Road Trip of the Heart

by ultima-owner

A unforgettable journey of crazy times, at least for the person doing it. It's a SIOC fic so if you don't like those, please don't flame.

35. Three Hammers

Welcome!

This chapter conations spoilers for: Kingdom Hearts, Emperor's New Groove, Star Wars, Spooky' house of jumpscares, Ducktales, Chaotic, Milo Murphy's Law, Phineas and Ferb, Casper's Scare School, Untitled Goose Game, Ni No Kuni, Lunatics Unleashed, Johnny Test

Disclaimer: I only own my stuff

Chapter 28: Three Hammers

A week after that last chapter

New Groove World

Inca empire, Peru

Village on the hill

Zane was playing what looked like chess with an old man who took forever to make a move. This world was a little like when the Inca's rule was going strong but that was a lot of things that made it 'off'. There were books, scrolls, stone slabs as written records instead of knotted lengths of rope. That was Junior Chipmunks troops. Zane just rolled with it as it nagged at him. Hadn't he seen a trailer for a movie but never watched it back on Earth Prime? There were so many kids' movies it would take forever to find the exact memory in the collection he held. He looked up as a large man with a green poncho on, named Pacha, left with a llama pulling his cart. "Going to the main city for supplies already?" Zane called out to him.

"I've got an appointment with the emperor." Pacha said with a small smile. "can you help my family while I am gone?" He requested. "The llama herd may need to be checked on." He was the chief of this small village and his home sat on the peak, balanced exactly right, some of the sides of the house hanging in the open air. "You are letting me stay at your home. It's the least I can do." Zane had dressed like someone that was mid to high class for this world. He had come to this village and met Pacha as he was returning from collecting llama wool from the herd. He had asked bluntly how his house was sitting on the hill and not falling.

That was how Pacha invited him to dinner and told Zane he was free to stay as long as he needed. His children, Tipo, his son, and Chaca, his daughter, were extremely interested in his stories. The eldest, Chaca had a look in her eye that told him she wasn't sure if Zane was 'trouble' but she was going to watch him like a hawk. Chicha, Pacha wife who was not afraid to whack you with a wooden spoon if you tried to sneak a bite of food, had looked at Zane as declared that he was 'welcome to help her in the kitchen'. She could spot a good cook somehow. Zane knew not to ask because 'mothers can be mysterious' as his mom sometimes said to him growing up.

That evening

New Groove World

Inca empire, Peru

Village on the hill

Zane stood outside and looked at the stars. Chicha, who was heavily pregnant, stood that the doorway of the house. "you never said why you are so far from home." She said looking at the llama carving she used to measure her kids. "you don't look like you are from this land mass." She says thinking of the travelers from the north, east, and south that sometimes came to the empire. Not all of them left alive or even left the cell the guards threw them into. "I am what you could call a 'person of interest' to a being of magical origin." Zane said, letting the Fae ring become visible on his finger. He was hiding his jewelry to avoid being thrown into some dark cell for daring to be richer than the emperor. "The ring doesn't ever come off and she can send me off on 'quests' for things she wants. The current one is to get the fur of a cat that learned 'Squirrel', freely given."

Chicha arched a brow. "that sounds impossible. Is she setting you up for failure?" She wondered. "There were weirder harder to complete tasks she's given me." Unseen at the base of the hill a pair of golden yellow eye peered at the village from the foliage. Back up the hill Zane as asking about what she used to make the clothing. "Mainly alpaca and but llama works just as well." Chicha said with pride. "that explains the oddities I noticed in Pacha's clothing. He said he herded llamas, but the material is not just llama." Zane mused. "I guess he didn't feel the need to point out the differences between the two breeds."

The next day

New Groove World

Inca empire, Peru

Village on the hill

Zane watched as Pacha ran after a 'talking demon llama' who was headed in the duration of the main city. He had not heard anything as he was coming back from checking on the llama herd, but he had the feeling that Pacha wound not be back for several days. He had heard gossip of the rope bridge you take for the short route was getting old and needed to be fixed yesterday. That would leave the way that takes at least four days one way to the palace, the shortest route, unless you had a royal pass, but you would need Emperor Kuzco's permission to get one. It was like pulling a bad tooth from a hungry crocodile's mouth with how egotistical people said he was. He looked at the forest for the fifth time in the last hour. Something was stalking him, something that known when to act like it wasn't stalking him when he searched.

A six days later

New Groove World

Inca empire, Peru

The jungle near Pacha's village

Zane had enough of being stalked and Chicha, in an angry mood swing, ordered him to 'be a man' and hunt it down before she does. She then started worrying he'd be killed and break her children's hearts. The stress of the weirdos looking for the llama coming to her home had made her edgy. She was two weeks from six months pregnant and the stress was not helping. So, here he was stalking in the jungle, camo and scent remover on. He had found nothing until he found 5-day old tracks of a jaguar, but the depth was wrong. The tracks looked to belong to a three-week-old cub, but it was way too deep for the average weight of a jaguar that age.

It was at least thrice that average. He scanned the area and felt the eyes watching leave for now. There had been a swash in the tree behind him, so he checked it out. In a branch was a tuft of black, with a hint of orange, fur that felt stronger than normal. "Clearly not a normal jaguar." Zane muttered, no louder than the whisper of the wind.

A week later

New Groove World

Inca empire, Peru

Jungle clearing

"Do you know anything about a 'super jaguar' stalking this jungle?" Zane asked the chipmunk troop leader, who looked older than his teenage years. "The name's Kronk and I think Yzma may have done something 35 years ago." The broad-shouldered teen said then asking a lavender kitten. "Yzma, did you do any animal testing on felines? Maybe even 'magical' super serum you ranted about once?" the adorable fluffy kitten a squeaky voice 'yelled', "That experiment was a complete and total failure, Kronk. All I managed to do is make the jaguar population more stable." The cat finally looked at Zane and screeched in fright. "Your leg is gone!" she yowled standing with back arched fur bristled. Zane looked at his regrowing right lag and the blood pool from multiple healing slash marks on his body.

"Yeah, your experiment yielded a beast dead set of hunting me. She is hyper intelligent and relishes cutting off limbs knowing my healing factor will heal it." Zane said in a matter-of-fact tone. "I'm not sure where she calls home but it's deeper inland near the heart of the rainforest." He wiggled his fully regenerated leg. "Could the serum have condensed in the much later generation of cubs?" Yzma questioned. "If so, why is this nutjob the one the beast is after?" She questioned. "how about you explain how you made the serum?" Zane asked, putting on a sandal. "Like a simpleton like you would understand the ancient art of mixing magic and science." Yzma said dismissively.

Zane gave a sharp whistle and a jaguar springs out of nowhere holding her by the scruff of her neck. "That is the result of your experiment. She's only 2 weeks old." Zane said calmly as Kronk pulled a tape measure out and declared "But it's already at the standard size of a 15-year-old jaguar. How much bigger is she going to get?" He pulls out a jeweler's lens and looked at the orange parts of the fur. "strange. The fur is much denser without sacrificing stealth." He proceeded to comment on how the claws were sharper and teeth looked more refined.

"It's like she was made to be the better jungle hunter." Kronk said writing down his findings. "That Shaman didn't swindle me?" Yzma asked. "I mean her masks were well made and all I traded was some 'keystone' my family found at some point, but I didn't believe that the golden liquid was 'blood' from a Spirit. What was the name she said?" Yzma hung from the Jaguar's jaw. "Xena! That's what she said it was." Yzma finally remembered. "I know the shaman who sold you the 'blood'. If I'm right, then she wanted this oddity to be born." He scratches under the jaguar's chin and was rewarded with a relaxed rumbling sound that was not a purr. "How are you commanding her?" Kronk asked. Zane whistled and Yzma was dropped. "She is young, and I taught her a lesson. Now she's following me around because reasons." Zane explained.

"She wants to learn to be a better hunter." Kronk commented. "Big cats learn from watching older cats or Trial and Error." He explained with a teaching pose. "While felines are more 'let them learn on their own' after a while, the young cats will seek out sources of 'knowledge' to survive. It is an instinct they are partially born with." He leans back a little at a jaguar gives a hungry look his way. "Is she hungry by chance?" He asks nervously. Zane nods at the jaguar and she disappears, likely to go hunting, into the jungle. "She was a little Hangry (it's an official word) when I finally found her." Zane said as Bucky the squirrel jumped and hugged his face chittering.

"When you're so hungry you're angry." Kronk explained, "I've seen it at dinners, and it can get heated." Yzma looked baffled. "What is that squirrel yammering on about?" She asked instead. "I could teach you, but you'd have to be in my scout troop and must commit all the way." Kronk offered. Bucky and Zane hear this and share an extremely quiet discussion. Bucky then said, with Krunk translating for Yzma, "He said that he will help you earn badges if you let firebird friend have some of your fur after you master Squirrel tongue, even if you are a stinky mean lady." Kronk's translation made Yzma's eye twitch. "Fine! You want my fur? I give as much as you want." She huffed and ordered Kronk to take her to meet the scout troop. Zane and Bucky 'high five' then Bucky runs off to go with Kronk.

"That was an answer I didn't expect to get." Zane commented, leaning against a tree. Kuzco was building a water resort near Pacha's village, instead of replacing it as he had summoned Pacha to tall him in the first place, and after being turned into a llama and back, started becoming a better person/ruler. He had poked around his memories about the influence of this world and had to hold in his laughter as he realized that Kuzco didn't know about the 'Must complete the highest available education to be Emperor' law when he had Kuzco Academy built when he was young. He never finished high school and would have to go back if he wanted to keep his throne. The laughter burst from him as an honestly evil laughter because he wanted to seem Kuzco suffer before becoming a good leader. Maybe even rough up his hands a bit with some hard work.

Many years later

Ducktales world

DuckBurg

McDuck manor

"what do you want now?" Lena Sabrewing, Magica De Spell's 'niece', demanded as Magica stood in the driveway with a package in her grip. Her staff was in necklace form and her newest pet buzzard was not with her. "Now is not the time for fighting, Lena. My rivalry with Scrouge is at the heart of these pressing issues. So be a dear and tell him Poe contacted me." Magica said, beak in an old book entitled, 'isle of Death, Fish tale or fact?'. Lena ran in to the manor to get help.

Webby and her clone sisters, May and June (all three of them are Scrooge's daughters cloned by FOWL, but FOWL is no more), came to confront her. "What's the big idea coming here?" Webby said getting close to Magica. "You will be coming with us along with your other friend." Magica comments. "Webby! Slow down." Violet Sabrewing (an anthro hummingbird) said as she ran after them with the same book Magica was reading under her arm. "why are you reading that book?" she asks Magica. "it's dryer than a planet of only sand and egotistical as well." She turns to a page and reads a passage from it. "The existence of an entity of Death with a giant jaguar is just utter trash pinheaded cultists yammer on about. In conclusion, the sailor's accounts are just predeath delusions from being lost at sea for weeks." She closes the book. "the other half of the book rambles on about how magic is 'hogwash' and all that closeminded views."

"You read the whole book?" Magica asked, closing her copy. "I've been forcing myself to read the trashy ego trip for any information for weeks now. It's the only known book on that subject after the sailor died a century ago." Scrooge came to the door and said, "Come inside, Magica. I will at least hear you out."

Inside McDuck Manor

They were sitting in the meeting room. Mrs Beakley poured drinks for everyone. "You are saying at your bewitched brother Poe may have flown to an island fortress where Death lives with a jaguar the size of a house. Are inhaling potion fumes?" Louie asked incredulously. "I'm not joking when I say that potion fumes are trippy." His brothers shoot him dirty looks as Della, their mother, gives then a stern look as she says, "We'll talk about that later." She then flips through the dry book and comments, "this is better as an insomnia cure. What's the plan?" Mrs Beakley had an idea. "I think I know of a record that is better, but it won't be easy to find or understand." She pulls out a map and spreads it out over the table.

"In mountains of the lost, follow the path until you meet Xena the Stanger at a crossroads. Tell her why you seek her, and she will tell you what you want." Mrs Beakley explained pointing to a part of the Himalayas. "isn't that mountain trail with the most missing hiker reports a year for the last five years?" Huey asked. "That's only because of a 'portal to another realm' somewhere around there." Mrs Beakley explains. "It was among the FOWL documents we found at their true base. Xena is a spirit, and the path blurs the line between this one and hers." Louie was worried for a different reason. "That sounds nice and all, but, that file also said only the ones that need the answer the most may take the journey." The adults look his way and shrugs. "I was bored and read up on some of the files. The point is that they sent Eggheads to get the answers for them but none of them returned."

"Lad, you may be on to something." Scrooge said. "There is the matter why in blazes do you think Poe is there?" Magica threw a scroll at Scrooge. "This was given to me by a half-dead sailor who claimed a winged Death flew down from above in storm and got his ship sinking ship back to land before telling him to deliver that scroll to me or Lena, by name." Magica said, stressing the last part. "You tell me what I should think." Scrooge looked at the scroll but was blank to his eyes. "It's blank." Violet commented. "but it smells like iron." She adds as an odd odor became noticeable. "You need to be one of the named individuals and bleed on it to reveal the message." Scroogle passed it to Lena who got a papercut 'out of nowhere' the moment it was in her grip. Red ink appeared on the scroll and Lena read it for everyone. "Greetings De Spell family. Poe De Spell found his way to my current residents ten years ago. I nursed him back to health but did not remove the spell that was cast in the duel with Scrooge McDuck. Come to the island known as the Isle of Death. Scrooge and witness must come to as proof that the enchantment has be lifted."

