Chapter 10 – A Mutual Understanding

Three days had passed Goggles' incident with the oven and the atmosphere in Edward's mansion had gotten somewhat more relaxed, so much so that G was welcomed back into the mansion itself, granted it was at Goggles' and Laura's suggestion but it was a start. However despite being more welcome with a couple of members of the group, G still kept his distance, not really speaking unless spoken to, which was of course difficult for him since his humour usually meant that he couldn't even shut up most of the time. Still it gave him more time to focus on a plan of action, like how he was going to get back to his own dimension and send everyone home, there was one thought that had been going through his head but he didn't know whether it would be a good idea or a terrible one that'll just make things worse. He was mulling this over in Edward's garden when he noticed Goggles sitting just outside the front door, reading a dusty old book, curious as he was G went over to talk to him.

"What up!" he said, quickly startling the Gizmonk.

"Whoa!" Goggles yelped. "I wish you would stop doing that!"

"Sorry," G replied sheepishly. "What's that you're reading?"

At first Goggles was hesitant to show G his discovered book, but given his curious nature, and the fact that G knew more about this particular world than anyone here other than those who live in it, Goggles quickly relaxed and answered the question.

"It's a journal I found in the lab," he said. "I don't know for sure, but I'm confident it belonged to the inventor that lived here."

"Oh?" G replied, completely caught off-guard by the Gizmonk's answer. "Really?"

"Yeah," Goggles answered with a smile. "There's all kinds of good stuff in here, notes, blueprints, and… well something else."

Upon hearing this G quickly grew worried, after all he wasn't unfamiliar about certain creations that the old inventor made.

"Such as?" he asked.

"How much do you know about Edward?" Goggles said, quickly answering G's question with another.

"Everything," G replied bluntly.

Goggles raised an eyebrow at that.

"Everything huh?" he asked sceptically. "Like how the guy is artificial!?"

At those words, Goggle quickly shoved the open pages of the journal in G's face, showing him the blueprints of none other than the Scissor-handed man inside the mansion. Upon seeing this G sighed in defeat, knowing that he couldn't exactly argue with the smartest being on the grounds, however that didn't mean Goggles had to give him the accusing glare about it.

"So what if he is?" G argued.

"Well it's a pretty crucial secret don't you think?" Goggles retorted.

"I never said it was a secret!" G snapped back. "And what are you doing searching through Edward's stuff anyway?"

"You told me to read a book, so I did," Goggles replied. "Besides, I never said it was a problem so I don't know why you're being so defensive about it."

Goggles did have a point there, enough of one to at least make G calm down a bit.

"You're right," he sighed. "I'm sorry, it's just that when it comes to my friends I get a little… aggressive."

Hearing this, Goggles couldn't help but chuckle.

"Yeah, I've been guilty of that," he said, remembering his own experiences of aggression. "So what happened to him anyway? If you don't mind me asking that is."

Needless to say G was hesitant to answer that question, he didn't want to reveal too much, especially when it came to his friends, and especially that anything he says might raise suspicion of how this particular worked to its story. However after much debating in his head, G once again sighed in defeat and gave Goggles a somewhat altered version of Edward's background.

"I know I shouldn't say anything," he admitted. "But I'm sure I can trust you to keep a secret. Yes it's true, Edward IS artificial. A long time ago an Inventor named Vincent Rattigan lived in this mansion, he made many things I suppose, including a living man. He gave him insides, a heart, a brain, everything, well… ALMOST everything."

"How do you mean?" Goggles asked curiously. "You mean the hand-thing?"

G nodded at that.

"Yep," he replied. "You see, the inventor was very old, so he died before he got to finish the man he invented. So Edward was left here by himself, incomplete and all alone. By the time I came along, several years had passed by and he hadn't aged a day."

Hearing this Goggles couldn't help but feel sad for the strange man inside the mansion, after all he knew what it was like to be alone, but Edward probably had it worse than he did due to being an unfished piece of work.

"If there nothing that could be done for him?" he asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," G replied sadly. "I visit him often enough so that he has company, but I can't do anything about those hands of his, even my powers have limits when it comes to living beings."

