Note: I got some help with this chapter from MaxJ1800. Thanks, Max! I'll try and not make this chapter as long as the last one. Oo; That one was a doozie! It took me a while just to get it done...Anyway, here's the next chapter to Alternate Dimensions! I don't know what inspired me to make this chapter..Oo; Because of the graphic violence featured in this chap, the rating of the story has shot up to R, but if anyone protests, I'll lower it down to PG-13. Happy reading!
WARNING: This chapter contains some semi(or very, don't know which) graphic violence. Read at your own risk!
Extra note: The song featured in this chapter is from The Wild Thornberrys Movie. It is called "End of Forever".
ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS
Story by DarkHououmon
Matt shielded his eyes from the bright light. It was giving him a migraine! 'Oh..I wish this ride would end soon...' He got his wish too soon. He never really expected his wish to come true, nor did he except to see the rip in the time-space continuum in front of his own eyes. 'Heh...guess I shouldn't have said that...' He felt his body being pulled into the light in front of him, and the redness of the portal seemed nothing but a blur to him. He screamed as he felt the full threshold of the gravity and vacuum of the rip, and went right through the other end. His body crashed into the ground...but he also noticed there was a ceiling. 'A ceiling? Then I must be in a...' He slowly climbed to his feet and brushed himself off. He blinked a few times and started to get a good look around the place. 'This is Head Quarters!' The lights were on, but only on low power. The halls had a few scratch marks on them, almost as if a monster had attacked. Matt's nose scrunched as he smelled something fowl. 'Man...they really need to clean this place up!' He grabbed a tissue from his backpack and covered his nose with it to avoid the scent as much as possible. He continued walking down the dirty rooms.
"I wonder where everyone is..." He whispered, trying not to make a sound. He didn't know what to expect from a place like this. He didn't want to find out the hard way. He did wonder what happened to Jackie, Inez, and Digit. Eyes downcast sadly, he hoped that they were okay. 'I miss them...' He pulled out something else from his backpack. It was a flashlight. He held it in his right hand and flipped the switch on. The hallway had gotten too dark to see with the normal human eyes. The light illuminated the hallway. He was lucky that no one was in there, but he didn't know if anyone was in any of the rooms. The hallway had a deadend but there was two rooms, one on each side, and both the doors were wide open.
He slowly walked towards the rooms. His feet made only a slight squeaky noise, but he knew that would be enough to alert someone of an intruder. He knew he was in an alternate world, but he didn't know what the differences were, and there's a chance that... 'I don't want to think about that!' He shook the thought, and peered inside one of the rooms. It was light pink all over, and the bed was well made. On the bed, there was an engraving. He shined the flashlight there, and his eyes widened as he read the inscription:
I LOVE MATT-JACKIE
"Ohhhh...my...god..." He whispered under his breath, not sure how to take this news. 'This is another world...I don't think the Jackie I know loves me...does she?' He scratched his head, his eyes still on the engraving. He heard a little rumbling in the room next door. It wasn't the one across the 'street', but rather another room that lay far behind the other side of the hall. The lights were turned on. Matt gulped. 'This isn't good...' He took off in a direction. He didn't know where he was going. All he knew was that he had to get away from the lit room. Who knows what could be in there? He made a right turn and crashed into two large doors. "Control Center!" He yelped, and he opened up the doors, and rushed inside, shutting the doors behind him. He panted a few times, and scanned the area. Motherboard was offline at the moment. 'Probably resting...' Matt noted.
Jackie and Inez sat in the lit room, holding pictures. Inez held a book that said 'Memories' on it. It was a bit scratched up due to an attack, but all in all, it was in great shape. Digit was there as well. "While Dr. Marbles is gone..shouldn't we be...uhh...watching the place instead of looking at pictures?" Jackie shot a glare at the metallic bird. They all lately have been feeling a bit sad, since it was nearly 2 months since a terrible tragedy fell upon them. Digit waved his wings defensively in front of him, saying, "No, I didn't mean it like that, Jackie! I just meant that it's good looking at some old memories, but there is a chance that Gigabyte could attack while this place is unguarded." The black girl lowered her gaze to the ground. A single tear started to form. She didn't want to remember what happened. She wished it was a dream...but it wasn't.
"Digit!" Inez snapped angrily. The bird flew backwards in shock as the hispanic girl walked up to him. "You know that Jackie doesn't want to be reminded of that! She still hasn't gotten over it!" Digit growled, but he knew that the girl was right. "I know, I know...sorry."
Jackie ignored the two. Lately she didn't really feel much like being alive. '2 months...2 months since I lost you...' She closed her eyes, a river of tears flowing down her face. It was true. She still hadn't gotten over the loss. She picked up a picture that was slightly ripped, and held it close to herself. She sadly looked at it. It was a picture of her, Inez, Digit, and Matt playing together at R Fair City. They were riding on a roller coaster. Jackie's vision blurred as her eyes were glued on Matt. She remembered the last time she saw him alive...And it was something she wished she could forget. But it wasn't going to leave her mind anytime soon. 'I remember it like it was yesterday...' Jackie thought.
