In the shadows of the world poised at the beginning of the Second Cold War, there lay a hidden tear in reality to be unearthed beneath the earth. The balance of power had drastically shifted after the collapse of the Soviet Union; what used to be a huge empire remained in tatters, and the only thing holding back the intrusion by bordering independent nations such as the Ukrainians and the nations in the north, the Baltic states, was the tenacity to resist. The defining point to alter the fate to be unfolded was the 9th day of January, 1990, when a Japanese-American expeditionary and his team of fearless scientists uncovered something astonishingly huge in the midst of West Germany. The portal so enormous in size could fit the whole plane such as the C-5M Super Galaxy and the Ukrainian-built, world's heaviest cargo plane, the Antonov An-225 Mriya, comfortably.

  As one researcher cautiously reached the portal's gleaming border, the room flashed in a blaze of blinding light, chasing all shadow from the world, so the sun appeared to flood the room. And when the light passed, the clean, cobalt-blue veil appeared to ripple in the portal, moving in the fashion of the surface of the lake disturbed by the breeze. The inquiring researcher disappeared in the instant, only to return in a few brief minutes, stepping forth from the portal, eyes opened in awe. It had carried him to a world of awe-inspiring wonder, alive and alive and pulsing in promise. After acrimonious wrangling, the portal was taken in by the army, and scientists entered to establish the incredible finding. But the watchful Communists tarried to hear the tidings, and they, too, sought to uncover the secrets. And so the tenuous stalemate commenced, the United States and the North Atlantic nations, determination hardened to exclude the portal from the Communists, refusing the advances. The Americans refused to relinquish the portal to the Communists, insisting the energy belonged to them, and the Communists clamored to share the energy. The Americans offered them the odd expedition, yet each report back, the tensions grew, the resentment seething beneath the glaze of diplomacy. And in a bold gesture, a Communist general found himself gaining admission. The portal, awe-inspiring in size, froze the general in wonder at the imponderable force required to sculpt such a thing in rock. As he spoke, warm light streamed from the portal, and the surface, in intricate patterns, etched by the spreading lines, pulsed and glowed in otherworldly energy. The ground trembled, and the architecture of the portal disintegrated into microscopic fragments, and in the air, glimmered into being two shining boxes, a shining yellow and a deep, rich blue. A spectral warning flashed in the walls of the caves in letters reddening to the color of blood: "Toss one down, gain a world new; be kind and the gods shall smile upon thee, be cruel and Heaven shall be thy only refuge." The otherworldly words flashed and vanished just so, leaving the air heavy-laden with foreboding. In exchange, bargain-making, the Soviets relinquished all the territory in exchange.

  The essence of the issue was this, the promise to gain instant entrance into another world, and the control to be established, overshadowing any conquered ground. It lay in words. Here lay a world in the wilderness, a playground to be conquered by the powerful. The Americans, through circumstance, shipped the enigma cube to Area 51, hoping the portal to swing into a grand doorway, the twin to the entrance at the bottom of the cavern. The Soviets housed theirs in a secretive military camp outside Moscow, in an air heavy in secrets and ambition.

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  Though neither opened, the curious odd clock sculpted into the rock interested them. It had a Renaissance face and dressed in gleaming mahogany color, and it was breathtaking. The countdown, beating in anticipation, promised some eventful unfolding, and 2030 in the distance sounded like a tempest in the distance. The two waited, each side breathlessly, in anticipation, building energy and focusing force in anticipation of the day of fate when the gates opened and released a tsunami of transformation into their worlds, and forever shifted the essence of what to be. Interest did not end at the world's shores, resonating throughout the universe in a clear sense of wonder.

  Below Regulus, the city of the blessed empire—spread in green tapestry of ordinary life. From the city, he could feel the air vibrating in tensity, alive in anticipation, wonder, and a sense of foreboding, all tangled in tangled ballet. After quiet centuries, the portal shook, bringing the arrival of an odd man in odd clothing, sprinkled in tiny bits of rock, in token to some ancient cavern. It appeared in the same way smoke wafts and wafts back, disappearing just so, leaving the group of faithful in awestruck silence, the eyes revolving in questions. As weeks went by, other enigmas appeared through the portal, each who disappeared in the flash of an eyelid.

  This phenomenon necessitated the calling in representatives from all the various kingdoms, and to his astonishment, Regulus found himself among them. A half-human tribes' lord, he stuck by his ruler's side, but at respectful distance from the honored discussion at hand. Being in only the position to see the making of history, all he truly yearned to return home to his wife. The soft whisper of discord and concord wafted from the group, into Regulus's ears, the commanders passing by, faces contorted in concern and fascination. But just when he yearned to turn and depart, his curiosity anchored him at the entrance. A hand reached, his fingers tracing the shining portal, only to in an instant shift and crumple beneath his. A low rumble from the portal shook the building he was in. The ground convulsed wildly, and tables and riches went crashing to the ground, leaving only the walls, the building chaos resisted by them.

  Once the smoke had finally settled and Regulus could catch his breath, the most stunning sight presented to them unfolded: two rays of light cut through the air, one blindingly yellow and the other bright blue.

  The yellow light flashed to the east and the blue to the west into the domain of the world of the feline. The beam from the blue went above the object and vanished in the heavy woods in which the beam encountered a monstrous portal just like the enigma American cube, commanding and beautiful. The yellow light opened a portal linked to the enigma Soviet cube, whose secrets remained in an impenetrable cloud, evading the hands of everyone who sought to uncover them.