Francis Short (Red)

Francis in "The Reading Room"

**Francis Short** was the version of Francis from the Red World. Initially distrustful of the Parallax and his Yellow World counterpart, he eventually entered the Parallax to defeat Betti.

## Biography

Francis was extremely loyal to his lifelong best friend Ben and frequently lent him support and reassurance. He was the first person with whom Ben entrusted the secret of the Parallax. Francis had a passion for surfing and spent most of his free time on the waves.

Compared to his adventurous Yellow World counterpart Francis Zapmeister, he was a little shy and introverted. He was also more serious minded and more prone to worrying than his carefree counterpart. He found it difficult to talk to his crush Julia, an attractive girl from out of town, and instead tried to impress her with his surfing prowess. His initial efforts met with limited success as there was little swell on the ocean. However, things improved when he was knocked down by a wave, which caused Julia to be concerned about him.

Francis was uncomfortable with the idea of meeting other versions of himself, comparing it to staring at himself in a mirror which talked back. He even described his counterparts as "those freaky Francises." He initially disliked Francis Zapmeister as his antics in the Red World Werrinup (such as stealing Martin's MP3 player) frequently landed him in trouble. He once claimed that "that dude has a very bad relationship with the truth." After the incident with the MP3 player, Francis' parents grounded him. Mrs. Dunkly threatened to report the incident to Constable Garcia if the player wasn't returned by five o'clock that day. The two Francises and Ben conspired to convince the adults that Martin had simply misplaced the player and at the same time make him look like an idiot. The three of them agreed that the best way to do it was with Tiffany's unwitting help. At exactly ten to five, Francis emptied a bin all over Martin. Simultaneously, Francis Zapmeister, posing as his counterpart, confessed his undying love to Tiffany, who later confirmed that Francis had been with her when he had supposedly dumped the rubbish over Martin. Mrs. Dunkly then arrived with the MP3 player which Francis Zapmeister had put back in his bedroom. Martin was humiliated and his mother chastised him for making her look foolish in front of the Shorts.

While Francis Zapmeister regularly travelled from one world to another, Francis was very fearful of the Parallax and refused to enter a portal under any circumstances. However, after the threat posed by Betti was discovered, he became a more active member of the Parallax gang while still remaining in his own world. He passed on Francis Zapmeister's warning about Betti to Jeremy, whom he was surprised to discover already knew about the Parallax, and helped him to convince Betti that Veronica had never had any children. He was extremely concerned when he learned Betti had taken Veronica hostage. Shortly afterwards, he was recruited into the Francis Cam network, a way of sharing information across the Parallax, by Francis Zapmeister and the Una of the Silver World. The same was true of his Green World counterpart. Francis still refused to venture into the Parallax but he was willing to look for any signs that either Betti or her agent Spy Kid were operating in the Red World. The experience of working together over the Francis Cam led to him becoming friendlier with Francis Zapmeister. Like the Francis of the Green World, he became attracted to Una. On one occasion, they both excitedly greeted her when she joined a meeting. A slightly irritated Francis Zapmeister, who was dating Una, told his counterparts to focus.

Several days after she was captured by Betti, Francis was astonished to see Veronica casually strolling through Werrinup and asked her what had happened. Her answers were non-committal and Francis quickly grew suspicious. When he later visited the Johnson home, she shooed him out the door and gave him an apple. This confirmed Francis' suspicions that Betti was posing as Veronica since the real Veronica knew that he hated apples and would never offer him one. Calling Jeremy outside on the pretence that he had spotted a snake, he explained the situation to him. Fearful that Betti would learn about Ben, Jeremy told Francis to remove everything from Ben's bedroom that looked like it belonged to a boy. As it turned out, that amounted to everything in the room. He realised that he needed help and, having worked up the courage to finally enter the Parallax, he collided with Una who was coming through to report that Betti had been seen in the Silver World. Francis told her that Betti was in the Johnson house. She recruited Melinda of the Blue World to help them clear Ben's room. Francis was worried that Ben would be annoyed but both Una and Melinda thought that it was better than Betti finding him. Under the circumstances, Francis was forced to agree but nevertheless regretted that they had to throw away so much cool stuff. Ben's room was converted into a sewing room and Melinda claimed that Veronica had promised to give her lessons.

