Template:The Parallel Universe (A Fragment)

Atticus and Chris walked through the door, unaware that it lead to the hideout where Harrison and Piercy Provost were using to spy on them.

"Hey, are we being followed?" Chris asked, as they entered a long, narrow corridor, full of paintings that were all apparently of "Gods of Euclid."

Atticus looked around the corridor, examining his surroundings. "Wow, paintings. How exciting."

"Hmm. Any minute, those guys are going to walk right into the path where we are spying on them" said Piercy to Harrison, both of whom were out of earshot of Chris and Attitus.

"I guess that means we'd better pack up our things and move into a hiding place" answered Harrison.

Atticus," Chris sighed. "Quit being a smart-aleck." Chris then grabbed a picture frame, only to realize it easily swung forward to reveal a tunnel. He heard footsteps through it.

Atticus stiffened as if he heard a strange sound, "We're not alone in here."

"Obviously not," said Chris. "Who's there?" he shouted.

"I guess they are going to find us." whispered Harrison. "You were the one that said not to go into hiding sooner".

"That voice sounds accented," Chris said. He crawled through the tunnel, finally spotting Harrison and Piercy. "Who are you guys?"

"I'm Piercy Provost" said Piercy.

"And I'm Harrison Provost" said Harrison.

"We are minions of The Demon" they both said together. "But there's no need to worry. We aren't here to oppose you".

"The Demon?" Chris asked. "Where is he in this universe?"

"Oh come on." said Harrison. "Surely you must know that other people in your world have gotten stranded here as well".

"Oh, that all makes sense. So, how long have you been here?" Chris asked. "I'm C.H.R.I.S. McFarlane, by the way."

"That depends on how long you've been here." answered Harrison.

"We just got here an hour or two ago, with this pure angel named Vome something who double-crossed his demon buddy, Javier." Chris explained.

"I see." answered Harrison.

"We haven't been here for that long. Well, longer than you've been here". said Piercy. "I guess the Demon wanted to give us a head start".

"I'm confused," Chris said. "Xeren doesn't seem to have ever existed here."

Harrison and Piercy Provost both gasped.

"Did you just mention Xeren?" Piercy asked.

"You can't tell us that this guy Xeren is stranded here as well?" asked Harrison.

"Xeren. That's the demon." Chris said. "He doesn't exist in this world."

"The Demon and Xeren aren't the same guy." said Piercy.

"The Demon is the guy that took us in after Xeren murdered our parents." said Harrison. "The Demon sent us here to do some unfinished business. Before anyone has a chance to foil his plan."

"What did he send you to do?" Chris asked.

"Just to spy on people that could be a threat to The Demon's plans of conquering the world." said Harrison.

"He promised us that we would be rewarded for our efforts." added Piercy.

"But why in a world where he does not exist?" Chris asked.

"Well he needs to make sure that people in other worlds that could pose as a threat to him cannot end up in his world." said Harrison. "The Demon wishes to dominate all!"

"Uh-huh." Chris said. "And what do you know about this world?"

"Not much" said Piercy. "All we know is that you're stranded here, and that you'll take whatever opportunity to make it back to your home world that you'll get."

"It is our job to ensure that you don't find a way back to your home world." said Harrison. "It would mean more trouble for The Demon otherwise".

"Well, we need to find this Xeren guy," Chris said. "He is connected to a bright red light that we're always seeing."

"Ah this Xeren guy. The guy that murdered our parents." said Piercy.

"The Demon warned us about him." said Harrison. "And he warned us that you might try to trick us into thinking that Xeren and the Demon are one and the same, if you ever found out that we were working for him".

"You have already implied that you are working for the demon. Now, we need to track Xeren down and see why he put us here," Chris said, taking out his GPS.

"Alright then." said Piercy.

He and Harrison left, heading in different directions. Where Piercy was going was to the place where he would be able to send a message to the Demon, informing him of Chris and Atticus' whereabouts. And what Chris said that he and Atticus were intending to do.

Harrison was going to another hide out where he would be able to continue spying on Chris and Atticus without either of them knowing.

Chris noticed that no sign of Xeren showed up on his GPS, the only result being for the grave of the dead son of Derek the God and his wife, who had died in year zero. "Seems he doesn't exist here," Chris said.

Meanwhile Harrison had made it to the alternate hide out. "They think they can find their way back to their home world." he said smirking. "Well once they've found something that could help them find their way back to their home world, it'll be my mission to eliminate it!"

"I think I know my way back home," Chris said, noticing Piercy scampering away. Chris grabbed Piercy by the leg. 'You're getting me and Atticus home," Chris growled.

"I've already alerted The Demon of your whereabouts and what you're trying to do." said Piercy. "I don't think me helping you would make things any different".

"Yeah, right," Chris said. "I have a lie detector with me, and I can tell you had no time to do it. I also have a few more tricks up my sleeve." Chris then modulated his voice to sound like the Demon by using his pocket sound modifier. "I've found their escape route! Come eliminate it!" he called over the walkie talkie.

"Well Harrison will start to wonder why I'm taking so long to report your whereabouts to The Demon, and then he'd have to take indirect measures into his own hands. I haven't got time to help you." said Piercy.

Chris did not let go of Piercy. "Don't worry, I've got a plan. Is that Harrison over there?" Chris then put on a disguise that could cause him to be mistaken for the demon at first glance. "Oh, young Harrison, come to see their exit ticket and eliminate it!" Chris shouted.

"It won't work. Harrison already knows where you are." said Piercy.

"He's getting closer," said Chris, still in disguise with his modulated voice, and holding firmly onto Piercy. "Harrison, may I see the annihilation ray so I can annihilate this escape route?" Chris asked Harrison.

"Lie Detectors can be faulty you know!" Piercy called out loudly.