FLASHBACK:
Gigabyte pushed the little human into the ground of the castle. Jackie screamed in horror as Matt's back seemed to break in have. It was the sound of his spine crushing against the impact. The monster above him smiled, his sharp teeth protruding from his mouth, and they were glinted against the moonlight. Matt was able to get up, for a while, but screamed in terrible pain as he felt the sheer painful injury on his back. He clutched his bad arm to his chest. The deep gash in it, which he got from Gigabyte's claws, still remains bleeding profusely. He looked up at the monster, fear in his eyes. Jackie's heart started pounding faster. Digit flew up into the air, and readied himself for attack. "Hey you!" He shouted bravily, trying to gain the monster's attention. He succeeded. Gigabyte lost interest in the boy, and looked towards the flying bird. "What do you want?" The bird never answered. He dove down towards the monster in an attempt to save the young lad. Gigabyte, however, was too smart for him. He immediately grabbed one of Digit's wings, holding on tight, and twirled him towards the side of wall. The cyboid crashed face first, his beak dented in further than it did before. He struggled to get up, but to no avail. He collapsed to the floor, and lost consciousness.
"Digit!" Inez shouted. She then turned towards were Matt was. He was still struggling to get up, but his back hurt too much. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tightly as the pain increased. Everytime he moved, the pain just go worse. The blue monster looked at the boy and laughed. He spoke, in a voice much like Dr. Marbles's, "Poor pathetic human!" He walked over to him, grabbing the boy by the collar. Matt tried his best not to break down crying. His back didn't seem to want to stay straight for very long. Gigabyte lowered him towards the ground. He felt releaved, but then another flash of pain entered his body. The monster had moved his foot back, and kicked him right in the stomach! The foot had pushed against his stomach and intestines, crushing a bit of his ribs, scraping his lungs. He screamed in terror as he was flung out of the window, and onto the stone staircase. He landed right on the edge. Half of his body dangled over the raging river below.
Jackie suddenly got up, rushing towards Gigabyte. "Hey! Why don't you leave him alone!" Hacker, who was nearby, laughed heartlessly. "Don't be a fool, girl!" The monster nodded, while Dr. Marbles and the 2 remaining kids stared on, saying, "You can't stop fate." He looked ahead, seeing the boy holding on, trying to climb back up. All Gigabyte could do was giglge to himself. He found this very amusing. As he started towards the door, Jackie leapt in front of him, almost knocking him down in the process. "No!" She shouted angrily. She stood in front of him, her arms outstretched. Inez looked at her in surprise. "No, Jackie! What are you doing!" She had no time to wait for a reply. She saw that Gigabyte was coming in a bit too close. His hand was raised up in the air. He was going to strike Jackie out of the way so he could get to Matt. Inez leapt forward, pushing the black girl out of the way. Gigabyte's claws dug into the concrete instead of Jackie's body. Jackie glared at the female who saved her. "What did you do that for! I almost had him!"
Dr. Marbles interrupted before Inez even got a chance to reply. "I hate to interrupt, but..." He pointed towards the door. They gasped in horror! Gigabyte had closed in on Matt. He grabbed his collar again. Jackie and Inez rushed towards the door in an attempt to stop him, but Buzz and Delete blocked their way. Delete grabbed Jackie pinning her to the ground, but in the direction where she would see Matt. Buzz did the same with Inez. The four of them watched what was going on. Gigabyte slowly moved Matt towards the raging river, then suddenly, without warning, thrusted him back, striking him into the stone staircase. A loud CRACK was heard as Matt's neck banged against the stones. He opened up his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His spinal cord snapped out of place, thrusting more into his body. His body became entirely limp and numb. He couldn't move. He was like a rag doll. Gigabyte repeated the process, this time striking his stomach into the wall. The stomach didn't break open, but it did cause some of the organs to move upward, striking the area where the lungs were. Although he couldn't move, Matt could vaguely smell smell dripping from his mouth. The blood fell onto the floor, staining it red.
He also could not breathe. His breathing had stopped. He tried desperately to take in a breath of air, but it was useless. The bones...the crushed bones...they had punctured right through his windpipe, cutting off air! His mind raced as he frantically tried to find a breather. He tried to struggle, but it was no use. There was nothing he could do. He saw himself being held above the river. He knew his time was up...
"NO!" Jackie screamed at the top of her lungs. She broke through Delete's arms and dashed over to were Gigabyte was. She punched him in the nose, causing him to bleed and yelp. He released Matt, who then fell towards the river. Jackie thrusted herself over the edge and managed to grab Matt's foot. She pulled up him, wincing as she saw all the cuts and bruises on him. There wasn't just blood on his chest and mouth. He had plenty more injuries to worry about. When Inez looked around, she saw that the robots, except for Digit of course, were gone. 'They must have ran off .The chickens!' Her anger, however, was short lived. Her face soon wore a mask of sadness and dispair. Jackie held Matt close to herself. His eyes were still open. But they were growing paler by the minute. He was still bleeding from all his injures. His leg was so badly torn up that you could see bone peeping out of the skin. His chest was badly mangled and his stomach was no better. His arm looked like it was broken in two places, and his neck was flopped at an odd angle. A bruise, in a straight line, moved across the area of the break. Blood had stained his body, or most of it. Jackie felt tears come to her eyes.
