Tloj: Challenge two! Begin!

"Gah... I really need to think about a landing strategy or something..." I groan as I sit up.

I dust myself off, and stands, "So what bullshit adventure awaits me here?"

I look around, and note that I'm in my hidden alley room. I crawl out and look around. "Well... At least I'm in a dimension where everything's the same, more or less. Maybe Smoke can fill me in about what this universe is like."

"What are you looking at?"

Curiously I peek out, and the cat himself is glaring down a scraggly looking dog. He doesn't have his hoodie here, wearing his scars on full display.

Best not sneak up on him, he may kill me just for trying.

I walk out and say, "Hey Smoke! Do you know me?"

Smoke turns with a frown, and his eyes go wide when he sees me. He stops, putting one foot behind the other as he bows at the hip. "How can I help you, Your Majesty? And may I compliment the excellent disguise."

I blink. "Thank you? Tell me, what does the general public know about me?"

"They know only your leniency Sire, of your mercy to those who obey." Smoke carefully keeps his eyes on the pavement between us.

"Is there a place where we can talk in private?" I ask, looking around.

He nods, and steps back before taking a few high leaps onto the rooftops. Apparently this Smoke is still highly skilled in fighting, or at the very least running.

I turn Tails Doll and fly after him.

Smoke pauses, crouched on a glass roofing. "What is it you wished to discuss Sire?"

"Okay first off, I may be Hero, but I'm not your Hero. I'm no more special that you." I say.

Smoke looks surprised, and confused. "...I know the saying about curious cats M'lord, but please..."

"I'm from another dimension. I'm here to fulfill a challenge that has to do with other me. What am I in this dimension?" I ask.

Smoke blinks, and then smirks as he stands. "Why you are a monarch! You are king, the one whose words are more sacred than any heathen text made centuries ago!"

"A... monarch? What kind?" I tilt my head.

Smoke stands, and extends his arm, "The best kind, the kind with real power."

"And how do I use this power?"

"However you wish," Smoke says, crossing his arms. "And because of this no one dares cross you. Congratulations, you've made a crime-free life here for everyone!"

"Crime free..." I blink. "Take me to myself."

Smoke nods, and points up the hill to a castle, "Right this way!" He starts dashing over the rooftops to the castle.

I blink. I built a castle just outside Westopolis?

I fly after him.

As we get close it looks more modern than you would expect. The walls are stainless steel, and guards stand at the walls. Over them I see the tops of skyscrapers.

"Wow, did Antonio build this or something?" I blink, impressed.

"Indeed," Smoke says, and the guards bow before opening the gates for us. Inside the castle it looks like a luxury resort or something.

"Wow. So where am I?" I ask.

"Your home," Smoke replies. "The guards let me come, and go as a reward for my services in the past. Your counterpart here values my services greatly."

"Is Sarah here too?" I ask.

"Your concubine? Yes, she, and her sister are among your favorites. I hardly see you here without them."

My eyes narrow. Strike one.

We walk into the throne room, and I pause.

There I sat in golden armor and a crown, staring back at me. Sarah and Millie clutch at his arms, begging for his attention, even though his focus is entirely on me.

"Smoke, who is this intruder?"

Smoke gives him the same bow he gave me on the streets. "Apparently, you Sire."

He stands, waving Sarah and Millie away. He walks up to me, and stares at me.

"What happened to you?" He asks, blinking.

"Depends. Tell me your life story." I counter.

"Very well. On my eighteenth birthday, I found a mysterious device in my hair. I confessed my love to Chrysos, and we went to find my parents."

I blink. So his life changed from mine.

Smoke quietly clears his throat, "May I take my leave, Sire?"

"Of course." He waves Smoke off.

Smoke nods, and heads off out the door.

"So where's Chrys then?" I ask.

He hesitates. "She's... away on business right now."

"Okay." I nod. I study him closely, and note that he's more grey than white, and his highlights are more maroon than crimson.

"How's Mom?" I ask.

