A/N: I can't believe I'm almost at 10 chapters. Go me! Sorry, just a little bit of ego boosting there. Um…oh, I don't own any of the characters, except the few OC's, and the plot's mine, not the OZ (though they would be sweet if I did own it). So I'm making no money off this, which sucks, but whatever.
P.S. I almost forgot to mention, the first bit takes place back in the OZ, in the Palace. Just so you know.
"Wrrreeeeennnn! I have an idea!" Wes skidded into the doorframe of Wren's room, landing on his stomach and sliding almost under her bed. Wren looked up from her book, which she'd been reading laying on her back on her bed. "Wes? Are you alright?" she looked under her bed at Wes. He climbed out from under her bed, brushing off his shirt.
"I'm great. I've thought of a fantastic idea," Wes bounced on the balls of his feet in excitement. "Is that so? What is it?" Wren sat up, intrigued. "Well, I was in my lab," Wes started. "By which you mean your little chemistry set in your room right?" Wren teased lightly. "Yes, my chemistry set. Are you going to keep teasing me, or let me continue? This is awesome." "Fine, fine, continue Wessie," Wren batted her eyelashes at him.
Wes pulled a chair over, and sat down. "Ok, so, it's simple, but elegant. You've been learning to summon travel storms right?" "Yeah, so what…you're not thinking, you are aren't you? Wes, we can't!" "Excuse me? Little miss troublemaking princess saying we can't do something? I never thought I'd hear that," Wes said dramatically. "Shut up Wes," Wren leaned forward and smacked his forehead.
"Ouch! Brat. No, c'mon Wren. We could wait 'til everyone is asleep, sneak out, and be gone before they would notice." "I don't know. This isn't just sneaking out for snacks or stealing your dad's hat. This could land us in serious trouble." "At least think about it. Lemme know in about a week. In the mean time, I'm going to go over my plan, see if it will work," Wes got up, leaving her to think how much like his dad, her Uncle Glitch, he was.
Back at DG's old farmhouse: Dusk was slowly gathering, as well as an air of anxiety over those in the house. DG wasn't too worried about herself; she knew where she was, it had been her home for years. Sure it was quite different from when she'd been younger, but it was generally the same.
She was more worried about the others. They'd never been to the Other Side before. They had no idea how to act, what to say. DG knew Cain understood what he was doing, and would blend in as best he could, but Glitch and Blake were a bit…spontaneous. Raw, unfortunately, wouldn't be able to go outside much. But it's hard to hide someone who looks rather like a lion.
Cain shrugged into his coat, his holster already strapped on, his pistol primed and loaded. He didn't have any problems with going around the town. It was for the best actually, that he knew his way around, just in case. But Glitch practically reeked of fear and worry.
"But the chances of things going wrong are incredibly high Wyatt. I could list all the possibilities," Glitch insisted. "I know you could, and you probably would just to keep me here right?" Cain grinned at him. Glitch ducked his head sheepishly, and mumbled something that sounded like "that was the idea." "I think I'll be fine head case. I'm just going to be muscle, and look menacing for DG. It's not like I'm going to rescue you from Zero, or sneak into the Tower to save the OZ again. Alright?" "Just be careful," Glitch urged. "I always am. I only get into trouble trying to save your ass," Cain chuckled, and pressed a kiss to Glitch's forehead.
"Ready to go?" DG asked, standing by the door. "Yeah, let's go," Cain made to move out the door, only to be held back. He sighed, hanging his head. "Glitch let me go. I'll be back in a few hours." He felt his coat slowly released, and followed DG. "Help yourselves to the food, you can go on the computer, watch TV, but Glitch, if I get back here to find that either the computer or the TV is in pieces, because you wanted to see how it worked, you're grounded," DG called over her shoulder as they left.