The scroll fizzled to dust. "That sounds like a court summons." Della comments. "It might as well be, after all it's our fault that Poe is stuck as a raven." Scrooge says indicating Magica and himself. Lena looked her palm and gasped as a mark was on it. Soon everyone realized they all had been marked with a scythe blade and a set of scales. "Bless me bagpipes! The Grim Reaper's Judgment mark." Scrooge says the sighs in relief. "But not the Marked for Death variant." Della shared a look of fear with Mrs Beakley. "can you please explain why everyone has been marked?" May asked hugging Webby and April tight. "It's just a little contract magic that will teleport the marked to the 'sentencing place' when the 'trial' begins." Scrooge sketches a vantage of robed being with deadly scythe in mid swing on paper then shows them. "This is the mark to avoid getting. It means you are on the chopping block and a Grim Reaper is on their way to end your life at any time they choose."

Scrooge got on the phone and wasn't waiting long. "Zane my boy. that is a spot of trouble involving contract magic can I get some advice on this matter?" Scrooge holds the receiver away from his ear as metallic explodes echo out of it. "Follow the terms and look for loopholes and you will be fine." Zane's voice was heard yelling before inhuman screeches were heard as the call ended. "Well, I called at a bad time." The ones that knew Zane nodded in understanding while April, May and Violet were unsure. "Zane is a trouble magnet of the chaotic kind. From the sound of it, he was escaping an exploding place full of some monsters." Mrs Beakley comments. "Metal walls, full of wires and pipes, and cramped maze-like paths that prevent his perfered to long reach attack options."

"I will go with Magica to Xena because I was a part of the mess." Scrooge says. "You stay and asked around our connections to find out why a Grim Reaper would bother with something like this." He cleans his glasses muttering "Blasted bounty hunters have better things to do."

A few days later

Ducktales world

In between realms

"All I see is half frozen mountain forest and half giant rainforest with a fog clinging to everything." Magica complaint as she walked with Scrooge along a dirt path. "The fact that is a primordial rainforest showing up means we are in between realms." He pokes his cane at something long and thick as a tree trunk laying across the path and it swishes out of view. "Visitors?" a smooth throaty female voice said as it echoed from ahead. "Bitter enemies trying to make right a wrong that wounds both hearts for years." The voice continued but sounded smaller and closer. The Jaguar that looked down at them from a jungle tree looked so 'normal' they had a hard time pay it any mind.

"I can't stand 'nothing to see here' auras. So annoying to ignore." Magica snapped as she cast a spell of her and Scrooge, clocking them in a thin shadowy aura. They could see how the jaguar had fur so fine it a work of art. "I am female, just so you know." The creature commented, revealing it was the source of the voice but much smaller. "I am Xena, Spirit of Strangers and Questionable Aid. I know why you are here and who you are. The question is, can you bring yourself face the trial to restore your brother?" Xena comments coolly. "Who gave you the right to judge me?" Magica demanded waving her staff at the great cat spirit. "Why the Great Mother did. She gave me Name and Purpose and I will do as she tasked me until my end." The great cat's molten gold eyes looked down on them mockingly. "Even at a fraction of my full size I could wipe armies. But the Great Mother told me overwhelming force is not my greatest gift."

Xena's tail swooshed lazily as she spoke. Scrooged looked back and realized the thing he poked had been her tail, making her true form well into the small hill size range. Xena smiled, showing of fangs, at him. "What would you do for family?" Xena asked them. "Anything." Scrooge said at once yet Magica was hesitating. "Ah, still unsure, Magica De Spell. Your brother has matured while you are still in mud of the past. Work on that as you go to these coordinates within ten days." Xena told them a string of numbers as the fog thickened and left them back at the start.

Five days later

Mcduck Manor

Webby's room

"Any idea what she meant?" Lena asked Violet, Webby and her clone sisters. "It sounds to me that the trial will be if she had matured since the incident when she first met Scrooge." Violet theorized. "I'm more interested where Xena came from. She has a 'mother' but there is no record of a 'Great Mother' in any of my books." May and April share a look. "We were told a story by Bradford he claims is true." May said. "It's not very happy but he claimed it was an 'incomplete translation' of a pictograph cave he found." Lena shrugged and said, "It's a start. Besides, we can ask about the FOWL file on it and find the cave ourselves." April told the tale to them.

"Once there was a cloaked creator who tricked a young female to be caretaker of a world, never telling her it was for his own ends. She did the task with great effort, but being young, she was prone to failures and was forced in a cycle of Naming those that would survive before she was to try again, from the start." As she continued tale, they were crying at the lives lost over and over. "That has to be the worst job ever!" Webby cried hugging everyone as April finished what was translated. Mrs. Beakley was standing in the doorway of Webby's room "I wouldn't say worst, just extremely taxing." She said, "no mother or father should be forced to choose one child over another, but it happens again and again. After this mess is over, I can arrange for you to see the cave and you will understand why that telling is 'incomplete'."

Elsewhere in the manor

"So that's why that overgrown cat is around. An experiment by some blowhard with an ego and thing for making others do the dirty work." Magica comments as she spies on the tale told. "on the other hand, it is an interesting thought experiment. How long does it take for a world to gain a heart of its own?" She wasn't going to try it herself, but the idea was tempting.

Five days later

Ducktales world

Island near Greece

"You came to this island as requested and have completed the trial I put out." Zane said as he stood next to the head of a house sized jaguar who was curled up around him. "It's not like I would pass up a chance to get my brother back." Magica snarked, tapping her foot. "That annoying 'test' was a waste of a good hour. It was a bunch of companion questions about what I did in the past. What was the point of that?" Zane pointed to the last question on a 'test', that was more like a college textbook worth of pages. The question was, 'after see all Magica De Spell has done, does she deserve to be reunited with her brother Poe De Spell?'. Magica was fuming as she realized that others' opinions could stop her at after so long a search for her brother.

"Aunt Magica, I'm not sure about the rest of us but some of us said yes to the last question." Lena said. Mrs Beakley sighed and schooled her distaste for what she read. "As much as I find your past actions deplorable, family matters." One by one everyone revealed that had answered yes to that question, even if her past actions were sickening at times. "As you can see, even your mortal enemy Scrooge McDuck can understand your plight." Zane said. "You will find your Brother waiting for you at McDuck Manor. Please follow Lady to the entrance." Zane tells them, tapping the great cat with a bone finger to wake her. She looked at him annoyed and swatted him into a black stone wall.

"Are you alright Mr. Reaper?" May and April say as they go over to check him. The Grim Reaper coughed as they pulled on his arms. Using his wings to stabilize himself, he comments, "200 years and she still throws me into walls." The Ring of Nine Dragons glinted on his bone finger and the clones memorized its appearance. "It was nice meeting you." Huey said as Zane felt a call. "Is it already that time? Lady, stay with the McDuck clan, I have something pressing to deal with." Zane said before vanishing in a burst of black feathers. "Not it!" The brothers and adults say at once. "Good luck looking after the giant cat girls." Magica comments with a laugh.

A few months later

Ducktales world

McDuck Manor

Zane (the complete version) was pinned down by Lady's paw as the McDuck Clan look at him waiting for answers. "Alright! I ran into trouble and needed someone to watch her while I put myself together." He said as the paw pressed harder. "You could have told us you had to use Plan Prism." Scrooge commented. "I should have known when I saw the ring on your bone finger, but I was more distracted by the fact I was talking to a Grim Reaper." He looked impressed Zane kept it hidden. "It explains all the Live and Death Knowledge you have."

"You have a giant cat, and you name it Lady? Come on man, you could have chosen a better name than that." Louie says, looking at a dry erase board that had a chart for who was looking after Lady that week. "Her full name is a mouthful and translates to 'The silent shadow who rends flesh from bones and feasts on your entrails'. Lady is much easier to say without trying to explain why she has an Inca name like that." Zane reveals. "Besides, I'm still working out the nine different sets of memories over the past 200 years, some less than that." Scrooge shakes his head and throws a steak to Lady. Lady caught the meat and shrunk to the size of a large wolf and disappeared to enjoy her food.

Zane smoothed his feathers and clothing as Mrs Beakley pours him tea. "Lady was rebellious, but we taught her how to not get kicked out of a modern city. Webby and her friends seem to have taken to learning 'hunting tricks' from her." She was sighing annoyed. "You lost to Webby at least once at stealth games." Zane snickered. "Just once. She vanished completely, all senses and other ways too. I couldn't be prouder." Mrs Beakley said, "Did you go anywhere interesting?" Zane shuddered, "I refuse to talk about 'THAT' place. Rainbows and friendship are fine and dandy, but 'THAT' place had a country that ran off it." He smiled remembering another place. "Now Perim was amazing. I can't wait to see how the Chaotic Player react when I get serious."

Flash back

A few years ago

Chaotic universe

Perim

Overworld

Kiru City

Kiru City Armory

"Back again, Zane?" A short green skinned creature in robes with gems on his forehead comments as Zane pops out of a hidden pipe. "The battle gear was delivered, Bodal." Zane said as he started dusting off the weapons and armor in the armory. "You have been here for new scans for years. What is your trick?" Bodal asked in a monotone voice. Zane shows the overworlder the Ring of Nine Dragons. "This battlegear splits the user up to nine ways. Bad news is that I can't put myself back together yet and it been a long time." Bodal looks at Zane closely. "That does not look to be a safe Battle Gear." Zane just said, "I'm crazier than Yokkis." Bodal arches a brow and asks, "How insane?" Zane takes a target clay pot smashes it and reassembles it wrong. "That's my mind after the place I survived."

"I should add a rule about letting insane being near Battle Gear, but it's you and you are trusted not to blow things up." He comments as Zane scans him. "You never know when you need a scan." Zane comments. The red scanner was the size of a phone but a little thicker. It let you scan one creature, Battle Gear, Mugic (a magic spell), and Location before you had to return to Chaotic. Zane had been roughing it for over a century before the first Codemasters found him and gave him a scanner. He knew Perim better than any other Player. Of the four known, and one hidden, tribes, only a few knew of Zane's appearance.

The Overworlders were mostly animals and humanoids, led by Maxxor, were mostly described as 'heroic' and 'courageous' but there were sneaky members of the tribe. The Underworlders, ruled by Chaor, were the opposite, crafty, deceitful and not always trusted but there were some that were honest folks. Danians were ant like in appearance and mannerism. Their leader Queen Illexia had met Zane once but never saw his face. Zane had more contact with a Danian noble named Aszil, who let him in for scans, the guards never noticed his visits. Mipedians, dessert dwelling lizard- like being with invisibility, were tricky to deal with but Zane managed. They really didn't care that he hid himself under a cloak 24/7. The fifth tribe was one only heard in old scrolls. 'The Deep Ones' were behind the Doors of the Deepmines and none of the other tribes seem to know able them.

There were a few minor tribes and one that was wiped out. The Spiritland was home to ghost-like entities who bound themselves to Battle gear to leave their homeland. The Frozen are mysterious bunch that were not seen that much now a days. The Giants of Gigantempopolis could not keep up with advancements and were wiped out a long time ago. And last, was the tribeless creatures who are with no one group but can team up for their own survival or gain.

Flashback end

A few weeks later

Chaotic universe

Chaotic

Port Court

"Dude! You wouldn't believe who I met when I was scanning." Peyton, a brown-haired heavy-set male teenager, said as she a severing bot brought him a soda. His friends, Sarah, blonde hair, slender female teenager, Tom, average looking black haired male teenager, and Kaz, a spiky fiery orange haired thin glasses wearing male teenager, looked at him before they are forced to ask, "Who did you see?" to get him to continue. "The Master of Combat himself, MasterFireFist." Peyton said excitedly. "Yeah right! He's more slippery than Yokkis when comes to getting a scan." Sarah said. "But he has a scan of Yokkis, there for it's possible. Besides, I got a look at his scanner. He's the real deal, even if he's in early 30s by looks alone." Peyton comments.

"He is among the early Chaotic Players and is a bit of a generalist. He can use any of the tribes and must have formal combat training with how fluidly he moves." Kaz says. "He has more super rare scans than I've ever heard of too. Makes me wonder how he gets around Perim so quickly." Tom was confused and asked what seemed to be a stupid question. "Who is MasterFireFist?" his friends look at him incredulously. "You have never heard of the Wanderer of Perim? The master of combat who can fight as well as if he were born as the creatures he uses?" Peyton asked in shock. "No. Is he on the leaderboards back on earth?" Tom asked.

"That's the weird thing. He's not on the Earth Leaderboards at all. Not a single record of his existence on earth. But here in Chaotic and Perim, everyone has heard of him. He will get hard to get scans if you are willing to meet his requirements." Kaz explains. "Not only that but Wamma told me he runs errands for the tribes in Perim." Sarah adds, "Nothing that would set off a war, but rumors say that he will deliver BattleGear or letters if it doesn't threaten his neutrality and that he's been doing it for years." Tom looked at Peyton and asked, "What was he doing when you ran into him?" Peyton shrugged. "He was in the UnderWorld carrying crates of parts to Ulmar's lab. Looked like gears, wires, and crystals piled high."

Kaz had look on his face. "What do you think the open skulled tiny mad scientist is up to?" Sarah asked him. "any number of things. I'm more worried about why he's got MasterFireFist getting parts. Most of the time he has UnderWorlders doing it." Payton had to comment, "He was being really careful with crates. Not a little bit moved as he walked. Maybe if you go now, you'll catch him at the lab." Kaz ran off to port to Perim.

