Chapter 11: The Circle

A few days after everything with Jade and Fenrir, Thomas went with Chilli and the girls to visit her dad in the outskirts of Brisbane.

"So, your dad has a farm?" Thomas asked, looking over at his Chilli from the passenger seat.

"He sure does." Chilli said while driving.

"Granddad also has canoes!" Bingo cheered.

"But we won't over do it with your granddad now, will we?" Chilli said looking in the rearview mirror back at the two girls.

"We promise." Bluey said, looking at her mother.

"Over do it?" Thomas asked.

"Last time we ran from mum with granddad and jumped into a canoe." Bluey explained.

"It was fun!" Bingo said, looking at her brother.

"Maybe for you three but I had to get a good workout with you cheeky dogs." Chilli said with a chuckle. Thomas smiled at that before looking out the window. Thomas had never met his mother's side of the family, his human mother that is, so meeting Chilli's dad was something Thomas was excited for.

"I hope Thomas can meet Maynard!" Bluey said, wagging her tail.

Thomas looked back at his sister, "Who?" He asked, curious who his sister was talking about.

"Maynard! He's grandad's best mate and he likes aliens!" Bingo said, wagging her tail.

"Well… he's worried about aliens, I wouldn't say he likes them." Chilli explained. "Just be careful what you say around him, okay kids?" Chilli asked her daughters.

"We will mum." Bluey and Bingo both said.

"So he's one of those dogs who's interested in aliens?" Thomas asked, looking at his mother.

"Yeah, but don't worry he won't hurt you, he's harmless." Chilli said as they pulled up to the farm. Mort and Maynard were talking outside of his house on the porch. "And Maynard is here…" Chilli said as she parked the car.

"It'll be okay mom."Thomas said, placing his paw on his mothers paw.

"I know it will. Just be careful, alright?" Chilli said with a smile

.

"I will." Thomas nodded as he unbuckled.

"Granddad!" The girls cheered, jumping out of the car to greet their grandfather.

"Let the fun begin…" Chilli said as she grabbed her purse.

"I'll keep an eye on them mom, don't worry." Thomas said, getting out of the car.

Chili nodded as she got out of the car and joined her daughters. Thomas walked beside his mother as they walked up toward Mort and Maynard.

"Hey Girls!" Mort said as he hugged his granddaughters.

"Meet our new brother Jason!" Bluey said as Thomas walked up to them.

Mort looked at Thomas and smiled.

"Hello, it's ni-" Thomas was interrupted in his greeting as his new grandfather pulled him in for a hug.

"Chilli! I didn't know you and Bandit were going to adopt a kid!" Mort said, still hugging Thomas tightly, the teen struggling slightly at the iron grip from the older Cattle.

"Neither did we, but he was about to age out and we loved him from the start." Chilli said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you sir." Thomas wheezed, struggling to breathe slightly in the bear hug he was trapped in.

"Sorry mate." Mort said as he let go of his grandson. He looked Thomas up and down a moment before grinning, "And you can call me granddad! None of that 'sir' nonsense here. I'm not in the army anymore." He said, wagging his tail.

"How ya doin mate!" Maynard said with a smile and a wave.

"This is my best mate and neighbor Maynard." Mort said as he placed his arm around Maynard's shoulder.

"Nice to meet you, my mom has told a lot about you." Thomas said with a smile.

"I hope they were nice things Chilli dog." Mort said looking at his daughter, a glint in his eye.

"They were dad." Chilli said as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "How could anyone speak ill of Maynard?"

"Good! Come on inside, I'll make some tea." Mort said, opening the door.

"Granddad, can we show Jason around the farm?" Bluey asked her grandfather.

"Sure! Why not?" Mort said with a smile. "Be back by lunch though, I've got some fish I wanna fry and I need some hungry bellies to eat it up!" He tickled his granddaughters' tummies a moment before getting back up.

"But listen to your brother, okay Bluey?" Chilli said to her oldest daughter.

"I will mum." Bluey said wagging her tail.