"M-Matt...no..." She whispered. She didn't want to accept it. Matt couldn't die! He couldn't! Inez tried not to break down herself. She kneeled by the two older kids, looking him straight in the eyes. She examined his injures, all of them. There was so many she couldn't count them. Poor Matt had sustained too much injuries. His body can't take this kind of abuse! Sadly, she shook her head from left to right, which caused Jackie to water up even more. "There is nothing we can do, Jackie. He's...gone." Jackie let in a sudden gasp. Her eyes wide with fear, fearing the worst, she quickly turned towards the boy in her arms. He was breathing his last breath. It was gargled and scratchy. The blood instantly stopped flowing as his chest stopped rising and falling. His eyes had lightned up all the way to a hideous and eerie white. Jackie felt a lump in her throat. "N-N-N-NOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed loud enough for even the heavens to hear. She saw no one. She heard no one. She was suddenly not aware of her surroundings anymore. She could only see Matt, who was now dead. Dead! She just couldn't believe it. She had lost her best friend to that...that...monster!
Dr. Marbles and Digit came running outside when they heard the scream. Digit said, "What's all the ruckus out here? We heard...AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Digit yelped in surprise. He stared, horrified, at the corpse of Matt, which Jackie was holding tightly. She was crying into his body, her tears staining him, herself, and the ground. Fearing the worst, Dr. Marbles asked, "What happened here?" Inez looked to the ground, not even bothering to stand on her head this time to think. She was too upset. She didn't really want to tell them...but she had to. After all, they're the closest friends she gots in Cyberspace, other than Motherboard. "Gigabyte...killed Matt." Was all she could manage to choke out before breaking into a crying fit. Dr. Marbles held her as she cried, trying to comfort her. But he knew it was to no avail. He could only watch helplessly as the girl continued to sob...because she lost someone close to her.
Digit's eyes went wide as he heard the terrible news. He...He...wouldn't die...He couldn't! Matt was supposed to die! Sure he may have been the weird guy, into mythology and all that, but...really..Digit never wanted THIS to happen to him! This wasn't fair...the boy was still young...so young. Digit flew over to Matt's body. Jackie didn't pay any attention to the bird. Her eyes were fixated on his face only. Digit touched Matt's broken arm, hoping he would trigger a pain receptor. He shivered as his wing touched the human skin, which was now cold instead of warm. He had already started losing body heat, and his skin was starting to lighten to a ghostly color. Digit moved his arm back to himself, and buried his face in his wings. He, too, started sobbing like the rest of them were.
Jackie finally moved her face out of Matt's body. She had a few streaks of red on her face, but she didn't care. She was too fixated on the young boy in her arms. "Matt...why did you have to die?" She whispered softly. She placed her hand under his head, and lifted him up towards herself, even closer. "I never got a chance to tell you..." She closed her eyes as she placed her lips against his. She pressed softly against them, then moved out, her sad eyes looking at his dead eyes. "I love you." She whispered so that no one but herself and her friends could hear her. She gently placed the body on the ground, and closed Matt's eyelids, concealing his white eyes. She stood up, and looked up at the sky. Lightning struck down, landing in the water below. A few more struck, and rain continued to fall. The blood started to get washed downstream. Jackie formed a fist in her right hand and raised it into the air.
"I SWEAR..SOMEDAY, GIGABYTE, YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE...YOU HEAR ME!" She screamed, the clouds seemingly running away from the shout. She then collapsed to her knees, and cried again. The winds blew around them. They were cold winds. They chilled them beyond what they're feeling now. All was silent, except for the crying and mourning for a lost friend, who died bravely protecting his friends..A true hero.
END FLASHBACK:
Jackie was now sobbing. Inez and Digit noticed this and went to comfort her. "It's alright Jackie," Inez consoled, "We're all sad about Matt's death, but sooner or later you'll have to get over it." Jackie stared at her through tear-drowned eyes. "Matt wouldn't want you to be this way forever, would he?" The girl never replied. Her gaze turned towards the ground. She didn't even bother looking at her friends in the eyes. Inez looked at Digit and said, "Come on...she needs some time alone." Digit nodded, and walked out with Inez, but not before giving one last look at Jackie, then closed the door silently.
Jackie sat down on the small bed that was in the room. It belonged to Digit. The bird said that she could lay down there. Her room had too much stuff reminding her of Matt. She laid down, looking at the pictures in the album. Most of them had Matt in them. Tears welling up, she shut the book, and then looked up at the ceiling. 'Matt...' "Hello?" Jackie sat straight up, her eyes widened in shock and fear. The voice was deep yet familiar. 'Who...is that?' She wondered. She climbed right out of bed, and ran out of the door. "Inez!" Digit had gone out, according to Inez. He went off looking for something to get Jackie to help make her feel better. He had done this before, and everytime he failed. He hoped his luck will change this time around. Jackie stopped in front of her younger friend, and started panting harshly. "Jackie! What is it?" "I heard voices...from the Control Center room!" Shakingly, she pointed in the direction where the two doors where. She knew that's where the noise came from because no other room can give an echo like she had heard. "You sure?" Inez inquired as she and Jackie took off towards the room. "Yes!"
