Dimensional Hoppers

December 1st, 2022

Chapter 7

Scientific Method

The drowsiness of sleep, I really hated waking up in the morning. Most of my hate comes from my laziness. Once I get into a bed, no one is getting me out of it. Except for me, and maybe air horns. If you're asking 'why doesn't Derek wake me up?'. Well, it's because he isn't much of a morning person either.

Probably worse if you consider the dangers of waking him up, I shiver at the thought of even trying.

For once though I feel like I have a drive to wake myself up, which was weird. Though once I got up and felt something scratch my head, did I finally piece it together. I mean if you saw a tail scratching your head when you woke up. You'd either start screaming like a normal person or start nodding your head in understanding like a crazy person.

Although I don't think I'm crazy, I do suddenly remember yesterday. Probably the best and worse day of my life, got everything I wanted but lost everything I had. Seriously, I think I might've lost my humanity too, although I haven't done any tests yet.

Shaking my head I rubbed my eyes to wake myself up a bit. Looking around I didn't see Derek anywhere, which made sense. If I remember correctly Derek and I did a small game of rock, paper, scissors. The winner gets the bed, loser sleeps on the couch in the living room.

I won but, it was a really intense game. I never really thought rock, paper, scissors could be that intense. To put it into perspective, I think the game itself literally lasted 3 seconds. But for us, it felt like a minute. It was like one of those JoJo scenes, all the way back in part 4. Man, that anime was something else, can't believe the 9th part is finished.

On that note of seconds feelings like minutes, that was quite the discovery. After learning how to use our ki it seemed as though our previous strength, was actually a byproduct of our ki being unintentionally active.

After the game was done I kind of noticed that we had blown away Compa a bit since our auras accidentally came out. IF laughed through that whole ordeal. That required a whole other explanation and an apology on our part. Still, I would say it's pretty worth it for a comfy bed.

Another thing I remember about last night was the movie. It wasn't all that scary for me, although you couldn't really tell what Derek was exactly feeling at a glance. It looked like he was scared of the movie. But, if you took a closer look, you could see that in fact, he was afraid of IF.

It wasn't even her fault either, she was so scared of the movie, that at one point that she just latched onto Derek's arm. It was honestly the funniest thing I'd ever seen, fear spreading fear. Compa didn't have anything to latch onto like IF and just decided to hide behind the couch. The end result was 3 people terrified and 1 person laughing their ass off.

All in all, it was a pretty amazing night.

With that, I got up and stretched. Luckily before heading to bed the night before, we did some really quick shopping. I got Derek and me some clothing so that we could sleep the night. So right now I was wearing some pj's. Kinda embarrassing though, since while in a rush we could only find baby blue pj's.

Not one of my proudest moments, I can say that much. Finishing up with stretching, I went over and got a change of clothes that we also bought in our speed shopping. As for me, I got some baggy brown shorts, an orange t-shirt and a black sweater. Pretty nice if I do say so myself, but not too out there.

I took a shower before dressing though, don't want to start a new day by smelling like a bonafide dumpster.

After that was taken care of, I actually did the craziest thing imaginable, I tried waking Derek up. Going into the living room I took a glance at my bracelet. Apparently, when you tapped this thing it was practically like a phone, tells the time and everything, good to know satellites exist here. I wasn't surprised when I saw that it was 4 in the afternoon, we did stay up a bit late.

Sighing I took a better look around before continuing. The guest bedroom, the room I came out of, connected directly to the living room. Even handier the kitchen was also connected to the living room too.

A hallway basically dug itself into the left and right of me, to the right was the entrance and to the left connected to 4 rooms. Both bedrooms for IF and Compa on the left side and the bathroom and storage on the left.

Looking on ahead I saw Derek sleeping soundly. Though the closer I got to him the more I felt like I was approaching a sleeping lion. Ever since I got ki sense, I've decided to try and keep it on as long as possible. So right now his ki seemed calm, it was still but also bright and… fluffy? There was a lot of it, more than yesterday actually. Probably has something to do with zenkai boosts but on a smaller scale.

