Hey everyone, I'm back with another chapter of Dimensions and Time. Thank you as always to everyone who favorited, followed and reviewed the story. Now there will be no new chapter next week for IRL reasons, but this will be a good place to take a breather. So without further ado, let's get going.
Chapter 14: The Crimson Banshee
Okay look, this needs to stop.
If you still want to fight me that badly, I'll meet you in the training room tomorrow morning.
Because it's been a very, very long day and everyone here needs some sleep.
Robyn's words echoed through Reginald's mind as he finished strapping on his gauntlets for the fight. The other version of his dead sister had confronted him as soon as he got back to the Dungeon the night before, and he had accepted her unexpected offer. She'd turned and left with her team then and there, but his team had laid into him and made it very clear he was in deep shit now.
Nice going Reginald you really screwed up this time. In hindsight, he had to agree with his team; going out on his own had been bone headed and he was lucky nothing worse had happened. Robyn had been right that getting a good night's sleep had done wonders for his ability to think straight. The image of Hannah nearly dead on the operating table came back to him again, and Reginald had to wonder if Ronan had been onto something the night before. Am I really being selfish here, she nearly died but…" Reginald brushed his doubt aside. She was more reasonable then he'd wanted to accept, he could admit that now, but Robyn still needed to answer for what she'd done in his books.
And yet, Hannah's accusation from last night was also true, he did tend to work himself into a fury when he couldn't brute force a solution to a problem. That was his fault he supposed, his social skills left something to be desired and he always preferred actions to words. But as far as he was concerned that made the upcoming fight even better; it wasn't often the problem willingly put itself in his way. Of course, he still had to actually win the fight.
"What are you hoping to accomplish here?" A stern voice accused. Reginald turned to see Hannah walking up behind him, a firm frown on her face.
"Getting some justice for this mess," Reginald curtly replied. "I know the kid got hurt, but you nearly died."
"I can't believe you're still wrapped around this, I hurt Aaron, Robyn hurt me, we hurt her back, evens all around," Hannah did her best to keep her exasperation in check.
"I don't like seeing my friends hurt, especially you," Reginald stayed composed.
"Especially...dammit Regi you can't still be blaming yourself for that!"
"If it wasn't for me...you were so miserable that year," Reginald justified.
"You did everything you could Regi," Hannah said in a calmer voice.
"And I was still useless," Reginald responded.
"Am I missing something?" A new voice called out. Fuli, Ronan and Maiden entered the room, looking slightly concerned with the argument.
Hannah crossed her arms, "Reginald is referring to how I shoved him out of the way of an explosion the night of the wave, some oven at a coastal movie theater blew up. He still got a lot of shrapnel but I got the full flash and lost my eyes."
"That's...almost the same as what happened in our world," Fuli noted, remembering Ronan's solemn account of the night.
"Three for three," Maiden noted.
"All of, well me, all of us lost our sight the same way?" Hannah marveled at the cosmic coincidence.
"Let's hear it for consistency," Clara stated as she entered with Olivia and the local Kodi.
"Well anyway," Hannah tried to get things back on track, "Reginald's been blaming himself for it ever since, and my being so depressed about it for a while after the fact didn't help."
"I couldn't do anything," Reginald sighed.
"Reginald," Olivia called, "you know I understand that feeling better than anyone, but you need to recognize when something isn't your fault."
"Look," Reginald tried to placate, "Whether I win or lose this thing, it's done after that, I promise."
"This shouldn't even need to happen," Kodi gripped.
"On the contrary Trickster, I argue this very much needs to happen," Victoria drew everyone's attention as she entered the room with Andi by her side, "I wouldn't have set this up otherwise." The statement hung in the air as everyone wondered just what the leader of Team Highshadow was planning. "So who's still missing?"
"Mom's watching Aaron while this happens," Luna replied, "She has no interest in watching her kids beat each other up. So we're just waiting on our Kodi and Robyn."
"Well they can't be too far away," Victoria noted, "so everyone grab a seat, show's on the road shortly."
Everyone followed the suggestion and dispersed, save for Reginald who made his way to one side of the training field. He knew everyone's eyes would be on him, but at this point he was keeping his on the entranceway. His past two encounters with Ronan and Robyn had ended badly for him, but he was determined to win this time. He would make good on his promise to consider the issue dealt with after this, so this was his last chance.
Robyn, good on you for putting the fight on the table, but I'm not going to hold back even a bit.
