---Chapter 20

“Where are we going?” Jax looked up, glancing out of the windows and around, “we should be jumping back to my world now.”

“I guess Amber didn’t know if we were ready yet and wanted to get away from the town to avoid more attacks,” Lenny told him simply. He was looking down at his hands, trying to remember circuit and wire diagrams for the components which fed his energy canon. Saving Dr. Devi from the corruption wasn’t the only reason to find him, though it would have been reason enough. But Lenny also needed him in order to find out what was wrong with his cybernetics and, hopefully, fix them.

“I’ll go tell her to stop and get the Di-jump ready.” Jax jumped up, striding towards the door. When he reached it, he hesitated for a minute, looking over his shoulder. “things will be okay, right? Back at my home, I mean. I know there will be some problems but it won’t be like that place, will it?”

“I don’t think so.” Lenny tried to put as much conviction as possible into the words. “But the only way to find out for sure is go there.”

Once Jax had left, he looked around the room until he found Jackal, still standing in a corner with his hat pulled low over his face.

“And you, Jackal, are you sure you want to go with us?”

The hat’s brim lifted a few inches. A tired face looked out at him. “I’m coming. My world is empty for me. I don’t know where I fit into your grand plans, but I will travel the dimensions.”

Then the brim of the hat fell again and it almost seemed that Jackal was asleep standing up. Lenny looked to Dansei then, but the Ninja nodded before he could ask any questions.

“I am coming with you as well, but it is because my world is not empty. I must follow the trail of this evil wherever it leads, in the service of my ruler.”

“Alright, then. We all have to hold onto this rail when the jump commences.” Lenny trusted Jackal, because he had helped them against the purple creations and because Jax seemed inclined to trust him. So far, Jax’s instinct for character had always been right. Dansei, he was not so sure about. The Ninja seemed earnest about his intentions. But weren’t Ninjas trained to lie whenever they needed to?

At least, that was what he had heard about the mythical beings in his world. The only thing which comforted Lenny was the fact that there was too many of them now for the Ninja to harm easily. Especially with Raggsy being so openly suspicious of Dansei.

Everyone moved to the overhead rail when they were ready to jump, except for Dansei. When Lenny asked him if he was coming, the Ninja shook his head. “It seems to work as long as you are touching any iron in this room. I was up against the bench legs and went. I will hold onto one of them now.”

He slid down onto the seat of the bench, reaching his foot under it to press his ankle against the chair’s support. Lenny shrugged, getting into his own place. It might be true, but than again, if they left the Ninja behind he would not be too upset about it.

“Ready?” Amber’s voice drifted back to them.

Lenny gripped the rod. “Ready!”

This time, when the dimension jump initialized, he felt the shock stronger than normal. It made the buzzing in his head flare up worse, making him that he shake it uncomfortably as the sensation faded away. He really needed to talk to Dr. Devi as soon as possible.

The world blurred from one color to the other, then faded back into shape.

They landed somewhere among a spread of green lawns, cement paths and trimmed trees. It looked remarkably like the park in Amber’s world, but even more refined. A playground could just be seen in the distance, with giant plastic jungle gyms in bright, colorful shades. There were drinking fountains too, set beside the path and painted a dark forest green. It appeared that not many people were in the park, as the only person Lenny saw was a single figure walking past the playground in the distance. There was no sign of corruption in the park, though the sky did have a faint lavender haze hanging over it.

“Hey, everybody, come on out!” Jax shouted from outside, his voice carrying a note of excitement.

Lenny went over and opened the door, stepping out on the forward platform. The air was warm, tainted with the smells of fresh-cut grass, city smog and cooking food. The leaves of the trees rustled overhead peacefully.

“What is it, Jax?”

“My home!” The traveler spread his arms out, face lit up. “And it doesn’t look too badly damaged! Come on, everyone out. I’ll show you all to my house and you can meet my Pops.”

Amber jumped down from the engine, looking back at it with worry. “What about Sophia? Someone might hurt the train or try to steal it if we leave it here.”

“I’ll take the Di-jump out. And...hmm, do you have a piece of paper and a pen?”

Amber brought him what he asked for, while everyone stepped out and looked around. Even Patch, with his bound-up arm, came out to see what Jax’s world was like.

Jax took the piece of paper and hooked it onto the train engine under a window, writing in large, forceful letters, 'STAY OFF. HISTORICAL MONUMENT.’

“That ought to keep people from messing with it.” Jax gave the feathered pen back, along with its ink well. “My world kinda’ has a thing for historical objects. As long as no one decides to graffiti it, nothing bad should happen.”

