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Act 1: New Studio Arc
Chapter 1: Arrival
Year 0, Month 0, Day 1
Location Unknown
A flash of white light appeared over a field of grass not that far off from a dirt road, before it faded away, leaving only…
Two Writers, a Hunter, a Studio Assistant, a small Ghost, a Venusian Shapeshifter…
...And of course, the one known as JumpChan. Or as far as her Boyfriend would say instead, Lindsey Malora.
Though given the look she had on her face at the moment, something was… ...not exactly lining up at the moment. Besides the obvious part that the "Studio" was nowhere to be seen.
"... … … ...At least we got out, but where exactly are we?" Nowan asked, as he looked all around trying to find something familiar.
"...On another universe's Earth…" Lindsey replied.
"Another… ...Earth?" Gespenst asked, sounding a bit muddled.
"Yes, a new Earth. And at least at the moment… ...Nothing is putting us in danger, thankfully." Gene explained to the small ghost, before following up with a comment on the situation.
...Only for Daniel, Alma, and Lindsey to facepalm…
… ...As then in the moments following that, the Odin that was left in the Studio Garage, finally arrived and landed nearby, shaking the ground…
...And kept shaking the ground as it literally fell apart piece by piece till both it and the ground stopped moving.
"... ...Huh, guess that thing was broken the whole time since that incident all that time ago..." M3 commented after the dust settled and allowed the group to see the broken Odin.
"If that's the actual case, I really should have taken a look at it when I was working in the Garage… …" Gene noted, as more and more items started showing up as well…
...As they crashed into the ground…
"New Earth", Location Unknown
As IceBite and Alma went off to go catalogue what items IceBite still had from his Jumps,
Nowan kept Gespenst's attention elsewhere with a game the ghost wanted to do to pass the time.
As for Gene and M3, they searched around through the items that weren't part of IceBite's Jumps and saw about arranging a collection to pack up for later.
"... ...Huh. Is that one of the chess boards from the Rec Room?" M3 asked, as he had to carefully remove the item out of the ground.
"... ...Yeah, that's the one I used the most when I played against Venat. I can tell by the number marked on its underside." Gene noted, albeit with a loud sigh as a memory of a game appeared in his head.
The two then got back to work as they saw more items nearby to dig out, before thankfully finding shovels among said items that were still in good shape to use.
Meanwhile...
Lindsey was focusing, trying to figure out where the group is: she knew they were on an Earth, in another universe, in that Earth's USA...but she needed to figure out WHERE in the multiverse they were…
...As she 'scanned', she began feeling that something was 'up'...
And as that went on...
"Hey! We found something that could use your help, Lindsey!" Gene had to call out, as M3 was busy looking over the object in question out in the distance.
Lindsey blinked, as she snapped out of it, stood up, and went over. "What is it?" she asked.
"I think its-" Gene said as he joined her in looking at-
"-Its my Warframe, the Arceus looking one. It looks intact…" Connor noted, before pausing and continuing with, "... ...And the same cannot be said for my car at the moment given how wedged in the Warframe is at the moment."
And as the trio looked at the crater with the car and Warframe, the wind breezed on by as it brought some cool air along the way.
Lindsey tilted her head, then raised a hand towards it, and a few moments later…
...Her eyes widened and she brought her hand up, and she looked down at it. "...The barrier and us getting thrown into another universe must've taken a LOT more out of me than I thought…"
The two then turned to Lindsey, before both saying in a dumbfounded tone, "... ...Uhm, mind saying that again?"
"...My power level is...low...right now...I'll need some time before I'm back to full power…" Lindsey clarified.
"Oh, okay…" M3 replied back simply, as he accepted the answer easily.
"... ...That's going to be an issue. That said… ...Still we can use your help, but now… …" Gene replied back, as he then looked towards where Alma and IceBite were.
The group noted that the duo found out that (seemingly to IceBite's relief) his Skyranger (partially buried but fully intact) was among the things that survived and came with them.