Inside the room, Matt cupped his hands to his mouth, and shouted, "Hello!" He wanted to take the chance of getting caught with the wrong company because he wanted so desperately to get out of this world. Something about it creeped him out, even though it was like being so close to home yet so far. 'Where is everyone?' Footsteps..he heard them just outside the door. 'Someone's coming...' He walked closer as he heard voices from the other side. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was just Jackie and Inez. He stood in front of the door to greet them. Maybe they can help him get back to his own dimension. He only wished he knew if he was right...
"I know I heard something in here!" Jackie yelled as she stopped in front of the door. Her hand reached for the panel to open it. Inez narrowed her eyes skeptically. "Like what? We're the only ones here, ya know." The panel was pressed and the door slid open instantly. They looked at eachother when they walked in, and then heard someone say, "Hello." They both stopped dead in their tracks...the voice that just entered their minds hauntingly familiar. They would never forget it. They turned slowly to face the figure in front of them. In front of them stood Matt, wearing the same clothes he had always worn. They were perfectly clean and undamaged. A smile was on his face as he stared brightly at them. His hands were in his pockets and his backpack was on the ground instead of on his back. 'No..it can't be...' Jackie's mind was horrified. Both her and Inez's eyes shot up in terror. 'It must be a ghost!' Inez yelped mentally.
For a long time, no one said a word. They just stared at eachother, waiting for someone to say something. Matt opened up his mouth to speak, but just as soon as he did this, Jackie and Inez screamed, "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Matt fell down to the ground desperately covering his ears to block out the sound. His eyes shut tightly, and he barely had the time to see the two screaming girls fleeing towards a door. It was a closet, Matt guessed, and the girls ran right into it. He could hear the sounds of crashing and clanging, and the door swung shut. He could hear the sounds of locks locking, and knew they were trapped inside. "What got into them?" He said to himself as he walked towards the closet cautiously. He didn't want to scare the girls again, though he had no idea how he scared them.
"Matt? Here! HOW!" Inez yelped, panic in her voice. Jackie couldn't stop her speedy breathing. She didn't know if she should be excited or terrified. The one person whom she presumed dead has come back, but she saw him die with her own eyes! "How could he be alive?" She whispered, hoping that the person outside didn't hear them, "He's supposed to be dead. Gigabyte killed him!" They heard footsteps outside the door, and they screamed again, hugging eachother tightly due to fear and histeria.
Matt had heard every word.
"I'm dead?" He whispered. He slowly backed away from the door, his eyes wide in shock. He couldn't believe that his counterpart was dead. 'No wonder they panicked...' He felt guilty for doing this to them. But how could he have known? He had just arrived not too long ago. He didn't know of much that has happened in this dimension. Now he knows that Gigabyte had killed him..at least in this world he had. 'I need to get them to help me...' He was about to approach the door when the main door was swung open yet again. Matt got a pained look on his face. No matter who it was...they weren't going to like what they were about to see.
"Hey, can I help you with those, doc?" Digit held out a wing to grab one of the items Dr. Marbles was carrying. "Thank you, Digit." He replied. The other items were just as heavy as the one Digit volunteered to hold. The doctor walked right past Matt, not even noticing him. The boy looked down at the bird, who had obviously noticed him. The metallic bird's reaction was the same as the girls, only this time he didn't scream or run away. Instead, his entire body was shaking, and he was muttering some nonsense words. "D-D-Doc..." He said lowly, trying to get the guy's attention. Dr. Marbles set the items on the table, and turned around. "Digit what is wrong...with...you?" His voice slowed down to a soft breeze as he noticed who was inside the room. He and Digit weren't in there alone. Matt gulped, fearing their reactions would end up the exact same way. Dr. Marbles's mouth dropped and his eyes were like saucers. "M-Matt..." He whispered as he walked slowly up to the boy.
"Hello...Dr. Marbles." Matt said, a weak smile forming on his face. "How is it..." Matt raised his hands up. "It's alright, I'll explain everything..." Matt could tell he wasn't going to get anywhere anytime soon. It didn't seem like Dr. Marbles wanted to hear him out, because...well...he thought that this was either an impersonator or a ghost. He stepped back, hands formed into fists, and snarled at the boy, "Alright, who are you? And what do you want from us?" Standing back in shock, the boy stared at him with a confused look locked on his face. 'What is he talking about?' "Yo..You know who I am. I'm Matt!" He cried out, almost screaming himself. It was now Digit's turn to react. "Yeah, right. We all know Matt died 2 months ago from today!" His voice sounded the same but this time it was laced with hatred and deception. Matt struck his face in frustration. "Look, I am telling you the truth. I am Matt!" He looked at Digit, then continued, "Is there anyway I could get you to believe me?" The metallic bird rubbed his beak thoughtfully, his eyes moved back as if in a trance. Looking back at the boy, he said, "I believe there is..." Dr. Marbles kneeled down next to the bird. "He could be an imposter...what did you have in mind he answer?" "A question only Matt would know..." He narrowed his white eyes, and turned back to the boy.
"Alright, Matt, that is, if you are Matt, ready for the question?" Digit asked.
"Yes, fire away!" Matt said.