“They’d better not.’ Amber stamped a foot on the ground, curling her metal fingers with a hiss.

Lenny tugged on Jax’s sleeve. “Do you recognize this place? I mean, this park in particular?”

“Heck yeah.” Jax’s grin was extra wide. “I used to come here all of the time. Has the best skatepark in all of Crusem city, perhaps even the state of Claxia! Follow me. Home is across town, but we’ll see some of the sights, first.”

In a group that might have been confused for a masquerade party on parade, they started marching along one of the pathways after Jax.

The Ninja did not seem too effected by the abruptness of the change in worlds, though he did eye the building tops in the distance with suspicion. Jackal still seemed tired, but followed with his rifle over one shoulder and his deep eyes watching everything.

Jax led them through the park under the huge oaks, around a pond and up to the top of a low hill. Below it, spread out in a miniature valley, was the skatepark. Made of smoothed cement and shining iron, covering at least two acres, it was the largest place of its kind Lenny had ever seen. There were tunnels, half-tubes, jumps, bumps, steps, pits and rails, along with shapes in cement which Lenny could not think of a name for. One rail stretched all down the center, from left to right, with a pit on one end and a jump before the other.

There was only one person in the park at the time, a young man dressed in dark clothes with some sort of neon symbols all across them. As they watched, he jetted up the ramp, flew onto the rail, skated down it, slipped into the pit and rocketed up out of the other side. He landed on the other edge, jumping off of his hoverboard and flipping it upright with a kick. The silenced jets on its underside glinted in the sun.

“Right on!” Jax pumped his arm in the air, before turning back to his companions. “That’s a friend of mine. We call him Hotcho, after a movie bandit, but his real name is Axelsistiak. Old family stock. They’re perpetually shocked at him. Let’s go see him.”

Without waiting for a consensus, Jax drew out his own hoverboard and threw it on the ground. In a moment he was off, angling across the park, skipping over bumps and flying over jumps until he reached his friend. When the others caught up, he was in the middle of talking excitedly. Hotcho was a tall, awkward youth with dark hair and a surprisingly deep, quiet voice. He was not much older than Jax, but he spoke with a serious inflection.

“You really dodged the Flynnbar and hit the checkerboard that time!” Jax exclaimed.

“Yeah, though I missed the goldspot.”

Jax saw Lenny and the others approaching, so turned and flung a hand out towards them. “Hey, Hotch, these are my Chumswags. I’ve been picking them up all over the place. One of our latest acquisitions is a real, live Ninja. And Lenny, this is the guy I told you about, the one I jumped off of the Bluemont hotel with.”

“Nice to meet’cha.” Hotcho gave them a flick of his head. But Jax was still in full flow, bubbling curiosity. “So, what’s been up around here, man? Any news from home?”

“The news ain’t good, man. Things are going down the tubes around here.” Hotcho tilted his head from one side to the other, seeming to indicate the whole town with the gesture. “A new member was elected to the intergalactic council. He’s a tuggem, a real tuggem and runs the whole council from his favorite desk. Ever since he came up, people have been disappearing. Adults. Gechy men and Trag gals. None of our brood. And then there’s this dark matter besmearing walls. Touch it and you go to the hospital. Fremmox tried it last week. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“Fremmox? That’s terrible.” Jax’s face became drawn as he contemplated the truth of what was happening to his world. “He was one of our best men at dodging the double-loop and running the trials. What about Iax, Hotcho, have you heard anything about my people? Or, uh--?”

“Twisia?” A small smile cracked the gloom which seemed perpetual on Hotcho’s face. “She’s just goggle, except for always weeping for you.”

“Eww, weeping, really? Girls are so draggic sometimes.”

By now Lenny was feeling lost in the amount of heavy slang they were using. It seemed that every other adjective they chose was one he did not understand. But he had no time to ask then, as Hotcho went on, “that reminds me, Grummage came looking for you the other day. All they way into the Dog’s diner.

“Really?” Jax’s eyes came open wide. “Wow, Grummage is usually too nervous to hang out with our brood. It must be important.”

“Yeah, he acted like it.” Hotcho shrugged. “Said he was looking for you, but wouldn’t say why. Maybe he needs a loan, I don’t know. Say, you people gonna stick around and watch me try to shoot the double-tube?”

“Nah, we’ve got to be moving on. I’d better see what’s put Grummage in a loop this time.” Jax started walking away, beckoning to his friends. “See ya 'round, Hotcho.”

