Three Delivery "Another Dimension" 3
By Crystalquirt
Sue, Sid and Tobey disappeared from the bookstore thanks to a spell conjured by Kong Li. He used a recipe to separate them to get them out of his way while he finds the most powerful Black Liquid recipe. They are lost in a magical dimension where they experience their worst fears.
Nana has figured out where they are and is going after Kong Li to get the recipe he used to get them back. Once she finds them, they still have to get the Black Liquid recipe back from Kong Li!
Violence, more violence, possibly disturbing and scary situations, mild expletive.
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FROM PART 2
She watched a little longer, and saw that Tobey didn't leave the room. He vanished like reflected light disappearing. She pulled Sue's picture out and put Sid's picture behind the mirror next, anxious to see if his death was real. When he appeared he was in a totally different place. Alone and in strange clothing, she realized these were the illusions they were experiencing.
After using Tobey's picture she saw him just lying on a white floor sobbing. Saddened by what she saw, she wanted to waste no more time and find Kong Li.
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Nana learned from her research, that Sue, Sid and Tobey won't be able to get back without help from the outside. Not without her help. And they have to find each other first, and all have to realize none of what they are experiencing is real!
The most frustrating thing was if they needed her for guidance or help of any kind, she couldn't go in after them. There must be someone outside of the portal to get them back.
Nana sighed and added the mirror and pictures to her bag, intending to watch some more so she can open the portal at the right time for them to get back.
Also, to find them the spell would need to include something belonging to them, personally – like a sample of hair to find them in this other dimension. It's the only way to get the portal to open near them so they can use it to get back before it dissolves.
Nana ran to their rooms and got each of their brushes and combs. She sealed each in its own plastic bag and added them to her bag of herbs. She left to go hunt down Kong Li and get the recipe by any means necessary!
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Sid started to run back to Wu's, but through the smoke saw his bike sitting in front of Jiang's.
"Ai-ya, I know I left it in front of the bookstore. Why don't I remember any of this? I have to find Nana! She will know what's going on." His bike helmet wasn't with his bike and he wondered how he would have left his bike somewhere without it.
"My helmet is probably where ever my phone went." He patted his ninja outfit down once more hoping to find it in a hidden pocket or something, but no luck.
It felt strange riding without his helmet. Cold air blowing through his hair gave him a chill and he got goose bumps. On the way back to Wu's he went by the bookstore. A fire had destroyed it and all of the books, the roof caved in while Sid watched.
Sid stood up to pedal up a hill and the bow shifted on his back. He glanced over his shoulder at it again. "Why would I be carrying a bow and arrows? I don't even remember Nana starting us in archery yet."
He really didn't want to think about what Tiffany and Stacy said about what happened, especially the part about Tobey and Sue until he found Nana. But his mind still wandered to them while he pushed hard to go up the hill.
No way! Sue and Tobey can't be dead! I would never have done anything so careless to cause something like that. Sue and Tobey will be at home with Nana when I get there, I'm sure. "I'm SURE."
Please don't let what they said be true! He swallowed tears and concentrated on flying very fast back down the hill.
Sid's tears wouldn't stay swallowed after he saw Wu's Garden. Windows broken, the front door missing. The kitchen had been blackened from a fire and the electricity was off here too. It was probably off all over Chinatown.
With tears running down his face and calling for anyone who might still be there, he rode his bike right in the open doorway and jumped off to run up the steps. The steps caved in when he jumped up them.
Sid yelled as he fell towards more darkness. The strap on the bow tightened around his ribs before it started to slide off over his head. He frantically grabbed for it and caught it with one hand.
Hanging in the hole was less than fun, the cobwebs sticking to him and the darkness under the old steps really 'creeped' him out and he hurried to pull himself up. He kicked with his legs and used the bow to climb out.
He sat near the hole on a step and looked back down, but it was too dark down there to see anything. If he had fallen, even if he didn't break something, he would have been trapped in-between the walls below, with no way to climb back out. Because of mold damage, Mr. Wu sealed up that corner of the storeroom years ago and it was cheaper to just treat it and wall it up than to remodel it.
Sid shuddered at the thought of being trapped down there and got up to continue to their rooms. The upstairs was not in any better shape than the downstairs and there was no one there either. When he went back down he jumped down over the hole he made on the way up and found a black cat waiting at the bottom for him. The black cat had a white spot on its head, and white feet.