"Okay..." Digit began, pausing for the signal from Dr. Marbles, then continued, "When Gigabyte attacked you, how was your neck broken?" This question, shocking, caught him by surprise. 'How am I supposed to answer that!' Sweat started to drip down the sides of his face, and his heart started to beat faster. His breathing also seem to speed up. 'I can't answer it...' His wide eyes stayed glued on the bird, looking at him through deceiving eyes. 'I knew it!' Digit thought. 'He can't be Matt...otherwise he would've answered by now!' "I think I have had enough of this silent treatmen, kid!" He snarled, looking like he was ready to kill. "Enough toying with us!" Matt backed up a bit, looking terrified. "You got it all wrong!" The boy yelled, trying to defend himself. "I am Matt! Ohhh...of all the times not to have Nezzie and Jax back me up..." Dr. Marbles was about to order Digit to apprehend the 'suspect' when they heard the two nicknames being called. Both their eyes widened a bit. Matt saw them just staring back at him, wide eyes, open mouths. They remained like this for about a minute, then the doctor broke the silence, "D-Did you just say...Nezzie and Jax?" He nodded quickly, hoping this would convince them finally.
Digit looked back at the doc. "Only Matt uses those names...and he never really used them in front of anyone but us..." His voice was nothing but a whisper. "Matt?" He whispered, and Matt nodded in response. 'My friend...he's back...' Digit couldn't help but feel tears come to his eyes, but that was short-lived.
"HELP!" A screech came from the closet. Matt whipped his head around, horrified that he had forgotten about the girls. "I forgot! The girls spotted me and ran in here. They're stuck!" He rushed over and tried to pry it open, but it was useless. Digit flew over and gently brushed the boy aside. "Let me handle it." He opened up his chest plate and pulled out a screwdriver. Matt and Dr. Marbles watched hopefully as the bird started to take out the screws, one by one...
"I think Digit's getting us out!" Inez said, happiness overwhelming her. Jackie stared at the ground. She could not feel happy. The fright that she had felt about ten to fifteen minutes ago was still haunting her inside, and wretching and eating away at her heart. She could not explain the feeling. The hispanic noticed this and crawled over. "Hey, why the long face?" "Could that have been Matt that we saw?" She choked out, trying not to sob. "I don't think so...I mean he's gone. How could he come back?" Sadness was starting to get to her, too, but Inez thought that she had to be strong for Jackie. Ever since Matt's death, they've grown a stronger bond between eachother. Just seeing her friend in this state almost makes her wish she could feel all the pain, too...to take it away. She placed a hand on the girl's shuddering shoulder. "It's alright to be upset..." "IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!" Jackie snapped, causing Inez to fall down.
"I just wish that...that...I don't know!" She panted furiously, anger in her eyes. And she was looking at Inez with them. Inez could feel the anger in the other's mind, and attempted to crawl away. 'Jackie's gone mad...' Jackie growled, and stared back at the door as she felt something squeak. 'Digit?'
"There!" Digit said as he through down the last screw that hinged the door tight between the wall. "Stand back, Matt, I don't think they want to see you again after what happened." Blinking, he added, "No offense though!" He smiled weakly. Dr. Marbles agreed. He gently grabbed the boy's shoulder and took him to another part of the room where the girls could not see him. He hoped they could not hear him either. "Thanks Digit!" Jackie said as she crawled out of the closet. When Inez came out, it looked like she was very panicky. Digit and Dr. Marbles looked at eachother, and then glared at Jackie. "What?" She asked in defense. Digit shook his head, his wing on the back of his head. "Jackie, we all know you've grown tougher since Matty's death, but...do you really have to take it out on us?" The girl scoffed. "You never said that..." She blinked a few times after remembering what had happened earlier. "Hey, did any of you see someone who looked like Matt?" She asked warily.
Inez slowly shook her head, her eyes closed. "Perhaps it was merely an illusion. What do you think, Marbles?" "Well, I don't think it was." The two girls slowly raised their heads up to look at the doctor. "What?" They asked in unison. Digit cleared his throat to speak, "What he means to say is that perhaps it was no accident you saw Matt." The hispanic girl knelt down in front of Digit. "What are you trying to say? It was probably only a hallucination we saw and..."
"It was no hallucination."
The two girls turned around almost at an 80 degree angle to see who had called out to them. Standing near the closet that they were in was Matt, his arms folded and his body leaning against the wall, and he had a serious look on his face. One of his legs were raised up and was positioned across his other leg. Matt looked at the girls in the eyes, and seemed to know how they were going to react. 'I don't blame them.' Since their Matt was dead, he'll probably get a lot of questions or something. He breathed in slowly, and said, "Hello, Jax. Hello, Nezzie." His voice was serious yet in a greeting tone. For a long time, all Jackie and Inez was watch him, their mouths wide open...They said nothing to eachother or to anyone else for that matter. Matt began to wonder if they were going to do anything else besides gawk at him being alive. Finally, Jackie broke the silence with a delighted scream. "MATT!" The boy covered his ears tightly due to the loud sound, and felt himself getting pushed to the ground! Jackie hadn't meant to push him down, but her arms were wrapped around his body in a tight embrace. "You don't know how much I missed you!" He didn't react right away. His mind wandered off, remembering the carving that was on her bed in Control Central. He gulped silently, and replied, "Yes I do...but can I ask you a favor?" The girl smiled and nodded, "Yes..anything..." Matt started coughing, and managed to choke out a few words. "I...can't...breathe!" Jackie's arms had been squeezing him so tight that it cut off the oxygen supply! Jackie's eyes widened immediately and she released him instantly, letting the boy collapse on his back and he struggled for a breath. "Sorry!" He heard the girl say.