Francis, Katherine, Jeremy and Stefan tried to decipher what the positions of Veronica's pots meant but their efforts were fruitless until Katherine and Ben located the lost Guardian Otto. Using the diagram of the pots created by Stefan, Otto realised that they formed a map to the Reading Room, the fount of knowledge for the entire Parallax.

He took his responsibilites with the Francis Cam network seriously. When Otto disappeared from Ben's house after spotting Spy Kid, he used it to issue an all-worlds alert for the reluctant Guardian. He was pleasantly surprised that Una was immediately able to report that she had seen him in her world. Several days later, he found a note from Jeremy and Stefan which said that they had figured out the location of the Reading Room. Francis was sceptical and used the Francis Cam to tell the others that the two adults had gotten themselves lost in the Parallax.

When the Martin of his world met and formed an alliance with his Blue World counterpart, Francis sent an alert over the Francis Cam network that there were two Martins loose in the Parallax. The other two Francises and Una were disturbed by this revelation, with the latter describing it as "disgusto." Francis later ran into the Martins and sheepishly asked the Martin of the Blue World to return home and not cause any trouble. The Martins bullied and blackmailed him into giving them the fast food that he had just bought by threatening to tell Constable Garcia everything that they knew about the Parallax. Seeing an opportunity for revenge for the earlier incident with the bin, the Martin of the Red World then told Francis that he had to empty a nearby bin all over his head in front of Garcia and warned him that they would be watching. Francis realised that he had no other choice if he wanted to protect his friends and the secret of the Parallax. Garcia had misunderstood Tiffany's claims about there being two Martins and believed that there was a new criminal gang called the Martins operating in Werrinup. He chastised Francis, who was covered with tomato, for pouring the rubbish over himself and asked him if he was a member of the gang. A somewhat confused Francis denied any involvement with criminal activity. The Red World Martin told his counterpart that revenge was sweet.

Several days later, Francis saved Melinda from drowning after she fell off her bodyboard. Having been goaded by his counterpart, the Martin of the Red World ran down to the beach and attempted to steal the limelight by suggesting the formation of a Surf Club with himself as President and Melinda as Secretary. When Melinda pointed out that Francis should be President as he had saved her, Martin argued that he was the best choice. The shy Francis admitted that he wasn't that fussed. Melinda then got the idea from Una that a triathlon consisting of running, cycling and paddleboarding should be held to determine who should be President. Martin was reluctant as he knew that Francis was much fitter than him but went along with the idea in order to save face. His counterpart suggested that they cheat by taking turns in the competition. On a visit to the Red World, Francis Zapmeister observed the two Martins up to something and, after learning of the triathlon, warned his counterpart that they intended to cheat. For his part, Francis was inclined to let Martin win if he wanted to be President that badly. Francis Zapmeister suggested that they beat the Martins at their own game but Francis refused. This led his counterpart to describe him as being too honest for his own good. However, Tiffany also realised what the two Martins had planned and threatened to tell everyone, citing a desire to protect their morals. The Martin of the Red World backed down and decided to do it all by himself, to his counterpart's annoyance and confusion. Francis eventually won and was declared President of the Surf Club. Delighted by his own counterpart's victory, Francis Zapmeister taunted the losers by telling them that it would take more than two measly Martins to beat one Francis.

The Una of the Red World was attracted to Francis and looked at him admiringly as he prepared to dive into the water by the Mad Fish Rocks, something to which he appeared to be oblivious. As soon as he made the dive, he experienced a strange sensation, which he quickly determined was caused by a strange white sphere. Francis was very spooked as he realised that it must have something to do with the Parallax. When he went to his surf shed in order to relax, he was disturbed to find that Ben and Katherine were in possession of an identical sphere. He soon learned that the sphere was a powerful object called an orb which his friends had found in Otto's old hut in the Green World. They had brought it to his shed as Ben believed that Francis was the only person that they could trust with it. He was very agitated as he explained the vibe given off by the orb that he had spotted under the water. Ben and Katherine realised that he had happened upon an important discovery which they needed to check out. As they each only had 50% Guardian blood, it required both of them to enter the water to examine and activate it. Given his fear of the water, Ben was reluctant to do so but knew that it was necessary if they were ever going to find Veronica.

