So, here we are again. A new story for a show that I've watched that I enjoyed enough to make a fanfic of. And I know Battle Planet is still far from done, but this interested me enough to get back to work. Plus, with it being November, NaNoWriMo is back on! Just one chapter got me almost 1/5 of the way to the 50k words I need for it, so be ready to see a lot of this until I'm done with it. It's going to be one heck of a ride! With that, enjoy.


Running. That's all he knew now. Rain, falling, trees, rushing by. It's all a blur. He continued running, trying to get away, but tripped over a rock. His pursuers caught up, and surrounded him. One man walked up to him. "Impressive work, 0128. You've exceeded all expectations. But, now it's time to come back." The man leaned in, and the person he was talking to shied away.

"I'm no number." He whispered. "I'm not, a statistic!"

"Oh? But you are. One in over one thousand, in fact. And with what you did before, well, you've got some interesting abilities. Too bad for you, they're not enough to escape."

"I won't go back!" The guy started standing up, barely capable. "You won't take me back there!" His eyes started to glow.

"Sedate him, now!" Many people in the group readied their weapons, and the guy stood up fully.

"You won't bring me back!" A shockwave extended from him, blowing back a majority of the group. The man held his ground, and fired his weapon, sending the sedative at the guy.

"Too bad, 0128. You could've been so much more." The sedative landed, and the guy nearly fell over.

"I'm not, a number. My name, my, name, is, Mark!" Mark suddenly began glowing brightly, and within moments in front of the man, vanished without a trace. The man stood stunned for a moment, before starting to laugh maniacally.

"Yes! We've done it! We've successfully made a Reality Shifter!"


Fear of humans, fear of what they'll do

Fear of others, no matter where you go

Taken from your home, forever lost

One light in the distance,

But oh so far away,

Run towards the light,

Away from your fear


Atom was looking around the Realities near the Main Bakugan Reality, doing a check for Negative Shifters. "Doesn't look like there are any around."

"Yeah. Wonder where they all went." Leo said from his shoulder. When Atom looked in front of himself again, he saw a Ralital Gate form right in front of him, leaving him no time to maneuver. He practically dove headfirst into it with Leo, and they vanished as it closed behind them.


In a city being overtaken by nature, a tunnel began rumbling near a dry waterway. A deluge of water suddenly burst forth from it, flooding the area for a minute. As it slowed, it revealed a girl floating in it, having been carried by it. She was still for a moment, before she suddenly lifted her head and took a deep breath and began spitting out water. She looked up and blocked the sun from her eyes for a moment, seeing the ruined buildings overrun with trees. She gasped. "I'm on the surface! I'm on the surface!" She started picking herself up, and looked up at the sun. She suddenly jumped backwards, covering her eyes and screaming. "The sun! I looked at the sun! I'll go blind!" She stopped thrashing around after a few moments and uncovered her eyes. "Wait. I can still see." Her reprieve only lasted for a moment as she remembered what had happened. "I can't be here! I can't be here! I can't be here!" She started running towards the tunnel she had come from, seeing it blocked with boulders. When she got to the tunnel, she tried pushing the rocks away, without much success. "Out of my way, rocks!" She climbed up a bit, trying to find an opening. She poked her head into one, and yelled into it. "Dad! Can you hear me?" The only thing that answered was her own echo. She sighed. "Of course not. He could be miles away." She backed away from the opening a bit. "Ok." She took a deep breath. "You can do this, Kipo. You got this. Humans lived on the surface for thousands of years. You can handle a few minutes up here." She slowly turned around, whimpering slightly. All she saw was ruins of a society of old, and whimpered again. "You just have to find your way home." She jumped back down into the water and began walking. Before she got too far, though, she heard a splash nearby. She turned to it, shying away from it. Before her was another human who had seemed to just appear from nowhere. "Whoa." The other human sat up, rubbing his head.

"Where am I?" He started looking around, and soon met eyes with Kipo. "Uh, hi?" The two just looked at each other for a few moments, before Kipo walked forward a bit.

"Hi." She looked around, then back at the guy. "I didn't expect to see another human up here."

"Up here?" The guy looked around for a moment, seeing all the ruined buildings. His eyes widened a bit, then he took a deep breath. "Oh, uh, yeah. Humans are a bit rarer up here." He also had a thought go through his head. "Why is her skin purple?"

"Could you, maybe, help me?" Asked Kipo.

"I probably can. But we should get out of here first. In this world, it's not safe to be out in the open for long." The guy stood up.

"Oh, right!" Kipo looked around a bit as the guy looked behind him.

"Might not be a good idea to show yourself yet, Leo." He whispered.

"Good call." Leo whispered back. "This world looks like it took a bad turn." Leo dug himself into the guy's pocket, hiding himself as Kipo suddenly pointed somewhere.

"Let's go this way first. I see lots of places to get out of the open!" She started walking.

"Sounds good to me." The two began walking, going past buildings too badly damaged to enter, broken and decaying cars, and oddly enough, gigantic footprints. Kipo was practically tip toeing as she walked with the other guy, when the two suddenly stopped when something creaked nearby. Kipo gave something that sounded like a cross between a groan and a laugh, then turned away before she started walking again. The guy watched the area for another moment, before he followed her. The two kept walking, until something zipped by behind them making an audible noise. The two stopped again, before tentatively moving again. They walked past buildings that had been overtaken with gargantuan flowers.

"Flowers." Remarked Kipo. "A lot bigger than they are in books." The guy looked up at them.