"You too Bingo, okay?" Chilli said looking at her youngest.

"Yes mama I will." Bingo said also wagging her tail.

"Keep an eye on them." Chilli ordered Thomas, "And be safe, okay sweetie?" Chilli said, whispering to her son.

"I got this mom, don't worry." Thomas said looking his mom in the eye. Chilli nodded before giving her son a kiss on his cheek.

"Come on Jason!" Bluey said as she took her brother's paw and pulled him to go look at things.

"Wait for me!" Bingo said, chasing after her older siblings. Chilli chuckled before going inside her family house.

While Chilli sat and chatted, the siblings got farther away from the house. With the distance Bluey and Bingo were able to talk to Thomas and call him by his actual name. "How do you like Granddad, Thomas?" Bluey asked while they walked.

"And Maynard?" Bingo asked while holding onto Thomas's paw, him occasionally hoisting her slightly over rocks and cracks in the ground.

"They both seem very nice." Thomas said as he picked up Bingo and placed her on his head. She giggled, grabbing onto his shoulders and a tuft of blue hair on the top of his head.

"Maybe one day we can tell granddad about who you really are! Just like Uncle Stripe and Aunt Trixie." Bluey said while picking up a stick and playing with it.

"Yeah, maybe someday." Thomas said while walking through the woods.

"I wish dad could have come with us…" Bluey said as they continued to walk.

"Me too guys, but you know he has to work." Thomas said, ducking slightly so Bingo would fit under a low hanging branch.

"Work is boring! Why do you have to do it?" Bingo asked while still hanging onto her brother.

"It's just something grownups have to do, kiddo." Thomas said as they arrived at the same creek where they'd hidden from their mother last time.

"But why do you have to do it?" Bluey asked while wading into the creek and using her stick to poke at the mud.

"Well, you know you have to do school work?" Thomas asked his sister while putting down Bingo.

"Yeah?" Bluey said, looking at Thomas.

"It's just like that." Thomas said, sitting down near the water.

"Okay, I guess that makes sense." Bluey said.

"Thomas?" Bingo asked, looking at her older brother.

"Yes, Bingo?" Thomas said looking at his youngest sister.

"Was school fun for you?" Bingo asked her brother while poking a stick of her own in the water.

"Well school was different for me than you two since I was homeschooled for most of it. My parents were always pushing me, I was 'too smart' for regular school so I always spent time at home learning instead. It wasn't bad though, I got to spend a lot of time with my parents." Thomas explained.

"If you're super smart could you make a new spaceship to send you home?" Bluey asked while throwing some rocks in the water.

"I guess I could if I really wanted to." Thomas answered. "But it would be a lot of time and work to do it."

"But you're not leaving, are you?" Bingo asked, looking at her brother, a noticeable expression of panic starting to creep onto her face. Bluey also looked at her brother with a concerned look.

"I-I didn't mean I wanted you to leave! I was just wondering since you're really really smart you if could build a new one…" Bluey said, trying to fix what she had said.

"Girls, girls, I'm not leaving. I promise you that, I love you both. And mom and dad too." Thomas said with a reassuring smile. The girls then both jumped at him and hugged him tightly. Thomas was surprised, but hugged them both back tightly. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere." Thomas stated, still hugging them.

"Good! We love you too!" Bluey said as she wiped some tears that she had. Thomas smiled at both of them and kissed them both on the tops of their heads.

"Come on, why don't you two show me more of what's around here?" Thomas said as he stood up.

"Okay!" They both said as they took his paws and walked him out of the forest.

While the three explored further, Chilli sat in the dining room at the small table where she'd eaten countless meals as a child. Her father and Maynard were sitting on the other side, all three nursing cups of tea.

"How are you doing Dad?" Chilli asked her father while sipping her tea.

"I'm doing fine-great actually-since the heart surgery." Mort replied, taking a drink of his own tea.

"Good. Remember, you need to take care of yourself. I've got Maynard on speed dial to make sure you aren't doing more than you should." Chilli chided, smiling at her father.

