Oof, nearly forgot to post today! Had some excitement this afternoon, so I guess I can blame that.

Anywho...

Chapter 6 - Atlantis

"How is it that you know the royalty of this dimension?" Sixer followed Maria down the stairs and away from the palace. He glanced back as the guards closed the door behind them.

"Milo was originally a linguist who was part of an expedition to Atlantis, when it was still buried under the ocean floor," Maria explained. "My first World Jump landed me on their submarine after they'd left port – with Axel on the sub as a part of the crew. I got treated like a stowaway until I started showing some of my first firepower quirks – after which Axel took me under his wing and we started figuring things out about each other."

Maria rubbed the back of her head, looking a bit sheepish. "It, um…it took a lot of tutoring from Axel in order to really get my powers under control. Even with using my staff as a conduit."

"Was Roxas there as well?" Sixer did recall Maria recognized both of them.

"No, actually – Riku was, but he got there later. He was in Atlantis when we got there, actually." Maria frowned. "Which reminds me – the king was able to do a weird thing that forced our weapons to show themselves and we weren't able to dismiss them for a bit. I should ask how he managed to do that…although I bet it had something to do with Yobmok."

Sixer's tails shifted closer to himself as they entered the city streets again. "It sounds like this crystal is more than just a power source, Maria. It's capable of telepathic contact with the people who wear parts of it, and capable of forcing certain objects out in the open? I'm not sure I should remain exposed to this for long."

"Yeah, I feel ya. I mean, I have a crystal, sure, but I've been on my own long enough that she can't get into my head like she used to. I mean, I think there was a point where she used me as a mouthpiece for a bit – which was…" Maria shuddered. "Yeah, no. I'm glad she isn't doing that."

"I should think so," Sixer agreed. "So, they still remember you from when you were here on your first jump?"

"Yup. I did swing by here some time later because of something popping up, but I'd say Riku, Axel, and I made a pretty good impression to the locals when we were around."

An Atlantean couple moved past, doing a double-take as Maria and Sixer moved past. Maria raised a hand and nodded to them, which caused the couple to exchange excited looks and move away quickly.

"I think it helps that, when one of the expedition members betrayed everyone else by making off with the Heart of Atlantis, the three of us were part of the charge to bring her back. I learned later that World Jumpers normally don't get that involved in large events, but it hasn't stopped me from ending up at the forefront of final battles. Like – I've saved the world, like, seven times on one planet alone."

"Seven? That's – was that world having that much trouble in one jump?"

"Well, six for the first jump. They'd calmed down later, so my second time I only needed to save it once." Maria rubbed the back of her head, a shaky half-grin on her face. "But I don't think they're going to have any problems anytime soon. I haven't gotten any distress calls from Pika about it."

So it was the world of Pokémon that had exhibited these problems. An amazing thing – but also something that Sixer supposed he could believe.

"I hadn't realized that your first dimension had you wrapped up in taking on main events so quickly." Sixer looked around at the people walking on the streets as they reached the edge of the town square. He could actually smell the sea, now that he wasn't focusing so much on keeping up with Kida and not tripping over his own feet.

Maria shrugged. "At least I had Axel and Riku here, making sure that I didn't do something reckless. I'm glad they were here with me."

Sixer nodded, then paused. "How old were you, then? When you started, I mean."

"I think I was…16?" Maria tilted her head slightly, then nodded. "Yeah. I was 16 years old when I got dropped through my first portal. I didn't even make that one – I made my first one when I was going home, though." A smile of nostalgia crossed her face. "That was the first time my sister and I got a taste of what our parents did when they were younger."

"Your parents?"

Sixer knew that Maria didn't talk about them much, considering that her parents had been murdered. He'd seen the culprits briefly during Weirdmageddon, right before they had been killed themselves.

Maria nodded. "Yeah. World Jumping is something that gets passed down from parent to kid. Not that I'm ever gonna have kids, but my brothers did. One or two of them did go on to World Jump, but they didn't keep up with it as long as I did."