Ten minutes later

Perim

UnderWorld

Ulmar's lab

Ulmar, a knee high green skinned UnderWorlder wearing a white lab coat with and exposed brain, sorted through the crates with metal claw hands. "Perfect! I can get better lighting now." He says with madness in his eyes. "You need high grade crystals for lights?" Zane asked. "I plan to build a set of remote-controlled lights. If all turns out well, I will show it to Chaor." Ulmar said as he started building a prototype that smoked when he turned it on.

Zane pulled down as the prototype flew erratically on bee eques wings before exploding. Zane heard a yelp as someone fled. "Strange. The controller refused to connect." He fiddles with the arm mounted device. "Shouldn't you make sure of that step before you put the high-grade stuff in the prototype." Zane asked. Ulmar scratched his brain and said, "Another good suggestion, my strange friend. Try this and let me know if it works." Ulmar drops a bulky gauntlet with a crystal in the back of the hand into Zane's hands. "It should let you jump to anywhere you've been in the UnderWorld." Ulmar helps him put on then twists the crystal. "This should work. That's not good." He comments as the BattleGear sparks. Zane feels a twisting sensation as he is teleported away from the lab.

An hour later

Perim

UnderWorld

Lava Pond

Zane felt like his insides were being scrabbled with each random jump the faulty BattleGear caused. He had been everywhere in the last hour, even Chaor's throne room for moment. The BattleGear was cherry red and melted off his arm into the surrounding lava that Zane was floating in. "Finally, that was not a fun tour of the UnderWorld." A creature of molten magma rose from the pool. "Greetings, Magon. Ulmar's experiments are not fun in the early testing phases." Zane greeted the almost permanent resident of the pond. "you are whole." Magon comments. "Happened recently. Which way is UnderWorld City?" Magon points out the way to travel. Zane had felt a stirring of a connection from the 'Deep Mines'. The 'Deep Ones' were preparing for their return.

A few months later

Perim

Lake Blakeer

Zane looked at the trio facing the sea monster of a creature. It looked like a blue Loch Ness monster crossed with octopus tentacles and had three faces. It was the true form Aa'une the Oligarch, source of the M'arrillians, aka the 'Deep Ones', mind control abilities. He scanned the beast before dropping down with Maxxor, Chaor, and Iparu. Maxxor turned to Zane and asked, "What are you doing here, Zane. It's too dangerous for a human." Chaor snorted, "If he can take a dip in Lava Pond unharmed, he can stay. Ulmar's tech seems to put him in extreme danger every time he tests it. Lost more limb than Ulmar can count over the decades." Chaor commented looking at Zane questioningly. "Nice armor, Maxxor. Chaor, you seem to be glowing." Zane complimented the leaders. The third member, Iparu, a gelatinous shapeshifter, looked at Zane and asked, "Will you be joining us in dealing with the M'arrillians?"

Zane smirked, "Wouldn't miss it for the world." Zane had a sack of BattleGear with him. "I raided Ulmar's lab for weapons the giant misshapen squid won't expect." He said as he put on a mishmash of equipment that Chaor leered away from. "I told him to destroy those failures!" Chaor said annoyed. Zane sholdered a bazooka like weapon and marked Aa'une with an ooze that stained his body and reeked. The weapon was thrown aside as it felt appear after firing. Iparu changed it noa copy of their enemy and attacked. "Tracking ooze." Chaor filled Maxxor in as Zane started attacking with every kind of weapon under the sun. The effects of the weapons ranged from no effect to a little more damage over time as each weapon 'broke' and exploded.

"Your BattleGear is useless!" Aa'une bellowed as he was hit with Mugic and attacks from all angles. "It doesn't need to." Zane yelled as Aa'une's body started to become positively charged with each attack from Zane. "I Positively charged all the BattleGear." He explained as a tentacle grabbed him and tried to dunk him in the lake below. Aa'une screamed as the negatively Charged lake arched at fried both Zane and his body.

A few days later

Perim

OverWorld

Iparu Jungle

Zane groaned as he looked at the jungle around him. "Ok, what is the last thing I remember?" he says to himself with chalky mouth. "I got the negative charge of the lake to become lightning and fry the mind controlling calamari then the tentacle throws me into one of the mouths. The teeth closed, then I pass out as that grayness appeared." Iparu, in his natural form, carrying fruit in his arms into the clearing. "Oh, you are awake." He comments, "There is a water skin next to you. Stone dust almost suffocated you." Zane drank slowly and checked that he had his scanner, he did. "The combination of fluids that Ulmar used in those BattleGear and bombs you used had an odd reaction to electrical attacks." Iparu explained.

Everything came clear to Zane. "The Medusa effect. Ulmar warned me he had theorized that he could make a petrification solution if he combined right substances from around Perim. He never figured out how to do it and I am not telling him anything." Zane said. Iparu agreed with the sentiment. "Some secrets are best left unfound by modern day. Why did you name it that?" Zane explained the legend of Medusa. Iparu listened with undivided attraction. He expressed displeasure at the events that transpired in the story but understood it was a different time. In return, he explained what had happened what the past few days. "You had to be blasted out of the stone corpse and I brought you here because you wouldn't get any rest otherwise."

He then showed a proclamation that was being spread across the Perim. "Invansion stopped by the four War Heroes: Maxxor of the OverWorld, Chaor of the UnderWorld, Iparu the shapeshifter, and Zane Laskaris of Chaotic. Zane's whereabouts are classified until he recovers from the grueling battle." Zane read out loud. "What kind of chaos are talking about here?" Zane asked. "You have the respect of the tribe leaders and more leeway when it comes to getting scans now." Iparu said. "This was left for you with Chaor." He gave Zane a sealed box wrapped in brown paper and red glimmering thread binding it. "The Master of Masters." Zane comments looking at the emblem in the wax seal hiding the knot of the thread. He runs a finger over it and finds an invisible letter that came off easily. He unfolds the letter and finds a letter telling him that a keyblade would not be able to unlock this box. "I left the tiles elsewhere. Good luck finding them. -Master of Masters. P.S: you will get some answers you are lacking in the end."

Zane slammed a fist into the ground cracking it. "I really hate when he pulls things like this." Zane muttered quietly but Iparu still heard his comment and the contents of the letter. "Someone that 'grinds your gears' as you humans say?" He asked. "He is complicated." Zane said carefully breaking the wax seal and noted the string had a knot code on it. The brown paper wrapping had a magical chemical smell to it. Zane muttered a colorful statement in a dead language about the Master of Masters. "He just loves to make things difficult. He gave my daughter a world to watch over and she was still a baby at the time."

Iparu looked shocked. "He would do force a child to carry such a burden. To what end?" Zane didn't answer at first as he looked at wooden box. It was a sliding puzzle, but the tiles were not in the sliding sockets. It was a 'lock' that the Keyblade couldn't unlock. "He wanted to run an experiment 'blind'. He told me how he wanted it run but never told me the end goal until it was over when my daughter was around ten years old. It was trying for her." Zane explained a little guilty for going along with the plan. He tried to move the tile sockets but was shocked.

A week later

Reptile Oasis

Shrine

Zane had found this place after examining the knot message. The reptiles were 'extremely welcoming' to put it lightly after he had shown them Viper's Remedy and its abilities. The 'High Priest', a Lamia type creature but was total scaled with a cobra hood and arms, lead him to a 'nice chest' they needed unlocked so they could use it for their own uses. "A black robed biped left it like one would rubbish." The High Priest hissed, smoothing out his robes, made of a leather of sorts. Zane taps the elaborate chest, decorated with lizards, with his keyblade and it popped open. "Some of the tiles. In a group of three. Along with a note." Zane removes the three tiny tiles. There were 99 tiles to collect for the wooden box. The note was interesting, "Ran into some robed dude and made him lose a bunch of pieces for a puzzle. That was some time space craziness involved. Sorry about that. -Milo Murphy" he read. "Of all the places for him to go he had to run into that family." Zane sighed.

"I've got more tiles to find, and you've got a nice chest to store things in." He said as he left High Priest to 'purify' the chest. The Murphy Family had an extreme does of Murphy Law effect all their blood family members. Chances are the tiles were scattered farther than just the world Milo was on.

Elsewhere

Ten years in the past

Casper World

Deedstown, America

Zane dusted himself off and kicked the rubbish off the wall into the open dumpster that he had landed in a minute ago. "Not the best of landings but time travel with a vague waypoint has it's risks." Zane mused as he held a device that hummed and beeped. The arms that would douse the missing tiles were not moving. "Must be too far away." Zane said as he put it away and pulled out an EKG meter that was picking up a reading from a slimy spot on the brick wall. "There are ghosts in town." He said as he changed his outfit into everyday clothing. He walked on to the main street and followed the ghost trail. It was faint because of a recent rain but there was a trail to follow.

An hour later

Casper World

Deedstown, America

The park

Zane looked at the scene before him. A trio of white almost starotypical ghosts, two skinny ghosts and a blimp of a ghost, terrorizing a group of tourists. "Fatso, did you go on a snack run?" one of thin ones says with smelling gas driving the humans to hurl in trash cans before fleeing the park. "No, Stretch told me not to. I hit a store on the way." The fat one said belching in an old lady's face. She screamed and hobbled away. "Well, a fleshie is standing there with an EKG meter pointed at the trail you left behind." The taller skinny ghost yells, slapping Fatso. "Stinkie, gas him." He ordered. The smelly ghost spewed green flumes that smelled of Epoisse cheese, among other foul-smelling things, at Zane.

"I'll be taking that." Zane said as he sealed the bad breath into a sealing jar made for collecting bad smells. "He's a magical fleshie!" Fatso screamed and dove into a trash can that hadn't been hurled in. "I have no interest in you other than talking to whoever is the head ghost of this world. When can you arrange that?" Zane asked as the two ghosts when ramrod and huddled. "He's an off-worlder! Who knows what he wants?" Stinkie whispers. "Isn't there a reward for giving Kibosh information on anything 'off-world'? Play our cards right and we can avoid getting jarred as well as getting in Kibosh's good books." Stretch whispers back.

They end the huddle and pull Fatso out by his bottom wisp. "I'm Stretch, and the two with me are my brothers, Stinkie and Fatso. You can tell who's who." Stretch said rubbing his hand together. Stinkie had a wider but flatter face than Stretch's beak nosed face and Fatso was plump, to keep it polite. "We need to contact Kibosh but he's a busy ghost and we have room for you to stay at our house." Stretch said before Fatso commented, "You'll have to get your own food, if that's alright." Stretch slaps Fatso and tries take control of the conversation again, "What my large brother means is that we don't get as much food that we can share it with guests, not that we have them that often."

"It's because it's more of a habit than a necessity." Zane said understanding them. "I get that completely. I can deal with whatever pest infested house you call home." Zane's statement had the ghosts relaxing a little. "I have one condition, allow me to make a temporary shrine to my goddess." Zane said. "It's not one of those doomsdays bring gods, I hope." Stinkie said, as Zane showed them the symbol he wore. "it's Greek but that's all I can tell." Fatso comments. "Good enough for me." Stretch says, "Remember that time the Goddess of Ghosts visited Kibosh? She was scary even when she was in a good mood. Talked about a Reaper she admired for his." Stretch paused trying to get the right wording.

"His 'battlefield grace' was the wording she used." Stinkie answered for him. "Called him a flowing river of pain dancing across the battlefield leaving the dead and those that wished they were dead behind. Never heard his name but she had a star struck look in her eyes." Stinkie looks around and whispers, "I pity his wife if the goddess of ghosts think it's worth tries to steal him from her."

Ten minutes later

Casper World

Deedstown, America

The Haunted House

It was a haunted house alright. Bugs, cobwebs, bad floorboards, the works. "It's not made for Fleshies but I'm sure you can last a week." Stretch said. "Kibosh is preoccupied with a few underworld matters. Creature Politics aren't like Fleshie Politics." He explained. "I'm sure it's worse yet simpler at the same time." Zane said, understanding the wait. "Things get 'messy' in a quick way when Kibosh gets called to settle the matter." Fatso says before floating to the kitchen with a tower of food he got from somewhere.

Zane found the guest room and set up the travel offering bowl, only lighting it was needed. "it's just as you said, Spooky." Zane said as he put a framed photo of Zane and Spooky laughing about something on the nightstand. "ghosts miss the things the living takes for granted." He muses, remembering all the things she told him that the ghosts she met talked about. Granted she had taken their life by trapping them in that 'house' to make her army but that's life. the bed wasn't too bad. He dedusted it with a well-aimed kick that wasn't too hard. The silk sheets were yellowed with age, but no bugs or vermin had touched them.

six days later

Casper World

Deedstown, America

The Haunted House

"I'm home!" a young-looking ghost yelled as he floated through the front door. Zane looked down from the third-floor railing. "Casper, were the pirates dealt with quickly?" Stretch asked looking him over. "Kibosh show up and it was a chase across the Underworld sea for days." Casper said animatedly as the trio listened. "What happened anyways? No one is saying anything?" Fatso asked, eating pancakes, dripping exoplasm under him. "They wanted Cappy's ship, but he refused. It got scary when they fired cannonballs to 'persuade' us to abandon ship." Zane could feel the righteous anger the trio had before Casper continued, "Their aim was the worst I've ever seen." He pulls a scroll out and show them it.

"Homework? After being attacked on the way to school?" Stinkie said annoyed. "a five-page essay on the topic assigned to you. What did they give you?" Casper showed them further down the scroll. The trio yelled as one "WHAT!" their eye bugged out. "Why that? Why not something less dangerous?" Fatso yelled. "It must be the Headmasters' fault." Stinkie reasoned, "those two have been after Casper since his revolt was stopped cold." Stretch shakes his head in disappointment, "to be so petty to give you an assignment on Lord Hades' Kingdom with a three-day deadline." He tuts.