Though technically that part was true, what Goggles never realised was that another reason G couldn't alter Edward's hands was because he was the main character in his own story, and one of the line G was never meant to cross was to effect a main characters form in any way. Feeling somewhat depressed about hearing the tragic story of Edward's Goggles decided to change the subject.

"So…any idea how to get us home yet?" he asked. "You have been pounding her head over it for three days now and the others are starting to get agitated."

"As I recall Lug tried to skewer me with my own tail yesterday," G replied with a cringe. "I'm afraid the process is still coming slow, though I wish I can come up with something soon, who knows what damage those pirates are doing to my home."

#

As irony would have it, G's home was indeed still being damaged by the pirates, though that may just be putting it lightly since the damage was a complete re-design and it wasn't just the pirates doing it. After waiting patiently for Kneesocks' new tracking system, everyone was itching to get going, the sooner they found G, the sooner they could eradicate him and guarantee their conquest of his realm. However there was still two who had other idea, Chi who merely wanted to find G if only to warn him of the upcoming attack, and Mimi, who pretty much did everything Chi did due to their friendship, if not just going along for the ride.

"Anything?" Rahzar growled, seriously getting impatient.

"Not yet," Kneesocks replied stoically. "Keep in mind that there must be billions of worlds of which this G could possibly be in and this new system can only do so much. Even my imagination has limits."

Rahzar couldn't help but snap his jaws at that, he had been in such a terrible mood ever since the discovery two days ago. As it turned out, after being fed and rested, everyone attempted to imagine a way of sending everyone home to either inform their superiors of their discovery or simply return to their daily comforts, however as G had suspected all along, every world where characters had been taken out had been sealed off, meaning that no villain was leaving G's realm unless they were going somewhere else entirely.

"Well it had better find him soon!" Bebop snapped, almost letting out a beastly squeal. "I ain't gonna wait around here for the rest of my life!"

"I'm with you brother," Foxy pouted. "I may have Slow-Slow powers but even I'm not THAT patient."

Kneesocks merely growled with agitation at that, in fact she was becoming so agitated that a vein was throbbing in her forehead.

"WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!" she snapped, her blood boiling so much that her face was even redder than usual. "Honestly, it's been nothing but complaints from all of you for the past three days! You think I LIKE waiting for something to turn up!? Me and Scanty actually had LIVES before all this crap star…"

Suddenly a loud beeping noise cut Kneesocks off in the middle of her sentence, a noise that quickly drew everyone's attention to the pillar of light that displayed G's grinning face and a message that read…

"Target located," Scanty said with a wide grin. "Well I must say, it's about damn time!"

"Agreed," Rahzar growled. "I wanna tear this fool limb from limb."

However the wolf-mutant suddenly found a hand blocking his path.

"Sorry Spike but YOU'RE staying here," Kneesocks sternly. "We'll take Foxy with us, but someone needs to keep an eye on his two lackeys in case he tries anything, and frankly I trust you more than the two idiots you came here with."

Needless to say Rahzar was furious at Kneesocks' demand, however even he had to admit that she brought up a valid point, it WOULD be more strategical for a competent guardian over Foxy's goons and out of the entire group he seemed to be the best choice. After all Chi and Mimi were only kids and Bebop and Rocksteady probably only have a singles brain cell shared between them, and even THAT was being generous in the wolf's opinion.

"Fine," he snarled. "But make sure you bring him back alive, I want to tear his throat out myself."

"Oh that won't be a problem," Scanty chuckled. "After all we still have some use for him."

That had to have been the biggest understatement of the year, without G, then there was no home of ever returning to their home dimensions, so finding him is an absolute priority.

"Alright," Kneesocks announced, adjusting her glasses. "I shall go with Scanty, Foxy, Bebop and Rocksteady. Rahzar, Chi and Mimi shall stay here and keep an eye on the other two."

"Hey!" Porche exclaimed, totally insult by the fact that she was being treated in such a manner.

"It is alright my dear," Foxy said quickly. "It'll probably be best if we went along with this plan, after all Miss Kneesocks seems to know what she is doing."

