Chapter One: The Dimension Hopping 2 Step
"I'm pretty sure this one will work!" Dan announced in perfect Japanese as he un-clicked yet another spherical capsule from his belt. He wore a brown hoody and a pair of dark blue jeans. His shaggy blond hair was bouncing up and down as he moved at a frantic pace up and down the slope of the overpass.
Dan currently found himself and 2 companions stranded in the middle of Neo-Toronto, the Tracto-Mobiles navigation software having momentarily fizzed out causing the ultra sleek pod car to crash rather inelegantly into the side of a bridge.
"It'd better!" Grumbled the half demon known as Carter Handlecroft, or by his other name, that literally everyone else calls him by: Inuyasha.
Currently he crouched directly behind Dan at the top of the slope of the underpass. He wore a white ROOTS T-Shirt with 'I heart T.O' drawn across the front, a pair of light green basketball shorts, and of course a baseball cap with the Japanese national flag, on top of his head and his ears.
"I still can't believe you spent all of our money on that puppy…" Kagome hissed, her arms crossed against her perpetual green and white school girl uniform. She was sitting slouched against the very back of the overpass, resting her back against the concrete wall.
"Oh come on look at him!" Inuyasha cooed stroking the miniature chow chow against his tanned face. "He's so, cute, who's a cute puppy? You are! You're a little cute puppy!"
Dan momentarily paused from his tinkering to trade a confused/wtf gaze with his ally from the feudal age as his tough-as-nails personality melted away while he stroked the little brown puppy.
"All right…stand back," Dan announced as he finished shifting a few toggles on the capsule. He clicked together both sides of the two-part orb and a microsecond later the thin plastic shell gave way into a small flash of fluorescent orange light which quickly dissipated in mid air taking the form of a small rectangular device. "Ah crap! This is the penny dissolver!" Dan cried out having once again chosen the wrong capsule.
"I don't see why I can't just carry you to the airport Kagome," Inuyasha groaned shaking his head back and forth.
"No way Inuyasha! We already agreed, no powers while we visit my cousin!" Kagome tisked shaking her index finger towards Inuyasha.
"Hmmf, it's not like I even wanted to come," Inuyasha grumbled crossing his arms and looking away from Kagome and back to Dan again. "I don't know why you just won't use that portal in a tube thing you made to enter my era?" Inuyasha asked referring to Dan's portable synthetic well-in-a-box.
"I've never actually tried it out," Dan replied as he recapsulized the penny dissolver and re-attached it to his belt.
"Inuyasha may have a point! I mean you did model it after the one back at my place," Kagome said reminding Dan of their previous adventure a half prior.
"Yeah, but it's untested and we still don't even know how Freta, Miko and I were able to use the well," Dan argued scratching the back of his head and waving an arm in Kagome's direction as he attempted to discourage the notion. "May we can drive without navigation software…."
"Really?"
"Oh, my no. We probably run off the road and tear apart half of Neo-Toronto," Dan explained shaking his head back and forth with a smile.
"Come on! I want to get back home!" Inuyasha whined stomping his feet up and down.
"Look I can't do it…if it works on my power, we're talking about breaking space and time!" Dan tried to explain listing 2 of his 3 restraints.
"What about those boom tubes?" Kagome asked raising an eyebrow questioningly.
"I DIDN'T MAKE THOSE! SHEEESH!" Dan exclaimed throwing his arms back in frustration.
"But if it's a copy of the shrine's well, it should work on the same power, which isn't your own!" Kagome suggested, her hands on her hips.
"Look…I'm not going to risk it—" Before Dan could finish, Inuyasha lunged forward and snagged Dan's capsule belt. "HEY!" Dan yelled as he tried in vain to catch the half demon as he leaped out and over the underpass and up to the top of a highway lamp post. Spasms of light could be seen from the ground as Inuyasha unlocked gadget after gadget, which of course rained down all over the highway.
"He can be so stubborn some times," Kagome sighed shaking her head back and forth, and raised it to find herself speaking to no one. "Dan?" She looked out towards the highway to catch a faint glimpse of Dan as he ran out into oncoming traffic.
"Darn it Inuyasha," Dan grumbled to himself as he flipped and leaped over oncoming traffic.
"HEY WATCH IT KID!" Roared a driver while Dan slid across the hood of his car.
"Sorry, sir! Just trying to protect the—" Dan's eyes caught sight of his thermal detonation charge blocks which had landed directly in front of the oncoming vehicles. An average block, weighing a three hundred pounds and with dimensions of five by seven feet, would needless to say total almost any car.