"I'm sooo bored," Glitch said after awhile, laying on the floor and looking up at the ceiling. "Me too," Blake answered. Raw murmured in agreement. "Do you want to check out that computer thing?" Glitch asked. "You don't mean take it apart do you? I really think DG would be angry if you did," Blake warned as he sat up. "No, I mean see what's on it. So we're not bored. Trust me, I know better than to go against what DG said," Glitch scrambled up from the floor and into the computer chair.
Blake and Raw peered over his shoulders, watching as he signed onto the Internet like DG had showed him. "What should we look up?" Glitch asked. "Try that. Favorites, see what's there," Blake suggested. Glitch carefully made the mouse move, and clicked under favorites. "What's YouTube," Raw asked. "I'm not sure, but I want to find out," Glitch clicked on the sight. "It's like TV, but on the computer," Blake mumbled wonderingly. This world never ceased to amaze him.
Through trial and error, they managed to view videos DG already had, and search some on their own. Some, like "Charlie the Unicorn" made them laugh even though they weren't too sure what was going on. Glitch was also able to look up the songs he'd heard on the I-pod. And others, they regretted clicking on, and promised to not speak of.
"I bet, if I had time, I could come up with something like this to work in the OZ," Glitch said to himself. He'd been saying much the same thing every now and again for hours. The other two had long since stopped listening to him ramble on to himself.
Blake and Raw had soon grown bored with the computer, and were perfecting the fine art of channel surfing. Each had a semi glazed look in their eyes, and was occasionally eating handfuls of popcorn or cookies. Glitch was staring in much the same fashion at the computer, typing in whatever came into his mind. And amazingly, much of it had results on the 'search engine', whatever that was.
The first hour into his searching, Glitch learned all about computers and the other technology of the Other Side, gaining and retaining all the information. When they returned to the Palace, he intended to see if he couldn't put together a computer, and a TV, and an I-pod. After that, he simply searched for fun, and to keep his mind off Wyatt and DG.
Cain looked critically around the town. He had the strong feeling that at one point it was a beautiful place, bright and friendly, rather like Milltown. It still seemed to retain some of its splendor, the buildings mostly intact. But that didn't cover the broken windows, or the cars crashed into lampposts, their engines burning, the flames throwing flickering shadows over the depressing scene. Every building was overgrown with half dead vines crawling over piles of broken bricks. The town seemed to be in perpetual gloom, the sky overhead nothing but dark, nearly black clouds. The air was thick with the smell of ozone carried by the wind, raising the hairs on the back of his and DG's necks.
DG stood perfectly still, frozen at what had become of her town. Before Cain could get her attention, she shook her head, snapping out of her reverie. "Let's go, before it gets too much later," she strode down the hill, into the town, Cain at her heels. "You alright princess?" he asked as they wandered, sticking close to the shadows and doing their best to appear inconspicuous. "Yea, I'm fine. I'm upset, but I figure, why worry myself about it? It just keeps me from sticking to what we're doing. And I'll have plenty of time to be angry when we finally find the Witch and take her down."
People littered the streets, dressed in scraps of clothes, leather, whatever could be found. They leaned against buildings, lounged on street corners, or lay atop broken cars. DG fought the urge to cover her ears to shut out the whimpering, screaming, begging, the greasy laughter that seemed to crawl across her skin and make her wish for a shower. Coarse voices called out to her, making crude, lewd comments that had both her and Cain clenching their fists not to punch them in the face. It wouldn't do to start a bench-clearing brawl their first day in. That night was supposed to be about being incognito.
DG slipped her arm around Cain's, leaning into him slightly. He glanced at her, surprised. "What's up kiddo?" "It's just…hard to see this place in this state. So far we haven't found out anything, just that this world is nothing but corruption. We don't know where the Witch is or if she's even here," DG shook her head angrily; despair starting to rear its ugly head. "She has to be here, your mother wouldn't send us here if she wasn't around here," Cain said reassuringly. "Ok, yea, good point, but still. What if we can't find her? What if…look at that," she pointing suddenly.