Feeling my own energy I also noticed more ki at my disposal than before. Must have been the constant running around from yesterday. Haven't really moved that much since high school. Though I don't think normal people improve at this rate, it definitely has something to do with zenkais.

A point to make through my constant use since last night, I think a small change is in order. My ki sense, now that I realize it, isn't a sort of vision. More of an awareness, like a 360-degree awareness. Now that I think about it, if I had enough practice I could probably dodge attacks without even looking. Full-on daredevil, except probably less blind.

I steered from my thoughts when I heard Derek snore and turn around a bit in his sleep. "Don't… teleport bread…"

Weird dream huh? Can't say I'm surprised, creative minds have even more creative dreams.

Another shuffle came from Derek. "Zombie… bread…" Too creative at times.

I tried to think of a way to wake him up without killing myself in the process, so I brought out as much ki as I could and prepared for the worst. If your thinking I could just leave something next to him, like an air horn, and wake him up, you'd be wrong. Every time he just smashes it and goes back to sleep.

So, the ideal way is to be there to stop him, and then get him to his senses.

Luckily just screaming in his ear will work, but I'll have to prepare to get hit. The worst thing that could happen is me losing my ability to ever make children again. Probably not gonna happen, but then again, you never know with Derek.

So with courage, I got up close to his ear and screamed as loud as I could. "WAKE, UP!"

I kinda underestimated how powerful my voice could be, since I swear I felt Compa's floor shake a little. Since I was distracted by the shaking I didn't see what was coming next.

Derek got up, immediately throwing a wild haymaker toward me. "WHO THE FUCK TELEPORTED BREAD!"

Upon searching for the suspect he only found me, rubbing my own cheek with annoyance. "... Oh, hey Chester, um, sorry?" he winced a little at his own words.

Man, how prepared was he to kill the teleporter of bread? I scrunched my brows in annoyance. "You're seriously lucky I prepared for that."

Derek rose a brow. "Then why didn't you dodge?"

I swear my eye twitched. "Not important right now, how about you go take a shower and get ready?"

Derek just crossed his arms in annoyance. "Fine, don't answer," Before sniffing himself. "I don't even smell that bad."

I gave him a death glare. "I said go shower."

Derek backed off a bit. "Fine, fine, you really aren't a morning person you know?"

After he said his piece he walked towards the bathroom leaving me alone.

I sighed. "He's one to talk."

One thing to note though as I scratched my cheek was how painful that was. Guess we really are evenly matched right now huh? If I hadn't been prepared for that I really would have died, good lord, or goddess, hell if I know.

I decided to Flex my ki a bit as my aura came out calmly.

After getting a little used to this power, I can already tell I'm going to have a change in what exactly it is multiple times. Before I thought it was like a pipeline, now it's more like a small river. Right now its flow is noticeably wild when looking into it. Bringing it out seems to just make that flow have direction, the destination could be throughout my whole body or outside of it. Thinking of it in this way seems to have helped me in controlling it though.

I let myself relax as I thought about a big question. How in the world are IF and Compa still asleep?

Although I wanted to find out, hunger took over as a priority instead. So without much thought, I decided to be a glutton and checked the fridge in the kitchen. It was mostly filled with raw ingredients for cooking and all that, though I found something interesting. Trying to read the strange language once again It read, 'pudding'.

I'm not that ashamed to admit that I literally started drooling a little after realizing what it was. Something to note about me is that I have a terrible sweet tooth. It was so much of a problem at some point that I was going to be homeless, had to do therapy after that one. A shudder came down my spine, the memories… never again.

I made an audible groan. I was a little angry actually, why would she hide this? Could she read my mind or something? Is it possible she's a mind-reading demon set out to kill me?

No, hold on, back it up. I think I'm going a little insane after seeing sweets for what felt like forever. With that, I decided to put it back in the fridge, with reluctance of course. I shouldn't be taking stuff from the fridge anyway, kind of a bad move if you ask me. What kind of guest would I be then? Probably the average saiyan one to be completely honest.

Closing the fridge I noticed something on the front I hadn't before.