Chris grabbed Harrison's annihilation ray, and shot it at Piercy. He ran off, shot at Piercy some more times, and went to hide. "Good thing I took all the ammo out," Chris said. "Or I might've killed somebody." He threw the ammo around in the bushes.

Atticus stood on the side, leaned up against the wall, just watching. "What the hell is happening?" he asked.

"I tried to trick Harrison and Piercy into thinking I was going to kill them, so I could rid them of their annihilation ray and we could get home without being annihilated." Chris explained, hacking the A.R. to bits.

"I could see that," Atticus said, walking to catch up with Chase. "Where are they now?"

"I don't know," Chris said,noting that a small note had fallen out of the A.R. It read, "In order to get home, you must find the angel named Vome."

Harrison decided to sneak back and try and spy on Chris and Atticus again, but this time he wasn't going to try very hard to make sure they wouldn't notice him. He had a plan.

"Vome? We know where he is!" Chris laughed, dragging Atticus along. "We met him on this hill. Vome!"

Suddenly Harrison lost his footing, lurching out into the open. He was secretly doing this on purpose because he wanted to make it seem like he was trying and failing to spy on Chris and Atticus in secret.

"Harrison?" Chris asked. "What's happening?"

Vome planned on making his return known to the group, but overheard his name and decided to eavesdrop on their discussion.

"I have decided that I would be glad to try and help you find your way back to your home world." said Harrison. "Though my older brother would consider it treachery if he found out".

"That sounds very generous, but are you really trustworthy?" Chris said.

"Hmm, I guess so." Harrison replied.

"Of course not," Vome said, stepping out of his hiding spot. Turning to Harrison, he said "Hello Harrison. I trust that you've been well? Serving Xeren is no easy task."

"Why does everyone keep saying that Xeren and The Demon are one and the same?" said Harrison. "I swear they can't be the same person".

"Vome! There you are! I hear you're the key to getting home!" Chris says. "Also, Harrison, why do you think they are not the same?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," he mysteriously said.

"Well, do you know anything about an annihilation ray?" Chris asked Vome.

"I saw Xeren shortly after he killed our parents." said Harrison. "I was just in time to see him leaving with them, and he looked nothing like The Demon does".

"How did he look? Show me a picture." Chris said.

"I don't actually have a picture of him, but he was jet-black all over. Except I think he had bright red eyes." said Harrison. "In all the times I've seen The Demon, he has never looked like that. He's a completely different shape for one thing. And he doesn't look as murderous as this Xeren guy did".

"Well, someone could still wear a fake skin." Chris said, taking his skin off, revealing his true form as a silver, metal skeleton-like android. "Like me. And maybe his eyes changed when he became the demon."

"You know, it's a bad idea to show all your secrets to a stranger," advised Vome, speaking to Chris.

"Well for one thing, this Xeren guy looked much larger and bulkier than The Demon." said Harrison. "For another thing, he made a lot of growling noises, noises that I've never heard The Demon make, and lastly The Demon showed up not long after Xeren took off, and he showed up from the opposite direction".

"Harrison's not a stranger. We've had a couple run ins in the real world."

"That is right." said Harrison.

He tried to think of an excuse to say that serving The Demon wasn't an easy task, but now that he came to think of it, it wasn't exactly an easy task. He couldn't bring himself to admit it though.

"Well, Harrison," Chris said. "Have you observed anything unusual about this world?"

"Other than having some people from our home world, not really. Well, maybe a bit. Everything about this place seems rather mysterious and surreal." answered Harrison.

"Well, let's take a look at the landscape. It looks more like a prosperous totalitarian land has had several battles in it, not a post-apocalyptic one. It also looks a little primitive." Chris pointed out, noticing Vome had vanished.

Meanwhile Piercy Provost was using his secret hideout to spy on Chris McFarlane, and noticed that Harrison Provost was, or at least appeared to have had a change of heart. "Either I'm dreaming, or Harrison has gone mad." Piercy said. "Maybe I should steal his glasses when he's asleep."

"Good night," Chris said, noticing it was getting late. "Wonder if we'll still be in this weird alternate timeline when we wake up?" Chris took out his microchip and deactivated himself.

Harrison turned to Atticus. "I'd better go as well. It's getting late for me. And Piercy will probably start wondering where I am. Though he usually has his ways of knowing where I am, even if he otherwise wouldn't know where I am, if you know what I mean." he said.

"Interestin'," Atticus said.

Javier peered out from behind the shadows. "There is something weird going on with those two boys that appear to be siblings. Why do they talk about one primordial demon? We are a diverse species. And who ever heard of the name Xeren?" he said.

"Yeah, Atticus." said Harrison "Older brother, younger brother relationship. He often likes to try and keep me in order, even though I'm usually more than capable of taking care of myself. Well goodbye."

"Bye," Atticus said as he turned away from Harrison.

Javier watched as the one with the glasses walked off, next to the robot and the normal human. He decided to sneak over and take one of them hostage. "Leader Alchemilia would love one more slave ," Javier thought to himself, grabbing Atticus.

"Ha, I knew you'd never really ally yourself with those jerks." said Piercy when Harrison had returned. "You had to be up to something. You were just pretending to ally yourself with them, so that it would be easier to prevent them from trying to stop you from foiling their plans to make it back to our home world."

Harrison didn't know what to say. He was only meant to be pretending to side with Atticus and Chris, but the two of them seemed rather kind, and it had been a long time Harrison had experienced the feeling of kindness. But then he didn't want to betray his brother or The Demon. Not just yet anyway.

Carrying the unconscious Atticus, Javier came up upon the two brothers. "Excuse me, you two, but would you like a tour of our beautiful country?" He asked.

"Yes we do." answered Piercy. Harrison took one look at the unconscious Atticus, seemed to recognise him from earlier, and cringed a little bit.

"Good," said Javier, handcuffing them. He then dragged them to the palace of Leader Alchemilia. "Now, tell me, do you wish to work for a demon? Because I'm one."