"AH MAN!" Dan moaned as he rolled over on the hood of the car so that he was facing straight forward, quickly he slid down the hood reaching out with his arms out off of the car and towards the oncoming blocks. "COMPACT-O!" Dan screamed just as his hands made contact with his target, and in a flash of light the huge crate compacted into a tiny orb which popped directly into Dan hand. "Well now that, that's taken care…. of..." His eye quickly caught site of the dozens of gadgets that now littered the road and to make matters worse, a steady stream of them was still raining down. "Sometimes…I really hate this job." Dan grumbled as he rolled off of the cars hood and rolled out onto the road.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! WHY! WHY DID I DO THAT!" Dan screamed in pain as he slowly stood back up off of the asphalt, bits of skin dangled everywhere off of his body and clumps of hair were even missing, however if one cared to notice, they'd see that most of the scrapes and cuts were already healing themselves…that didn't stop the pain though.
"Grrrrrr….." Dan growled as he shook off the pain and broke into an all out sprint, hopping onto and around the whizzing cars. "COMPACT-O! COMPACT-O!" Dan ran his fingers along every invention he could see. "COMPACT-O! COMPACT-O! COMPACT-O!" Suddenly an object that resembled an oversized dryer begin to descend. "No! Not the any stain removed tumbler!" Dan yelled as he watch it as it descended straight into the back of a tractor trailer, which quite evidently carrying skittles as now the road was covered in millions of them, the tumbler having ripped a huge hole in the back of the truck and consequentially smashed open a few dozen boxes. "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!" Dan screamed as he tripped and spun out of control as the road became covered in the most tasteful of rainbows.
"INUYASHA!"
"Kagome! I found it I found the..."
"SIT BOY!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
CRUNCH!
"HOLOGRAPHIC BLOCKADE!" Dan commanded as he threw a spinning puck-like device into the sky. Two miniature propellers then popped out of its top enabling the puck to fly even higher into the sky. "NOW!" On Dan's command the puck let out a mighty wave of violet energy that spread out and created a 200 foot bubble around the scene. For anyone outside the bubble, the illusion of construction workers appeared. "Damn it Inuyasha…" Dan sputtered as he trudged across the skittle covered road, at least half a dozen cars had crashed. Many had various instruments jutting out of the front windows, but luckily for our heroes most of the drivers were still in shock, so no one was complaining quite yet.
Inuyasha was slowly peeling himself out of the ground while Kagome sat on the side of the poly steel well. It looked exactly like the one found in Higurashi shrine save for the mast that this one was comprised completely out of a slight blue-steel alloy.
"Yeah, you really need to learn how to control yourself," Kagome commented.
"Don't…start…nagging me woman! I just got our ticket home…isn't that right, Toshi?" Inuyasha said as he stroked his puppy.
"Woof!"
"Groan…" Dan shook his head looking to the ground. "Look don't jump into—GOD DAMN IT!" Dan shouted as he raised his head and became aware of the pair's disappearance. He sprinted up to the mouth of the well and looked down. No one was there.
"Well…at least they finally got to go home." Dan commented slouching down alongside the well to take a moments rest.
"HEY! YOU! YOU'RE THE KID WHO CRASHED MY CAR!" Shouted an angry balding fat man in a yellow tee.
"YEAH! AND NOW WHAT AM I GOING TO DO ABOUT MY CHILDREN!" Screamed a mother as she dragged out the unconscious bodies of her children. An electric hammer was rammed into a young boys chest and a infinite top was slowly grinding its way into her daughters skull.
"Oh…just tap the gadgets and say Compact-o—"
"HEY! GIVE ME YOUR ID!" Growled a middle aged business women. "THIS WAS A COMPANY CAR!"
"Uh…erm…" Dan slowly got back up and began to notice that he was being surrounded by all sides. "Well…you see the thing is…LOOK IT'S PARIS HILTON!" Dan pointed off into a wild direction.
"Hmm?" The crowd all turned in the direction that he was pointing, and as they did Dan promptly flung himself deep into the well.
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"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Dan screamed as he fell through deep violet and navy blues skies. The teleportation sequence always messed him up. But slowly the world began to return to normal as the lights around him stabilized and he found himself at the dank bottom of a well.
---5 minutes of nail breaking raw climbing later---
"If it isn't the Gaijin," Miroku said with a smile just as Dan edged his way over the edge of the well.
"Good to see you too," Dan replied rolling his eye. "HRRRRRMF!" With one final lift of super strength Dan launched himself 10 feet into the air and landed directly beside the monk. Shippo was off in the distance playing with his top whilst Sango patiently wiped her Hiraikotsu clean from a previous battle.