Inez hadn't reacted yet. 'It's not possible..is it? I mean...we all saw him die!' She narrowed her eyes a bit, at first suspecting it was a fraud. 'But if he were a fraud..how did he know our nicknames? Not that I like Nezzie...' She looked disgusted, but not at Matt. She still could never could used to the nickname. She sighed deeply and walked over to the two kids. She and Matt looked at eachother for a while, and she finally said, "How did you come back?"
"WHAT!"
Inside the Grim Wreaker, a figure screeched out in anger and in hatred. 3 cyborgs cowered back at the mere power of the yell. Delete stood cowering with his hands over his face. Buzz was hiding behind his little brother, and Gigabyte only looked slightly afraid. He was shaken up a bit, and had backed up a little, but a stern look remained on his monster face, his teeth glinting in the little bit of light in the Grim Wreaker. A shadow was casted over them, and right in front of them was the one who had yelled. Hacker...and a fierce look was plastered on his face, his eyes wild in anger. "What do you MEAN you saw HIM!" He screamed at Delete, who was backing up, almost tripping over Buzz. "I-I saw that e-earth boy, sir!" The green cyborg slammed his fist into the controls, and caused them to spark and explode! "GIGABYTE! I thought you killed that boy!"
Gigabyte nodded slowly, his eyes narrowed in apprehension. "I did, master. I do not know how he could have gotten back...alive." Hacker's own eyes narrowed to slits. The only thing on his mind at the time was anger. 'How could he have gottne back!' "Gigabyte! You, Buzz, and Delete...go find that boy and kill him! We have enough trouble with the girls as it is!" Buzz started to mutter something, "B-B-But boss...we..."
"NOW!" Hacker screamed.
"O-O-Okay...b-boss..." Buzz whimpered, and he and the other cyborgs took off out of the door. They didn't want to provoke The Hacker any longer. The door slammed behind them as the last of the 3, Delete, made his way out of the door and towards Control Central. As Hacker watched them leave, his mind was wondering just how Matt could've gotten back alive. 'There is no way...no logical way...' He looked at the busted keyboard at his desk. He banged it again, and the screen popped on, letters having been formed. The word was 'etanretla'. 'Some word...' He angrily muttered in his head. He didn't know how he was able to form that word with one hit, but he didn't care. He leaned back in his seat, then noticed something as he looked into the reflection of the mirror.
"The word is backwards!" He exclaimed, looking closer into the mirror. He could see part of the word. 'Erna', that is. Even though the word appeared distorted and unrecognizable, Hacker was still able to figure out just what it was. "Alternate!" He jumped out of his seat. "That's it! The boy's an alternate!" He sat the mirror down and walked around a bit. "So if he's from an alternate universe...then that means..." A wicked smile crossed his face. 'I could recruit more of me...' The thought was evil and dark...the glint never left Hacker's eyes.
"That boy could be of some use to me...naw...I can find my own way!" He laughed long and loud, echoing throughout the entire ship.
Back in Headquarters, Matt had finished saying for probably the third time that he originates from another dimension. Digit shook his head. It wasn't that he didn't believe him..it was Jackie who didn't seem to believe him at first. But after he had said that Gigabyte had gotten Delete's brain and that he didn't remember being assaulted, she slowly began to accept that he wasn't the Matt she knew. She sat down, looking like she was ready to mope again. Inez had already accepted that he wasn't their Matt. She could kind of tell, anyway. 'I wonder who sent him here.' She wondered, then asked him another question. "How do you think you're going to get back?" Matt looked up at her, a sad look on his face. He lowered his gaze towards the floor, and felt tears coming to his eyes. "Maybe we can help!" Marbles proposed. Digit nodded, saying that they have some stuff in the back that could be used to build a dimension traveler.
"Well what are we waiting for!" Matt yelped. "Let's do it!" He had immediately cheered up after hearing this news. He was about to run to the back when he felt a pair of hands grand him and pull him back. He whipped around to see himself looking into Jackie's dark eyes. She was looking at him through wide, fearful eyes. It looked like she was about to cry. "J-Jackie?" He said, backing up a bit. "What's wrong?" "I don't want to...can we go someplace else to talk?" She looked around at Inez, Digit, and Marbles, a look on her face that said 'I want to be alone.' They got the message. "Okay, run along you two!" Digit said. The boy asked, "But what about the traveler?" "Don't worry, Matty," Digit called out as Jackie started dragging Matt away, "It'll be ready by the time you two get back!" As they disappeared out of the door, he added, whispered, "Which will be a few weeks..." "DIGIT!" Inez and Marbles screamed.