"How did you know?" asked Harrison. "Are you some kind of a spy?"

"And why are you handcuffing us?" asked Piercy. "What did we ever do to you?"

"We demons need to keep you humans in check. So you don't fight Gabriel, that's our job." Javier replied. "But I am "the" demon you will work for from now on."

"Ha. We'll be sure to trick this guy into thinking that we will be loyal to him, and when he realises that we aren't loyal to him, it'll be too late, and we'll have escaped." thought Piercy silently. There was a smirk on his face.

Harrison was already feeling uncomfortable at the idea of trying to continue working alongside The Demon, while trying to pretend to work with Atticus and Chris, despite the temptation of working alongside them for real. And now as a captive of Javier, he had more puzzles to sort out.

Unbeknownst to Harrison, Piercy, or Atticus, as Javier was grabbing Atticus, he had also happened to flick Chris switch back on. This caused Chris to suddenly wake up. Feeling weakened, he carefully put his microchip back in, and realized that Atticus, Harrison, and Piercy were gone. "Traitors! Probably kidnapped Atticus and took him back to the real world, to give to a demon who doesn't even exist here." Chris exclaimed. Chris set out back towards the hill, desperate to get home to the main timeline.

Harrison could see Chris coming towards them, though Javier hadn't noticed. Harrison's eyes widened.

"First of all, you two, I will subject you to a series of tests to see if you are human scumbags or worthy for my demon army." Javier said, opening a testing chamber and accidentally dropping Atticus on the ground. Javier grabbed Harrison and Piercy, shoving them inside.

"Atticus!" Chris exclaimed, running over to help him.

"We are henchmen of The Demon, this should be no challenge for us." thought Piercy, still smirking.

"I am the demon, you fools!" Javier said. "First test!" Javier pulled a lever that converted Harrison and Piercy's DNA into demon DNA.

Chris ran off, dragging Atticus.

"Hey, you can't just change our DNA, you know!" shouted Harrison. "What will it take to get you to change our DNAs back?"

"Fools!" Javier laughed maniacally. "I'm turning you into slaves for my demon army to conquer Euclid and kill Gabriel!"

"You mean you aren't going to change our DNAs back?" shouted Piercy. He was no longer smirking, he was now unmistakably furious.

"Afraid not," Javier said, tightening their chains. 'Unless you fail my tests. See? I'm a reasonable guy."

"So what happens if we do fail your tests?" asked Harrison.

"Then I change you back, torture you for a week, if nobody's come to save you by then..." Javier made a slicing motion at his throat.

Both Harrison and Piercy shivered with a combination of anger and fear.

Javier laughed as he strapped Harrison and Piercy into a dangerous rollercoaster ride, complete with rings of fire, crunchers, and other booby traps.

Chris took Atticus back to the hill where they had arrived. He set him down, and made a downward plunge.

"Man, this is going to be difficult." said Harrison to Piercy. "I don't know whether to fail the test on purpose, or to pass it. I don't want to be a demon forever".

"Neither do I." agreed Piercy. "Maybe we should just try and pass this test. Then we can decide whether to try and pass or fail the next ones".

"Good idea." said Harrison. "We won't really be able to decide until we overcome our fears for this test".

Javier watched as the boys went 10 feet up in the air, then dropped suddenly, passing through a ring of fire. "You have 10 minutes to complete the test," Javier said, stepping away. "There's 4 more tests after this."

Miraculously, Chris did not explode from the falling. In fact, he fell safely onto a ledge, although he was now stuck. "Atticus, help!" Chris exclaimed.

Harrison and Piercy managed to pull it off within the time limit, but only just. Harrison's glasses were broken, because he had quickly grabbed them in a rush to stop them from falling off his ears.

Atticus slowly gained consciousness and slowly stood up, his head booming with a headache. As he looked around, he noticed he was alone. "Where did Chris go..?" he asked himself. He slowly turned and began to trek up a small path on the moutain.

"Good, good." said Javier devilishly. "Now, go through that tunnel and find me these exact 5 items in this exact order: Kite, Chair, Organ (musical kind), Soccer ball, and Bus. You have 20 minutes."

"Ha, this should be no problem." said Piercy to Harrison.

"You're right." Harrison answered. "All we need to do is find each item. It doesn't matter which order we find them, because we just need to exit the tunnel with each item in that order, since the tunnel has a roof".

Knowing Atticus could never find him, Chris did a very unusual thing: He turned on his BattleMode app. "Mwa ha ha ha!" Chris laughed maniacally, punching a side of the mountain. This enabled him to climb inside it, where he found a very convenient tunnel. "Maybe I'll end up under Anoethite," Chris laughed evilly.

"Harrison, can you hear something? It seems to be coming from inside this tunnel." said Piercy.

"I know, I can hear it as well, but what does it mean?" asked Harrison.

Chris fell down, hitting his neck on a toy bus. He then noticed two silhouettes. "Harrison? Piercy? It's me, Chris!" Chris picked up the toy bus and headed towards them.

"Chris, how did you get here?" Harrison asked, stunned.

"It's a long story...I lost Atticus. I think this is one long continuous tunnel that is under the entire city." Chris said, tripping on a soccer ball, Chris crashed down into some sort of conference room.

"You think you can help us get out of here, and away from this Javier guy?" asked Harrison.

"Javier's our pal," said a tall, muscular black angel with red eyes. "We're the Angel Resistance Association. Javier doesn't hurt demons or angels, he only hurts humans, and then, it's only so he can turn them into demons."

"Who's talking?" Harrison asked.

"My name is Argyle, the lead angel and Javier's second-in-command," The angel replied.

"Wait, what?" Piercy cried out.

"I thought that was Chris speaking. What happened to him?" Harrison blurted out.

"I'm right here," said Chris from the ground.

"I co-lead the resistance with Javier," Argyle said. "Now, I'm an angel, and I want to help you guys get home."