"What is up with this world?" He wondered. "For a post-apocalypse, it seems kinda nice." The two looked at a flower that had lights and music coming from it, and Kipo walked up to it. She looked into it to see two bees, with strobing eyes and abdomins, seemingly dancing, and sounding like a DJ booth. One of them noticed her, then the other one did. They started waving at her, sounding angry with their noises. Kipo just looked to the left slightly, then slowly backed away from the flower.

"What'd you see?" Asked the guy.

"Weird bees." She replied. She continued backing up from the flower until she ended up next to a music shop. The guy walked up as she looked in and gasped.

"Looks like a good hiding spot to me." The guy opened the door and went in, followed by Kipo. They looked around for a few moments.

"Huh, most of this still looks usable. Either this place is just dry, or it hasn't been long since things went bad." Kipo hadn't heard his musings as she grabbed a guitar off the wall. She sat down in a corner and gave it a few plucks before tuning it. When she got it right, she started playing.

"Up on top," she sang, "on my own. A human girl so far from home. The flowers are big. The bees are, weird. It's dangerous, just like I feared. On the surface world!" She started getting into her song when something cawed outside, then poked its head in the hole she was near. Kipo jumped up and ran away, throwing the guitar, which the bird bit in half. "Stay away!" The bird broke through the wall as she ran.

"Go go go!" Called the guy. The two dashed outside and into a car as the bird broke through the front wall and looked around, before it flew away. Kipo and the guy looked out of the car as it left. Kipo sighed.

"Well, that could've been far, far worse." The guy looked at Kipo. "You okay?"

"Yes, but no." She sighed and slumped back in the chair. She looked around the car for a moment, then put her hand to her chin, thinking. She thought through the water ride she had taken. "Hm. Let's see, the current took me left, then right." She rubbed some dirt and dust off the windshield as she talked herself through it, making a map. "And then there was the long part. A-a-and the short part! And then the loop-dee-do! And then I went way over here, so my home must be in this direction!" She pulled her finger away from the windshield as she stared at the map.

"Pretty good memory you've got there." Said the guy. He thought to himself for a few moments. "At least I know that wherever I am, I found one of the Protagonists." Kipo thought for a few more moments.

"Or was it left, then the loop-dee-do?" She began redrawing her map. "O-o-or, or loop-dee-do, then left?" She groaned a bit at her now highly overcomplicated map with several different paths. "Gah!" She rubbed it all away, frustrated. She looked away for a moment, then heard some snorting. Kipo and the guy noticed a blue pig looking into the car. Kipo gasped. "Who are you, little one? You're adorable."

"Strange to see a pig here." Said the guy. The pig looked a bit higher, revealing that it had a second set of eyes. Kipo yelped and practically fell out of her seat as the pig jumped down. "That makes more sense." Kipo got back up.

"Uh, sorry." She opened the car door and hopped out. "Didn't expect you to come with extra eyes." She watched the pig get behind some rocks, and knelt down, putting her hand out. "I'm a friend." The pig peeked around the rocks, then came out, revealing it had 6 legs. "Oh! You come with an extra pair of everything!" The guy got out of the car.

"Well, not everything. It's only got one pair of ears."

"Oh shush!" Said Kipo, looking at the guy. She looked back at the pig, and stood up. "I only have two legs. So boring." The pig tilted its head, just looking at her. "Aw!" Kipo began walking towards it. "I have to pet you!" She suddenly knelt down towards the pig, and it squealed and ran off, creating a dust cloud behind it. "Wait! Come back!" The pig didn't stop moving. "You can run, pig. But I will find you, and I will pet you." Kipo looked around a bit.

"Well, if you're going after the pig, we'll need to get moving." Kipo suddenly ran off to the side, and the guy looked at her, then noticed the store she was heading to. "What is with girls and clothing?!" He begrudgingly followed her towards the clothing store, and got inside just in time to see her looking at herself in a mirror with an old explorer's outfit on.

"Haha! Hm." She grabbed something else and went back into the changing room.

"Do you really need to do this?" The guy got no response until she came out of the changing room again, with jeans and a sweater. She closed the curtain again after she looked at herself. Over the next ten minutes, Kipo tried on a dozen different outfits, ranging from ballerina to shady alley guy to princess. She eventually found an outfit she liked, and didn't go back into the changing room.

"I somehow feel like I've been wearing you my whole life."

"Are you good now?"

"Yes. Yes I am." She walked out of the store, testing out her new shoes as she did, and the guy sighed.

"She's a protagonist all right. Naïve, yet smart." He got up and followed her again. He caught up to her as she looked at a giant snail with a car as its shell, moving along the road. She climbed into it and began nodding her head to a sudden beat that came from within the car. The guy shook his head, then climbed in as well, knowing that sitting for a bit would be helpful. They travelled by snail for a bit, until Kipo heard the pig squealing nearby. She looked and saw the pig running into another building.

"Piggy!" She jumped out of the car and began following, before the guy followed her, leaving behind the two bees who were making the beat. They entered the building, Kipo leading the way into it. The guy looked around.

"This place looks kinda familiar." He mused. "I wonder why." He kept a few steps back from Kipo as he followed her, and took out Leo again. "You know, for a post-apocalypse, this world is pretty nice so far."

"Yeah, it is. Though, it makes you wonder what actually happened."

"Who are you talking to back there?" Asked Kipo. The guy quickly hid Leo as she turned.

"Oh, uh, just thinking aloud." Kipo turned away again, looking for the pig, and the guy sighed. "That was close."

"Atom, hiding me isn't going to work forever. We will need to tell her."

"I know, I know. But until we know more about this world, we can't risk it." Atom put Leo back in his pocket, and continued to follow Kipo, when they stumbled upon the pig, clawing at an old vending machine.

