Depths of Dimensions/Part 2J (Slumont)

Back to Part 1J.

Part 3: Are You Down, Are You Down, Are You Down, Are You Down, Downtown

HOOOOOOONK! The busy streets on Slumont, a city quite far from Trikon City but still in the same continent, was filled with traffic to the brim. All types of cars and trucks now had to wait a longer period of time to get to where they wanted to go. What was causing a traffic was in the center of the road, an incredibly large hole that occasionally glowed purple or teal from the inside, shooting a brilliant light of that respective color into the sky. It really was a nice sight... or at least, it would've been if the humongous hole hadn't been placed so inconveniently.

Cars and trucks were honking nonstop- it appeared that the hole had been made recently, because several drivers were yelling to one another, all talking about how ridiculous it was how a huge hole came out of practically nowhere. They'd be too busy sharing their quite unfortunate luck with one another to notice a group of six, all falling onto a nearby sidewalk close to the city. It was the group of Mac, Reens, Lee, Raindrop, Kibo, and Vendeta, who would all randomly descend upon the sidewalk.

Mac fell flat onto his stomach, but thanks to him knowing how to defend himself with energy, the damage wasn't catastrophic. However, he still did feel quite a bit of pain, especially considering his previous bout with Lorenzo. He'd then pull himself up and sit on his rear, rubbing his head. "Damn.... that was sudden."

Lee sat up, somehow in even worse shape than Mac. It really didn't help that Onyx was screaming in confusion about.... pretty much everything up to this point. He lifted his arm, examining the wounds in it. Pain was an old acquaintance of his, but one that almost always held the same shock. His careful looking was interrupted when Raindrop slammed into his back.

"AAAAAAHHHH! What happened to you?!" She scurried around him in a panic, taking in his myriad of injuries.

"Whoo! Okay, you fiery freak, I'm gonna... uh, where the heck are we?" Reens asked, popping up out of her water portal. "... Holy shoot..." she said, looking over at Lee and Raindrop, noticing Lee's injuries.

"I'm... not sure. Hopefully a good distance away." Lee said, letting Raindrop take his arm. Wherever her hand touched, the fur of his arm would turn black, split up, and then seal into a fully healed spot.

Vendeta appeared and shot straight upwards, still carrying the momentum from when Siegfried has thrown him through the ceiling. He spun around in mid air and slowly descended towards the ground.

Mac would try to stand up, but had a bit of difficulty, what with the moisture-drained arms and all. It took him a bit, but eventually he got up, barely able to hold the Realmmobile. "This is one of Schnee's inventions. She's really smart, and it can teleport people through dimensions or something. I've used it before." Mac kept scratching his head. "It wasn't this... sudden last time, though. Schnee probs didn't have too much time to work out the tiny stuff."

Mac sighed, and then he looked at Raindrop. "Wait, weren't you rolling with Kennedy's gang? Why are you all roughed up? Did you guys find bandits or something while getting there?"

"Rabbit lady and some other people showed up. Shot me twice, kicked me, tried to freeze me, spat blood. Really not fun." The Lynx responded, touching Lee's head and back now.

Mac's body tensed up when he heard "rabbit lady." "Holy hell, Luna met with you guys, too?! She brought a whole lot of punks to the mansion-" Mac paused, and then he turned to Reens. "Wait, you were at the bank or Ringmart, weren't you? What were the guys there like? Did a purple demonic bunny thing show up at wherever you were, too?"

Reens scratched her ear, a bit confused from her 'teleportation' from earlier. "Yeah, but she didn't show up till later. She souped up the guys we were fighting and gave them different powers. I fought the earth guy and the fire guy, but I didn't touch the others." She then looked down at her right hand, clenching it. "I... I think she wanted me to join her. She noticed my abilities and told me if I had to be under her, like I had no choice. I can't be mind-controlled; other people have tried. I hope the people I was with are alright... especially that kid. He was brave. Stupid, but brave. He went to the mansion to help you of all people."

Mac stood up, finally, when Reens was done talking, flailing his moisture-drained arms around like he was weightless. "Psh, we didn't need the help! Luna just-"

He got the image of Scarlet getting shot in the chest and stoned, and then he simmered down, making a motion similar to crossing one's arms. "....she got some lucky hits in, and she's going to pay for that. She was quick to the draw, though.... this was the first time she's ever made such a brutal move so quickly..." Mac scratched his chin with the middle of his arm, and he kept muttering to himself, despite the fact that pretty much no one knew what he was talking about.

"Whoa, easy there, tiger," Reens said, grabbing one of his arms gently. "Your arms don't look so good. Hold still, okay?" Taking a deep breath, Reens stood still, focusing her heart energy into the arm she held. A soft golden light enveloped it, and Mac would be able to feel some life returning to the limb.

The arm would begin to bulk up, and Mac stopped muttering to himself. "....thanks, bud," he quickly thanked. "There was a creep running around who basically sucked the life out of my arms. Zero out of ten experience, would not want to try it again."

Lee glanced over at Reens. "Hey, do you think you can fix her up too?" He pointed at Raindrop with a hand that shifted from pitch black to the normal black of his fur. "She got pretty banged up with whoever she was fighting." The two swapped a few quiet words before Raindrop huffed, pulling her hands away from Lee.

After healing Max's other arm, Reens let go of it and nodded. "Sure, no problem. I hope you don't mind," she said, walking over to her. "Just hold still."

"...fine." She agreed, her ears tilting downwards. Vendeta floated down towards the ground, brushing dust off his trenchcoat.

”Looks like we’re still on some version of Earth,” He said “So that’s a good sign.”