"Home?" asked Piercy, confused.

"What exactly do you mean when you say home exactly?" Harrison asked testily.

"Just wherever you came from. I'm a friendly angel. Just don't tell Javier. You know what he's done to angels in the past?" Argyle said.

"Yes we do. We are victims of him right now." said Piercy. His expression changed from disappointment and shock to hopeful.

"You had us worried there." said Harrison. "We thought that since you were allied with Javier, that you'd come to try and stop us from getting away. Or that you'd come to trick us into thinking that we were talking to Chris, or you'd come to stop Chris from helping us".

"Look, I'd do anything for humans and a robot as long as they are not allied with Gabriel." said Argyle. "Now, tell me how you got here."

Chris looked at his soccer ball and the toy bus. He then folded up the organ and put it in his pocket.

"Do you think you can turn us back into proper humans?" asked Harrison.

"You still are humans," Argyle laughed. "Javier just changed your outer appearances. It's propaganda."

Chris then saw a kite over Argyle's head. He reached for it.

"Oh thank god." said Piercy. "The last thing I wanted was to become a Demon".

"Thank Derek," Argyle corrected. "Anyways, where do you live?"

Chris then folded up the chair he was sitting in, putting it with his other materials.

"This isn't our native home world." said Harrison. "That's all we can say for now. But we are doing some work for The Demon who lives in another world".

"Demons, plural, they are a species, not a single entity. Unless you mean Gabriel, who we often call "The Demon" or "The Human"." Argyle said.

"Oh no. That's not him. The guy we work for goes by the alias of The Demon, but he is a different person from Gabriel." said Harrison.

"I see. You must be from a a parallel universe." Argyle realized.

"Yeah, that's right......" said Harrison.

"Could we just get out of here and to safety?" interrupted Piercy impatiently.

"Well, I need to know: Where did you start out when you arrived here?" Argyle asked.

"I'm not sure how to explain it." said Harrison. "We came here because The Demon sent us here to stand in the way of anyone that could foil his plans. But I'm currently unsure whether I want to remain a follower of The Demon......okay I'm sure. I'm sure." he said hurriedly, catching the look on Piercy's face.

"That doesn't make sense," Argyle replied. "A person sending other people to a world where he doesn't even exist to stop others. I think that guy's tricking you. Don't listen to him."

"Can you just rescue us and then we can talk?" asked Piercy. "We won't be safe until you rescue us".

"Just go out the tunnel. If you don't come out on Javier's side, he'll simply believe you died, and never put another thought into it. Javier cares more about murdering humans than making slaves. Exit's that way, also here's 3 jet packs.Goodbye and good luck. And remember, do not work for that demon!" Argyle explained, waving Chris, Harrison, and Piercy away.

"Alright, thanks a lot." said Harrison, as he, Chris, and Piercy turned and headed out of the tunnel. They put on their jet packs, and soon they were flying up in the air and away from Javier.

"Wow, that was snappy," Chris commented.

"Do you really think that working for The Demon is what's best for us?" Harrison asked Piercy.

"Huh? All these people are a disappointment. They don't show The Demon proper respect, the losers." Piercy retorted.

"How can they not respect him when he doesn't even exist?" Chris asked. "Those aren't the real Javier, Argyle, Vome, or anyone. Just alternate world duplicates."

"I'd still expect these counterparts to have heard of him at least." said Piercy.

"That's impossible, though." Chris said. "Let's find Atticus."

"Alright then." said Piercy.

"Well, that was a fun landing," Chris laughed, as they glided down to the grassy surface. "Now, we just need to get to the top."

"The top of what?" asked Harrison who was looking puzzled. When he wasn't actively doing something else, he would examine the damage to his glasses.

"Of the cliff," Chris said. "It's where I last saw Atticus, so it will lead us too him. You guys coming, or what?" Chris flew up.

"Oh yeah, sure." answered Harrison. Piercy headed towards Chris and Harrison, though Harrison noticed that Piercy's expression was rather bitter.

"Are you feeling alright, Piercy?" Chris asked, getting out supplies to track down Atticus-or Vome.

"Yeah I'm fine." Piercy muttered back, though he didn't look it.

Harrison looked a bit worried as he stopped every now and again, from examining the damage to his glasses, to look at Piercy.

"I think I have located Vome!" Chris said. "He's nearby. I don't think working for the demon is a good idea."

"Why not?" asked Piercy. "He does reward us for our efforts".

"But he randomly stranded you in a random dimension. How can you still trust him?" Chris asked. "I think Vome is straight ahead."

"So what?" said Piercy. "Did we forget to mention that it's something we agreed to do for him?"

"I just don't think anyone should work for evil." Chris said.

"Think what you want." said Piercy. "But I have no reason to believe that we'd get any benefit out of changing sides".

"Well, for starters, how do you know his "mission" wasn't just a fake way to get you stranded in a parallel universe with no way back?"

Chris and Harrison turned around suddenly, realising that Piercy was no longer with them. Where had he gone?

Piercy had gone to report the latest whereabouts of Chris to The Demon, and that Harrison was apparently having second thoughts about his allegiance.

"I think it's impossible for Piercy to get back," said Chris. "If it isn't, there is a way out of this parallel universe. Hmm..." Chris took off his skin, and analyzed Harrison's physical appearance carefully, giving himself Harrison's features. "Just one of my android quirks-I can change my physical appearance easily. Forgot I could do that until today, though."

Back at Harrison's secret hideout, Harrison quickly peered through his spy gadget and his jaw dropped. "Chris, it appears that Piercy needs our help!"

Piercy had gone to report the latest whereabouts of Chris to The Demon, and that Harrison was apparently having second thoughts about his allegiance.

But in doing so, The Demon scolded him for not talking Harrison out of his second thoughts and stuck him to the ground to perish. He couldn't free himself since his body was stuck. Though that did not necessarily mean that he couldn't be freed.

