packed up their things in a hurry, and ran off. Obviously, it was a new experience for them to see a guy just appear out of nowhere. But it did make things difficult. He didn't want to make his presence known until he had a chance to scout around. Quickly fading out from the visible spectrum, he hoped that they would just blame it on some bad food and forget that they ever saw him.

As he walked around for the next few hours, he marveled at what he saw. This city was spotless. Not even a candy wrapper could be spotted, even in the alleyways. Everybody was smiling. Everybody seemed to have something to do. There were no angry motorists, and crime seemed nonexistent. He hadn't even seen a jaywalker yet. It was almost too good to be true. Part of him wanted to do something out of the ordinary, just to see how'd they react. Prudence, thankfully, got the better of him and kept him in check.

As night approached, the city suddenly closed down. It seemed there wasn't much in the way of night life. A few businesses remained open, but even with those, it was employees restocking for the next day's sales. For the next hour or two, there was absolutely nothing. No one outside at all. There was activity in the houses, but in almost every one of them, it was families sitting down to eat, or reading the newspaper. Everyone seemed happily content, which bothered him a lot because it ran contrary to what he normally experienced on a day to day basis.

About this time, he felt a small breeze and had that sneaking suspicion he was being watched. Turning around, he failed to spot anyone. Then he looked up a bit. Hovering above was a man clad in black and red, complete with cape. Even more disconcerting was that this man was staring directly at him. Which meant that his invisibility wasn't worth squat right now. He took a small breath and faded back into view, figuring that if he could be seen and didn't make any sudden movements, it would keep the hostility level low.

The floating figure continued to stare down, arms folded over his chest. The silence hung in the air for a moment before the man spoke in a deep voice that echoed with authority and power. "Rather stupid of you, comrade. Luthor should know that nothing escapes my sight here. Just what did you expect to accomplish?"

When in doubt, stay cool and be honest. "Luthor" I haven't a clue who that is. I just kind of dropped in on this planet and have been trying to stay out of the way for the time being. This is really all just a vacation for me. Can we, uh, have a nice discussion without the gratuitous violence?" Arm reaching up to scratch behind his head as he tried to stay as relaxed as possible. "Better yet, maybe grab a coffee and a bite to eat somewhere" I've got quite a few questions to ask you from what I've observed."

The man seemed to be taken aback for a half second, as the reply wasn't quite what he expected. "I'suppose that would be possible. So long as it doesn't keep me from my other duties. Follow me." He turned and began to head into a nearby park, stopping near a bench in a clearing. "Sit down, and ask me your question."

Vinny took a seat and leaned back, looking up with a quizzical look on his face. "How'd you manage to get everything running smoothly to begin with, and keep it going like this" I haven't seen a single crime, accident, or even a litterbug so far." He wasn't going to start presuming methods, but his first instinct was something in the water, brainwashing, or something along those lines. Nothing ran this smoothly in life.

"Simple. This world was wracked with chaos and strife. Brother against brother. Neighbors fighting neighbors, when they should have been working together for a common goal. To improve and enrich one another's lives, instead of letting jealousy fester in their hearts. It took years, but I've managed to convince nearly this whole world that to work towards building the foundation with and for one another also builds their own success. Everyone has a job. Everyone has a hobby. Crime has been cast to the history books. Humanity has seen what communism can do for them and chosen to embrace it rather than such outdated models of the past, which served few at the expense of the many."

"So"..there had to have been some resistance to this. Especially from those previously in power. What about those who haven't chosen to jump aboard?" Vinny felt like he was almost antagonizing the tiger, but he felt it was a legitimate question. The man did say "nearly' the entire world, which implied that somewhere out there, there was a differing opinion. "And do you mind not floating there like that' It's making it hard for me to focus."

A small smile crossed the man's lips as he returned to the ground. "My apologies. Everyone here is used to my presence. Do you play chess" It might help to keep your mind on track, and I like the challenge of playing someone different. I'm still not sure what to think of you, but you haven't been disruptive. So I'll continue to treat you like a guest in my home. Just don't take advantage of my kindness." That warning hidden in the smile needed no further explanation. So long as Vinny behaved himself, he would be welcome.

"Chess" I know how to play, but I haven't brushed up on my skills lately. Still, I shall try to be a worthy opponent." A wry grin in response. He'd played with Mike before, but Mike cheated. This couldn't be tougher than playing a supercomputer.

The man flickered for a moment before a board and table was set before them. "In answer to your earlier question, yes. There was some people who hard a hard time adapting to the new ideals before them. But the people's wishes could not be stopped. I can say with complete honesty that I have not had to spill any innocent blood in this revolution. As for the occasional troublemaker".reeducation has been good at forming them into productive members of the collective. The last ones I had to deal with are now scrubbing toilets in Bombay, I believe."

He let out a small sigh after they had both made a few moves. "America has been the only nation to not join the union. Which is unfortunate, because it is a nation of unrest. Food riots still occur, and they cannot even take care of basic sanitation in places. But they have not been willing to accept assistance, and I will not just march in there and impose my will like a dictator. It's only a matter of time before they tire of the strife and accept that our way is better for them all."

"Hmmm".it's been interesting watching the people here, that's for sure. An almost idyllic change from what I'm normally used to. But given the nature of my existence, I'm not sure if I'd go along with it. Not that I'd cause trouble or anything, but I would probably be content to just go about my business and continue doing what I normally do. Assuming I was put in that situation. I don't know. I guess I'm just used to the way things have been where I come from. By the way, check."

A few moves later, and the board position was close to a stalemate. The man's brow furrowed in thought, trying to figure out a way to break through. "I don't pass judgment on you. You're an outsider. And not the first that I've had come through here. I simply ask that you respect the way things are here and don't mess with things you don't understand. And if you truly have an open mind, to learn something from this."

