//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3: Out from a Storm, and into a Whole New World 
// Story: Bermuda Beginnings 
// by ScarFox9700 
//------------------------------//

What is known to history is that by the time the clocks read 7:30pm, all signs of life from Flight 19 had vanished, and the base was forced to assume the worst. A search plane was sent out to find the missing planes, but it never returned to base either. However, unlike the 7 TBF Avengers, it was later found that this plane had blown up in midair due to ignited gas fumes on board. Wreckage was later found by a fishing boat, but sadly, all of the plane's crew had perished. 

Meanwhile, back in the past at about 7:20pm, Taylor saw something up ahead of him, and he radioed back to the pilots of the other planes that he believed land was in sight. 

"We're gonna make it boys! Just hang on a little bit longer, we'll make it. I'm sure of it!" 

He was so sure of himself. History would give him 19 very good reasons for why he shouldn't have been; the deaths of many of his squad mates. 

Anyway, what Taylor couldn't see because of the storm was that what was up ahead of him was not actually land at all, but instead, it was a potentially deadly malfunctioning experiment in quantum physics of sorts. Back then, they called it "A doorway to another world". Today, we call it simply, "a portal". 

A weird, purplish energy began to surround the seven planes, causing them to begin to shudder rather violently. Two of them went down almost instantly due to the turbulence, as well as the lack of fuel, and they, as well as their 3-man crews, were lost forever to the sea. The remaining planes began to get sucked towards the center of the strange mass of purplish energy. Of the remaining 5 planes, only two would make it through, and of those two, only Taylor would survive the traumatic crash landing in a whole new world. 

As their plane began to lose control, Taylor's torpedoman, Ensign James, couldn't take it anymore. 

"I can't take it anymore Taylor! I'm bugging out!" 

"Say again Ensign, I couldn't hear you. Please repeat, over." 

Instead of a reply, Taylor suddenly became aware of the sound of the lower door of the plane opening, the sound of something making a hasty exit, and then the door slamming shut again. 

"Ensign, what was that? What's going on down there?" 

No reply.

"Ensign, answer me, what's going on? What did you do?!?!" 

Still no answer. Taylor then put two and two together, and realized that Ensign James had most likely grabbed a parachute, opened the rear door, and jumped out. The door then closed by itself due to the force of the storm. A confirmation of a parachute was received by Taylor from Blue 3. 

"So he decided to take his chances with the sea did he?" Taylor thought, "Well, he was a fool. He'll never survive down there, and it's all my fault." 

Taylor then spotted the crews of Blue 4 and Blue 7 bailing out as well. Out of them all, only Blue 3, and Blue 5, remained with Taylor (Blue 1). Blue 2 and Blue 6 crashed and burned, and Blue 4 and Blue 7 bailed out. Taylor was now alone in his plane, as Ensign James had jumped out, and his radio-gunner was too sick for action. Taylor had no further time to dwell on this though. His life was about to take a whole new course, starting right then. 





Once his plane vanished inside the mass, Blue 3 and Blue 5 tried to follow, but Blue 5 flew to pieces, causing the crew to fall to their deaths in the ocean far below, and Blue 3 caught fire, and became nothing more than a fireball. Taylor saw none of this though, as his mind was too focused elsewhere. 

Taylor barely had the words to describe the inside of the portal. "It was like a bright, white light, mixed with interesting shades of purple and Blue. At first, I thought that I was dead, and entering Heaven, but oh no. God wasn't done with me yet!" 





Once he was through the portal, the Engine of Blue 1 began to sputter, indicating that it was out of gas. As Taylor was figuring this out, he suddenly found himself out of the storm, and plummeting down towards the ground at a very high rate of speed. He did his best to bring the plane under control, and he did manage to sort of land it, but the crash-landing tore the TBF Avenger to pieces. Eventually, it skidded to a stop in the dirt, and began to smoke slowly. There was no danger of a fire, as there no longer was any fuel, but now the question was, just how hurt was Taylor? And what could happen to him next?