Brothers. But she mentioned a sister as well.

"Your…sister didn't have children?"

Maria's expression became more somber, and Sixer worried that he might have overstepped. "No, she didn't. She disappeared before the World Collision, around the time that I was helping Stanford get home. Last I ever saw of her, she was on a world where people did alchemy pretty frequently, to the point that some of the more knowledgeable alchemist were employed by the government." She frowned. "Come to think of it, they were having similar trouble to what happened in Gravity Falls."

"What do you mean?"

"Two different versions of Amestris had been merged together." Maria frowned, then brought a hand to her chin and looked around the square. "They had a bigger cast of people who didn't merge together, I think. I only poked my head in to offer a few words, before helping Stanford get home. It was weird at the time, but…now that I think about it, that might have been one of the places that was involved in the World Collision. But I never saw Liz in that mess – I only saw Matthew, my brother, because he was on another world that got pulled into everything. Hm."

Sixer frowned as Maria's brow furrowed deeply. A world that could have been in the World Collision, but wasn't?

"What do you think that means?" Sixer tilted his head slightly.

"I don't know." Maria folded her arms across her chest, frowning. "If anything, I'd bet that it means she wasn't able to come home because of what was going on everywhere else. That either means she is still alive there, she died there, or she's in another dimension because she finished solving the problem and we passed by each other like two ships in the night." She winced. "I'm…not looking forward to seeing her reaction to what's happened, if she's still alive. She's missed a lot of what I've done."

Sixer's ears fell a little. "Yes, she…certainly has."

Was this what his brother had felt when he had lost him for thirty years? This missing hole?

How long had Maria felt it?

"You haven't gone looking for her?"

Maria shook her head. "I've been either too busy or not in the right mindset to go looking for her. And even if I did, would she still be in the same dimension? No, it's…better, if I just let her fall to the wayside. I'm not gonna go looking for her unless the multiverse gives me some sign that she's still alive out there."

Sixer nodded. "If that's your decision."

Maria's expression shifted at Sixer's wording. She sighed and shook her head. "I'd rather not think about that right now, though – come on, let's have a look around and see what's changed since I was last here." She started moving out of the town square and towards one of the main streets leading away from the area.

Sixer followed after her. "Did I overstep anything by asking about your family?"

"No, you didn't. It's just…there are some things that I'd prefer I don't have to think about." Maria glanced back at Sixer. "The chance that Liz is still alive being one of them. I saw Matthew and Collin grow old and die with their families around them. I would like to think that Liz was able to have the same thing, and I don't want to think of the worst-case scenarios."

Sixer nodded. "Understandable." He tilted his head slightly as they moved past what looked like an open-aired smith. There were a few people working over a furnace on something, but Sixer wasn't able to see what it was. "How many people know?"

"Hm?"

"About your family."

"Ah." Maria shook her head. "Not many. It's not really something that came up in conversation before. And I think, considering what happened to Mom and Dad, it was better to leave them out of what I did. At least the Dark Arms didn't think of trying to go after my friends on Cybertron."

"Cybertron?" Sixer frowned. "That isn't familiar to me."

"A planet of metal and mechanical beings. I've gotten…really close to some of the more important members." Maria smiled a little. "I should see if I can introduce you to them later, when we've taken care of this."

"Ah." Mechanical beings? They were probably similar to Maria to some extent. Unless…they weren't humanoid at all. "That does sound interesting."

Maria chuckled. "I miss them a lot. After the whole debacle with Vash and Knives, I've had to lay low and haven't been able to really head back and visit. I should let Wildfire know that I'm all right, at least. She doesn't usually worry, but I think this time she had reason to."

Sixer didn't need to guess why this 'Wildfire' might have reason to worry. "I assume you told her where you were going?"

"Oh, yeah. Wildfire was literally stuck in a space pocket in my mind for a good decade or so, thanks to what amounted to a Cybertronian demigod. I have no idea what Vector Prime was thinking, but I'm glad that I got to hand with Wildfire for a bit, anyway."

