The first review on this story was posted recently, and it made me realize that I need to say something about it. I do not agree with the ship that was mentioned in that comment between Kipo and Atom, for many, many reasons. For one, Atom is an impermanent character in any story I insert him into. Anything that is not completely original content, he does not have any real effect on. For another, Atom is right around 20 years old in this story. Kipo is 13 canonically. No, just, no. If that's your thing, I won't judge, but do not expect me to build up any relationship between them beyond being friends. You'd have a better chance of convincing me to bring Mark and Kipo together. But that's a conversation for another time. With that off my chest, I do hope you enjoy this chapter!
Kipo and her dad were at the kitchen counter, building something. "And then, we pop in the more concave lens, and boom!" Kipo's dad held it up. "A telescope worthy of Galileo himself!" He held it out to Kipo, who gasped.
"Cool!" She held it up to her eye and looked around. "Are we gonna be able to see the fur on the glow worms tonight?"
"Uh, not that close." Said her dad. "We would need a bigger lens."
"You know dad, we're the only people I know who'd build a telescope inside a cave."
"Well those other people are missing out!" Kipo looked at a glass of water and noticed some microbes swimming around. "There are worlds within worlds, Kipo."
"Whoa." Someone knocked at the door, interrupting the two. Kipo's dad looked over to it.
"Kipo, are you expecting anyone?"
"Nope." Her dad looked at her, then went over to the door. He opened it, revealing a woman. She turned to him and gasped, before looking at Kipo.
"Kipo!" She whispered, looking at her. Kipo looked up at the woman, and gasped herself.
"Mom?"
Atom was playing a game on his computer, finally getting past a very difficult level in it. "Finally! It took lots of practice, but it paid off." His brother ran up to him
"I have a question." He stated. Atom turned to him.
"What's up?"
"Do you know where the key is to get into the uh, the center room of the temple?" Atom shook his head.
"Gamma, you know I'm not just going to give you the answers. Go ask mom for some help."
"But K," Atom put his hand over his brother's mouth.
"No! You know you don't say my real name while I'm at my computer. I'm Atom right now."
"Right! Sorry!" Someone knocked at the front door, drawing their attention.
"I'll get it." Said Atom, getting up from his computer and pausing the game. His dog started going crazy, barking loudly at the door. Atom put his hands on him.
"Calm down, Chester. It's ok." He opened up the door, and his jaw dropped. In front of him was an old friend, Dan.
"Hey Atom." Said Dan. "Long time no see!"
Everyone was laying on top of a body of water, sleeping as something walked around. "What is the body?" Asked the creature, looking like it was made entirely out of water. "Just a fun car for the mind to drive." He answered himself, circling the group. "But if we free ourselves from our bodies, our minds can be what they really are. Energy. Pure, delicious, energy!"
Fear of humans, fear of what they'll do
Fear of others, no matter where you go
Taken from your home, forever lost
One light in the distance,
But oh so far away,
Run towards the light,
Away from your fear
Kipo was carefully counting her steps as she walked, leading the rest of the group. Benson was looking around with baby dave in his arms while Wolf and Atom were keeping a lookout for anything remotely dangerous. "3260," counted Kipo, "3261, 3262." She looked back up and gestured around. "Ok, that's how many steps we are from our starting point." She looked back at the group. "Three thousand two hundred sixty two. Like 3.262. A parsec." She looked ahead again. "Let's do this! Let's look for clues from my dad!" She started looking around the vegetation, trying to find stuff. Mandu glared at Wolf and growled at her. Wolf reached under her pelt and pushed the letter deeper into her pocket. Kipo looked around again. "Ok, so we headed south, east, west, and now north from our starting point." She started pacing, thinking aloud. "So now, we head back." The group watched her pace, somewhat concerned. "That only leaves four more directions to go, which is near halfway done, which is great!" Atom shook his head.
"Yeah, yeah yeah, great." Said Benson. "You know what else would be great? A frosty beverage with a little umbrella in it." Atom sighed.
"Kipo, not to be a downer, but wouldn't your dad have given you some other kind of clue to give you a direction to walk in if you were supposed to walk this far?" Kipo looked at him for a moment, before an idea strucker her.
"Wait! Proxima Centauri!" She exclaimed, before pacing again. "Proxima Centauri is 1.3 parsecs away from us, and I turned 13!" She took a deep breath. "Duh! We go towards Proxima Centauri!" Kipo started heading off again, and the rest of the group looked at her as she went. Wolf and Benson glanced at each other.
"I don't have a better idea." Said Wolf. Benson followed Kipo as Atom reluctantly did as well.
"There's something we're missing." He said. "There has to be another clue somewhere in that message." Mandu glared at Wolf again before suddenly squealing and attacking her legs.
"Stop! Go away! Leave me alone!" Scolded Wolf as she hopped from foot to foot. Kipo and Benson looked back.
"Aw, they're playing." Said Kipo. Atom looked back at that.
"Looks more like Mandu's attacking her than anything else." He said. Benson laughed at that before looking over at Kipo.
"Smart move." He whispered. "Using the sleeve Wolf gave you, in case the, you know," he lowered his voice even more, "fur ever pops out again. Sh, it's okay." Kipo laughed nervously.
"Why would it grow back?" She asked. "That was just a one-time fluke, right?" Atom walked up to them.
"Doubtful." He whispered. "I've seen all kinds of stories involving an ability like that. These kinds of things always pop up again and again, until you learn more about them. As much as I don't want the scales to come back, we have to expect that either one could show up at any moment." Kipo glanced away.
"Maybe I'll keep it on, just in case." Toddler Dave suddenly exploded out of Baby Dave and started babbling. He looked around a bit before jumping out of Benson's arms and running right to a chain link fence. He jumped onto it, holding on tightly as Benson sighed.
"I can't take my eyes off you for a second." He walked over and picked up Dave, pulling him off the fence. He noticed what Dave had been trying to go towards. "Want some water?"