Seeing his in into the conversation Maynard took the pause as his time to speak."Did you see the aliens?" Maynard asked, looking at Chilli.

"Y-yeah I saw them on the news…" Chilli said, taking another drink of her tea nervously.

"You and Bandit should really move out here love, away from that city life. We haven't had anything like that out here." Mort said while looking at his daughter.

"Yes I know dad, but that's where our lives are at, and it's where our jobs are at and the kids… it would be too much." Chilli said looking down.

"Have you talked to your sister?" Mort asked while placing down his tea. "I called to check in last week and she said she was fine, but that she was worried about you and Bandit-she hasn't heard from you two for a while."

"I haven't, I tried calling, but I think it's still painful for her to come around… And if she found out about Thomas... I don't know how she would react to that." Chill said, rubbing her arm slightly.

"Who's Thomas? I thought his name was Jason?" Mort asked, confused by his daughter giving her son the wrong name.

Chilli's eyes widened as she realized what she had done. Chilli looked at her father and his best friend and chuckled nervously. "Did I say Thomas? I really meant Jason! Thomas is his middle name!" Chilli said nervously.

"Jason Thomas Heeler?" Mort asked, tilting his head to the right.

"I like it!" Maynard said, wagging his tail.

Mort knew his daughter better than Maynard and could tell that she was hiding something, but he let it pass. He was just happy to have a grandson and that Chilli and Bandit had been able to add another child to their family. "Anyone for another cup?"

Back in the woods Thomas and the girls hiked up a small path that wound through the trees. It had been a bit quieter than usual, but it wasn't an unpleasant quiet, just the type of quiet that usually accompanies concentration and physical strain.

"Hey Thomas?" Bluey asked, glancing back at her brother.

"Yeah Bluey, what is it?" Thomas asked, checking that their footing was steady up ahead.

"You grew up in America, right?"

"Yeah. I was born and raised there."

"What was it like?"

"What was America like?" Thomas repeated.

"Yeah! How's it different than here?" Bingo asked. "Well, aside from the people not being like us…" She motioned to her fur.

Thomas chuckled slightly before he spoke. "Well, the part of America I grew up in was in the northeast, so we had seasons-more than you guys here have. And because we're on the other side of the world our summer is your winter and vice versa."

"Wait, what?" Bluey asked, incredulous.

"Yup." Thomas nodded. "Christmas is cold for America-well, most of America. Most years we'd have snow or ice on the ground, but sometimes it was milder. It's the start of winter, so it's chilly. We were happy if it was above fifty."

"Wait, fifty degrees?" Bingo asked, "That's really hot!"

"Oh, wait, I keep forgetting you guys don't use Fahrenheit." Thomas muttered. "Um, let me think…" He did some mental math before restating, "Fifty degrees for me is about ten degrees for you."

"Oh, well than that's pretty chilly." Bingo stated.

"You think that's cold, most of the time we had a month or two where we'd have days below freezing."

"That's awful! How did you do anything?" Bluey shivered just thinking of temperatures that cold. "It'd be like living in a freezer!"

Thomas chuckled, "We wore jackets and stayed inside most of the time, but we still went to school and work and everything like normal. It was just part of life."

"I'm glad we don't have to live like that, it sounds awful." Bluey stated.

"Yeah, it was cold, but we had sledding and snowball fights and igloos… So it wasn't all bad."

"That's real? I thought that was only for TV shows?" Bingo said.

"Course its real!" Thomas declared, snatching up Bingo. "And the best part was when you were done you'd take off your outer clothes and sit by a warm fire drinking hot cocoa with lots of marshmallows!"

"Ooh, I take it back, that sounds good!" Bluey said.

"What was your house like?" Bingo asked. "Was it like ours?"