"But we don't even know the way home. How can we find him?" Chris, still looking like Harrison, asked.

"He's still in this universe." said Harrison. "He just reports to The Demon through a special device, but The Demon can still use the device to punish him even if The Demon technically doesn't exist in this universe......yet. But we should be able to free him without too much difficulty, and then we can decide what to do next".

"Oh okay." Chris said. "Where is he then? And should I no longer appear disguised as you?"

"Not appearing disguised as me would be good." said Harrison. "Since it may look confusing and distrusting to Piercy if two Harrisons come to his rescue".

"Whose says two Harrisons are coming to his rescue?" Chris asked, smirking.

"Er......that's what it sounded like." answered Harrison.

"Just kidding, I'm not going to go all traitor on you and tie you up to a railroad while I run off and free Piercy." Chris said.

"Good." answered Harrison.

Giannis in his shadow mode finds a random old destroyed building. He then slowly find the nearest window and peeks through. Not trying to draw attention he watch super quietly as 2 people discus something, one about their about having second thoughts about his allegiance. Then the other guy wants to know if they can find something this him. He wasn't sure if they were talking about a human or not. But he did know they were looking for something. One of the guys said something about 2 Harrisons, not knowing if they are related or the same person or different? Giannis watches as they 2 keep on talking.

"Piercy Provost," Chris said to his GPS.

"As you may have noticed, there are several key differences to our personalities." said Harrison. "I'm the more thoughtful and flexible out of me and Piercy, so I have an easier time changing sides if necessary".

"I see, I see." Chris said. "Piercy's near that forest.

"Brilliant." said Harrison. "Let's go and get him".

Chris and Harrison walked forward, until finally they saw Piercy.

"Piercy, Hey...." Chris said, forgetting he still had his disguise.

"Goodness." said Piercy. "What's going on here? I've been stuck here and now suddenly two duplicates of my brother show up, unless one is the real Harrison and the other is a doppelganger".

"My bad," Chris said, going back to normal. "Harrison and I were just playing around. Anyone for finding a way out?"

"First I need to be unstuck, don't I?" asked Piercy.

"Here you go, Piercy." Chris said, sawing off his ropes.

"Thank you." answered Piercy. "I seem to have misjudged The Demon. Perhaps he isn't the right guy to work for after all. But then we've never officially failed him before".

"Hey, what's this?" Chris asked, picking up a paper with a confusing name on it. "Giannis something."

"Giannis Castellanos? I think." said Harrison. "Never heard of them".

"This note says "Vome was a red herring, to get out find an unusual pairing"," Chris reads.

While still watching the 2 talk he sees them leaving the building, he deiced to get a better understanding of what was going on so he went into shadow mode and walk through the walls. Now being inside of the building, being undetected he did some snooping around. After a few min of looking around he couldn't find anything. What a waste of time searching in the building. He didn't know what to do now since the 2 people are somewhere else and it would take a long time to find them. So he went into the forest to find them and after about 30 min or so heard some chattering. Watching he sees the 2 people from before and 3 others he doesn't know, 2 that are the same looking. Realizing it was what they were talking about from before. He sees on of the guys pick up a paper from the ground. The guy struggles to say the name that is the same as my own. Then other says my own name. Strange that it has my name on this paper. The all don't know who i am. That's good for now. He listens to whats on the paper that one of them read aloud. Not knowing what vome or the unusual paring he waited till something happened.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping us to realise that being good was better than being evil." said Harrison to Chris.

"No problem, Harrison." Chris said. "Hey, I hear footsteps:"

While being in his shadow form he knows he will be quiet since he levitates and able to walk through stuff. There shouldn't be an issue to making noise. But he stays a certain distance from the group of people.

"Maybe it's Atticus," Chris figured. "Now, maybe we find this Giannis guy, and ask why someone sent him a letter, or look for unusual pairings."

Giannis comes out of the shadows and goes to his human form and yells. "You look for me?" said Giannis. Gainnis walked around while talking to these punks. "Don't move a muscle any of u or I will kill all of u. Now i don't know anything on this paper about me or why my name is one it. I was in the forest and found your building and u guys planing some gig. Now leave me alone or u all will be dead on the ground." He stood there and waited for something to happen.

It was then that Argyle returned.

"Just what do you think you're doing, fighting your own species? Demons who work for Gabriel should be fought instead, so as not to waste time." Argyle said.

"Ooh, I see the Argyle guy has come back." said Harrison. "The guy that helped to rescue us. I wonder what he's doing here now".

"I came to see if Giannis got my letter. About Vome Lightsmend being replaced by an impostor." Argyle said. "Another Vome, Vome Shadowmend."

"Ah, right." Harrison replied.

"Thus, the Vome Giannis will run in To will be a fake, a red herring. But if he does, he will spot an unusual pairing of two objects." Argyle explained.

"We have great news Argyle." said Harrison. "Me and my brother really have left The Demon, and joined Atticus and Chris".

"He's not kidding." said Piercy. "It's not just him that's been having second thoughts. It's both of us. I've seen The Demon for what he is for the first time, and I never want to follow him ever again".

"Argyle who are u and why are u trying to give me a letter, what do u want with me." said Giannis

"That's wonderful to hear, Harrison and Piercy." Argyle said. "I am your other worldly guardian, Giannis. Every two universes are linked by each member of one species watching over a member of another species."

"Ah, right." said Harrison. "That makes sense".

"Harrison, if you keep saying that, I'll start calling you Ahright." Chris joked.

"Giannis, please take your letter and find Vome, so you can use the unusually paired items to get home. And take these three." Argyle said.

"Argyle so u are here to protect me then or something?" said Giannis "Chris ok ill take it and find this Vome person for u, with the items." Giannis take the items and the letters. "One thing, where do I find this guy?" Giannis is confused and doesn't know where to start.