At first both Porche and Hamburg gasped at their Captain's choice of words, however they quickly remembered that he needed to play along with everyone's plans, otherwise he wouldn't be able to follow up on his own. It may have taken a couple of days to concoct but the pirate believed he had the perfect plan, which was to simply slip away from the group at the most opportune moment and kill G before he gets a chance to speak the truth about what had caused this whole mess. However there was one other person in the room who had her own plan, and that was pretty much the exact opposite of Foxy's.

"I'm coming too!" Chi declared. "I don't care what you lot say, I know G better than anyone. If anyone can figure out how to find him in that world it's me."

That may have technically been the truth, but no one but Mimi knew that Chi had her own agenda, and she was going to carry it out whether everyone liked it or not.

"You make a valid point," Kneesocks admitted. "Very well, you may come too, perhaps you can be useful."

As much of an insult this was to Rahzar's pride, he managed to hold back his fury that Chi was allowed to go while he was forced to stay behind, after all he didn't want to get shot again. With everyone in agreement, thy all then nodded their heads and Kneesocks took the lead, with a single click of the demon's fingers the pillar of light turned a horrific purple and began to electrify violently.

"Shall we?" Kneesocks asked, before stepping into the light and disappearing entirely.

Following her example, the chosen villain proceeded to enter the light too, with Chi being that last to do so. She serious hoped that she would be able to warn G before it was too late.

#

And speaking of the Living Genre, he had in fact began setting his own plans in motion. After three days, he had only manage to come up with one idea, but given the circumstances he had little to no choice but to go along with it. Soon enough, he had gathered everyone up in the laboratory, ready to unveil what he had decided to do.

"So what's the scoop G?" Goggles asked inquisitively. "How are you gonna send us home?"

"Well you see, that's the thing," G replied nervously. "I do have one idea but it's completely insane and I'm not even certain you guys are willing to go along with it."

Needless to say, no one was happy to hear that last part.

"What's the plan?" Edward asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, G answered.

"Since the regular door has been locked from the other side, then we have no choice but to bust through the wall itself," he said, much to everyone's confusion. "In other words, we need to make more tears in the walls of creation in order to travel somewhere else in order to find some way of getting everyone here home."

At first no one said anything, they merely let their jaws hang in a terrified manner upon hearing what G was suggesting. After learning about the reason why they were all stuck in this world in the first place, they thought that G would at least find a way that DIDN'T risk things getting worse.

"Have you lost your mind!?" Lug snapped angrily.

"Maybe," G responded with a shrug. "Then again I probably never had one in the first place."

However no one was in the mood for jokes.

"You honestly think that damaging the walls of creation even more is gonna help!?" Goggles demanded sceptically.

G narrowed his eye at that.

"Well certainly not for repairs," he admitted. "In fact it'll probably be like keeping a wound open, but we don't have much of a choice. At this point I am locked out of my home realm and so are you, if we keep chipping at the walls, we just might do enough small damage just to get me back home so I can fix everything without tearing everything apart."

But still no one was convinced.

"You're insane," Mossy replied bluntly.

"Aye," Lug added. "If you really think that doing more damage will send us home, then we're probably be better off coming up with our own plan."

G was losing this argument faster than he could make it, if he didn't find a way to convince them to join him, then there was no hope for the group as far creation was concerned. Suddenly it hit him.

"And what about the others?" G asked, catching everyone off-guard.

"O… others?" Nyx repeated, wanting to know what G meant by that.

"Other beings who had been snatched from their home dimension to be thrown somewhere else," G elaborated. "You honestly think you are the only ones that need help getting home? If we don't do this then they're gonna be trapped where they are for who knows how long."

It was then that the others began to feel uneasy, G knew that playing on someone's sympathy for others would get them to stop and think for a moment and needless to say he was right on the money. Now that they thought about it, everyone in the room couldn't help but admit to themselves that G had a point, if the Multiverse was as big a he said then who knows how many beings have suffered the same fate as they did? It was then that they realised how selfish they were being about all of this, how for the past three days that they had thought about nothing but getting home themselves. Nyx of course couldn't help but feel the same way as the others kid, she may have only been a filly but she was smarter and more mature than most ponies her age and she knew that it wasn't right to simply ignore the fact that there are other creatures that needed help just as much as she did. Granted she did miss her mother terribly, but she also knew when to stop being scared and stand up for what was right. With her fear quickly turning to confidence, she was the first to speak up after a period of silence.