000
Robyn has taken her time getting dressed for the fight and shared some words with her mother. Now she was making her way to the training area, expecting everyone else who was attending would already be there.
He's a lot like you when you were younger sweetie, poor kid never learned some of the lessons you did. Her mother certainly wasn't wrong, Robyn could certainly recall one incident in particular where her recklessness had gotten her very, very hurt. As devastating a loss as the Rose Thorn duel had been, she had learned from it, the spiked gauntlets she still wore was a testament to that. As Robyn approached the hallway that led to the training area, her train of thought was interrupted when she saw who was standing there.
"Still not a good time Kodi," the wolf was leaning against the side of the doorway, looking deep in contemplation.
"It's not that, do you know what you're doing here?" He gave Robyn a hard look.
Caught off guard by the question, it took Robyn a second to respond, "Pretty good idea, why?"
"Just thinking of the team, we're in a pretty bad situation right now and the last thing we need is to mess things up with our hosts."
"Well this was Victoria's idea, and honestly Reginald's done a pretty good job squashing his good will, but trust me Kodi, I know what I'm doing here," Robyn reassured, "I'm not gonna go overboard."
Kodi nodded, "I trust you." It was a very deliberate choice of words.
"Yeah," Robyn muttered as she walked by. Then she stopped and looked over her shoulder, meeting her friend's look, "I'm sorry."
"For what," Kodi asked. Why are you apologizing?
"I could've killed you back in the apartment," Robyn muttered.
"I just let Aaron be kidnapped, no one's holding that against you," Kodi pointed out what felt extremely obvious to him.
"You nearly died," Robyn let out a weak chuckle, "guess I get where Reginald is coming from."
"You're mad at yourself?"
"Of course I am," Robyn scoffed, "I started using this staff to give me some more reach, but it's also so I can hold back. It would be so easy for me to kill someone by accident with my strength, I have to be careful."
"Look, we all slip up when we're emotional, you've certainly made sure that we haven't forgotten that," Kodi tried to put a playful spin on the subject matter.
"No I haven't," Robyn replied.
"Sorry."
"It's okay Kodi."
"I let Aaron get taken."
"Can we just say we're even on this?" Robyn asked.
"Sure," Kodi sighed, "on this." He'd meant for the last bit to be quieter then it came out.
"Look, I've kept them waiting long enough, but you losing to Slash and your guy's trap have nothing in common except for you," Robyn said nothing else as she turned and walked away.
How did she know? the wolf asked himself as he followed Robyn into the arena.
000
The air in the training area of the Dungeon was tense as everyone watched the two hybrids size each other up. Reginald was the slightly taller of the two and had a larger body build overall, while Robyn was slimmer and more agile. She also had her staff where as Reginald had his steel covered gloves. Their power's were exactly the same. Everyone watching knew that this contest would likely come down to a combination of skill and endurance. Victoria was acting as the referee for the fight. The terms were simple; anything was aloud besides hitting below the belt, and the fight would go until one mammal yielded or was knocked out.
Just as Victoria was about to give the go ahead to start, Reginald took off his skull mask and tossed it out off of the field. "Won't do me any good against her," Reginald explained, "no point getting it trashed."
"Good thinking," Robyn said, "I trust you've put at least that much thought into this, you sure this is what you want?"
"Don't talk down to me Scarlet, of course this is what I want, what needs to happen," he insisted.
"Then let's get this started," Victoria announced raising an arm into the air, "On the count of three, one, two, THREE!" she swung her arm down as the signal.
Robyn stayed put as the fight began, eyes locked on to her opponent as he slowly tried to circle her. Reginald stopped still for one moment, and then pounced forward. At the last second he rolled to the side instead of attacking and came to Robyn's side. He needn't have bothered with the swerve, Robyn had made no move to counter his initial charge. She was just in the process of turning when Reginald's first slammed into her gut, she barely had time to double over when Reginald's other fist punched the side of her head and sent her smashing into the ground several feet away. Everyone was stunned at the successful attack, including Reginald, and that moment gave Robyn time to rise to her feet and retake her neutral stance. She still made no move to counter, or even raise her fists. Reginald overcame his moment of hesitation and charged forward, this time he hopped over his opponent and came down on his hands, he kicked out and caught Robyn in the back, once again sending her toppling to the ground several feet away. This time the hybrid offered to reprieve and pressed his assault, Robyn was just getting back on her feet when a straight forward punch connected with her chest and sent her back once more.
Reginald halted after that, "What are you doing!?"
