Chapter 12: Confidence

Thomas wasn't an expert on the multiverse. While that might seem improbable, given how he created a device to traverse it, it was true. After all, most of the reason why he and Jonas had initially used their craft to travel was to learn more about what existed beyond their own plane of existence. After dinner he'd holed himself up in his room to do research. It went into the wee hours of the morning until he could tell his corneas were burning. He eventually passed out shortly before three and awoke the next morning with his phone on his lap and a pile of notes in a half-dozen notepads. He stretched and tidied the mess, noting that he'd slept in a bit later than usual. Thankfully Bandit and Chilli were accommodating when he slept in, knowing most of the time it was because of his vigilantism or research, and had afforded him a peaceful morning.

As he tread down the stairs he smiled briefly as the morning sun streamed in the window and onto his fur. Even though he knew he could remain in human form around the house he liked being a Heeler, the rest of his family was, and as far as he was concerned he was too. It also saved him the effort of having to figure out what to wear-the only thing that he ever wore as a dog was his work uniform or his superhero suit. He turned the corner on the stairs and was greeted by a small surprise.

"Hey Uncle Stripe, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Thomas, since your mum's out with Trixie and the girls Ban and I've been working on something." Stripe stepped from behind the sofa, revealing a bass guitar hanging on his shoulder.

"You play bass?" Thomas said, surprised.

"Yeah, when we were kids your dad, Rad, and I were all in a band together. Rad played drums, your dad played guitar, and I played bass. That is until Rad got 'too old' and Bandit decided to start a different band with some of the kids from school." Stripe looked at Bandit, who was grinning sheepishly.

"They were my friends, what was I gonna say?" Bandit shrugged, sorry for leaving out his little brother.

"No hard feelings, mate." Stripe replied smiling at his older brother, "It was nearly 30 years ago." He looked at Thomas, "You play any instruments?"

"No, I didn't really get any talent with that sort of thing, not that I really ever tried." Thomas admitted.

"Well, if you ever wanna give it a try, just ask Ban, he's the one who taught me how to play." Stripe said, causing Bandit to rub his arm.

"I'm not really that good…" Bandit admitted.

"And he's modest too, about this at least." Stripe quipped.

"So what did you guys play?" Thomas asked, curious about this hitherto unknown part of his family's history.

"Mostly grunge, Rad was big into that, but Ban…" Stripe snickered. "He liked New Kids on the Block."

"They are legitimately talented!" Bandit admitted.

"Yeah, and you totally didn't have a thing for Joey…" Stripe chuckled as Bandit blushed.

"I told you that in confidence!" Bandit said, his blush spreading.

"What, he already knows you're bi, dad told him at the picnic." Stripe cackled.

Bandit tried to grab his brother, causing the two to have a brief chase around the living room, their amp cords getting tangled as they did so. Thomas grinned as his father and uncle turned into oversized children; it was nice to see that this version of his dad never really fully grew up. Eventually he stepped in.

"Boys… Dad, Stripe, come on."

The two middle aged dogs paused and looked at the teenager.

Bandit cleared his throat, "Um, how about we break for lunch?" He looked over at Stripe.

"Sounds fine to me."

Bandit had insisted on making lunch, but Thomas took over as soon as the squabbling recommenced. It was mostly sandwiches with some extra spices and sauce that Thomas threw together. Bandit's eyes lit up as soon as he took a bite.

"Thomas! This is amazing, what is it?"

"Some curried chicken with hummus spread and a bit of cheese." He said, tucking into his own.

Stripe hungrily devoured his. "Thomas, you have a gift. You should definitely look into culinary school."

Thomas dipped his head slightly. He knew that terms were starting soon for colleges, and if he wanted to he could enroll. He'd been mulling over a few ideas, and while he was most experienced with science and engineering, cooking didn't lack appeal.

"You really think I could manage it?"

"Absolutely mate. This food's incredible." Stripe replied, happily dabbing the corner of his mouth. "If you cook like this all the time you could definitely be a professional chef."

Bandit nodded in agreement, "Stripe's right." He paused, "Your mum and I have been talking about some different unis around the city, if you wanted we could set up some tours so you would have a chance to look around. I know you were in science before, but there are a couple of world-class culinary programs in Brisbane."

Thomas thought for a moment, "Yeah, that might be nice. I never really got to go to college in my world; it'd be cool to give it a shot."

"Well, whatever you end up doing, keep cooking." Stripe stated, leaning back contented. "It'd be a crime to not use that gift."

Thomas smiled, thinking to himself, "Maybe I could give it a try…" He looked at his father and uncle, "Well, now that we've had lunch, I want to hear some of your guys' music. What was your band called, anyway?"

"There's some debate on that." Stripe said, looking at his older brother.

"We never officially settled on a name." Bandit said, "It was either Heeler High Water or The Radley Heeler Experience."

"Rad was a bit full of himself at the time, as most 15 year olds are." Stripe noted.

"Well, considering Rad's on an oil rig, why not Heeler High Water? It's a pretty good pun." Thomas commented.

"Works for me." Bandit said as he walked back into the living room, Stripe closely following.

After untangling the cords and retuning their instruments Thomas sat on the sofa to hear the music.

"Now, keep in mind it has been longer than you've been alive since we last played together." Stripe said.

"Come on Stripe, stop hedging." Bandit said. "1, 2, 3…"

"It's another perfect day, another perfect way… Another ideal sort of place to be…." Stripe began.

"It's another daily grind, another painful mind-the way that things have to be…" Bandit continued.

"But it's the way things have to be!" Both men shouted.

"So here we are, stuck again, in the middle…"

"No escape, no end, just a little…"

"A little boredom, a little stress, a little more restlessness…"

"Why's it gotta be this way?"

"Why's everything got to be-"

"Always perfect?"

"Always fucking perfect?" Stripe grinned, slightly abashed at the profanity.

"I don't wanna do the same thing! I don't wanna be what you say!"

"I wanna do my thing! Why's that so hard for me, anyway?"

The two repeated the chorus, followed by a few more verses before ending.

Bandit was panting, "So, how bad were we?"

"That was actually really good." Thomas said, stunned for a moment. "Where's that song from?"

"Rad wrote it, he's actually got a pretty good brain for that sort of thing." Bandit said.

"Yeah, under his perfectly coiffed hair." Stripe sniggered.

"He seems like an interesting guy."

"Yeah, he's pretty cool." Stripe said.

"He should be around for Christmas in a few weeks, he and Frisky are due to drop by, so you can meet them then." Bandit commented.

"Just don't replace me as your favorite uncle!" Stripe joked.

"I won't, don't worry." Thomas grinned.

Meanwhile, Across Town

Andy, while possessed by Jinx, was walking with Busker through a neighborhood to reach a park. "I was thinking we could get ice cream after I do some performing. What do you say mate?" Busker asked his nephew. "Sounds good," Andy said with a shrug. Busker nodded with a smile. They soon started to pass a house that was modern with a family of Dalmatians outside of it. Suddenly a ball rolls out to Andy and Andy picks it. A small Dalmatian came over to Andy, "Hi," said the Dalmatian with a smile. "Hi," Andy said looking at him. "I'm Patch, what's your name?" Patch asked. "My names Andy," Andy said while holding the ball. "Do you want to play with me?" Patch asked. "Um.. I don't-" Andy was about to say. "He would love to!" Busker said, wagging his tail. "Oh, then yeah," Andy said as he handed the ball to Patch.

Patch grabbed the ball and touched Andy's hand in the process. Andy gained all Patch's memories and took a look at his history. Andy paused for a moment with Patch playing with his sister. "So he has a sister huh? Same age range as Bluey and he's around the same age as Bingo… maybe there's a connection," Andy thought to himself. Andy smiled as he let go of the ball. "Let's go play over there," Andy said as walked over to the corner of the yard while Busker talked to the parents of the house. "So tell me more about your sister," Andy said as they rolled the ball back and forth to each other. "Sure! Wait, how did you know I have a sister?" Patch asked while rolling the ball. "Just a lucky guess I have a talent for that," Andy said with a smile. "Oh, that's cool!" Patch said, wagging his tail. "So please do tell me everything about her," Patch said, still smiling.

Back with the Heeler household

Chili was in the kitchen trying out a new recipe she found online just when her phone started ringing from a facetime call. Chili wiped her hands and answered the call. "Brandy! Hi!" Chili said smiling to see her sister. "Hi Chili, how are you doing?" Brandy asked with a soft smile. "I'm fine, I'm fine, how are you sweetie?" Chili asked while trying to finish her new recipe. "I've been good, staying away from the city a bit since those aliens," Brandy said. "Yeah? How's that going?" Chili asked. "It's peaceful would you, Bandit and the girls come out this way? It would be safer," Brandy said, hoping her sister would say yes. "Um… Brandy there's actually something I need to tell you," Chili said nervously. "Yeah? What's that?" Brandy asked just as she saw someone in the background. Brandy then saw Thomas in his heeler form getting bottle water out from the refrigerator. "W-who's that?" Brandy asked. Thomas then looked at the phone and saw Brandy. "H-hi I'm Jason," Thomas said, waving nervously at Brandy. "H-hi," Brandy said nervously. "Brandy… this is my foster son Jason," Chili said as she looked at her sister. "O-oh is this why you haven't called me back?" Brandy asked, a little hurt.

"Brandy I…" Chili said looking down. "It's fine Chili I understand I guess," Brandy said as she looked down. "Oh Brandy," Chili said, now worried for her sister. "I'll talk to you later," Brandy said before hanging up. Chili sighed and looked down. "Mom, are you okay?" Thomas asked, looking at Chili. "I… I will be sweetie," Chili said as she continued to cook or at least tried to. Chili was cutting some carrots until she cut herself. "Oh!" Chili yelped in pain. Thomas then rushed over to her and started to heal her. "Mom, what's wrong?" Thomas said as he held her hand as it healed.

"I don't ever want to hurt my sister but… I can't keep you from her. It's fair on you or her, and I know it hurts her not being able to have kids of her own and adopting she was put on the waiting list and still is.. I just wish I could help her," Chili said as she sat down. "I'll finish dinner mom you sit here," Thomas said as he looked at his mom's hand seeing it being fully healed. "Oh, Honey are you sure? I can finish it, I don't mind," Chili said, trying to stand up. "Mom, you have a lot on your mind and I don't mind really," Thomas said, trying to make Chili sit down. Chili sighed and sat down. Thomas nodded and started to finish dinner for his mom.

Andy and Busker had gone home after he had performed at the park for a bit. With new found knowledge Jinx had gained from Patch about his sister Chloe he felt close to Bluey almost to where he could feel her. Jinx once did feel close to her when he sent out some nightmare fuel but it was quickly over as soon as she woke up. "Hey mate can you get your bath started and I'll be in a minute to wash you," Busker asked as he went to the kitchen. Andy rolled his eyes and went to the bathroom and started a bath. Andy sat in the bath bored until he started to hear voices around him.

In Jinx's lair…

Two Construction workers came to the top floor of the building that Jinx was using as his lair. They then saw a glowing light behind some plastic curtains. "What's that?" asked one of the workers who was a Bulldog. "I don't know," asked the other worker who was a Coyote. They both walked over to the thing that was making that strange light. They both were in shock to see Jinx Meditating with his eyes glowing. "Is he dead?" the Bulldog asked. "I don't know," The Coyote said, getting closer to him.

While this was happening Andy heard this in his head. "Must I do everything!" Jinx as Andy said. Back with the two workers as soon as they got closer to Jinx, his eyes went back to normal and looked at them. "It's rude to stare!" Jinx shouted as he stood up. "AHH!" They both screamed and started to run away. "Stop!" Jinx shouted as he stopped with his Telekinesis. At the same time that this was going on Andy came back to his body trying to get out of the bathtub. "Uncle Busker!" Andy cried to his uncle in tears. Busker dropped everything and ran into the bathroom.

"Do you realize what you Idiots have done!" Jinx shouted as he snapped every bone in their body until there was nothing left to break. Jinx then threw their body's in the elevator, made the elevator break making it look like an accident. Jinx then pulled his focus back into Andy and possessed him again. "Mate! Are you okay?!" Busker asked running into the bathroom. "Yeah? Why?" Jinx as Andy asked. "I-I thought I heard you scream, did you scream?" Busker asked worriedly. "No," Andy said with confidence. Busker then let out a breath of relief "okay are you ready to get out?" Busker asked. "Yeah I am," Andy said as he stood up. Busker nodded as he got a towel for his nephew.

Back in the Heelers house.

After dinner was done Thomas had done more studying on the multiverse just as Bandit came into his room. "Not going out tonight mate? Wait what's all this?" Bandit asked his son. "Well… Hang on I need Stripe in this conversation," Thomas said as he called Stripe on FaceTime. Bandit sat on the bed with Stripe on FaceTime sitting on the desk while Thomas explained everything. "There's a multiverse?!" Bandit and Stripe shouted.

"Yeah… that and whatever comes in or out of the southern lights is or isn't corrupted, it's hard to determine if or when things get corrupted or pass through it," Thomas explained. "So there are really superheroes out there!" Stripe asked, wagging his tail. "Yeah, I think so but none have passed through here as of yet and hopefully not," Thomas said looking at his uncle. "Jonas and I broke a threshold and it's started to bleed here into this universe and soon if it breaks fully all universes will fall into this one causing a prime universe and that's a not good thing," Thomas further explained.

"Is there a chance there could be a universe where your parents are still alive?" Stripe asked unknowingly he was about to hurt his brother. "Stripe!" Bandit said out of anger. "I-I don't know maybe," Thomas said Banfit was surprised by this. "You wouldn't look would you?" Bandit asked, looking at Thomas. Thomas smiled to reassure his dad that he wouldn't. "No, my home is here with all of you," Thomas said looking at his dad. "Good," Bandit said with a nod. Thomas nodded looking back at his work board. Thomas hadn't even thought about that since being here. If Bandit and Chilli were just versions of his parents from another universe and he was their son as from another universe just a different version, then what was stopping him from really seeing if there was a universe where his parents had survived the fire.

"You promise mate?" Bandit asked, looking at his son. "Ban, you can't make-" Stripe started to say until Bandit hung up on his brother. "Do you promise me, mate? Do you promise you won't look for them because we are your parents and we love you, you know that," Bandit said, folding his ears down. "I know that dad and I promise," Thomas said looking at his dad. Bandit nodded and hugged Thomas tightly. "Okay, get some sleep or if you go out just let me or mum know," Bandit said. "I will dad," Thomas said, hugging him back. Bandit then broke the hug and left the room. Thomas sighed and thought about his options of what to do next.

The-Suburban-Guy A/N: Well, the world (and multiverse) is certainly opening up for Thomas and the Heelers. What will happen next? Who will arrive? Comment your predictions and stay tuned to see!

Kodiwolf321: things are opening up and poor Andy almost had his Escape from Jinx and Bandit is really worried on having Thomas find his parents again in another universe. Is it selfish or not? That he asked him not to look for them? Let us know in a review or comment what you think.