Tee awoke in a black void. Nothing was around him as far as he could see. Is this the afterlife he thought of? Is this heaven, or is this hell? Is this a figment of my dying brain?
Tee stood up, feeling shaken. He inspected his body, looking for any injury, but there was none. It was like his fight with Preksak didn’t happen.
"Hello Tee. "Sorry you got thrown out a window."
Tee turned around and smiled. Standing before him was MagPieMan.
"Are you the Grim Reaper?"
"No, I assure you, I’m 100% real, and this place is too." Welcome to the space between spaces. "Welcome to the void between universes and time."
"Is there anyone or anything here?" "How'd you end up here?"
"After your fight with Preksak, he exiled me here as punishment." "But everything is going according to my plan."
"What do you mean?" "What is your plan?"
"To bring back the Guardians, of course."
"But they’re all gone and dead."
"No, silly. "The original four."
"You don’t mean..."
"Yes, sir. I do. "We have a lot of catching up to do if we’re doing to defeat Preksak."
The ground beneath the two of them changed, and Tee saw thousands of silver strands connected to a big circle in the middle. The strands broke off even further and stretched out all the way to the horizon.
Three red dots were located in one branching strand, not too far from the core. One blue one was off much further down the line.
"What is this?"
"This... is the multiverse, my friend." "Come, I have much to show you."
…
The velociraptor lay dead at Commander's feet. Commander was lucky to have gotten a headshot. The damn thing still managed to bite his ankle. Thankfully, it was only skin deep, with no major bleeding. But if it wasn’t treated soon, it would be infected.
"All of this for drinking a lousy bottle of mead." "Remind me to stay permanently sober." Commander moaned.
Right as Commander was about to rest again, he heard what sounded like shrieking. But they weren’t human sounds.
"Oh, more of your lovely brothers and sisters, eh?" "Well this dinner fights back, pal."
Five velociraptors entered the cave, and they all had a look of murder in their eyes. Their green-blue scales reflected the sunlight, and their yellow eyes flared at Commander. Commander tried firing off the gun more, but it was jammed. The velociraptor in the middle cautiously approached Commander and sniffed him.
"Good beasty. Please don’t eat me. "Sorry for killing your brother."
The velociraptor shrieked at one of its siblings, and another came forward. In its talons, it held a rope.
"Oh great, intelligent dinosaurs. Let’s see, I woke up in an alternate timeline of my original home, fought Preksak, got nearly beaten to death by an older evil version of myself, and now I’m being kidnapped by hyper-intelligent dinosaurs for dinner. Just wonderful."
Commander felt himself being pushed over and laid out on his back as his hands and feet were tied. He couldn’t do much to resist given the current state of his health.
"Take her away, boys." "Round up the usual suspects." Commander said.
…
Sku and Scooter were still running for their lives when they heard a gunshot go off. But it wasn’t coming from the direction of the cave. It was incredibly close. like it was right above them. The T-Rex was being flanked on its left side, and it turned around and roared at whoever was shooting at it. This gave Sku and Scooter a moment of pause to try and figure out where the shooting was coming from. Quickly spotting someone, Scooter said:
"Look, there’s someone in that tree!"
Sku squinted his eyes and said:
"McDanky? MCDANKY! He’s here to save us!
McDanky was firing off rounds at the T-Rex to distract it, and it came roaring towards him. Firing, he hit the T-Rex directly in one of its eyes, blinding it. The T-Rex let out a roar of pain and stumbled off into the forest, deciding that this prey wasn’t worth the trouble.
Running up to the tree where McDanky was, Sku felt like he could hug the man. As McDanky jumped down, he instead pointed his rifle right at them.
"Speak now, before I shoot you." "How are two dead people alive when they shouldn’t be?"
Sku pulled Preksak’s compass straight out of his pocket, along with the shard of the knife. McDanky lowered his rifle.
"How’d you get that?"
"Trust me, it’s a long story." "But we are from an alternate reality."
"Mmmm... that would explain how you’re here when you’re meant to be dead." "Given how you also have Preksak’s compass, it explains how you got here."
"Thanks for saving our bacon back there," Scooter said.
"Not a problem. Why do you need medical supplies? "Is there a third person with you?"
"Yes, Commander 12." He’s heavily wounded. We left him in a cave nearby with a weapon. Hopefully, he hasn’t passed out. "We need to get back to him immediately."
Some of the blood drained from McDanky’s face.
"What? "What's the problem?"
McDanky spoke with an air of reluctance.
"What direction was the cave in again?"
"Eastward from here," Sku said.
"Why in the hell did you leave him behind? That’s velociraptor territory. He’s as good as dead."
Sku and Scooter both looked at one another with a look of panic.
"Can you help us get back to him fast?"
"Sure, if he isn’t already dinner." Follow me. "I got an airship nearby."
…
McDanky, Sku, and Scooter soon came back to the cave where Commander had been.
As I entered, flies were buzzing around the corpse of the dead velociraptor, but there was no sign of Commander.
"Oh god, he shot and killed one of the dastardly things." "I've never been able to kill one myself." McDanky said
Looking around the cave, there was no sign of human blood anywhere, meaning Commander had been taken somewhere, Sku deduced.
"Where could they have taken him?" "He was in no state to walk." Sku asked
"Well… probably deep into Velociraptor territory, it looks like we've got a rescue mission on our hands. "But we need to go to Sandeste to plan."
"He won’t survive another night." We need to get him back soon. "Before he dies, or worse, becomes dinner."
"It’ll only take us 30 minutes to get back." Plus, there is someone I think you should meet. They would be very interested in seeing Preksak’s compass."
"Who?" Scooter asked
"Mopb3," said McDanky.
"A Guardian?!? "We've been on a quest to find them!" Sku said
"Well, it looks like you’ve come to the right place," McDanky said with a smile.
"Come on, let’s go." "We can get Commander back by sunset if we plan things right."
Finally, things were starting to go their way. But it could turn much worse if they didn’t get Commander back.
Hopefully, he didn’t taste very good.
…
Alternate Sku was very much enjoying being king of Loka. It was better than anything he could have asked for. Being the only person with hair gave him a lot of power. Sitting in the Capital Hall of Ascalon, on a throne made of pure diamond, he felt like a true royal. People from all across the three continents came to worship at his feet.
In the middle of all of this, a blue portal opened up, and a figure came through. Sku squinted his eyes to try and see who it was.
"Oh god! It’s Preksak! Everybody, run!"
Mass panic broke out in the hall, with everybody trying to escape, but a blue barrier came up, blocking everyone from escaping. Preksak, with just a hand wave, threw people up into the air and into the portal, ignoring their screams as they were flung in. Sku was shaking in terror but stood up, holding a sword.
"Be gone, you tyrant. "You have no purpose here."
"Oh, I think I do, Sku. "My purpose is to reduce your world to ashes."
More figures emerged from the portal, and the cyborgs Sku recognised from Mimiga stepped out. Along with that, hundreds of artifices from Preksak stepped out.
"I will let you live and spare your world if you submit ."
Sku, still shaking, said:
"No."
"Then death it is."
Screaming and evil laughter reflected off the hall’s wall. It was time for Preksak to take action.
Tee stood up, feeling shaken. He inspected his body, looking for any injury, but there was none. It was like his fight with Preksak didn’t happen.
"Hello Tee. "Sorry you got thrown out a window."
Tee turned around and smiled. Standing before him was MagPieMan.
"Are you the Grim Reaper?"
"No, I assure you, I’m 100% real, and this place is too." Welcome to the space between spaces. "Welcome to the void between universes and time."
"Is there anyone or anything here?" "How'd you end up here?"
"After your fight with Preksak, he exiled me here as punishment." "But everything is going according to my plan."
"What do you mean?" "What is your plan?"
"To bring back the Guardians, of course."
"But they’re all gone and dead."
"No, silly. "The original four."
"You don’t mean..."
"Yes, sir. I do. "We have a lot of catching up to do if we’re doing to defeat Preksak."
The ground beneath the two of them changed, and Tee saw thousands of silver strands connected to a big circle in the middle. The strands broke off even further and stretched out all the way to the horizon.
Three red dots were located in one branching strand, not too far from the core. One blue one was off much further down the line.
"What is this?"
"This... is the multiverse, my friend." "Come, I have much to show you."
…
The velociraptor lay dead at Commander's feet. Commander was lucky to have gotten a headshot. The damn thing still managed to bite his ankle. Thankfully, it was only skin deep, with no major bleeding. But if it wasn’t treated soon, it would be infected.
"All of this for drinking a lousy bottle of mead." "Remind me to stay permanently sober." Commander moaned.
Right as Commander was about to rest again, he heard what sounded like shrieking. But they weren’t human sounds.
"Oh, more of your lovely brothers and sisters, eh?" "Well this dinner fights back, pal."
Five velociraptors entered the cave, and they all had a look of murder in their eyes. Their green-blue scales reflected the sunlight, and their yellow eyes flared at Commander. Commander tried firing off the gun more, but it was jammed. The velociraptor in the middle cautiously approached Commander and sniffed him.
"Good beasty. Please don’t eat me. "Sorry for killing your brother."
The velociraptor shrieked at one of its siblings, and another came forward. In its talons, it held a rope.
"Oh great, intelligent dinosaurs. Let’s see, I woke up in an alternate timeline of my original home, fought Preksak, got nearly beaten to death by an older evil version of myself, and now I’m being kidnapped by hyper-intelligent dinosaurs for dinner. Just wonderful."
Commander felt himself being pushed over and laid out on his back as his hands and feet were tied. He couldn’t do much to resist given the current state of his health.
"Take her away, boys." "Round up the usual suspects." Commander said.
…
Sku and Scooter were still running for their lives when they heard a gunshot go off. But it wasn’t coming from the direction of the cave. It was incredibly close. like it was right above them. The T-Rex was being flanked on its left side, and it turned around and roared at whoever was shooting at it. This gave Sku and Scooter a moment of pause to try and figure out where the shooting was coming from. Quickly spotting someone, Scooter said:
"Look, there’s someone in that tree!"
Sku squinted his eyes and said:
"McDanky? MCDANKY! He’s here to save us!
McDanky was firing off rounds at the T-Rex to distract it, and it came roaring towards him. Firing, he hit the T-Rex directly in one of its eyes, blinding it. The T-Rex let out a roar of pain and stumbled off into the forest, deciding that this prey wasn’t worth the trouble.
Running up to the tree where McDanky was, Sku felt like he could hug the man. As McDanky jumped down, he instead pointed his rifle right at them.
"Speak now, before I shoot you." "How are two dead people alive when they shouldn’t be?"
Sku pulled Preksak’s compass straight out of his pocket, along with the shard of the knife. McDanky lowered his rifle.
"How’d you get that?"
"Trust me, it’s a long story." "But we are from an alternate reality."
"Mmmm... that would explain how you’re here when you’re meant to be dead." "Given how you also have Preksak’s compass, it explains how you got here."
"Thanks for saving our bacon back there," Scooter said.
"Not a problem. Why do you need medical supplies? "Is there a third person with you?"
"Yes, Commander 12." He’s heavily wounded. We left him in a cave nearby with a weapon. Hopefully, he hasn’t passed out. "We need to get back to him immediately."
Some of the blood drained from McDanky’s face.
"What? "What's the problem?"
McDanky spoke with an air of reluctance.
"What direction was the cave in again?"
"Eastward from here," Sku said.
"Why in the hell did you leave him behind? That’s velociraptor territory. He’s as good as dead."
Sku and Scooter both looked at one another with a look of panic.
"Can you help us get back to him fast?"
"Sure, if he isn’t already dinner." Follow me. "I got an airship nearby."
…
McDanky, Sku, and Scooter soon came back to the cave where Commander had been.
As I entered, flies were buzzing around the corpse of the dead velociraptor, but there was no sign of Commander.
"Oh god, he shot and killed one of the dastardly things." "I've never been able to kill one myself." McDanky said
Looking around the cave, there was no sign of human blood anywhere, meaning Commander had been taken somewhere, Sku deduced.
"Where could they have taken him?" "He was in no state to walk." Sku asked
"Well… probably deep into Velociraptor territory, it looks like we've got a rescue mission on our hands. "But we need to go to Sandeste to plan."
"He won’t survive another night." We need to get him back soon. "Before he dies, or worse, becomes dinner."
"It’ll only take us 30 minutes to get back." Plus, there is someone I think you should meet. They would be very interested in seeing Preksak’s compass."
"Who?" Scooter asked
"Mopb3," said McDanky.
"A Guardian?!? "We've been on a quest to find them!" Sku said
"Well, it looks like you’ve come to the right place," McDanky said with a smile.
"Come on, let’s go." "We can get Commander back by sunset if we plan things right."
Finally, things were starting to go their way. But it could turn much worse if they didn’t get Commander back.
Hopefully, he didn’t taste very good.
…
Alternate Sku was very much enjoying being king of Loka. It was better than anything he could have asked for. Being the only person with hair gave him a lot of power. Sitting in the Capital Hall of Ascalon, on a throne made of pure diamond, he felt like a true royal. People from all across the three continents came to worship at his feet.
In the middle of all of this, a blue portal opened up, and a figure came through. Sku squinted his eyes to try and see who it was.
"Oh god! It’s Preksak! Everybody, run!"
Mass panic broke out in the hall, with everybody trying to escape, but a blue barrier came up, blocking everyone from escaping. Preksak, with just a hand wave, threw people up into the air and into the portal, ignoring their screams as they were flung in. Sku was shaking in terror but stood up, holding a sword.
"Be gone, you tyrant. "You have no purpose here."
"Oh, I think I do, Sku. "My purpose is to reduce your world to ashes."
More figures emerged from the portal, and the cyborgs Sku recognised from Mimiga stepped out. Along with that, hundreds of artifices from Preksak stepped out.
"I will let you live and spare your world if you submit ."
Sku, still shaking, said:
"No."
"Then death it is."
Screaming and evil laughter reflected off the hall’s wall. It was time for Preksak to take action.