"Do you, caught, feel better?" was all Robyn offered in return.
"Shut up!" Reginald demanded. He rushed forward again and this time delivered a series of faster but weaker jabs to Robyn's stomach before finishing with a sideways chop that sent her to the ground. He grabbed her by the ankle and picked her up before slamming her back into the ground, and he did that again and again in several directions. Eventually Robyn was back where she started, except now she was lying on her back looking up at Reginald. As he paused to catch his breath, Robyn got back to her feet and retook her neutral stance.
"Do you feel better?" Her question went unanswered in word form. Reginald punched her hard in the jaw, sending her back. This time it took several repeated punches before Robyn went to the ground. Reginald stomped hard on her left arm, resulting in an audible snap that drew gasps from the audience and a hiss of pain from Robyn. Reginald actually stopped after that, surprised at how far he'd gone so quickly, but Robyn simply got back to her feet, her bones repaired themselves, and she asked again, "Do you feel better?"
Reginald screamed in frustration and grabbed her head in his hands. He slammed his head into hers and dazed them both, but Robyn made no move to retaliate, and the cycle continued. No matter what Reginald did to her, Robyn offered no resistance. A plethora of combinations of punches, chops, kicks and jabs were used, bones were broken and repaired, Robyn was thrown into the ground more times than anyone cared to count, and still all she did in response was to keep asking the same question over and over. Reginald was exhausted, he was putting everything into his attacks but was making no progress. At this point he had one hand on Robyn's shoulder and was punching her in the gut in what, for them, were weak punches. He finally let his limbs fall to the side as he ran out of breath.
"Reginald," Robyn called softly. Reginald looked up and Robyn's face; her scarf had long since fallen off and her face was fully visible. Reginald took a look and saw pain in his opponent;s features, but not physical pain, she simply looked sad. "Do you feel any better?"
"No," Reginald tearfully croaked out. He didn't know when he started crying, maybe out of frustration during his beatdown of the mammal who had...been so willing to repent that she put herself in the ring with him and just let him beat the shit out of her. Reginald looked at the face of a mother who was trapped with her son in a dimension far from home, who had been nothing but reasonable since the ceasefire was called, and he felt like the biggest loser in this or any world. "No," he repeated.
He didn't get a chance to elaborate since Robyn suddenly ducked down and swept her leg in a wide arc under his feet, Reginald was grabbed out of the air as he fell and felt his back pressed against Robyn's chest as she wrapped an arm around his throat. Reginald was barely able to do anything as the air left his lungs, but before he could lose consciousness he gasped out, "I yield!" Not a moment later Robyn released her grip and Reginald went to the ground.
Just like that it was over, it took a few moments for that to register with the audience. Robyn looked out to the crowds. She only saw their reactions at the end, but it had been an emotional ride to say the least. Alice and Victoria's stoic looks were racked with constant fidgeting. Andi, both Kodis, Clara and Olivia were shocked and at some points horrified by the amount of damage Robyn was taking. Luna had struggled not to look away or intervene at various points. Only Ronan and Fuli had remained fairly stoic the whole time, they both caught on to what Robyn was doing quickly and looks between the two confirmed those thoughts to each other.
"Robyn is the winner," Victoria finally called out, and the room seemed to release the breath it was holding. Robyn's teammates gathered around her, but Robyn easily dismissed their worries.
"I was burning in an oil fire when I was protecting Arthur guys," Robyn recalled the horrific damage she'd taken buying time for Arthur and Excailiber to close the rift, "This is nothing."
"That doesn't make it any less hard to watch," Clara huffed, not having the experience the others had with Robyn's worse injuries. Luna and Kodi nodded in agreement.
"Still, nice to know my Ronnie can take all of that and keep fighting," Fuli ruffled the fur atop Ronan's head. Ronan gave an embarrassed but light chuckle in response.
Reginald was getting a more icy reception from his team, Hannah, Kodi, Alice and Olivia were all standing next to him as he slumped down on a bench, but no one said a word. There wasn't a need to ask if he was alright physically, Robyn hadn't used a single direct punch or kick in their fight. "Reginald…" Hannah started to talk but clearly hadn't figured out what she wanted to say.
The temperamental hybrid just sighed, "Well that's that, you guys won't hear another word about...anything from the past few days really." At the awkward silence that followed he added, "I'm sorry."
"Just...please Reggie, this kind of thing needs to stop," Hannah quietly pleaded.
Victoria eventually called everyone away from the training room with the promise of brunch, a much welcome bit of news that made the mammals in attendance realize just how hungry they were. Judy and Aaron rejoined the groups and the former was quietly informed of the results of the battle, the bunny confirmed that she was glad she hadn't attended. The presence of food did a lot to ease the nerves of the various mammals, and soon the younger members of both teams were sharing some of the sillier stories from their childhoods and events that occurred while they were on patrol. Luna took particular interest in what Oni was like since she was still alive in this world. Amidst the general good mood, two mammals were noticeable less excited: Robyn and Reginald. Reginald was sitting a good distance away from the others and was absentmindedly picking at his food and Robyn was supervising Aaron with a small smile on her face. She kept peering over at Reginald whenever she was sure Judy and Aaron weren't looking.
Finally Reginald stood up, put his tray on the trolley it was brought in on and slipped away from the group. The deflated hybrid made his way back to the training room and sat down on the bench next to his discarded mask. He looked down at the mask meant to inspire fear in the hearts of mammals, and the hollow eye holes seemed to pierce right through his consciousness.
Nice going Reginald, you really screwed that one up. What was I thinking?
Do you feel any better?
No.
His honest reply played again in his head as the events of the fight, if you could call it that, flashed through his memories. All that physical punishment he'd dealt out, and he didn't feel any better about anything. If anything he just felt worse.
What am I even doing? Reginald remorfully asked himself.
"I get it you know?" A voice interrupted his moping. Reginald turned to see Robyn joining him on the bench with Ronan coming in the room after her. "Being that angry, the injustice of the whole thing, wanting to brute force a solution, I've been there."
"Tch, you ever screw up this badly?" Reginald asked.
"I rushed an opponent who was way out of my league and got basically tortured on a rooftop," Robyn replied with a casualness that ill fit the seriousness of that incident.
"Uh, ouch, okay that's never happened to me," Reginald responded. As Robyn had hoped, he was hooked on her presenting a pretty rare for any of them scenario, "who was this chump?"
"Alice, back when she was still an assassin," Robyn replied.
That got startled reactions from both of her brothers, "I'm sorry, what!" Ronan gasped.
"I second that what, didn't your Luna marry Alice?" Reginald blustered.
Robyn chuckled, "She had a change of heart, and there's like two dozen steps in between. Believe me it took a lot for me to accept that she'd changed."
"That's...certainly different from how it happened in my world," Ronan shook his head.
"I can't believe Mom and Dad were okay with that," Reginald looked directly at Robyn, "they know about your team right?"
"They do, though they certainly were not happy about either thing at first but, well, you'd be surprised what mammals are willing to forgive when someone puts in the effort."
000
Back at the conference table, Victoria kept her eyes on the doorway to the training area. Ronan had disappeared into the hallway after Robyn a few minutes ago and none of the hybrids had re-emerged so far, "Well this worked out better than expected," Victoria said to herself.
Andi smirked from Victoria's left side, "You were lying through your teeth when you said you couldn't help Robyn," she accused.
Victoria shrugged, "Guilty as charged, it wouldn't have worked as well if I told them outright."
"Care to fill me in?" Luna asked from the right side.
"I know you haven't gotten the impression, but Reggie's normally on the more unstoppable side, and the few things that did outclass him, like Oni, he didn't really mind," Victoria summed up. "The poor kid has seen so much go wrong in his life, and it's been wearing him down a lot these past years. You've probably noticed that means he has a hard time accepting any fault in himself, he needs victory to be absolute, he needs to be the good guy every time and it's made him very bad at self reflection." Victoria's face hardened, "Reginald needed to come up against something that all his strength and anger couldn't overcome, and that was Robyn."
"And other me's alternate self's sister?" Andi asked, seeming to take a bit of joy in the couple seconds it took her company to process her question.
"Yes, Robyn," Victoria continued, "Robyn, I gather, is a lot like her mother, attitude wise at least. I get the feeling she was never shouting to make the world a better place but still. She's at her best when she's helping other mammals. So having the mammals she cares about the most in the world hurt her, with little good closure or resolution, and then peak that chain of misery with her hurting other mammals, even for a justifiable reason? The poor girl's lost sight of why she put that costume on in the first place."
Luna nodded, "Robyn's the one who got the younger members of our team to start being heroes in the first place."