"I'm thirsty too." Agreed Kipo. Wolf walked up, finally away from Mandu. Atom looked at where everyone else was looking.
"Poison yourselves if you want." He said. "I wouldn't give that water to a plant right now."
"Rule number 53 of the surface," agreed Wolf, "standing water is a hard no." Kipo turned away and noticed something. She walked up to it.
"If only that drinking fountain was working." She walked up to it as the rest of the group turned to her.
"Something like that?" Asked Atom. "The pipes would be so corroded that you'd be drinking copper. Plus, they're probably damaged." Kipo pressed the button on the faucet, and water sprayed out. She and Benson gasped as he and Wolf ran over. "Well, take everything I just said with a grain of salt." He walked over as well as Wolf sniffed the water.
Wh-wh-what?" Asked Benson. "That's what that's for?" Wolf took a drink of it.
"It's safe." She said, surprised. Kipo smiled, and leaned in to drink some.
"Always thought those were tiny satellite dishes." Said Benson.
"Satellite dishes were either attached to houses to catch radio waves, or were out in open fields to do the same." Said Atom. "Tiny ones don't work too well." Teen Dave suddenly jumped out of Toddler Dave and flipped over to the lower fountain. He pressed the button on the faucet and leaned in to drink, releasing the button as he did. The water fell before he could take a sip, so he tried again, doing the exact same thing. He tried it again, getting frustrated.
"Why does this always happen to me?!" He complained.
"Dave, this has literally never happened to you." Countered Benson. Atom leaned over.
"You have to hold the button while you drink." He said. He demonstrated, taking a few sips of the water. "See?" Dave molted again, getting back to his usual form as Mandu lapped up a little water from the ground. Benson took a drink from the upper one as some water splashed down from the lower one, startling Mandu as it raced towards the stagnant river. Mandu watched it go down as suddenly, water began bubbling up like a geyser. Mandu squealed loudly, and everyone turned to the quickly forming water column. Atom drew his sword and held it up defensively as the water parted, revealing a very large water creature. It smiled down at them creepily, before it leaned down a bit.
"Well, this day just turned fantastic." He said. Kipo started wobbling a bit as she got woozy all of a sudden, followed by Wolf and Benson, then Dave and Mandu. Atom looked at them for a moment before he yawned, tiredness suddenly overtaking him. He slumped against the fountains as Kipo looked up at the water creature.
"What, are, you?" She mumbled.
"A co-occupier of this planet, just like you my friend." Said the water creature, smiling. "I'm a community of tardigrades." He held up his hand, creating a smaller version of himself on it out of water. "Water dwelling, microscopic water bears." The small one he created split into five and he opened his mouth. The five jumped in, and his entire body vibrated as he let out a breath. His form melted into water as he suddenly shifted onto the land before he reformed. "But you can call me, Tad Mulholland." He created a hat and bowed, taking it off, before he melted again and went around the group, reforming his head as he did. "Some have referred to me as a guru," he reformed in front of the group, looking more like a 70s hipster, "although, I don't like to think of myself that way." His getup splashed down, putting him back to normal. He melted down again then reformed next to Benson, putting an arm around his shoulder. "I'm trained in different schools of visualization," he created a pair of glasses that he put in front of Benson, complete with two eyes that blinked once before he moved over to Kipo, "meditation," he lifted her on his head, putting her into a meditative position before melting back down and putting her back on her feet and going over to Wolf, "warm stone massage." He created a table of water that he lifted Wolf with, and placed some massive drops of water on her back, mimicking what he was describing. He suddenly melted away from her, putting her back on her feet and reforming behind Dave. "I also make a really neat pineapple upside-down cake." He created one out of water around Dave, then melted away from him. Mandu leapt at him and tried to bite the water cake, and it splashed down. Mulholland reformed in front of the group. "'Cause heck, even Mulholland likes to mix it up a little." Atom laughed.
"My mom's, favorite." He said, yawning. Mulholland looked at the group again, folding his hands.
"Mostly though, I'm a dream maker." He leaned in and waved an arm slowly in front of the group. Everyone started getting less and less stable on their feet, nearly falling over and yawning.
"A dream maker?" Mumbled Benson. Atom fell back into a column of water as Mulholland used it to lift everyone towards him.
"Everyone thinks they've got a dream." He explained. "But most don't know how big they're allowed to dream! I reveal your best, biggest, most perfect dream to you. And then I make that dream come true. Neat, huh?" He turned away and slowly moved into the water, bringing everyone else with him.
"We didn't ask for this." Said Wolf, lazily swinging Stalkie. "Make it, stop."
"Stop?" Asked Mulholland. "Why we've barely begun! I see it as more of a service we provide," he looked back at the group, "and you just drank us." His head turned completely around. "Isn't that a surprise?" Wolf moaned as she started to fall asleep as Mulholland started to explain. "I take my little water bear friends here and I send them just like that into your brains, and they do their thing. Then I give you the special little perfect world dream you want most." An image came to Wolf's mind of an older, beefed up version of herself. "You know, when you dream biggest, your brain has the most energy?" Everyone collapsed, too tired to remain standing.
"Something that, can bypass, my natural defenses." Sighed Atom. "Learn, something new, every day." Everyone started falling asleep, one by one, and Mulholland looked into everyone's dreams a bit.
"Wow, that sure is something." He said. He loomed over the group. "To complete this journey of ours, you become a part of me." Mulholland gasped. "You live in a fantasy forever and I live off your brain energy!" He began to feel the dreams everyone was having. "Oh wow. Those are electric dreams all right. I can already feel it."