"Not really." Thomas remarked, thinking back to his family's home. "The house I lived in when I was older was a pretty normal two-story one. We had bedrooms up top and a kitchen and dining and living room on the bottom floor." Thomas smirked a second, "If anything it was a bit boring, every house on our street looked almost the same. Jonas' parents had a house that was identical to ours right across from it." He frowned slightly, lamenting his lost friendship.

Bluey picked up on her brother's mood. "What was he like?"

"Jonas?"

"Yeah, he was your friend before, so what was he like when he was good?" Bluey asked, curious about what the monster she'd barely survived had once been.

"Jonas was, above all else, reliable. He was someone you could talk to, who would listen and joke and try to make you feel better. He and his parents, they took me in when mine died. He got me through a lot of bad times. He was funny and smart, and he played guitar really well…" Thomas sighed, "I know that part of him is still locked in there somewhere, but with what he is now, it's not Jonas anymore."

It was as Thomas finished his thoughts that the three exited the forest and arrived at the edge of a field of high grass.

"Oh! I remember this!" Bingo said, scampering toward the grass. "Mum said she saw kangaroos here sometimes when she was a kid, but you had to be quiet or they'd run away."

"I've never actually seen a kangaroo before aside from at a zoo." Thomas remarked.

"We've gotta be quiet and find a hiding spot." Bingo said. After a moment she spotted one. "Here! Behind this log!"

Thomas and Bluey followed, the three peeking over the log with just their eyes and ears above it.

"Now we wait…" Bingo said, excitedly rubbing her hands together.

Back at the house Mort and Maynard had freshened their tea and had set about asking more questions about Thomas, wanting to learn about the newest addition to the Heeler family.

"So, what's with the American accent? Is he a yank?" Mort asked.

"No, he was born here, but his birth parents moved to the US when he was young. He came back here not too long ago." Chilli responded.

Mort nodded. Maynard took his turn, "Is he in school? He looks like he'd be about the same age as my Julie."

"He's 18, we're looking into uni, but we aren't sure."

"What is he thinking about doing?" Mort asked.

"Probably something in the sciences or engineering. Bandit says he wants him to go to culinary school-and I must admit he is an excellent chef, so I can't fault his logic."

"Speaking of chefs, I'm going to get started with lunch." Mort said, looking at the clock on the wall.

"I'll call Jason and tell him to bring the girls back." Chilli said, pulling out her phone. Mort and Maynard laughed.

"What?"

"You really have gone city, love." Mort smiled. "We don't have cell service out here."

"I had a cell phone, but it only ever worked at home or at work. And people just kept ringing; I got rid of the blasted thing." Maynard commented.

Chilli sighed, "I guess I'll go track down the kids."

"We'll have the food ready when you're back."

"Thanks dad." Chilli smiled, heading out to try and find the three-Hopefully Thomas managed to keep them closer this time. After about twenty minutes Chilli managed to find the three. It had been easy using her tracking skills, especially since this time they weren't fleeing.

"There you three are!" Chilli said.

"Hi mum, we're waiting to see if we can spot any kangaroos." Bluey said, gesturing to the field.

"I used to do the same thing when I was your age." Chilli smiled, "Brandy and I would come out here and sit and wait for hours." She glanced at her phone, Eh, dad won't mind if we're a little late for lunch. "Here, follow me; I want to show you something."

"What is it?" Thomas asked, following his mother along the edge of the field.

"You guys were in a good spot, but when I got a little older I found a ridge where I could sit and see for miles." Chilli said. She lead the kids up a hill to overlook the valley below, at the top was a large flat rock they could all sit on.

"Wow!" Bingo marveled, looking at the horizon.

"You can see forever!" Bluey said.

Thomas smiled, looking out at the scrub and fields below. It all seemed normal enough, aside from a large circle burned in the middle of a pasture next to Mort's. "Hey mum, what's that circle for?" He pointed at the black mark on the ground.

Chilli frowned, "I'm not sure, I admit it's been a while since I've been up here but I don't ever remember seeing something like that before."

"Oh! Let's go and see!" Bluey said.

"Now hold on-" Chilli began. She was cut off by a high pitched shrieking noise reverberating through the air. "What on earth was that?"