A small note that read, 'For Dery and Chesty, I know you two sleepy heads might be hungry when you wake up, so I left some credits on the counter for you two! P.S. IF says to wake up earlier next time.'

I chuckled a bit before looking off to the side and seeing the foretold credits. I breathed a sigh of relief. Though I seriously need to pay them back later, this is all way too kind.

Picking up the credits I put them in my pocket. Weird that money here is just little chips called credits, a different culture I guess, still weird that people here are seriously close to humans on earth though. Different universe maybe? I'm not sure, Derek knows more about this kind of stuff than me.

Derek took me out of my thinking with a little chop to my head. "Hey, earth to Chester? Move out of the way, I'm hungry."

I turned back rolling my eyes. "I wasn't that out of it, okay well maybe."

Sizing him up he had put on his new clothing. Kind of a carbon copy in terms of what he wore, although the colouring was different. Blue t-shirt instead of orange, black cargo pants and no sweater. With his hands in his pockets like that he reminds me of a certain blond hothead.

Derek nodded his head. "Mhm, now fucking move, or do you want to face the wraith of a hungry man?"

I smirked taking the credits out of my pocket. "Nothing really in the fridge, though I can get some fast food for us."

Derek smiled when he saw the money. "Pizza?"

I nodded. "Yep, now let's just hope they have it here."

Ah yes, the New York-style pizza, transcending space and time by being served here in this strange new world. Who would have thought the ever-fancy and Lucious 99-credit pizza would pull through? Not only is it cheap but somehow will always have more sauce than actual fancy pizza in New Jersey. Not joking on that part, kinda disappoints me sometimes. The sauce is vital, never forget.

Walking down the crowded streets of Planepltune I sighed to myself, if only we could get through this crowd faster. Although the tubs of miraculous travel were still above us carrying people quickly, I noticed too soon that it was costly.

I'm not sure why but the first time is free for everyone, after that though? You'd be lucky to pay more using a taxi to go from state to state, it's really expensive. Compared to the pizza prices anyway, I don't have much else to compare to.

Looking back over to Derek who was struggling to keep behind me, I noticed the sun setting to the east. Calling that surreal doesn't really cut it, alien worlds sure are weird. Checking my bracelet I noticed it was nearing 8. Depends on the axis this planet is on but if it's anything similar, it should be around the wintertime, or maybe fall.

Noting Derek's clothing I couldn't help but cringe at the fact we'd have to go shopping again. He must have seen me looking back and nonchalantly spoke. "Like what you see or something?"

I shook my head, "Funny," I swear I heard him hold back a laugh. "It's not about how you look, but the fact that we're going to have to get some heavier clothing for the coming winter."

He took a second to think about that, "Fuck, I guess so huh?" Before I could put my two cents in he suddenly stopped. "Actually, maybe not, isn't our ki enough to warm us up?"

Stopping with him I took it into consideration. It's not a bad idea, and honestly, it would train our ki too. Smiling a bit I walked ahead, "Yea I guess so, just gotta keep it in moderation though."

Catching up to me Derek brought up another point. "On that topic of ki, don't you think it's strange?"

I looked on ahead confused. "What's strange?"

Derek pointed at the rising moon to the west. "The moon, it's full, shouldn't we be feeling some sort of effect right now?"

I panicked a little at his words. But quickly calmed down when I noticed it as well. "Weird… I mean I'm glad that nothing bad has happened, still weird though."

Derek seemed to get into some sort of trance before shaking his head. "Ah well, it does make sense that it wouldn't affect us. The light from a full moon is light reflected from the sun, if the sun doesn't affect us then the moon wouldn't either."

I nodded in approval at his words. It does make sense, although if that's the case. "Is the great ape form even a thing then?" I scratched my head thinking about it further. "If not then, would any other form be a thing?"

Derek seemed to be on my line of thinking as well. "Well, what else isn't there that should be?"

What else? Well alot really, one thing for sure is that not all hope is lost. Although I find it lucky that our appetites aren't ludicrously huge, if anything I'd like that to not surface. I shook my head, finding a response to Derek's question. "Alot, but you could find it to be a blessing really."