Sid stopped to pet it, and wound up sitting on the floor with it. While he scratched the cat's white spot on his head, he remembered about Tobey transforming into a winged monkey, cat, dog and the Nian. He couldn't help but get tears in his eyes again. The cat was not thrilled about Sid picking him up to cry into his fur, but allowed it.
Sid thought about how he missed them all so much. Could he have been in the vortex for so long that all this would have happened while he was gone, and why didn't Sue and Tobey come back with him? He wondered, if he made it back, why didn't they?
He looked into the cat's eyes and asked him if he was Tobey. The cat just looked away like a cat does. Sid felt a little silly, but he wanted to see them so bad – he hoped for a moment that Tobey had found him. "I think I'll call you 'Tobey' anyway."
A headache was coming on, and the cat wanted down anyway, so he let it down before holding his head in both hands. He felt the bumps on his head where he hit the wall twice while fighting with Kong Li so he was sure that really happened, and happened recently since the bumps were still there.
Sid startled when he heard a noise. "Tobey?" It sounded like it came from downstairs and it didn't sound like a noise a cat would make. He took a flashlight with him to go check it out. Maybe the others were hiding down there.
Downstairs in the storeroom Sid, checked everywhere, in every crack and crevasse. The freezer door was open just a crack. Sid went over to shut it, not remembering that the electricity was off anyway. When he got close the smell reminded him. The warm, rotting food inside was really stinky!
While he was so close, Sid saw something move inside! He thought it could only be an animal looking for scraps – no human would be in there with that stink – he wasn't even inside the warm freezer and the smell threatened to make him throw up. Whatever moved was bigger than the cat.
Not wanting to seal someone's dog in the freezer to die, he wanted to make sure it was out before he shut the door. He approached cautiously, his voice a little shaky. "Hey puppy, get out so I can close the door and keep some of the stink in.
A strange growling, crying noise sounded just before the door flew the rest of the way open and knocked Sid down. A very stinky Mr. Wu came out, tripped over Sid and almost landed on him. Sid rolled out of the way and jumped to his feet. "Mr. Wu! I'm so happy to see you! Where're the others?"
Mr. Wu got up and the yelling began! "YOU! It's all your fault! I knew you would one day be the ruin of my restaurant, but I never imagined I would lose my son and mother too!" Mr. Wu pulled his fist back like he was going to hit Sid. Sid stepped back and put his arms up, but instead Mr. Wu just sat down on the floor with tears in his eyes.
"Oh Mr. Wu! You can't mean Barney and Nana are dead? What happened?" Sid fought hard to stay calm.
"No they aren't dead – at least they weren't when they were taken! Kong Li had them taken to his castle – he said Mom would be his 'special' slave. He offered a big reward for you after you got away. How could you get away without Mom? Why are you still free?"
"Mr. Wu I don't remember any of this. How could this have all been my fault?"
"How could you have forgotten something like this? Are you just playing innocent thinking that no one will be angry with you if you have amnesia?"
"No way Mr. Wu! I wouldn't . . . Never mind! Where is Kong Li's castle?"
"He's building his castle behind the graveyard."
"I'm gonna go get them out. What about Tobey and Sue – have you seen them?"
"No. I haven't seen them since the left here with you to go fight this guy, Kong Li! Now I find out that you three kids and my own mother were keeping secrets from me all this time. Why would you put yourselves in such danger? Why would you let my Mom put herself in danger? If I had known – I wouldn't have allowed it!"
"But Mr. Wu, Nana was training us to protect Chinatown – we had to do it. She chose us after it was foretold to her. It had to be us."
"Well, after all that, I guess it wasn't enough! You didn't do a very good job of protecting us or your sister and friend. Mom should have picked someone more responsible."
"I don't know what happened and I don't have time to explain anything to you anymore. I gotta get to Kong Li's castle and rescue everyone by myself."
Sid stomped back upstairs and ran out to his bike, wiping away tears. "I knew this would be too much! How am I gonna beat Kong Li and rescue everyone alone? Oh man, this is bad."
The closer he got to the graveyard, the more it looked like a war zone. Even the streets were torn up here. The graveyard was mostly still there, and a large stone building had been built behind it. There were multiple windows and entranceways.
Kong Li had used magic to even dig a mote! There was a drawbridge over it and everything. Sid recognized people he knew milling about carrying heavy rock and wood in one direction, while empty handed people went somewhere to get more.
There was a brown coat hanging on a post and he grabbed it. Then, under a parked car, he hid the bow and arrows, mumbling "I have no idea how to use these anyway." He put the coat on over his black clothes on his way to the construction area.
There was a young man with dirty blond hair trying to carry a railroad tie alone. When he joined him the young guy looked very sad, but he smiled gratefully at Sid and they carried it across the drawbridge together. They added it to the stack of wood that others were measuring and cutting.
The young guy went back out to get more. He looked around for the helper he thought he'd found, but couldn't find him. "Having someone to help would have been too good to be true anyway." He kicked a rock and joined the others to retrieve more railroad ties.
Sid remained inside and ducked down behind stacks of bricks. When he was sure it was clear, he made it to the steps and went upstairs. Once there, he took off the bulky coat and left it in a chair in the corridor.
As he moved quickly and quietly along, he noticed the other people he passed looked vacant like they weren't even there except in body. No one seemed to notice him. Their minds were obviously someplace else and they looked so sad.
The main structure was built out of stone and brick, and the first floor was unfinished compared to the second floor. Here the walls were tiled and he was walking on a polished redwood floor. He stopped and peeked through the first set of double swinging doors he came to and saw a huge kitchen.
A kitchen like Oprah must have, there were marble countertops, and huge stainless steel appliances. The kitchen was huge and had multiple work tables. There were many people working here, Mrs. Thompson was at the huge stove, cooking something, and Barney! He was at the sink filling up a pot with water from a golden faucet.
There were eleven other people in the kitchen with them, chopping vegetables, cleaning, doing dishes. Sid picked up a large tub of dirty dishes sitting just inside the door and went toward the sink like he was going to wash them. As he walked by Barney he got his attention.
Barney looked very surprised and came over to stand next to him at the sink and whispered, "Sid, what are you doing here? We all thought you were dead. Oh man, Nana will be so happy!"
It seemed Barney at least, wasn't angry with him. "I'm here to get you all out of here, but first I need to talk to Nana!"
Barney told him that Nana was being held the dungeons, underground. "What's going on, here – feeding Kong Li's workers?"
"Oh no, he doesn't feed anyone but himself like this. We're lucky if we get bread or rice and water once a day." Three people walked by in a line with huge turkey's on platters going to the ovens while Barney told him that Kong Li was having a big party that evening.
It was to celebrate his being crowned King. Their new 'King Li' promised to choose people who were especially loyal and hard working to hold positions of importance and rule at his side during the celebration.
Then he got very serious and spoke very softly, "Sid? You have to hurry – it has been announced that he will execute Nana at the party! I want to go with you to save her!"
"No, you will be more use to me here, get everyone ready to get out of here!" Sid patted Barneys shoulder and left to find the dungeons. Everyone ignored him the whole time he searched the bottom floor for the entrance to the dungeons. He found a trap door behind a stack of straw bales and slipped down with no one seeing him. It was dimly lit with torches.
Sid was completely horrified when he found Nana. She was chained to a wall with her arms high and out to her sides. He ran to her and tried to get the chains off. There were burns on her wrists where the chains had been welded closed and there was no way even a key would release her. She felt him pulling at the chains and opened her eyes to look at him. "Sid, you're still alive, that's a surprise."
He ignored her cold greeting. "Nana how do I get you free?
"You can't free me now, you have 'work' to do first and you have to hurry! They longer you wait, the stronger Kong Li will become. You have to fix what you did and save everyone in Chinatown all by yourself."
"Fix what I did? No Nana! I couldn't have been responsible for all of this!" He cried. Nana didn't answer him. "I can't leave you here and I can't beat Kong Li and save everyone alone!"
Sid hugged her until she had to tell him to let go. "Hurry, you are the only chance we all have now."
"Where are Sue and Tobey? I can rescue them and they can help!"
"Sid, don't you remember? You were there when Kong Li killed Sue! You were the one who told me about it. You also said you froze after it happened and couldn't fight. Since you were unable to save your sister, or get the recipe back, Kong Li won. He got all my magic recipes, pronounced himself 'King' and enslaved everyone in Chinatown."
"No I don't remember any of this! It makes no sense. If I froze and lost a fight with Kong Li, why am I the only one still free and what happened to Tobey?"
"You ran away."
"No. I wouldn't have done that – I wouldn't have run away and left them alone! I don't believe you. I don't even believe their dead. They must be being held here somewhere."
"No Sid, it will do no good to deny it, you told me before that you saw them die, you saw their bodies."
Sid refused to hear anymore. "Hang on Nana – I will be back as quick as I can." Sid ran out of the dungeons and back upstairs without being seen, at least not by anyone who cared about him being there. He headed down a corridor to the largest double doors at the end.
The tall, double doors had stained glass inlay and golden handles. Sid pressed himself flat against the wall to the side and wiped tears on the back of his hand. "This is so frustrating, no time to cry anymore! I promised I would protect Chinatown and my family and I guess so far, I have been doing a terrible job of it. I have to win this time."
He started to look through the doors, but he was breathing so hard, he was afraid someone would hear him. He leaned against the wall with his eyes closed for a moment and focused on calming down. Once he had a grip on himself, he cracked one of the doors just a little. The part of the room he saw was like a huge empty ballroom. It had fancy gold and red velvet chairs lining the wall.
Sid looked in a little farther and clear at the other end, there was a stage-like structure with red velvet curtains and a big golden chair in the middle with Kong Li sitting in it.
It looked like Kong Li was looking right at him with his ice blue eyes! Sid gasped and backed up letting the door close quietly. He turned to find his face against a very large chest. Arms attached to either side of the chest shoved him back through the doors.
He rolled backwards and jumped up on his feet. It was a large room, all gold and red and he was in the presence of King Kong Li. The chest that pushed him in followed him through the doors and he saw the rest of the guy was just as huge.
A second mountain of a man joined the first and they stood shoulder to shoulder just inside the doorway. They were both scantily clad and looked a little like wrestlers performing on TV. Sid remained in his tiger defensive position and looked over his shoulder at Kong Li.
"Well, if it isn't the little reject who ran away! I have to thank you – without you none of this would have been possible so soon – or so easily for me!"
"NO! I AM gonna fix this! Come down here and fight me right now!"
"You want to fight me alone? Have you become an even bigger idiot than you were the last time? Did you forget how I beat you, even when there were three of you? Did you forget how I killed your sister when you weren't fast enough to save her?"
"Then you really? Then Sue is really dead? NO!!" Sid ran in anger toward Kong Li. Kong Li held his hand out and effortlessly caught Sid in his energy bubble.
Sid kicked the inside of the bubble and yelled as he was lifted up off the ground. He had been trapped in one of Kong Li's magic fields before, only this time it flashed red and caused him severe pain. He thrashed, and his yelling in anger turned into screaming in agony.
Kong Li directed him back near the two large guards waiting by the door. It looked like a giant bubble popping when it disappeared. Sid fell back to the floor panting and shivering with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I don't have to fight anyone with such weak Kung Fu as you. In fact, I let my guards and my army do all my fighting now. Drag him away, put him in chains and make sure he never sees his 'Nana' again."
The two stepped forward intending to drag Sid away. "Wait! Please! You said you killed Sue. What happened to Tobey?"
"Did you bang your head or something? How could you forget what you did to the poor boy?"
"Maybe I did hit my head! I-I don't know – just tell me!"
"Well ok, let me refresh your memory – but I do it only because it will really hurt you." He motioned with a hand signal for the guards to grab Sid again.
Sid remained still and let them take his arms. He was totally focused on what Kong Li was going to say.
"During our fight, the fight I won, I was busy attacking your little reject friend, you readied an arrow to take me down. When you shot you missed me and hit your little friend, Tobey instead!"
Sid cried "no." softly and struggled weakly in the guards grip. Kong Li continued. "I can still hear him scream as he fell with an arrow, YOUR arrow in his gut."
Sid was speechless and couldn't breathe, he felt like he might never take another breath. Kong Li saw Sid drop his chin to his chest to stare at the floor. The scariest thing was happening in his mind. Now Sid was sure he was remembering it! He could see Tobey falling and remember how he felt when it happened.
Kong Li knew he was suffering, and just to torture him more, he continued. "Your friend was thrashing in agony, and calling your name . . . and then, instead of doing the 'responsible' thing, and going to your fallen friend – fallen by your own hands, you froze. You did nothing! I'm glad I've never had to count on you for help."
"No." Sid said very softly. He would have accused him of lying, but he could 'see' it all happening in his mind. "I'm sorry Tobey," he whispered.