“Good luck, Jumbo Jax.” The hoverboarder waved to them absently as he turned away towards one of the big cement tubes set in the park.

The whole crew followed Jax across the grass towards a gate, which was the exit of the park. Lenny made an effort and caught up with him, asking once they were out of earshot of Hotcho. “Er, what did all of those things you said mean?”

“What things?” Jax looked around at him quickly, then laughed. “Oh, you mean our slang? It’s hoverboarder’s talk. What in particular do you want translated?”

“Well, for starters, you called us Chumswags...”

“That means 'traveling companions’.”

“And the council member, and people and all that?”

“Let me see, what words did we use? Oh yeah, Hotcho said that he was a tuggem. That’s just putting two words together 'tug’ and 'them’. It means someone who gets his way by bullying and wheedling, or just insisting that no one else is right. A Gechy man is an employed, comfortably housed adult man. A Trag gal is the same, but a woman. Wives and sisters who stay at home don’t count, even if their husband, father or brother is a Gechy man.”

“Sounds like some sort of bizarre insult, to me.” Lenny shook his head with a small chuckle. “I think your people would be far too 'fast’ for me to live here for long.”

“Jax?” Amber joined them, giving him a mischievous smile. “What’s it mean when someone is goggle, or draggic?”

“Oh, hah, that.” Jax’s face turned a little red as he looked away. “Goggle indicates pretty, handsome, a good-looker. Draggic is a mixture of ‘tragic’ and ‘a drag’. It means that they spend too much time throwing dramatic fits. Hey, look, there’s the Bluemont hotel up ahead!”

Changing the subject, he ran over to the gate of the park and pointed out a building across from it. The Bluemont hotel was an imposing structure. It rose straight up in a tall, shining-glass front with small bars of pale yellow cement in between. On each side of this multi-story tower were wings angling downwards, made of the same pale yellow material. Above the hotel’s front door a large television screen flashed, showing advertisements for everything from hair gel to motor oil. It was almost as big as a theater’s screen, an impressive wall of moving lights.

In front of the Bluemont was a huge, open square, bordered on two sides by more large buildings. In the center of this was a water fountain with an abstract human statue on top, dumping water down into the basin. Between the open square and the park entrance was a wide road and parking lot. Vehicles were moving over the road swiftly, shining in bright colors. They did not have wheels like many vehicles on worlds Lenny had seen recently, but they did not have sweepers like his own hovercars, either. They were flying on jets like those on the hoverboards, just much larger. Lenny wondered where they got the energy to power all of those vehicles and the boards. He had never inquired into what power Jax’s ran on.

Most of the crew stood back, just inside the park, and stared at the cityscape in shocked awe. Beyond the Bluemont and its companions, more buildings stood in shining array. As far as they eye could see there were buildings, paved roads and walkways, flashing vehicles and colorful lights. Lenny looked back and realized that, to them, it must seem like a vision from the future. Even Raggsy was a little surprised, though he must have memories of a place like this from his youth.

“This is a mighty big city. I’ve heard of places like this back east, but not so...flashy,” Jackal commented, sounding a little dizzy as he tilted his head back to look towards the top of the buildings. “I’m not even sure I’m seeing straight. I think I need a drink.”

“I’m with ye, matey,” Patch agreed, “this place is one too many for this old seadog. But ye know what cities are good for when ye have siller in your pocket--?”

He jingled his pocket, letting out the sound of clinking gold coins. Their gaze met in mutual understanding. “A spree!”

“Hey, do you mean like eatin’ and drinkin’ a whole bunch?” Raggsy asked, circling around to join them. When Patch nodded, he squeaked, “alright, count me in! Spreein’ sounds fun.”

“Hold on, guys.” Jax held up his hands, forestalling them. “Let’s go see what’s going on with my friend Grummage, first, then we can all go out to lunch.”

There was some grumbling at this, but Jax urged them on until they were all walking down the sidewalk, past sparkling buildings and open squares set with a mixture of classical statues, flashy advertisements and flowers which almost looked fake.

“What do all of these cars run off of?” Lenny asked their guide, having to lengthen his stride to keep up with him. “Where does your world get enough fuel to power all this?”

He waved his hand vaguely at the city, taking in all of its energy uses.