The four looked up and saw a dark shadow swooping across the landscape. A large leathery creature with bat-like wings was circling above. Its flesh was a grayish brown with a tan underbelly. It bore a set of large horns protruding from its bird-like head, and a massive razor-sharp beak.

"What is that?!" Chilli shouted, quickly gathering Bluey and Bingo to her.

"It's Rodan." Thomas muttered in disbelief gawking at the beast circling nearer.

"Is this from your world?"

"Not exactly, where I'm from Rodan is from a bunch of Japanese monster movies. I watched all the kaiju movies I could as a kid. He's not real; it's just some guy in a rubber suit where I'm from…"

At another ear piercing shriek Bluey spoke, "He seems pretty real!"

"Wait, if he's from a movie, how'd they beat him?" Bingo asked.

"Um… Gimme a minute. I haven't watched any kaiju movies since I was eight or nine…" Thomas desperately tried to wrack his memory on how to defeat the giant bird creature.

"Well, while you think I say we get out of here!" Chilli shouted.

"Right! Everyone hold on!" Thomas grabbed onto everyone and blipped into the woods close to the house. They ran out of the trees and started across the field toward the house, Rodan still circling overhead.

"F* me dead…" Mort muttered, standing on the porch as he looked up at the sky.

"I have to get my camera!" Maynard shouted, starting to run toward his car.

"Get back here you drongo!" Mort shouted, grabbing his arm. "There's something up in the sky that looks like it's out of Land of the Lost. Do you wanna get killed?"

Maynard blinked, "No, but, it's an alien…"

"I don't care!" Mort dragged Maynard back onto the porch.

"But I've been waiting all my bloody life for proof…"

"And you'll keep waiting!" Mort drug his friend toward the door.

"Dad!" Chilli shouted, arriving at the drive with the girls and Thomas in tow.

"Chilli! Get in here!" Mort waved toward the door. "We'll go to the basement and wait it out."

"You guys get inside; I'll take care of this." Thomas said, looking at Chilli.

"Mate, get inside, there isn't anything you can do about this!" Mort shouted.

Thomas looked at his family hesitantly, "Well, I figured I'd be doing this eventually, I hadn't figured it'd be today." He looked at Mort and Maynard, "I'm Austra-Violet."

"Who?" Mort asked.

Thomas sighed. "I have superpowers." He caused a glowing ball of energy to manifest in his hand. "Get inside and stay safe, I'll take care of this."

Mort nodded, ushering the others inside. "Good luck."

"Thank you." Thomas nodded.

Rodan was getting closer to the ground and Thomas again tried to remember how the beast had been defeated. After a few moments he finally fired the synapses to tap into his memories of watching some of the movies and he remembered. "Okay, Rodan can be defeated physically, but also is susceptible to mind control…" Thomas muttered to himself. He looked up at the creature; chances weren't great that he could physically defeat it. Godzilla had a hard time, and he was no Godzilla.

While he had only briefly melded minds with Bandit-and hadn't practiced since, feeling it an invasion of privacy for any involved-Thomas knew that he could hypothetically make mental connections to other living things. If Rodan could be mind controlled, presumably it was sentient in some capacity… Thomas hoped so, it was his best shot. He braced himself as he teleported onto the creature's back, grabbing on tightly to some of the protruding spines. He opened up the mental connection and reached out, hoping that his assumption had been correct. After a moment he felt a response.

"What are you, little creature? How did you get on my back?"

"My name is Thomas; I'm one of the dogs who live here. I have powers that let me teleport and talk with you. You're frightening us right now, swooping around where we are."

"I need to circle to hunt my prey."

"I understand that, but you must admit that you're much bigger than us, your size is intimidating."

"I am quite large." The beast sounded proud at this remark.

"You are a great and powerful creature, and I know you can bring either harm or blessing on those around you. We mean you no harm, and we promise to let you continue your hunt in better grounds if you leave this area."

"You think you could harm me?" It scoffed.