As Ben entered the water, Francis encouraged his best friend, telling him that there was nothing to worry about. He was very impressed and proud when Ben made the dive. However, he and the Blue World Melinda became worried when neither Ben nor Katherine surfaced. It turned out that they had discovered the Reading Room and had learned that Veronica was being held prisoner in the Purple World. Francis was about to dive in and rescue them when they emerged from the water. Having been inspired by the bravery that Ben had shown in beating his fear of the water, he realised that he could conquer his fear of the Parallax. To everyone's surprise, Francis volunteered to travel to the Purple World and rescue Veronica so that Ben and Katherine would not be placed in further danger from Betti.

Before going on the rescue mission. Francis tried to perfect a blandished look, though with only limited success. Ben joked that if anyone could imitate an unplugged airhead, it was Francis. For her part, Katherine warned him to avoid heroics, stating that he should get Veronica to the portal as soon as possible for both of their sakes. Melinda wanted to go with him but Ben and Katherine believed that two people ran twice the risk of getting caught. Even so, Francis was glad that Melinda accompanied him on his first trip through the Parallax to the Silver World. As she set the portal in the foyer of the Spiral Corporation building for the Purple World, he was visibly nervous but did not hesitate when the time came. Melinda once again volunteered to join him but he assured her that it was alright. Shortly after his arrival, Francis located Veronica in the garden. Remembering Betti's previous attempt to imitate her, he tested her identity by asking her if he liked apples. He was relieved when she correctly answered that he hated them.

As Betti was guarding one portal and the Martin of the Blue World was guarding the other, it initially appeared that they would not be able to escape to the Red World after all. However, Ben and Katherine had managed to enter the Purple World surreptiously through a one-way only side door. Furthermore, Otto and Spy Kid (who had switched sides) were present, albeit in disguise as clowns. The six of them, wearing clown costumes provided by Otto, managed to distract Martin and get his stave, allowing them to enter the portal to the Red World. Francis was thrilled by their apparent victory. However, it soon became apparent that the fight wasn't over as the furious Betti released a fireball and destroyed the Johnson house, injuring Veronica in the process.

Shortly afterwards, Ben and Katherine used the Reading Room to track Betti down to the Orange World. Francis helped with Ben's plan to trap Betti there forever by hiding the true locations of its portals, though he half-jokingly commented that his best friend's plans always meant trouble. First, he and Ben removed the stones marking one portal. While Ben and Katherine distracted Betti by getting her to chase them, Francis, Melinda, Una, Due and Otto moved her tent, which she had erected over the other portal. The plan initially succeeded in trapping Betti in the Orange World but Katherine insisted that they return as they accidentally left the Martin of the Blue World behind. With some irritation, Francis showed Martin the way back to the portal formerly marked by the stones. He was delighted when he learned that Katherine had fooled Betti into blandishing herself as, with Ben and Katherine being the only other people in the Orange World, she was the aberrant.

As they began to work together more closely in the Parallax gang, it was hinted that he and the Melinda of the Blue World were attracted to each other but both of them were too shy to do anything about it.

## Appearances

* "One Big Happy Family"
* "A Rare Find"
* "The Artful Dodger"
* "Achey, Breaky Heart"
* "One Man's Rubbish"
* "Artes Veritas"
* "The Battle of Mundi's World"
* "The Martin Crimes"
* "The World According to Betti"
* "Decoy"
* "Too Many Chiefs"
* "Ex-Ben"
* "Dad Meets Dad"
* "The Reluctant Guardian"
* "Seek and You Shall Find"
* "Sand Witch"
* "My Favourite Martin"
* "Cheats Never Prosper"
* "The Reading Room"
* "Clownin' Around"
* "It Ain't Over"

## Behind the Scenes

All versions of Francis were played by David Richardson.

With 21 appearances, he is tied with his Yellow World counterpart for the most appearances of any version of Francis.