"Oh... she's fine." He smiles. "Would you like to stick around? I'm sure Sarah and Millie would be more than willing to privately entertain you."

I think back to how Sarah was so willing to please me back home, I don't doubt his words.

"I uh... Sure?" I blink. He keeps dodging my questions... maybe they can fill me in.

He smiles, and gestures for me to follow the girls, "By all means, help yourself."

I follow them away from the throne room.

Milies turns to face me with a grin, and Sarah smiles bashfully... just like how I remember.

"I can tell he's not saying something... What am I missing?" I ask, reaching out to Sarah.

Sarah comes into my arms, and leans into my chest. "Only why he favors us, Master. I swear you'll never feel more loved."

As much as I want to feel her again... it isn't right. This isn't my Sarah...

I let them lead me into a room and lock the door.

Millie giggles as she wraps her arms around me from behind, and flops us back onto the bed.

I look at Millie's neck.

Wait a minute...

I grab her and study her neck. "Why do you have the chip still?"

She blinks, "It's the law for slaves, we're all chipped."

"In my universe... I freed you." I stare. "Does he punish you?"

Millie flinches, "He... is our master. He has every right."

"I kind of like it," Sarah purrs as she rubs herself on my back.

I frown. "In this universe, I save Chrys... I have you two as slaves... I'm the king..."

I blink. Sweet Chaos, this is an opposite dimension.

"Which means... even though I seem nice, I'm a tyrant." I frown. "I'm right, aren't I? I stopped crime by destroying the criminals?"

Milie shakes her head, "You can't destroy evil, but you can put it under your thumb."

"Who are these evil people?" I ask.

Sarah pouts, "Why are you ignoring me?"

I hug her and smile. "How can I ignore you? Sarah, in my universe, you're my wife."

She freezes, "R...r...really?"

I nod. "We just found out you are going to have my child... but Enerjak kills you. I need to find and complete the challenge here so that I can save you, Sarah."

She looks down, and glances at her sister. Milie chews her lip before crawling over to nibble my ear.

"The king lied," she whispers in my ear. "Chrys... she's in the dungeons."

"Take me to her."

"He'll know," Sarah whispers. "Make love to us, and while we sleep sneak out... otherwise we'll be executed for treason."

I sigh with a frown. "Only because I love you..."

Sarah smiles, and leans into me. "I know... I can feel it..."

Damn, those two are hard to tire out. I wonder if the other me knew that, and planned it that way so I'd put up less of a fight if it comes to that... Yeah, nice try Anti-Hero.

I kiss Sarah's cheek and put on my clothes. The dungeon is always down, so I need to find stairs.

I give Sarah one final look and murmur, "I'll save you Sarah. I promise."

She moans in her sleep, and smiles as she cuddles into her sister.

I walk out of the room and look around. No guards, best look for those stairs before some show up. I stick to the shadows, very hard to do in a modern building.

I spot something at the end of the hall...

...Modern building Hero, they have elevators.

I press the button and go into one of them, pressing the basement button.

I lean on the wall of the elevator as it goes down. Part of me wonders if Anti-Hero thought to trap elevators going to that floor, or if that's too cliche for his style.

The lights turn off, and the elevator stops moving. No, of course not.

A panel lights up. Looks like I need to solve a puzzle or something... I study it.

It's a series of white, and black squares, and a few half squares too with one square missing.

Please...

I move them around with a finger until the black in the puzzle makes the shape of an arrow pointing down.

The panel disappears and the lights turn back on, the car resuming. When it reaches the bottom, I look around before stepping out.

It's dark alright with a few lights overhead. Steel doors one white walls with small slots at eye level covered with glass.

I slowly walk over, peering into the the opening.

I see a tattered black fox, severly underfed, a broken look in his eye as he stares at the opposite wall from his bunk.

Woah... I turn into Fire Hero and melt the lock, opening the door.

All the response I get is a slow blink, and a slow turn of the head.

"I'm not going to ask if you're all right, because I know you're not. Why are you locked up here?" I ask.

"...Was...wrong...king...He..ro...please... kill...me..."

Sounds like he hasn't had much to drink either.

I reach into my hair and pull out a bottle of water, giving it to him. "I didn't catch most of that."

He shakily reaches for it, a desperate gleam in his eye.

I walk over and sit next to him, opening it for him. "I'm from a different dimension. Why are you here?" I hand it to him.

He drinks with shaky hands until the bottle is empty. He coughs, and says, "Was wrong to... speak against... the King..."

"Who are you?" I ask.

He thinks hard, "...I don't remember."

Wow...

"Is there anyone else down here besides you and Chrysos?"

"Thousands... thousands more... won't let us die..."

"Stay here. I'll come back for you." I say seriously.

"Let me die," he begs.

"Why do you want to die?" I frown.

"Family... dead... friends... dead... lover... dead... my fault... want be dead!"

I frown. "Follow me then. Odds are, Anti-Hero is going to try to kill me."

He tries to stand, but its a shaky process. He stumbles towards me, and collapses.

I lift him up, and help him walk out. "We need to get you some food." I mutter.

"Want to die," he sobs brokenly.

"If we all died when we wanted to, then we would never heal and become stronger." I say.

My words are lost on this one though, he's lived in despair too long.

I notice one of the doors looks cleaner than the others.

I set him down gently, and burn through the lock on this door as well, opening it.

"You can skip the theatrics," a voice grumbles.

Chrys!

Chaos bless her heart, while even in a state only slightly better than that other guy the little spitfire has the guts to spit in Anti-Hero's face! ...Figuratively speaking, she still looks like she could stand to save her fluids.

I dash over and hug her. "My goodness Chrys... what did this dimension's Hero do to you?!"

She slaps me, "Back off, I'm not that desperate yet you assfuck."

"Yep, you're still you." I rub my cheek.

She glares at me, and crosses her arms, "So beat it already."

"No. I'm getting you out of here, away from King Hero." I say.

She scowls, "Another head game? Will you let go of your little twisted fantasies already?! I'm about ready just to make you let me rot in peace in here."

"Chrys, listen. I'm from another dimension. You died in that dimension, I'm not going to let you die again, especially to me." I say seriously.

"Wow, you sound almost just like you did before you found that dumb-ass watch," she growls.

"That's because you died when I put the watch on." I take off my C.E.A. and let it fall to the ground. "You want to vent? Go ahead and vent on me. I'm not leaving until you're out of here."

She crosses her hands behind her head, "If it will get you to leave me be. After you found that thing you killed the guy who almost killed me. I really thought you were a hero back then, just like your mom thought you'd be. But then you killed this ape, and took those girls from him... that's when the power began to corrupt you, and you declared yourself a hero by conquering everyone. Happy now? Happy that you killed Lien-Da, and the woman who fucking raised you just so you could own the world?!"

I frown. "He might. But in my world, I was raised to be a hero. I never ascended, I chose to be normal. I had a family that was taken from me, Chrys. I was going to have a child."

"And I'm the next president," she scoffs.

"So that's the story..."

Chrys's head shoots up as Anti-Hero steps into view. He smirks, "Forgot something, dirtbag." He rolls the head of the prisoner fox across the ground to me.

I snatch my C.E.A. and put it on, growling, "Congrats, I know what damage you've done."

"I take pride in my work," Anti-Hero says, dusting off his hands.

Chrys glances between us, "The fuck you put in my water Hero?"

"You're a cancer, Anti-Hero. I killed a god without ascending, what's the best you've done? Lock up people you pretend to care about? I loved Chrysos with all my heart, and she was taken from me. You have her, and she's some animal to you? At least Enerjak had limits!" I growl.

Anti-Hero taps his chin, "Enerjak... Oh him! Right, the guy who always comes trying to take me out, heh. At least then I get some exercise."

Chrys stands, "You... this is real, isn't it? Not some twisted hallucination of yours?"

"No Chrys it's very real," the other me says with a smile.

"Chrys, get behind me." I order, placing myself between the two.

Anti Hero chuckles, and steps out of the doorway. "I'm actually grateful for your coming Hero, I've gotten into a rut over the last few years. Go ahead, take her. It'll be fun hunting you both down."

I frown. "I'm not playing any of your games!" I bring up my C.E.A. and spin the dial, cycling through all of my new abilities. I slam the face down.

Thunder!

I change into neon green with yellow highlights, and take a fighting stance. "How many powers do you have?" I smirk.

"I've fought Enerjak several times," Anti-Hero laughs as he spins his watch till it glows bright gold. "What do you think?"

"Enerjak powers? Good, a challenge!" Damn, I should've taken that power...

I charge forward at him with a yell, knocking us through a few walls.

He's utterly unharmed, and laughs as he kicks me upwards through all the floors of his building. Then he appears behind me, grabbing me by the quills, and ripping a few free as he throws me down to the ground thousands of feet below.

Ow!

I wince. I don't dare look myself over; I know I'm at least missing a leg, and I've broken a few body parts.

I switch to Tails Doll, healing instantly and shooting back up, punching him through a few more walls.

"Pathetic," he sneers, and backhands me away. If there had been one I'm sure it would have knocked me through a mountain.

I get back up and dust myself off. I don't want to use it... but it's the only way!

I swipe the C.E.A. again, and slam it down.

Darkmatter!

I feel the dark energy surround me, but I can't help but note that it feels... less potent. Oh well, something to figure out later.

I shoot at him again, landing in front of him and cratering the ground.

"Oh, you want to play it like that eh?" He spins the face on his C.E.A. with a smile, and then his fur turns black too.

"Now then," he growls. "Let's see what you've got!"

But... since I got it from- never mind, focus on the battle!

I charge at him, and ram him in the stomach, punching him in the face repeatedly.

"Not good enough!"

He drives a single punch into my chest, and several somethings snap as I'm blasted away.

He scoffs, "Pathetic Hero... You have great power, but no drive to use it. You have to WANT them to hurt, to suffer, to feel torment greater than they could ever imagine!"

"That's the difference between you and I." I grit my teeth and stand. "I use my powers to protect those I care about, not for gain. I fight for others, not selfish desire. I fight to stop those like you, who abuse their powers. That's why I'm a hero!"

I raise my C.E.A. and swipe the face with a roar, charging at him as my abilities cycle.

"Oh, power roulette," he quips. "So which prize will I get? I've already had Chrys... many times over."

That just makes me angrier. I shoot a fire blitz, followed by an ice beam, eye lasers, an electric wave, and other powers, cycling through all of my abilities.

He blocks them with a single hand, "It was most amusing actually. She'd rot in that cell for a few weeks until she was so desperate she'd do anything just to keep some meat left on her ribs. It's only a matter of time until she gives up completely."

THAT'S IT!

I shoot forward and grab him by the throat, slamming him into the ground as I turn into Darkmatter again.

He chokes out something,and repeatedly punches me in the stomach.

"I've had enough of you!" I growl. I slam my C.E.A. on his chest, and we both turn back to normal. I raise my free hand, and my bracelet turns into a sword.

"You never got these, because you never married Sarah." I hiss. "I do this for her, because she deserves better than you. Than us."

He chuckles, "Good, now you see the truth... I am you... you are me... And we are no heroes."

I glare at him and bring my sword down.

...Into his C.E.A. device.

He cringes, the sword going through his arm.

I stand and brush myself off, walking away.

"Coward," he growls at me.

I shake my head, "No, you're the coward here. You've pissed off a lot of people... What are you going to do without your powers?"

"I have five minutes to use powers, remember?!" He counters.

"And what are you going to do when the five minutes are up?" I state.

He clutches his arm in pain as he stands, "The same will happen to you too, someday you'll be right where I am now."

"Maybe I will. But unlike you, I have a family, a wife, soon a child." I smile. "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?"

I hear a thud next to me, and turn to see Smoke.

Anti Hero smiles, "Smoke, destroy him!"

Smoke just glares at him, and pulls a gun, "Buh-bye."

*BANG!*

I wince. "Uh... Thanks for killing him for me?"

Smoke tosses the gun away, "It wasn't for you... It was for Cinder, and Spike."

I blink. "How in the world did I manage to kill them?!"

Smoke closes his eyes, "You used them to test your Enerjak powers... and kept me because my connections made me useful."

I wince. "Sorry about that, then."

He shakes his head, "Wasn't you dude... it was him. Follow me."

He heads back for the castle.

I stare at Anti-Hero and state, "If I end up like you, at least my friends have the power to stop me." I turn and follow Smoke.

Smoke does say anything as he leads me into the castle, and up to what looks like Anti-Hero's bedroom.

"Press your thumb to the base of that lamp over there."

I do so.

The wall opposite the bed splits open with a mechanical whir...

On the other side are stuffed heads, like hunting trophies. Cinder, Spike, Reave, Cryatal, Line-Da, Julie-Su, Shade, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Knuckles... even Shadow.

Smoke folds his ears back, "I want you to burn this into your memory Hero, and never forget this."

I feel bile form in the back of my throat, and I gag.

"As long as I live... this will not happen in my dimension." I growl, clenching my fists.

Smoke grips my shoulder, "Remember that this is the cost if power goes to your head... you lose everything."

"I don't want power. I want my family back." I murmur.

Smoke smiles, "Then you're a better man than I've ever known."

I look up at him. "I've defeated myself. If that was the challenge, a portal would have appeared. There's something else to do here."

Smoke nods, "I think this is it. Know the price of power, and how to use it. Right now you're the most powerful person here..."

I nod slowly. "Yes..." I look around. "I'd better tell the girls that Anti-Hero is dead."

Smoke crosses his arms, "So who's going to rule after you're gone?"

"I'd like to give it to Chrys... but I don't know if the power will go to her head as well..." I say thoughtfully.

Smoke rubs his neck, "Well she's been on the receiving end of power for a while now... once her head is on straight I think that's a good idea."

"I'll go check on her."

I go back to the dungeon.

Chrys is walking, using the wall for support. She glares at me as I approach, and looks me over.

"...Please tell me you killed that son of a bitch, New Hero."

"I broke him. Smoke killed him." I say.

She sighs with a smile. "I only regret not breaking his neck myself... Chaos knows I've tried."

"I only wish he could've loved you like I did." I sigh.

She chuckles, "He did... but when I didn't go along with his domination plan he locked me down here so I wouldn't get in the way."

"I'm glad he only locked you away instead of killing you." I smile. "I don't suppose he proposed to you?"

"Yeah he did, but I turned him down," she groans as she heads for the elevator.

I follow her. "If I gave you control over what Anti-Hero controls, what would you do?"

She eyes me, "First thing I'd do is get something to eat, then I'd get everyone down here back to health before burning this place down."

"Good." I nod. "I leave you to it."

She chuckles, "Just like I remember the old you... what are you doing here?"

"Making sure all is good before I try to figure out how to complete the challenge." I say.

"Challenge?"

"Back in my dimension, Enerjak killed my wife, and my unborn child. I need to complete three challenges so that I can save her. This is the second challenge." I explain.

"...Huh, well you treat her right, or I'll crawl through as many dimensions as I need to to kick your ass."

"I promise I will." I smile.

She smiles, and the wall next to me swirls into a portal.

Chrys smiles, "I'm guessing that's your ride."

I see Smoke come up from behind her, and nod to me, "Good luck man."

"Thanks. Tell Sarah I said good bye."

Smoke nods, and let Chrys use him for support as i step through the portal.

Tloj: Aaand this universe would be a Shattered Glass world. Don't know what that is? Search Transformers: Shattered Glass. Basically, same characters, but what if they were opposite? Optimus as a villain? Megatron as a hero?! What world is this?! Shattered Glass. ^^ R&R, F&F, please.