Prime?

"Your history is incredible," Sixer said. "And almost hard to believe."

Maria snorted with laughter. "It's only the tip of the iceberg! But let's have a look around here before I go full in-depth into what I've gone through in the last several centuries. I haven't had a chance to figure out what decade this dimension is in yet!"

"I believe we are in what the outside realms calls the 1950s, Dimension Crosser!" called a voice.

Sixer and Maria turned, catching sight of one of the Atlanteans walking towards them. A bare-chested man who had a net slung over one shoulder, the crystal shard bouncing off his chest as he walked.

"1950's?" Maria repeated. "Good to know. Thanks!"

"It was no trouble of mine." The man bowed slightly, then nodded to Sixer as he passed. "Welcome to Atlantis, my friend. May Yobmok shine down and relieve you of your troubles."

Sixer's wide-eyed surprise was shaken off after a moment. "Ah – thanks?" He watched the man go with an odd look, then looked back at Maria. "This isn't long after the second world war, is it?"

"Nope. Sounds like we're at the start of the Cold War which…might not be a good idea for Atlantis. They've got their power source out in the open. I betcha both ends of this are thinking of coming in and going after it, if they haven't already." Maria glanced up at the sky with a worried expression. Then her eyebrows rose. "Oh. Well then."

"What is it?"

Maria's mouth started to turn into a cheeky grin. "Yobmok said there have been people who tried and got shattered like that one Dark Arms did, if you remember seeing the guy with the crystal claw before he got chomped."

"I do remember seeing that, yes." The transformed, blue crystal arm of the alien figure was one of the images burned into the back of his mind. "Before your water monster friend went in and tore them apart."

Maria hummed, grinning. "Which means Atlantis has nothing to worry about in terms of people trying to take what is theirs, at least. I wonder if the borders are open, though…let's head down to the coast."

As they picked up their pace, heading down towards the smell of the sea, Sixer considered something else.

"You know, if…if something does try to get into my head that shouldn't be in there – I think there is a way you can protect me from an invasion like that."

Maria looked at him sharply. "What?"

"There was…an instance…where I was put in the same room as…someone with hypnotic abilities," Sixer said carefully. Said person had been a Cipher who had been collecting his Ford, but still. "When the connection is…pulled on, it keeps my focus away from the one using those abilities."

Maria's expression shifted. Sixer could tell she was putting together who had pulled, and while that brought up anger, it brought up other emotions as well.

Eventually, she settled on, "Okay. That's…good to know. I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

Another Atlantean couple moved past them, saw Maria, then started whispering excitedly to each other as they moved on.

"Especially if we run into anything between now and when we get things to where they're supposed to be," Maria added. "I doubt that's going to happen, but…it's good to know I can act as a defensive measure between you and anyone who might try. Although, I doubt that anyone is going to, considering the reputation I have."

"Reputation?"

"Anyone who tried a trick like that in the past got burned rather severely before they knew what hit them. Dark Arms and Wily being the exception, as they tried something that I hadn't run into at the time – or they were the first one to hit me with it at all, being Wily's case."

"Who is Wily?"

Maria waved off Sixer's concerned look. "Nobody we gotta worry about. I'm pretty sure his timeline has gone so far along at this point that, even with the reset, he isn't alive anymore."

"Oh." Well, that was a relief. Another line of defense against people trying to do what Maria and Sixer were both concerned over.

It didn't take long for the two to reach the coast – the city's buildings went right up to the edge of the water, which Sixer found surprising.

"They're not afraid of erosion here?"

"If they didn't have Yobmok, they might have been." Maria stopped at the edge of the buildings and looked out, one hand shielding her eyes from the sun's glare. "Looks like there are some boats out there going fishing…some flying fish too, wow!"