"Yes, I am." Argyle says. "Vome is up on that hill."

Giannis looks towards the hill. Then he goes into shadow mode and makes his way to the hill slowly.

Chris, Harrison, and Piercy followed Giannis."Vome, you in?" Chris asked.

'Why u calling out to him? Stay quiet." said Giannis

"Well it genuinely makes more sense to me now than before." said Harrison as he and Piercy followed. "That's why I made that previous comment".

"I'm gonna go up to the hill and kill Vome myself." said Giannis

"All of u secure the perimeter of the hill I am going after Vome." said Giannis

"Alright," Chris said, securing the perimeters as he saw Giannis head to find Vome.

"Ok this is bad we lost Chris now." said Giannis

Harrison and Piercy were deeply shocked. Seems like they'd just been rescued, and now all of sudden, more trouble had come. Chris had vanished.

"Ugh." said Piercy. "If only we could use the spy detector to find Chris".

"Yeah." agreed Harrison. "But the spy detector doesn't seem to be working. Chris must have been teleported somewhere that's not in detective reach".

"So Vome and Chris were taken to another dimension and the tech we have can't detect them." said Giannis

"Well not necessarily to another dimension." said Harrison.

"But wherever he's gone, the spy detector is unable to locate." said Piercy.

Chris then noticed that the world he was in looked strangely like the Euclid of his home world. "Am I really home?" he wondered.

Chris then head a loud noise. He noticed the horizon light up a bright red. "The Demon's Light," he realized. "There's no doubt-this is home."

"Ah ho, something is happening." said Giannis

Chris, not really knowing of any other places to go, found himself at the same abandoned barn he'd woken up at some time ago.

Suddenly, Chris realized that Harrison was there too.

"How did you get here Harrison?" Chris asked.

"Haven't I been here this whole time?" asked Harrison.

Piercy then appeared as well.

"No, Harrison," Chris said. "I am in our home world. Which means, you two found a way back here."

"Where did Piercy and Harrison go?" said Giannis

"You're kidding?" said Piercy, amazed.

"That's good to know." said Harrison.

"Well, we still need Atticus and Giannis," Chris pointed out.

"Oh darn." said Harrison. "One moment we were with them, and the next minute we're here. Really makes you think".

"I hope Atticus is alive," Chase said. "Been a while since we saw him."

"Oh yeah, true." said Harrison. "It's certainly been a while".

He examined his partially broken glasses, as if he was hoping they could be repaired.

"Damn it we lost their asses, shit this is really bad now." said Giannis

"Is there any chance of getting my glasses fixed?" asked Harrison. "It's harder for me to partake in this otherwise".

Chris took Harrison's glasses, and stuck some tape on them. "How's That?" He asked. "We also need a way to get Atticus and Giannis back."

"Great." said Harrison. "It will do. For the time being at least".

Chris noticed Harrison and Piercy looked kind of concerned. "So what exactly happened after I left?" he asked.

"Well, we're still wondering about how we're going to find Atticus and Giannis." said Harrison.

"Yeah, and Harrison is still concerned about his glasses, though they are partially fixed." said Piercy.

"I'm not that concerned." said Harrison. "It's just that I've had these glasses for years, and they are special to me. So naturally I'd much rather get these glasses fixed than get new ones. Maybe if I managed to find an identical pair of glasses, that would be as good as getting these ones fixed".

"What exactly happened after I left though? Meet any people?" Chris asked.

Atarah looks over at Chris.

"How did you get here?" Chris asked. "I wonder if Giannis is all alone now..."

"We didn't meet anyone, no." said Piercy.

"No problem, now we need to find a safe place somewhere that nobody can see us." said Giannis

"How about that spooky forest over there?" Chris suggested.

"Why a spooky forest are u kidding me really at this time." said Giannis

"Obviously I was kidding," Chris said. "Maybe it is hard for you two to understand my humor."

"Chris I thought Vome was the important thing to find. I mean he was the one who wrote me the letter. Also he did vanish when o threw him off the the hill. But if you insist on exploring the landscape a little so we can become familiar with it then sure. Plus we need to find the other baby." said Giannis

As Chris approached the city, he was somewhat happy to see how familar its surroundings were. The city appeared to be very industrialized, however. Then, Chris noticed something surprising. There was a person walking there who looked exactly like Giannis.

Harrison and Piercy gasped as they saw the guy that looked exactly like Giannis.

"Oh my goodness." said Harrison.

"That guy looks just like Giannis." said Piercy.

"Crazy. Seeing an alternate reality doppelganger soon after entering a new universe," Chris said. "Sadly, this means we're not yet home. We need Vome."

"Well I'm sure we are on a better track than before, even if it isn't the right one." said Harrison.

"Good point. At least there appears to have also been a war of some sort here, like back at home." Chris noted. "We should do some research at a library or something."

"Ooh yes." said Harrison. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not a geek, but I love reading!"

Chris headed towards the center of town, knowing that was the most probable location of a library. "Follow me, guys."

Harrison and Piercy followed. The former was looking eager, while the latter was looking more neutral. It was clear that Harrison was more interested in reading than Piercy. While not necessarily disliking reading, it was not something that Piercy was all hyped over.

Johnathon, closely behind the Medic, was quite startled at the sudden appearance of Giannis. Johnathon instinctively places his hand near his Pistol, but ultimately decides against it. He is left embarrassed, hand-shaking.

"You's a damn embarrassment to Silivan's Finest, what the hell are you doing, Johnny-boy?", shouts the Medic. "Now, who is this character that suddenly popped up 'bout some 'fake cheese' nonsense. Disregardin'at foolishness, you lost? We's lookin' for a pregnant woman wanderin' through this here forest, you know where we can find 'er? Got all my supplies ready, I gon' get a huge payload!"

Once they had arrived at the library, Chris found a catalogue. It appeared the library had its "History" section in the basement. "You two stay here on this floor, I'll be right back." Chris said, heading down.

