Bella slowly opened her eyes, after blinking a couple of times, she looked at Robot Steve. Bella got up and looked at him coughing up blood and oil. “What happened to you?”
“Those guys are stronger than you think, I am barely at 5% of my true power, the grand council took more from me for bringing you back.”
Bella sighed, “Did you manage to get Alice on our side?”
“Yes, I think so, however I think I saw Freya shine through for a moment. If Alice had not held back, she would have killed me.”
Bella sighed, “I had not expected that the void would eventually make you this weak. How did Alice even get the upper hand on you?”
Robot Steve shook his head, “They have better teamwork than I had expected, plus my transformation does not work anymore.”
Bella reviewed him for a few minutes, “Go into shutdown mode and I will repair your broken ribs, along with your other injuries.”
Robot Steve sat down on the ground and leaned against the cave wall and closed his eyes. Bella kneeled next to him, “They really did a number on you, if you could have transformed properly, you would have wiped the floor with them. I still remember when you could take down Micheal and Freya. At least, if you got the drop on them.” Bella started sending green energy through Robot Steve. “I don’t think you have more power to give the grand council. I wonder what they do with all the power they take from beings. The reason you must not be getting it back, must be because of the void.”
Bella sighed, “I just hope you will stay gone, Micheal. You have caused enough trouble in the past.”
After a while, Robot Steve woke up, he looked over his wounds. He had been fixed up, including his right wing. Bella smiled at him, “I achieved fantastic results, again. Why do you keep coming back all beaten up?”
Robot Steve chuckled, “It just happens, just as you keep dying. Just, don’t die on my anymore. Did you get the information that you needed?”
Bella nodded, “I did. I think the gate is still closed, only the shadow orb can open the gate.”
Robot Steve exhaled deeply, “I am still sorry.”
Bella looked at him, “For killing me, Alice, and the others? Or almost-”
Robot Steve held up his hand. “I said I am sorry, take it or leave it, Micheal killed me once, I don’t want him coming back to kill me again. Thank you for patching me up.”
Bella started walking away, “You are welcome. I won’t die again, I hope.” She sprouted green angelic wings that spanned easily five feet from the base of her back. She let out a deep sigh, “I am only using them to make sure I don’t attract unwanted attention.”
Robot Steve nodded, “You know you don’t have to hide them.”
Bella looked at him, “You know why I hide them.” Then she flew up, with her wings she soared through the sky. Bella easily made her way through the void lands and landed near the jungle. She quickly retracted her wings. A woman landed near her, Bella looked at her and sighed. “What are you doing here?”
O crossed her arms, “I want to know what your plan is. Since things are not going according to plan.”
Bella walked over, “You know Micheal, right?”
O nodded. “Steve is fine, he fell into a portal. I would have let Alice die, you know Freya is in there. You also know Freya will be a bad influence on Steve.”
Bella chuckled, “A bad influence? That is an understatement. I think Alice and I have different ideas on what to do next. Alice probably wants to find Micheal if Freya is waking up. And no one wants to find Micheal, if you ask me, he can stay hidden right where he is.”
O nodded, “I think that is the best for everyone, my father would agree.”
Bella let out a sigh of relief. “I have no clue who you are, or who your father is, but you kicked my ass with ease. I would rather not meet your father.”
O smiled, “No, you don’t. You should go on, Funk and Paul are probably in the library. You know what to do next, you need to take Steve to the limit. If he snaps, we are fucked, if he stays calm, we are in the clear.” O sprouted black wings and flew off.
Bella sighed, “I just hope Lorraine will be a good influence on Steve.” Bella barely started walking, or the shadow man appeared in front of her.
The shadow man crossed his arms, “I kept my end of the bargain, I brought Steve here, you were right, the A.I. in his head made him fight me instead of acting like a normal human.”
Bella nodded and put a hand on her chin, “And what about Abby? She attacked you, she is no ordinary human, or magical being. What is she?”
The shadow man shook his head, “I have no clue, but whatever she is, or what is inside of her, is sleeping.”
Bella looked up, “That sounds ominous, but thank you for destroying this reality.”
The Shadow Man frowned his eyebrow, “Why did you want me to destroy it anyway if you were going to use time magic?”
Bella smirked, “To make sure Nicholas would get involved, you know, I don't need to explain everything to you, you are my minion.”
The Shadow Man walked closer, “Was your minion, I did everything you and Stevie wanted me to do, now release my daughter, and I pray for you, that you did not hurt her, or else.”
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Bella grimaced, “I might have no fucking idea what you are, but you landed here from somewhere.”
The Shadow Man raised his voice, “My daughter, I've killed everyone you asked me too, and I helped you with Micheal in the past.”
Bella shrugged, “Fine,” she stretched her hand and a portal opened up. “This goes to the underworld, I have asked the Inner Circle to keep an eye on your daughter, she is in Reaperhelm, get her, and leave to wherever you came from.”
The Shadow Man walked over to the portal, he glanced over his shoulder, “You are fucking with fire, you know that, right? Abby could have killed me if she had unleashed her true power.”
Bella laughed, “Yeah, right, and Micheal is going to wake up and murder us all.”
The Shadow man nodded, “I'll bet on him waking up, you don't deserve to get what you want, if I find my daughter is harmed, I am coming back, with a good friend of mine.”
Belle scoffed and waved him away, “Just go, your use is over.” She looked at the Shadow man step through the portal. Bella let out a long, deep sigh, “Now to find Funk and Paul.”
She slowly made her way towards the city as she let her wings sink into her inclines, as she made her way to the city, Bella got lost in thought. Micheal laid out this plan, and he is trusting me to enact it. If there is one thing I don't want, it is to let him down, but she has altered the plans a little. Yes, Micheal is very rough on the edges. He killed her a couple of times, but he has a gentle side as well. Bella smiled, he liked my sister. He trusted her to take care of Micheal, that did not pan out well. Bella heard someone calling her name.
Bella looked up to see Funk, He walked over and smiled, “I see dead people.”
Bella sighed, “Very funny, you left me for dead, I am sorry to disappoint you that I am not dead.”
Funk scratched his head, “We thought, you were very dead, how come, you are not dead anymore?”
Bella looked around, “Is Paul here?”
Funk looked at the crystal, “He is in the library, I think the others are derailed.”
Bella nodded, “They fell into a portal. The grand council, they are powerful beings that can bring people back to live. However, someone needs to plead for you and give power to them. Before you ask, I have no clue what they do with the power. They brought me back, but I think they are getting tired of bringing me back.”
Funk chuckled, “Did you die a lot or something?”
Bella nodded, “Do you have any idea where Micheal is hiding?”
Funk shook his head, “I have no clue. Oh, and Alice is hiding something.”
Bella nodded, “I can tell you more about it later. For now, we need to plan for when Steve comes back from his detour.”
Funk nodded, “We should move to the camp for that.”
Bella smiled and nodded, “That is a good idea.”
While they were walking towards the crystal, Bella stopped Funk, “For an Insectine, you are a good liar.”
Funk smiled, “What do you mean?”
“I asked you where Micheal is, but you know, right? You saw the diary?”
Funk sighed, “Yes, but don’t worry, I made sure he did not read any of it and fed him some lies. He is not going to find out who, or where Micheal, is.”
Bella nodded, “I can see why you have the aura of the chosen hero around you. Does Steve know?”
Funk let out a bellowing laugh, “He believes he is the hero, and not just some random dude who accidentally got here.”
Bella nodded, “We did bring him here, but we had to. I promised Micheal, and I don’t want to piss him off, just for the chance that he does come back.”
Funk nodded and walked over to the crystal, “We should pretend to be dumb in front of the others.”
Bella chuckled, “I can do that.”
They both teleported into the library and Paul got up, “Who did you find Funk?”
He looked at Bella, “She is a woman we met earlier. We thought she had died, but she apparently survived.”
Bella smiled at Paul, “Hello there, I am a researcher.”
Paul stretched his hand, “The name is Paul, I am someone who got into this reality accidentally.”
Bella took his hand, “My name is Bella. I am a local of this reality, my main research is the void, which is how I got through the voidlands. I followed Funk’s tracks, There is something I needed to tell Steve. A way to find more information about the void. And possibly a chance to defeat the void.”
Paul smiled and sat down, “Do you eat meat?”
Bella sat down, “Yes, some meat would be nice.”
Funk started preparing dino steak, “What do you want to tell us, Bella?”
She grabbed a piece of paper, “There is a cave, it should hold some murals. These will give you some needed answers.”
Funk nodded, “Alright, can you draw a general line while we wait for the others to come back?”
Paul sighed, “I saw them fall down into that portal. I even considered jumping after them.”
Funk smiled, “They will come back after a detour, I am sure that Lorraine will take care of Steve.”
Bella started humming while drawing a small map. Funk looked over her shoulder, “You say this cave is nearby, this does not seem nearby.”
Paul laughed, “Maybe if you have wings or something like that.”
Bella stared at him, “Why did you say that?”
Paul shrugged, “I have seen some strange stuff on this trip. This person we fought had wings, that is why I said that.”
Funk looked at Bella, they shared a look, then Bella looked at Paul, “I have no clue about beings with wings, maybe some harpies.”
Funk chuckled, “Just draw us that map.”