"I can help you with that." Said Kipo, startling the pig. She walked towards the machine, and the pig started running from her. "We have vending machines like this in my burrow. I know all the tricks." She got to the side of it and began pushing. "There's a wire back here. If I could just get to it!" She continued pushing, then it suddenly fell forward, destroying the glass panel on the front. "That works too." She got off of it and began trying to lift it up to get access to what was inside. Atom stepped forward to help her, and they got it lifted back up. Kipo grabbed a bag of something and opened it, before holding one of the cheese puffs out for the pig. It walked up, stopped for a moment, looked around a bit, then leapt at her, grabbing the food. "Whoa! You were hungry, weren't you?" She held out the bag and the pig ate it all.

"Well, it acts like a pig, at least. Eats anything put in front of it." Kipo glared at Atom, before looking back at the pig.

"Hey, wanna try something fun?" The pig just watched her as she grabbed a large piece of wood.

"So, what are you doing?" Asked Atom. Kipo didn't respond, instead finding a staircase and putting the board at the top of it before grabbing the pig and sitting on the board. Atom watched her with a mix of intrigue and trepidation.

"You ready?" The pig looked at her with one set of eyes, grimaced, and shook its head. Kipo just smiled, then pushed off. The two started riding down the stairs, and Kipo yelled out in excitement. The board hit the ground and started sliding, until they softly hit a shelf. Kipo looked at some of the frames on it, then dusted one off. "Humans from the old world." Atom walked up and looked at the picture. "This is a school!" Atom grabbed the frame and Kipo thought about what she did back home.

"The Old World, huh?" He wondered.

"I go to school, too." Said Kipo. "Underground with lots of other kids. No windows though. My father teaches there." She pet the pig a bit. "Kipo, how many light years are in a parsec?" She mimicked her father. "It's 3.26156. Although, a lot of good that does me up here." The pig just looked at her as Atom sighed and walked up.

"You never know when any given piece of information you know can be useful. Even the most useless of knowledge has a use, eventually." The pig climbed into her arms, letting her hug it. Kipo smiled at Atom, before looking back at the pig.

"My whole life they taught us the surface was this horrible place." She smiled. "But look at you two." She looked at Atom. "You're a nice guy who's helping me." She looked back at the pig. "And you look just like these dumplings my dad makes. They're called mandu." Kipo gasped. "That's it! I'm gonna call you Mandu!" She nuzzled her nose against the pig's snout. "Nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom-nom." The pig jumped out of her arms, then looked at her panting, like a puppy. "I'm gonna get you!" The pig started running and Kipo chased it. "I'm gonna get you Mandu!"

"Hey! Wait up!" Atom chased after them. The pig continued running, and ran out a door. Kipo followed it out, followed by Atom. All three of them looked out to see a dry pool, with something in it. Kipo gasped as she looked at the gigantic bunny.

"Mandu, I have to pet this bunny, now." Kipo started climbing down the ladder, but Mandu chomped down on her shirt, trying to stop her. "It's gonna be ok!" She pushed Mandu off of her.

"Uh, if Mandu isn't wanting you to go down there, don't you think there's a reason?"

"I'll be fine!" She jumped down the last few rungs, and turned to the bunny. She walked up to it and started rubbing it. "Hi there. Aren't you fluffy." The bunny nuzzled into her as she laughed. "Oh, you like that." Kipo opened her eyes to see another one. She walked over it and started petting it. "Oh! There's another one!" She noticed a few more walking up. They all knocked her over. "Ok ok! Everyone wait your turn! You're all so soft, but there's only one of me!" Something walked towards her and the bunnies, shaking the ground with every step. Atom gasped.

"Wait, those are bunnies, which are the babies! Get out of there!" Kipo looked up as Mandu began running away.

"And that must be the mother." Atom ran back into the school, following Mandu as the rabbit laid down on the bunnies and Kipo.


Some time later, Kipo managed to work her way out from under the rabbit. She strained to pull out from under it, and finally snapped out. The rabbit opened its eyes, and Kipo hid behind one of the bunnies. The rabbit looked at them, and one of the bunnies yawned. The rabbit yawned as well and patted a paw on some bleachers, destroying them instantly. Kipo ran away as soon as it fell back asleep, and hid behind a tree. It slammed another paw down, and Kipo let out a breath. She heard Mandu snorting nearby. "Mandu!" Kipo started walking towards where she heard Mandu, and found the pig eating some foliage. Suddenly, someone or something jumped at Mandu and grabbed it. Mandu squealed in terror as Kipo gasped. The thing that had Mandu dove into some bushes. "Mandu!" Kipo ran towards the bushes, completely ignoring what was above her. Atom sighed.

"Well, there goes my chance of rescue. Who makes a trap like this anyway?" He was hanging in a net that seemed designed to trap people and not animals.

"Well, it could be worse. You could be helpless." Said Leo.

"That is true." Atom reached back the best he could, trying to grab something. A sheath appeared on his back, and he could barely grab the hilt of his blade. He started pulling, but his fingers slipped, sending the blade down to the ground, where it landed with a small clatter. He sighed.


The person who had taken Mandu started at it. "Can you talk, Mute?" Mandu snorted and looked around. "I'm no barbarian. If a Mute can talk, it's not chow." She pressed Mandu's nose, pushing it back before letting it swing forward again in its net. "All I need to hear is one little yes." Kipo was watching from a nearby car. Mandu squealed again.

"Another human?" Asked Kipo. She watched the other girl and took notice of the wolf pelt she was wearing. Then, the other girl decided she had waited enough.

