Little tip for my invested readers: comments make me update faster because I feel like my work is appreciated. Even saying you liked the chapter is enough.

That being said, here goes chapter nine.

Little warning: this contains a full-on crossover with the regular universe. Max, Nikki, David, and Neil find their way to the Camp Campbell I created. Max is not happy.

Just for clarification: C. Max is Counselor Max, AKA Grown-up Max. The same goes for everyone except little David, who gets C. David, the C standing for camper.

"Where the hell are we?"

Max's voice made David sigh in frustration.

He'd led Max and his two friends on a nature hike in the woods, where they'd gotten more than a little lost. Not to mention the bright flash of light that had blinded them for a second. He'd even heard a voice say, 'go to the universe I created because I decreed it.' But he'd chalked that up to stress. After all, he knew the woods well and he was sure they were on their way back to Camp Campbell.

"I'm sure we're almost back to camp!" he assured his campers.

"I'm not so sure about that," Neil admitted nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Everything looks… better-maintained."

"Did we wander into the Flower Scout camp by accident?" Nikki asked. "I hope not."

"Who's out there?" asked a voice, familiar to all four of them.

"Jaspar?" the kids whispered.

"Jaspar," David murmured.

As if on cue, Jaspar walked out of the bushes, wearing his normal clothes… save for the fact that he was wearing normal sneakers. David felt frozen. He couldn't move or talk.

Was God punishing him?"

"Who are you guys?" Jaspar asked, tilting his head.

"Cut the shit, Jaspar—you know who we are," Max snapped.

"Um… no, I don't. You folks must be lost. Come back to camp with me and I'm sure the counselors will figure something out." He walked back into the bushes and the four followed him.

Well, the kids started to, but they ended up having to push David forward. He was still frozen with fear and guilt.

"Hey! I found some people in the woods!" Jaspar called.

"Oh, really?" they heard a girl say. "Cool. They're not fish men or axe murderers, are they?"

"Nope! At least, I don't think so."

The girl came into view. She looked like a ten-year-old version of Gwen, which unnerved the kids and David. She tilted her head.

"Why do they look like David and the counselors?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jaspar replied with a shrug. "I'm taking them to the counselors."

"Well, good luck with that." The girl ran off towards where they could see their fellow campers as themselves and joined whatever they were doing. Jaspar smiled.

"That was Gwen," he explained. "She and Davey are my best friends at Camp Campbell. She's here for Psych Camp, which I'm pretty sure is a joke."

"Whatever," Max muttered. They came to the counselors' cabin (which looked a little bigger than they remembered) and Jaspar walked by it to another building nearby.

"This is the camp office. It's also where our head counselor sleeps since there's not enough space in the counselors' cabin for all four of them." He opened the door.

"Hey, Jaspar," a voice said. Max stared at the man before them and rubbed his eyes.

It was an older version of him!

"Hey, Max," Jaspar greeted the man before turning to his companions. "This is our head counselor, Max!" C. Max looked at the campers (and counselor) before him.

"Nice to meet you all," he stated. "Welcome to Camp Campbell, also known as Hell on Earth."

"I can't believe this," whispered Neil to Max. "It's… an adult you!"

"I know, idiot! And I actually look really cool!"

"Where you guys from?" C. Max asked.

"I know this is going to sound crazy," Max sighed. "But we're from Camp Campbell—a different one."

"I kinda figured that, considering you look like the ten-year-old version of me. And that's a grown-up version of David with the kid versions of Nikki and Neil."

"The adult me's here, too?" gasped Nikki.

"She's in the mess hall, helping Tabii get ready for lunch. I've got to go make sure the kids aren't murdering Neil." He waved as he headed outside and Jaspar went with him.

"Tabii's here?" Neil whimpered, shaking.

"Let's go meet the adult Nikki before jumping to conclusions," Max sighed. "You coming, David?"

