Chapter 37 – Downtime

Three days, that's how long it usually takes for Kneesocks' tracer to hunt down G's location, thus enabling the villains currently lording over G's home to come to the particular dimension and hunt them down. However in this particular case, the group was finally able to relax for about…

"Two Weeks!" Sonata cheered happily, munching down on a bowl of cereal that served as her breakfast. "I can't believe it, two weeks and the villains haven't even been able to reach us yet!"

"Hell, I still can't believe G actually has a house in this realm," Chef added, gulping down a large glass of orange juice. "Dude's been seriously been holding out on us."

As it turned out, G's plan to focus on a certain dimension worked like a charm. After arriving on the beach about a mile away from where they were now, G then secretly led the group to a specific house that was located in the nearest village, HIS house. Of course one would wonder why G of all being would even have a house in a dimension that wasn't his own, but he easily explained it all away by saying that everyone needs a vacation home, however in many retrospectives it was more of a cache than a place to spend a vacation. Upon stashing the limo in the underground garage and entering the building, the group was astounded to see that the entire house was stocked to the brim with everything from modern furniture to canned food, not only that but it also has technology from many futuristic realms all stuffed into the makeshift laboratory in the attic, a room that Goggles was particular fond off. Of course from first glance while outside, no one would ever be able to tell that such items even exited, especially in the realm the group was in at the moment, it may not have been as bad as Middle-Earth but Denmark was still a less than modern place, in fact the time era was in the early 1800s so it was definitely not the kind of place you would find the massage chair that Franky was currently taking full advantage of. Not only that, but the fact that the place had isolated indoor plumbing was more than enough reason to stay here in Adagio's opinion, of course the hot-spring bathtub was an easy convincer too. But the best feature of all was that because of certain complications with the location of the door to this particular realm, even if the villains knew where G was then they wouldn't even be able to reach them.

"Well I think it's just as well," Franky commented, guzzling down yet another bottle of cola while he continued to put his feet up in the lounge. "Because I don't think with those injuries Chef could even be healed properly in three days, especially when if we're constantly on the move."

"I told y'all I'm fine!" Chef snapped from the dining table just a few feet away, however he wasn't fooling anyone, especially since his entire torso was wrapped up in bandages."

"No, you're not," Laura retorted sternly as she finished her raw rashers of bacon. "YOU suffered severe burns and a few broken ribs, Goggles was poisoned and Jenny has more dents and holes in her than a colander! As far as I can tell, no one is going anywhere until we're all healed properly, no arguments."

Needless to say, that particular statement took everyone who was within earshot by surprise, once again Laura had spoken out of her usual character. However that soon change once she realised what she had just said as a small gasp left her lips.

"Since when were you of all people so assertive?" Adagio asked, raising an eyebrow as she entered from the kitchen.

"Oh sorry, I… I didn't mean to sound so abrupt," Laura stuttered in response, her usually timid attitude returning in seconds. "It's just that… well, I just can't stand to see my friends hurt, you know?"

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the Keidran, heck, most of them felt the exact same way.

"Aye Lass, we know," Lug replied softly, fine-tuning his fiddle at the other end of the dining table.

After a few moments of awkward silence, soon enough the subject of the conversation was changed thanks to Luffy.

"So why is it that the villains can't reach us again?" he asked whilst trying to figure out how to work the recliner on anther chair in the living room.

Most people within earshot couldn't help but rolled their eyes at that question since he basically asked it at least ten times these past two weeks, thankfully, Franky who had come to expect his Captain's goldfish memory humoured Luffy and answered once again.

"Well according to G, it's because the door that leads here, is 15,000 miles off the coast and about 1000 feet below sea-level," he said.

Of course Ruby, who had just came back in from the kitchen to grab her plate, couldn't help but think aloud as overheard the cyborg's explanation.

"Why would a door leading to G's home realm be at the bottom of the ocean anyway?" she asked, causing Adagio to chuckle.

"Well apparently it's because a good number of the population here are mermaids," she laughed, thinking back to when G first mentioned it. "I know, stupid right?"

However even while she chuckled to herself, the one reaction she didn't count on was the look of awe that had just took over Ruby's face.

"Wait, did you just say… MERMAIDS!?" she squeed, stars literally replacing her pupils as a large goofy grin spread across her face. "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!"

Turning his head to see Ruby go all goofy like that, Luffy couldn't help but laugh, heck, even Sonata couldn't help but giggle, for the first time in ages it felt as though life was starting to get a little easier for the lost souls taken from their home realms. Of course the moment was quickly ruined by the sound of Uncle smashing open the nearby door to the storage closet.

"QUIET!" he screamed, silencing the room. "Uncle is trying to WORK!"

And with that Uncle slam the door shut again and went back inside the storage closet, of course one would question as to why he insisted on staying in there, especially since that where he spent most of his time ever since arriving at this house, but thankfully he was at least considerate enough to explain beforehand that he needed to do some research and concoct some new Chi Spells for the journey ahead, something of which he was now capable of doing thanks to all the spell-books and ingredients that G "borrowed" from several different realms that he had stashed in the very same closet Uncle was in. After yet another few moments of silence, another individual walked into the room and jumped up on the table in order to reach the nearby teapot.

"Oh hey Goggles," Franky greeted. "How're you holding up?"

"Oh I'm doing just fine," Goggles chuckled, pouring himself a cup of camomile. "That little cure G gave me is really working a treat."

That certainly was an understatement if anyone's ever heard one, after hearing that Goggles was poisoned with cyanide, everyone was shocked to see that the Gizmonk was even still alive. Whatever was in that cure, G certainly made sure that the cocktail was potent enough that Goggles made a full recovery in two days flat. After which he quickly regained his old energy again and instantly began using his scientific genius to make repairs on a certain teenage robot, who remained in stasis upstairs.

"And Jenny?" Ruby asked, showing every amount of concern for her dear friend.

Goggles sighed at that.

"She suffered some severe internal damage and was low on power but the equipment I found in this house is really helping me make some decent repairs on her," he explained as he took a sip of tea before putting on a comforting smile. "Trust me, she'll be fine."

At those words, Ruby couldn't help but smile in relief.

"I'm so glad she's okay," she replied.

"By the way," Goggles continued. "I was actually considering giving her a few upgrades while I make those repairs, from what she told me, her body needs daily charging and I'm not too sure we can keep jolting her with car batteries until we go home. But thanks to all those science books upstairs, by the time I'm done, Jenny will be better than ever!"

Needless to say Ruby had some concerns with that particular subject, she didn't really like the idea of someone messing around with Jenny's circuits, however given the fact that this Gizmonk seemed to value friends highly and that he was able to assemble a blowtorch from pieces of a puppet, Ruby had no choice but to trust him for now. Chef on the other hand couldn't help but chuckle when he heard what Goggles had just said.

"What? Her mom never heard of solar-power?" he asked with a smirk.

Goggles couldn't help but feel intrigued upon hearing THOSE words.

"No, but do tell me more on that particular subject," he replied, turning his head towards Chef with a sly grin, one of which Chef gladly returned.

"Pass me that Skele-gro and we'll talk," Chef said in response. "Gotta keep these dang ribs healing."

This was yet another item G "borrowed" from another realm, of course while it was prudent in healing and/or regrowing bones, that didn't stop it from tasting any less disgusting.

"Ugh, you seriously LIKE this stuff!?" Goggles scoffed, using his tail to pass the skeletal looking bottle to chef.

"Of course not!" Chef retorted. "But it's the only thing that'll get a certain someone off my case."

That last part Chef tried to mutter under his breath, of course Laura easily picked up on it with her sensitive hearing and as such was not appreciative of the comment, so much so that she left the table and went into the kitchen. The room itself was as spacious as a kitchen could be, not as big as what you would find in a restaurant, but enough to make moving about very easy without bumping into another person. It was packed to the brim with every cooking utensil any chef could ever want, from pots and pans, to every knife in existence, plus for some reason a cauldron in the centre of the room, was G planning on hosting a party for witches or something? By the time it was 11AM only three people were in the kitchen, Aria, who had been taking every opportunity to make use of G's Cappuccino Machine ever since the group arrived, Laura, who had left the dining room to do her dishes, and Ruby, who insisted on helping her. They were just in the middle of finishing up when Aria couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing the conversation going on between Chef and Goggles in the next room.

"Boys and their toys eh?" she commented with a smirk.

However upon hearing those particular words, Ruby instantly turned and got up in Aria's face with a look of fury.

"Jenny is NOT a toy!" she snapped, knowing perfectly well what Chef and Goggles were talking about.

Obviously Aria was taken aback by that display of aggressiveness, so much so that she felt to need to defend herself.

"Hey, I didn't meant it like that!" she retorted. "No need to be so testy!"

Quickly realising that Aria didn't really mean anything hurtful, Ruby's aggression quickly faded and she let out a heavy sigh.

"Sorry," she apologised. "Guess I'm just a little protective now that she's back, she actually kinda reminds me of another friend I had back home. So I guess that's another added reason."

Hearing this Aria couldn't help but feel intrigued.

"Oh really?" she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah, but…" Ruby answered, her face sudden turning solemn. "Well she's…"

At those words Aria noticed the glimmer of fresh tears just begging to fall from the red-hooded girl's eyes, clearly this was a particular subject that Ruby didn't like thinking about. In fact now that Aria thought about it, Ruby DID mention that she already lost friends while they were at Bodega Bay, meaning that someone she cared about must be… no longer living. It was then that Aria felt something she never did before… sympathy.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly, though not really understanding why she of all people was acting with such kindness.

But despite Aria's uneasiness, Ruby wiped away her tears.

"Don't be," she replied. "It's not your fault."

"What happened? Aria asked concernedly. "That is if you don't mind me asking?"

It may have been difficult for her to even remember such a horrible event in her life, but regardless Ruby felt that Aria deserved an answer, especially after what everyone went through two weeks ago.

"She was killed," she said simply, causing Aria to gasp as she tightened her fists. "By a monster pulling the strings of some scheme just like Slappy."

"Ruby, I…" Aria tried to say, not really knowing what to say When Ruby suddenly cut her off.

"But now I have a chance to redeem my mistake with all of you guys," she continued. "I'm not gonna lose any more friends if I can help it."

THAT was the sentence that really got to the Middle Dazzling's head, did Ruby really just say what she thought she did?

"You actually… consider me a friend?" she asked, completely astounded by the very idea. "We barely even know each other."

Ruby's smile returned upon hearing that.

"Maybe, but personally I think you'd make a great friend Aria," she replied, once again making Aria all the more astonished. "You're strong, you're confident, you don't take garbage from anyone, and you actually kinda remind me of my sister… if she went emo."

Obviously that last part caused Aria to snap out of her confusion and grit her teeth in irritation.

"You're not too old for a smack, you know!" she retorted.

However soon enough Ruby couldn't help but laugh at her own joke, completely ignoring Aria's comment, of course this was something Aria wasn't quite familiar with in all honesty. In fact now that Aria thought about it, no one has ever treated her like this, granted she had her sisters but she never really had a friend before, and yet here Ruby was saying that she considers them as such? Not only that but G, Nyx, Edward, even Jenny seemed like decent enough people while they were at the junkyard, was this really what having friends was like? If so then Aria certainly didn't know how to react, though if she had to be honest with herself, it felt… nice. After about a minute of thinking it over, Aria's gaze finally softened and she allowed herself to laugh along with Ruby. Suddenly the laughter was cut off by the sound of someone coming into the kitchen, namely a certain Alicorn Filly.

"Hey Nyx," Aria greeted. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah…" Nyx replied, letting out a small yawn. "I'm fine."

Needless to say both Aria and Ruby couldn't help but notice the rings under Nyx's eyes when she said that, in fact given the state the poor filly was in for the past several days it was a miracle that Nyx hadn't passed out on the kitchen floor from the lack of sleep she was suffering. After all it was no secret that Nyx had been suffering from nightmares ever since leaving Bodega Bay, at first everyone thought it was just the shock of the whole ordeal and that she would get over it in a couple of days, but soon enough their concerns had become even worse, especially when Nyx started sleeping in until the very late hours of the morning.

"You sure?" Aria asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because…

"…you seem kinda NOT okay," Ruby finished.

Obviously Nyx didn't want to concern anyone with her troubles, so it was only natural that she didn't really want to say anything.

"Oh no, really guys I'm fine," she quickly said, hurrying towards the door. "So um… what's for breakfast?"

And with that the filly disappeared into the dining room, no doubt hurrying to grab whatever was left at the breakfast table, after which Aria's eyebrow once again rose.

"Is it just me, or does Nyx seem a little… scared of something?" she asked, noting the worried look upon the filly's tired face as she left.

"Well she has been having nightmares for several days now," Ruby pointed out. "Maybe she still hasn't gotten over what happened at the hotel yet."