“There’s two large gas giants off-world. Other planets, you know. One is owned by Galaxy Gas.” He touched the words on his chest proudly. “The other by their rivals, the low, dirty, Universal Fuel company.” Jax scowled when he spoke these words, indicating an advertisement for them hanging on a building nearby. “Nobody who supports Galaxy Gas would buy Universal Fuel, or vice-versa. Anyway, they each own a planet and harvest fuel from them to sell here, or on one of the three satellite worlds, 'Ursa, Porsa and Grovnik’. Those companies are so big that they own their own satellite mini-worlds, each orbiting their own gas giant. They have thousands of workers and their families staying out there, along with mining robots, drones, shuttle ships, ect. They say the pay is great, but I don’t know. It would be boring to stay on that one satellite all your life, working in the probe ships or controlling drones on the gas planets.”

“So, your dimension has advanced space flight like Leaflow’s. Have you ever found any extraterrestrial life out there?”

“No sentient beings.” Jax shrugged. “Not yet. But there are some forms of bacteria and even small animals on a few words we’ve found. Really, we haven’t explored very far out into our universe yet, not like in other dimensions. We’ve mostly concentrated on building up this solar system and taking advantage of its resources.”

Behind him, Lenny heard Dansei ask Amber, “pardon me, but how many of these 'dimensions’ are there? These young men speak as if there are hundreds!”

“I’ve been on six, before this,” Amber returned seriously, “there are nine linked in a ring right now, that we can’t go beyond. It’s another effect of the purple corruption. But Jax has been on many more of them. If I understand correctly, there is hundreds, or even thousands.”

“Ah! All these places that I never knew existed before. In Shinto, a religion of my place, they say that there is only three worlds. This one, a one of higher spirits and a one of lower spirits. But you speak of hundreds! How is it that your 'train’ can go from one to the next?”

As Amber tried to give him a brief overview of what the Di-jump was, and how they used it on the train, Lenny went back to his conversation with Jax. “So, do you think that this 'tuggem’ council member is the Power Core here?”

“I don’t know.” Jax frowned, stopping at a crosswalk. He stepped purposefully on a bright yellow plate on the ground, which changed the driving signals to stop cars for them to pass on the crosswalk. After they had all made it safely across (with a scare for Soleeryn, who almost ran back the other way when a car honked at her) Jax added speculatively, “that would make sense. But it might be too simple of an explanation. Anyway, we should free Leaflow first, no matter what Power Core is here. I know we want to get to the action, but Leafy has a lot of knowledge that could be useful to us.”

Lenny could not quite agree. “My world is next, isn’t it? I think we should try to rescue Dr. Devi sooner. Any Power Core that has been connected to the central power should know something, If Leaflow’s last words were correct. Besides...”

He looked away for a moment, trying to hide the worry in his voice. “I want him to check my cybernetics.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Jax skipped out of the way of a man dressed in a business suite, who passed them all with eyes open wide in a disbelieving stare. “You need fixed up. Hm, we’ll see what we can do about that as soon as possible. But I still think that we owe it to Leaflow to free him ASAP. He saved me, and is a useful sort of guy to have around.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Soleeryn made an effort to catch up with them, as she was starting to leg from the effort of the long walk and the shock of the sights they were seeing. “Excuse me...could we stop and rest a moment?”

“Oh, of course.” Lenny gave her a sympathetic look. “Sorry we’re walking so fast. is that a bench up ahead, Jax?”

He pointed to a lawn in front of a building, where a few trained trees grew beside a metal park bench. The healer went to sit on it, catching her breath in little, panting gulps. Once she had recovered somewhat, she said, “I am sorry to hold you back. I’ll be alright in a minute.”

“We’re fine with it.” Amber patted her on the shoulder, standing behind the bench and leaning on it. “I could do with a bit of rest myself. I didn’t know cities could be so big and imposing.”

Soleeryn gave her a grateful smile, before turning back to Lenny. “I don’t want to sound like an eavesdropper...but did I hear you say that there is something troubling you? Physically, I mean. Because I still have plenty of herbs and potions in the train if there is.”

“Er, no, nothing like that.” Lenny hastened to assure her, feeling a little embarrassed with everyone standing around, listening. “It’s just my electronics. They’ve, um, been malfunctioning a little lately.”

He hoped that the Ninja and Jackal would just think that he was speaking of some device he carried around, or not understand what he meant at all. Though cybernetics were not illegal (as far as he knew) in any world he had been to since leaving his own, he still felt awkward when speaking of them. For so long it had been a well-kept secret, something he could not speak aloud or let show, that it was hard to come out in the open about them in front of so many people. Even his parents did not know the full scope of what Dr. Devi had done, thinking that the doctor had simply given him aids for his weaknesses rather than mitigating them altogether.