But as much as that would be useful if it was above ground, they had a pilot (which knowing Lindsey, she would count as a one) ready to go and…
"... ...Not to be negative here, but I get the feeling we really shouldn't be using that Skyranger right now, given that it lacks defenses and while we know we are on this new Earth… ...We still don't know much else at the moment…" Gene brought up aloud, as M3 went ahead trying to dig up part of his car.
"While you have a point, we may not have much of a choice: it's the only thing we've got that could carry some of the stuff of Daniel's that seemed to survive…" Lindsey pointed out, indicating Daniel's Tek Assembler and STC Printer.
"Yeah, but you also don't have all of your power back… ...And granted, I don't know the full extent of what you can do right now… ...But we can also take a risk and see if there is any help out there we could get…" Gene replied back, as he brought up another point related to the situation.
Lindsey shrugged. "Maybe...but we can't dismiss the Skyranger as being of use for us…"
"Not trying to dismiss its use altogether, but I do think all of us need to talk about the plan of action, lest we end up squabbling or wasting time doing things divided…" Gene said back, keeping his tone focused as he was trying to work things out in his head.
Before the developing argument could begin in earnest, IceBite and Alma returned. "Well, we got everything all together, and moved the smaller stuff into the Skyranger; fortunately, the thing still functions, and its passenger bay remains above-ground…" IceBite explained.
"Yeah, but we still need to dig it out. Not to mention, M3 has some cargo over here that may be best placed in there as well…" Gene noted, before also pointing behind himself and Lindsey to the crater M3 was still digging in.
"Then, what should we do?" IceBite asked.
"Probably best if we get M3's cargo handled, alongside all of the stuff we found situated away. And then… ...dig up the Skyranger and work out the plan from there." Gene replied back, as the sound of a shovel hitting metal a few times got everyone's attention.
"Okay… ...I got enough dirt moved that we can try to dislodge the Warframe…" M3 noted aloud, as he looked towards the group again, this time seeing IceBite and Alma were there.
M3 then focused back on Gene, telling him, "Any ideas, Gene?"
"... … ...Well, we could use Lindsey and Alma's help." Gene noted back, before he turned to Alma asking, "Speaking of that, you think you're strong enough to get metal to move?"
Alma shrugged, before turning to look. She then went over, Lindsey following. As the two looked it over, they took note of how the Warframe was wedged in, before Alma thought of something. "Do we have any chains or rope? Former preferable..."
The group out of the crater quickly looked around, before Gene found a set of sturdy chains among the clutter of items…
"Yeah, we found some… ...They look sturdy enough…" Gene replied back, as he gave the chains to the crater crew.
Alma nodded, before heading into the Skyranger...before emerging with a Horse's Skull...albeit an abnormal one, as the bone was colored a dull, dark purple, and there was a glowing pale light purple light within.
"... ...Let me guess, the spirit of a trusty horse or steed or something is in that skull? Gene carefully guessed, as he took note of what seemed to be going on.
Alma smirked. "Your insight serves you well…"
IceBite just deadpanned. "...Really?"
"...I had fun watching Star Wars…" Alma admitted.
",,,And I thought that was the case, because I've seen an item used like that before in a RPG I played…" Gene chimed in.
"Anyways…" Alma began, before using the spell that the skull imparted on her, before summoning a skeletal horse, whose bones resembled the skull's, and has a mane and tail made of purple flames. "I was thinking we attempt a little horse-power…"
That… ...actually got Gene to chuckle a bit, but also managed to get the small ghost who got it relayed over from Nowan to laugh a lot more louder than him as well.
After that, Gene made sure to switch to the crater and tell the two inside it, "Hey, Alma's going to be ready to try her method to get the Warframe out. Best to be up here and not down there once it's ready."
"Okay, I got it. C'mon, Lindsey…" M3 replied back, before then also shifting to Lindsey afterwards.
Lindsey nodded, and they moved out of the way. Once the chains were connected between the 'obstacle' in the car, and Arvak, Alma and IceBite had the horse begin pulling on the metal. For a bit, there was just the sound of straining metal...before eventually, it began to budge…
… ...And then parts of the metal started breaking in half… ...As even more sounds played out till the entire trunk and the backwall broke apart from the rest of the car. But in doing so, made a large enough hole that the Warframe could be unwedged without much effort.
