A/N: Yeah, this chapter brought to you by cold medicine and impotent rage. Except the ending. Enjoy!
Of all the places that made Adam want to swear like a sailor, being back in the Grid definitely topped his list. That he was stuck in the Grid with the other Adam and his Rocky was the strawberry icing on the strawberry-chocolate cake. The kind that looked like it would taste like heaven, but only ended in swelling, flashing lights, and uncomfortable trips to the hospital where a pimple-faced child prodigy stared at him over a clip board and asked if he'd known he was allergic to strawberries.
"Ninja Frog," a solemn voice said.
Adam turned away from contemplating the path out of the cul de sac they had found themselves in, "Fluffy Badger," he replied with equal solemnity. "Didn't I say last time that I was never coming back?"
"Perhaps that is why you were brought here, because you said you would not," the Badger replied.
"Whatever," Adam replied, he glanced at the unconscious forms of other-Adam and Rocky then turned back to the Badger. It was a mixed bag whether they needed to hear this, the Badger favored riddles and quotes over the real information that they were going to need. Tommy had been known to mutter that Quagmire on the Isle of Illusions was more helpful and Dimitria of Inquiris more direct. Of course, the good doctor also tended to let the Badger speak on his own terms instead of cutting to the chase. "So, what's the daily draw? Damsel in distress, puzzle mania, another labyrinth?"
"This trail ends at the Dawn Tower," the Badger replied, "inside the Tower is the Moon Crystal. You must retrieve the Crystal to return to your world. Sensei Penguin and Crimson Panda will be your companions on the quest."
"Sensei Penguin?"
Other-Adam was awake. Adam glared at him briefly, then turned to the Badger, "Anything else we need to be aware of, Badger?"
The Badger tilted his head for a moment, "Sticks and stones break only skin, but words are ghosts that haunt me. You think of him, that you cannot forget what happened, while he will not forgive himself."
Adam sucked in a sharp breath. "That is not a comforting piece of advice, Badger."
"Maybe it is not meant to be," the Badger replied, and vanished.
Adam ran his hands through his hair, and paused to look at other-Adam, "Do I have something on my face?" He asked, afraid that being back in the Grid would negate the dye job that covered his multi-colored hair.
"No," other-Adam said, "who is Sensei Penguin, and did that Badger talk?"
"The Badger talked," Adam said as he sat back down on the ground, "Although he's technically not a Badger, he just likes to look like one. How's your head, first consciousness can be a bit of a head rush."
"Feels like the piñata at the twin's birthday party," other-Adam said, "before the K-Scotts got bored and turned it into a projectile explosive."
"About normal then," Adam said. He eyed Rocky for a long moment, studying the seemingly random twitches in the man's legs. He never could keep still, especially when there was something different going on. "Rocky, are you awake?"
"Do I have to be?" Rocky groaned after a minute. "I feel like the piñata after they blew it up."
"If you have to puke, try not to splash anyone," Adam told him, watching as he rolled over and sat up.
"Where are we?" Other-Adam asked after Rocky was settled in a seated position.
"We're in the Morphing Grid," Adam replied grimly. "Something happened in Mitchell's office and we got pushed here. I do not know about anyone else, but I think Jason, Tommy, your Tom, Kim, Kimberly and Tanya all ended up in the Grid. I am not sure about Tanya, if she did not hold the Power here, she might not be allowed, but given that she has in another universe, she might be let in because of that. They aren't here though, and we shouldn't trust it if we do see them."
"Why not?" Rocky asked.
"Because the Grid is not solid good or solid evil, it's a gradient. On one end is pure Light, and is where those Rangers who passed before us may be found and the other is pure Darkness, where those villains who used the Grid and passed on lurk. In between are spirits, not unlike the Badger, some are wise and helpful, others are cunning tricksters, and they can look like anyone or anything they choose."
"But why are they there?" Other-Adam said.
"Rangers, and others, who come to the Grid have to prove themselves worthy, even in a case like ours, where we didn't intend to end up here. We have a quest to achieve if we want to leave the Grid, and the Spirits are set to test us to prove us worthy. Our test is to get to the end of the trail, and to find the Dawn Tower and the Moon Crystal." Adam stood back up, "We need to start moving. Time runs different here, but that does not mean that people will not notice we have left. It runs about three days on Earth to a year here, but that can fluctuate."
Other-Adam and Rocky also stood up, brushing off their jeans and exchanging glances. Other-Adam in particular was glancing between Rocky and Adam as if he was trying to figure something out about Adam that he was not sure that he liked. "By the way, what did Badger mean about Sensei Penguin and Crimson Panda?" Other-Adam said.
"It's one of your animal spirits," Adam said, "probably Ninjetti based as opposed to Ninja, since I'm Ninja Frog and all. You're the Penguin; by the way, he's the Panda."
"How do you know that?" Rocky asked.
"I had a lot of time to ask questions last time I was stuck in the Grid," Adam said as he started down the trail. "Why do you think I never admitted to familiarity with the Ninjetti? Tommy has it easy; he is just a Falcon, which is funny considering that he has so many Ranger colors. I get to have two animal spirits, and if what RJ was trying to tell me was true, I might have a third, for Pai Zhuq. I would rather just be the Frog when it is all said and done. They have knees. As for knowing that Rocky is a Panda, jeez, even before that cartoon came out, I knew that." Maybe it was just remembering the last time, but Adam spun, drew himself up, looked Rocky in the eye as the other man stopped short and said in his worst Hagrid impression, "Ye're a Great Panda, Rocky."