"Oh right, we have Fleshie staying with us. Kibosh want a word with him when he has time." Stretch tells Casper, "He's a Greek magical Fleshie and an Offworlder on top of that. Be polite and avoid trouble topics. He might be able to help you with this troublesome homework."

That evening

Casper World

Deedstown, America

The Haunted House

Zane was cleaning a scythe that looked like Spooky in her weapon form. It was the Council of Death's 'bonus' for being her parole officer. It had all the abilities of Spooky's weapon form, it could shift to minigun form, but was silent. It was forged from memories of their time together. IT was their bond crystalized into a weapon as a reminder. "I heard you had an interesting week." Zane said as Casper neared the open door to the guest room. "Um, yes." Casper said wringing his hands. "You know anything about Lord Hades' kingdom?" He asked. "What do you need to know?" Zane asked.

"Um, I've got a list here." Casper said fumbling with the scroll. "The journey of the departed and the notable places of Lord Hades' kingdom. Bonus points will be awarded for information on Tartarus." Casper read. He stopped when he felt Zane's gaze on him. "Does the teacher really hate you that much?" Zane asked. "Well, it's more of the Headmasters, Alder and Dash, they share one body, being sore after many failed plans to get me expelled or worse." Caspar answered. "I will give enough information that it will make them have nightmares, imagining who you learned it from." Zane said a look that burned with rage for someone else.

The next day

Casper World

Deedstown, America

The Haunted House

"And that should do it." Casper said giving Zane the rough draft to look over. "A few spelling errors because Greek can translate weirdly." Zane pointed out using a red pen. "Some grammar issues and the wrap up paragraph runs a little too long." He said, leaving notes for Casper to think about when doing the final draft tonight. "I've been meaning to ask this, but who the ghost with you in the photo?" Casper asked. "Her name was Spooky, I freed her from a spirit trap, and we hung out for a long time before she passed on." Zane said, cleaning the barrel of the minigun with an oiled cloth.

"Why did you go to see Lady Nyx?" Casper asked. "They will want to now this for proof." Zane laughed harshly. "more like something to discredit you." Zane says, "I traveled through Tartarus to the House of Night to ask if I can give my daughter 'Nyx' as a middle name. The acid made the trip unpleasant but when I got there, Lady Nyx was more than willing to agree if she'd get to meet Electra at some point. She was nice enough to send me to some remote island in sea of monsters instead of letting me walk my way out." Casper made sure to take notes. "I never got your last name, Zane." Casper realized. "It's Laskaris." Zane said as Casper's uncle fell through the door with bugged out eyes. "You're a Laskaris?" Stretch asked, "We almost brought the wrath of Lady Hestia down on us!" Stinkie said pulling at his face in fear. "Think out how we'd be cursed never to enjoy food again!" Fatso pointed out.

"Well, you are not what I expected." A tall broad shouldered green ghost said as he floated by the outside window. "Lord Kibosh?" the fours ghost says in surprise, Casper's Uncles had a tone of fear in their voice, but Casper did not. "May I come in?" Kibosh asked. Zane opened the window, and the ghostly leader entered the room. "May I?" He asks Casper, who hands over the rough draft. "As I suspected, they are playing favoritism again." Kibosh said. "This assignment will be pure extra credit for everyone because of Alder and Dash's motivations when they gave it out. Do not inform anyone until your teachers tell them." He states, "This is easily an A with the issues it has. Clean it up and you will get an A+." He praised Casper in a formal way.

Kibosh turns to Zane and begins to question him after ordering Casper and his Uncles to leave that floor of the house. "What are the Heartless and who is Yen Sid?" Kibosh said. Zane looked at him and explained the broad strokes. "Did you meet Master Yen Sid?" Zane asked, "decades ago. He pointed a giant key at glowing keyhole and 'sealed' it. He left before I could get any information." Kibosh stated annoyed. "good, your world would have been swallowed by Darkness if he left the Keyhole alone." Zane said. "Trust me when I say the Realm of Darkness is not a place you want to be."

A few days later

Casper World

Deedstown, America

The Haunted House

Zane had narrowed down the location of the tiles to somewhere in the attic. "My Uncles haven't been up here in a century." Casper tells Zane as he brings down the stairs. The attic was spotless other than dust. Something is very wrong here." Zane says as his danger sense was screaming at him. "Wow, even the spiders haven't been here." Casper said looking at the sealed boxes, fully clothed full body mannequins, and locked chests and trunks. "Go get your uncles, now." Zane ordered. Casper zipped down to the kitchen on the first floor. All the mannequins look at Zane and draw out swords, maces, or daggers. "killer mannequins, very welcoming." Zane commented as they attacked with surprising speed.

Zane grabbed an umbrella from a nearby stand and defended himself. It was surprisingly well made as the blades failed to cut deeply and the maces only bent it a little. Casper and his uncles return to see Zane fighting off the mannequins with grace that jogged a memory for the uncles. "You don't think?" Fatso said as Casper threw Zane his transforming weapon. Zane twirled the scythe and threw the ruined umbrella at the mannequin nearest to him. The flow of battle changed Zane danced around the mannequins and they with cleaved before they could strike.

"It's just like she described." Stinkie said, eyes wide. Zane relaxed as the last mannequin fell in a dozen pieces. "What in Tartarus requires killer mannequins?" Zane asked the trio. "Not sure. We never came up here after we got the house." Stretch said in awe. "I think Fatso peeked through the floor, but it wasn't very interesting looking." He elbows Fatso who admits he didn't look too long because he was hungry. Zane opened boxes and found nothing special. He moved onto the chests and trunks but found nothing that would warrant the level of protection Zane dealt with. His eyes drifted to a large ugly vase that looked not important. It was as tall as him and was pus colored. "You don't mind if I smash this, right?" Zane asked. "Go ahead, it's disgusting looking." Stinkie said.

Zane punched it hard as possible, and it didn't break. "Knew it. This will take a little more firepower." Zane said rearing back an arm that became enclosed in flames. The whole house rocked at his fist meet the vase a second time. The ghost had seen his fist blur out of existence for the briefest of moments before the collision happened. Dust clogged the air as the blast wave blew them down the stairs. They waited for a sounded and heard a slow but continuous creaking sound. Then there was the sound of clay hitting wood and someone walking on creaky floors.

"Nice, 15 of them." They heard Zane say. "A note?" they heard the rustling of thick parchment. "An oracle's last reading?" Zane said as he walked to the stairs down. They saw him stop dead as he read some letter. His expression was hard to read. "Another mystery to investigate." Zane said, collecting the weapons and heading back to the guest room. "He's scary enough to be him." Stretch said to Fatso and Stinkie. Casper was clueless but understood that Zane was insanely powerful. The car alarms going off down the block were sign of how strong the quake was from his punch.

Present day

Untitled Goose World

Zane was sitting up in the trees in Fire Bird Form, watching a feathered menace collect bells that he threw into a shallow pit. The menace was a white goose who hobby was to be the biggest pest he can be for the humans living in town. He had promised the goose a crown if he could find the 'magical tiles' around the town. Zane was currently lacking 39 tiles. It wasn't too hard to search the worlds he had already visited and do a scan, then find the tiles if there were any. It was getting much harder and he was avoiding going near Milo Murphy's world for the nine tiles he had detected when he checks it. The last thing he needed was for something to trap him there, like tyrannical pistachio plants. The other issue was the tiles were 'out of sync' for a while. He had placed a device that would narrow down when he could collect them.

Somehow of all the tiles he found, the vital ones are still missing to figuring out what the image was. There had to be a spell that made it hard to see was the image was intended to be before all the tiles were socketed. He looked up as a bellow of anger and a mocking honking was heard from town. Not ten minutes later, the goose was back with a bell and three tiles. "It only took you a week to terrorize the town." Zane said, exchange the tiles for a goose sized crown. The Goose strutted with crown on as Zane flew off. The Goose was eyeing him like he did all his targets.

A year in the past

Ni No Kuni world

The Summerlands

Old Smokey Peak

Zane lay on the hot ground and thought about how he was going to get the tile pieces. 12 were in the hands of Shader the Dark Djinn, taken from the kingdoms by force or fear. Three were hidden by some great magic. And three were in the hands of the Great Sage Solomon, who would only give it if he proved teamwork via a trial. And the last three were with the fairies. He had no idea where the fairies lived but Old Father Oak, a talking tree in the Deep Dark Woods, told him that had them. So that how he concluded that he needs to plan. He was not going to take on Shader, who could ripe away a part of someone's heart, even if he had the power to do it.

This world was linked to a version of earth and everyone had a reflect on that earth called a 'soulmate'. If he killed Shader, his soulmate would die. If he did anything, curse him, take a part of his heart, anything, it would affect his soulmate too. It was worlds like this that made it so hard to go it alone. Zane was walking blind across a minefield of issues that could bring doom to this world or worse. "laying around will not help you, traveler." A man in armor said appearing from nowhere. Zane felt a spell that hid them active before the man had appeared.

He was tall with a rooster helmet and out spread wings on the side of it. His outfit was mainly black and white with gold added to it to show wealth. In his hand was a black shafted staff with three orbs, red, blue, and yellow, in a golden winged black hoop. "And what would you suggest, spirit?" Zane asked, pointing out the man's current state of existence. Zane wasn't sure what kind of spirit he was dealing with, but he had a 'dead' feel to him. "seek out the pure-hearted one. He will aid you if you aid him in turn." And just like that the man leaves and the spell he placed ended.

A few weeks later

The Summerlands

Ding Dong dell

Zane wandered the streets, passing the human and grimalkin, humanoid cats the size of humans, citizens of one of the main kingdoms of this world. The ruler was from a line of grimalkin that were almost normal looking cats if you didn't account for their large size, a little bigger than the average human, and ability to walk and talk like a human. Speaking of the king, he seemed out of sorts lately. Zane feared Shader had made him 'Broken Hearted' by removing a key emotion or aspect. Zane had no way of getting an audience with His Meowjesty, King Tom Tildrum XIV, so it was something to worry about later.

"is that a bass I smell?" an elderly gray tabby grimalkin asked as she rocked in chair on her front step. Zane looked at her unseeing cloudy eyes then looked at the string of six bass he fished up out of town. "Not to be rude ma'am, do you have anyone living with you?" Zane asked her. The tabby smiled and answered, "My grandson left for a few days to do an Errand from Swift Solutions. I told him not to worry about little old me." Zane winced as he could imagine what could go wrong with the creatures wandering about the land. "I have too many fish and it better to share a meal than eat alone." He said going to her.

"Thank you. I'll make you some tea." She says going into her home and beckoning for Zane to follow. There was a lot of fish themes to grimalkin housing and décor. The tabby, who turned out to be called Alex, shot for Alexandra (not a canon character), could brew tea blind as easy as breathing. Zane got the fish gutted and cleaned as she worked. "I'm worried about the king." Alex said. Zane looked at her as she continued, "Little Tommy hasn't visited in weeks, that's not like him at all." She went on to say how she'd be his caretaker as a kitten and told Zane of some of the misadventure the king got into as a young prince.

"why is the royal 'nanny' living in a house like this?" Zane asked, "Most would be in fancier houses closer to the palace." Alex smiled and said, "what need do I have for riches? I was raised to be humble and kind. But I think you already knew that." Alex 'looked' at him in knowing way, "You have tons of guilder, yet you hardly ever spend it on yourself. I heard from the baker that you bought a bunch of fish bread for the kittens staring at the bakery drooling at the smells." The kettle comes to a boil as she continues, "then there was the time you helped that guard calm down an almost riot in the market last week. There are more little things you've done the past few week, Zane." Zane had never told her his name. She waves it off, "little Tommy told me about you when you first came into Ding Dong Dell. I'm sorry if the guards were a little harsh with their scrutiny at the gate."

Zane blushed as he remembered the event. He had come to the gate with a wounded guard and hand covered in blood. They hadn't taken kindly to him bring their missing guard who had left on a bounty mission to deal with a monster. Zane had found the guard wounded and got him away from a much stronger than normal Gruffian, a fire breathing horned and clawed beast with a fluffy mane, getting blood all over himself. He healed the guard with them watching but they didn't trust him until the guard he saved vouched for him. Zane put the fish into the clay oven and let it bake. He sat down and sip the tea. "So, the king knows I've been coming and going." Zane said, "Naturally, he's been meaning to meet you, but you are always busy. He could bring himself to interrupt when the towns people are getting you help." Alex said putting a pew to her cheek, "And now he's Broken Hearted. Shadar must have taken his enthusiasm."

"And if I'm not mistaken, he may have had a hand in that beefed up beast the guard hunted on a 'routine bounty'. That thing was as large as King Tom and had a nasty aura about it." Zane told her. "That wouldn't be the first time the Dark Djinn has enhanced a beast to deal with a promising warrior after wizards became harder to find and kill off." Alex told him. "Not everyone can be made 'Broken Hearted', their hearts are too strong for even his magic." The way she said it was more an unsaid question. Zane pulled the fish out, cooked perfectly, and sat back down. "you are wise beyond your age. What gave it away?" He asked.