"Well, that should do it," Alma replied, before dismounting the skeletal horse, causing it to disappear.
Though after she did that, on top of Nowan and Gespenst moving over to hear what was going on…
...M3 was a bit silent as he looked at the current state of his car at the moment. And it didn't help that the attention was shifting to him by everyone else.
IceBite noticed. "...Hey, you alright?"
"... ...Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit sad on the inside as I recall the times I had fun driving that car. But it's done its job and I need to move on…" There was a brief pause, followed by him saying, "… ...That and I remembered I got the CD out of its CD Player already…"
IceBite just deadpanned at the second part, before sighing, then saying, "Alright...but with that taken care of, we need to figure out: what do we do from here?"
Lindsey suggested, "Some of us do need to go out to find at best help, but at least a place to stay...the rest need to stay here and guard the remaining stuff, as well as potentially unearth the Skyranger...doesn't look like it needs more than a couple people digging for an hour or so, before it's unearthed enough that its thrusters can pull itself the rest of the way out…"
"... ...Well, I can stay back to dig and keep watch… …" Nowan spoke up, as the attention shifted to him fully. "... ...Though I'd rather not be the only one here, since there's only so much a Shapeshifter like me can do…"
There was some silence, before Gene started saying, "... ...I'll stick around. And just in case, I still have the Tension Generator and Fizzle Caster with me…"
Lindsey nodded. "Alright...then who's going to go out and look for help?"
IceBite shrugged. "...I think I should be one of the searchers…"
Alma then piped in, "If Daniel's going, so am I…"
"... ...I don't have much I can do here, so I'll join as well. Though if I do that, I can imagine what your answer would be, Lindsey." M3 said after he looked around for a moment in taking stock of the situation.
Lindsey then said, "Yeah, I'll probably go as well…"
And then… ...A small cough got everyone's attention.
"... ...What… … ...about… ...little buddy?" Gespenst asked, as it sounded like it was a bit hurt about being not involved.
"You'll stay here with me and Nowan, little guy…" Gene made sure to say in a reassuring manner.
The small ghost brightened up after hearing that, as it then made sure to wait for whatever was going to be said next.
"We should probably get going…" IceBite said, before looking skyward. "...I'd like to at least have a place to stay by nightfall…"
"Well… ...Let's head over to the dirt road and see where it can lead us…" M3 noted, as the group ended up splitting into the two parties.
And as Alma went off with the search party, Gespenst made sure to stick with Gene and Nowan as the two got to digging up the Skyranger's thrusters with the shovels.
"New Earth", Location Unknown
While on the dirt road, the search party kept their eyes peeled for any structures or any vehicles they could find. But as it went on for about 30 mins so far (according to what Lindsey said)...
"... … ...Hey! I think I… ...see something that way…." M3 called out, as he had to squint his eyes and place a hand over his eyes to keep the sunlight off.
As the rest of the search party looked as well, the "something" was more finely seen by Lindsey and Alma…
...Though given how far away they were, it was definitely a 2 or three story structure with what looked to be surrounded by solid walls.
IceBite sighed. "...Well...looks like private property...but it's the only civilization we've seen so far…"
"So do we take the risk and go try asking anyone there for help?" M3 asked, just in case.
Alma shrugged. "Seems like the only course of action…"
Lindsey just silently nodded.
The group then made their way to the house, where they saw the wall was in the way all around the property. From what it looked like, it was a mix of hardened brick and concrete with stuff on top that made it hard to climb over.
They then reached what looked to be the entrance or way past the wall… ...Except the entrance was wide open and there was no one guarding it or anything.
"... … ...We should probably not head further in… ...Something doesn't seem right." M3 brought up, as he made sure to look around just in case.
"Then what do we do?" IceBite asked.
After a few moments, Lindsey decided, "...We should still go and knock on the door...we're lost and we need help...they'll understand…"
The search party then headed in carefully, as they quickly tried to work who would be the ones to knock on the door...
"New Earth", Outside Grounds of Unknown Private Property, Location Unknown
...So when they got there, M3 was the one who ended up placing his hand against the door to knock on it.