"Flying—"

Sixer saw what Maria meant a moment later when a metal, flying fish-like contraption flew over their heads and into the city. Blue, glowing runes were present on its underbelly, representing a language Sixer couldn't read.

"Powered by the crystal," Maria explained as Sixer watched it fly off.

"Incredible. To think that one power source could be so versatile." Sixer watched it fly off towards the palace, then looked back at Maria. "And they don't use them for other tasks?"

"What's the point of it when they're used to living without them for so long?" Maria shrugged. "They went without them for centuries. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them are reluctant to start learning how to use them frequently again."

"Wouldn't the younger generation pick up on things more quickly?"

"…eeeh." Maria made a so-so motion. "Depends on what you mean by younger. Most of the people on the island were here when Atlantis was sunk beneath the sea – shoot, Kida was just a kid when it all happened."

Sixer looked at Maria with wide eyes, looked back at the city behind them, then back at Maria. "You're saying the crystal extends life spans as well?"

Maria laughed when she saw the look on Sixer's face. "Yup. A lot of the people on this island are older than both of us, in fact! I'm still a kid compared to some of the people here – including Kida!"

"Pardon me if I find that a little difficult to see as fact," Sixer said, carefully avoiding the word "believe." Like "want," it left an ache in his chest that he didn't like the feel of. "Although, considering what little I've seen of the worlds you have visited, perhaps there is something to it."

Maria chuckled. "Only the tip of the iceberg, Sixer."

They spent the rest of the day wandering around the city, taking in the sights and changes while Maria explained some of what she remembered about her time in the city – which had been unfortunately short, at a few days at most. At the same time, Sixer got a run-down of the crew that had come to find Atlantis – including the one who had tried to make off with their power source, only to fail.

"So, the crystal has the power to turn anyone who comes into contact with it into crystal, but not the shards it makes?" Sixer rubbed his chin in thought as they made their way back up towards the palace. It was dusk now, and people were starting to make their way up towards the center of the city. "If your core is a shard of her, then, how is it that you were able to cause that to happen to one of the Dark Arms?"

"I think it's partially due to the fact that I'm basically residing in it?" Maria looked down at her chest, almost as though she was about to shift to her armor and expose the core nestled inside. "I mean, it is carrying my soul. I wouldn't be surprised if that fact alone is what changed the composition of the shard for me. Because Yobmok's form is – well, she's basically like that. A life force of some form inside a crystalline structure, somehow."

Sixer's ears flicked up as they reached the stairs of the palace. "Would that mean, then, that this is a form of creating offspring?"

The question made Maria freeze in the middle of moving up a stair. "Oh Primus. I hadn't considered that. I mean, I-I'm still me, and I'm not as big as she is, but – oh Primus."

Seeing Maria mentally flail for a moment, Sixer's tails curled around him as his ears pulled back a little. "O-or maybe you could be something altogether new? I doubt that the power source's origins lay in the human race, or in anything similar. A crystalline structure for life like this isn't exactly something that is common in the multiverse."

Maria stood mid-step for a moment longer as her eyes moved quickly in multiple directions. She shook her head violently. "I'm gonna table that thought for now? Because while it is something to look into I like being able to move around of my own volition and not be a giant floating orb that needs to rely on the emotions of everyone else in order to keep living. Besides, I'm a World Jumper. I can't settle down – especially not now."

She started moving up the stairs more quickly, and Sixer had to scramble in order to keep up.

They followed the crowd to a part of the palace grounds that was, once again, another wide-open space. Tables were set out across the courtyard, with large piles of food on them that looked both familiar and not to Sixer.

"Looks like Cookie hasn't been able to get a foothold with his goo here yet." Maria sighed in relief. "That's good."

"Cookie?" Sixer frowned.

"The cook from the expedition. Old coot, claims to have been alive during the civil war, and makes a gruel that will make your hair curl and split." Maria's nose wrinkled. "Just thinking about it makes my stomach churn – and I don't technically have one!"