Turning a corner it seems the streets themselves seemed to have gotten… alot less crowded. Derek following along with curiosity asked a vital question. "So I'm not going to be the Monkey Fucking King then?"

I shrugged. "Depends, If I had a laboratory I could deduce exactly if it does or does not exist. If it does though, then the question remains, how to unlock it?"

Derek hummed at my words before looking around our surroundings. "How in the hell did we end up in The Bronx?" I couldn't help but chuckle at the resemblance he pointed out.

The near cloud-touching sky scrappers from before had now descended to small 3-5 story buildings. Not only that but they seemed way older than anything in the near front of the city. The air itself was colder, more still without so much activity. Fewer people, more alleyways, and smells like shit. Honestly, you could compare this to even the outskirts of Manhatten, if you squinted hard enough.

An Idea suddenly popped into my head. "The Bronx or not this might be a perfect place to test something."

Derek crossed his arms. "Test what? How quickly our scrawny asses will get jumped at night?"

I smirked. "Precisely that. We couldn't really test our ki yesterday too thoroughly, so this might be a good opportunity for some real-life experience."

I could practically feel Derek's confusion. "Your joking, you want me to actually get jumped… with you?"

I walked up to Derek pulling the most calming smile I could muster. "Of course, it won't be that bad trust me, it'll be totally safe and will tell us all about our limits."

Derek, not falling for my supposed pranks only chuckled a little. "Yea, you can go ahead and do that, although I ain't coming along. Don't want to end up getting shot for no good reason."

Turning around Derek started heading back from where we came, "Call me on that bracelet of yours when you're done alright?"

Standing there, I was dumbfounded. He wouldn't just leave me, would he? Sure enough, after a few minutes, he still hadn't come back.

Well shit, honestly I would try and sense him but my range doesn't seem to be that far, only about a few meters around me.

Sighing, I took it upon myself to head deeper into this shitty part of the city. Look at the bright side, my chances of being a victim of crime have just significantly skyrocketed. The downside is my safety just plummeted. Clenching my fists I pressed forwards. All in the name of science, I must go through with my test.

It's a pretty simple one honestly, to test how bullet-resistant I actually am. Some other things include: how fast I am compared to a bullet, how hard do I need to punch to knock out a man, and finally am I faster than Usain Bolt? Asking the truly hard questions though, can I handle what the rock is cooking? Pulling out my bracelet I opened a small file to type in some notes on what I thought the results would be.

Kind of an unorthodox and messy kind of way to go through the scientific method, but hey it's expected in another world. Thinking about my notes so far I decided to take a seat outdoors at a nearby cafe.

Thinking aloud I typed some stuff down. "Let's see… I should be about able to be at least half as fast as a bullet, in terms of punching speed at least." Tapping the table, I typed some more down. In my own little world of tapping and typing, I must have gotten the attention of somebody because the table suddenly shook.

Looking up from my tiny screen I saw a, quite frankly, scary-looking man. Lighter on the skin side, although his face seemed noticeably pale. He was big too, I'd say a whole foot taller. Had on some brown cargo shorts with a white tank top, with a white cap to cover his bald head. Sitting down he gave me a shockingly kind smile that complemented his subtle brown beard and eyes.

Taking his cap off and rubbing his head a bit he started. "Not from around here, are ya kid?" My eye visibly twisted.

Did I really look like a kid to him? Not that I'm complaining but I felt a bit of my manhood escape me.

Shifting in my seat I carefully replied. "Yea, you could say that, is there a problem?"

The man only chuckled, "Well, if it was any other time of the day, no." Flashing me a mischievous look he continued. "But, around this time we boys got this area all to ourselves, so I'll give you a little deal to let you off the hook."

Feeling a little put off I nodded, "Alright… didn't really mean to intrude you know?"

Chuckling some more he replied, "It's fine kid, I understand, just want to have some fun is all." Shifting back into his seat he put down his arm on the table in a sort of arm-muscle position.

Smirking he cracked his knuckle, "So what do ya say kid, show me what you got and we won't force ya to pay for our drinks?"

Getting the intention of the deal I leaned forward a bit, "What if I just high-tailed it out of here?"