"Sure thing." said Harrison eagerly.

Piercy dived in with a less enthusiastic expression but he looked more enthusiastic than before, now that he was actually at the library.

"I've found some pretty interesting stuff." said Harrison after they'd been at the library for about 10 minutes. "Hopefully this stuff, if I were to come across it, should make it easier for my glasses to be mended".

Chris found some info in the Origins of Euclid section. "I see, Xeren does exist here, but no mention of him ever becoming a demon." He then saw another person also looking through the archives. "Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Jay Brendon, one of Silvia's best thieves." Jay Brendon says introducing himself.

"Nice to meet you. I'm C.H.R.I.S. McFarlane." Chris said. "Tell me, have you ever heard of one primordial demon named Xeren?"

"No I haven't" Jay replies

"Interesting. How did the land get wrecked though? From what I can see, it's like there's been a war around these parts. " Chris said.

Harrison and Piercy's heads tilted up, hearing a new unfamiliar voice - Jay's voice. And of course they heard Chris' voice.

"I honestly don't know how that happened" Jay says

"Jay, would you like to meet my friends?" Chris asked. "They're upstairs."

"Sure" Jay replied.

Harrison and Piercy wait as they hear footsteps. Both of them had heard what Chris and Jay had said, and so they both waited.

Chris returned to the lobby with Jay.

"Harrison, Piercy, this is Jay." Chris said. "And it seems Xeren stayed a god, but still made a foolish mistake that caused mass destruction."

"Hey Jay, I'm Harrison." said Harrison.

"And I'm Piercy." said Piercy.

"Jay, do you know whether Xeren and The Demon are the same person?" asked Harrison. "I just wondered if you knew".

"No I don't" Jay says

"He's never heard of either," Chris pointed out. "Anyways, Jay, would you happen to know where an evil angel who wants to take over the world might be hiding? In a city, or in a forest, or some other place?"

"Oh bummer." said Harrison. "I wanted to get to the bottom of whether Xeren and The Demon were really the same person."

"Xeren is after all the one that murdered our parents." said Piercy.

"And since we are no longer allied with The Demon, due to the way he treated Piercy when he tried to turn me in." said Harrison. "We want to verify if he really was Xeren the whole time, so we can avenge our parents".

"No I don't, Chris" Jay says

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Jay." Chris said. "Do you agree, Harrison and Piercy?"

"Excuse me for a second, guys." Chris said. "I need to recharge my batteries-literally." Chris went over to find a power cord.

Chris then noticed a librarian walking by, so he unplugged himself and headed back to the others. However, Harrison and Piercy were not there. "Jay, do you know where they went?' Chris asked.

"No I don't" Jay says

"Okay, I'm going to go out and look for them. Nice talking to you, Jay. Maybe I'll see you around." Chris said, walking out.

"I'll see you around later, Chris" Jay says

Chris stood outside the library, looking around for Harrison and Piercy.

"Harrison?" Chris called. "Piercy?" He began walking away from the library, towards the center of town.

Just then Harrison and Piercy appeared.

"We're right here, don't worry." said Harrison.

"What did we miss?" asked Piercy.

"Well, I just really charged up my batteries and said bye to Jay. We need to find Giannis." Chris said.

"Sure thing." said Piercy as he and Harrison got ready to go with Chris.

"I managed to learn about a substance that could very well make my broken glasses easier to fix." said Harrison. "I'm still trying to decide whether to keep or replace my glasses. It all depends if I can find an identical pair".

"That's very cool, Harrison." Chris said. "I think you should try repairing them with that substance."

Chris suddenly heard shouts echoing throughout the town.

"Do you guys hear that strange noise?" Chris asked Harrison and Piercy.

Suddenly, the noise stopped.

"Disregard that," Chris said. "Let's just go find Giannis."

Giannis goes into shadow mode and flies to the library. He then opens the door to find Chris saying lets go find Giannis. "Hey I am right here." said Giannis

"Hey Giannis!" Chris said. "What have you been doing? Any sign of Vome?"

"Ah Chris good to see you, I was looking for Vome in the forest but no luck. I thought it would be smarter for him to hide in a forest then in the city around a lot of people, but nope. Nobody at the hospital has seen Vome either." said Giannis

"We should go back to the forest and look for Vome some more," Chris said to Harrison, Piercy, and Giannis.

"Chris seems like a good idea." said Giannis, as he nods to everyone in the group one by one.

Chris headed to the forest, hoping the other 3 were following him. "Well, I guess we start here." he said.

Giannis followed Chris since he was in the lead. "So should we split up or stay together." said Giannis

"Let's stay together, as we never know if or when something will start following us," Chris said.

"Agreed, Chris well over there is where the woman were found. If we go further west then we go deeper into the forest." said Giannis

"I belive Vome's probably in some lair at the end of this forest. What do you think?" Chris asked.

"He could be?" said Piercy.

Harrison kept examining his broken glasses. "What does a guy have to do to get money around here?" he asked. "I was hoping I could earn some money so I could buy the necessary things that I need in order to repair my glasses".

"Maybe we can take some stuff from the lair after we capture Vome so w ecan get new glasses for Harrison." said Giannis

"Sounds reasonable." said Harrison in response to Giannis' comment.

"Giannis, we're getting sidetracked here." Chris said. "Harrison, Piercy, you two ready to set out?"

"Yes we are." answered Piercy.

"We're ready alright." said Harrison confidently.

"Maybe we could wait for Giannis to finish his phone call," Chris suggested. "Although we need to get home, we don't have a deadline."

"I don't mind waiting." said Harrison.

"Alright." said Piercy. "I just hope it won't take too long".

As the characters sat within the forest, with Giannis on the phone, twiddling their thumbs completely unaware of their surroundings and the dangers within this dense forest; a large roar could be heard in the distance. As some looked up to see just what was this dubious noise, a large figure of a bear can be seen running at the group. It ran fast, in a consistent motion, ready to attempt to eat its unsuspecting potential prey.

