Chapter 2 – Doppelganger
"Obi is a weird nickname," Mello informed.
"Mello is a weird nickname too," Piper responded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"How do you know it's a nickname?" The blonde snapped.
"Because I'm a physic," Piper retorted before sticking out her tongue. Mello returned the gesture only to have Linda roll her eyes.
"Stop acting like a six year old," she said.
"But she is!" Mello accused, pointing at Piper.
"I am a six year old," Piper informed.
Huffing, Mello turned to Matt. "So how is a little girl going to help us find a hooker's house?"
"He's not a hooker!" Piper screeched.
"Defensive," Mello whistled. "You don't even know him, kid. And shut up, the adults are talking."
"Mommy and Next both being quiet," Piper sneered.
"Ouch," Matt hissed. "That burns, Ob, that really burns."
"You're less mature then me and that's saying something!" Piper retorted. "And its Obi, with an I on the end. Not Ob."
"Obi-Wan Kenobi," Mello muttered.
"Who was played by Ewen McGregor and looked like less of a cream puff then you in Episode One; the Phantom Menace," Piper sing-songed.
"Your kid is a geek," Mello told Linda, before realizing. "What!? There is no way I'm more of a fruit then Obi-Wan in that movie!"
"You paint your fingernails," the little girl told him.
"How can you tell!?" Mello snapped. "I wear gloves!"
"I was just guessing," she smiled. "But thanks for confirming it."
Groaning in frustration the blonde reached for the little girl, only to be grabbed from behind. As he struggled against Next's weak hold, Linda pulled the door open and waved them inside.
Matt took a seat on the sofa like he owned the place, scooting over as Next shoved Mello down and sat beside him. Piper ran over to a stack of toys and Linda sat in a chair across from them.
"No TV?" Mello asked.
"Piper and I spent all our free time in the art studio or playing with toys," Linda informed him. "There's no need for things like TV or the internet."
While Mello stared at her, Matt informed him; "They don't own any video games, either."
"Insanity," the blonde breathed. "Complete insanity."
"I know how to keep myself busy," Linda hummed. "And Piper can entertain herself easily, just like her father. She also likes to play with toys, just like N-"
She stopped in the middle of her sentence as Matt gave her a stern look.
"Anyway," Linda went on, clearing her throat. "I do believe Piper can help you, Matt, but I don't want anything else going on. She's not in complete control of it yet and although she is much better at it then her father was, there's still a chance you could get lost in a reality and never come back home. If that happens I'll find myself a Jumper and hunt you down in every last reality until I've had my fill of revenge."
"Scary," Mello breathed.
"Jumper?" Next asked.
"A person with the ability to travel freely throughout the different realities," Matt explained. "They are rare and far between. Some are more powerful then others- for example, while all can travel alone, some can travel with others and a few are able to send people through without going themselves. The ability to jump is passed throughout the family although its not something a child will instantly get. If you're a jumper in one reality you are a jumper in all the realities you exist in. Piper here-"
"Obi-" The little girl corrected.
"Piper," Linda stated firmly.
"Had the ability passed down from her father," Matt finished.
"You know," Mello mused, looking the little girl up and down. "She looks really familiar. I mean, I see the Linda in her, but there's something else in there too…"
"Of course," Linda huffed, crossing her arms. "Her father was from the orphanage."
"The orphanage?" Mello asked in surprise.
"Was?" Next repeated.
"Yes," Linda nodded to Mello. "And yes," she did to Next as well. "He died about six years ago."
"I'm so sorry," Next breathed.
Linda smiled sadly. "Don't worry about it. We weren't in love. I cared for him a great deal but he had other things on his mind, including someone else. Still, he cared for Piper with all his heart and gave us both enough money to last for the rest of our lives. If he hadn't died I know he would have been a great father."
Matt cleared his throat, jumping at the glare Linda sent his way. "Anyway," he went on, looking at Piper. "What do you say, Obi? Do you want to do some jumping for us so we can take Next back to his home?"