Cain followed her gaze, and saw a short building that was in near perfect shape. There was a line of people leading up to the door, kept in order by a black velvet rope. A huge guy with bulging muscles let people in. Above it all, looming overhead and lighting the crowd, was a flashing red neon sign reading The Realm.
"You don't think," DG started. "The Realm of the Unwanted. Has to be," Cain nodded in agreement. "Should we check it out?" he asked. "Not yet, I'd rather we have Blake and Glitch. They're probably worried enough as it is. I say we start back. Once we talk to them back at the house, we can make plans to check out The Realm."
Glitch rubbed his eyes tiredly. He'd been at the computer so long, the words were starting to blur. He'd found a website with multitudes of stories written by different people, all based on their favorite books, or movies, or shows. He assumed movies were like on TV, just longer. Blake and Raw were asleep on the sofa, the TV still on, showing a bunch of what appeared to be four over large turtles fighting someone in a really pointy costume, with their father, who was a larger than normal rat. It was entertaining, to say the least, and he kept it on to watch until Wyatt and DG returned. They'd been out hours now, and he wondered if they'd found anything useful. Glitch yawned widely, his eyes drooping shut. Before he knew it, he was curled up on the floor, sleeping.
"Doesn't look like they made a mess," Cain observed as the house came within sight. "They still could've destroyed the inside," DG added. "Good point."
The inside however, was relatively clean. DG looked over the couch to see the boys sleeping in front of the TV. Cain sighed, and scooped Glitch up. "The sad thing is, I've picked him up like this and put him to bed more times that I have Wes. Wes always managed to get himself into bed, even when he was little." "It wasn't always his bed, though that didn't matter did it? As long as he got into bed," DG laughed softly, recalling how many times they'd find Wes and Wren, when they were about five, curled up next to each other on the play room floor, or in Wren's room.
"I'm just going to leave him here for the night," DG kissed the top of Blake's head. "Yea, I can't exactly see you picking him up kid. He's a lot bigger than you, and I won't carry him. I'll have enough trouble with this one," Cain struggled to hold Glitch as his head case mumbled and shifted, nearly tumbling out of his arms. "Fair enough. G'night Cain. We'll tell them all in the morning about what we found out," DG answered. "Sure. Night DG."
Glitch heard a loud thud, just as a jolt of pain shot through his elbow. "Ouch! What the heck was that?" his eyes flew open. "Sorry Glitch," Wyatt looked down at him. "I was trying to carry you up the stairs and you moved and I almost fell into the wall." "Oh. When did you get back?" Glitch rubbed his elbow, wincing. "A few minutes ago. You three were asleep in the living room." "I don't know when Blake and Raw fell asleep, but I think I've only been out a half hour maybe. Did you find out anything good?" Glitch asked as Wyatt set him down on the bed and pulled his coat off.
"For a while there, it looked like all we were going to find was broken buildings and people with little or no morals left. Then DG saw what looked like a club. A club with a very interesting name. The Realm," Cain tossed his coat aside and placed his hat on the desk. "Like the Realm of the Unwanted," Glitch said excitedly, catching on quickly. "Exactly. Kid's going to explain it all in the morning. As usual, I think she has some vague sort of plan."
DG did indeed have a vague conception of a plan. She laid it out for her friends the following morning over a breakfast of pop-tarts and coffee.
"Alright, so, we've gathered that The Realm is the local hot spot. A dance club I think. The simplest thing I can think of is to check it out for a few nights, find out who goes there, who's the owner, things like that. What do you guys think?" she leaned forward, hands splayed palm down on the table.
"I think it's a good idea myself," Glitch offered, nibbling on his double fudge pop tart and taking a gulp of coffee. Cain glanced out of the corner of his eye at him, surprised. He had thought that maybe Glitch wouldn't want to. It was a dance club, and knowing what he did of Glitch's history with them, he didn't think he'd want anything to do with them again. But before he could say anything about it, DG was taking over once more.