Jackie had taken Matt to her room, the same room she hadn't been in for nearly 2 months. She looked back at him, then looked to the ground. Matt moved in closer to try and console her. "Jackie? What's wrong?" He was surprised when she hugged him again. "I don't want to lose you again..." "Jax, you know I'm not from this world. I can't stay." She looked at him, and Matt could feel his heart ache when he saw what her face looked like. It was stained with salty tears, screaming down her face. More tears backed up, and made her eyes look glassy, shining. She placed her head on his chest, and began to cry softly. "It isn't fair..." She managed to choke out.
Matt, in the meantime, was at a loss of words. All he could manage to do was wrap his arms around her shaking body. "Jackie...I'm sorry." He whispered softly, burying his face into her hair.
"Matt..." The two kids looked at eachother in the eyes, both seemingly thinking the same thing. "Jackie..." They moved in closer. Their eyes closed, and their lips touched in a passionate kiss. They hugged eachother tighter...
"MATT! JACKIE!" A scream came from the control room sounded out, causing the two kids to break their kiss and just in shock and surprise. "What was that!" Jackie yelped, pulling Matt closer. He shook his head, confused as well. "I don't know..let's check it out!" They ran out of the room and down the hallway. Faintly they could hear the sounds of screaming, roars, and shouts. 'Oh no...not them!' Jackie wandered fearfully as she ran along side Matt. They finally reached the room, panting as they pushed open the doors, and it was revealed that, as Jackie had feared, Gigabyte, Delete, and Buzz had broke in! 'Oh no..and Motherboard's not due to wake up until tomorrow!' She started to shake while Matt again tried to console her. He turned around and saw Gigabyte standing in front of Dr. Marbles, and his claws were outstretched to attack the man. Matt's eyes widened in horror! 'Oh no!' He turned swiftly to Jackie, informing her not to stop him. "Matt, no...what are you doing!" As she watched the boy bravily run towards the monster, the only thing she could think of was, 'It's deja vu all over again...'
"Hey ugly!" Matt shouted, waving his arms around, trying to get the monster's attention. It had worked. Gigabyte turned his gaze towards the boy, and gave a growl. His pendant shimmered with dark energy. "I thought I had killed you a long time ago, boy." He said in a low growly voice. Matt backed up a bit, but remained in his position, a fightint stance. He glared into the monster's eyes, and he could see the fury in the boy's eyes. Gigabyte narrowed his odd-shaped eyes, and threateningly rubbed one of his long dagger teeth that were protruding from his top jaw. 'He's braver than I thought.' "What do you want, boy?" Matt saw something on the ground, and knelt down to pick it up. Apparantly Gigabyte hadn't noticed the object. 'If he had, he would've stopped me..' Matt noted to himself as he grabbed the object, turning out to be a large serrated blade, and picked himself up. He hid the blade behind him, concealing it from Gigabyte's view. Delete and Buzz were keeping the others busy. They were stronger than the ones Matt knew. They both were able to use both fire and lightning attacks, which came to as a shock to him. But he shrugged the thought out and kept his gaze on the dark monster in front of him.
"I want you to leave them alone.." Matt replied in a threatening voice. Gigabyte laughed. "You have the nerve to threaten me!" He raised his arms up in attack mode. "Let me show you what happens to those who threaten me, boy...AAAAARRRRR!" He leapt at the boy! Matt screamed, and jumped out of the way just as Gigabyte's claws dug into the hard surface floor. 'That was close!' He got out his blade and attempted to slash at Gigabyte, but he had dodged, causing the blade to lightly graze the metallic skin. "Nice try, kid!" He roared in delight, and struck him down. "MATT!" Jackie yelled in horror, her eyes wide like eggs, her thoughts crowding her mind like a traffic jam. 'I hope he makes it...' Matt yelped in pain as he crashed against the floor. His own blade had cut him across the arm. He clutched his arm close to himself, and he could see all the blood seeping out from the wound, staining his clothes and the ground. He felt the weak blood vessels snap as they had been halfway cut as well. But somehow he managed to climb to his feet, and held the knife in the other hand.
"So you're stronger than you look. Big deal!"
The monster slashed out again, but this time Matt was prepared. He raised the knife and struck down, hitting the monster directly into the arm! Gigabyte screamed, jumping back as he felt the cold blade penetrate his metal skin. Wires in his arm were sliced open, revealing sparking reddish-black blood that seeped out, and as it flowed to the floor, Gigabyte's mind was enraged wtih fury. "You shall pay for that!" He grabbed Matt's good arm and pushed him towards the ground. Matt struggled to get up, but the huge monster was too heavy for him. "Do you give up?" Matt's eyes were shut tightly and his teeth gritted as he strained to push Gigabyte off of him. He managed to pull the blade under him, and thrusted up. The monster gaze out a loud squeal of pain as he jumped up, feeling the blade enter his stomach. Matt jumped up as well, and brushed himself off.
"That answer your question?" Matt smiled triumphantly, looking at the kneeling monster. The blade had sliced open the stomach of the monster, and contents of it started spilling out. Thank goodness for everyone that all Gigabyte injected as oil. Blood mixed in with it, and the other 'organs' in his body started to respond in pain as well, even though they weren't affected. Matt's triumphant look faded away as the monster climbed to his feet, a large gash now in his stomach, revealed black draining liquid. Furious, Gigabyte rushed towards the boy, and managed to dig his claws into his back! "AAAAHHHHHH!" Matt screamed, and when Gigabyte finally pulled his claws out, Matt fell limply to the ground, much to Jackie's horror. "MAAAATTT!" She yelled in both fury and angst. She rushed over to his side, pushing Gigabyte down in the process. All she saw was Matt laying down in a pool of his own blood. The spinal cord and column, luckily, weren't broken. A few muscles were torn and several blood vessels broken, but no major organ was sliced open.