After doing so and waiting for a bit…
...The door opened, revealing on the other side…
"...Alright, what do you want-" The voice said, except it sounded very much like M3's voice as-
-As the search party also saw-
"-Oh, great practical joke, Daniel! You left a mirror out here when we could use it inside the house!' A almost near identical M3 said, as he turned his attention away from the search party and back inside towards the interior.
"Dafuq you talking about?" a voice that sounded like IceBite's called from in the house.
"Dafuq?!" IceBite quietly, but still audibly, said.
"What do you mean you don't know? You told me you were going to get back at me for-" The other M3 said, before he went back to the search party…
...And then continued, "-Wait, you look like Daniel… ...And you look like… ...Me…" The other M3 said, as his mind sort of short circuited.
Then, someone else began approaching from within the house. "...Alright, what's got you accusing me of-" said...a 'second IceBite'. He blinked...before facepalming. "For the love of...PLEASE tell me this 'multiverse incursion' crap isn't bringing in copies of US now!"
"Hey! If anything, we can say you two are copies of us… …" M3 retorted back to the second IceBite.
"Hey! Who's universe are we in right now?" the second IceBite claimed.
"Alright, SHUT UP!" Alma suddenly exclaimed, before looking between the two IceBites, studying them.
And as she did that, the second M3 seemed to snap together as he tried saying, "... ...Wait, how are we sure these two are us? For all we know, they could be Shapeshifters posing as us…"
"Yeah, we aren't those. And even the Shapeshifter we do have with us is not here right now. So we are the real deals." M3 replied back.
"Oh yeah, prove it. Say something only I would know. And same for my associate over here…" The second M3 said back, as he looked at his seeming counterpart.
"Simple. Your favorite color of Starburst is Red. And the order from that goes Red, Yellow, Orange and Pink. And only the original flavors." M3 said back, as if reciting straight from a clear memory.
"Yeah, that's me alright…" The second M3 admitted after hearing that as he then focused on IceBite saying, "How about you, Daniel 2?"
IceBite stared at his counterpart a moment...before pulling out a pen and small piece of paper, wrote something down, then passed it to his counterpart. After reading the note… … …
...The other IceBite crumpled up the paper and ate it, before telling his counterpart, "...He's legit…"
"So… ...since we did all of that, can we at least have a moment of your time to explain why we came knocking on your door?" M3 asked both of the new M3 and IceBite.
The second IceBite replied, "...I guess I'm fine with it… … ...Connor?"
IceBite then commented, "...This is gonna get confusing…"
The second M3 then said, "Do you guys go by any other names?"
"I go by Triple M…" M3 responded back, before also adding, "And the Daniel with me goes by IceBite usually…"
The other duo then looked at each other, before the second M3 said, "... ...Odd. Because I go by Triple R… ...Or well, Rai "Rell" Randen instead of Triple M now…"
The second IceBite shrugged. "I used to use IceBite, but I swapped it out for 'Nexus' a short while back…"
"... ...So we can just call you Triple R and Nexus then?" M3 asked back.
Triple R nodded back, saying as well, "Fine with me…"
Nexus replied, "...Alright…"
IceBite then spoke up. "...Alright...well...we're not the only ones in our group, but the others are guarding our belongings, so… … …" He shrugged, "...Do you guys know of anywhere we can stay?"
Triple R then looked to Nexus, who shrugged, before saying, "Well, you can stay here if you want. Just fair warning, we kinda don't have rooms set up for others right away."
"And why not?" M3 quickly asked.
"Because it's only been the two of us living here…" Triple R answered back a bit too quickly.
IceBite then asked, "...Any other reasons?"
Triple R then shifted his eyes back to Nexus, as if saying, "Your turn…"
However, before Nexus could say something, a growl was heard. Looking past them showed… … …
IceBite's eyes widened. "Is that a Caragor?!"
Nexus replied, "...Yeah…"
Triple R then turned back and simply said, "Bad Caragor! Go back to your room!"
The Caragor just snarled at Triple-R, but then Nexus spoke up. "Bubbles: back to our room!"
The Caragor growled a little, before turning and heading back deeper into the house.
"You named that Caragor, Bubbles?" M3 had to ask in response.
Nexus just shrugged.
"I would have gone with Bubba personally…" Triple-R lightly joked before then getting back to the real topic with, "Like I said, it's just the two of us as people, but we got a lot more stuff that doesn't make us normal in this world… ...Granted, this world is weird already without us contributing to it…"
The look Nexus gave spoke volumes of his opinion of the name 'Bubba' (put lightly: not really that positive).
And as if he knew that look was given plenty of times already based on the quick glance he did, Triple-R then said, "... ...So if my friend Nexus stopped looking at me like that for a moment… ...We can actually start helping you guys out since you said you needed some."
Nexus huffed. "...So...We going to offer to let them stay here, or…?"
"I already offered it, Nexus. Though we did give them more context on making the choice-" Triple-R replied back-
"-We'll take it." M3 immediately interrupted.
"... ...Uhh, are you sure?" Triple-R asked back, sounding surprised.
IceBite shrugged. "We've dealt with fairly interesting crap over the past…" He turned to Triple-M. "...How long?"
"Maybe about a quarter to over half a year...Something like that." Triple-M noted, though his mind was a bit fuzzy on exact time.
Lindsey piped up, "...We should be the ones asking if you're willing to put up with the crap that goes on around us…"
"I'm pretty sure we can handle it. Especially If I can handle being with this guy and Bubbles on top of everything this world is going through… ...I can get through anything." Triple-R pointed out.
The group looked at each other. "...What IS this world going through right now?" IceBite asked.
"Currently? The Ptolemaic Army and those Aliens called…." Triple-R then pointed to Nexus, to ask for the second group's name.
Nexus added, "...Chitauri."
"So yeah, the Ptolemaic Army and Chituari are currently slugging it out in South America as we speak. Though if they manage to find their way to North America, we have to bunker down…" Triple-R continued.
"What're they doing here?" IceBite asked.
"...Hmmm...wait a moment…" Lindsey quietly said, before closing her eyes and concentrating.
"Figuring something out, Lindsey?" M3 asked, as what she did got his attention.
"...Of course…" Lindsey said, before opening her eyes again. "...That explains what I felt: we're in some kind of...multiversal crossroads…"
"Well, that explains why everything we were able to hear about comes from almost about anywhere then…" Triple-R noted. "Probably explains why Nexus here got Bubbles and the stuff I got by now…"
"Well, we can ask more about that later. How about we get going on helping the others get over here with our stuff so we can move in?" M3 then said, as he looked back to see the daylight was gradually burning out in the sky.
"Sounds like a plan." Triple-R said back, before he shifted to Nexus. "Go get Bubbles situated while I go load up the car in the garage…"
Nexus shrugged, before suggesting, "Maybe some of them stay behind for me to show around, so they at least have the 'lay of the land' by the time the others get back?"
"Probably best if me and IceBite stay, since I used to manage the last place we were living at. That and it would be better if Lindsey headed back to pilot the Skyranger." M3 brought up to the others in the small party.
Immediately, Alma clinged to IceBite's arm.
Nexus looked at the group. "...Skyranger?"
M3 then pointed to IceBite (and indirectly, Alma), before saying, "He's the one who got it in the first place, alongside an Odin from StarCraft.. … ...Though I think that was for Emp Mitchell, actually…"
"'Emp Mitchell'?" Nexus asked.
IceBite shook his head. "Long story…" Then, he said, "...Maybe Alma and I should be the ones to stay here…" He pointed to Alma clinging onto his arm. "...Doubt we're getting her to go anywhere without me...And regardless of how powerful she is, we shouldn't be sending Lindsey off on her own, especially in her weakened state…"
"... ...Well, she would have been going with Alma originally… ...But you got a point." M3 said back, as he then focused on Lindsey. "C'mon, let's go get ready for the trip back…"
Nexus turned to the ones staying. "I'll show you guys around...once I have Bubbles back in our room…"
And after that, the search party splitted apart as IceBite and Alma eventually toured around with Nexus, while Triple-R got Lindsey and Triple-M into his large red truck and out onto the dirt path once out of the property grounds...