But when he looked around, he found that some of the crew, at least, were not paying any attention to him at all. Raggsy had caught a scent wafting from the building they were standing near and, spinning towards it suddenly, exclaimed, “hey, it’s an eatery!”

Patch came up beside him eagerly. “An eatery, ye say? It appears we’ll get our spree early. What do ye think, Jackal, shall we see what they have to offer?”

“Sounds good to me.” Jackal shifted the gun on his shoulder to a more comfortable position. “Especially if they have coffee to offer. I ain’t had a decent cup of that stuff since 'ol missus Westlan moved out.”

“Let’s go in an’ get lunch,” Raggsy snickered, rubbing his paws together.

Dansei put a hand to his stomach. “I think I will join you, if I may. Under benches is not a good place to find provisions when you musn’t move an inch. Yes?”

“Hey, aren’t you guys going to wait until I can take you somewhere?” Jax protested.

“We aren’t children, to need herding around all day.” Patch gave him a rebellious look. “We’re men! Or Ratmen, at least. We can take care of ourselves. And I have the doubloons to stand everyone treat, now.”

“But--”

“Oh, let them go,” Amber interrupted with a wink at the Ratperson. “They won’t be any more conspicuous in there than traipsing around the streets. We can come back for them later.”

“I guess so.” Jax still looked uncertain, but perked up a little when a thought came to him. “I suppose I could even ask Pop’s to borrow his car to pick them up in. He lets me drive it sometimes, if it’s to pick up a friend.”

“Do be careful, though.” Soleeryn gave the adventurers a warning glance. “There my be Cruel agents anywhere in the city. I’ve seen its mark on some of the walls, and in the air of the sky.”

She was recovered enough to go on by then, so while the pirate, Ratperson, Ninja and Jackal made their way towards the restaurant door, the others kept on their way down the street.

Amber laughed after a few minutes, shaking her head. “My, those restaurant owners are going to get a surprise! I hope that all of our friends behave themselves.”

“Are you kidding?” Jax rolled his eyes. “Raggsy’s going to eat everything in sight, whether it’s on his plate or not, Patch will be stealing the cutlery, Dansei trying on the cook’s uniform and Jackal leaning back with his rifle across his legs! I just hope that they don’t get thrown in prison.”

“Do you think it’s that bad?” Lenny asked, suddenly anxious. The last thing they needed to complicate their adventure now was having to explain people from different worlds to the city judge. And pay the bail to free those said friends.

“Oh, they have more sense than that!” Amber exclaimed, “let them have some fun. Everything has been so serious and sad lately...they need to be cheered up.”

“You should have gone with them,” Lenny returned, seeing how earnest she had become. But Amber just shook her head and said nothing in return.

After leading them through various points of the big city, pointing out particularly tall buildings or ones that had some interesting anecdote attached, Jax finally brought his three companions to a more suburban part of town. White, red or off-yellow houses stood in neat rows on each side of the street, with picket fences around their green lawns. Behind them, in the back yards, there were often a few trees or what looked like the enclosure for a swimming pool. Down near the end of the street they came to where a yellow house with black trim and two stories stood on the right, while a gray house with blue trim was on the left. This latter one was built almost square, with little slant to its roof, but there was a narrow balcony off the upper floor with an awning over it. A mailbox was sprouting out of the grass near the end of the driveway, with neon-orange lights advertising the box’s number. In front of it a figure stood reading his mail, a dark cloak hiding most of his figure, with the hood pulled up over his head. For a moment, Lenny stopped and stared in amazement, a shiver going over him as he wondered if it truly could be another recreated Leaflow come looking for them.

But the next moment he had to chide himself for foolishness. The mysterious personage turned towards them and a beaky nose could be seen sticking out of the hood, besides the fact that the figure was much smaller and skinnier than Leaflow had been. In fact, it appeared to be a young man made of sticks and strings, he was so thin and angular. There were white gloves over his hands and he wore bright pink sneakers.

“It’s Grummage!” Jax called out, starting to run towards him, “Grummage, over here! You’re just the guy we were looking for!”

They all came up to the cloaked figure and Lenny saw a narrow, bespectacled face inside the hood, with bright red hair and very pale skin. His nose was so ridge-like that it was almost painful to look at, and there was a large Adam’s apple on his throat. But this was, apparently, the original manufacturer of the Di-jump.

“Jax!” Grummage dropped his letters, then scrambled around to pick them up again, “Jax, I was hoping you would come back soon. Nice to see you, man!”