Alex smiled sadly, "you carry yourself as one who has seen too much, fought too long, and have survived things no one should ever experience." She said mournfully. "You are welcome to visit whenever you want. I will listen if you need someone to talk to." Zane was touched as he looked at the walls of the house. Hidden as fish decor, were magical items that 'hid' anything that happened in the house. Zane wondered was secrets were shared here. "It won't end the nightmares, but it will be nice to tell someone about them." Zane said, getting a nod from her. "I guess the first major nightmare was when I learned the fate of my teacher." Zane started, "He was betrayed and murdered after I had left, my training had been 'completed', not that it ever will be. You can always improve if you try."

Two weeks later

The Summerlands

Ding Dong dell

Zane watched as the king, who seemed to have recovered from his curse, ran into the lair of the mice, ruled by a giant mouse named King Hickory XVII. The two kings and their families have been rivals forever and will continue for all Zane knew. He paid close attention to the young boy that entered the underground sewer system. He looked to be 13 or 14 with reddish brown hair and his blue eyes were filled with hope and an undercurrent of sorrow. What had happened to leave an emotional wound like that on this child? With him was a fairy with a lantern hanging off his semi trunk-like nose. The fairies of this world did not look human at all. They were short and here more abstract body shape wise. They were known for a few things: odd cooks, funny comedians, a unique way of talking, and getting to odd places in unexplained ways.

Ding Dong Well was locked but if the kid had magic, he could open the gate. Zane watched as the kid did the Spring lock spell with a wand that was barely a wand. It was ancient, barely more than wooden stick etched with runes. It looked to be from the era of the Nazcaa kingdom. Zane was still looking into why the 'lost kingdom' fell but the runes on the wand matched that era of wand runes. IF he was right, that was a wand used in training. The kid would need a proper wand soon.

The next day

Ni No Kuni

The Summerlands

Ding Dong dell

The Palace Throne room

Zane stood as King Tom looked at him. The yellow and brown striped kid adjusted his crown. "You are the one you have this one's guard from death?" He asked. "Yes, your Meowjesty, I was nearby. The smell of blood and sound of battle worried me. I had hoped it a battle between bandits or raiders, but it was much worse." Zane recounted the events and the king listened intently. "This one finds your actions most wise. If you had fought the guard surely would have passed early." King Tom stated, "This one has a task for you. Aid the human Oliver and exterminate the beast you met next time you meet it." Zane nodded, "Your Meowjesty, where will this Oliver be?" Zane asked, "This one sent him to Al Mamoon. You have catch up to him before he gets there." King Tom says the beckons to a guard. Zane was handed a belt.

"This one found this useful against toxic things. If you happen to go near a swamp, you could swim in it, not that this one recommends that. Sludge is hard to clean out of fur." King Tom said, giving Zane a hint at what he really meant. It protected the wearer against curse and poisons but not completely. "Be on the lookout for more of the Dark Djinn's tricks." King Tom warned, "You defied him, and he does not take that lightly."

A few days later

The Summerlands

Al Mamoon

"I am looking for a boy named Oliver. Have you met anyone with that name?" Zane asked the dark-skinned sage, Rashaad, who sold Babanas, looks like bananas but are richer and sweeter tasting, and other fruit as a side job. "And who sent you after this boy?" Rashaad asked as Zane ate the Babana split he had paid for. "King Tom said he could help me track down somethings I'm missing if I help him first." Zane said nonchalantly. Rashaad's staff, wood with gold rings jangling on the looped top, came to bare at Zane, who wasn't fazed. "You are telling half-truths. You wish to use him for you own ends." He barked. "Yes, but I can't get some of things without 'teamwork' so I'm at a stalemate alone." Zane said, pushing the staff to the left. "I bare him no ill will. It'd be better if we worked together after the Dark Djinn tried to take a piece of my heart."

Rashaad looked at Zane questioningly. "It failed then I tried to punch him. He's quick at fleeing but not quick enough." Zane said showing Rashaad a torn cloth that had an aura of dark magic and despair to it. "you tore Shadar's cloak? You must be mad to try that." Rashaad said. "I can feel that foul magic he uses on that." He says sourly as he watches Zane put it in a jar them puts the jar in his bottomless bag. "Good, that jar will block the aura of it." He states. "what was the exact wording that you were told?"

Zane thought back to what the Supreme Sage Solomon, pointed eared sea blue skinned creature the size of a small child, had told him when he asked about the tile pieces. "You will get them, but it will take both friendship and teamwork. Shoo." Zane recited from memory. Rashaad laughed. "I know how to help now. You need to wait for a few days while I take Oliver to him. He needs to complete the three Trails as I had many years ago." Rashaad said with a smile. Zane nodded and said, "I will trust you on this matter. Maybe that fairy with him will let got to his homeland. The fairies have some other things I'm looking for too." Rashaad gave him a look that said, 'unlikely but you can try.'

A few days later

The Summerlands

Al Mamoon

Zane sat on the wall of the milk fountain, the milk never spoiled nor ran out because of magic, as he waited for Oliver to come by. "You were looking for me?" Oliver asked as his group approached the fountain. With him was Rashaad's blonde ponytailed daughter, Esther, a familiar tamer, and the fairy who gasped as he looked at Zane. "What did you do to yourself! Your heart is a hodgepodge of pieces put together by a bunch of blind people." The fairy yelled. "Mr. Drippy that's not nice to say." Oliver said shocked, "Ollie Boy, his heart is so broken the only thing holding it together has to be his will and a jumble of odds and ends. He's not normal! I doubt even Shadar could make enough sense of it to steal a part of it."

"Lord High Lord of fairies? The Pure-Hearted one has interesting friends." Zane commented as the name clicked. "You have some tiles I need, and the Fairy homeland has three more of them, somewhere." Zane said as Drippy looked conflicted, "Maybe later but Shadar is more important, I reckon." Drippy says. "He's got 12 tiles in his lair so he's on my list." Zane said. Oliver fished out the small tiles and Zane pulls out the box. In moments, the three were socketed and the image became a marginally clearer. Drippy looked at it and scratched his chin. "How did you come by this mystifying box? It's blocking even my eyes from seeing what it looks like." Zane told him not to worry. "I have errands to deal with and a beast to hunt. We will meet again." Zane says as he leaves the town square.

Two weeks later

Teeheeti Island

Beach

Zane dragged himself out of the sea, pulling the flag, still attacked to some of the mast, from a boat he had been sailing with him. His boat had been smashed by a magical storm that had a literal laser shooting eye in the middle of it. He felt multiple people helping him as he coughed out buckets of water. "When I get my hands on Shadar. I will beat him black and blue." He got out between coughs. "Mun, you are lucky to be alive after that storm." He heard drippy say. Zane throws the wat hair out of his face as he looked around him. "Well, I didn't expect to see you so soon Oliver." Zane said taking the water skin from the bare-chested eye patch wearing captain of the perfectly intact ship.

"Thank you, Captain Sindbah. I dare say that you were right about the boat being unlikely to last, unlike the Sea Cow." Zane drank slowly as he looked at the fuzzy dark-haired newcomer to Oliver's group. He was in his late 20s and was scruffy looking. "Swaine?" Swaine paled as Zane socked him in the jaw. They watched as Zane searched the pockets of the downed man and took back a photo. "Don't steal from me again." Zane said as he healed Swaine's bruised jaw. "What was that for?" Esther demanded. Zane then showed them it was of the green flash you could see at sunset or sunrise. "It's not the only one of this particular shot, but it's the principle of it." He explained.

Swaine rubbed his jaw as he got back up. "I had that coming. Not sure what I was thinking when I was Broken Hearted." He said wincing. "Luckily you held back." Sindbah looked at the photo and his one eye widened, "What would it take for you to part with this marvelous photo?" He asked. Before Zane could say anything, he had his men bring a crest of the beached ship. Sindbah opened it and showed him an assortment of things. With the others' help Zane looked at the contents and found a charm that looked like the stereotypical blue slime enemy form JRGs made of gems. "This will do." Zane says, handing over the photo.

A day later

Teeheeti Island

The Fairygrounds

Zane looked at the mountain sized Fairy Godmother, the fairy who birthed all the fairies of this world. "Ma'am, I am looking for three tiles with an 'other worldly' magic to them." Zane asked, looking up even as he stood on a watchtower built to make easier to talk to her. "Those? To don't quite remember where they are. One of my children had shown me them decades ago. Tell you what. While you help the problems with my gut, I will try to remember his name." Fairy Godmother says softly, to Zane it was loud as a town crier's bell. "Agreed, your children are more important." Zane agreed. The 'littlies', the baby fairies, had been born but hadn't left the Fairycare Center, aka her gut. Olivers group was looking to see if they can get Smiley and Surley, standup comedy fairy duo, to tell jokes so good the Fairy Godmother laughs long enough to get blasted into her mouth via cannon.

The next day

Fairycare Center

Zane had a spring in his step as the bouncy float moved under their steps. It looked like a daycare center with 'bright' decorations and rooms with themes. The Littlies looked like eggs with faces and copied everything Drippy said adorably. They went down a slide to the sea themed room with a sand floor, only to meet Royal Jelly, who had kidnapped the littlies. Zane jumps at the giant jelly and used fire magic on each tentacle holding a little. "back off you no good child thief!" Zane yelled as he tried to fry the beast with magic. "Jellyfish isn't tasty, but I make you into charcoal!" He yelled as he was whipped about. Oliver and his friends didn't waste time and help after catching the littlies that got free.

Zane summoned Bomb who flew up the bell of the Monster Jelly and exploded gleefully. Zane laughed as the Littlies danced a victory dance around him as he lay where after the beast was vanished. "Call me when you have something to burn." Bomb said before being dismissed.

Two weeks later

Autumnia

Halcyon (a now destroyed kingdom)

Zane sat on the moss-covered spiny spire of Shadar's damaged fortress, Nevermore Castle. He had to spend a week and a half at the Crypt Casino, a gambling place run by the undead, to get the tile pieces a fairy lost in a game of blackjack. He had found out that Oliver' group had found the legendary wand, Mornstar, after a time travel round trip to the past, and hunted down the three magic stones to power the staff. There was a lot that happened, and Zane learned of why Oliver wanted to defeat Shadar. To save his mother, but life wasn't totally fair for Oliver and his mother was not coming back from death.

Zane looked at the page, torn from Oliver Wizard's Companion book, he had found in book about he won playing blackjack. "Ashes of Resurrection, a forbidden spell that requires great magic and can cause untold disaster when cast wrong." He read off the page. This was the spell that doomed the Kingdom of Nazcaa. Cast wrong, raining white ash that twisted everyone it touched into monsters. The details of how, why, and who cast the spell wrong was still unknown. On the topic of why, Zane still wondered why Shadar just threw him the tile piece he had. No fight or bargaining needed. Zane had stayed out of the fight that led to Shadar's death and raided the place, even as weird gravity effects tried to stop him, of any riches.

Zane froze as he saw what looked like ash clouds appear over the kingdom of Hamelin. The ash was falling again and this time one the major kingdoms. He needed to find Oliver ASAP. He was grabbed and swallowed by golden light as the roster headed armored figure that he met on Old Smokey appeared and teleported him away.

Moments later

In the sky

The Iron Wyvern

The deck

"Why are you taking me you clucker headed wizard?" Zane demanded as he was sprawled on the deck of an airship that was above the clouds. The figure was nowhere in sight as a black crystal floated before him with the crew as monsters. Zane grabbed coils of rope and hogtied the victims of the ash. "Nasty spell backfire. And it was purposeful cast wrong too." Zane said poking the dark crystal that felt of hatred, anguish, and great sadness. "whoever cast this has emotional issues to work out." Zane told the moaning and growling twisted crew members.

An hour later

In the sky

The Iron Wyvern

The deck

"We aren't safe here?" Marcassin, the long dark-haired ruler of Hamelin, asked as he appeared with Oliver's group and a green haired girl in white from what looked like a Gate spell. "I hogtied them all and they can't move at all." Zane told them as he came up to the deck after checking to make sure the air ship stayed flying. "Knickers! What kind of knot are those?" Drippy asked checking out the closet victim. "It looks like it takes forever to undo." The little girl put her hands together as if praying, walking closer to the black crystal and said, "Sanckify!" as a while light swept over the area. Zane guessed the name of that spell was 'Sanctify' but she was a kid and said it differently yet cutely.

The crystal was gone, and the crew members were quite annoyed at being hogtied. The first one started to swear but a kick to the side and pointing out there were children on the ship put a stop to that. He had gone into the ship and came bake not ten minutes after untying everyone to hear that Gallus, the rooster figure, had told them that the girl, Pea, was important then left. Zane found Pea's name for him, Doodle-Doo, to be better. "So, Pea here can destroy black crystals?" Zane asked. "Leave it to Pea." Pea said and smiled as Zane ruffled her hair. "Only if you let Oliver and his friend get to you to the crystal unharmed." He tells her sternly. "We're friends." Pea tells him with smile that could cure sadness.

A day later

In the sky

The Iron Wyvern

Captain's room

"Ding Dong Dell is purified, and King Tom is fine other than no memory of the last day." Marcassin tells Zane, who had stayed on the air ship in case of monster attack while they were on mission. "I found a flower." Pea said showing a glowing flower to Oliver. Drippy commented on how he couldn't see it. When Oliver took it, they were shown memories of a green haired girl who lost her father and made queen. Her name was Queen Cassiopeia, but she wanted to be called Pea. Zane looked at Pea deeper and had a look that he refused to elaborate on until the kingdoms were purified. Later Pea told him it was the 'Flower of Youth'.

The next day

In the sky

The Iron Wyvern

The deck

Zane was fighting imaginary enemies as worked off the outrage he felt after view the memories from the 'Flower of Faith'. The council of twelve took control of Pea's kingdom from the shadows and ran it to war and famine then 'let' Pea in on meetings only to use her as scapegoat. The teenage Pea had talked about a 'spell' to 'end all suffering' that she would master for her people. More he thought about it, more it made sense what it could mean but he pushed those thoughts aside for now.