"Maybe we should here him out guys," she said, much to everyone's surprise.

"I agree," Laura added nervously, sharing in Nyx's concerns. "Any plan is better nothing, right?"

G couldn't help but smile at this, knowing that the two most nervous beings in the room were the first to actually give him a chance showed that he might just pull things off after all. After a short while, everyone else sighed in defeat and agreed to at least listen to G's idea in further detail.

"Fine then," Lug said finally. "So what do you propose we do lad?"

Now that things were finally starting to take a turn in his favour, G felt no grief whatsoever in continuing his proposition.

"The plan is simple," he said. "In order to get back to our home dimensions, we'll need to first travel from place to place in order to create enough controlled damage to the walls of creation, so that they'll be weak enough for me to burst into my realm and fix the damage completely."

Goggles raised an eyebrow at that.

"Couldn't we just go there straight away?" he asked.

"I'm afraid not," G replied. "Since my dimension is in the centre of everything, any direct damage would result in the whole of creation being ripped apart, and the same goes for all of your dimensions too since they were sealed off."

"This is WAY too confusing," Nyx commented, rubbing her aching head.

"What about the pirates?" Edward asked, much to G's dismay.

Needless to say, the very mention of the thieving bastards gave G the urge to hit something terrible, however taking another deep cleansing breath, he continued to speak.

"That is one problem that makes time of the essence," he said. "I may be sealed off from my home dimension but because the pirates were still there when the crack closed, then they and all of those that follow them have unlimited access to the entire multiverse."

That was the part that made everyone whimper in fear again.

"S… so what does th… that mean?" Laura asked nervously.

"Before I was cast out, those pirates mentioned something about recruiting some new crewmembers," G explained solemnly. "IF those three idiots figure out how my realm works then they could gather the worst kinds of creatures to join their cause, which is why it's important that we go through with this plan as quickly as possible. But I can't do this without you're approval, so what do you say?"

Upon hearing this the tension was worse than ever, not only was G's plan crazy, but there was also serious danger in the form of pirate and who knows what else. Still it was imperative that the group decided to go along with G's proposal, after all he needed all of them in order for it to work. Regardless it didn't stop them from being hesitant.

"Oh come on," G pleaded. "Do I really have to beg?"

However G got no responses, only more uneasy looks, he needed to think of something fast. Suddenly a smirk appeared on his face as an idea popped into his mismatched head, an idea that always worked whenever he was in this sort of predicament.

"Fine, then there is only one way to convince you…" he said, suddenly striking a pose as a spotlight appeared out of nowhere to shine upon him. "A MUSICAL NUMBER!"

Needless to say everyone was instantly confused to hear this.

"Wait, what?" Goggles let out, raising an eyebrow.

Suddenly G's eyes shone a brilliant white and every piece of machinery roared with life as music started emanating from the glowing notes on G's Musical-themed vest. Within a matter of moments, G had begun to sing:

Well, I've always seen a thousand worlds,

Enough to write a thousand tales,

But now dear friends I need help, 'cause without you,

My mission here is sure to fail.

I need some power in my corner now!

Some heavy ammunition in my camp!

You got the punch, pizzaz, yahoo and how.

And y'all look good on a postage stamp, so I'll say…

My friends from across the realms, this is something not to miss,

Let me take you all across the worlds,

You ain't never had trip like this.

Sure there is some danger there, but there is also bliss,

Come on friends, just take the chance,

You ain't never had trip like this!

Yes friends, I pride myself on travel.

I know the towns, the seas, the spas!

Where will we go? Just where? Who knows?

How 'bout a stop in Narnia?

See towns in Genosha, try food from Amestris

Soon all you folks, will be all stoked,

You ain't never had trip like this.