"Kid, I know you're not human, but saying things like that makes a man mighty uncomfortable!"

Maria turned at the voice, eyes wide with surprise. Sixer followed her gaze and caught sight of a dark-skinned man walking towards them with an easy grin on his face.

"Sweet!" Maria smiled widely. "What are you doing here?"

"Picking up a few supplies for a clinic that I run, mostly. I was surprised to hear that you were in town, too!" The man ruffled Maria's hair affectionately, then turned and looked at Sixer. His eyes went wide. "And who're you? Someone from another hidden race or something?"

"Another?" Sixer repeated. He shook his head. "No, I'm – I'm from another dimension." He held out a hand hesitantly. "Call me Sixer."

The man took Sixer's hand in a strong grip. "Name's Sweet. I—say, that's an interesting grip you've got there!" He looked down at Sixer's hand. "Six fingers? Can't say that I've met someone with hands like that before. Is this common among your people?"

"Ah – no. It's a genetic mutation, actually. Polydactyly." Sixer pulled his hand back.

Sweet made as though to go after Sixer's hand again, but he pulled back. "That's really interesting. I'd heard of mutations that caused incomplete fingers to develop on people's hands, but I didn't think it could actually create a fully-functioning extra one."

"He's got six fingers on both his hands," Maria supplied, grinning. When Sweet looked at her in surprise, she added, "We've just come from his dimension looking to solve a problem that I can't. I'm hoping that the solution might be here."

"Ah! That's a new one, the World Jumper coming to us for a solution instead of us needing you for something." Sweet grinned. "This has got to be a first."

"Well, the whole scenario for me is a bit of a first," Maria admitted. "But hopefully we'll be able to figure out the problem soon."

"I should hope so – say, is this something I might be able to help figure out? Or should I call Audrey and see if you need a tune-up?"

Maria frowned in annoyance while Sixer looked between them with a confused expression. "If I am going to get anywhere near Audrey, I am not going to let her look at my tech. Especially if this is the 1950s."

Sweet looked sheepish. "Just thought I'd ask. Why are you so worried about this time period, though?"

Before Maria could answer, the sound of what was probably a bell of some kind went off in one area of the courtyard. The three turned their heads and caught sight of Milo and Kida standing at one of the tables.

"Good evening!" Kida called. "Tonight, we are having this feast in honor of the arrival of Maria, our World Jumper, as well as her guest and friend, Sixer! It has been a long time since she has been back in our midst, and I feel that tonight we should celebrate her being here with us."

There was a smattering of applause and cheers. Maria rubbed the back of her head while Sixer noticed others looking at him with curious expressions.

"I hope that you are prepared to tell us stories of where you have been." Kida grinned at Maria, then motioned for her to come over to their table. "Come! Let us eat!"

Maria grinned back, then looked at Sixer and Sweet. "Well, I don't think any one of us is saying no."

Sweet laughed. The sound was contagious enough that it made Sixer smile a little. "I don't think so. I always like eating the food they have around here. Come on, Sixer – we'll show you how to eat like you grew up around here."

"Looking forward to it," Sixer replied.

Sixer followed Sweet and Maria over to Milo's and Kida's table, where Sixer hesitated before taking a seat next to Maria on Milo's side of the table. Other Atlanteans sat further down the table and on the other tables scattered around the courtyard, then immediately started grabbing food and putting it on their plates. Strangely, none of them started eating yet.

Sixer looked around for a moment, then glanced at Maria with a curious expression. His gaze moved to Milo a moment later when he rose from his chair again and started saying something in the Atlantean language that Sixer had been hearing all day. He stumbled over a word near the end, but the way he spoke, it almost sounded like he was Atlantean himself.

It took Sixer a moment to come to the conclusion that Milo was likely saying a blessing over the meal.

Milo finished speaking, then motioned to the tables and sat down.

Immediately, the people present dug into their meals – fish and crustaceans, mostly, along with some strange-looking fruits that Sixer didn't recognize. The conversation started off that way as well, with Milo, Kida, Maria, and Sweet talking about things that went over Sixer's head initially.