Looking them up and down a few times, Piper gave a shrug of indifference and said, "Beats watching paint dry, I suppose."
Mello rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, giving an annoyed noise. "Okay, this is a load of shit. The fun and games are over- they weren't funny in the first place, but this is going a little bit too far!"
"Be safe, sweetheart," Linda told Piper, kissing her on the head. She then sent Matt a stern glare. "If anything happens to her, Matt…" she left the warning there.
"Lets just take the hooker home," Mello continued to rant. "Flying us all the way out to god knows where and getting Linda and her kid in on it? Come on, Matt, this is pathetic! And if this is some sort of prank then it isn't very good!"
"Is there anything you need to make the jump?" Matt asked Piper.
"Nope," she responded. "I'll just follow his trail back to the last world he came from. Easy as pie."
Matt shrugged. "I have no idea how jumping works. I've never been outside of this reality."
"You could have come up with a story twenty times better then this!" Mello went on, either not realizing he was being ignored or not caring. "I mean, you've played over a thousand different video games, right? One of them has to have a better plot then this!"
"Are you ready?" Piper asked Next, who nodded. The little girl grabbed hold of his hand, grabbing hold of Matt as well. "Grab him," she told them both, nodding to Mello.
"You could have said he was the reincarnation of Cloud Strife and it would have sounded better," Mello continued, paying no attention as Next and Matt grabbed hold of his hands.
"Matt," Linda caught the redhead's attention one last time. "I'm going to let Near know you're coming."
"Near?" Mello asked. "Who is Near-?"
The world twisted and turned around him, pulling at the back of his stomach. His grip on Next almost slipped but the albino held his hand firmly. It was as if they were falling, but still standing on solid ground- he couldn't see anything, save for the three people around him.
Then it stopped and they stumbled to the ground, save for Piper.
"…What the fuck was that?" Mello asked.
"Jumping," Piper told him with a smug look.
Next stood up, brushing himself off. He glanced around before gasping and pointing off to the north. "There's my home!"
Mello stood as well and turned to look, expecting to see a shabby little whore house or maybe a cottage, or something. Or maybe a huge sign saying, 'Haha, we got you good, Mello.' Anything would have made sense (not that falling through nothingness and landing in the middle of a field when just seconds ago he was in a house made sense) aside from what Next was pointing at.
"You live in a castle," Matt deadpanned.
"Um, yes?" Next offered.
Mello glared at Matt who promptly ignored him and asked, "You're a prince?"
"Um-" Next breathed, looking anywhere but at the redhead.
"He's not a prince!" Mello protested. "You're a hooker that Matt hired and now he's going way too far to deny it!"
Matt smacked Mello across the back of the head. "Mel, come on. I'm twenty-seven years old, I don't play pranks anymore! And you are not blind; so stop denying what is right in front of you! I know it's hard to swallow but this shit is real, okay? Magic exists, different realities exist! You know the Death Note is real, how is this such a stretch?"
Mello's eyes narrowed and Matt swallowed nervously. There was an unspoken agreement between the two of them that the Death Note would remain unmentioned. It had taken the life of their idol, as well as many others. It had also taken the life of someone that Mello cared for (in a very odd way) although could not stand, but the blonde didn't know that.
"The death note was something I couldn't explain, true," Mello breathed. "But this story is just way too outrageous to be true."
"It is true," Piper told him, breaking a bit of the tension between the two men.
"How would you know? You're just a little girl," Mello hissed.
She crossed her arms and gave him a cold look, one that seemed all too familiar. "I may seem like just a little girl to you, but my father was smart. Smarter then you. And even if I didn't get to meet him, I got my brains from him, at least enough to know when to have an open mind."
"Smarter then me? Ha!" Mello laughed. "I was top of my class at the top school in the world. No one is smarter then me."