"I'm going to stay here," David mumbled, sitting down on the bed. Max could see Mr. Honey Nuts's leg sticking out from under the pillow, and he knew that what Jaspar said about him being head counselor was true.

He, Nikki, and Neil headed into the mess hall, where they could see a little version of David with a bandage on his temple. He was scrubbing one of the benches clean of dirt.

"Hey," Max greeted the kid. C. David looked up and smiled.

"Hi! You must be new campers! I'm David!" He stuck out his hand for a handshake and Nikki took it.

"What happened to your head?" Neil asked worriedly.

"I fell in the river about a week ago. Max fished me out, but I still hit my head on a rock underwater." He rubbed the spot as if it was still sore.

"But he's okay now," said a woman's voice. A woman with green hair—obviously the adult version of Nikki—was standing in the doorway of the kitchen. She wore the same counselors' uniform as C. Max.

"It's older me," Nikki whispered in awe. "I look so cool!"

"I finished the benches, Nikki!" C. David chirped, running up to her. She ruffled his hair.

"You've still got a week and a half to go until your punishment's worked off, Davey, but if you keep up the good work, I'll let you go early."

"Okay!"

"How about you go tell Max and Neil that lunch is ready so the other campers can eat?" C. David nodded and ran outside. She turned her attention to the 'new campers'.

"Hey!" Nikki greeted her older self. "I'm the kid version of you!"

"I kinda figured that, based on the hair and clothes alone."

"What the hell are you and the older version of me doing here?" Max asked. "And the adult Neil and Tabii, for that matter?!"

"Well, Max got a job as counselor a couple years ago, and Neil and Tabii were added on this year. I arrived last month when they needed a hand to watch the kids."

"And Max is her boyfriend!" added Gwen, popping up and startling Neil.

"Yes, and Max is my boyfriend," C. Nikki confirmed.

"I'm going to go bang my head into the wall," Max groaned.

"How did you guys even get together?" Neil asked, tilting his head.

"Well… it's a complicated story…"

"It involves Garden Mother Sasha and Tabii taking a fork to the eye," Gwen added. "Also, I'm pretty sure Sasha's still in jail for that."

"You guys got her arrested?" inquired Nikki.

"No, she got herself arrested for assault and destruction of property because she's a deranged stalker," Gwen corrected. "Specifically, Max's deranged stalker."

"And I'll kick her in the face if she tries it again," C. Nikki muttered darkly, heading back into the kitchen.

"I like older me!" declared Nikki to her two friends.

"Well, older me is working at Camp Campbell, dating older you, and is apparently being stalked by Sasha."

Before Nikki could get out a reply, the doors opened and the campers came in. A man who could only be the adult version of Neil came in, writing something on a clipboard.

"Hey, Neil!" C. Nikki greeted him.

"Hey, Nikki," he replied, clicking his pen. "Did you see the letter your mom sent?"

"Ugh. Yeah. Can you believe she wants me to move back home at the end of the summer? Not happening."

"She asked me the same thing in her letter to me."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Neil interrupted his older self. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Me and Nikki are step-siblings," explained C. Neil. "Candy wants us both to move back home at the end of the summer—you know, while I'm working on my PHD."

"NERD!" both young and older Max called.

"Shut up!" both Neils yelled back. Both Nikkis started laughing, as did the other campers.

The fact that nobody was bothered by the fact that the younger versions of their counselors were here bothered Max. Were they so desensitized to weird stuff now that this was just a normal occurrence for them?

"Hey, what happened to your arm?" Nikki asked C. Max, looking at the bandages wrapped around his forearm.

"Oh. Cut it on a rock. Not a big deal."

"You were bleeding like you'd been shot," C. Nikki snorted. "Quit trying to play it off."

"Aw, c'mon, Nik. It wasn't a big deal. Besides, it was worth it."

"Where the hell did you cut your arm where it was worth it?" Max snorted.

"Pulling David out of the river."

"The river's like, four feet deep. The kid could've made it."