"I am but one, but there are many like me. Together we could."

After a moment of silence the creature replied, "I suppose it would be a poor hunt to pick off creatures capable of communication such as this. Where do you recommend I can find suitable prey?"

Thomas thought a moment, "To the west, there is an area called the outback. There are few of us there, but many animals you can hunt to your heart's content."

"Very well, Thomas." Rodan nodded, "You are well spoken for something so small, I will take your advice."

"Thank you." Thomas replied, blipping back to the surface. He stood on the drive as Rodan flew higher and higher into the air, eventually out of sight among the clouds.

Thomas turned back toward the house and opened the door, "We're safe!" He called out.

A minute later the others appeared from the basement. "What happened? How'd you beat it so fast?" Bingo asked.

"I didn't." Thomas replied.

"You lost?" Bluey said, shocked.

"No, there was no loser or winner. I remembered that Rodan isn't a villain, he's just a hunter. He wants a challenge.

I explained to him that we weren't good prey and directed him toward the outback. He can hunt animals to his massive leathery heart's content and we'll be safe." Thomas shrugged, "Sometimes there isn't a need to fight, we just talked."

Chilli smiled at the notion and hugged her son. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks mum." Thomas replied, his tail wagging.

"Okay, so, now that the alien's gone, what's going on with you?" Maynard asked, his tail wagging furiously as he pulled out a pad and pen.

"Yeah, I had a few questions myself…" Mort said, looking at his newest grandchild.

"Let me get some tea…" Chilli said, knowing it was going to be a long conversation.

After an hour Mort and Maynard were caught up on Thomas. He'd even briefly gone human for the two. Maynard had nearly had a heart attack learning that he was in the presence of an alien. After the talk of his powers, interdimensional travel, and his life on his planet had subsided Mort had a thoughtful look on his face.

"So, let me just make sure I've got this right." He inhaled, "You're an alien from another dimension who came here in a spaceship you designed, crashed, and survived. The girls found you and Chilli and Bandit took you in. You discovered you had powers and that your copilot and former best friend also had some and was evil. You saved Bluey's life, discovered you were in all likelihood an alternate dimension version of one of my grandchildren, survived getting hunted by some bunta hoon in a black suit multiple times, and apparently can communicate telepathically with monsters which shouldn't even really exist?!"

"Um, yes?" Thomas said.

Mort embraced him in a massive hug, "Mate, I don't know what you've gotten yourself into, but welcome to the family." Thomas smiled, happy to know that there were more people out there willing to accept him for who he was.

Later that day when the family had gone home. Thomas went to his room and started a Posterboard. Thomas took notes for the past encounters that he had faced. "Alright, Jonas and I got here with cosmic god-like powers, then that dude in the armored suit, the killer cloud and now Rodon," Thomas said while placing his notes on the board. "So… our entrance into this universe must have caused a rift into a multiverse of some kind," Thomas said, crossing his arms. "Which means… there could be other Variants like me or my family out there including… existing monsters and other threats… great… now I really hope we don't get Godzilla out here," Thomas said to himself with a sigh. "Dinners ready mate!" Bandit called to his son from downstairs. "Okay! Coming!" Thomas said before looking back at his Posterboard. Thomas sighed. "Just… please don't cause a collapse in this universe…" Thomas said before joining his family for dinner.

Kodiwolf321 A/N: Hey guys! We're back for more! So here we have a little introduction into the multiverse. This was always the plan from the start but we're adding little by little and don't worry Jonas is still our big bad and as we move further into the story the scratching of the surface into the multiverse will fall into place.

The-Suburban-Guy A/N: Hello and thanks for reading! I chose Rodan here (from a number of kaiju movies in the 1950s and 60s) because I loved the idea of Thomas getting a chance to use some of his brains as opposed to his brawn. I also loved kaiju movies as a kid, like Thomas, and I thought it would be neat to see how it would play out. Please review to let us know what you think, we appreciate all the wonderful feedback so far! Thanks again!