"So, does everyone agree then? We check it out?" Blake and Raw nodded. "Cain?" "Hmm? Oh, yeah. That's fine," Cain murmured. "Great! I'll be right back," DG left her breakfast cooling on the table and ran upstairs to her room.
She came back a few minutes later with a long flexible strip of yellow plastic that was marked in regular intervals. "DG, what's that?" Blake asked. "It's a measuring tape. If we're going to the club, we need club clothes. Ergo, I have to measure you guys so I know what sizes to get when I go out to buy clothes. Duh," DG unrolled the measuring tape. Blake, Cain, and Glitch stared at one another and then back at DG, suddenly wary. "You've got to measure us?" Raw grinned wickedly at them behind their backs, very glad that he wasn't going suddenly.
"Hey! Princess! Watch the hands!"
"DG that is just a little close and personal!"
"Glitch! Stop squirming!"
"Th-that tickles! Knock it off!"
"Do you really need to measure everywhere?"
"Yes I do. Now hold still damn it."
Finally, after much trouble and having to expend a bit of magic to hold them still, DG had gotten their measurements down. Glitch and Cain sat sulkily on the couches, feeling somewhat violated. Blake hadn't had too big an issue, seeing as she was his wife. But he knew better than to laugh at the sulky pair.
"Alright, Blake and I will be back in a few hours. Try not to make a mess of the house please," DG called as she and Blake left. She led him out to the garage where she had always kept her motorcycle, hoping that maybe it was still there. Amazingly it still was, and, thinking once more that her mother had done that, she swung astride it, Blake tentatively getting on behind and hanging onto her.
Cain flipped through channels on the TV, not really watching, just trying to stave off boredom. He rarely sat around relaxing; he was more a man of action. "Wyatt, will you just pick something to watch? I'm getting dizzy from the channels passing so fast," Glitch whined. "There's nothing to watch anyway," Cain retorted. "Its all stupid shows anyway, people talking about their problems or children's shows." Glitch glared at him.
Raw glanced over from the kitchen, nostrils flaring. He'd been finishing his second pack of pop tarts and sensed that Glitch was about to do something really stupid. He just hoped they didn't drag him into it.
Glitch waited until Wyatt relaxed his grip on the remote and snatched it out of his hand. Triumphantly, he put it on a show identified as Myth Busters. It was a rather good show; the two hosts were kind of like him. And as quickly as he'd changed the channel, it was changed somewhere else, some sports show. "Wyatt!" "You started it sweetheart," Cain retorted.
Growling low in his throat, Glitch lunged for the remote. Channels flicked by as he and Cain wrestled for control of the TV, tumbling off the couch to the floor. Raw rolled his eyes, knowing it was inevitable, and how it would end.
"Give me back the remote!" Cain ordered, struggling to push Glitch off him.
"No! I want it!" Glitch yelped.
"I had it first!"
"You don't know how to work it right!"
"And you do?"
"I do, now give it over or I'll…"
"You'll what sweetheart?" Cain asked, smirking. "I'll steal your hat!" Glitch grabbed Wyatt's favorite fashion accessory and leapt to his feet. "You'd do well to give it back," Cain said, his voice low and soft. "Nope, it's mine now," Glitch dodged away from Cain and up the stairs. He heard Cain thundering to his feet and giving chase.
Raw shook his head. They could be so incredible childish. But it was endearing, if he was honest with himself. He just wished they'd be a little quieter about it. The ceiling above him was all but shuddering as they ran about.
"That was a big mistake," Cain yelled as Glitch skidded into the room they shared. "Oh was it?" Glitch grinned. He braced himself against the far wall, and as Cain stalked in, he shoved himself away. He dropped to his stomach as he slid across the hardwood floor and skated between Cain's legs and into the hall way once again. Laughing at the look on Cain's face he ran off again.