That evening

In the sky

The Iron Wyvern

Captain's room

Zane was silent as the 'Flower of Hope' revealed what he wished wasn't true. Queen Cassiopeia had cast a forbidden spell and caused the final ruin for the Kingdom of Nazcaa ten thousand years ago. "You knew." Captain Kublai said looking at Zane, who looked at Pea with tears trickling down his face. "The spell she tried to cast was not meant to be done like that. The Ashes of Resurrection is a forbidden spell that revives the dead as long as the body is intact." Zane placed the page in Oliver's book as he said this. "I prayed that I was wrong, and it was not true but again a place is destroyed by those that work in the shadows." Zane left before the memories and the emotions with them bubbled up to surface.

"Let him go." Captain Kublai said as Oliver looked ready to follow him. "this has brought bitter memories to surface that he doesn't want to burden you with. He has seen too much for you to understand." Drippy looked annoyed and commented, "He's crazier than a box of cats. I've seen his heart and it's a patch work of fixes. Is he even sane with that much damage?" Looking sad, Pea said, "he was lost in the Dark. It's not safe yet he got out without losing all his mind." Swaine tried to translate was Pea was saying, "I think he hasn't been sane since getting 'lost in the Dark' whatever or wherever that is."

Dripper had full body shivers. "You don't want to know mun! The Dark Realms are the worst pit ever to fall into. No one has ever come back from there, only monsters that take hearts to make more monsters!" everyone looked that the fairy, wanting to know more. "I'm only telling this once, so you better listen hard." Drippy said, "many years ago a warrior with a weapon he called a 'Keyblade' came to Fairygrounds from another world. He was seeking a 'Keyhole' to seal it before the 'Heartless', nasty blighters, got it first. He talked of his Duty as a 'Keyblade Master' and how the Heartless would keep coming to this world until the 'Keyhole' was sealed." Drippy told a tale of him be sent by the Fairy Godmother to aid him in navigating this world as he dealt with Heartless.

"After he sealed the Keyhole, he left for his home, the Land of Departure' he called it." Drippy finished. "He had a name that started with an 'e' and sounded weird." They all jumped when Zane said from the door. "His name was Master Eraqus, my mentor before he was betrayed and murdered by someone close." Zane's voice was thick with emotion as he drank of a bottle of rum. "maybe you should lay off the alcohol." Swaine said worried. "Why? Because I'll go a drunken rampage? There are times I wish I could get intoxicated but no! I could drink an army under table and walk it off as if I never drunk a drop." Zane looks at Captain Kublai and adds, "I'll replace all the bottles I drank later." They watched as Zane left to deal with things.

"Must be close to the death date." Oliver figured. Pea ran after Zane, even going as far to shake off the arm to stop her.

A few hours later

In the sky

The Iron Wyvern

The deck

Pea sat, watching Zane lighting a pipe and blowing herb smelling smoke that took shapes as it drifted away. "you aren't 'real', are you?" Zane asked Pea. "I'm a part of her heart." Pea answered. "Why did you leave?" Zane pondered her question, blowing more smoke shapes. "When I came to this world, it was not the first time." He said, "My mentor brought me here when I was still training. Dropped me on in the woods and told me he'd be back in a month. I had no weapons nor armor. My task was to be unnoticed. A talking tree was the only being I was allowed to tell that I was from another world. He was acquainted with Master Eraqus, now I know why." Zane told her of how he stayed away from towns and had see many of the wilder areas of this world. "Today marks the anniversary of when he dropped me off for that test. I guess some days even the most schooled person can be overwhelmed by strong memories."

Three days later

Ni No Kuni world

Ivory tower

Zane sat in one of the thirteen seats that were in a circle formation with the shell backed one the most important. "Queen Cassiopeia how are you feeling?" Zane asked the immortal queen, whose foolish casting of the forbidden spell had taken her 'death' and her kingdom as the price. "better than I have in a long time." Queen Cassiopeia said as she fiddled with a velvet bag. "I can't help but feel you know all to well how easy it is to get lost in madness." She said, thinking of the state she was before Oliver defeated her in battle then destroying the abomination that came from her mind and 'slipped from the control of her magic', becoming real. "You came to this world to find tile pieces, yet you, at the request of my father's spirit, helped save the world."

"I'm not sane, remember?" Zane said with smile as he blew smoke shapes. "found an 'old friend' by the way." He pulled out the charm and it morphed into a slime monster the size of a large dog. Queen Cassiopeia's face brightened as the slim jumped about at the sight of her. "The Spell Test Dummy? My father found him and later found out that he's not too bright but totally indestructible." Zane laughed at her description of the slime. "Doodle Doo had an interesting way of doing things." Zane comments. Queen Cassiopeia laughs at the nickname for her father, who was so powerful he was called the Wizard King before his death. "I have gathered a gift as thanks for all you've done." She gives Zane velvet bag that contained a lot of items, including the tile pieces he could find on this world. "Thank you, Queen Pea." Zane got a laugh from her with that. "Here are all the flowers seeds you requested." Zane gave her a bottomless bag full of seed packets. She thanked him as the slime had a clueless look on his face.

Ten years in the past

Earth Murphy

Danville, USA

O.W.C.A. (the Organization Without a Cool Acronym aka The Agency) HQ

Major Francis Monogram, preferred you drop his first name, looked up from the application at Zane in bird form then back to the impeccable penmanship. "You are Greek and magical?" He asked, getting song like answer from Zane. "You will be Agent X (Chi). Sid! Get him set up." He yells the last part at his intern who looked stressed but did as he was asked. "You will be assigned to a desk until we find someone for you to be a nemesis of." Major Monogram states as the poor intern filed everything and placed a brown hat on Zane's head. "Try two sizes down." Major Monogram said as the hat drooped over Zane's beak. "Yes, Sir." Sid said taking the hat and looking for a smaller one.

"As you will read in the handbook, do not get seen in uniform." Major Monogram ordered, "Humans may hear you talk if you learn how but do not blow your cover. We do not exist in the eyes of the public." He reinforced this by showing him a film of how if his cover were ever blown, everyone would be mindwiped and then relocated elsewhere. "Any questions?" Major Monogram asked. "Where will my home be?" Zane asked in thick Greek accent. "Yes, your cover family. That normal happens when the agent is a baby animal but in this case it's 'flexible'." Major Monogram said as he looked at a pile of files.

"here we are! The Fireside Girls are looking for a mascot. The founder, Eliza M. Feyersied, is still kicking after over a century (her age was never revealed in the show) but that's fine. We will make sure they see a deal about you at a pet store we own in town." Major Monogram said as Sid put a proper sized hat on Zane. "Sid, Agent X (Chi) needs to be prepared for adoptions by Saturday. You know what needs to be done." Sid sighed as his workload was added to, again.

A week later

Earth Murphy

Danville, USA

Fireside Girls HQ

"The Loyal Sisterhood of the Fireside Girls has many members and duties. As the mascot you are to uphold only some of them but the ones you need to uphold are important." The founder said as she used a walker to approach the perch Zane was on. Their HQ was a log cabin in the middle of the city that has been there for decades, at least, and hadn't changed other than expanding it downward. "That shop keeper said you are from Greece. One of the rules is to help others understand, so you will be teaching the girls Greek, is that fair?" She asked. Zane said yes in Ancient Greek to mess with her a little. She just smiles and says, "you are a cheeky bird using that version of Greek, but I've earned the Ancient Greek badge." She wagged a finger at Zane.

"the girls have picked out your name as the mascot. It will be written in the logs as the other mascots were." Zane shoots her a worried look and she points out a rule. "All Mascots are to retire if they need to leave or get too unwell to be mascot. We aren't heartless to force you to be mascot until you die." Zane sighs. "Now, the name they picked is, 'Gary', a nice name." She states. "Too bad you weren't female. They wanted to name you after this nice lady I knew growing up, Tia Hess. Inspired me to make this group." Zane nodded. It now made sense for their rules bearing a striking resemblance to some of the Children of the Hearth's rules. Zane would have to deal with be called 'Gary' until he 'retired'. Zane eyed a rule that stated all members of the Fireside Girls must try to earn badges. He'd put an honest effort to earn badges.

9 years later

Earth Murphy

Danville, USA

Fireside Girls HQ

"Gary, I earn my dog grooming badge." A black-haired girl no older than 12 said to Zane in Modern Greek, showing him her sash that was full of merit badges. Zane eyes her drenched state. "The dog was quite hyper-active, I'm sure. Isabella, go get into dry cloths before you catch cold." He said in return from his perch. Hanging from hook near him was sash covered in badges he had earned over the years. There was a lot of odd and/or dangerous badges they could earn. What normal girl scout troop has a lion taming badge?

"Ok, Gary, I'll remember that when I give a sheep dog a full grooming." Isabella said leaving Zane to his thoughts. Zane here the hidden watch the Major gave him go off. Zane flew out the window and down a opening in a rock that opened on its own then closing as he entered the hidden shaft.

Moments later

Hidden base

Zane landed in a chair and put his beak on the scanner and put his 'agent hat' on. The large computer screen turned on and Major Monogram's eyes was the thing in view. "Agent X (Chi), we still haven't found you a nemesis, but your courier skills are required again." Major Monogram stated as the camara zoomed out to include his face and green uniformed upper body. "Carl? Is the camara fixed yet?" He asked the glasses wearing curly reddish brown-haired intern who replaced Sid, who 'had a break down' four years ago. "All set, sir." Carl Karl (yes that's his full name.) said, flashing a thumbs up. "An important package was 'misplaced' somewhere on this island." Major Monogram says as a popular resort island was shown. "the jet will take you near, but you need to be discreet and do not get it wet." Zane was paying attention to Major Monogram's expression. He looked worried but not too worried.

An hour later

Earth Murphy

Caribbean resort

Jungle

"Give that back you brutes!" Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, mad scientist, yelled at a troop of robotic monkeys hanging out in tall palm trees with packages in their arms. "How dare you turn on me and steal my daughter's stuff!" Dr. D slumped down when he realized he was too skinny to stack up to his -inator. "Why did I make the Keep-away-inators so free willed?" he sighed but brightened up as a shadow with a hat was cast over him. "Perry the Platpus?" He asks thinking it was his nemesis, Agent P, but scratches his head as Zane lands on a pineapple bush. "You're not Perry." Dr. D said confused. "Agent X (Chi) on mission to revive a missing package." Zane said in a thick Greek accented English. "Never heard of you." Dr. D said crossing his arms.

"Well, the Keep-Away-Inator was an idea I had while I took my daughter on vacation. I couldn't relax so I invented. You know how that happens." He monologues explaining his accidentally evil plan. "They find important packages and dangly them just out of reach. I can imagine Roger jumping up as my monkeys mock him in front of everyone!" Dr. D laughed evilly as Zane looked up at the dozens of packages the monkey had stolen. He flew up to try and take one, but the monkeys grabbed them and scattered just faster than his flying speed. He tried again but faster, and the monkeys sped up as well.

"It's no use. They will always be just a little faster than anyone that tries to get back what they steal. Too bad I only had those cheap batteries when I built them." Dr. D said absentmindedly. Zane looked at him and asked, "how long?" Dr. D not getting it, asked, "how long what?" then it dawned on him, "Oh! Three days at most. They didn't have the normal batteries I use here so I made do." He says with a shrug. "We wait." Zane said landing on Dr. D's shoulder as they walk back to the resort pool area.

Ten minutes later

Earth Murphy

Caribbean resort

Pool side deck

"This is Vanessa, my daughter." Dr. D says introduces Zane a dark brown-haired teenager in a black leather outfit, who looked nothing like him. "She takes after her mother. This is Agent X (Chi) from that government group I battle." Dr. D explained vaguely as he plops down on a chair. Zane landed on a perch that the resort staff set up out of nowhere, along with giving Dr. D drink in a coconut without him asking. "right, the secret agent animals." Vanessa said coolly. "did you give up on the monkeys?" she tapped her foot annoyed with arms crossed. "He has a great idea." Dr. D says nodding to Zane. "We wait and the packages will come to us." He states sipping his drink. The waiter that brought his drink was listening in as Dr. D explained the plan to his daughter. Said waiter was a disguised green furred platypus, complete with a mustache on his bill, walking up right on his back feet. Agent P reported his findings into a video watch on his front leg.

Few days later

Earth Murphy

Danville

Zane was going for a brief light when what had to be absolute misfortune struck. He was knocked out of the sky by beat up 1955 Grataloup coming out of a time portal. Zane bounced over the car and fell through the time portal as the car landed and parked on the street below. The last thing head was someone saying, "Dakota! We need to show up on street level or we will be discovered."

over 150 years in future

Earth Murphy

Bureau of Time Travel HQ

"Mr. Block, the bird is showing signs of waking up." Zane heard as he shocks off the effects of time portal exasperated concussion. "I see that, Gretchen." An annoyed voice said, followed by the sound crushing nuts, taken from a can. "There was two people in a futuristic office. The black-haired woman with glasses must have been the black-haired man's assistant, based on his black uniform being 'more important' looking than hers. "Welcome to the Bureau of Time Travel. We have been waiting for you." The man, Mr. Block stated with sour look etched on his face. "what?" Zane asked, looking out the window at the cityscape with flying cars buzzing by. "I know I'm awake, but this is not what I expected after getting hit by a time traveling 1955 Grataloup."