"Maybe at your Camp Campbell it is," C. Nikki said sternly. "At ours, it's eight feet in the middle. Twelve when it's storming like it was that day. We're lucky they both came back."

Max opened his mouth, then closed it.

Older me risked his life to save younger David?

"S-sorry. Ours only gets that deep if it's been a few days of storming."

"I get it. Sorry for snapping. It's just been a long week." She held up her hands defensively and Max could see why older him fell for her.

"Hey, Max," David greeted him, entering the mess hall.

"You done with your fucking pouting?" Max asked.

"Yes. Language."

"Nice try," C. Max chuckled. "My counselors did that, too—only it never stuck. I'm still the same asshole I was back then."

"You callin' me an asshole, fucker?" Max growled.

"I'm calling us assholes."

"But I love you anyway," C. Nikki piped up, kissing C. Max on the cheek.

"Aw…" Nikki cooed while Max silently contemplated banging his head into the wall like he'd thought about earlier.

"You curse around the kids?" David asked worriedly.

"You really have to ask that?" both Maxes sighed.

"Never mind." Max took the opportunity to go and look around outside a little more.

The camp seemed mostly the same, with a few small changes here and there. The infirmary looked like it was in much better condition, save for the dented metal wastebasket sitting by the door.

"What happened to that thing?" he muttered.

"I can tell you!" C. David's voice said behind him. Max jumped.

"Jesus Christ, David! What the fuck?!"

"Sorry."

"But… sure. Tell me what happened."

"Max kicked it into a wall."

"Whoa. Why?"

"He'd just finished talking to my dad after I got hurt last week and he was angry. Angrier than I've ever seen him. He kicked it into the wall and swore 'f'ing a-hole'."

"Jesus."

Max knew in that moment that older him was protective of younger David.

The same way David was protective of him.

"Well, thanks for telling me."

"He did get pretty mad a few days ago, though."

"What happened?"

"Long story short, Gwen saw a bite mark on Nikki's neck and thought she was turning into a vampire, so we hid out the counselors' cabin in the middle of the night to catch the vampire who bit her. We ended up attacking Max and getting in trouble."

Max had to fight to keep from laughing.

"W-what was the bite mark?"

"Nikki said it was just a 'love bite' that adults sometimes give each other. Max has one, too, but I think he almost called it something else until Nikki cut him off."

So I'm the one who has no filter and Nikki has one. Interesting…

"Of course, I'll have to get used to it, I guess. Nikki says they're moving in together and adopting me at the end of the summer."

"What?!"

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting it either, but it's gonna be great, Max!"

Max.

"Max."

"Max!"

Max opened his eyes to see Neil and Nikki shaking him. He was in his tent, back at his Camp Campbell and not the weird one he'd just been at.

"Ugh," he groaned.

"You were talking in your sleep," Nikki told him, shaking her head. "Something about biting people and you having no filter."

"I was just having a weird dream. We went to a Camp Campbell where we were the counselors and David and Gwen were campers. And Jaspar was alive."

"What else happened in your dream?" Neil inquired, intrigued.

"I dunno… I found out the counselor versions of me and Nikki were dating and that older me risked his ass to save camper David. It was just weird all around."

"Cool dream, though," Nikki piped up.

"I don't know," Neil mused. "It sounds like something from the fucked-up mind of a fanfiction writer going into her first year of college who spends way too much time watching web cartoons. And writing the fanfiction."

"Yeah, like she wrote it as part of a chapter to fuck with her readers," Max agreed.

"C'mon, that's silly!" Nikki giggled. "Let's go mess with David."

I was trying to be meta and I think I failed. Yes, I'm a fanfiction writer going into her first year of college who spends way too much time watching web cartoons. And writing fanfiction. I just outed myself as a girl. FIGHT ME, INTERNET!

Actually, don't, because I start college in less than two weeks and I want to help my friend move into her dorm.

ANYWAY

What do you guys think?

So long and thanks for all the fish!