"Ready, boys?" I asked as I stood behind the teleporter entrance.

"Heck yeah!" Scout replied with swinging his bat in the air. "Let's kick some BLU ass!"

"Now, this is only our first field test of the new teleporter," I reminded them all. "So there might still be a few kinks."

"As long as it doesn't kill us, I think we'll be fine," Spy replied as he extinguished his cigarette. 

"Don't worry; I can guarantee that teleporting in this thing won't kill us!"

"Then let's go, lads!" Demoman shouted as he held his grenade launcher in the air.

Everyone then began doing their battle charges as they went to the teleporter entrance, one by one. Scout sprinted to it, Soldier marched right in with a salute, Pyro happily giggled and clapped as he skipped to it, Demo took a final swig of his beer before staggering over, Heavy spun up his Minigun and inched forward, Medic started overhealing the remaining teammates before disappearing, Sniper got a jar of Jarate ready before jogging over, and Spy quickly disguised as an enemy Engineer before entering.

Once they were all gone, I quickly went in after them, ready to fight! When the flash went away, though, I began looking around me, trying to get my bearings. I was instantly confused, and judging by how the rest of the team was acting, so were they. 

"Where were we supposed to end up, again?" Sniper asked.

"I had programmed it to send us 20 minutes into the past," I replied. "You know, before the battle we just had happened."

"Maybe my memory is failing me," Medic commented as he looked around, "but I don't remember it looking like zis 20 minutes ago!"

All around us was what looked like a giant war zone, but on a much bigger level than we ever encountered! All the buildings were knocked down, vegetation was overgrowing on everything, and it just felt empty everywhere! Like nobody was around for miles!

"Where are we?" I asked myself. "And more importantly, WHEN are we??"

"Well, let us look around," Heavy suggested. "Maybe we find clue."

"A clue? Like a mystery?" Soldier asked.

"Sure. Whatever you like, Soldier," I replied.

"Perfect! I shall be Sherlock Holmes and I shall find the answer to this mystery! Come, Dr. Watson!"

He then grabbed Scout's arm and dragged him next to him as he walked to a destroyed building.

"Let me go, you friggin' moron!" Scout commanded as he tried hitting Soldier in the head to no avail.

"Well, while they do that," I told the rest of the mercs, "let's see if we can find our own idea as to what happened.

"You zaid ve vere zupposed to go into ze past, ja?" Medic asked.

"That's right," I replied with a nod, "but I don't reckon that's what happened."

"What are ya sayin', mate?" Demo asked.

"This doesn't look anything like the present or past, so my best guess is we're in the future!"

"How the bloody hell did that happen??" Sniper demanded to know.

"I'm not entirely sure... I guess there was a bigger kink than I imagined."

"How far in future are we?" Heavy asked worriedly.

"That's the big question, now ain't it?" I replied as I took off my hard hat and scratched my head. "Whenever we are, someone managed to have my exit teleporter set up, so I don't think we're THAT far ahead."

"What is this place, anyway?" Spy asked as he looked around and lit a cigarette.

"Looks like some sort of old town, if I had to guess," Sniper replied as he lifted his hat up and scanned the area.

"What aboot dis building we're in?" Demo asked. "Or what's left oof it, anyway."

"Hm..." I murmured as I looked around, looking for any clues. That's when something caught my eye.

"Is that... velvet rope?" I asked as I pointed at the ground. The rest of the gang looked where I was pointing. Except for Pyro, who was staring at a butterfly that had just appeared from some overgrowth.

"I tink so," Demo replied as he bent down to look at it closer.

"Hold on," Spy suddenly commented as he bent down next to the teleporter exit. "There's some sort of sign here."

After brushing the dust away with his  hands, he then grabbed the object and lifted it up, revealing what looked like a small, rectangular plaque. 

"Vut does it zay?" Medic asked as he looked behind Spy's shoulder.

"It's really faded," Spy replied quietly, almost to himself, "but I can make out a few things..."

"Like what?" Sniper asked.

"Hmm... "Mann Co."... "Crafted by Dell Conagher"... "Donated to Aperture Science." That's about all I can see."

"Aperture Science?" I asked. "Isn't that the science innovation business up in Michigan?"

"Wait, so that means we're in Michigan?" Heavy asked with raised eyebrows.

"And judging by all this decay and abandonment," Spy concluded, "I don't think this was donated anytime recently."

"So how far ahead in the future are we?" Sniper asked with a voice that sounded a bit panicked. "And how do we get back to our time?"

"I don't know know yet," I replied, "but I promise we'll - PYRO!"

I saw the mumbling man-child run towards a wheat field, seeming  to chase the butterfly from earlier.

"Pyro, come back!" I called out as I ran after him. I could hear the rest of the gang following suit.

We followed him into the field, where he seemed to be ignoring our calls to get his attention. We chased after him for what felt like forever until he finally managed to lose the butterfly as it flew higher up in the air. He stopped and stared at the sky for a few seconds before sagging his head down in a disappointed sigh.

"It's alright, Pardner," I told my friend as I patted on his shoulder. "You'll find another one, I'm sure."

That when I looked forward a bit and saw something in the distance. It looked like some sort of small shack in the middle of the field.

"What's this?" I asked to nobody in particular as I jogged towards it.

After another minute, I was standing in front of the shack. If I had to guess, I'd say it was some sort of tin toolshed. Right on the door read the warning "SHOCK WARNING: ELECTRIC SHED!" By that time, everyone else had caught up with me.

"What is dis place?" Demo asked as he glanced up and down the shed.

"No idea," I honestly replied. "Kind of an odd and random place to put a shed, don't ya think?"

"Well unless you want to be fried into a crisp, I don't think we'll be opening it anytime soon," Spy commented as he read the warning.

That's when we all saw a flash of movement from the sky. We looked up and saw that Pyro's butterfly friend had returned. Pyro instantly clapped and giggled as the insect flew in front of his face. It then flew towards the door of the shed, which the pyromaniac ran towards to follow it.

"Pyro, watch out!" I gasped.

The butterfly landed on the door handle, which Pyro then reached for. Before he could grab it, the butterfly flew away again, leaving Pyro grabbing the handle.

I expected him to get fried, but to my shock, he was completely fine and instead looked at the bug.

"Pyro!" I said in realization. "Your gloves are protecting you from the electricity!"

My buddy seemed to forget about he butterfly as he looked at the handle, as if to realize that I was correct.

"C'mon! Open it!" I commanded.

Pyro turned at me and gave a quick nod before turning back to the door and pulling on the handle. I opened with ease, revealing... an empty room?

"That was a bit anticlimactic," Sniper said with a head scratch.

"Hold on there a second," I quickly replied with a raise of the hand. "See that indentation on the ground?"

The others quickly saw what I was talking about; there was a giant circular groove in the ground, as if that part of the floor could just move out of the way.

I walked into the shed and stood on the circle. Nothing happened. That's when I looked along the wall and saw a red button with an arrow pointing down.

"Boys, I get the feelin' that this might be some sort of elevator!" I concluded.

"Shood we go doon it?" Demo asked.

"Ah, why not?" Heavy asked as he walked into the shed. "Maybe it will give us more information."

The rest of the guys looked at each other and shrugged.

"What about Soldier and Scout?" Sniper asked.

"They should be fine," I replied. "Soldier's antics should keep them distracted for a while."

"If ya say so..."

One by one, the 7 of us climbed into the shed. Once we were all in, I pressed the red button and the door closed, leaving us in complete darkness. A second later, we all slowly descended into the ground.

I hope whatever we find on the bottom will help us figure out where we are.