Piper gave him a disbelieving look before she turned to Matt and glared. "You didn't."
Matt gave a sheepish grin, before stepping back to avoid the swipe Piper threw at him. "What!? He was upset, okay!? Suicidal! I couldn't stand to see him like that!"
"You're an idiot!" The little girl screamed.
"They'll come back if he ever sees Near again!" Matt protested.
"Near's right there!" Piper snapped, pointing at a very confused Next.
"I meant the Near from my world," Matt corrected.
"He's dead," Piper hissed.
"The Near from- oh you know what I mean!" Matt exclaimed, throwing his hands up in defeat. "They'll come back if he sees the Near he's in love with. Those are the specifics."
"What the shit are you two talking about?" Mello interrupted with a hiss. "What will come back? Who is Near? What the fuck is going on!?"
"Um…" Next breathed, catching everyone's attention. "I don't like to break up your party, but…" he pointed toward the castle, where a group of men on horses could be seen riding their direction.
"Well isn't this just lovely," Mello growled, crossing his arms. "You even hired horsemen."
"I didn't hire anyone!" Matt screeched.
"This is a load of shit!" Mello retorted.
"Stop being so thick headed!" Matt yelled.
"I hope they're not always like this," Piper said to Next.
"I hope Piper is right," Next agreed with a nod.
It wasn't long before the men on horseback reached them. It was a group of maybe ten men, obviously from the palace- they wore armor and carried weapons. The man in front had a sword and shield, red hair and an eye patch over one eye. He looked everyone over before finally dropping off of his horse and approaching slowly.
After a moment of silence and staring at both Next and Mello, he finally said, "I see you two found each other."
Next glanced at Mello before holding up his hands in defense. "Oh, no! This isn't-"
"Holy shit!" Mello breathed suddenly, eyes wide.
The new man lifted an eyebrow and looked at Next in question.
"Do not tell me," he sighed, shaking his head in defeat. "I suppose the hair should have given it away. Oh well. I've found you and that is what matters."
"Be more respectful!" Piper snapped at Mello. "This guy is a royal guard!"
"Don't you see it?!" Mello hissed, pointing at the new guy.
"See what?" The little girl asked.
"This guy is Matt!"
The redhead gave his friend a confused look before turning to look at the man, giving him a long stare. After a few moments his eyes went wide and he realized exactly what Mello was saying.
"Holy shit!" He cried as well. "Its me!"
"Next," the man said to the albino. "Would you kindly explain what is going on?"
"Um…" Next breathed, giving an embarrassed smile. "Mail, this is Matt, Mello, and Piper. This is Mail, Mihael and my person guard and personal friend."
"I'm your fucking guard!?" Matt screeched at Mello.
"My guard?!" Mello breathed.
"Oh, brother," Piper sighed, rolling her eyes.
--
Mihael lifted his head as Near entered the room, taking a seat across from him.
"I have good news," the white one said, lifting a hand to his hair and curling a lock around his fingers.
"What is it?" Mihael asked, eyes narrowed. It was obvious he still did not quite trust Near, which wasn't something that surprised him.
"A friend from another world contacted me," Near went on, perking the other man's interest. "She met Next. She told me that she sent a jumper with him to bring him home to Mihael."
The elder man eyed Near carefully. Before he could say anything, however, Near continued.
"I know Mihael doesn't trust me and I haven't given him any reason to. But Mihael has nothing more to lose right now."
Mihael stared at him for a few seconds before he said in an amused tone, "You're not very good at convincing people, white one."
Near hummed in response. "I usually just do things without trying to convince anyone."
"What a kind person you are."
"Well, not everyone can be as kind as King Mihael."
"So you say Next is on his way with this person… do you know when he will be here?"
"No, but Mihael is welcome to wait here with me if he wishes."
Running a hand through his blue tipped bangs, Mihael gave a nod. "Thank you, white one."
Near smiled slightly. "No need to thank me."