A Mega Bunny walked around, looking for something as someone held up a clump of its babies fur. It sniffed around, then looked at the foliage where it smelled the fur, glaring at it. It started walking over. "Now!" Yelled Wolf. She and Kipo flexed out of the foliage, older and beefed up, tearing apart their disguise completely before they jumped down in front of the Mega Bunny. They started running as it gave chase, before they jumped on an old sign and car door, sliding down some stairs. The two managed to keep ahead of the Mega Bunny as it trampled down them, and the two girls looked at each other and nodded. They suddenly reached up with their weapons, swinging on a rope. They brought their sleds with them, slamming them into the Mega Bunny's eyes before jumping off of them and flipping through the air. The Mega Bunny charged forward, before it bumped into something, knocking off the sign and car door. It looked around as bars came down behind it, trapping it in a cage. It growled at Wolf and Kipo as they stood on top of it, basking in their victory. "We hunted the last Mega Bunny!" Said Wolf. "You and I make a great team!" Kipo looked at her.
"Don't get all mushy on me!" The two slammed hands together, practically arm wrestling in the air as their arms fought against each other. "Now let's get back home before we attract too much attention to ourselves." Kipo jumped down from the cage.
Leo was attempting to slide out of Atom's pocket as he slept, knowing that since he was the only one who hadn't drank any water, he was the only one not affected. But it was slow going since Atom's clothes were soaked through, practically sealing him inside. "Come on!" Muttered Leo. "I need to break out!"
Atom looked Dan over, stunned into silence. "What's wrong man? Cat got your tongue?" Atom just continued to stare at him.
"Bu, bu, how? When?" He looked around. "Since when could you get in this Reality?!" Drago floated up to Dan's shoulder.
"Calm down, Atom." He said. Atom gasped.
"You brought Drago with you?!" Atom grabbed Dan's hand and pulled him inside, quickly shutting the door behind him. He took a deep breath, then glared at Dan. "Do you know why I don't bring Leo home with me? My home Reality can't support Bakugan! Bringing any here is a great health risk to them!" Dan just looked at him funny.
"You okay?" He asked. "You're acting kinda strange." Atom's eyes widened. "Don't you recall? You figured out how to connect Realities together to let anybody travel through them, and that allowed all sorts of other creatures to live here. Bakugan, Digimon, Pokemon, and I think there were a few more." Atom's jaw dropped again.
"I did that?" He asked. He looked down, trying to remember.
"Yeah man! After you saved us from being erased from existence." Atom shook his head.
"Why can't I remember any of this?" He asked.
"Did you hit your head or something?" Asked Dan. "We could get Marucho to take a look at you." Atom shook his head again.
"No, I'm fine. Probably just, uh, a small slip up." He looked at Dan again. "Though, it is good to see you again."
"Yeah, same to you!" Replied Dan. "So, you ready for the tournament later?"
"Tournament?"
"Did you forget about that too?" Asked Drago.
"The tag team tournament." Added Dan. "You know, the one that we partnered up for?" Atom rubbed the back of his head.
"Must've slipped my mind." He looked upstairs. "But, uh, I don't have Leo here."
"No problem." Said Dan. "Last I checked, he was with Runo. He was helping her out with making the tournament bracket. We can go get him, then practice a bit more before the tournament."
Kipo and her father sat in front of mugs of tea, looking at Kipo's mom. "I, I thought you were dead." Said Kipo.
"We, we both did." Agreed her dad. "When did you get, how did you even" his incomplete questions were interrupted by Kipo's mom.
"When the Mega Bunny tunneled into our burrow, I shielded you Kipo. You were just a baby. It grabbed me from behind and took me away. It's no wonder everyone thought I was dead." Kipo reached out and put her hand on her mother's shoulder.
"Dad," she looked at him, "you always said mom got sick when I was a baby."
"I was," covered her dad, "I was gonna tell you when you got older. It sounded better than 'your mom got eaten by a bunny'." He shrugged and Kipo's mom put her hand on Kipo's.
"I'm back now." She said. "That's all that matters." She put her hand on Kipo's cheek, and they turned to each other. "I was lost for so long. It was the thought of you two that kept me going all these years." Kipo looked down, folding her hands together, hoping.
"So, welcome home, right?" She asked. "I get to say that?" Her mom chuckled.
"I think you do."
"Ok. Welcome home then!" Kipo pushed her chair back. "I'll give you the tour! This is the, kitchen, which, you already know." She jumped off her chair and ran over to where she left the telescope. "Oh, and," she picked it up, "dad and I were just making this special telescope." She looked into it towards her dad. "See? Even though we can't see the stars," she looked up at the stars on the ceiling, "we can see other things because dad says" she started mimicking her father, "there are worlds within worlds, Kipo." Kipo put the telescope down on the counter and excitedly grabbed her mom's hand. She pulled her to another room and opened the door. "This is my room! Oh, you'll want to see dad's room too," she sat down on her bed, "'cause that's where you'll sleep if you want." She jumped up from her bed again and went over to a shelf to grab something. "And this is from when I guessed correctly how many burrow beans were in a jar at the fair last year! Everybody guessed, like, a hundred, but I knew it was way more!" She held the jar out to her mom, when suddenly the fur came back on her arm. She gasped loudly, and her dad ran in. "Don't look!" She dropped the jar and ran into the connected bathroom as we parents watched, slamming the door behind her. She quickly got over to the sink and began rubbing her arm under water, trying to get rid of the fur. Her parents opened the door, and she turned away from the sink, looking at her arm. "Something's happening to me." She looked away from her parents, then her dad cleared his throat.
"Kipo, something is happening to you." He said, awkwardly and nervously. "Because sometimes, people go through changes, right? Like um, when you leave a potato out for a few days, and it, it, it starts to uh, grow, fur" Kipo turned to him.
"What?" She asked. "I'm a furry potato?" Kipo's mom put her hand on her dad's shoulder.
"I'm gonna have a little one on one." She interjected.
"Oh thank you so much!" Said her dad, relieved. He wiped his forehead as he backed away, and Kipo's mom closed the door. She walked up to Kipo. "Hey kiddo." She grabbed Kipo's shoulders and gently turned her to the mirror. "You may not know what's happening to you, but I do." Kipo sniffled.
"You do?" Her mom pulled her ponytail out, letting her hair hang freely.