"Sorry, but a girl's gotta eat." She lit a match and set fire to the small pile of wood under Mandu.

"Wait!" Kipo tried to step forward, but the car door broke off, sending her sprawling to the ground. When she looked up, the other girl had a very sharp, red thing pointing at her.

"I was wondering when you were gonna come out of there."

"You're human! On the surface." Exclaimed Kipo.

"You don't miss a thing, do you?" Mandu squealed behind the girl. Kipo gasped.

"Wait, you can't eat my friend!" She tried to get closer to Mandu, but the other girl swept her off her feet with a staff and back to the ground.

"If you want a bacon sandwich, go catch your own pig. I already called dibs on this one." She pushed the red thing closer to Kipo.

"Mandu is no sandwich!"

"She's about to be." Mandu began chomping on the ropes of the net, trying to break free. She ripped through some of them, and Kipo gasped. The other girl started to turn, and Kipo suddenly grabbed the red thing.

"Say, your staff is so pointy. Where'd you get it from?"

"Off a giant scorpion. It was trespassing in my camp." Mandu struggled a bit more, and the net suddenly broke, freeing her. She ran off, and the other girl started to chase her. "Oh no you don't!" Kipo grabbed the pelt the other girl was wearing to slow her down. "Hey!"

"Run Mandu!"

"Let go!" The other girl bashed Kipo with her staff and Mandu ran into the bushes, escaping. "What, is, wrong with you?!" The other girl turned to Kipo. "Now we're both out of a meal!"

"How can you eat her?" Rebutted Kipo. "She's adorable!" Kipo let go of the pelt and stood up.

"I've eaten plenty of adorable. And there's lots more adorable that's tried to eat me."

"Do you have any hand sanitizer?" Asked Kipo. The other girl looked her over.

"You must not be from around here." She swung her staff at Kipo, pointing it at her. "Are you one of those underground mole people?"

"You've heard of us! I didn't think there were any humans left up here anymore, and now I've met two!" Kipo dug around in one of her pockets, and tossed the other girl a bag of chips. "For your lost lunch." The other girl dropped her staff and began ripping into the bag with her teeth, eating every last crumb she could as quickly as possible. Kipo watched her for a moment, then started talking. "Listen, I'm trying to find my way home. You clearly look like you grew up around here." The other girl licked the inside of the bag before continuing to eat. "Maybe you could help me find" the other girl threw the bag at Kipo before walking off. "it." Kipo began following the girl, trying to keep up. She hoisted herself over a giant tree root, then ran up to her. "Kipo. My name's Kipo. A-and, and I really need your help right now." The other girl gave her a glance.

"You're not gone? That's annoying."

"Look, there was a Mute-quake. A lot of people I care about could be hurt. I really need to get home." The other girl grabbed a spike from a plant as she passed it, and began picking between her teeth with it like a toothpick.

"Not my problem."

"Hey." Kipo stopped walking. "Hey!" The girl stopped and turned to her, sighing.

"First lesson of the surface: Up here, you don't shout like that." She pointed the spike at Kipo. "It's called ringing the dinner bell. Free advice." She tossed the spike away and continued to walk. Kipo watched her go, then climbed up a car.

"Hey, you, wolf girl!" She yelled. "Yeah! You, walking away from me! I'm still talking to you!" No response. "Fine. I don't need you anyway!" She jumped down from the car and began walking. "I'll find my own way" Kipo ran into a giant spider web. "Oh, hi. You look friendly." A spider walked towards her, and the other girl pulled her off the web with her staff before the spider got to her. Kipo looked at her.

"That's your last freebie."

"Fine. I'll just go this way instead." Kipo started walking, and the other girl grabbed her with her staff again.

"Really? You're just gonna walk right into Death Ivy?" An insect flew up and landed on the ivy, then fell over dead in a few seconds.

"Whoa." The other girl facepalmed, and groaned at Kipo.

"You're not gonna last five minutes." She lowered Kipo back to the ground. "Look, I'll help you get home. But once you're back, I'm out. Up here, I work alone. Got it?"

"Oh, thank you!" Kipo went in for a hug, but the other girl swept her off her feet again, putting her back on the ground.

"No hugging!" Kipo looked up at her.

"I knew you were a good person." The other girl lifted her staff and started walking. "Hey, I just realized I don't know your name." Kipo started getting up.

"No talking!"

"Uh, ok. I'll just call you Wolf, then!" She ran after Wolf. "I've already been calling you that in my head."


Atom continued working on the knot that held the net. He was tiring quickly, but he was almost there. "Come on arms, don't give out yet. Almost there!" He pulled a few more threads, before he couldn't hold himself up any more and fell down to the bottom of the net again. "Drat!" He heard some snapping above, then let out a yelp as he suddenly fell, finally free. He picked himself up, then his sword. "Finally." He looked at Leo. "Now, to find the one who trapped us in there."
"Agreed!" Atom started running in the direction he saw Kipo go.


Wolf chomped down on a charred spider leg as Kipo recounted her tale. "At first we thought it was a Mute passing overhead, I mean that happens all the time, right? We learned a long time ago to anchor all tall furniture. But this one was like, an earthquake! I can't imagine how big it was! It made an entire cliff fall, while I was on it. And then, I landed in the water supply tube and nearly drowned!" Wolf finished chewing and swallowed.

"Sounds like a Tuesday. Listen, Kipo was it? Lesson two of the surface: Don't ever tell anyone that story. It could be very dangerous if people know you're from a burrow. And lesson three of the surface: Up here, you never pass up a meal." She gestured to the spider that was being cooked over a flame, and Kipo reached down and pulled a leg off of it. She bit into it, ripping some of it off.