"Matt...no..." She whispered. "This can't happen..." 'No...not again!' Matt managed to roll to his side, and looked up at the weeping girl. A weak smile formed on his face. "J-Jackie..." He whispered weakly, raising his hand up and stroked her face. She gently held his hand close to herself. "Don't die..." She looked deeply into his eyes. Matt coughed up blood, and managed to say, "I-I love you..." He collapsed onto his back, his eyes closed. Jackie backed up in horror. Even though he was still breathing, she believed, they all believed, he was dead. "No...NO!" She screamed in anger. As she screamed everyone in the room, including Delete and Buzz, paused in their positions. Inez felt tears streaming down her own face. "Matt!" Dr. Marbles and Digit didn't want to believe it...They probably had lost Matt again...He was laying there motionless on the ground. The blood didn't dry up, and the ground became sticky, and smelly. The scent of dead was in the air, and all Jackie could think of was revenge...
"GIGABYTE!" She screamed at the monster, who backed up in shock and horror. Delete felt scared, which he always is usually, and shook Buzz. "What do we do!" He didn't want to be in the path of the wrath of an angry human. Buzz quickly said, "Run!" Faster than anyone could have seen, the two robots made a run for it out of the building and back outside towards the machine they had used to get here in the first place. 'Scaredy-cats!' Digit scoffed, then turned a saddened look back at the boy. "Gigabyte...you...will...DIE!" Gigabyte growled as the girl picked up the knife. "You can not win! If I could kill your precious boyfriend, then I could definitely kill you!" Gigabyte was about to make his move when a few footsteps were heard in the darkness. Surprised, the two turned to see who it was, but all they could see was a faint shadow. They couldn't even tell who it was!
"I don't think so..." A low feminine voice sounded out, and Gigabyte turned to see who it was. His eyes shot open in fear, and Jackie gasped. From the creature shown a light...and as the creature came into full view, Matt started to wake up. Inez's eyes were locked on the new creature. She knew who it was, but couldn't believe it. Digit's mouth dropped to the floor, and Dr. Marbles just didn't seem to believe his own eyes. He kept rubbing them and rubbing them, and then stared ahead. "I don't believe it." Matt looked ahead, his blurry vision making it impossible to distinguish figure. But it looked almost like a dinosaur with glowing green eyes, and gold seemed to grow out of her body. Before he lost consciousness again, he could hear Digit yelp one word.
"SHIMMER?"
Then all went black for Matt...
Whoa...this chapter was nearly as long as the last one! Oo; I don't know if it's as long..but it's close. Geez...I did it again! I went overboard! Well, anyway, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Yes, this is the same Shimmer from "When Light Works Against You", but remember this is an alternate dimension, so things aren't all the same. That explains why I said river instead of moat. Anyway, since I made a preview last time, here's another preview from the next chapter!
Digit wandered around in the familiar desert-like region, calling out desperately. But no one answered him. He shivered a bit, since he knew what would happen if the Dark Riders find him. He remembered the last time, and didn't want to remember it. He couldn't bear the thought! "Matthew! Zeny! Jacqueline! Codebird!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, and quickly wondered why no one was answering him. The sand started to blow harder than it had when he arrived. He looked ahead, and saw a familiar sight. "Skyrider!" The horse's ears perked up in response, and she turned her head towards the approaching cyboid. Her red eyes glinted in recognition, and she started whinnying to get towards him. Digit couldn't help but smile. He didn't know if Skyrider would know him or not, but apparently she did. He then heard a very familiar voice. "Skyrider? What's wrong?" Zeny came rushing out, a bow and arrow in her hands as if ready to attack the intruder. She didn't notice Digit yet. She attempted to calm the horse down. "What do you see?" Skyrider swayed her head to one side, her eyes glued on the person behind Zeny. Codebird, Matthew, and Jacqueline had heard the noise and came running out. "Zeny! What's wrong with Skyrider!" Matthew demanded. 'Well..he's still bossy..' Digit said mentally.
Zeny was about to say something when Codebird gave a small gasp. "Hey..isn't that...?" He pointed in a direction, and the kids followed. As soon as they turned around, a collection of gasps gave out. They couldn't believe who it was. Digit smiled weakly, and waved his hands...er wings...in a greeting. "Hello...guys..." All at the same time, all four of them shouted in surprise, "DIGIT!"
Yeah...a two paragraph preview. Yes I did get permission from Grand High Idol to use the Machinos dimension for chapter 6. I actually was given 3 different ideas for this dimension. I couldn't pick which one I wanted at first...but decided I wanted a chapter with a bit more action, so I chose this dimension. Note: I am only guessing what would happen in the return. Remember, Grand High Idol hadn't finished "Alternate Machinos", so I'm just sort of guessing what the dimension will be like after they leave. Anyway, see ya soon!