"I might've known," Victoria smiled. "Anyway, what she needed was an opportunity to really help someone, something to remind her of why she does this. Based on what you told me Luna, I think Robyn might get Reginald more then anyone else ever has, and like I hoped, she followed him back to that room to finish what she started in that fight. I admit I didn't see her letting him use her as a literal punching bag to make him realize his anger wasn't getting him anywhere, but points to her for getting creative."
"And it might've also been her way of repenting for what she did to Hannah and Reginald," Luna sighed, "Oh Robyn."
"Chin up gal," Andi encouraged, "I've got a feeling things are finally looking up for your sister."
000
"Tunnel vision?" Reginald asked. Ronan had just used the term to describe his alternate universe brother. The three had ditched the benches and were now sitting in a triangle formation on the floor."
"Yes," Ronan nodded, "you get so focused on the thing in front of you and how you want to solve it that you can't see any other options."
"And in his case that solution is usually hitting it really, really hard," Robyn added.
"Well what do you expect?" Reginald asked in exasperation, "a lot of this is pretty messed up!"
"Being outraged in an outrageous situation is a good thing," Ronan agreed, "but you need to know how to proceed from that point. Look at this past day; yes Hannah almost dying and Robyn's brutality during the fight in the Dungeon are certainly good causes to be angry, but you were given a means to resolve that conflict in a manner that didn't involve further conflict and yet you still insisted on it."
"I know I made a mess of things yesterday," Reginald began.
"Yesterday? How often could someone out in the main room substitute yesterday for any other situation you've been angry at and your reaction stays exactly the same?" Ronan asked a question he knew the answer to.
"A lot," Reginald admitted, his previous air of mild defiance wilting away.
Robyn stepped in, "Basically, you're mad at something worth being mad at, but you never let yourself stop being mad even when the reason for being mad is over."
"And when that happens you only end up hurting yourself, your friends and maybe even someone unrelated to the situation," Ronan surmised.
Reginald looked down, dejected, "I owe my team a proper apology," he sighed, "but I can do this now." Reginald sat up properly, " I'm sorry Robyn, you've been going through enough hardships lately without me dragging a fight out like I did."
"Apology accepted doofus," Robyn teased.
"So, why'd you guys come back here to help me? I figured you'd want nothing to do with me after yesterday."
"It's not like we can turn our backs on a mammal in need, especially when we know the solution," Ronan smiled, "Mom taught us that."
"Yeah she did," Robyn agreed.
"Same here," Reginald smiled, "though I'm not the best at it, I'm amazed I've actually held into my personal trainer job as long as I have."
"You're a personal trainer?" Ronan asked.
"Yeah, I work at a gym over in the Sherwood district," Reginald explained.
"Certainly not a politician," Robyn noted.
"What!?" Reginald exclaimed, "where'd you get that crazy idea?"
"You remember how I mentioned Doom and his world of humans?" At Reginald's nod Robyn continued, "Well I met my counterpart there and since everyone's the same species all four of us are alive there."
Reginald gapped at that news, "Lucky."
"Not as much as you'd think," Robyn didn't elaborate, letting Reginald's imagination do the work, "But she and I had the same job, and I think her Ryan has a similar job to the one we've been seeing. And Reginald…"
"He takes after his Dad," Ronan smiled.
Robyn saw Reginald's confusion, "Dads the mayor in our worlds."
"The mayor! But he's...Dad's not a...what happened to Mayor Moon!?" Reginald finally settled on something to be shocked about. "Don't tell me he's dead too."
"Afraid so," Ronan confirmed.
"Damn," Reginald looked off to the side, "sooo what does Ronan do in, er, Robbie's world?"
"He's a cop," Robyn said plainly.
Looking over Ronan's attire, Reginald nodded, "Yeah that makes sense."
"Well, he's the lucky one," Ronan scoffed.
"Ronan?" Robyn and Reginald turned to their suddenly more dour brother.
Ronan caught himself and was back to a neutral expression in an instant, "I'm sorry, it's just that I wanted to be a cop like mother but thanks to these powers I can't, one injury and my secret identity is exposed."
"And that would connect you to Mom and Dad," Robyn realized.
"Not to mention put the rest of your team at risk," Reginald added, "Olivia figured out all of our identities just from unmasking Kodi." He shook his head at all the implications, "Yeah I agree it's not safe, that's rough pal."
"I don't regret putting this uniform on and helping mammals after the wave, but with that option off the table I don't really know what I'm gonna do after I graduate."
"Well, what are you going to college for?" Reginald asked.
"High school," Robyn corrected.
"Huh?"
"I'm in my final year of high school," Ronan clarified, "I'm seventeen and Robyn's twenty one."