Squinting his eyes a bit the man smiled, "Now, we both wouldn't want that now, would we?"

I nodded reluctantly clasping my hand over his. As this happened what I suppose were goons of his walked up to watch, what they assumed to be a hilarious show.

Another chuckle came out of the man. "There it is, the eyes of the soul never lie, you looked like just the type to go for a challenge."

Not that I had much of a choice based on his wording, but sure, let's go with that. With this arm wrestle cutting my notes short I figured it wouldn't be that bad. This could help me gauge just how much strength would be needed on the average joe. Well, as average as a jacked dude could get.

Getting myself ready I sensed his ki, surprisingly it wasn't as unpleasant as I'd first thought. Although not nearly as bright and big as mine, it was quite active and felt warm. Not sure what I could really gauge from that but maybe he's not that bad of a guy?

One of his goons decided to start a countdown for us, "Alright, kiddo, boss you better be ready," He chuckled a bit before continuing. "3… 2… 1… Go!"

On go, I immediately doubled my resting energy to match his, letting it flow and infuse with my body. Not even a second after our arms were battling it out on the table. One trying to gain the advantage over the other, but nothing was budging. The man in front of me was shocked, it was priceless, to say the least. "Damn kid, you've got some strength in that scrawny body huh?!"

Astonishing though, if the average guy would be around a supposed ki level of 5 then he'd be a 10. I'd be able to easily go higher, but this isn't about dominating, it's about how well I can match someone's strength. If I really needed to I could make myself 10 times stronger.

Deciding to test out how easy it would be if I just double my strength I increased my ki output once more. There was an imitate change, as my hand slammed his down on the table, effectively winning the match. I released my hand from his, as I crossed my arms smirking a bit. Only two times the strength needed huh?

The man looked at his hand and then at me with a confused expression. "The hell kid, what did your mom feed you?" Trying to gain some composure he sighed as he told off his confused goons. "Alright, chumps get out of here for now alright?" Reluctantly they did as they were told.

Turning to face me he coughed in his hand. "Look, I'm not one to shy away from a deal but I've got to know." He leaned in a bit, "how in the world does a scrawny kid like you show strength only a magic user would have?"

Not having spoken for a hot second I decided to joke around. "Well, it must have been what my mother fed me because I have no clue." I chuckled a bit flexing my fist. "Well, I do have one idea, pushups, situps and plenty of juice."

He just sighed. "Alright I get it, I know it ain't magic, not flashy enough, but you don't wanna say either." I snickered a little faking confusion.

"Whatever do you mean? I'm being completely serious here you know." The man himself could help but chuckle at that one.

"Yea yea, whatever kid. Look we won't bother ya alright? Let's call it a night here, just leave us be we got some business to attend to." Sitting up he left some credits behind. "Oh and next time, make sure you check your pockets." He waved before sitting down with the rest of his group.

I took the credits in confusion before checking to see if I still had mine. Well great, I've quite literally been bamboozled, guess I've got to really train my sense of awareness. At least he didn't take them without a word, he really is a kind guy huh? Better question, when the hell did he get in my pockets?

Shrugging I decided to head on out, my notes can wait. Better to get onto actual testing for the other criteria. Hopefully, it doesn't end in disaster.

Looking down at my wrist, I can see that it's around 11 pm now. I got a call from Derek during my stroll through Totally-Not-The-Bronx or TNTB for short. That's what I'm calling it and no one will stop me, well except what the maps say. Anyways, the call wasn't about much, apparently, he was just exploring around and happened to find out that yes, there is actual transportation.

Apparently more towards the middle of the city, train lines that run even higher than the tube transports we had used earlier were all around there. Cheaper too if his interpretation of money was any indication. Although I'd rather learn to fly to get around, it might be the most convenient solution for now. Also learned from him that terrifyingly enough, the French existed here.

Other than that absolutely terrifying fact, wasn't a thing either. Now that wouldn't be really crazy if not for the fact that literally, every other soda existed here. Hell, even Hi-C existed, why the hell does Hi-C exist here!? To be honest, though I could go for some, although maybe Fanta would be better? Eh who cares, I'm looking to get shot, not quench my thirst.