Mr. Block had a conflicted look as his jaw tightened. "Gretchen, give Cavendish and Dakota a bonus for protecting the timeline." He said sourly, clearly not happy to have to say it. "yes sir." She said, typing on a holographic screen. "Professor Time, who founded this organization, found something he knew a bird like you would be looking for. He will be giving a similar object to you at some point in the past but that hasn't happened yet for you. The Supreme Tribunal want proof that you are that bird and gave me a means to prove that."

He pulls out a box. "If you can open this box sealed by blood, you are him." He doesn't even bat an eye as Zane returned to his human form, slice in palm and smear blood on the box. It burned away and left a note. "Get proof of the invasion." Zane read. "well, that's proof enough for me." Mr. Block says, munching on mixed nuts. "In week, we can get you the things you were bequeathed in Professor Time's will at last. Then I'll have Agent Brick and Savannah take you back to the time you came from." He grumbled to himself about no pistachios in the tin, again. That made Zane worried that his offhand comment my because fact.

Back in time

Earth Murphy

Danville, USA

Zane checked the calendar as he carried a time capsule the size of a travel trunk that was ticking down a timer on the locking mechanism. "three days have passed. I hope no one is too worried." He comments as a kid with a cowlick rolls by on a giant ball of cable. "Must be a Murphy." Zane says watching the chaos unfold. "That was the direction of John P. Trystate Elementary. The Fireside Girls would be devastated if it got leveled." a ginger haired girl riding a horse pulling cart of hay rushed after the ball as the girl yelled, "Milo! When I get close, jump on to the cart!" "Milo Murphy?" Zane wondered as the Master of masters ran after the ball too, only to stop and look at Zane. "I am deeply sorry about happened two days ago. I had this big treasure hunt plan, but Murphy Law screwed that up. I'll get him to write a letter for you." He says then runs after off.

"I just missed the scattering event." Zane realized and started laughing at the absurd timing. He had three years before the before the timer finished and there was no way to rush it. Professor Time made sure to make it impossible to cheese it open with time travel. If Zane traveled through time, the time capsule would make the same jump down to the second. Whoever he was, Professor Time was a genius with weird technology. He put in a code on a keypad on the time capsule and it was 'downloaded' into Zane's mind, somehow. As Zane said, weird technology expert. A raccon looks at him before stealing a tool from a man's toolbox as the man groped around for said tool to fix his car.

Zane snorts at the 'most dangerous thief in O.W.C.A. history', the 'Recurring Racoon', known for stealing a needed object at the worst time can hasn't been stopped in years. They weren't sure if was the same raccoon or many of them working as a team. A short-legged cream-colored dog with brown ears and brown splotch on his back bumped into Zane and cocked his head, looking up at Zane. Zane wasn't sure what the breed mix was, but he was sure there was beagle and at least a quarter llama dog. "Hello there." Zane said, crouching down to get a better look. "Hello!" the dog barked in dog and licked Zane's face. "Your name is Diogee Ex Machina Murphy?" Zane read the tags on the collar with an arched brow. Diogee licked Zane's face in goodbye and ran off down the street after catching a scent.

A few streets later

"What am I going to do with you?" an orange haired woman in a lovely mint green shirt and jeans. She pulled off the working mom look well, that was Zane's fashion sense talking, not him planning to flirt. She was looking at a truck filled with building supplies, one of its wheels stunk in an open manhole. "The tire is floating with no grip, Ma'am." The worker with her said. He holds up a busted jack. "I'd jack it up, but a giant ball of cable crushed the only jack I had." He said with a shrug. "It's got at least five tons of lumber and cement bags in back. We'd need to get a tow truck or something."

"Maybe I can help?" Zane asked as he approached them. "Are you a strongman competitor?" the woman asked, eyeing Zane as one would a future employee. "You can say that." Zane said as he walked to where the wheel was stuck. "My name's Zane Laskaris." He says, getting a grip and slowing lifting the truck up and pulling it forward before setting it back down, tire on the street again. "Brigette Murphy, architect." The woman says shaking Zane's hand then giving him a business card. "Descendant of Sheriff Murphy who is said to have run a town of stranded time travelers in 1875? That Murphy?" Zane asked. "that was my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather-In-Law. Not many know about that information, how'd you come by it?" She corrected.

"Look up my name you will find that Murphy's Law isn't only 'luck' that is inherited." Zane says amused. "Are you aware a Milo Murphy was on a runaway ball of cable not an hour ago? Followed by a horse and cart?" She took out a note pad and made a note, "circus training for Milo" she said to herself.

One year before present day

Earth Murphy

Danville

Zane looked at the heartfelt letter from the Fireside Girls Troop 46231. 'Larry' had been retired as a mascot after a decade of service and had earned the most badges a Mascot ever did in the history of the organization, even the founder was super impressed at his drive. The last year had been insane. Two brothers, Phineas and Ferb, had got in their heads to do the most ridiculous plans every day of summer vacation. They even roped their friends in their plans as Dr. D was thwarted by Agent P at the same. Those brothers had an aura of 'it will work' when they worked together on even the craziest thing they cooked up. Their sister tried to 'bust them' but somehow the parents never saw a thing. Even when Dr. D's more competent counterpart from the next dimension over tried to invade this one.

Speaking of that incident, Zane had pulled some strings let the kids and their friends remember that adventure, Agent P's cover was blown but a few oaths never to reveal anything that happened that week, unless it was in an O.W.C.A. secret lair, made them agree. What they didn't find out that 'Larry' was Zane, the handy man that was seen around Danville for past decade. Fun fact, the Evil D version of him was female and they had recorded a duet CD as everything happened. When do get the chance to do something like that? What's most important was that a tiny white alien, who was referred to as Meap, had given Zane three tile pieces after capturing a fugitive who had stolen them from Dr. D for whatever reason. That left six on this world, and he knew Milo Murphy would help him stumble upon them.

Zane crossed a street, weaving through a herd of llamas, jumping over a runaway rocket car, then reached the other side in time to prevent a ginger cat from antagonizing a bald eagle perched in a tree. "That is one bird you can't catch." He told the cat as he got out of the tree. "Mr. Fluffuls! You saved him!" a little pigtailed girl squealed, hugging Zane's leg. "That is a lovely name for your cat. Here you go." Zane told the girl offering the cat, who was annoyed but acting like nothing happened. "Thank you Mr. firehead." The little girls said carrying the cat away and into a house down the street. "not the worst thing a kid has called me." Zane said as the eagle gave the girl a reproachful look at the 'disrespect' of the nickname. "what brings you here, Agent E?" Zane whispers the last part as the eagle passes Zane a manila envelope from her feathers. She takes off with a nod.

"what does MM want that requires sending her? She lives in the mountains and her eggs will be hatching any time in the next month." Zane broke the O.W.C.A. seal and pulled out documents of 'strange events' that were discovered. "limo appearing and disappearing in thin air? It's that time traveling duo that gave me right back." Zane comments quietly, moving on to the next report. "stuffed animal merchants? Moogles." The third report was weird but easy to solve. "an island of copies of the same person? Ok, that has to be time travel shenanigans or something." The next one had a black and white photo of a humanoid pistachio monster. This was too close to the random comment he made. The back of the photo had a B.o.T.T. seal of authenticity on it, meaning that there was at one-point live Pistachions. The letter to 'find proof' came to mind and it set Zane's mind a tizzy with possibilities many that he didn't like the idea of.

There was a report of 'weird octopus' sighting but no photo and the witness was drunk as a skunk at the time before he had been thrown into jail for trespassing. He'd put a pin in that for now. The last report was most dangerous one in Zane's opinion. Creature sightings, and just any creatures. No, they bore a symbol of a heart with wings coming of the lower part, some with bat wings and an x in it and others with a smother type of wing and a loop in it, denoting them as Dream Eaters. Somehow, creature that live in the Realm of Sleep were in the waking world. There was two way for this to happen. First was that they were powerful enough to exist as a 'waking dream'. The dark Chirithy that hung out in the Garden was one example but that was only half right now, after linking back up with Hannah the Darkling.

The second was way was 'worse' in many ways. Something was anchoring them to the waking world. It could be a living creature, a machine, even place or relic with enough history to it could be used as a 'battery' powering the 'gate' to stay open. There was the possibility that an 'event' in time and space was responsible for the breach. Whatever the case, Zane needed to drive the Nightmares back through any 'gate' that opens and seal them for the world's sake. The absolute worst-case scenario was the world being 'converted' into a hybrid of fantasy and reality, where every dream and nightmare manifests as it is 'dreamed'. This was something Zane had only read about. "This is bad news. You better stop the leak." A nut smelling figure wearing a trench coat, scarf, blackout shades and hat, on a day that was too hot for that attire.

"What do you know about this?" Zane asked as he entered the shadow of the alley the figure was in. "Call me Zee for now." Zee said with voice that was odd. Now that Zane was closer, he noticed at that Zee towered over the average human male. "Some time ago, for me, my father threw me into an unstable 'dream gate', I have no idea of what length of time has passed or if this is my timeline." Zee said carefully, not giving details. "It was an experience to say the least." Zee said, calling out a pair of Dream Eaters, a Wheeflower and a Woeflower. "I'll help you track down the 'dream gates' as they appear, but don't breathe a word about me to anyone." Zee warned as he led Zane to a hazy crack in the maze of back alleys. It was a fresh one, so Zane sealed it with his Swift Dreamer keyblade before anything else got out.

"We will meet again, another time." Zee said as he sent vines from his 'hand' to lift a manhole and disappear into the sewers. "He's a Pistachion." Zane said as he pondered way the gate was so weak. "It's like these gates are just tiny cracks from stress of a gate elsewhere." He looked back at the reports and found it mentioned another report from years ago.

A month later

Earth Murphy

Danville

Zane's house

Zane read reports that were over the past fifty years. All of them had signs of something causing cracks to the Realm of Sleep. None lasted more than a day until recently, but it was a clear sign it wasn't an isolated incident. "Looking into that issue?" the Master of Masters asked as he appeared out of nowhere. "How about a little insight?" Zane asked. "Well, from what I've found out, there are ways of drawing the Dream Eaters from the Realm of Sleep but, it's not something a human could do. The computing power required would fry their brain before they got anything good. On the other hand, a computer doesn't have the connection a 'living being' has. If only you could fuse a supercomputer with a living being that can 'dream' and use magic." He said mysteriously.

"The computer you are talking about would be the size of this country at least." Zane countered. "How would you fit that in someone?" the Master of Masters just disappeared as his last words echoed. "Bigger on the inside." Zane grumbled about how much a brat the Master of Masters could be. He decided to turn on the tv and found an episode of The Doctor Zone Files, a show that was similar to Doctor Who and only on this world, when it hit him. "Quantum portals! Bend space and time 'just right' and you could connect a human brain to a planet sized computer wirelessly." Zane said as he watched the tv. The Doctor Zone Files was a good show for what it was, and it had given him a few ideas to try out someday. "The problem is how to power the computer that could do the crazy calculations." He said to himself. It'd have to be ludicrously powerful and more than enough to mess with the Realm of Sleep to any degree.

Months later

Earth Murphy

Danville

Zee's sewer hideout

"I met your father. He was an experience." Zane said vaguely as he looked at the footage of the King Pistachion's invasion that was 'written out of existence' by Diogee peeing on the bush that would become King Pistachion in the year 2175. "Yeah, Dad is a bad nut." Zee says scratching his shelled face apologetically. "Most of his kids are too." He pauses then says, "Derek is just as bad as Dad was. Whatever happened to him?" Zane recounted how Derek was hit with a sack of clocks, by Vinnie Dakota, in the timestream the B.O.T.T. used. "So that's why there's a bunch of clocks floating in there." Zee comments, "It was so weird that no one knew why. They time travel and they still have no clue." Zane smirked as he added the footage to a report labeled 'Proof'. "If he survived, my brother with impersonate someone then take over the world. Dad had weird advice." Zee explained.

Three months later

Earth Murphy

Danville

Zane's house

Zane was laughing his ass off as he got a time call from Mr. Block from 2175. "Cavendish and Dakota are suspented from time traveling after their rule breaking was uncovered. They would have been fired but this gave reason for their crimes." Mr. Block said through gritted teeth as he held a device that held proof of not one but two Pistachion invasions and two living Pistachions who avoided the paradox wiping them out of existence. "The giant Pistachion seems to be helping out as soups kitchens?" Mr. Block said with sigh. "And why is that kid's arm still a vine?" Zane just shrugged as he laughed. "Dr. Time being found to be Heinz Doofenshmirtz was not what the history books said."

"You will find that history is subjective." Zane said, "I've got to deal with something elsewhere." He been given three more tile pieces by actor who plays Doctor Zone currently and he solved the octopus report. It was undercover shapeshifting Octalians who were looking for someone. They were not willing to tell him, but they promised that person was not going to be harmed.

A week later

Acmetropolis (the planet is also the name of the Ecumenopolis, means world city, covering most of the planet)

Unknown Location

Zane was in a maze, flickering light gaze only a breath of illumination every few minutes as he stalked the walls with a blaster at the ready. On his ankle was a bomb that would 'vaporize him with the heat of the sun' according to the nutjob he was facing. The goal was simple, be the first to shoot his henchman, each had a bomb and the same issue of blaster Zane had, before they get him three times. "The head start with end in five minutes, my rat. Then the cats with be set to prowl." The mad man's voice said from the com device in Zane's right ear. "I'll be generous and let you know you will be face only ten this time. You did so well when I sent five after you two days ago. Remember, survive and you get tomorrow off but the next maze will be harder. Scurry on rat!" Zane ignored the mad laugher and traveled deeper into the maze.