Reginald gawked at the two before burying his face in his paws, "I got my ass handed to me by a teenager. Back on subject back on subject," he babbled while the other two chuckled.
"Well, I know I have to take over as leader of the team but I don't want to live off of a Ceartais salary forever," Ronan explained.
"Wait, have to," Reginald repeated, "why have to?"
One quick but slightly more detailed recap of Ronan's history with Ceartais brought Reginald up to speed, Ronan's brow creased in frustration as the story was told but he otherwise kept a straight face, "The team needs to get out of the M.M. Gang's shadow, and Olivia's still too much like them for her own good."
Reginald looked bizarrely contemplative during the recap, and he spoke up as Ronan finished, "If it's what you want then sure, but are you sure you aren't being a bit selfish about this?" Reginald recycled the point Ronan had thrown at him last night.
Ronan looked indignant, "How am I being selfish?"
"It's well, good that you care about your friends and the city, but it sounds like everyone else in your situation has already made peace with it, but it sounds like you're making this about yourself," Reginald tried to get the point across.
Robyn picked up the baton, "I think what he's trying to say is that you should be leader because you want to, not because you feel obligated to."
"And Victoria did say being a leader involves making choices that benefit the whole, sounds like your the only one still making a big deal out of this and that's only gonna hurt the group," Reginald relayed some wisdom from his own boss.
Ronan actually looked startled, something that had seemed so natural to him had just been put in a new light, "I've always wanted to be like Mom, you know? Make the world a better place, that's why I want to keep being Sergeant Red even though Phelps has been dealt with."
Robyn smiled, "Then that's the attitude you should lead with, not being tied down by shit that happened in the past."
"Especially if it's been resolved," Reginald muttered, knowing the advice applied more to him most of the time.
After a few quiet moments, Ronan smiled back "Thanks you two, I think I needed to hear that."
"It's what we do," Robyn smiled, "It's why I think all of us started doing this."
"Funny how we tend to be our own worst enemies, eh?" Reginald joked and got a small chuckle out of Ronan.
Robyn thought about the joke though, Both of them were just making themselves feel worse even if their anger was right, am I doing the same thing?
"Say Robyn, isn't it time you called Robbie again?" Reginald asked.
Robyn realized it had been over twelve hours since she'd last tried, and they'd agreed on half a day intervals, "Yeah, let's get some answers." She led the two to the same mirror she'd used the night before, but her attempts only yielded static. "Are you kidding me!?" She yelled in panic.
"Is this supposed to happen?" Reginald asked.
"No," Ronan bluntly replied, "try contacting Ryan."
Robyn did just so and was relieved to see her tech savvy brother right at his desk, she held up a message. Ryan noticed and quickly got into position himself.
Robyn: Ryan, the world we were getting information from has been blocked!
Ryan: I figured something like that might happen Robyn, if someone is after you they'd try and cut off your avenues of escape.
Robyn: Well what do we do now!?
Ryan: Stay calm for one, I think you should try and come to my world before we lose contact as well.
Ronan: Why your world?
Ryan: My world has had heroes and crazy stuff like this for a long time, we'd be better equipped to help you.
"Robyn," Luna called as she entered the room, having heard the earlier shout. The rest of her team and Fuli were with her, with the local mammals further behind. Robyn turned back to see the scene had changed again, and this was the most alarming one so far. The Kion version of Roar and Andraste were locked in a battle with Bullet and what looked like Alice with a different outfit and an unknown lioness. Both sides were going all out.
Kodi raced forward, "Robyn look away!" But he was too late. An all too familiar blue light surrounded the mirror and started sucking mammals in. The rest of the local mammals were far enough away to be unaffected, but Reginald, Ronan, Robyn and Kodi had no escape. Fuli and Clara raced forward after their respective boyfriends, but Luna thought quickly and fired her magnetic grapple arrow at a wall, she reached out and grabbed Judy, who was carrying Aaron, and the grapple belt was just strong enough to pull the three mammals away from the portal.
The light faded once again and Luna looked around. Team Highshadow were stunned silent at the sudden event, but Luna quickly realized they were the only other mammals left in the room. She'd been able to keep little Aaron from being dropped into another battle, but Robyn, Ronan, Reginald Kodi, Clara and Fuli hadn't been so lucky.
AN: And just when things were starting to look up to. We have our party for the next world, but what awaits them there, find out next time.
Reminder: No new chapter next week.
Next time: No teases for this one folks.