"I do." Her mom grabbed a comb and started going through her hair. "And I know it feels scary, but it's actually super special." She pulled away.
"It is?" Asked Kipo.
"Cross my heart." Kipo raised her arm up and looked at it again.
"Hair is special?"
"That kind of hair is." Kipo turned to her mom. "Because it means, you're part Mute."
"Part Mute?" Asked Kipo, concerned. "Part Mute!? Am I gonna get angry more?" She gasped at some new thoughts. "Eat more? W-w-w-will my fur set off, like, alarms, or c-c-can I sense danger?! Or, or, will, uh, will people treat me differently?"
"So many questions!" Dismissed her mom.
"Mom!" Complained Kipo. "If you were me, you'd be panicking too!" A moment passed, and Kipo suddenly hugged her mother, who embraced her back. They pulled apart after a few moments.
"You're right." Agreed her mom. She sat down, then sat Kipo down, who looked down at the ground. "Everything you're going through, right now, I've gone through." She put her hand on Kipo's, and teal fur suddenly sprouted from her arm. Kipo gasped.
"Whoa! You're part Mute?" She looked at her mom. "You're like me!"Her mom laughed a bit.
"No. You're like me." She brought Kipo in closer. "Your questions don't have easy answers, but I'll help you with all of them."
"That sounds really good."
Kipo was smiling back in the real world as Mulholland hummed and made water dance around the group in several sprays. He suddenly stopped it as he came up between everybody, singing. "The world is a great big world! Wow! But your mind is greater and bigger! It's greater and bigger because it's free!" He created six bulges of water on the surface, then sent them at everybody in the group, surrounding them in water. "Mmhmm, let me show you how free you can be!" Everyone started to get lifted by the water surrounding them. "How free you can be, when you are part of me." He looked at Benson and Dave as Leo managed to push his way out of Atom's pocket.
"Finally!" She said. He looked around at the water surrounding Atom. "Oh come on!"
Dave closed a fully stocked fridge and looked at himself in the reflection. "Holy moly goats in a cannoli!" He exclaimed as he looked at his muscled form. He laughed. "Oh this is so cool!"
Outside the building Dave was in, Benson was chilling in a pool, drinking a cold drink with a tiny umbrella in it. A water fountain suddenly floated over to him and he looked at it, gasping. "Satellites! I knew they were satellites!" He laughed and pressed the button on it, getting shot a small candy which he caught in his mouth. He ate it, then turned to the side, shooting out a full rainbow out of his mouth and making a rather large noise. Dave looked up from inside at the noise, then went over to the garage door and opened it to see Benson laughing.
"Hey, Benson!" Called Dave as he ran up to the pool.
"Yo! Dave!" Benson climbed out of the pool, and the water fountain came around again. "Check this out!" He jumped up to it and pressed the button again, eating another of the candies. He turned to Dave, shooting him with the rainbow. Dave put his arms up to block it, and it scattered around him, lighting up the floor of the garage behind him. Benson dropped down and gasped.
"Look at the floor!" Dave turned to it.
"Whoa! There's rainbows on the floor!"
"It's rainbows! This is amazing!" Benson quickly got dressed, then stepped onto the dance floor. He began tapping his foot to the beat and he and Dave nodded their heads to it. Then, it dropped, and the two began dancing. Dave jumped to the side, swinging from side to side before he fell over and Old Dave jumped out, moonwalking. He spun towards an edge as Benson slid over, performing some simple dance moves. Dave fell over dead, and his baby form hopped out, spinning on his head before he fell backwards and Toddler Dave popped out, dancing backwards slightly before jumping at Benson, who caught him and spun him around. Teen Dave suddenly exploded out and landed on the floor. Benson jumped over to him and they both began doing the same dance moves. Dave suddenly popped out of his teen form, jumping to the side before spinning around on his back. Benson jumped over to him as his muscled form popped out, catching him easily. He spun in place before he started rapidly molting, bringing Benson and himself up higher and higher towards the ceiling, before the two held hands at the top and leaned in opposite directions, balancing on all of the dead Daves as some pyrotechnics went off.
"You know what this means?" Asked Dave. Benson gasped.
"Fans!" There was some sudden cheering behind them which they turned to. As they did, they saw about a dozen other guys cheering for them. They jumped down and looked outside to see that there was suddenly a full party around and in the pool.
Dan and Atom stood in front of the stadium. It was a relatively short trip, but it wasn't exactly close to Atom's house. "Well, here we are." Said Dan, closing the passenger door of the car. Atom got out too, closing the driver side door. "Come on. Let's go get Leo, then do some training! I'm pumped for this one!"
"You're always pumped for battle, Dan." Said Atom, laughing a bit. He made his way towards the stadium. "You know, I would've figured that a Bakugan Stadium wouldn't be so close to a big city like this one."
"Well, it's not just a Bakugan Stadium." Said Drago.
"Yeah. It's a stadium for basically everything available." Agreed Dan. "You've got brawling tournaments, dueling tournaments, battle tournaments, you get the idea. In fact, if I remember right, there's a Digimon Tournament tomorrow that Azion's in. We'll have to check that out." Atom shook his head.
"One thing at a time." He said. "Let's go get Leo." He started walking towards the front of the building, and Dan quickly caught up to him. "So, what are you thinking for the tournament."
"Well, I was thinking Leo could soften up our opponents with his incredible speed, then distract them while Drago lands the finishing blows on them." Atom looked at Dan surprised.
"Hold on, you actually came up with a strategy for once? And it isn't 'charge in and attack'?" Dan looked at him.
"Come on, Atom! I'm not as impulsive as I used to be." He gave his signature smile. "I can make a strategy too, you know." Atom shook his head.
"I suppose so." He said, before thinking. "But the Dan I know, well, he rushes in blindly, following his gut instincts. He would never plan ahead like this." Atom glanced at Dan. "Something's wrong here." Someone suddenly ran up to them.
"Hey guys!" Atom looked to see Marucho.