Vinny nodded, biting his lip. Things didn't look so good for him all of a sudden. "I can say that I will try. My time here is just about up., I'm afraid. So I'm not sure how much more I'd be able to observe anyways." As of on cue, his watch started beeping. "Speaking of my time being up, I've only got enough time left to say, checkmate.? Moving his piece into position for the win, he looked the man in the eye and smiled right before he poofed off to his next stop.

Poof. This next jump was looking better already. He was in front of a medieval style castle, dressed in appropriate garb for the time period, complete with a huge hat that included an oversized purple feather. At his hip was a rapier that looked fresh out of the forge. No nicks, scratches, noticeable imperfections. It was brand new and felt wonderful in his hand. Giving it a quick twirl, and not seeing anyone else around, he decided to have a little fun. "Stand back, musketeers! They shall sample my blade. Touche!" He lunged forth dramatically, looking for style much more than actual technique and repeated this a few more times until he realized that he wasn't in front of a castle anymore. In fact, there wasn't anything except a vast expanse of whiteness. "Um, ok"..this is unexpected. Can a guy get a little scenery around here?"

His question was almost immediately answered when a farm appeared around him. "Hmmm".not what I was expecting, but I can live with this." A snap of his fingers changed his clothes to overalls and a straw hat and he started to walk towards the barn whistling a little Old Macdonald. "Vincent Smith, he had a farm. E-I-E-I-O. And on this farm he had an igloo. E-I-E-I-What"!?" There it was. An igloo. In the middle of what was once two seconds ago a farm. Surrounded by snow in all directions"."Would it be too much to ask if we could make up our mind, hmmm?"

Snap. No more overalls and hat. Now it was a parka and skis. Kicking off, he smiled, having not been skiing in quite some time. But he hardly gone more than 100 yards before he looked down and saw that he was skiing on sand. When he looked up, there was no more snow around him, either. The whole scene had been replaced by a tropical island. "Ok, this is just getting freaky and annoying at the same time."

Another snap. Bermuda shorts, shirt, sandals, and oversized sunglasses topped off by a visor. Might as well just roll with the punches and try to have fun with all this. "Swim time!" Running to the water, he leapt and dove right into"..nothing. The world had gone white again. Getting back to his feet, he looked around for something, anything. Because this was seriously starting to cause his blood pressure to rise and his temper to flare. "Is it really customary here to mess with a guy's vacation like this" Or is this just because of those things I did that time for that box of cookies?"

Meanwhile, as he was voicing his complaints to no one in particular, if he looked down he would've noticed that his body was being erased from the feet up. But since he was looking up, he didn't realize this until it was too late and he had no body left. Thankfully, he still had a voice in all this. "All right, wise guy. Where am I?" His body then faded back into view, now wearing jeans, an old flannel shirt, cowboy hat, and holding a guitar. Still no scenery".With a shrug, he plucked at the strings, only to find out that instead of musical notes, there was nothing. Zip, zilch, no sound. When he opened his mouth to complain about it, he discovered his voice was now missing as well. His hand reached behind his back, and pulled out a sign that he waved around in all directions that simply stated, "Sound please!"

The next time he plucked at the strings, the air was filled not with sweet music, but with the sound of machine gun fire. Then a car horn. By this point, he was far from amused. The guitar found itself being flung to the ground, splintering into several pieces and sounding like a donkey at the same time. With a finger thrust into the air, he went to scream many obscenities, but all that came out of his mouth was the sound of a rooster. A second attempt found his voice replaced by a monkey howling. That was it, enough was enough. He stomped, flailed, screamed again to find out that"..his voice was back. He paused briefly, waiting for something funny to happen again, but nothing did. "Look, mac. Just what?s going on around here anyways" Can we get a little organized" And start with some scenery."

Who or whatever was in charge of things here decided to oblige, in their own peculiar way. A Midwestern town sprung up around him. But it was only in a rough pencil sketch. "Ha ha. Very nice. Now how about some color?" This, he should have seen coming. Colors started to show up. But on him, not the scenery. Worse yet, it was colors and patterns that no self respecting Vinny would ever subject himself to. "Frickin" bad sense of humor"..who is this anyways"!" What'd I ever do to you? I just got here and these shenanegans started."

He walked along, griping aloud about his luck, and the lack of manners he was being subjected to, when he stopped and looked around. "You know".all of a sudden, I don't feel like myself." Almost as if on cue, a mirror appeared in front of him, allowing him to see that he now had webbed feet, a tail, polka dots all over his skin, and the word "Screwball" tattooed into his forehead. "Cut that out! Why, if I ever find out who's doing this, I'm going to erase YOU from this plane of existence."

He blinked, and his appearance and attire had changed to a sailor's outfit. "This is better. I always did like sea epics. Now can you put me in an appropriate scene?" Whistling while the space around him filled in, he took the time to look around at the sun shining overhead. The island off in the distance. Feeling the ocean breeze move over his skin. The clear blue water underneath his feet. Hold on"..water beneath his feet' Where was the boat' Upon realizing this, gravity kicked back into effect and he went feet first into the drink. Thankfully, the island was still there, and he was able to swim over to it without much trouble.

As he lay there on the sand looking up into the sky, he wondered who, or what, could be responsible for all of this. This was one crazy, messed up world. Natural laws seemed to have no business being here. It was like one person's imagination was running wild and he was the shiny new toy that had its attention for the moment. Hearing the crunch of a carrot being eaten snapped him out of his train of thought, and he turned his head towards the sound to see a rabbit standing on two feet, consuming said carrot, and grinning at him. "Ehhh, ain't I a stinker?? At the same time, his watch started beeping. Thank God, he was getting out of here. And as soon as he got home, he prayed that it was rabbit season. They might be an extinct species by the time he was through.