Shocking as it was to suddenly have his head case slide past him in such a manner, it didn't stun Cain for long. He snatched for the edge of Glitch's shirt as he made a bid for escape, and sent Glitch tumbling head over heels into DG's room. He ended up on his back under her bed. A slew of what looked like books but different slid out.
Ignoring the strange books and Glitch muttering under his breath, Cain picked up his hat and put it back where it belonged. I.e., on his head. Glitch crawled out from under the bed, wincing in pain. His eyes fell on the books. "Cosmopolitan? What's this?" "I don't know," Cain sat down and picked one up, thumbing through it. "Let's bring them downstairs, we can get comfortable on the couch to read," Glitch suggested, gathering a few of them in his arms. Cain agreed, and picked up the ones Glitch missed.
DG and Blake returned later, laden down with bags bulging with clothes and other things DG had thought they might need. Blake nearly fell into her when she stopped in the entryway, almost shocked at what she saw. Raw, Glitch, and Cain were absorbed in reading Cosmo. Glitch was sprawled on his stomach on the floor, taking a quiz. He looked up, grinning at them with a pen tucked behind his ear. "What did you guys get?"
"Where'd you three get those?" DG asked, setting the bags down and letting Blake enter the room all the way. "Well, I may have stolen Wyatt's hat, and he chased me. And I fell into your room, and found your books," Glitch explained. "They're not books. They're magazines. Full of quizzes, and advertisements, and articles." Cain snorted, "Like this one. Ten Moves to Spice Up Your Sex Life. Sort of ridiculous if you ask me." He shook his head and turned the page. "Really?" Glitch sounded intrigued at the article. DG smacked herself in the forehead, vowing to never leave them alone again unless her Cosmos were hidden away.
"Anyway, what did you get for club wear?" Glitch asked, setting down the magazine. "Let's see, this is your bag Glitch," DG handed him a large plastic black bag. "Go ahead and try it on, since I'm thinking we'll go out to the club tomorrow." "Ok," Glitch clutched his bag and ran upstairs.
"This one's yours Wyatt," DG tossed him his bag. He pulled the clothes out. They weren't so bad. Dark blue jeans with a bit of fraying here and there, and a silk shirt that just happened to match his eyes. "I figured you wouldn't wanna dress up too much," DG grinned. "Good thinking. No, I'm not one for costumes kid," he agreed. "Wait until you see Glitch's though. I bet he's going to love it." They heard an excited yell. "Scratch that, I know he's going to love it."
Cain's eyes widened as Glitch sauntered downstairs. The shiny black leather pants looked practically poured on, the way they clung to Glitch's legs, riding almost dangerously low on his hips. He forced himself to look from the waist up. Glitch wore a black shirt full of little holes, which DG identified as fishnet. His pale skin seemed to gleam from under the shirt. A silver studded black collar was wrapped around his neck, and a belt to match graced his hips, more decoration than actually to hold his pants up. He moved gracefully in the outfit, despite the heavy black boots laced up to his knees.
"Wyatt? You ok? D'you like it?" Glitch asked, suddenly a little self-conscious. Wyatt hadn't said anything yet, and was just staring at him, eyes glazed and jaw slightly slack. Snickering, DG leaned over and flicked Cain in the ear. "Ow! What was that for?" "You were starting to worry Glitch. You haven't told him how he looks yet," DG explained. Cain licked his lips, his throat dry. "He looks…almost too good to be real." Glitch beamed and plopped himself onto Cain's lap. A loud squeaking echoed in the room. "Those were the pants, honest," he said, blushing slightly. "You'll just have to break them in, they'll loosen up eventually," DG told him.
Cain groaned softly. He was never getting Glitch out of those pants now.
A/N: next chapter, our heroes go to the club. And we find out what Wes and Wren's plans are. Also, I don't own Cosmo or Charlie the Unicorn, or TMNT or anything like that. Oh, and it was Fanfic that Glitch found, the site with all the stories. I couldn't reisist. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated.