Just a warning: this chapter gets pretty violent, and there's one part that could be grisly if you think about it too much...
"Is this entire planet made up of forest?" Sophie swatted a branch out of her face.
"It's possible." It had been three days since the ambush incident. Sophie had made a full recovery the next day and they had continued their trek.
"What if we're going in circles?"
"I have a compass; if this planet's magnetic poles are stable, we've been heading more or less in the same direction."
"Have you found a planet where the magnetic poles aren't stable?"
"Yes, it was maddening. Any kind of navigational equipment was useless."
"I wonder how the locals got around," Sophie mused.
"There weren't any intelligent life forms native to that planet. At least, none that I found. I was stuck there for over a month." Ford paused, suddenly alert. "Do you hear that?"
Sophie strained her ears. She heard what sounded like…sobbing? "It sounds like someone's crying."
Ford put his hand over his gun.
"What, do you think some being of pure sadness is going to jump out and eat us?"
"Shh, it could be a trap."
Sophie doubted it, but she still unsheathed a knife. She crept behind Ford until she spotted the source of the noise. It was a small, black-haired boy sitting hunched on a log with his face buried in his arms. Sophie's heart twisted at the sight. The kid was human. "Hey, kid, are you okay?"
The boy didn't respond. Sophie sheathed her knife and stepped a little closer, putting her hands up to show that she meant no harm. "Look, I just want to help, alright? You don't need to be scared of me." The boy just curled up on himself even more.
"Careful, Sophie." Ford still had his hand on his gun.
Sophie frowned. "Ford, you're scaring him. Just let me handle this."
Ford set his mouth in a line and took a step away.
Sophie inched closer. "Are you hurt? I just want to make sure that you're okay." Sophie reached out and touched the boy's shoulder. He didn't flinch away at least. She sat down next to him on the log. "Can you understand me?"
The child suddenly wrapped his arms around Sophie's waist. "Uh…" She froze, then awkwardly patted his back. Ford still looked skeptical, then his eyes widened in fear. "Sophie, get away from it!"
"What-" the "child" let loose a growl and pinned Sophie to the ground with inhuman strength, one hand around her neck. Sophie watched in horror as it morphed into a large, white slimy creature with pink eyes and a circular mouth ringed with teeth. It pinned down her arms with its insectile legs. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ford wrestling with something.
"Foolish human," it growled in a deep voice, "your kind is far too sympathetic, always falling for that trick. Did you like it?"
Sophie struggled, but the shapeshifter was too strong. "Are you serious right now?"
The shapeshifter growled. "My victims never appreciate my tricks. No matter, my brother and I will have the glory of destroying you and your friend. The Federation never specified that they wanted you alive."
Sophie dug her fingers into the shapeshifter's slimy skin. "You…won't win."
The shapeshifter squeezed harder, cutting of Sophie's air completely. "I already have. Just a few moments more, and you'll lose consciousness."
Sophie panicked as her vision darkened around the edges. Kira, her only friend after her home was destroyed, had sacrificed herself so the Federation wouldn't get Sophie; Sophie couldn't let that sacrifice be for nothing…the world narrowed to a pinprick of light… No…
Suddenly the shapeshifter released its grip and toppled off of Sophie, knocked out cold. Sophie gasped for air, glad to be able to breathe again. Ford helped her to her feet.
"Are you going to be alright?" asked Ford.
Sophie coughed. "Yeah, I think I'll be oka-" Sophie froze when she saw another Ford knocked out on the ground. She took a step back. "Uh, how do I know that you're not the other shapeshifter?"
Ford shrugged. "Easy, why would I knock the other one out if I wasn't me?"
"Makes sense…" Sophie rested a hand on one of her knives.
Ford began to walk away. "Come on, Sophie, we need to leave before they wake up."
Sophie stayed put. "I need more proof. I need to be absolutely sure that it's you."
(Ford?) turned back and huffed impatiently. "There's no time, we need to go!"
Sophie's grip on her knife tightened. "Want to hear a joke?"
Ford looked confused. "What?"
"My ex wife still misses me…" she looked at Ford pointedly.
"Sophie, this is no time for silliness, we need to go!"
Quick as lighting, Sophie threw her knife at not-Ford. It sunk in to the hilt.
The shapeshifter looked at her for a moment with Ford's face, eyes wide with shock. Then it shrieked and changed into its huge, slimy form and pulled the knife out. Sophie charged, sword drawn, and pressed a recess in the pommel that made it spark and glow blue with energy. She dodged the shapeshifter's claw as it took a swipe at her, and struck a blow with her sword. It had already healed its skin where her knife had sunk in. It morphed into a woman with gray skin, amber eyes and a blaster on her hip. Sophie froze. Kira. It looked exactly like her. Except last time Sophie had seen her face, her eyes had been lifeless, her features blank. The shapeshifter drew its sword. "This should be fun." It imitated Kira's voice perfectly.
Sophie fell back, blocking blow after blow. This was so wrong. Their blades locked. The shapeshifter pushed her nearly to her knees. Sophie glared into the mockery of her dead friend's eyes and felt a surge of rage. "How dare you wear her face!" She rolled out of the lock, throwing the shapeshifter off balance and stabbed it in the back.
It fell to the ground, rolled in its back and looked at her with Kira's amber eyes. "Sophie, how could you?"
Sophie furiously blinked back the tears that blurred her vision. "Stop it! You're not her!"
"Yes, I am! I was always a shapeshifter, I just never told you."
Sophie shook her head. "No, I saw Kira die. You-you can't be her!" She let out an involuntary sob.
"Please, just help me," Kira-no, the shapeshifter implored with pleading eyes.
"O-okay." Sophie approached the shapeshifter, reached her left hand out…and dug her heel into the gaping wound her sword had left behind. It let out an unearthly shriek and struggled, but Sophie kept it down. "You're not Kira. She was the best darn bounty hunter in the multiverse, and she was my friend. You're nothing but a face-stealing Federation rat." She swung her sword and struck off its head. It melted back into its original form.
Sophie wiped the tears from her face and tried to pull herself together as she rushed back to the Ford only to find him choking…the other shapeshifter? Or was the shapeshifter choking him? She ran in, knocked the Ford that was choking the other Ford to the ground and pinned him down with a knife against his throat. She glanced between him and the other Ford, who was coughing and gasping for air.
"Sophie, it's me. Get off!"
"Just listen up, Ford."
Both Fords looked at her.
"My ex wife still misses me…"
The Ford under her replied, "But her aim is getting better!" Sophie threw her knife at the shapeshifter and let Ford up. He dove for his gun as Sophie charged with her sword drawn. The creature pulled out the knife and morphed into a perfect copy of her.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Seriously?" She blocked and parried as the shapeshifter ferociously beat on her with its blade. Sophie was starting to wear down.
"Sophie!" Ford shouted.
The shapeshifter turned its head. Sophie took the chance and plunged her blade into its chest. The shapeshifter looked at Sophie with her own face, eyes wide and mouth gaping open. It shrieked and morphed back into its white slimy form. Ford shot it a few times and it fell to the ground, finally still. Sophie stared at its lifeless form, panting.
"Sophie?"
She turned to Ford, who was still gripping his gun. She tried to force a grin, but it fell flat. "Come on, you can't af-Ford to shoot me. I won't Stan-ford it."
Ford relaxed and holstered his weapon. "Only you could make puns that ridiculous. At least in this dimension."
Sophie powered down and sheathed her sword. "Yeah. I don't think those shapeshifters had a sense of humor."
Ford stared at the shapeshifter's prone form. "I haven't seen shapeshifting bounty hunters before. They seemed to be focused on you."
Sophie fought hard to keep her voice from shaking. "They were."
"You said that no one has been tracking you."
"That's what I thought, but it looks like these guys caught up to me finally."
"They've followed you before?"
"Yeah."
"Sophie, what exactly did you do to attract their attention?"
Sophie took a deep breath, focusing on the ground. "Well, uh…they were from the Federation of Dimension 522 Alpha. I offed a few of their assassins, and those two been hunting me ever since. I managed to throw them off my trail for awhile, but it looks like they caught up with me."
Ford looked incredulous. "You did what?"
Sophie's throat tightened. "I'm a bounty hunter. They were wanted criminals in some dimensions. I was just doing my job." I was just avenging the death of my only friend in the multiverse.
"You could have at least told me that you had deadly assassins after you instead of literally running away to avoid the subject! First you run headlong into an ambush, and now this? Of all the reckless and irresponsible-"
"Look, if you want to split up, I'm not stopping you. I didn't mean to drag you into this mess." Great. Sophie had been an idiot to think that this would actually last. Of course, just when she started to trust Ford, everything would fall apart.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm keeping an eye on you to make sure you're not killed from your own stupidity, if nothing else. Besides, this "Federation" as you call it probably already has me down as one of their targets."
Sophie frowned. "You still want me around after I put you in danger…three times now?"
"Only because my conscience won't allow me to do otherwise."
"So, your conscience made you help me escape that first time?"
"You got yourself in trouble on my behalf. Although, if I had known back then how foolhardy you would turn out to be, perhaps I would have left you behind in this dimension, gotten the parts myself, and saved us both some trouble!"
So that was it; Ford saw himself as an obligatory babysitter. Sophie clenched her fists. "Well if you're just keeping me around out of obligation, then we might as well part ways! I don't want to be viewed as a burden to 'the great Stanford Pines.'"
Ford pinched the bride of his nose. "Look, I won't just leave you on your own."
"Oh, is that it? You think I can't survive on my own? In case you've forgotten, I've been freaking bounty hunting completely on my own for the past two years!"
"I thought you said four," muttered Ford.
"Ugh, whatever! I can survive without you! I don't need you!" Sophie's voice nearly broke and she angrily blinked back tears. Even as she said the words she knew she didn't mean them.
Ford wasn't looking at her. "Fine, but at least I'll get you to another dimension first!" Ford pulled out what looked like a cordless blow drier with a dial on the side. Sophie recognized the Federation's insignia on the barrel.
"Where did you get that?"
"One of the shapeshifters had it." Ford aimed it a tree.
Sophie panicked and lunged at Ford. "Wait, don't pull the trigger!"
He pulled it. A swirling blue disk appeared in the air. Sophie collided with Ford, unable to stop herself, and they both tumbled into another dimension onto hard, rocky ground. Sophie stood and brushed herself off. "You idiot!" she shoved Ford. "Now the Federation knows exactly where we are!"
"How could they?"
"All their portal guns have trackers on them! And even if you find some way to deactivate the tracking, it takes at least 12 hours for the gun to recharge!"
"What? You could have told me that before!"
"I didn't get a chance because you were too busy telling me how stupid and reckless I am! Who's the reckless one now, huh?"
"You're one to talk! What kind of idiot deliberately hunts down the assassins of a dangerous inter-dimensional crime circle, on their own, and fails to tell the person they're traveling with that they have assassins after them?"
"THEY KILLED MY FRIEND!" Sophie's voice broke.
Ford's expression softened.
"They murdered the only person in the multiverse who cared about me! Who mattered to me!" Sophie angrily scrubbed away the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I hunted down the assassins that killed her. That made me a target."
"Sophie, I'm sor-"
"Shut up!" Sophie turned her back on Ford and hid her face in her hands. No one was supposed to see her like this. Two years of burying her emotions, and she couldn't hold it back any more. Sophie fell to her knees, shoulders shaking with suppressed sobs as she remembered Kira's lifeless body and the crushing loneliness that had nearly consumed her.
She had been forced to hide as Kira tried to fend off three assassins, too injured to fight by her side. Wounds that had been scabbed over for years were reopened when the shapeshifter had taken Kira's form. Sophie had never really recovered from losing her.
Ford awkwardly cleared his throat. "We need to get moving, if what you said about the Federation knowing where we are is true."
Sophie knew he was right, but she stubbornly ignored him.
"Look, I know you're upset, but we need to leave this area."
Sophie fought to get her emotions under control. "You go ahead. I'll take care of them."
"Sophie, I'm sure your friend wouldn't want you to meet the same fate she did."
"Kira was wounded when she fought the assassins off. That's why she lost. That's why it was murder."
"How did you survive?"
"I was a little worse off than she was, so she told me to stay hidden. I-I couldn't help." Sophie throat tightened. She clenched her jaw, took a deep, shuddering breath, and got to her feet. "We should get moving. The Federation could hide anywhere in this place." Sophie and Ford were in a canyon flanked by rocks in various shades of purple. The sky was bright green, giving everything an eerie glow.
"That's what I just-"
"Shut it." Sophie heard a faint noise.
"Sophie-"
"No really, listen." The canyon echoed with the sound of footsteps. Lots of footsteps… "Ford, run!" She sprinted away from the sound. Ford's boots clumped behind her.
She skidded to a stop as she saw a horde of beings pouring into the canyon a few hundred yards ahead of them. Ford halted next to her. She whirled around only to see another horde advancing from the other end of the canyon. Either there were a lot of bandits here, or the Federation had sent an entire army. They were trapped. She ducked between some rocks as bullets began flying through the air.
"Great," she huffed. "Ford, if we die, I'm going to kill you."
"That makes absolutely no sense." Ford reached into his pocket.
"I'll find a way to make it make sense." She watched Ford pull out a small black box. "Is that some gadget that will get us out of here?"
"I'm not sure what it will do, but at this point it's our best bet." He opened the box and took out a small, glowing polyhedron covered in symbols that constantly changed.
Sophie gaped. "Is that an infinity-sided die?"
"Yes." Ford threw it down…and rolled an eight. "What? Come on!" The two advancing hordes were almost on top of them.
"Well, so much for tha-"
Ford rolled the die again. There was a huge pop and everything around them turned white.