"Me, being your merciful new King, wanted to end poor Tobey's suffering, so I went to him and pulled the arrow out, it caused him so much pain, he screamed for you and YOU STILL DIDN'T GO TO HIM TO HELP HIM!" Kong Li shouted at Sid like a preacher accusing someone of being the devil.
"You just stood there with your mouth open."
"I saw you were doing nothing to help him, so I took action to stop the boy's suffering. Even though he was begging me not to, I plunged the arrow back into his chest, straight into his heart so his pain would end. Then you ran away!"
Blinded by grief and anger at himself, Sid swung his legs over his head and flipped out of the guard's grip. A round tiger kick knocked the closest guard off his feet. The second one made a grab for him. He rolled away and the guy just missed him.
Sid came up and delivered another round tiger kick to the large guy's belly. But it looked like the guy didn't even feel it so he tried again and the second time, the guard caught Sid's leg by his ankle. He pulled Sid off balance and pushed him to the floor. Sid was forced to roll over on his stomach by the guard twisting his leg around. "NO!-NO!-NO!" he screamed as each of the guards grabbed an arm and pulled him up.
They bowed to Kong Li before they left to take Sid to the dungeons. On the way down even though he didn't fight them anymore, they still handled him roughly. They yanked his arms and kicked his legs so he'd fall, then they'd yank him to his feet again.
Having enough, he tried one more time to fight and swung his leg suddenly. His foot made contact with the back of the guard's knee and he went down but the other one swung him around by his arm and slammed him into the wall. Sid put his free arm up to protect his head, and cried out when his shoulder came out of its socket.
Sid gritted his teeth and screamed loudly when the guard yanked him up by the same shoulder. At least it felt like it went back into place. The other guard punched him in the side when he caught his arm to continue dragging him along to his cell. The punch took his breath away and he hung in their grasp limply while he tried to catch his breath.
The guards tore his shirt off and took his shoes. He had no more fight left in him and allowed them to put chains on his wrists, just like Nana's. He struggled when the hot iron burned his wrists, and he jumped every time the hammer hit the hot metal. His screams echoed throughout the dungeons.
They dragged him into the center of the room and ran the other ends of the chains up through a metal ring suspending him from the ceiling. They pulled his hands up so high it strained his shoulders and it took some of the weight off his feet. Then they pounded the hot links together with a hammer so they wouldn't come apart.
Kong Li came down to visit his new prisoner just as they finished chaining him. He was apparently there just to annoy him. "So how does it feel knowing that you were responsible for all this? Mei Hua was so disappointed in you when I told her what had happened."
"Shut up!"
"Is that any way to speak to your King?" Kong Li took a step toward him and pulled his fist back.
Sid kicked his right leg to the left and swung it back high in an arch. His heel struck Kong Li's jaw as it came across. Kong Li recovered quickly and glared at him, but Sid's arms were still chained high above his head and couldn't do more.
"How dare you!" Kong Li hit him with the dragon headed end of his staff across his bare chest. Sid winced and tried to get away, "You are no king!"
He turned around enough in the chains that he was facing away from his tormenter. The next three strikes from the staff hit him across his back. His body shook with each hit and after the third, his head fell back and tears ran down his temples into his hair.
Kong Li went on congratulating himself and asking Sid pointless questions which he didn't answer. The two guards chained Sid's legs down and apart so there would be no more kicking of the 'King'. Now he could barely touch the ground with his toes, all his weight hanging on his burned wrists and dislocated shoulder.
Sid's vision was getting blurry and he thought he would soon pass out. Finally, Kong Li tired of the game and sauntered out of the dungeon saying he would give his regards to Mei Hua on his way out. Sid gathered enough strength to shout, "Don't you hurt Nana anymore! No . . ."
Alone in the dark, Sid sobbed for a while and then exhausted he closed his eyes and soon did pass out. His shoulder and arms hurt so bad that when he woke up he moaned and whimpered like a puppy.
He had no idea how long it had been, but there was a dim light coming through the large opening behind him and it was getting brighter. His vision was blurry and now his eyes were very sensitive to the bright light coming into the dungeon.
He turned around as far at the chains would let him by pushing with his toes on the ground but he still count see the source of the light. He blinked and turned his head as far as he could to look back. There was a thin female figure walking toward him.
The light seemed to be coming along with her. As she got closer he recognized her. It was Sue! He was excited at first and started to call to her, but stopped. He watched quietly some more, trying to figure out if she was a ghost, an angel or his imagination.
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Tobee continued . . .