"Crispy on the outside, chewy in the center." Wolf just looked at her.

"Can you tell me anything about your burrow that might help us find it?"

"Oh, well, there's the underground irrigation system, which is underground." Wolf just continued to look at her. "Oh wait! The Clover! How could I forget the clover? We live under this barrier called the Great Clover. I've never actually seen it, but we use it as our city emblem." Kipo drew what she was talking about on the ground, and Wolf looked it over.

"Hm. I may know what that is." She got up and pulled out some rope. "We'll make camp here for the night."

"For the night? Out here?" Asked Kipo. "Uh, my dad must be really worried about me right now, so…" A sudden roar in the distance interrupted her. "Uh, did you hear that? Because I definitely did. It feels like something we should worry about." Wolf just continued tying her rope to create a defensive trap. She groaned, then pulled the rope taught across the entryway. Before she finished, though, she heard some rustling in the bushes nearby. She dropped the rope and pulled out her staff, prepared to use it against whatever came out of the bushes. They continued to rustle, before someone stepped out of them.

"Is this where I heard her?" Asked Atom. Wolf lunged, tripping him, making him land on his back with the pointy bit of her staff pointing right at his nose. She growled at him. Kipo looked over, and gasped.

"It's you!" She got up and moved closer. "Uh, Wolf, do you think maybe you could, not point that at him?" Wolf sighed, then lifted her staff.

"Why did you follow us?" She asked.

"Because of her." Said Atom as he got back up, pointing at Kipo. "She asked me for help, and I agreed. I don't go back on my word for anything. Plus, I don't like being alone."

"Wolf, he's the first human I met up here." Wolf glared at Kipo, then looked back at Atom.

"Look buddy, just because you agreed to help her, does not mean you get a free ride with me. One step out of line, and you're going down." She gave him a look that scared him a bit.

"Understood, uh, Wolf." Wolf stood down and backed away a few steps, letting Atom into the building. He cautiously stepped past her, then sat across from Kipo at the fire. Wolf sighed, then continued on with her trap. Atom looked at Kipo.

"So, she seems nice."

"Tell me about it." Said Kipo. "But, she did agree to get me back home, so I'm glad for that." She took a deep breath. "So, what's your name? You never told me."

"Well, you never asked. But I'm sending the question back at you. I'm Atom." Kipo gasped.

"You mean like the particle?! So cool! I'm Kipo." Wolf finished her trap, then turned to the two.

"Get some rest. We leave at first light." Wolf walked back over to the fire and laid down, wrapping her pelt around herself like a blanket. Kipo laid down as well, and looked up at the night sky. Atom looked around for a few moments, before grabbing a few leaves. He handed some to Kipo, who wrapped herself in them. Atom laid down next, taking one of the few open spaces left, when Kipo started talking.

"So many sparkles. I was not prepared. Why would humans stay underground when every night they could look up and see this?" Atom glanced over to her and Wolf to see that Wolf was not particularly amused by Kipo's musings.

"Yeah, it's a real paradise." Remarked Wolf, sarcastically. She rewrapped herself, and Kipo looked up again.

"That must be the Big Dipper! It's part of Ursa Major. I'm kind of an astronomy buff even though I've never seen a sky before."

"Most well recognized pseudo-constellation of all time." Said Atom. "I'd be surprised if you didn't know of it." Kipo kept looking.

"Ooh! And that bright one, that's Polaris!" Atom sat up and looked up.

"The North Star. Easily the first star anybody learns about. It points north, letting sailors know which way they're heading." Wolf grumbled.

"You see the one that doesn't make any noise?"

"Well, none of them make, oh." Kipo chuckled a little, quietly. "Ok, I'll be quiet. You get sleep." Wolf closed her eyes again, and Atom rolled over. Then, Kipo gasped. "Aries! That's my birth sign! I've always wanted to see it! It's supposed to be a ram if you connect the dots. I guess you can kinda see it if you squint right,"

"Kipo!" Interrupted Wolf.

"Oh, oh right. Shh." Atom pulled Leo out for a few moments, and placed him in front of himself.

"Leo, what do you think of this place?"

"It's definitely interesting, to say the least. But I'm not sure what we're doing here."

"No kidding. Usually when I'm pulled to a Reality, it's because I have some kind of connection to it. But this, I don't have any kind of connection here."

"Who are you talking to?" Asked Kipo. Atom jolted up, keeping Leo hidden.

"Uh," he scratched the back of his head nervously, "talking to myself? Bit of a quirk I've picked up over time." He laid back down.

"Interesting." Said Kipo. "Well, if it helps you get to sleep, I won't stop you." Atom looked back at Leo.

"When should we tell them?" He asked.

"I don't know." Whispered Atom. He sighed. "We'll figure it out in the morning. Get some sleep." He put Leo back in his pocket, then put his head on the floor. "What could I possibly be doing here?"


Dawn had come and gone, and the trio were scavenging a long abandoned store. Wolf looked at another shelf. "Anything that looks useful, take." She pulled it down and crawled through to the other side. Atom was walking around the opposite side of the store, trying to find stuff.

"This place looks pretty well looted over here." He mentioned. Kipo attempted to open an old fridge door, but it fell off and clattered to the ground as she did. She pulled out an old carton of milk.

"October 23rd, 2020." She read. Atom looked at her from behind a shelf.

"Yeah, it's expired. By about 200 years." Kipo looked past the fridge to see Wolf. Atom practically gasped.