They both raised their hands and clasped them together above their heads in a friendly greeting, before they started to talk. And in this, Grummage was almost as proficient as Jax. They chattered back and forth so quickly that it was hard to tell who was talking at times, except for by who was waving his arms around more wildly at the moment.

“Where have you been? Who are these people?”

“Some of my pals! Lenny, Amber and Soleeryn.”

“Whoa, are they even from this world?”

“Nah, they’re from all over the place. Hey, guess what?”

“What?”

“Lenny here is cybernetic! Yeah, really, he has a turbo energy cannon in one arm and all sorts of things in the other.”

“Um, Jax...” Lenny tried to interfere, uncomfortable with being talked about. But the traveler and his 'first electronic nerd’ kept going right over the top of him. Amber threw a sympathetic glance at Lenny as they chatted on, but did not help him. Soleeryn was wandering the lawn, looking at little plants growing in it.

“Really? Cybernetic? I’ve never heard of that idea succeeding before.” Grummage gave Lenny a curious but not unfriendly look. “I heard that it’s always failed on the test volunteers.”

“Yeah, but it worked on Lenny’s world,’ Jax explained excitedly, “there’s only one problem. He was struck by lightening and has been malfunctioning. I was thinking that maybe you could help him, fix the problem ya know?”

“Me?” Grummage took a step back. “No way, man. I’m not messing around inside someone. I don’t even know how the cybernetics work.”

“But you’re an electronics guy!”

“I’m not a surgeon!”

“Oh, come on, just give it a shot.”

“No way!”

“Jax...Jax!” Lenny finally got his friend’s attention. “Um, could you please stop? I’m not that badly injured. Besides, it takes a specialist.”

“Oh, alright.” Jax shrugged sulkily. “I was just trying to help. But what news do you have to give me, Grummage? Hotcho said that you were looking for me as the Dog’s diner.”

“Dog’s diner?” Grummage looked puzzled for a moment, before nodding to himself. “Oh, yeah. Benji’s restaurant, where you ‘boarders hang out. Strange things have been happening around here, Jax. I’m worried about your father.”

“Iax? What could hurt him, the old battlewagon?”

“Get real, you know how weak he is any more. He’s old now,” Grummage reminded his friend bluntly.

“Alright, alright, what’s wrong with Pops?” Jax threw up his hands in defeat.

Grummage looked around nervously, then beckoned to his house. “Come on, all of you. It’s not safe to talk about it out here. We might be overheard.”

He led the way up the gravel drive to the door of the house. Soleeryn broke off her search to follow. Inside it was dim, almost gloomy. All of the windows had curtains drawn over them. Seeing them looking at the curtains, Grummage explained, “I have a sun allergy. Makes me break out in rashes if the sun’s too bright. That’s why the hood and gloves.”

As he spoke he pushed off his hood and threw the gloves onto a coffee table. The main room of the house was cheaply but comfortably furnished, with a couch, armchair, coffee table and shelves holding all sorts of items. An open door gave a view of the kitchen with dishes piled all over the place, clean and dirty together.

Grummage went walking around the room, looking under the couch and behind the drapes carefully. Meanwhile, both Soleeryn and Amber were nudging each other, silently pointing out details of their host’s home.

“What’s he looking for?” Lenny whispered to Jax.

The traveler shrugged, relaying the question. “What’cha looking for, Grumm?”

“Listening devices. Spies. Anything like that.” Grummage came back after a minute, shrugging his thin shoulders and shaking his frizzy-haired head. “There’s nothing. As far as I can tell, at least. You never know what might be lurking around, listening in, with everything that has been going on lately.”

“What has been going on, Grummage? What is this all about?” Jax pressed.

Grummage’s face twisted with nervous anxiety and fear. Drawing them all into a huddle with a wave of his hands, he whispered, “they’ve been taking people away. Honest, good people. Ones with families and houses and a steady job. One day those people are there, the next they just disappear.”

“Hotcho warned me about that,” Jax replied, “but what’s this have to do with my father? He’s retired.”

“They’ve been lurking around his place lately. I’ve seen them: the Special Police. They park on my side of the road and watch your house. Once they went in and talked to him. I tried to listen in, but couldn’t hear what they were talking about. When they left, Iax came out holding a sheaf of papers and stared after them with a terrible expression. I’m worried about him, Jax. You might not have always got along with him, but he has raised you by himself all along.”

“I know.” Jax’s face looked surprisingly solemn. “I’ll hop right over and see what’s going on. He’ll tell me, if I ask in the right way. And whatever it is, we’ll get rid of it.”

“Do you want us to come with you?” Lenny asked delicately.

