Welcome to the fourth chapter of this story! Shall we resolve that cliffhanger?
CHAPTER 4 – Hello
(P staying with me) We all nervously looked around for anything that might rip the universe apart. Because we now directly saw each other, we all feared that it would be like what happened to the multiple Kowalski's years ago.
But miraculously, after a few minutes, nothing happened. The universe was not going to be ripped to shreds. We all breathed a sigh of relief that we would be safe. And then we returned our attention to our doppelgangers.
"So you're my doppelganger. It's nice to meet you," we all said to our other selves, while shaking their appendages. "So what is your name?" we asked each other. "Let's split into groups. It's going to be tough to talk if we all say things at the same time," both Skippers said. We then disbanded into three smaller groups.
(P to Marlene) "So shall we sit down?" I asked everyone. We all did. "How about you go first, since you are our guests," my doppelganger said. "Thank you," we replied. "You're welcome," they said to us.
"So what are your names?" I asked our doppelgangers. "Skipper," his doppelganger said. "Malcolm," my other self said. "Samantha," Samuel's other self said. "Adam," Annabelle's alternate self said.
"So what are your names?" they asked us. We all said what our names were. "Your names really are nice," Samantha said to us. "Thanks. Your names are nice, too," Annabelle said to them. "Thanks as well," Adam said happily.
We all smiled at each other, happy we were all friendly. "So what's it like, being a boy?" Annabelle asked Adam. "You've never switched bodies for a few minutes with the mind switcher?" he asked her.
"Well, we have, but I'm not really him, if you know what I mean," Annabelle answered. "Maybe we could switch minds later, if it's ok with you Mom and Dad," Samantha asked her parents.
"If it's ok with you," Malcolm said to us. "If either Kowalski's math says it won't cause a problem, I'd be open to that," I said. "And we could get Matthew to change our species too," Samuel suggested.
"You mean Mackenzie, at least for us," Samantha said. That made us all laugh. "So what is it like having claws during combat?" Skipper asked his other self. "I really don't use them that much during combat. But they are handy," the other Skipper answered.
"Have you used them Marlene?" Malcolm asked me. "Only when I was with Matthew and went feral at Blowhole on the wedding day," I answered. * "And how was that battle and the subsequent press conference?" he asked me.
I chuckled. "Well, I'd say it went well. We won, after all," I happily pointed out. "Yes, Mackenzie and I did as well," Malcolm happily said. "That was close though. Without us, Blowhole would've altered the past," Adam said. **
"So that happened to you too, huh? That was too close, traveling there," Annabelle said. All of the children's' fur and feathers bristled with their own memories of almost falling out of a plane.
"Relax children. You're safe on the ground right now," my husband assured them. That thankfully calmed them down before they even start to shake nervously. "Thanks Dad," Samuel said happily to him.
"So what was it like, being pregnant?" Malcolm asked me. "It was interesting, I'll say that. Growing children inside of you for three months is hard work. And don't get me started on giving birth. But it's wonderful, having children," I said happily as we went into a family hug.
"10-4 on that Marlene. That was a lot of work. But being able to have children while being opposite species is wonderful," the other Skipper said. They then had their own family hug.
(P to me) "So what are your names?" our doppelgangers asked us. We all said our names and asked what theirs were. "I'm Mackenzie," my other self said. "I'm Elliot," Emily's double said. The children's doubles were James and Denise.
"So what do you look like as a human?" Mackenzie asked me. I chuckled. "I was about to ask you the same thing," I said. We turned both our families into humans. We all looked at ourselves.
"So that's what I look like as a boy/girl," Mackenzie and I said to each other. It was interesting, seeing what I would look like if I were a girl. I looked pretty good, to be honest.
We then returned ourselves back to animals. "So what's it like, you know, being a boy?" Emily asked Elliot. He chuckled. "Well, I'm sure you've switched bodies with Matthew a few times, so you probably know a little bit of that," Elliot said.
Emily and I blushed, since that was true. "So did you have a prophecy too?" Emily asked Elliot. "Yeah, I did. It was that Mackenzie would team up with Adam and Samantha to keep our freedom. Was that the same for you?" he asked us.
"That's exactly how it was for us too. Never again am I riding in a plane," I said, making my feathers bristle, along with Mackenzie's fur. "But without that, you wouldn't have us," Julia pointed out.
"And you wouldn't have us," Denise also pointed out to them. "But we do," Emily and Elliot said happily. Our little families got together in a hug. "So we've got some more questions," Emily said. Mackenzie chuckled. "As do we," she said.
"So when you were pregnant with James and Denise, who was kidnapped? Because when I was pregnant with Julia and Dylan, I was kidnapped," Emily said. Her fur bristled at that memory.
"Believe it or not, but I was actually the one kidnapped, even though I wasn't the one that was pregnant," Elliot surprisingly said. "Really? What was Blowhole's tactic then?" I asked him. "It was to use me to make Mackenzie go into labor in fear of me," he replied.
"That almost worked. I was that close to having my water break," Mackenzie said, pinching her thumb and index finger close together. "Could you communicate with them?" Julia asked her, speaking of James and Denise.
"Yeah, that was just so weird. What a strange experience, communicating with your unborn children," Mackenzie said. "Right back at you with that. But do you remember?" I asked her children.
"Yeah, we do, somehow. But anything after Mom went into labor until we started to act mischievous we don't remember. What about you?" Denise asked our children. They frowned. "We don't. You two are lucky. How do you remember that?" Dylan asked them.
"A simple act of getting copyright control and being able to change things helps. You haven't tried that?" Mackenzie asked me. "I just never thought to. What are the odds that those memories exist, you know?" I said, blushing.
"Can we do that back at home Dad while the Memory Viewer is active?" Julia asked me. "Sure. After we actually get home, that is," I said. "How did you wind up here anyway?" Elliot asked us.
"We really don't know. We were just trying to get to our other world, but a green Portal appeared during the tunnel voyage," Emily answered. "That's strange. But were you talking about meeting alternate versions of yourself before you wound up here? We were this morning," Denise said to us.
"Actually we were as well. And now it actually happened. Our lives are all really strange," Julia said, making us laugh. "Yeah, they really are. But that's fun," Mackenzie said, making us laugh again
"So I've got some questions for you Matthew," Mackenzie said to me. "Go right ahead," I replied to her. "Do you still like technology-related things? Or are you a sports guy?" she asked me curiously.
"I still like tech. It's good to know that even if I were you, I'd still like that. I bet your sister's a tomboy, right?" I asked her knowingly. ** "Oh she is. And she's massively jealous that I'm already happily married with children," Mackenzie said joyfully.
"My brother is the same way. I have to say though, it still feels a bit strange to be married at only 20. But I stopped caring long ago," I said happily, giving Emily a kiss. Mackenzie and Elliot shared a kiss as well.
*** "So after your first Blowhole battle, how much chaos happened back home?" Mackenzie asked me. "Oh I'm sure you know the answer to that. It was a complete disaster," I answered her. "So many interviews and requests," Mackenzie said, shaking her head.
"Exactly. But was it worse for you, since you had to do more to get ready for them?" I asked her. "Yeah, it was. I mean, I like looking nice, but having to do that all the time was annoying. School was a disaster as well, right?" Mackenzie asked me.
"Let me just say this. Thank goodness for the Internet. But I'm really glad I don't have to bother with that hindrance, thanks to living in the zoo," I said to her. "Tell me about it. So many worries gone, due to that never happening," Mackenzie said happily. "Ditto," I said, agreeing with her.
"And we're glad we don't have to go to school," Julia said happily. "Did Adam and Samantha train you too? Annabelle and Samuel trained and taught us," Dylan said to them. They chuckled. "Yeah, that's how it was for us too. Being mischievous is just pure fun," James said, making the children laugh.
"That may be fun for you, but if I didn't have my powers, it'd be really annoying for us," Mackenzie said to James and Denise. "Same to you children," I said to Dylan and Julia. "That's a lot of power Dad," Dylan said to me. All the children frowned at us parents.
"It may be, but at least we let you act mischievous sometimes," Elliot pointed out to them. "I guess that's true. At least you're fun sometimes," James said to his parents. "Same here," Julia said to Emily and I. Our individual families shared a hug again.
That's a wrap on this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review it. I have a few notes today.
* Referencing way back to Book 2.
** Referencing Book 4.
*** Referencing the beginning of Book 3.