"Now that I think about it, this place looks really familiar," Mac noted, looking around and stretching his replenished arms. "I think I own a place here... and God, am I tired. Turns out spending so much time fighting intergalactic freaks can take a toll on ya," Mac harshly joked.

Reens, who was busy healing Raindrop, gave a chuckle, albeit not sincere. The soft golden glow would envelop any injuries she had, but Reens was exhausting her heart energy, so she had to be quick. She didn't want anyone to worry about her, though.

Raindrop began to perk up as she did, and looked up at Reens with a smile.

Lee stood up, stretching his now healed arms. "What's an Earth?"

”The planet where Mobians and humans live,” Vendeta replied “Do you...not have one?”

"We live on Mobius... that's why we're called Mobians." He answered. "Humans left a long time ago where I come from."

"On my Mobius, which is what this planet is called," Mac informed them. "Humans and Mobians are both around, but you don't see too many humans around." Mac sighed. "I don't really think I've understood that you guys are from different dimensions yet, to be honest."

”I’ve been doing shit like this for years,” Vendeta replied “You just roll with it eventually.”

"Between dimensions and planes, I've given up on usually trying to find where I am." Lee said.

"Well, since I can use my arms again, I'm ready to get moving to my place," Mac told the group. "I've seen enough of the city for one day."

"Back to the mansion?" Raindrop asked, standing up.

"...You could say that," Mac half-answered. "We've got mansions all over the place, y'know. Slumont has a place, too. I think the last time I was at Slumont's Hartley Mansion was, like, eight months ago."

"Do you have a way of communicating with the others?" Vendeta asked "If they've been attacked by Luna, they're going to need help. Plus, if they go back to the Trikon mansion, they might run into Luna's cronies."

"Well, last time I used one of these, I was able to talk to other people who had it, but..." Mac examined the Realmmobile more closely and shook his head. "Schnee must've made these in a hurry if her group was attacked. I don't see any communicators on it." Mac sighed.

"Drat," Reens replied, finished with healing Raindrop and stretching her own limbs. "We'd better start walking, then. Who knows if some of Luna's underlings followed us here."

"I think I know the way to it, but just gonna check," Mac responded. He whipped a somehow unbroken phone out of his jacket pocket, and after entering a GPS in, Mac turned around. "This way, I'll lead you guys to it."

Lee got up, and Raindrop dashed to his side with a considerable amount of pep in her step. "Ok!"

"If we're able to meet up with the other groups somehow, I'm sure I can add a communication device to the Realmmobile. Maybe not as advanced as it, but operational," Reens suggested as she started walking.

Mac smiled at Reens. "Hey, at least we have a 200 IQ person in the group!" Then, he saw Lee, and his eyelids lowered. Of course I get stuck with the twerp, though.

Lee spoke up next. "If the Realmmobiles work on a specific frequency, I know I can rework it into a comms device."

"You're a nerd, too?" Mac asked Lee, no kindness in his voice whatsoever. With his reaction to Reens in mind, it was clear Mac didn't actually care about how smart Lee was; he was just making a not-so nice-spirited dig at him. "Guess we won't have much trouble."

"Let's just hope the others are ok," Vendeta interjected.

"Eh, Kennedy didn't look beat up at all when I saw him," Mac explained, putting his hands behind his head. "But then again, he's Kennedy, so I'm not too surprised... but then again again, she's Luna. Wait-" Mac turned around and began walking backwards, facing Raindrop. "Did Kennedy even fight Luna?"

"Hell if I know," Vendeta replied. "Everything was moving so fast when I got pulled into your mess that I barely even remembered half of the people I met. I'm glad I got to know you all a bit better over time."

"I don't quite remember," Raindrop shrugged. "Too busy trying to not get killed."

"Maybe we can work together on it," Reens said to Lee with a gentle smile. "My IQ's nowhere near 200, I just like messing with tech sometimes. I'm sure we could make something awesome!"

"Mine's... I think 74. I just build a lot." He raised his left arm. "I'd be willing to help, yeah."

Mac chuckled upon hearing Lee. Dumbass, he said to himself. "Speaking of things moving fast," be began, turning to Vendeta. "What's up with the jacket and sword? You didn't have any of this getup going on the last time we squared off against Luna."

”Long story,” Vendeta replied. “Put simply, after I got back to my home dimension after our fight with Calamis, I decided to do some...soul searching. During that time I...well, an old friend...well, an old enemy, found some old Guardian gear. I decided it was useful and kept it ever since.”

Vendeta sighed. The fact that he still called Nethilis a friend when he’d destroyed his life was troubling to him. Was the control chip Nethilis had placed in his head still affecting him on some level? The thought made him shudder, something he did only very rarely.

"'Our' fight with Calamis? Sorry, bud, but you're misremembering," Mac explained, scratching the back of his head. "The only time I've ever been with you is against Luna that first time."

"Maybe he means another version of you," Reens replied, her right hand behind her head. "Goodness knows how many different versions of us could be out there." She was walking at a good pace, despite the energy that had been drained from her during her healing sessions.

"I met... two different versions of me. One was super strong and the other one gave me his life force." Lee quickly added, apparently having personal experience with dimensional variants.

"I don't think so," Vendeta replied "He recognised me. Unless he's met another Vendeta? That seems a little too coincidental, though."

"God, things were so much easier before this dimension mumbo jumbo," Mac half-joked. "I'd like to imagine the other me was just as funny and handsome, though."

Reens frowned a little in thought. "I imagine that other mes would be like me in some sort of way, like personality and background. I would hope that they didn't go through as much heartbreak."

”The only other me I know of is Vendeta Blue,” Vendeta interjected “And he wasn’t exactly me, just a poorly made copy. The Guardians has some files on alternate dimensions but they knew very little about them. I wonder if our world has one of you two.”