"So, last I checked, Helga was being held here after that whole fiasco," Maria commented. "I didn't see her when I popped in last time – whatever happened to her?"

"Milo insisted we hand her over to a number of authorities who wanted to see her punished for previous crimes," Kida replied. "We made sure that they were actually going through with doing so, as she was not given a crystal."

"Ah." Maria nodded. "Has anyone asked about Rourke then?"

"A few people. We told him he had been taken care of. They have not asked since some men attempted to reach Yobmok and were…stopped." Kida gave a sly smile.

Sixer tiled his head slightly as he absorbed that. This must be connected to Maria's first dimensional jump.

"Yeah. Good luck finding Rourke's crystal corpse at the bottom of the sea." Maria snorted. "How have you guys been doing with relations to other countries?"

"Oh, Milo pretends to be my interpreter," Kida replied lightly. "It creates great fun when they don't know how to react to the Mother Tongue."

"Mother Tongue?" Sixer repeated.

Kida, Milo, and Sweet looked over at Sixer.

"You didn't notice?" Kida tilted her head. "Ah, then you must not be a linguist."

"Atlantean is a language that every other language comes from," Milo explained. "It looks and sounds like gibberish to anyone else, but to someone who's studied dead languages for years, it makes complete sense to me. I just have trouble with some of the grammar and pronunciation sometimes."

"So, then…they can speak any language that they come across as a result?" Sixer looked around at the others eating, ears flicking. It sounded like he was in the middle of a meeting place for multiple cultures, now, except it was just the one language splitting itself in all directions.

"Indeed." Kida grinned.

"They just like to pretend they don't know how to just to mess with the heads of everyone else," Sweet said. He chuckled. "I've been around for some of those conversations – and man, are people way off for what they think of Kida and Milo."

"I am not surprised," Sixer commented. "What about the other members of your expedition?"

"I've seen Audrey around. She's still trying to figure out how to make another one of you, you know." Sweet sent Maria a look. "Especially after all the stuff you pulled when you were here last time. Sure, the technology we have isn't good enough for that yet, but that's not going to stop her from trying."

Maria chuckled nervously while Sixer absorbed that.

"Audrey is an engineer?" Sixer guessed.

"Well, she started as a car mechanic, but…yeah." Sweet nodded.

"Vinnie's still in explosives, right?" Maria pressed. "And Mole's still doing his thing?"

"Yes, and they're both fine. Vinnie is off doing something for the fourth of July in America. Something about explosive fireworks."

Maria winced. "I hope he isn't going to set any laundromats ablaze."

Sweet chuckled. "You and me both. Because he's technically an ambassador to Atlantis, too, and I don't want to see him end up behind bars just because he did something he wasn't supposed to with those." He looked over at Sixer. "And what is it that you do, usually?"

Sixer's ears drooped a little at the question. "Well…it's been some time since I was able to do this, but I'm normally a researcher."

"In what? You don't exactly look like a linguist like the skinny nerd over there."

Milo looked affronted for a second, then rolled his eyes and waved Sweet off.

"No. I…I studied anomalies, when I was younger. Things that supposedly existed, but weren't normally seen in everyday life. And that included cryptids and, later, imaginary creatures." Sixer smiled a little. "You should have seen the look on my face when I came across my first gnome, rooting through my garbage. Those first few years in Gravity Falls felt like a paradise to me."

"Gnomes?" Sweet's eyebrows rose. "They're real?"

"Yes. And they can be quite annoying." Maria snorted. "They may be capable of human speech, but human-level intelligence is something else."

Sixer nodded in agreement.

"Well, I hope you can get back to it man." Sweet gave Sixer an encouraging grin. "I betcha that you'll be back on that in no time. Speaking of – hey, Maria, where've you been?"

Maria gave a nervous laugh. "Oh, that's a question. Where do you want me to start?"