At this point, G was dancing across the lab to the music, much to everyone's confusion and amusement, what made the display even more baffling was that not only was G performing impossible feats during the song, such as pulling random objects out of nowhere, but there was also the fact that every piece of machinery in the lab seemed to be dancing along to the tune. In fact two of the stencil cutters from the cookie machine seemed to be moving in sync with him as though they were his back-up dancers. It may have been confusing, but the song did seem to be putting every at some form of ease, in fact G couldn't help but notice a few excited smiles, which showed that they were at least considering his idea. But G wasn't quite done yet.

There's no time to waste,

Soon we must depart.

Come on friends, make haste,

Take a running start,

Then with one big ZAP!

All of a sudden G opened with jaw and let out a blast of magical lightning, like he does with dragon fire, a lightning that instantly formed into several feminine figures that started dancing to the music with G.

We're out of here!

Come on friends let's go multiverse jumping, see the realms,

And then make the danger disappear!

So don't just sit there slack-jawed, buggy-eyed,

I'm your only way back home,

You've got me bona fide certified,

I can take you where all the big shots roam.

I've got a powerful urge to help you out,

So what's your choice? I really wanna know,

You've got questions three miles high, no doubt,

Well all you've gotta do is ask like so, and oh…

It was then that the song began to draw up to its dramatic conclusion as G and several of the electrical dancers zoomed up the stairs and slowly began making their way back down as though they were part of a Broadway show, singing the last few words of the song much to everyone's delight.

My friends from across the realms, take a chance or be remiss,

Come on you guys, it's time to fly,

You ain't never had a trip, never had a trip,

You ain't never had a trip, never had a trip,

You ain't never,

Had a,

Trip like this!

You ain't never had a trip like this!

Finally the music stopped and with a flash of light, everything was back to normal with G once again striking a dramatic pose. After witness what must have been the most random moment of their lives, and after the last few days that was saying something, everyone's jaws were hanging like clothes on the line. Finally G straightened himself up and spoke normally.

"So, do we have an agreement?" he asked nervously.

Needless to say the random musical number had taken everyone aback, still it gave them a chance to take everything all in. Perhaps travelling to different worlds would be a good idea, after all what other beings get to say they saw the multiverse? Granted there was sure to be trouble, but that was a bridge that'll be crossed in due time. Finally someone stepped forward, someone who everyone thought would never be the first one to speak.

"I'm in," Nyx said, a small smile stretched across her muzzle.

Hearing this even G was surprised, after all this was the filly who had burst into tears when he gave his first explanation, and now she was the first one to volunteer for the plan? She must have more determination than everyone first thought, to be willing to try anything to get back home is definitely something to admire. Taking notice of that particular fact Goggles smiled and took a step closer toward the filly, showing his support.

"Me too," he said, thus causing a chain reaction amongst everyone else.

"Aye, very well," Lug sighed, speaking for Mossy and Spud, who both nodded their heads in agreement.

"I suppose it's worth a try," Laura admitted, rubbing her arm anxiously. "Even if it is a little scary to think about."

This had to have been the best case scenario that G ever could have hoped for, even Edward couldn't help but smile back at him knowing that things were going his way, however this quickly turn into a look of sorrow. Taking notice of this, G walked over to his friend and placed his bony hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, don't you worry Ed," he said gently. "Believe it or not, you're coming with me this time."

This statement surprised everyone, especially Edward, who only looked back down at G with shock.

"Really?" he finally said.

"You really think I'm gonna leave my friend behind on this one?" G replied with a smile. "Besides if those pirates have been rummaging through my things like I suspect, then they'll probably try to find you to get to me. You'll be better off with us than here in any case, what do you say?"

It was then that G stuck out his cybernetic hand towards Edward, indicating a handshake, however Edward was obviously hesitant to accept it due to the blades that served as his fingers.

"Relax Ed, it's only steel," G chuckled, thrusting his hand forward again.

Sighing in defeat Edward then accepted the handshake, a form of gratitude that he had been denied for so many years, but can now at least enjoy that form of comfort in the form of a metal hand that took no damage other than a few unnoticeable scratches.

#

Author's Notes:

The Featured Song were inspired by "Friend Like Me" from "Aladdin" - All credit belongs to the original composer(s).

watch?v=99Op1TaXmCw

The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:

The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:

The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman: