Adrian paced her lab, waiting for Chuck to get back. Ever since he'd regained his memories last week he'd been avoiding her, for good reason, and he kept cancelling meetings with Keycode with no explanation. Something was clearly up, but she didn't want to push. She'd betrayed his trust on an extraordinary level and wasn't expecting him to even talk to her. Adrian sighed and finished her plain white bread, her stress food, before returning to work. She was working on building a new chemical that was even more explosive than nitroglycerin, and she was going to spike Rainbow's lemon juice with it.

Chuck knocked on the door. It fell over and he stepped over it, like it was completely normal. He walked over to Adrian, and handed her his pink tie "Adri, you've been an... Interesting boss, but I'm afraid I can't go on working for you." She shrugged "Hardly knew you were." He shook his head "Adrian, I've known you long enough to realise that you enslaving me was just a you thing, and you meant no harm by it. I just want one thing from you. Explain what you did to wipe my memories." She looked at him "I stole Rainbow's soul, put it in a jar and hit you in the face with it!"

"WHAT?" Chuck looked astounded "I'm guessing that that's how I got the scar on my face, then." Adrian nodded "Rainbow got his soul back, though. Bit of a shame, but can I argue with the logic of this messed up universe?"

"I have a feeling you do anyway, Adri."

"Oh, I do, I just hate all others who do."

"Bloody hypocrite." Chuck smiled as Adrian shrugged "I prefer the term, genius." Chuck put on his original red tie and patted Adrian's head "You really are insane, aren't you,"

"I prefer the term, enlightened." She started chewing on some whole-wheat buns and fiddling with a bit of machinery, and Chuck decided it was time to leave "You really are a gem of intelligence and madness..." He turned to leave when he got an idea.

In the multiverse, there are seven main dimensions, The Rainbow Dimension, where Adrian and Rainbow were from, The Code Dimension, where Keycode was from, The Dark Dimension, which was the centre of all evil, The Portal Dimension, where the IF was based, The Earth Dimension, where Chuck was from, The Science Dimension, and The Chaos Dimension. Legend among the gods was that four gems of power were scattered amongst the seven main dimensions. A gem for strength, a gem for magic, a gem for intelligence and a gem for code. Each one represented a Universal Force, and when united it was said the force combined is enough to destroy the multiverse entirely. And it just so happened that the four agents at the IF had the same specialities as the four gems. Chuck remembered all this, and turned to Adrian "I think I know how we can beat Tracy Jones."

They gathered in Keycodes office, watching intently as she pondered Chuck's suggestion. Rainbow paced in front of her desk "Come on, Key, it's a solid plan!" She nodded "Yeah, but we don't know where the gems are..." Adrian looked up from where she was vibing in the corner "We can find them!" Chuck shook his head "They're hidden well. I know that much."

"THEN FIND THEM!"

"That's not how it works, Adrian!' Chuck sighed and looked back at Keycode, who spoke up "I guess we can try and find energy signatures from them..."

"Can I do that???? I'm good with... Energy signatures!" Adrian jumped up and went over to the desk "I bet I could find them!" Keycode sighed "Fine, but let Chuck help you. Rainbow, you can work on more technology. Alone. I'm working on something of my own, so don't disturb me unless you have to." She waved them away and Chuck stood up. He was annoyed that he had to work with Adrian so soon, but relieved that the idiot of a Rainbow wasn't going to be working with them as well. Adrian grabbed his hand and dragged him out the window "Hurry up, Norris! We have work to do!"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Chuck was bored. He'd spent the last 3 hours sat in Adrian's lab, keeping her from blowing up the HQ and turning Rainbow into an animal with her potions. They'd gotten nowhere with their search for the gems of power and Chuck was starting to doubt his plan. Was this really worth it? After all, they were just dumb rocks. He sighed and looked over to Adrian to tell her what he thought when a bleeping on the radar caught his attention. "Adrian, what do you make of this?" She glanced over from where she was mixing a new potion and dropped it suddenly "That's the signal we're looking for, Chucko! That's a gem of power!"

"Right!" Chuck noted down the information on the signal and handed it to Adrian, who studied them for a second "The Chaos Dimension, can you tell which gem?" Chuck shook his head, "Not that simple. I'll have to get a closer reading for that." She nodded, "I'll look for another reading for this one, you find the other gems."

"Right-ho" He turned back and started scanning the radar. It wasn't for nothing. The gems existed, and they were the key to succeeding in the fight against Tracy Jones.

A few more hours passed, and they'd tracked down the others to the Science Dimension, The Code Dimension, and the Portal Dimension. Adrian gathered up their findings and handed them to Chuck, before swan diving out the window, leaving Chuck to deliver the findings alone.

Chuck walked into Keycode's office, laden down by the file Adrian gave him "Hey, we've tracked down the gems of power!" She turned to look at him, and hurriedly slammed closed her journal "Damnit, Chuck, you scared me!" She saw the file and gestured for him to put it on the desk and sit down "Look, Chuck, we can talk about that later. I just need to know why you cancelled our meeting last week." He looked at the floor "It was nothing, just some scheduling conflicts."

"It's more than that, Chuck, though, isn't it?"

"It isn't, you know what's more? The fact your mother bought the IF more uniforms and sweaters!" Chuck tried desperately to change the subject, and it paid off. "I feel that. I keep telling her to back off, to go back to hassling my brother's wife like she usually does. I don't know what her issue is."

"Yeah... Families are weird like that, huh."

"Yeah? I bet yours is crazy, you never speak about it. You plan on getting married anytime?" Keycode laughed at the idea of the independent Chuck ever settling down and marrying. "Haha, yeah..."

"What about your parents? You never talk about them, you have any siblings, Chuck?"

"Oh, no, no, not really, no..."

"Not really?"

"No. Yeah, no." He was clearly hiding something, but Key decided not to push further "Anyway, we have to go track down the gems, yeah?"

"Mhm..." Chuck completely closed in on himself, not letting a single emotion escape "We can start with the one in this dimension, I guess..."

"Right" Keycode looked through the information on the file and typed it into her computer "Looks like the Magic Gem... We'll send Rainbow out to get it, it's his gem."

"Oh, right... I forgot, the gems don't work like that." Chuck refocused and started writing down something in the notebook he always carried. Keycode looked at him "What do you mean by that?"

"The gems choose who can wield them. You'll know if you can wield it when you find your gem." Chuck leant back in his chair and Keycode entered more details into her computer "So the Code gem in the Code Dimension?" Chuck nodded "Clever, putting the Code Gem in the Code Dimension..." Keycode laughed "Well yours, the Strength gem, is in the Chaos Dimension, so good luck with that." Chuck shrugged "I guess that leaves Adri with the Intelligence Gem in the Science Dimension..." As he said that, Adrian rolled through the broken window "Did I hear my name be uttered?"

"Speak of the devil..." Chuck shook his head as Adrian brushed more glass shards off her lab coat "I'm not a devil! I am a goddess!"

"Course you are, Adrian. Me and Key were just discussing the gems of power, you'll have to head over to the Science Dimension for it, though." Chuck put away his notebook and looked at Adrian, who was chewing some bread thoughtfully "Would I have to go alone or drag along you or Rainbow?" Chuck shrugged "I guess it's your choice. I'm going to suggest that we go alone, we'll cover more ground that way." Keycode nodded her approval "I'll go find Rainbow, we've got a job to do!"

Chuck walked through the corridors of the Portal hall, searching for the Chaos Dimension portal. The Portal Hall is a giant building with a portal to each dimension inside, it exists in every reality and world, and is the centre point of all existance. While not the Headquarters of IF, it was nearby and used to travel between dimensions. Adrian, Keycode and Rainbow had already found their portals, but the Chaos Dimension was further in. Chuck sighed as he scoured the portals, which were ordered by date of discovery. An unconventional method, but it worked for them. Eventually, Chuck reached the portal he needed. Adjusting his sword at his belt and readying his portable energy scanner, Chuck stepped through the glimmering grey wall of reality that built up the portal.