Strolling through the ever-desolate streets of TNTB, I noticed how dark it had gotten. Not only that but the fact that a group had been following me for the past 10 minutes. Now, I'm not entirely a fan of… well fans, but stalking someone is a bit overkill. I mean if it were me I'd just wait in an alleyway until some guy decided to take a shortcut.

But I guess these guys are rather, proactive you could say. Instead of just wanting to rob me, they seem to want to rob my supposed home as well. Although I don't live around these parts, I can respect the effort. Much more effort than Derek puts into picking up his socks from the floor, that much can be said.

Looking back I decided to stop being anxious about it and stopped dead in my tracks. In turn, the group of 3 that had been following me stopped right in front of me. Looking closer I recognized their faces, the goons from earlier, minus one guy.

A snicker came from the tallest of the bunch. "Hey, buddy, mind moving it along? We're trying to get to places." I glared at them.

"Wouldn't happen to be my place would it?" Shifting my weight, I flexed my ki bringing out as much as I could.

Noticing a change in the atmosphere he responded. "Whoa, pal, no need to get feisty alright? Wouldn't want ya breaking a bone or two." Chuckling came from the other two after that one.

I only sneered. "Well 'pal', you either stop following me around or get to the point."

Not surprisingly the streets at this point were baron, how in the hell that would be possible I couldn't tell you.

A little chuckle came from him before he brandished what looked like a handgun, it seemed pretty futuristic for someone like him to be carrying around. Although honestly who could've seen this coming? I did, hell I even wanted it to happen, although looking at the end of a barrel is not seeming like a great idea anymore.

The goons behind him seemed a little shocked by his action but didn't speak up about it. The goon holding the gun though gave a sneer back at me. "Don't you go around mocking me, you might look tougher than you are, but without magic your begging to be a pin cushion."

Tilting his head a little he spoke further. "Glad we have Jospoe here, able to sense that kind of stuff. Otherwise, we wouldn't know if it was worth the risk."

The goon to his left seemed proud of that comment while cracking his knuckles. "Yep, good at what I do, you boys already know that. To think someone would be carrying around over 100k worth of credits, what luck!"

I was silent for a moment before asking, "Is… that alot?"

Awkwardness bathed the area as for a second, no one knew what to say. Until the man of the hour with a very disciplined trigger finger spoke. "Y-yes, if I were to compare to those dollars those otherworlders talk about it's around 1 grand? Yea, quite a big sum, what are you one of those other worlders?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe, maybe not, but I'm sure as hell not giving you that kind of money for free." Not a second sooner did I run as slow as a normal person would away from them.

He must have been shocked at my sudden action, since it took him a second to react. But not a second sooner did I hear a gunshot ring through the air. In the same instance, I let as much ki as I could flow throughout my body. Turning around in the slowed perceived time, I braced myself for the worst.

A/N: Welp, hello to you all once again. This is quite an awkward update. Mostly because of the time elapsed between chapters. I'll let you new readers guess how long cause, oh boy am I not gonna say it. Well other than the fact that a long time has passed, I'm no longer 17 but a 19-year-old in college.

It's quite the experience, and quite the writing block if I do say so myself. It's not as though I haven't been thinking of ideas. I've actually wanted to continue writing for many, many months now, Just haven't had the time. My work had gotten in the way, and on top of that my family wanted to go on vacation for some reason. By the time I was back school had started again, couldn't fail a second time so there was that. Then after finally passing, I'm now in college.

It's such a great feeling, knowing that while writing this I have a 1500-word essay due tomorrow. Quite the situation I've gotten myself in.

Anyways, these are just ramblings to myself, really I wanted to say sorry for the longest delay in history. I'll try to update from now on, but when exams come up again, well no promises.

Again I'd like to mention if you'd like to support me just leave and favourite and follow, means the world to me. Although reviews are alot more helpful in knowing what's good or bad about a story, or if you just wanted to comment on what you believe might happen. I'd like to read every single one of them, so don't be shy to leave a review. Anywho, that should be it, for now, look forward to another chapter next week, until then!