"200 years after 2020?" He wondered. "No wonder it's so different from any world I know." Kipo ripped off the top of the milk carton, and tipped it over. A block of milk fell out and landed on the floor, shattering. Wolf suddenly pulled something out.

"Found it!"

"Spot remover?" Asked Kipo. "That's for getting out shirt stains. No offense, yours may need a full spin cycle." Wolf spun the bottle in her hand before stashing it in her pelt. Then, the ground started shaking. Wolf looked up.

"Mega Bunny. It's a good thing we're insi" she was interrupted by another shake as everybody inside was thrown to the side.

"Whoa!" Exclaimed Kipo.

"Definitely a Mega Bunny." Wolf and Kipo looked up through a hole in the ceiling to see it. It was sniffing around.

"I saw that same Mega Bunny earlier." Said Kipo. "I named her Rabbecka."

"Yeah, it came back after you got close to its babies." Added Atom.

"The little ones are so cuddly!" Finished Kipo.

"You touched the babies?" Asked Wolf. She looked up, and pulled Kipo away as a giant rabbit foot came down. Atom dashed out of the aisle he was in, trying to get away as well.

"I knew there was a reason Mandu tried to stop you from petting the babies!" He called.

"Why did you touch the babies?" Demanded Wolf as she pulled Kipo into a run. "Don't you know you can't touch the babies?!" Atom got next to them as they got into a full on sprint.

"But they were so cute gah!" Another foot came down right in front of the three, forcing them to make a sharp turn to avoid it. Wolf started looking in the aisles.

"Aisle six, baking goods. Aisle seven, drinks. Aisle eight, bingo!" She suddenly stopped, bringing both Atom and Kipo to a stop as well as she looked down the aisle, seeing a very important can. She dashed down the aisle and grabbed it as another foot came down next to Kipo and Atom. They started running as Wolf bounded to catch up to them. She started spraying Kipo with the can, and she started coughing. Up above, the Mega Bunny continued its rampage for a few more seconds, before taking some more sniffs of the air. It started lumbering away. Wolf continued spraying Kipo even as the group continued to get further and further away from the store.

"Pretty sure you got the baby scent off me!" Said Kipo. Atom backed away a bit, coughing.

"You trying to use the entire thing in one shot?" He asked.

"You can't be too careful." The can ran out, and Wolf shook it a bit. "Huh? Oh, all out." She tossed it away.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Sighed Kipo.

"It's a good thing I found this second bottle." Wolf took out another one and shook it.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Yelled Kipo as she was sprayed down again.

"Not to be the one to annoy you, but this seems a bit excessive." Said Atom. "The Mega Bunny already left." Wolf continued spraying.

"This one's Summer Rain." The group continued walking, eventually getting to a large building with water gushing out of it. Wolf took a deep breath, then jumped in, swimming up. Kipo looked at Atom before doing the same. Atom watched the two of them for a moment.

"You sure you can do this?" Asked Leo.

"Like I said last night, I'd rather not be alone. And until we figure out how to get you into your real form, you don't count as anything other than a friend I can talk to." Atom took a deep breath, then followed Wolf and Kipo two girls reached the surface before he did, and took some breaths.

"That is way better than taking the stairs!" Said Kipo. Atom breached the surface, and began floundering around trying to find an edge. He eventually found the one Kipo was on and pulled himself up, coughing again.

"Haven't, had to, hold my breath that long, in a long time." He wheezed. The trio pulled themselves up, and started trying to dry off. Atom and Kipo followed Wolf onto a giant lily pad, which she began pushing along with her staff.

"If you run into any," she paused to consider for a moment, "thing, act like you're from the surface."

"From the surface. Got it." Said Kipo. She hunched over a bit and pouted. Wolf looked at her.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"I'm from the surface," started Kipo, using a deeper voice, "where life is hard. You gotta be tough as nails, iron and fire, wearing dead animals." The lily pad floated into a room.

"Good. You're catching on." Wolf turned to Atom. "And as for you, keep a lookout in the back. You're no mole person, but you aren't from the surface either. I don't trust you anywhere near me."

"Fine." Relented Atom, knowing it was an argument he couldn't win.

"This is my angry surface face." Said Kipo, keeping up her self-pep talk. Atom stepped off the lily pad onto another plant, watching the back. "Hmm." She noticed something, and almost immediately dropped it. "Whoa, what's that?" She jumped off the lily pad and onto a floating desk. Her momentum carried her to a telescope that was hanging from the ceiling, and she peered through it as Wolf floated up next to her. She gasped. "There's so much to see when you're not in a cave!"

"Focus, Kipo." Said Wolf, harshly. She moved the telescope to make Kipo look at something very specific. She gasped again.

"That must be it! It looks just like the clover in our emblem." She pulled back from the telescope. "Wow. So that's my home." Atom peered into the hallway, then started making his way over to the two girls as silently as he could.

"It's half a day's walk from here." Said Wolf. "But we'll have to get over Skyscraper Ridge." Kipo looked through the telescope again and took a look at the path they needed to take.

"That looks dangerous."

"It is." Agreed Wolf. Atom got over to them. "I'm really sticking my neck out for you. And for what?" Kipo glanced to the side.

"I wish I knew how to repay you." She thought of something. "Or, if you wanted to come stay with me, I'm sure there'd be a place for you in my burrow!" Wolf looked at her.

"And go all soft and mushy like the rest of you mole people? No thanks." She looked back out.

"Uh, it might be a good idea to get going now." Whispered Atom. "We're about to have" Kipo looked back, then fell backwards and pushed Wolf and Atom into the water as a tongue lashed out at them. "Company." The three looked back to see a frog wearing a suit as he pulled his tongue back in. He straightened his tie and croaked at them.