Studio Party's Arrival Zone, Earth, Sol System, Terran Sector, Orion Arm
As the two diggers finished unearthing the thrusters on the Skyranger, the small ghost could hear the sound of a truck engine getting closer and closer…
...Only for Gene and Nowan to hear it as well before they saw the red truck pull up nearby, before the people inside stepped out.
It gave them some relief to see Triple-M and Lindsey were there…
...But was soon replaced by brief confusion as they saw Triple-R.
"... ...Boss, why is there another one of you with-" Gene started asking-
"-Because I'm the one from this world. So hence why you have him over there and me over here. Oh, and just call me Triple-R, Gene." Triple-R lightly interrupted and cleared up any confusion as well.
It then took a moment, but both Gene and Nowan briefly looked at each other before shrugging with their shoulders. However, this did not exactly clear up things for…
"... … ...Another… ...Connor? But… ...the… ...other… ...ones?" Gespenst said, still a bit muddled given everything that went on recently.
Lindsey just said, "...Let's just get going. Is the Skyranger ready?"
Nowan made sure to place one of his hands on the Skyranger, as he said, "Yeah… ...We got the thrusters out. So it's ready to go if you think you can pilot it in your condition…"
"And I got my truck ready if we need to load anything up on it to lighten the load on the Skyranger…" Triple-R chimed in as well.
Lindsey nodded. "Alright...let's get to work...Get the chains we used to free the Warframe and get them attached to the Tek Assembler...Meanwhile, see if you can get the STC Printer over there-" She pointed to a device the size of an Office Copier. "-Into that truck...should give us one less trip we need to make…"
The others nodded back to that and got to work on that, save for Gespenst who was still a bit baffled and muddled at the moment.
Though the ghost just ended up going towards the truck and got itself inside after Gene told the little fellow to go wait in there for the time being.
Studio Party's Arrival Zone, Earth, Sol System, Terran Sector, Orion Arm
Some time later, after they got everything they could get settled in either the truck's bed or inside the Skyranger, the group split up.
The two Triples and Gespenst loaded into the cabin of the truck, while Lindsey got into the pilot's cabin of the Skyranger. And the remaining two made sure to stick around to keep watch on the items still left around in case the transportations would take multiple trips to move everything.
And as the people in the truck waited for the Skyranger to get out of the ground...
"... ...So who is Lindsey, Triple-M?" Triple-R quickly asked.
"She's just a really good friend of mine that I met a while ago. And not much else for me to say more on…" Triple-M replied back.
"Sounds like she has a secret, based on how I read what you said…" Triple-R brought up in response.
"Well, that's to be expected since you are a different version of me." Triple-M noted back.
"Yeah… … ...And I'll ask you about it later then…" Triple-R said back before he looked towards-
...The Skyranger...which began to lift off, and after a bit of straining, picked up the Tek Assembler. Once the Skyranger was underway, the Triples began following in the truck.
And as the two transports left…
"... ...So how are you holding up, Nowan?" Gene asked, as the two watched the transports get further and further away.
"Given everything… ...I'm still doing well. How about you?"
"... ...I'm… … ...not doing as well. I actually miss the Studio, if you can believe me." Gene honestly answered back.
"... ...No, I get what you mean." Nowan said back, before following up with, "Place was like a new home for me… ...And now its gone…"
"Yeah… ...But I'm sure the Boss would say that 'Home is where your heart is' or something like that…" Gene lamented, as he looked around at the remaining items…
...Before stopping and noticing two more things that weren't there originally nearby.
He then quickly moved over to them, getting Nowan to follow along before they found the items to be…
...Cameras. One that was used for the big group shot. And the other one that was-
"-That's the recording camera from the camera room next to the storage room." Gene noted aloud, before he got a closer look at it. "Yeah… ...This is it."
"... ...Is that one still going to work?" Nowan asked.
"... ...I don't think so. It looks pretty beat up. But… ...maybe we can still salvage any footage it has saved." Gene noted back, as he made sure to move both cameras carefully to a safer spot.
And after he did that, the Studio Assistant and Venusian Shapeshifter got back to keeping watch on everything else…
… ...Everything else that still had some memory of the former Studio left around in some shape or form.
End Chapter 1.