It all started five days ago. He arrived in the city of Acmetropolis and had the luck of being among the next 'batch of lab rats' snatched from the street by a madman with an unimaginative name, the Maze Master. He never showed his face but talked through intercoms or earpieces. His henchman wear Cat masks and barely talked at all. From what Zane gathered, as the 'rats' failed, he would snatch up some more. Zane wondered if he cared about being discrete at this point. Zane had been captured like a stray dog and shocked by the lasso around his neck. Zane faked it knocking him out and waited to see what was going on.

Six weeks later

Acmetropolis

Maze Master's maze

"You are most promising test subject I have found!" The Maze Master said with glee as Zane finished the latest and hardest test the madman cooked up. "None of the 3,957 rats did anywhere close to your level of survival. I will need to give you week while I find harder opponents to hunt you. Enjoy the break." A wall opened to show well-furnished room that Zane was well acquainted with at this point. As he 'passed' the 'tests', his room got nicer. His couch had been upgraded from cheap metal to ritzy yet comfortable about a week ago. Lounging, Zane reached over to the coffee table and lifted the high-tech cloche off of that day's dinner.

The Maze Master was smart. He had given Zane a five stars lobster dinner with all the fixings. He was meticulous with who he grabbed for lab rats and what he rewarded them with. Zane had noticed the quality of the henchman and robots he sent into the maze slowing scale up. He had sent a tank, it took up the space between the walls, this time to act as an 'unkillable foe' then told him to kill it or get turned to ash. After Zane jammed a robot's head in the cannon as it was firing, the tank became scrap metal. Zane wondered what he'd be facing. He never got the chance to really get to know the city.

He guessed that this was a world where the Looney Tunes were real but that was long ago. One of the few times he got to interact with one of the 'rats', they prayed 'The Loonatics' would come save them, even if he was wanted for a lot of home invasion and robbery charges before he was kidnapped. The poor robber died a week later. Zane cracked a claw and had an idea. At some point these superheroes would notice the thousands of missing people reports and track this place down. He could use them to find out where the 'Dream Gates' were on this world. After a meteorite strike roughly a year ago, the whole planet had a radiation that made it impossible to know if there were tiles pieces or 'Dream Gates' in an area without searching manually.

Five days later

Acmetropolis

Maze Master's maze

Zane was on guard as his room traveled up towards the surface. The Maze Master had 'cubes' for each of his henchman and 'Rats' that were moved about as needed. This was all so how the maze was scrambled, each section of maze was a cube to be raised or lowered then moved somewhere else and set in place. There were only two reasons for Zane to be going up. One, he was being rewarded with a little fresh air, aka being watched by hidden laser cannons and the threat of the bomb going off if he leaves the edge of the maze perimeter, or because the Maze Master wanted to meet him in person at long last. The second one was unlikely, but Zane was 'Subject 42', the most promising rat in the last 15 years of experiments he conducted.

When the doors opened it was to control room with a hole in a wall, busted inward. "This is the only living prisoner left?" A duck, that reminded Zane of Daffy if he was an edgy superhero, with an orange upside down triangle on the chest of his black suit said, "what happened to the rest, tubby?" He said with a glob of flaming energy in hand as a fat bald old man in cuffs refused to look guilty as he said, "All 4,999 other rats failed and were turned to ash along with the henchman who were sacrificed to fuel my research! Subject 42 is the culmination of my life's work!" Before he could say more the glob was thrown and 'foamed' the Maze Master in a breathable cement. "That's a new one, Danger Duck." A rabbit with a yellow version of the chest triangle, commented. "Tech is he right?" he asked the green triangle chested Coyote who was at the main computer.

"10,129 henchman and test subjects were burned, and their remains dropped into an 'ash collection cube' somewhere below the maze." Tech reported grimly. The rabbit with a pink triangle gasped as what had to be a relative or descendant of Taz, with a purple triangle, paused in his eating. "Slam why are you eating at a time like this?" the female rabbit asked the Tasmanian who said something like 'I eat to deal with my sadness, and a lot of other problems'. A roadrunner in red, who talked like someone that drank Monster energy drinks like water, "Lexi, Slam eats all the time. I'm more worried about how calm subject 42 is. He's standing there eating a sandwich, smells like ham." They turn and behold Zane eating a ham sandwich that he took from the table that Slam was eating from. "You must be the Lunatics, what took you so long?" Zane asked between bites.

"He greased quite a few palms and picked 'forgettable' people." Danger Duck said. "I swear he was an eel and not a human with how crafty he was. What was it like in the maze?" Ace, Lexi, and Tech get him an annoyed look. "Tense but I survived worse than anything he could think up." Zane said, not fazed. "Strange, all the other subjects had somewhat files, but you are a ghost." Tech said as he looked at the files on the computer. "Not even a name is listed. Only the intersection you were captured on and how your time in the maze went." Zane smirked, "I refused to share anything with that waste of human life." He pushes the large white lump of strange cement over and it bounced a little. "Take me to your tower, less eavesdroppers." He says, amused at the Maze Master's fate.

A few hours later

Acmetropolis

The Loonatics Tower

Floor 134

"And that is all you need to know at this moment." Zane finished talking at Tech logged the conversation. "I'll get working on your id and other required documents. You are staying awhile." Tech said getting to work. Zane grabbed a slice of 'Greek' pizza and looked at it annoyed. "This is not 'Greek' it's 'throw anything European and call it Greek' pizza. I know that Greece has long been absorbed into the planet sized city, but this is disgraceful." He griped but he still ate it. "I know!" Danger Duck said in agreement, "That pizzeria never listens when anyone points out how misleading their pizza names are."

"If you hate it, why are you eating it?" Ace asked, eating his own slice. "One, the pizza is ok. And two, never waste the generosity of the host that is entertaining you, unless they serve something like rotten or undesirable foods." Zane stated. "You have to factor in the culture of the host as well. I once ate 'Rock sirloin', a very desirable dish prized by a race of rock people, on a bet." Zane paused and smirked, remembering the reactions from the Smash members who watched him do Link's bet. "I won that bet." He said showing off white flawless teeth. "You are insane." Lexi comments. "Who eats cooked rocks on a bet?"

"It's quite tender when it's heated just right." Zane said, "who's the hologram lady?" Zane jerks his head at the blonde-haired woman, wearing a purple and lavender outfit, projected among rainbow light in the center of the table. "Lunatics, a job well down, given the circumstances." The woman said, "It's too bad we weren't sooner, we could have prevented some many deaths." Ace said. The woman looked at Zane, "I am Zadavia, their supervisor and benefactor. I apologize about not finding him sooner. He was difficult to track down." She sounded sincere. "That's fine. The Maze Master lied to all his victims about what their number was. He told the early ones that he had many more victims before them and later ones, like me, were give low numbers to trick them." Zane said plainly.

"That explains the data discrepancies I found." Tech said, "the dates don't line up with the subject numbers at all." Zadavia took control of the conversation and praised each of the team's part in the mission. Then she looked at Danger Duck with a flat look. "Tone down the property damage when you try to disable a flee vehicle." Danger Duck looked away and whistled innocently. "Right now, probably would be a good time to warn you guys about something." Zane said coughing into his fist. With everyone's attention on him he explained about the 'Dream Gates' and the danger the posed.

"Lunatics, your long-term mission is to be on the lookout for these 'Gates' with Zane's help. He will be staying in the tower until the threat is dealt with." The projection ended as they look at him. "You knew this, and you never told us after we busted you out?" Ace asked, annoyed but waiting for his reasoning. "I didn't know your view on magic, and I can't track it on this world. The comet or whatever that gave you powers made it impossible to track." Zane said.

"That is a common issue with certain types of radiations, as I've discovered." Tech said, "I had to jury-rig a work around. Do you have sample of this 'dream' energy? Magic or not, I can figure something out." Zane showed of his Swift Dreamer keyblade and Tech scanned it. "Weird readings but give me time and the tower will scan globe for any 'gates' that open in real time." Tech said with pride. He then scans Zane and blinks at the readings he got. "The strangest brain waves I've ever seen. Are you sane?" Zane's laughter made them a little worried. "He must have screws loose. He was a monster in the maze." Rev Runner said. "Maybe he's been in a war or two?"

"Tartarus has nothing on the places I've been." Zane said in a factual way. "It's so funny when people ask me that question. Innocence can be bliss but when you see what has been hiding in the shadows the whole time." Zane paused, "It's not something you forget." Ace finished for him. "I've met people like him. They get put through the grinder and have the scars to prove it. Give him space and let him tell us when he feels like it." He told his team, who nodded at this order.

A few months later

Acmetropolis

The Loonatics Tower

Floor 134

Simulation room

"How long as he been going at it?" Lexi asked as she entered the control room with Tech smirking at an annoyed Danger Duck. "Well past Duck's record." Tech said, rubbing it in as Zane put crippling blows to the hard light enemies below. "He's got moves." Lexi whistled as Zane's enemies became more numerous and deadlier. "Why hasn't he helped us with the bad guys then?" Danger Duck asked, "Maybe because he's running off to different parts of the planet seal the 'gates' as quickly as possible? They popped up like crazy after the second meteor strike attack from Optimatus happened." Tech said. "And didn't Zane slice said rock to pieces before it hit anything?" Lexi added.

"Fine! He did something useful at least once." Danger Duck admitted. "But the rest of the time he's playing his electric guitar in his room. I can hear it through all the walls." Danger Duck griped. "Does he never sleep?" Zane signals to Tech to end the training and the hard light scenery shifted from a city to a beach as Zane opened a beach chair and played his guitar. "See what I mean?" Danger Duck asked. "If I'm going to be hearing a bunch of songs, I better get the soundtrack one of these days, signed I might add." Danger Duck said, arms crossed.

Two Months later

Acmetropolis

The Loonatics Tower

Floor 134

Danger Duck ran into the command center yelling, "Zane's left the planet! I can finally sleep!" He sits down as Zadavia came in person with case and note. "This is for you, duck." She said smirking. Danger duck reads the note, "One signed collection of all the songs you heard me play, -Zane." They laugh at him as he looks at the note and grumbling.

Elsewhere

Johnny Test universe

Porkbelly, Washington USA

"OK, random portal in space leads to a town near Ontario, Canada on an alternate universe's Earth." Zane comments, looking at the 'Welcome to Porkbelly' sign. "On one hand, I need to find those tiles, but one other, I need to make sure the person who made the portal doesn't kill their planet with an ill placed portal to my universe." Zane weighed his choices as he idled on his vespa. A van rolls up and men in black suits wearing earpieces and black shades look at Zane. "Mr. Black is this where the signal came from?" the black-haired guy with dark skin asked a white-haired guy with pale skin. "The scanner says so, Mr. White." Zane groaned at the names they had.

"You with the government?" Zane asked them, still with his helmet on. "Yes, how come with us peacefully." Mr. White said flashing a badge. "Where to?" Zane asked. They roll up their window and had a hushed conversion. He heard 'Test', 'The Girls', and 'No more screw ups or the General' from the van. It had decent soundproofing, even if he wasn't actively eavesdropping. The window rolls down and Zane is told to follow them to an 'offsite location' for testing.

An hour later

Johnny Test universe

Porkbelly, Washington USA

Test Family household

Zane was frog marched through normal looking family home, ignoring the blonde-haired man that who was red in the face as he yelled, "GIRLS! What did I tell you about experimenting with dimensional portals?" Zane was led up the stairs, past a kid with yellow flaming (coloration not literal) hair and a dog standing on two feet, drinking coffee, to a secret lab run but a pair of red-haired glasses and lab coat wearing twin sisters. One had a moon hair clip and the other had a star hair clip. "Susan and Mary Test. We need you to scan him for dangerous substance before we report to the General." Mr. Black said, dropping Zane on to the lab floor unceremoniously. "Could you tell Dad we didn't do any portal testing." The Star twin said. "Susan and I were testing how to make a stun bomb all week." The Moon Twin, Mary Test, said, "In theory, all you would need to do is treat it like a Flash Bang, but it acts like a taser, shocking everyone in the area of effect without any blood shed of bullets fired."

"What's the problem with it?" Mr. White asked, "It sounds like a great idea for law enforcement to use." Mary had a few rat cages around a target marked floor behind blast screens. With a touch of button, a grenade like devise was dropped on the target and a smell of ozone followed by cooked meat was smelled as it went off. "As you can see, it's too powerful to use on humans." Susan said. "The humans' hearts would go into cardiac arrest then failure, resulting in death. That doesn't include the possible nerve and brain damage that is likely to happen as well." Mary added.

"I might be able to help you with that." Zane said then listed off some idea that went over the agents heads completely. "Coffee break?" Mr. Black asked. "Yeah, let them talk science and we get the black golden elixir in cup." Mr. White said as they fist bump and leave the house. The kid from earlier peeked in the lab with his weird dog. "Dukey, do you smell that?" the kid asked, "What scent in particular, Johnny?" the dog answers in English before listing on his almost human paws. "The roasted rats, ozone from the taser bomb, that cocktail of odors from that biker, or the burning meatloaf your dad is crying over at this very moment?" Johnny looks at him. "Again? Dad needs to stop treat the meatloaves like they're babies. It gets so weird." He jumps back to topic, "No, the smell of mystery is what I'm smelling. This biker dude came from another universe. I have to know what his deal is." He said as he rubbed his hands together manically.

Author's Note: Headed over to Everglow's YouTube channel a few days ago and saw the ending for Union X. Check it out if you want. IT's mind blowing.