Jax shook his head. “It’ll be easier without having to explain strangers. I’ll be back soon.”

He ran out of the house, leaving the door open in his haste. Lenny saw him cross the road, hurry past a bright red hovercar parked in the drive and go up onto the porch of the yellow house. But he did not open the door. He paused before it, bending down to look at something near the knob. Then he shouted loud enough to be heard across the street, “Lenny! Everyone, come here!”

Grummage cursed and grabbed for his gloves. Lenny dashed out and jumped down the steps, followed by the two women. There was something in Jax’s voice which urged haste.

They came up and found him staring at the door, pointing at the knob. “Something’s wrong here. It might be a trap.”

The knob was broken, wrenched half out of its socket and dangling. The door was not even latched, just hanging open a slit. Splinters of wood gaped around the doorknob.

“Someone broke in.”

Jax jerked open the door and went inside, followed by his friends. They found themselves in an austere but not uncomfortable living room, mostly dominated by a large television screen on the wall. There were a few tasteful abstract statuettes beside the screen, and a third laying on the floor. But no one was in the room.

“Pops!” Jax shouted, running for a door leading off of the room. “Everyone, look for Iax. Pops, where are you?”

Amber took off up a set of stairs, while Soleeryn went cautiously towards the kitchen. Grummage began looking under furniture in the living room. Lenny chose a door at random down a short hall, opening it and sticking his head inside. It was easy to see that this was Jax’s room, even at the first glance. A large window, convenient for jumping out of, lit up the space with bright sunlight. A comfortable, wood-framed bunk was up against the left wall, covered in rumpled blankets and a pillow set up on end against the headboard. Across from it was a large shelving unit, the center of which was divided into nine square compartments. Each one of these had a clear plastic door in front of it and a metal floor wired to one large electronic box on the floor.

These compartments each held an item, such as the hoverboard, electric razor and taser. It was the teleportation unit which Jax’s Telestorage connected to. Above it on the shelves were some adventure books, all very dusty and appearing to be the sort a twelve-year-old boy would read. Below the nine compartments was a shelf full of plastic tubs and hastily folded clothing. The floor had an oval rug on it, with 'Galaxy Gas’ woven into it. There were posters of rockstars, models and other celebrities on the wall.

Lenny pulled his head back out, not having seen anyone inside. Jax came down the hall and jerked open a door across from that one, panting. “Nope, not in the bathroom, either. Check the spare room at the end of the hall.”

Striding down to the end, Lenny opened the last door and looked in. A very dusty spare room met his gaze, with nothing of interest in it.

Just then they heard Soleeryn’s voice call from the kitchen, “I’ve discovered something!”

The boys exchanged a look and ran out of the hall, through the living room. Grummage was still looking under the couch and chairs as if Iax could be hiding there.

Amber joined the other two boys as they came into the kitchen. It was a mess, with dishes knocked to the floor and table tipped up, legs broken. Soleeryn was kneeling on the floor, looking down at two items laying in the center of it. One was a knife, the other a broken bottle, such as might have held wine. Both were stained with drying purple ooze.

“Their blood,” Soleeryn stated, “the Cruels have been here. And someone put up a fight.”

“Iax.” Jax looked stunned, dropping down on his knees beside her to touch the knife blade with a trembling finger. After a moment he looked up, face set and pale. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

Lenny guessed what he was going to say, before he said it.

“We go on the warpath.”

Everyone felt a solemn chill go through them. This was it, then. No more running and skipping through worlds to escape the wrath of the purple corruption. It was time to fight back, destroy its hold on the Power Cores and free the worlds from whatever power was eating through them. The war was on.

---

Contrary to expectations, the four men on a spree had not pillaged the restaurant wantonly. They all sat around a table in a wide booth, relaxing in their own ways after a huge meal. Raggsy lay in the corner with his snout tilted back, snoring lightly. In front of him was a pile of plates, only left with a few crumbs and bones on each to show what had been there before. The Ratperson’s furry stomach bulged out comfortably. Jackal sat next to him, gun leaning up against the end of the table, toothpick in hand as his gaze roamed with slow content over the rest of the patrons in the place. There was not many of them, by now.

Dansei was trying to balance his fork, spoon and knife on the end of an empty beer bottle. His eyes were laughing as he expounded the differences between 'Yin’ and 'Yang’ and how they effected the world. Next to him, Patch had a row of bottles and a half-full mug in front of him. Shaking the mug back and forth in a jolly manner, he quietly sung a sea shanty in his rich bass singing voice;

“Oh, we went on a sail beyond the sun,

and met some maidens, had some fun.

Nobody told us to stop or stay,

'cause no one stops a pirate, at his play.

Oh, we went on a sail...”

And, indeed, none of the waitresses or cooks were trying to stop them from having their fun. Not only because they were a fearsome group (the police might have been called for that) but because Patch had greased everyone’s palms so well with gold that the men on a spree could have asked for anything and been brought it with a bow and a flourish.

Dansei was just about to explain how Yin and Yang effected the phases of the moon, at the same time completing his show of care and skill with the cutlery, when the door of the restaurant was burst open. Four men came marching in, dressed in black uniforms with purple badges. Their hats had silver letters on them, stating 'Special Police’.

They spoke to the cashier, then marched over in front of the four companion’s table. Raggsy sat up with a jerk and Dansei’s statue fell with a clatter of utensils.

The police men spread out, one of them producing a pistol. “All of you, spread your hands on the table. You’re under arrest!”

“Is that so?” Jackal looked up slowly, flicking the toothpick across the room.

“I said, spread them!” The police man reached for Jackal’s hands, still threatening with the gun. The other three backed him up, all producing weapons.

Just before his hand touched Jackal’s wrist, chaos broke loose. Jackal moved quicker than would have seemed possible, with how lazy he had been a moment before. With one hand he swiped the pistol away from his antagonist, grasping the policeman’s arm with the other and twisting it until the policeman fell to his knees. Patch jumped to his feet, dashing the beer from his mug in all of their faces. Then he tackled one with a jump, bringing him to the floor where they wrestled wildly. Dansei jumped to the table and, with a fluid movement, kicked the gun from one police man’s hand while punching the other in the face. While they reeled for balance he jumped down and began pummeling one of them with his hands like blades, slowly driving him back. Meanwhile, Raggsy had picked up a knife and darted under the table, jumping out to attack the third officer. A gun went off, shattering a window without drawing blood.

The cashier gasped, ducking behind his counter. The waitresses screamed and fled. A second gunshot went off, this one from Jackal’s pistol. Before long, four police men lay on the ground, two unconscious and two dead. Of them, one was shot through the head, one stabbed to the heart and two beaten black and blue. It is not wise to mess with four men on a well-earned spree.

A siren sounded somewhere far off in the town. Patch dashed somewhat unsteadily to the restaurant door, while Dansei began calmly and methodically stripping the clothes from one of the beaten men. Looking up and down the street, Patch said, “we’re in for it now, men. These Special Police, I see that they bleed purple. Our enemies are onto us. We’ll have to warn the others.”

Jackal joined him at the door. “Yes, if we can make it.”

“The war’s on!” Raggsy exclaimed, barring his teeth. Dansei had silently put on all the clothes he had stolen, regardless of who was watching. Outside, the sirens were getting closer. Their was no time for the travelers to lose. They all left the restaurant at a trot. The police were after them and it was time to fight back.

---

A NOTE ON NAMES

Most of the names in this story are fairly simple, based on the dimension they come from. Lenny Staff, AmberRose Pyncheon, Peter (Patch) MacCore and Jeffrey (Jackal) Hind all have names much like those found in our world.

Leaflow (pronounced Leaf-low) Soleeryn (So-leer-in) and Raggsy all have singular names which are unique enough to avoid confusion with someone else in their dimensions. Dansei is not a name at all, but the word for ‘man’ in his land, part of his nickname Shinto’dansei, Silent man.

Jax’s country works on an entirely different method of naming people, one not found in many dimensions. They are what could be called procedural generated names. Hence, Jax’s father is called Iax, his father would have been Hax, ect, ect. If Jax had a son he would be Kax.

The last few letters of the name are carried on separately by the male and female lines of a family. Jax’s mother would not have had the ‘ax’ in her name. Twisia’s mother would have carried the name Swisia, and so on.

Once the last letter of the alphabet is reached, a new letter is inserted in the front and the names reset at the beginning. But, no letter is allowed to repeat itself more than twice in a name and new letters can be inserted if necessary to make a name more pronounceable. Zax’s first son would become Baax, his next Caax (Bakes and Cakes) and so on. Every time the end of the alphabet is reached, the first two letters change one point and a new letter is inserted. Zaax to Aabax, Babax, ect.

Because of this, the longer a name is the more aristocratic a family is considered, due to their long, unbroken lineage.

Every once in a while, of course, some rebellious branch of the family strikes out on its own and a new family moniker is created. Hence, Jax’s line is not a comparatively old one, having only reached the tenth generation.