"Hey, Marucho!" Said Dan. "Great to see you! How's it going?"
"Not too bad. I just finished going over all the data from everybody entered in the tournament. You guys can't beat me!"
"Or me." Atom and Dan turned to see Shun behind them, like he had just appeared there. Dan laughed.
"Oh, that's right! You two teamed up for this tournament, didn't you?" Shun walked over to Marucho.
"You know it." He said.
"And we've come up with a strategy that neither of you will be able to counter, too!" Added Marucho. "There's no way you can win!" Dan laughed again, then put his hand out.
"Then let the best team win." Marucho grabbed it.
"Losers buy dinner for the winners?" He wagered.
"Oh, you're on!" Agreed Dan. He looked back at Atom. "Come on, let's go get Leo and get started!"
Kipo and her mom walked through a cave filled with crystals, and Kipo kept looking around. That is, until she saw her furry arm in a reflection off one of the crystals, and she put her hand on it, worried. "When I was pregnant with you, I would come down here to show you my favorite place in the burrow." Her mom led her to a small rock outcropping, which she sat on. Kipo sat down as well. "I would talk to you, tell you about my day, about how I couldn't wait to meet you. And now here we are together. I can't tell you what this feels like to be here with you, right now." Kipo turned to her mom.
"I might have an idea." She turned back as she heard some people whispering, cand pulled her furry arm closer, trying to hide it. Her mom looked past her and glared. The two people gasped, then quickly walked off. Kipo looked back at her mom. "This is what I was afraid of." Her mom put her hand on her shoulder.
"Kipo, sometimes when you're special, you can feel very alone." Kipo looked down a bit.
"When dad tried to help me before, I know he didn't mean to, but, it made me feel more alone." Her mom looked away.
"I know what it's like to feel that way." They looked at their reflections. "But now we have each other, and you'll never be alone again!" She leaned into Kipo and pulled her in. "That's what's most important."
Leo took a deep breath to calm himself, then jumped into the water surrounding Atom. He was swirled around as he made his way through, eventually managing to break out of it. He looked around and saw Mulholland watching over everybody, checking up on their dreams. Leo shivered, then went up to Atom's head. "Atom!" He whispered. "Atom! Wake up!" He glanced around at everybody else, seeing them in similar predicaments.
Mandu was walking around Cactustown, trying to find something to eat. She suddenly noticed a small cheese puff on the ground, and lunged at it, eating it in one bite. She looked to the side and saw another one, and quickly ate that one too. She then saw another one and went to eat it, but noticed something even better behind it. She looked up at what looked like a cactus made out of a cheese puff. She lunged at it, knocking it over and taking a bite. As she chewed, she looked past it. She suddenly stopped chewing as her mouth fell open at the sight. Down below was an entire valley of the cheese puff cacti. Her pupils widened in excitement, before she suddenly squealed in pure delight and ran down. She started eating the cheese puffs left and right, getting cheese dust all over her as she did. She ate through several limbs on one, falling down to the next one each time. When she got to the ground, she began just eating through the bases of as many as she could, gorging herself on the cheesy taste. She eventually flopped on her back, rolling around in the mess of cheese dust she had made.
Wolf and Kipo were hauling the cage towards their hideout in the cactus grove. Wolf turned to Kipo. "We're hauling 1000 tons of caged fur, barefoot. I tell ya, this is the life!" Kipo turned to her.
"We better find something else to hunt before we get lazy. Man, I really love hunting!" Wolf looked up for a moment at the clouds, and got confused by something forming in them. It was the symbol of Aries.
"Huh?" She asked. As quickly as it had appeared, it vanished. Wolf shook her head, grunting in agreement. "Yeah! I love hunting too!" The two kept pulling the cage.
Dan and Atom walked into the stadium, and Atom looked around. "I can't believe how good this place looks. It's almost exactly like the stadium that you and Gunz battled in after we defeated Mechtavius Destroyer."
"It is pretty similar." Agreed Dan. He started walking towards a door. "Come on, Runo's in there." Atom followed quickly, eager to get Leo back. Dan knocked on it.
"One moment!" Something crashed, and Runo opened the door. "Sorry about that. We had a few last minute entrants, and I've had to completely redo the bracket." She noticed Atom. "Oh, hey Atom. Here to get Leo?"
"Yeah, that would be great." He said. Runo leaned back and grabbed something, before coming back to the front.
"Here you go." She handed Leo to Atom, and he smiled.
"Perfect. Thanks Runo!"
"No problem." She turned back to the room. "Now, how am I supposed to do this?" She shut the door again, and Atom shook his head before looking at Leo.
"Good to have you back." He said. Leo popped open.
"Yeah." He agreed. "Working with Runo is fun and all, but brackets are hard to Atom! Wake up!" The sudden change to what Leo was saying startled Atom.
"Huh?" He asked. Leo shook himself.
"Sorry." He said. "Something came over me for a second." Atom shook his head.
"Yeah, something's been up with me too." He put Leo on his shoulder. "Come on, Dan's wanting to get some practice in before the tournament."
Kipo's mom led her towards the main pathway in the bunker, as her dad followed. "Hey, there's a perfectly fine trail near here." He suggested.
"You're welcome to take that trail." Said Kipo's mom, turning to him. She grabbed Kipo's hand again and began walking anew. Kipo's dad followed.
"I'm just concerned we're bringing too much, attention, to Kipo." A few people turned to them. "No one has ever seen a half-mute around here." Kipo's mom smiled, then thrust her hand into the air. Her teal fur quickly grew out, drawing gasps from everyone around. She suddenly ran towards a rock wall and jumped onto it. She looked back down at Kipo's dad.
"Up on the surface I learned there's no hiding from the world. We can't cover up how it'll treat her." She started jumping up the wall, getting to the top in record time, flipping up to the top. She looked back down, then gestured for Kipo to come up too. She looked at her dad, before jumping up the wall, following her mother's path. When she got to the top, her mom grabbed her hand and helped her up. Kipo's dad looked around everyone who was staring.
"What are you looking at?" He asked. "They're Mutes! Get over it!"
"Thanks dad!" Called Kipo. She hissed down a bit, playfully, and her mother followed suit. They began switching back and forth.
Back in the real world, Mulholland was hissing at Kipo, imitating her mom. He laughed. "Mulholland, you do get carried away sometimes." He heard Wolf straining a bit from her dream, and looked over at her. "Uh oh, that's not all right."
"Atom! Come on, wake up!" Said Leo. Mulholland turned to Atom to see a small ball, talking to him. "It's a dream! It's not real!"
"And who might you be, little one?" Asked Mulholland, making a smaller version of himself on Atom to talk to Leo. Leo turned to it.
"The one who is going to free my partner from your twisted game!" He was suddenly blasted back by water.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Said Mulholland. He looked back at Wolf.
In their hideout, Kipo was working on getting a meal ready as Wolf dragged the Mega Bunny in. "Uh oh," she said, overlaid with Mulholland, "that's not all right." Wolf turned to her.
"Wait, what's not all right?" Kipo turned to her.
"Nothing!" She laughed. She walked over to the fire, which had a huge chunk of meat cooking over it. "Wow, I'm hungry." She began spinning the stick it was on. The grove suddenly rumbled, and the two looked at where it came from.
"Huh?" Asked Wolf. A side of the grove suddenly broke down, sending dust into the air and obscuring both of their visions. When it settled, they were both looking at a very large ram. They were both speechless for a moment.
"Wolf, you didn't show her, the map." Said the ram. Wolf looked at it, then looked away.
"You're right!" She said, eventually. "I can't keep a secret forever!" She turned to Kipo. "Kipo, I hid a map from you." She walked up to her. "I think it could have led you to your dad." She held out the letter to Kipo, who took it. "I'm sorry." Kipo looked at it, then up at Wolf. She then closed her eyes, and tore it up several times before tossing the pieces away.
"Whatever." She said. The scraps fell around Wolf. "It's in the past. No point dwelling on it." Kipo pulled out her spear, and handed Wolf Stalkie. "Let's say we change the menu tonight from Mega Bunny to talking ram." Wolf took Stalkie and looked at it, before looking back to Kipo, confused. Kipo charged at the Ram, spinning her spear. She lunged at it, but was tackled by Wolf, knocking her back. The two glared at each other.
"You're not my Kipo." Accused Wolf. "This isn't real."
"Aw man." Said Kipo, again overlaid by Mulholland as the ground began to crack and fracture.
"Huh?" Asked Wolf. She stood up as the grove started cracking apart too.
Wolf suddenly woke up and noticed she was surrounded by water. She strained against it a bit, and it burst, freeing her. Mulholland watched her in shock as she swam away, coming up on one of the banks and climbing out. She coughed out the pieces of Mulholland that were in her, and they reformed into a tiny version of him. She attempted to smash it with her fist and it screamed, running away. "Wow, that's a first." Said Mulholland.
"You!" Yelled Wolf. "What'd you do to us?!"
"That ram must have been your guilt, little pup." Continued Mulholland. "Those are some big feelings you got sealed up tight like a jelly jar" he created one out of water to emphasize his point "to interfere with the dream I made for you." He smashed it, spraying water out a bit.
"You mean the first time someone has woken up out of one of your messed up dreams before you digest them!?" Accused Wolf, grabbing a nearby skull. Mulholland looked to the side.
"Oh, that doesn't sound right. That sounds sad." Leo rolled up next to Wolf.
"Oh no, you're not getting out of this one!" He yelled. "You said, and I quote, 'to complete this journey of ours, you become a part of me. You live in a fantasy forever and I live off your brain energy." Wolf looked around to try and find the source of the voice, and Leo sighed. "Down here, Wolf." Wolf looked down to see what looked like a small marble. "I'll get Atom to explain later. Right now, just know that I will not stop until I wake Atom up!" Wolf turned away and ran towards Kipo.
"Kipo!" She yelled. "Wake up!" A sudden torrent of water splashed into her, sending her back. Mulholland melted all of himself but his head, and floated over to her, where he reformed.
"Psst, little pup, I wouldn't do that to your friend." He whispered. "You'll wake her up."
"I want to wake her up!" Countered Wolf.
"If you wake them up, you'll yank them from perfection." Countered Mulholland. Leo floated up to Wolf. "I can reveal a better dream to you." His body began swirling around. "I can make you more buff." His body solidified, showing a muscled up version of himself. Wolf grabbed another skull.
"I don't want anything that turns me into this!" She said, holding it up.
"A hamster?" Asked Mulholland, making a giant one out of water. "I could definitely make you a furry hamster."
"No!" Argued Wolf. "Dead!" She threw the skull at Mulholland, who parted his face to let it pass. He reformed it, looking sadly at Wolf.
"I speak from the heart when I say that hurt my feelings." Leo glared at him.
"If I could assume my true form, that's not all that would hurt!" He claimed. He landed on Wolf's shoulder as she stood up, before she suddenly charged at Mulholland, swinging Stalkie. She was blasted back by another spray of water, and Leo grabbed onto her pelt. He slowed her fall enough for her to land on her feet further away. "I've got you!" Wolf looked at him for a moment, before she noticed some water rising up in front of her, solidifying into her dream self. It got into a battle ready position, and Wolf looked past it to see Dave and Benson. Wolf suddenly charged and slid under it before Leo helped her back up so she could continue running.
Some fireworks went off, showing D&B Rule in the sky as the party went full swing. Everyone around was cheering for Dave and Benson as they tore up the dance floor. "Woo hoo!" Yelled Benson. "Yeah!" Dave did the worm over to him as he dropped down into the splits. "Woo!"
"Dave! Benson!" Called Wolf, echoing in their dream. The two stopped dancing. "This isn't real!"
"It's not?" Asked Benson.
"You two need to wake up to help us with the others!" Called Leo. Benson looked over to Dave.
"This is a dream?" He asked. "Did you know this wasn't real?"
"Yeah man." Said Dave, getting up. "I made shirts." He gestured over to a small stand. "I went to Benson and Dave's, super sick house party, and all I got was nothing, because it's not real." A water fountain floated over and shot them with a bit of water.
"Yeah," agreed Benson, "something this awesome definitely couldn't exist. This is totally not real." The house started to crack and fracture.
"Looks like our fantasy heard us!" Said Dave. The two looked around, and it rumbled again.
"We take it back!" Yelled Benson, hopping onto the water fountain.
"Let us stay!" Added Dave, running over to the stuffed toy versions of them. "I don't want to leave the rainbow floor!"
Dave and Benson suddenly woke up, and the water surrounding them popped, freeing them. They landed in the water, then looked at each other. "Benson, are you ok?!" Asked Dave.
"I was five minutes ago." He responded. "Can we go back?"
"We were so popular!" Agreed Dave.
"You were going to die!" Interjected Wolf.
"Mulholland was going to absorb all of you!" Added Leo.
"Who said that?" Asked Dave.
"Wait, Leo?" Asked Benson. "When did you"
"Not now!" Interrupted Leo.
"Wake up the pig." Said Wolf. "We gotta help" Kipo and Atom were suddenly brought up higher, "Kipo!"
"Atom!" Called Leo. Mulholland formed between the two sleepers.
"I don't think so, little pup." He said. He looked at Kipo. "Their fantasies are my best works yet." He melted and reformed, taking on the appearance of Kipo's mom. "I had her mom come back to life." He returned to his normal form. "I made her feel strong in the face of adversity." Kipo and Atom suddenly rotated, putting Atom in front. "As for him, I brought his friends back from the brink of existence." Mulholland's form shifted into looking like Dan. "I gave him accomplishment in uniting every world he's been to, bringing together his adoptive family and his real one." Mulholland melted again and reformed in front of the two. "I don't get jealous, but if I did, I would be. Of me." He rose up and laughed as everyone looked on. He formed into a giant ram's head, blocking access to both Kipo and Atom. Leo growled.
"Wolf, throw me!" He said. He went to her hand and closed up. Wolf looked at him, before looking back at Mulholland.
"You may have tried to control our fantasies, Water Bear." Said Wolf. She pulled her arm back and threw Leo past Mulholland's head before she charged forward herself. She crashed into him as he went towards her mouth first, before she swam through him. She burst out the other side and landed on Kipo. Leo took control of his thrown path and landed on Atom. They looked back at Mulholland. "But you will not control our realities!"
"If you want to take away our friends," added Leo, "you had better be ready to fight for them!"
Atom and Dan faced each other in the park nearby, ready to brawl. Dan pulled out his bakumeter. "Ready?" He asked. Atom grinned.
"You know it!" He thrust his hand forward. "Drome up!" He called. Nothing happened. "Huh? Drome up!" Again, nothing. Dan looked at him confused.
"Uh, what's a drome?" He asked. Atom looked at him.
"It's the way me and Leo brawl now." He said. "We've, lost the ability to use cards."
"What do you mean?" Asked Dan. "You were using cards just the other day!" Atom's expression turned to shocked.
"But that, that's impossible." He said. "Ever since the incident with the BCS, I haven't been able to use any cards!" Leo suddenly shook.
"Atom, wake up!" He said. "It's a dream!" Atom looked at him, then back at Dan.
"Is it?" He asked. He glared at Dan. "Have you been lying to me this entire time?"
"No way man!" Argued Dan. "Why would I?" Atom felt his anger rising.
"You have been, haven't you? You're not the Dan I know! The Dan I know would've said that he didn't have a plan for the tournament, or he would've asked what I had in mind. And all of this? Connecting Realities together to allow anybody to travel between them? Incredibly dangerous and foolish!" He felt a pressure in his right arm as he continued. "The Battle Brawlers I knew were lost when I recreated all Realities after Destruction destroyed them all!" Scales began growing on his arm. "You can't be Dan." Dan walked up to Atom.
"Come on Atom, calm down. I'm here, you're here." Atom looked down and noticed his arm. "It's as real as it gets." Atom growled.
"No, it's not. There's somewhere else I need to be, someplace else that I'm at. I'm not at home, I'm in a world 200 years in the future! This can't be real!" Dan started to crack.
"Atom, are you sure about this?" He asked.
"Come on Atom, snap out of it!" Said Leo. Atom sighed.
"It was fun for a little while, Dan." He said. He glared at Dan as he felt a pressure behind his eyes. Dan gasped as they changed. "But none of this is in any Reality! I'm dreaming, and this isn't real!" Dan exploded into dust.
Kipo was laying on a blanket and looking up at the ceiling with her family, looking through the telescope. "Kipo wake up!" Said Wolf, making the ceiling blink on and off. Kipo moved the telescope away.
"Huh?" She asked.
"Kipo!" Called Wolf. Kipo sat up.
"What was that?" She asked. Her dad looked at her.
"Oh, that's cave acoustics." He said, turning to her. "The roundness of the place makes noises ricochet and it can sound weird." Kipo looked at him, then back up.
"Something's not right." Her mom crawled over and felt her forehead.
"I can make some soup when we get home if you're not feeling well." Kipo leaned forward more and put her hand to her head, making her mom let go.
"No, I-I feel fine." She stood up. "It's all this." She looked around. "Something's wrong with all of this!" Her mom got up on her knees.
"It's because some of the people you saw today didn't accept you, isn't it?" She asked. "I get it." Kipo's dad sat up. "And I love you. I accept you." Kipo turned away from them, and she stood up. "I know you're part Mute, and I know you are special." Kipo's dad stood up next.
"You saying that, coming back, it's too good to be true." Said Kipo. She looked back at her parents. "Are you really part Mute?"
"Why would you ask that?" Kipo turned completely to her.
"Mom, please, answer me. Are you?"