"Humans." He dashed forward, and Wolf jumped out of the water to fight against him. The frog got his tongue on her staff, but she began spinning it, twisting up his tongue. Kipo winced at that while Atom put a hand on his back, ready to draw his blade. The frog bashed Wolf with a picture, sending her out the window, only for her to be caught by her staff and bounce back at him, slamming him away. She jumped off of him and landed on a desk, where she spotted a vial of ink, and shot it at the frog with her staff, getting it all over his suit. He gasped.

"My shirt!" He began patting at the ink, trying to get it off. "It won't come out!" He continued at it. "It's setting!" Wolf floated back to Kipo and Atom.

"Careful, that's one of the Mod Frogs. You do not want to mess with them." Kipo pointed at the frog suddenly.

"You're a talking frog!" Wolf gestured a stop signal at her as Atom gripped the hilt of his blade.

"That's not exactly acting like you're from the surface there." He muttered.

"Huh?" Asked the frog. Kipo gave a weak, nervous laugh.

"I mean, I've seen tons of talking frogs before." She looked at Wolf for a brief moment. "That wear suits. No, no biggie." Wolf face palmed, then reached into her pelt.

"What my friend here means to say is, we have this!" She pulled out the spot remover.

"Spot Remover!" Exclaimed the frog. "Give it to me!"

"If," said Wolf, moving the bottle behind her and over the window, "you let us go." The frog gasped.

"Look, this is my private office." His tone matched that of a scolding adult. "Was there an 'enjoy the view' sign on my door? I think not!" Kipo, Wolf, and Atom looked at each other.

"We're, Mega Bunny hunters." Said Wolf. "We were just scouting." Atom nodded in agreement.

"Ugh, just give me the spot remover. Then I'll decide what to do with you." Wolf lifted the bottle up again, and the frog smiled, before she suddenly threw it to the opposite wall and out a window.

"Oops." Said Wolf. The frog made a mad dash for the window and leaned out of it, shooting his tongue at the bottle to grab it. The trio rushed out the door as he reeled it back in.

"Oh thank huh?" He looked at the door as it slammed shut, then sprayed the spot remover at the ink stain and began patting it out. "Mega Bunny hunters, right. Looked more like a pair of burrow people to me." The stain came out as an idea crossed him. He looked at the door. "Huh."


Night had fallen, and the group was out walking again. Kipo was looking up at the stars, and sighed. "This does not get old." Wolf raised her staff behind her head.

"Lesson five on the surface: Looking up, gets you killed." She spun her staff, making Kipo look back down.

"As cool as the stars are when there's little to no pollution to block them, it's hard to stay alert for danger while looking at them." Agreed Atom. Kipo focused forward, then suddenly stopped.

"Whoa." In front of them was a tree, covered in bikes. The trio took another step forward, when something snapped behind them. Wolf turned instantly, spinning her staff at whatever it was, and saw Mandu. It snorted and Kipo gasped. "Mandu! You came back! Here girl." She patted her legs, and Mandu seemed happy to go to her, but half a step forward and another look at Wolf's staff stopped her. She looked back, and Wolf realized something.

"Something's wrong."

"Yeah, you're pointing a nightmare stick at a tiny pig! How do you expect the poor thing to react?" Mandu looked back and squealed, before running past the group.

"I'm not the one who spooked her." Explained Wolf.

"If Mandu is willing to run past Wolf after what happened, we need to be on guard for whatever is coming." Said Atom. He reached back and drew his sword. Kipo looked at him.

"Oh my gosh! Is that a sword?!"

"Kipo! Keep it down." Warned Wolf. She looked around slightly. "In there, go!" She shoved Kipo and Atom towards a nearby bush, where they all hid. A dragonfly came up, followed by a car with three frogs.

"Oh burrow people!" Said the seeming leader. "I figured out where you're from!" He jumped off the car and landed hard on the ground. "Shocker! A Burrow! You could lead us to the mother lode of humans." He suddenly looked to the side and shot his tongue out. He pulled Mandu back, past the bush everyone was hiding in. "Ah, just a pig." Kipo gasped and looked out. "Eh, at least now we have a snack."

"No." Said Kipo, as she watched the frog carry a squealing Mandu back to the car. "I won't let them take her!" Kipo started to move, but was grabbed by Wolf.

"And risk our necks for a Mute? See, this is why I work alone!" Atom tentatively put his hand on Wolf's shoulder, and she glared at him. He pulled back quickly.

"Wolf, you've never had a pet before. But when you have one, it's like family." Kipo glared at Wolf.

"If you like to be alone so bad, maybe you should be!" She pulled herself out of Wolf's grip, and walked out of the bush. Atom sighed.

"I'm going with her." He started to follow Kipo when Wolf grabbed him.

"No, follow me!" She pulled him away from Kipo, going the other way. Kipo walked towards the frog, then spoke.

"Put the pig down right now!" The frog stopped instantly.

"Burrow girl, there you are." The frog turned to her, along with the other 2. Kipo looked at them, and started reconsidering her choice. The big one started swinging a mace around while the small one started tapping a bat against his hand. Kipo heard some rustling from the bush behind her, and peeked back to see Wolf dragging Atom away. She looked at the frogs again, and quickly thought of something. "Uh, that pig is a bloodthirsty killer." She pointed at the frogs, thinking about what else to add. "She'll tear you limb from limb." The frogs kept approaching her.