Aria sighed at that, once again showing concern for someone other than herself.

"Poor kid," she commented. "I can only imagine what Slappy did to make her so scared."

It was then that another voice entered the conversation, one of which that belonged to someone who was still in the room.

"I don't think it was Slappy at all," Laura said, turning away from the dishes and walking towards the two with an anxious look upon her face.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked, looking at the Keidran with a confused expression.

At first Laura didn't respond, fearing that she had said too much already, however once again her concern for her friends outweighed her fears and she soon began telling Aria and Ruby what she knew.

"Well I don't really want to think ill of my friends," she said nervously. "But I did notice Nyx cringing with fear when she looked at G just before we left the last realm."

Obviously both of them were sceptical upon hearing that.

"G?" Aria repeated, almost laughing at the notion. "Seriously?"

Laura nodded at that.

"I know it sounds ridiculous," she admitted. "But maybe something happened back at the hotel that G wasn't letting on before. Something… horrible."

While both of them may have found it hard to believe that G of all creatures would have anything to do with what was going on with Nyx, especially since the two seemed to be so close ever since they first met them, it was also true that G had the habit of being unpredictable. Perhaps this did need to be looked into.

#

"G? Do you have a minute?" Aria asked as she walked into the top floor bedroom.

Of course this would G be should anyone wish to speak with him, after all he barely left this room since he and the group first arrived. It was quite a cosy little room compared to the rest of the rooms on the rest of the four floors, including the attic upstairs, however it was how G liked it since it was the complete opposite of the wide open madness of his home dimension, one of the main reasons he considered this place a vacation home no doubt. As for why he barely left the room, it was mostly because he didn't really want Nyx seeing him since it was obvious that she was now absolutely terrified of him, still he was glad to have the company when Aria walked in.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, gesturing to the open spot on the sofa he was sitting on.

Welcoming the gesture, Aria then took a seat next to G and got straight to the reason for being in his room.

"Look, I don't like beating around the bush so I'm just gonna come out and say it," she said sternly, catching the Living Genre off-guard. "…Why is Nyx scared of you now?"

Needless to say G didn't really want to say anything in that regard, after all he was too ashamed to even admit such a thing.

"What are you…?" he tried to say, making a terrible attempt to pretend that he didn't get the picture, only for Aria to cut him off.

"Don't play dumb with me, G," she snapped. "Ever since we left Bodega Bay, Nyx has been having nightmares and she cringes whenever you walk by, everyone has noticed it by now."

At those words, G couldn't help but sigh, he should have known that Aria wouldn't back down so easily. Not only that but she did have a valid point, just because G now spent most of his time in this room doesn't mean that he didn't leave it at all, after all he still needed to eat, unfortunately any time he did leave, there was always the chance that he would come across Nyx at some point, and every time that happened the same thing always happened, Nyx looks at G and either cringes or walks away, barely saying a word. Not only that, but the nightmares the poor girls has been having were simply terrible, every other night G would hear the faint sound of hear screaming herself awake in the bedrooms one floor down, what was worse was the fact that he couldn't do anything to comfort her when she does because he knows that HE was what was scaring her.

"So what happened?" Aria repeated, practically demanding the answer at this point.

Once again G sighed.

"Still as blunt as ever I see," he commented, soon enough getting to the truth. "When Nyx snuck off from the rest of the group that was hiding in the pantry, she and Goggles ended up falling victim to Slappy and his puppets, Goggles was poisoned and Nyx was… she was hurt by Slappy."

At those words Aria gasped.

"What?" she uttered.

"It was only a small kick to her stomach but it was enough to push my anger to its limit," G continued, completely ignoring Aria's stunned expression as he grit his teeth with frustration. "And that's when one of my genres took over."

At first Aria simply continued to feel a little guilty for brining up such a painful subject, however once she caught that last part of G's sentence, her eyebrow rose.

"Your genres?" she asked confusingly.

Of course normally G wouldn't blurt out the WHOLE truth, but even he had to realise that simply calling himself the Living Genre had to raise a few questions, so at the very least this would be a good way to smooth things over whilst also still keeping the whole "story-and-characters" thing secret.

"How do you think I got my name?" he asked bluntly, not even allowing Arai a chance to think about it as he began explaining the answer. "Every one of my body parts represents a specific type of genre, my face represents fantasy, my right arm is Science-Fiction, and my left…"

"…Horror?" Aria finished, easily catching on to what G was trying to say.

G nodded at that before lifting up his skeletal hand to eye-level.

"This arm is part of a collective mass of abilities that I can control at will," he continued, allowing Aria to absorb the new info carefully before saying more. "But should I ever lose control over any one of them I become overwhelmed by what it represents, in this arm's case, I became something absolutely terrifying."

It may have been an odd explanation to say the least, but for the most part Aria seemed to gain somewhat of an understanding, after all she too was familiar with the genres of books and the like. But even so she could never imagine a being that was completely comprised of such an idea, that would be strange even by her standards, she could only imagine the type of realm that G actually came from. However even with that in mind, the very idea that G could become something monstrously scary all because he lost control of his emotions and/or left arm certainly was terrifying.

"And Nyx saw the whole thing," she concluded, now having a rough idea as to what happened to make the poor filly so scared.

Once again G nodded, looking down at the floor with a deep look of regret.

"I don't suppose I could ever forgive myself for scaring her like that," he said solemnly. "And frankly I don't blame her for seeing me as a monster."

Now Aria was REALLY beginning to feel horrible, yet another emotion she wasn't used to feeling, mainly because she had a rough idea of what G was going through. Granted, back when she was a power-hungry siren feeding off negative energy with her sisters she didn't have much of a conscience, heck if someone would have told her that she would actually have real friends back then she would have just laughed in their faces. But now after spending time with G and his group, on top of the new abilities he gave her, she began to have a rough understanding of remorse. So much so that she felt no guilt whatsoever in at least attempting to give G some comfort in his time of despair.

"You are NOT a monster G," she said, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You lost control because you saw one of your friends in danger, granted it was a bad way of showing you care but to me it proves you do."

It certainly was a good attempt for Aria to create a good moment, even G seemed to notice a certain change in Aria's personality.

"Are you… trying to be nice?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

And with that the moment was gone and Aria slumped back into her moody attitude.

"I know, it's so humiliating," she moaned, looking down at the floor to hide her shame.

It may not have been much, but still the moment was still enough to make G laugh.

"Yeah, well keep at it," he chuckled. "You might learn a few things."

At those words even Aria couldn't help but smile as she finally raised her head to face the Living Genre.

"Maybe," she admitted, her face quickly turning serious again. "But the fact still remains, even if you feel like you did something wrong, as long as you did it for someone else's well-being then that's gotta count for something, right?"

As much as G hated to admit it Aria did bring up a point, even if it was a poor one in his opinion, still it was a subject that he needed to think over.

"I suppose," he finally said with a heavy sigh. "Thanks Aria."

Satisfied that she at the very least got what she needed out of G, Aria then rose from the sofa and walked towards the door, but not before turning back to him with one final sentence.

"Whatever your next step is, just make sure you remember what I said," she said, her smile soon returning. "Knowing you, I'll bet you'll have some kind of trick up your sleeve to make things right."

And with that, the Dazzling then left the room, closing the door behind her and leaving G alone with his thoughts. Now that G was once again alone, he certainly had a better perspective on a particular thought going through his mind, he knew he had to make this whole mess up to Nyx somehow but lord knows it wasn't gonna be easy. Suddenly something hit him, an idea that had been formulating in his head ever since he first met Nyx but at first believed it to be impossible to do, but given the circumstances now… It was then then that G quickly began rummaging through every one of his pockets, searching for one item in particular amongst the hordes of random junk, finally he found what he was looking for. Upon staring down at the two blue crystals in his hand, a sly grin spread across G's face.

"Yes… I think it just might be possible," he said, positive that his new plan will work.

I MUST work, even if he had to spend ages working on this idea, he needed to make things right with Nyx. Thankfully thanks to the circumstance of where the group was right now he had all the time he needed. After all, even if they could make a submarine in his home realm, the villains would never be able to send it through the door due to sheer size, and it was way too far to swim from there. The only one who can actually get to him was Ranamon, and even if she actually stuck with the villains, there was no way in hell that Scanty was going to let her out of her sight…. Hopefully.

#

Author's Notes:

The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:

The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:

The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman:

The Character Ruby Rose belongs to Rooster Teeth

For the Image of G: art/The-Living-Genre-563434744

For the Image of Witch Hazel: art/Character-Reboot-Witch-Hazel-585406440