"I am part Mute because you believe I'm part Mute." She looked at Kipo's dad. "That's all you need. It can be that way forever." Her parents started walking towards her, arms outstretched for a hug. "You can forget Atom, Madnu, Wolf, Benson, Dave," she took a breath, "because you'll have me and Dad." Kipo realized something.
"You know the names of my friends." She said. "You're not part Mute! There was no Mega Bunny that took you away!" Kipo turned away from her parents. "You got sick when I was a baby!"
"Kipo! Wake up! I know how to find your dad!" Called Wolf. Kipo looked back to her dad.
"You're not my real dad, are you?" Her father's head started cracking as the burrow rumbled. "You're not like me. I'm all alone after all! I, I have to go find my real dad!"
"If you do this, I'll be gone forever." Said her mom, starting to crack and fracture.
"I'm sorry, but you're not really here." Said Kipo. Her mom smiled.
"One more piece of advice before you leave." She said. "You're never alone, no matter how much you feel like you are." Kipo smiled, before tears started streaming down her eyes.
"This, isn't, real." She declared. Her parents exploded into dust.
Atom and Kipo both suddenly woke up just as the water fully enclosed them. Kipo screamed into it as Atom struggled against it, before both of them popped out of the water and splashed down, with Wolf and Leo following not too long after. Wolf grabbed onto Kipo under the water as Leo started tugging Atom, getting them over to Benson and Dave. Benson help get Kipo and Atom out of the water as Dave helped Mandu, the entire group getting back onto dry land as quickly as possible. "You guys okay?" Asked Benson. Kipo took several deep breaths before answering.
"Yeah." She panted. Atom shook his head, coughing.
"Heck of a dream with that one."
"Where are we?" Asked Kipo. Mandu spat up the water she had drunk, then the water behind everybody began swirling up, becoming a water monster that glared down at them all. It bubbled a bit, then softened its glare. Everyone gathered closer together as Wolf and Atom prepared their weapons.
"Wait a second." Said Mulholland, returning to his normal form. "So you're all happier to be here, instead of the perfect worlds I created for you?" Everyone nodded. "I was supposed to take you on a journey and you guys took me on one instead. I'm starting to think this isn't the best way to get my nutrients." He looked up. "I'm gonna take time to do some thinking at the mountains." He melted down until he was just a head, then began spinning back. "And also at the sea. And maybe outer space." He sank into the water and vanished. Everyone looked around at each other for a few moments.
"So, uh," started Atom, "that was strange." He looked at his clothes. "We're drenched. We need to dry off." He turned back. "I think I recall a mostly intact house a bit away. Come on."
The group sat around a fire, drying off, thinking about what had happened. Leo was on Atom's shoulder, no longer hiding since the entire group now knew about him. Benson broke the tension. "Well, that's gotta be the weirdest Mute I've ever come across." He chuckled a bit, but nobody else responded. He looked down at the fire again.
"I don't know what you guys experienced while in those dreams," said Leo, "but I am glad that you were all able to get out." Again, nobody responded. Wolf looked at Kipo.
"Kipo?" She asked. Kipo looked at her. "I need to tell you something."
"Is it about finding my dad?" Asked Kipo. "I thought I heard you say something about that in my dream." She looked away from Wolf for a moment, then looked back. Wolf reached back, into her pocket.
"When we split up to find birthday presents," she pulled out the letter, "Dave and I found, this." She handed it to Kipo, who took it.
"We did?" Asked Dave, surprised. "I'm so proud of us!" Benson elbowed him and cleared his throat, telling Dave to shut it without saying it. Kipo read the letter.
"There's, a, backup burrow?" She asked. "I had no idea there was a failsafe. That must be where my people are headed!" Wolf looked away, guilty and ashamed. "Only this says we were going in the wrong direction." Kipo realized something, and turned to Wolf. "And, you knew?" Wolf slowly turned to her.
"Kipo, I'm so sorry."
"My dad left me a note, and you, hid it from me!" Kipo pounded the ground in anger before she stood up, glaring down at Wolf.
"I'm sorry"
"How could you?!" Asked Kipo. Everyone was stunned into silence for a few moments. Atom stood up.
"If she hid this from you, then she must have" Wolf started crying.
"I was afraid of losing you!" She wailed, standing up. Kipo took a step back. "I was afraid because when you go back underground that will be it!" Wolf wiped away a few tears. "All this, us, we'll be over!" She turned away from Kipo, hugging herself. "We'll go, our, our separate ways." Dave and Benson looked at each other as Atom looked at Leo. Kipo put a hand on Wolf's shoulder, trying to comfort her. Wolf looked back at her, and Kipo nodded. She pulled Wolf into a hug, and tears streamed down her face as she hugged back, burying her head in Kipo's shoulder. Mandu walked over and nuzzled up against Wolf's leg, trying to help comfort her. Dave suddenly interrupted the tender moment.
"Oh, I remember now!" He said. "The Parts Etcetera store!" He turned to Benson. "You should've seen the look on Wolfie's face when she realized that map meant goodbye. I don't think she likes goodbyes." Benson glared at him.
"We got that Dave." Atom shook his head, then looked over at Wolf and Kipo.
"A goodbye doesn't have to mean forever." He said. "It can just mean 'until next time'. You two are inseparable." He gave a thumbs up. "If you two ever split up permanently, I'll eat my shirt. I'm that confident." He sat back down, sighing. "I sometimes wish I had someone I was that close to." He leaned back, and Benson looked at him.
"Say, Atom, when Mulholland still had you in that dream, he said something about the many worlds you've visited." Atom snapped to attention and looked at him. "What does that mean, exactly?" Atom looked around, nervously.
"Uh, well," he sighed. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you. But it's going to be a very hard pill to swallow." He looked at Kipo and Wolf, still in their embrace. "But, perhaps it should wait just a bit longer?"
Figuring out Atom's dream was the hardest part of this chapter. Hopefully I made it well enough.