"Mm, yeah." Said the lead frog. "I'll take my chances." Mandu suddenly chomped down on his hand, and he screamed in pain, dropping her. Kipo grabbed her quickly and started running. The frogs looked at her for a few moments before jumping back onto the car. Kipo took a moment to look back and saw them catching up very quickly. She tried to pick up her pace, but they were on her tail in a moment. Suddenly, Kipo felt her feet leave the ground and something pulling at her shirt. She looked to the side to see Wolf, riding a bike. Looking to the other side, she saw Atom riding another one.

"Wolf! Atom! You came back!"

"Yep." Relented Wolf. She flung Kipo into the air as she made a sharp turn, digging her staff into the ground to control her turn better. Atom followed to the best of his ability with his sword, but was a lot less quick with his movements.

"Haven't ridden a bike in quite a while!" He panted. The car drove right past the road they had turned on, and the two kept riding. Kipo landed on Wolf's bike, safely enough. Atom glanced back to see that the frogs had gotten turned around and were coming at them again. "Pick up the pace!" He and Wolf kept riding, barely keeping ahead of the car. They came to a stairwell and, because of their momentum, couldn't turn to avoid it, so they went straight down it. The car stopped at the top, but the lead frog jumped down and started using his tongue to catch up. Atom and Wolf just kept going, riding down the stairs like a smooth surface. The frog made an attempt at Kipo and shot his tongue at her, when Wolf came up with a plan. She swung her staff up, catching a tree that had broken in half, and swung up and around to land on the frog as he reached for Kipo. She slammed the pointy bit into his head as he slammed into the ground, knocking him out instantly. They slid to a stop behind Kipo and Atom. Kipo gasped.

"Is he dead?"

"No." Wolf lifted up her staff and spun it. "But when he wakes up, he'll have a bad headache," she climbed back onto the bike with Kipo and got moving, followed by Atom, "and possibly some memory loss." Atom took a few deep breaths as they rode.

"I, I can't believe we did that." He said. "I knew some joy riders jumped down stairs with their bikes, but I never knew you could just ride down them."

"Less talking, more riding!" Said Wolf. "We need to get some distance between us and them!" They continued on in silence for a little while, until Wolf veered in another direction. Atom followed her to a derelict house. She rode right in and spun her bike, slamming the door shut on him.

"Uh," started Atom. Kipo opened the door for him.

"Come on!" Atom dove into the room as Wolf went to grab something.

"We'll hole up here." Atom and Kipo moved a couch in front of the door as Wolf moved a shelf.

"Normally at night, I'd be at home, doing my homework." Said Kipo. The trio moved a table in front of the door, then Wolf and Kipo slid down against it, sitting on the ground. "Eating a muffin." Atom sat down. "Not running away from homicidal frogs!" Wolf slapped a hand over her mouth.

"Shh!"

"Oh, oh my head." Said someone outside. "I, wait a minute, why are you following me?"

"Uh, Jamack, we're looking for those humans." Said another voice.

"Oh, yeah, right." Said Jamack. "Yeah, just, duh. Let, let's get back to that then." Kipo let out her held breath.

"Whew." She looked at Wolf. "Since we've had our first fight and makeup, that makes us officially sisters." She put her hand on Wolf's shoulder.

"Don't." Kipo immediately took it off of her.

"Uh right." Atom sighed.

"I'm just glad we're all okay." He leaned back.

"Nobody asked you." Scolded Wolf. Suddenly, some crying came from above. The three got up quickly. "What is that?"

"It sounds like crying." Said Atom. "We'll need to quiet down whatever's making it if we don't want to get caught!" Kipo started heading upstairs, followed by Wolf. Atom glanced at the barrier they had made before he followed. When they got upstairs, they followed the sound to a room and opened the door. Kipo gasped at what she saw.

"There's a baby here. Why is there a baby here?" In a small cot was what looked like a swaddle of blankets that was moving slightly with each cry. Atom rushed over to the window to check for other escape routes, just in case. Down below, someone began banging at the door, before the barrier was suddenly pushed out of the way as the door opened. Jamack came in, followed by the other two frogs. Wolf looked down.

"We have to shut that thing up!" She whispered. Mandu ran into the room and quickly closed the door. Kipo grabbed the baby and started rocking it in her arms.

"Ok, we really need you to hush little baby!" She whispered. Wolf pointed her staff at it.

"I'll put him to sleep. There's a slight chance this'll kill him." Kipo pushed the staff away.

"Don't you dare!" She pulled back what was covering the baby to look at it, then quickly recovered it.

"What'd you see?" Asked Atom, coming back over. Kipo lowered the baby and Wolf pulled away the covering, revealing a massive grub with two big eyes. It was screeching a bit and crying, along with wriggling around.

"A Mute?! You gotta be kidding me!" Complained Wolf.

"It's still a baby!" Replied Kipo.

"Check every room!" Yelled Jamack from downstairs.

"We need that baby to be quiet!" Whispered Atom. He started moving towards the door, sword out, when Wolf grabbed him and shook her head. Kipo began moving the grub up and down a bit.

"Shh, shh, shh." She repeated, trying to calm it down. Wolf stood with a wide stance, ready to attack whoever came into the room. Atom stood next to her in his own fighting stance, sword at the ready. Mandu stood between them, glaring at the door. "Do you know any grub nursery rhymes?" The grub screamed out, crying loudly.


So, what do you all think? And no, get the idea of Mark being Atom out of your head. That headcanon will not exist here, okay? They're two different people, two very different people. You'll see in chapter 5 or 6, I forget which one. Anyways, I do hope you all enjoyed this. And be ready for an amazing ride later on. If anybody manages to guess my plan for this, more power to you. But don't spoil it for others. Till next time!