"Where's Inuyasha?" Dan asked curiously as he looked around trying to catch sight of them.
"Oh, Kagome and him were just here. They needed some alone time…at least that's what Kagome said," Sango explained momentarily looking up and motioning to the nearby forest.
"Oh…really?" Miroku asked as slowly began to move off towards the forest but was stopped dead in his tracks by a raised Hiraikotsu.
"Don't even think about it monk," Sango grumbled slowly lowering the Hiraikotsu.
"Anyway… I'd love to stay and catch up with you guys but--"
"Your maiden needs you. I understand," Miroku nodded his head as he shook Dan's hand.
"Maiden?" Dan asked with a questioning expression.
"Surely you have wed the frog demon by now. And while I hardly condone such relationships…" Miroku replied referring to Freta.
"WHA? No way! I don't even like her!" Dan sputtered shaking his head back and forth rapidly.
"Please, you're in just as much denial as Inuyasha," Shippo chirped in as he shook his head back and forth with a dissatisfied expression across his face.
"Yeah well….HEY! IS THAT PARIS HILTON!" Dan once more pointed off in a completely random direction.
"REALLY!" Everyone exclaimed looking off into Dan's random direction at the exact same time.
"And I'm off," Dan flipped back down into the well and was once more immersed in energy…but not quite the same energy as before.
"Wait a second…WAAAAAAAAAAH!" A sudden pounding smacked into Dan's chest as the typical violet and blue energy of the time stream gave way into something else, entirely. Crimson red, violent lime peel green, and millions of small fragmented stars blinked into being as the pounding grew in intensity. Then the glass came. Wall after wall of infinite wide and tall panes of glass zipped into existence rushing forward on a horizontal vector straight into Dan's still falling body. "CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Wall after wall he continued to fall the glass shattering into a million pieces upon contact and cutting and scraping away at his flesh. "Grrrrrm." Dan frantically reached down for his capsule belt but soon remembered that Inuyasha probably still had it. Still, he manically dug into his pockets to find anything.
"No!" His hands, becoming soaked in his own blood, found it quite difficult to grip the smooth casing of each capsule and simply slipped out of his hands. This time he reached into his hoodie's pocket once more and grabbed with both hands another capsule and squeezing it as hard as he could the capsule activated. "The Ionizing Iron!" Dan exclaimed just before shattering through yet another wall of glass. The ionizing iron is a rather helpful device in that once applied to any shirt or garment that said shirt or garment will remain wrinkle free for up to 90 days!
"Oh vut the hell!" Dan sputtered as his lip was torn in two. Thrusting the iron in front of himself Dan flicked the on switch, a pulsating wave of blue energy rushed forward from the head of the iron racing to find any solid substance it could cling to, and that first substance would just so happen to be glass. The wave of blue spread out across the oncoming pain of glass causing the texture to change a bit. Bringing his hands in front of himself once more to protect his face from the next shatter, he was surprised to find himself face flat on solid ground. "Ha! Ha ha ha haa haa!" Dan broke into hysterical laughter and rolled over onto his back.
"IT WORKED IT WORK—oh my…" Dan's eyes widened in fear, apparently gravity still existed in this trippy dimension and the shards from the last sixty or so glass walls were now falling down…directly at our hero. "NO! NO! NO! Grmmm…." Dan muttered to himself as his eyes rapidly darted around trying to find some way out. "AH HA!" A series of swirling vortex's of doom had open up all around the glowing blue plate of glass. With no time to think Dan turned on his heel and rushed straight into the nearest portal. And strangely as he did so, every shard of glass froze in place.
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Dan still quite bloodied now found himself not only caked in blood, but mud as well. "Where the hell am I now?" Dan asked himself as he slowly raised himself to his knees. "Oh that's right…hell." Dan answered his own question as his eyes scanned the new terrain which by all regards did indeed resemble hell. The skies were violent orange the clouds a mixture of brown and grays, the landscape itself was dotted by hundreds of erupting volcano's and lava flows and situated around the caverns and flat sulfur beds were enormous towers rising up high above the clouds the towers were covered in thorn like pillars and thousands of electrodes sparking with frantic energy. Using his ultra eye, Dan scanned the horizon and scanned 3 miles above the clouds. With this increased vision he could make out the structure of gray iron and flickering lights that curved around with smaller and wider curved buildings inside, creating the effect of pedals. "They're…roses." Dan mumbled with an awed expression as he struggled to take in the enormity of these enormous gothic stylized structures.
"GRANDOR!" A ferocious creature grabbed Dan by the neck and flung him into a cage. The creature's skin was gray in color with cracks running along it's flesh, giving it the appearance of dried earth. A set of over sized fangs hung from the creature's overbite, it's arms thick and gorilla like and its hind legs resembling those of a mighty four legged mammal, the mindless creature having captured Dan hoisted the cart back onto his shoulders and begun to trudge towards the nearest tower.
Inside the cage Dan hobbled around, he was surrounded by alien life forms of nearly every size and shape.
"Goober Snackle?" Asked a light green creature whom resembled something onto that of a pickle with very large insectoid eyes.
"Oh yes that's right, I don't have an imbedded translator for alien! I so do not need this right now."
"GOOBER SNACKLE!" The pickle alien shouted again this time with a very frustrated expression.
"Yeah sure…GOOBER SNACKLE!" Dan replied begrudgingly waving his hands in air mockingly.
"Goober…snackle?" The pickle asked sheepishly.
"Cornona! COORS!" A dark yellow alien that resembled nothing more then a rather large wart with feet and arms shoved the pickle like creature aside.
"Heinakin?" Dan replied with a confused expression.
"MOLSON!" the giant wart roared with laughter.
"This calls for a bud light," Dan asked. "Blue Nun? Canadian Dry?"
"FOSTERS!" The wart slapped a greasy hand along side the back of Dan's head a sudden fiery feeling flooded his mind and pinched at the back of his nervous system.
"And they're you go chap, now you and me can talk like equals see." The yellow wart replied in perfect accented English.
"Why…do you have an English accent?" Dan asked with a confused yet at the same time spoke with a very British accent.
"Oye, bugger if I know, this just be the way everyone speaks in basic." The talking wart explained slapping his hand down hard onto his chest.
"Go figure… So what exactly is going on here?" Dan asked trying to get comfortable despite the cramped conditions.
"Oye, we be being hauled off to be classified for which roles we shall take as slaves."
"Slaves?"
"Yie."
"Uh…no you see there's been a mistake. I'm not from around here and—"
"Oh and ya think we are? Most of us are explorers dat that darn forcefield ray dragged down."
"Oh…well…I think I'll be just leaving now." Dan replied as he charged up his strength. "Good luck with the slavery." And with one mighty thrust Dan's caked in blood hands struck the bars…and nothing happened.
"Ah, don't worry maybe you'll get lucky and they'll have no use for ya!"
"Really! So then they'll just let me go?"
"Oh my no, they'll throw you into the feeders."
"…"
"I hear it beats da slavery!"
"Oh joy…" Dan grumbled shrugging into a crouch. "I guess I'll just have to find another way out."
"Oye, dah Rosellas won't be letting you get away with that ma boy," The yellow wart replied rubbing his bloated belly. "They be the violent short you know, nearly conquered 30 of the known universe by now."
"Really…and I've never even heard of them on Earth." Dan grumbled still attempting to get comfortable.
"EARTH!" All of the aliens in the cage sprung to life and shouted at the exact same time in shock.
"Yeah… we're a small blue and green planet on the less tasteful right wing of the milky way." Dan shrugged.
"But…my boy…your to tell me that you're from Earth?" The wart asked his eyes glowing in awe.
"Yer. I'll probably have to hitch a ride home after I escape this place won't I?"
"But ma boy…you're already home."
"What?"
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A tall slender man with waist long flat yet flowing blond hair, porcelain skin, his blood shot eyes stared out of a long and wide window beholding his handiwork. He wore a long suit of pure white, the collar raised around the back and a tiny set of spectacles resting on his nose. He was the prince of the Rosselas.
To call him a prince however is a gross understatement; for it is he who founded the empire, it was he who planted the first rose, it was he who saved the Rosselas from their own destruction and it is he who will one day rule the entirety of the universe, he is over two centuries old but doesn't appear a day over thirty.
"Beautiful is it not?" He asked without even looking behind him, he knew that David was behind him, he is always there. "Pure Thermal power… granting life to our cities, to our dreams."
"Yes, it is quite magnificent my sire," The tottering dark skinned man replied. "And to think, our foolish ancestors almost destroyed themselves, almost gave up on progress."
"Fools," The prince stated without changing his expression. "Progress can never be stopped…just like myself, no?" The prince laughed a bit too much himself.
"Precisely my master." David laughed alongside his master.
BEEP.
"Hmm?"
"I'll take this your majesty," David replied stepping back a bit and clicking down his ear piece. "Yes? Slaves? Well nothing new about that… What?... You… No… Are you serious? Because if this is a joke, I will personally order your execution…. Very well. I shall ask the Prince if he wishes to leave his chamber," David took a deep breath and cleared his thoughts. "Your Majesty. There has been a haphazard ."
"How so?"
"One of the recently wound up slaves…he says that he is…and well his genetic structure perfectly matches with-" Before David could finish his sentence the prince turned on his heel and began to strut over to the air lift.
"Is he being held in the slave quarters?" The prince asked as he entered the glass tube.
"Quadrant 316, your majesty." Dave replied checking his holographic note board.
"David, please we've known each other since childhood, call me by my proper name."
"Very well. May the rose bless you, Daniel Lakai Daroshay III."
"Hmf…that's more like it."
And with a sudden gust of wind the prince flew vertically down at break neck speeds.
-----In quadrant 316.----
"You are to have an audience with our prince." Barked a grey skinned hulking beast.
"Purple Rain?" Dan asked sarcastically. "YAGH!" The guard not appreciating the pop culture reference jabbed Dan in the chest with an electro-blade.
The round doors ahead of the chamber slowly drew open and stepping through them came the emperor Daroshay. Dan took a double take.
"Whoa! Wait!" Dan shook his head back and forth with a confused expression. "You're! You're! Ashton Kutcher? YAGH!"
"Don't…" Prince Daroshay struck out with his index and middle finger, a ribbon of light orange energy whiplashed out and struck the guard severing his spear jabbing hand off. "Do that."
"GRAAAAAAAAAH!"
"Oh just shut up." Prince Daroshay struck again with his energy ribbon this time decapitating and disemboweling the guard in a matter of seconds.
"Dude…did you just…" Dan stuttered looking to the still smoking corpse of the guard.
"Galgarians, they're easily replacable." Daroshay shrugged. "But you…you're a rarity now aren't you."
"Look I really don't know what this is about, but…if you give me a ride home…I won't have to…KILL YOU ALL!" Dan whipped out the ionized iron out once again.
"Hmf..." The prince cracked a smile before squinting his eyes and casting out a beam of concentrated orange energy, striking the iron and causing it to implode. "So, you are a clone? Correct?"
"Not the last time I checked, what is this about?" Dan asked with a begrudged expression across his face.
"Hm… So you are not from around here are you?"
At this Dan paused for a second his mouth dropping for a few seconds. "Noooooooooo, you THINK!"
"You do know what this means, don't you?" Daroshay asked moving closer to his younger counterpart.
"That you're…a craaaaaaazy man?" Dan asked wiggling his blood caked fingers in the air.
"Infinite dimensions, parallel worlds…all of my theories, they were correct." Daroshay muttered.
"Dimensions…well that would explain the last 2 hours of my life quite nicely now wouldn't it," Dan pondered to himself for a bit.
"Well… I suppose I ought to have my scientists dissect you and see if that will leave me any clues," Daroshay mumbled uncaringly. "Take him to the lab men." Daroshay waved his guards towards Dan.
"WHAT! Oh no way!" Dan's eyes scanned the area…the electro-staff it was a bit wet with blood…but it was still good. Dan thought to himself. Looking around he noticed dozens of guards coming out of nowhere…no wait they were coming out of…the shadows? "Heartless?" Dan raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Oh," The prince stopped in his trot. "Haven't heard that name for a while. Just for your interest, I call them creepers and I believe you'll find them much more efficient killing machines then their pixilated counterparts though.
And he was right, they certainly weren't heartless, they were much more beastly taking on hundreds of different forms, tendrils claws, teeth, tongues, limbs all flailed about ,slowly creeping towards Dan.
"Ha-HMF!" Dan leapt into the air jumping above a series of constraining tendrils and landing next to the electro-staff he rolled out of the way of a series of tendrils at the last second and picked up the staff, with a few twists the head of the staff lit to life light blue electricity crackling madly. "FRAAAAAH!" With one big wide swept swing Dan electrified a small patch of the creepers and took into a run closely pursued by a dozen more creepers. Rushing across the room Dan quickly realized that he was headed for a dead end, the round doors that had brought him up from the slave quarters were quite closed. "Here we, go, got to..."
A creeper in the dark outlined form of a raptor leaped into the air and came down, claws and teeth out. But with a left right left right strike followed by a direct blow to the chest, Dan easily knocked the creeper/raptor back into the ground where it fizzed out into a small swell of dark before breaking apart into tiny specks of black.
"So you can kill them," Dan thought just as a spider like creeper leaped for him, but a quick super strength powered kick sent the arachnid buckling back.
"Now, HIC HOC POTANI ACTIVATO!" Dan shouted as he smacked both hands against the doors, closing his eyes tightly he could feel the wet and dank bleakness of the creepers beginning to run up over him. Concentrating on the locking mechanism Dan used all his will to configure it, turning the locking mechanize off with his mind and—
Swish.
FRAZZZZAAAP
Dan flopped out into the hall way his entire lower body engulfed in gurgling shadows. With this Dan allowed the electro-staff to slide down his arm and along his back till it rammed straight into the mass of creepers, pouring out a seemingly never ending stream of light blue energy that electrocuted the inky polymorphic creatures causing them to spasm and shake and finally explode into millions of specks. Dan now free from his constraints broke into a full out sprint through the lower halls of the tower, it resembled a very, very long cathedral with the walls rising hundreds of feet to a curved roof. As Dan rushed with all his speed down the hall, he became completely unaware of the growing hordes descending from the ceilings buttresses (those long arched pieces of wood that hold up a curved ceiling) bubbling and contorting out from the buttresses the creepers plummeted to the ground as black blobs splattering all across the ground, but they quickly began to change shape. Long slender limbs grew out forming into thin almost feline like legs while the rest of the form contorted into a cat like creatures.
"Ahhh man." Dans head darted left and right counting the 40 some odd high speed creepers that were now curving around him in a U formation. Slowly the creepers moved closer and closer together, closing in around Dan. "NO WAY! Not again!" Dan grumbled kicking off the ground at the last minute as all 40 creepers collided into one another. They quickly molded together forming a huge huge throbbing black mass which arched up taking the form of a humongous hand. "Whoaaaaaaaa!" Dan screamed as he twisted in midair to dodge the multiple attempted grasps by the hand. Just as he began to fall back down to Earth, Dan turned in mid air and face the oncoming gurgling hand. "YEEERG!" Dan reeled back with all his might and switched the Electro-staff to full power. "YAH!" He threw the Electro-staff like a javelin directly into the palm of the humongous liquid hand, no sooner did the staff sink 4 feet into the palm did it let off a mind boggling series of light blue explosions, as the staffs power battery let out every bit of its juice. Stopping in its tracks the enormous hand quivers and shudders dozens of wart/blister like bubbles roaring to its surface just before-
SPLURF!
The hand exploded into thousands of drops of ooze, an especially large blob splashed into Dan and caused him to loose all balance and land flat on his back.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Dan screamed in pain thrashing back and forth, a weird lopsy feeling in his right shoulder causing him to gulp in pain. "SHIT!" Dan rolled onto his side his left arm rubbing the source of the pain. "Dislocated…" Dan grumbled as he started to limp his way towards the towering exit. "Only one way to fix this quick enough…"
Dan sneered in self disgust, tears starting to well in his eyes. "VENUS!" Dan shouted an emerald fury of energy burst around his broken form leaving only a faint shilouette of his rapidly changing form. Then almost as though a gust of wind had blown the fire out, the emerald flame dissipated leaving Danielle in its midst. "That's better." Danielle moaned rolling her shoulder blades a few times and clinking her neck back and forth. Danielle broke into a sprint towards the doors once more, but only got about 10 feet before.
"SHIT MY PANTS!" Danielle stumbled reaching down and pulling her now quite baggy pants back up. "I hate being a chick, nothing ever fits right." Danielle snarled as she closed her eyes and re-summoned the emerald flame via thought, reverting her back into Dan. "Now lets go." Dan shouted now fully revived he started running head first. "HIC!" Dan roared whipping out a permanent marker while still running. "HOC!" Dan rotated a nozzle on the marker and 3 heads broke out and flew through the air each drawing on a separate line to create the Tractonia symbol (my avatar). "POTANI!" Dan kick leaped him self straight for the door and began to concentrate with all his will on doggy door. "ACTIVATO!" Dan smashed his right hand against the logo causing furious orange energy to burst forth from under his hand. Dan then stepped forward against what appeared to be solid metal, but looks were quite deceiving as the small portion that Dan stepped through curved up and in much like a giant doggy door. "Now to find a way…out….of…here?" Dan stumbled over his own words as he stared across the barren and volcanic landscape dotted by the monolithic rose towers. All of it looked quite the same, and quite frankly Dan had no clue of which way to go. "Ah, damn…how will I get back to th—"
"RUN!" Screamed a boy whom looked exactly like Harry potter.
"Harry Potter?" Dan asked with a questioning stare.
"I've come back in time to stop you from making a terrible decision!" Harry replied sputtering madly.
"Oh with Hermione's time turner? Oh man this is so cool!" Dan replied whilst standing in an apocalyptic landscape.
"Yeah….well go ahea—"
"NO! Harry you can't stop him!" Yelled a second Harry Potter.
"Oh my god! A second Harry Potter? This just keeps getting better and better!" Dan replied with a laugh.
"Oh so you're me, from after I tell Brian here not to—"
"Precisely!" The second Harry replied.
"Brian?" Dan asked raising an eyebrow.
"STOP! It's I, Harry Potter, from yet another timeline! You two shouldn't be here!" Yelled a third Harry that warped in seemingly out of nowhere.
"BLOODY HELL!" Screamed the first Harry Potter. "I can't believe it!"
"My…name isn't Brian." Dan replied whilst being ignored by the three Harry Potters.
Suddenly three more Harry Potters warped into reality. "NO YOU MUST NOT TELL HIM/MUST TELL HIM!" The three yelled to their counterparts before exchanging looks at one another.
"Yo, name's not Brian!" Dan said with a bored expression, raising a hand.
"So you three all come from different various points of time to prevent or ensure that we follow a series of action?" The third Harry Potter asked.
"That's right." Nodded the fifth Harry Potter.
"Well that's just plain extraordinary!" Replied the sixth Harry Potter.
"Wait!" "WAIT!" "WAAAIT!" WAIIIIT!" "WAIIT!" "NO!" "DON'T!" "SHOULDN'T!" "GO BACK!" "HAGGRAD!" 9 more Harry Potters rushed up shouting furiously.
"Hey you guys didn't see a rip in space and time around here by any chance…did you?" Dan asked scratching the back of his bushy blond head.
"Over there mate!" All 15 Harry Potters turned and pointed towards a light purple rectangular door frame off in the far distance. Dan squinted and caught site of dozens of more Harry Potters rushing through the door way screaming and hollering.
"Thanks…um…good luck?" Dan thanked before swiping one of the Harry's brooms and flew off.
"Oye! He took me broom!" Whined Harry number 22.
"I think we have more pressing matters to attend to," Harry number 11 suggested his arms crossed.
"Yes…well lets do some basic arithmetic, if Harry number 29 left at 8:32 pm and if the multidimensional time lapse is 32.202 seconds per quantum leap…."
"WAIT! DON'T WORK OUT THAT CALCULATION!" Screamed yet another band of 10 Harrys.
"NO! NO YOU BLOODY FOOLS!" Shouted Harry number one. "AT THIS RATE WE'LL PARADOX OURSELVES FROM EXISTEN—" unfortunately Harry number ones warning could not be heard over the collective 136 Harry Potters perpetual ramblings and warnings. And with a bizarre light blueish warp the Harry Potters began to implode one by one.
"YERP!"
"EPP!"
"POOF!"
The chain reaction continued to spread even as Dan etched nearer and near to the portal. Reaching out with his right arm Dan swooped in at a mind boggling 120 miles an hour…then the broom began to implode.
"Huh?" Dan asked as the back bristles of the broom began to rip apart and spark out of existence. "YEEEEEEEEE!" Dan squealed as he edged closer and closer to the portal. 100 feet! 90 Feet! Dan pulled himself further up along the broom as more and more of the shaft disintegrated into blue light. 50 feet! "JUST GOTTA LAND! JUST GOTTA LAND!" Dan yelled to himself as he spun around out of control still hovering a solid 20 feet above the ground. 30 Feet! Dan now flipped himself up into a hand stand as the last foot of the broom begun to break apart. "Almost they're…almost---" The broom disappered 15 feet above the ground and 10 feet from the portal. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Dan tumbled through mid air still riding the momentum from the broom. "WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!" Dan rammed right through the portal and smacked face first onto the glowing pane of glass. "Oof!" the wind was knocked out of Dan as he grinded along the panel of glass still sliding at tremendous speeds he swerved across the glass directly into another swerving vortex of Doom. "Wah?" Dan mumbled for a split second, he was able to notice three things - one, the sky was a nice shade of baby blue with a few fluffy clouds. Two, it was a city, and looked pretty up to date with Dan's own world. Three, he had landed in a cherry blossom tree…which then broke under his weight, leaving Dan to fall eight feet and land on his side…and promptly black out.
"Hey! Did you see that!" Pomona squealed pointing from the picnic table that she and eight other girls and one young man were seated at.
Usagi had decided to hold a congratulatory lunch for the recently victorious Shadow Senshi. Although at the present moment she wasn't so much as hosting the event as filling her pie hole with rice cakes. "Mmf?" Usagi tilted her head curiously.
"Oh my…a boy fell out of that tree!" Kakure said with a shocked expression pointing to the now quite collapsed body of Dan Daroshay.
"Finally this picnic is getting interesting!" Kaiki smiled hopping off the side of the table and rushing across the park towards Dan.
"WEEEEE!" Pomona somersaulted over the table and across the park in pursuit of Kaiki.
"Should we follow?" Sora asked her cousin tilting her head to the side cutely.
"Sigh…I guess so," Toki nodded her head and headed off along with Sora.
"Eizou? Aren't you coming?" Kaki asked as she joined the rest of the "welcoming party".
Eizou just sat on the bench her eyes watching a tiny ant crawling across the table towards her food.
"We'll just hold down the fort," Kakushi replied patting Apple on the head.
"Oh…okay," Kaki said awkwardly as she turned and followed the rest of the girls across the park to the blond boy who was still lying flat on his back.
"What's up with her?" Usagi asked as she caught up next to Kaki.
"She's still a bit tender," Kaki explained. "She's been like this ever since we defeated Void."
"Really? I hardly noticed!" Usagi replied twerking her head a bit.
"Wha…ermmm," Dan slowly shook his head back and forth his still hazy he began to pick up on the basic shapes and colors of half a dozen or so people…possibly school girls by the sounds of it, but his ears were still ringing.
"Oh a Gaijin!" Sora announced as she hung over Dans twitching body.
"Hmf…that explains a lot," Toki smirked shaking her head back and forth.
"How so?" Kaiki asked putting her hands on her hips.
"Well it's pretty stupid, climbing cherry blossom trees, no self respecting Japanese citizen would do such a thing," Toki explained shaking her head in disgust.
"Hmmm, I think he's kinda cute!" Kakure giggled poking Dan on the nose.
"Wha? Where am I?" Dan coughed fully opening his eyes and rising up off of his back ever slowly having to use his hands to leverage himself back up.
"Do any of you know any English?" Kaiki asked looking for a girl to raise her hand or atleast say something.
As she spoke Dan thought to himself 'Japanese aye? Well the babel-o-fish should be kicking in any time now…anytime now.' Dan waited for his implanted translator to take effect, but nothing happened. "Oh no."
"Hello, cabbage!" Kaki slowly mouthed in very broken English.
"Wait a second…just hold on a second." Dan stuttered as he thought back to the giant talking wart alien. "COORS!" Suddenly the alien translation device flew into full power. "Hey. Sorry about that, don't worry about anything, I know Japanese quite well actually." Dan replied in perfect Japanese.
"WOOT! He's even fluent!" Kakure squealed clapping her hands.
"Great, so… I guess I'm back in Japan aye," Dan asked raising an eyebrow as he slowly teetered to his feet, using the cherry tree for support.
"Well, of course! Where else would you be?" Usagi asked with a questioning tone.
"OH GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dan screamed falling backwards in shock as of seeing the dreaded Usagi. "Please, no god no! NOT AGAIN!" Dan continued to step backwards swerving his hands in front of his face.
"Do…I know you?"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME—" Dan tripped over a park bench and smacked his head against a concrete monument and promptly fell unconscious…again.
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Prince Daroshay stood before the portal, the rip in space and time still quivered erratically back and forth. The Prince was flanked by 6 Gagarin guards and of course his trusty man servant David whom was quickly writing on his holographic clipboard notes and figures.
"This is it… the portal to infinite worlds. Just what we've been waiting for," The prince breathed in an icy tone as he waved his pale hand horizontally in front of the portal. "Infinite sources of energy, infinite power for my infinite EMPIRE!" He laughed somewhat maniacally. Slowly he stepped into the portal and into the crawlspace of hanging glass (What we'll call the mid point) and glanced around at the dozen spinning vortex's of doom.
"My god," David said dumbfounded as he stared up at the millions of hanging shards of glass. Looking up one could see that on the ruined floors there were even more spinning vortexes of doom.
"Twelve vortexes…twelve worlds… and my doppelganger is hiding from me in just one." Prince Daroshay spoke in a monologue. "My gamble indeed proved wise, I knew he'd lead us back to this place. Now we must simply find him and bring him back."
"My majesty, all things considered…why? I mean, here are twelve more universes to conquer! Why do we need a weak version of you?" David asked shrewdly.
"He is the key… He must know how to transverse the dimensions…if we capture him all of the others can be ours as well." Prince Daroshay explained clenching his fists above himself.
"So…?"
"Ready the roses…" Prince Daroshay announced as he stepped back into his own world to prepare his infinite legions.
"How many sir?"
"Oh I'd say at least a dozen…AHHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Prince Daroshay laughed as he stepped out through the portal leaving the Crawlspace of Hanging glass and its dozen different worlds.