Harrison, thinking fast, quickly sprinted as fast as he could to the nearest tree with branches, jumped up to grab hold of the lowest branch, pulled his body up on to the branch and watched in terror as the bear ran at the others. "Could the bear climb trees?" Harrison thought silently. The thought of it made him shiver. Harrison noticed that his vision was blurry and realised that his glasses had fallen off.

Piercy meanwhile was trying to do the same as Harrison, using the lowest branch of another tree. Being heavier and less agile than his brother, Piercy struggled as he tried to pull his weight up on to the tree branch. He was trying as hard as he could, but a few seconds later he looked as if he was on the verge of letting go of the branch and fainting.

As Giannis was preparing to put his phone away, it falls it due to him being startled by the large animal that was approaching the group. Heart racing and adrenaline rushing, he quickly into his shadow form and floats to the bear. As he got near it he, made a giant shadow hand and pick it up. With minimal struggle, he then threw the bear at one of the strong pine trees. "Harrison, Piercy you fellas can come down from the tree now." said Giannis, as he picked his phone up, luckily undamaged.

Chris emerged from behind one of the pine trees, where he had hid when the bear first came. "That was very good, Giannis," Chris said. "I hope we don't face too many other dangerous obstacles."

Harrison swung his body off the tree branch and then let go of the tree branch. Enormously relieved, Piercy let go of the tree branch that he had been trying to climb on to. Harrison found his glasses on the ground and discovered that they were completely shattered.

"I can see without my glasses." said Harrison. "But it's going to be significantly tougher than when I had them".

"That is understandable, Harrison." Chris said.

"Well we better keep going west more into the forest to find the lair." said Giannis

"I thought we knew where the lair was." said Harrison.

"Well if you know where it its then show us the way." said Giannis

"We don't." answered Harrison. "We just assumed that you knew where the lair was".

"Earlier, I heard a loud noise that sounded like Vome yelling. It was coming from further into the forest than we're standing, much further. Vome's lair is definitely in this forest," Chris explained.

"Well that's good." said Piercy. "If we aren't precisely sure where the lair is, at least we have some idea where it is".

"Yeap, Well then the forest gets thicker as we go west it seems." said Giannis

"Yeah, you're right. The forest seems to be thicker in that direction." said Harrison.

Chris nodded. "Yes, I think we're making progress here." Chris headed further down the path, checking to make sure they weren't in any danger.

As the group went more deeper into it started to get darker and darker. "I hope we find this place, becuase its getting really thick and dark in these woods. Maybe its a rain forest and thats why its so dark." said Giannis

"That could very well be, Giannis. Maybe we can make a shelter for the night." Chris said. "For all we know, it may be night." However, as hard as he tried, Chris could not make out any sign of sky above the shadowy green leaves.

"All we really need is some leaves and some thin tree trunks." said Piercy. "Stuff that can keep enough of the rain out. It may seem like nothing more than a forest hut, but at least forest huts are better than a roofless house".

"Just what I was thinking." said Harrison. "To add to that, it would be good if we can find something more secure for a ceiling. Because a ceiling of thin tree trunks on their own isn't guaranteed to keep the rain out, as the rain can just leak through the tree trunks".

"Good thinking." said Piercy. "We'd need something to place on top of the tree trunks, or underneath so that water will be less likely to leak through".

"You two do that," Chris said, hearing a boom of thunder.

"Do we have a panel saw or anything?" said Harrison. "I know that we need to preserve our forests as much as the next guy, but we can worry about replacing the trees that we use to build our house later, and we haven't got enough tree trunks already on the ground".

"I don't really have anything that could help," Chris said, ripping off some sticks from a smallish tree nearby.

"Did you say fog Chris." Looking right at him, then the fog. "If we were to cut the branches we would need some saws." said Giannis

"Where are we going to find the saws?" asked Harrison, puzzled.

"Harrison we could make knives, unless any of you have powers." said Giannis

"Hold on, you had a plasma sword but didn't tell us. you could have cut the branches so we could have seen. Damn it Chris." said Giannis.

"Come to think of it, I haven't used it in a while." Chris explained. "So it was not a surprise when it became dysfunctional after getting rain damage."

[A large sound of THUNDER is heard.]

A brilliant flash of light was accompanied with an extremely large crack, and the already pouring rain seemingly doubled in speed. No longer was the rain just light drops, but heavier drops of water that almost seemed to push the group down in their weakened state. As this was happening, the thunder did not stop. Indeed, at any time some lightning could light something on fire.

The fog thickened immensely, making navigation only minimally possible. Breathing was highly difficult, each of the characters noses were bombarded with a smell of intense leaves and grass.

As the large rain drops went through his shadow body he look right at Harrison and said, "Well we need to get to a mechanic to fix McFarlane."

"Right." said Harrison. The two Provost brothers and Giannis worked together as they carried the body of Chris, hoping that they wouldn't come across any more obstacles as they started to make their way through the forest.

While carrying Chris' body he saw sum light come through. "Hey i think i see an opening or something." said Giannis

"That's good news." said Harrison. "Hopefully then we'll be able to make some progress and reach our intended destination".

"Agreed, hey look i think i see a road over head and the end of the forest." said Giannis

"Ooh, I think I can see it as well." said Harrison.

"Same here." said Piercy.

"Well lets keep going straight then." said Giannis

"Hold on." said Harrison. "That's not the end of the forest. It's just a clearing. And that road isn't on the edge of a town, it's right in the centre of this very clearing. The road is running right through this forest. I guess we weren't as close to reaching our destination as we thought we were".

"Wait a clearing, so like maybe Vome's lair is here. Let's check it out." said Giannis

"Anything is possible." said Harrison. "Of course I'm not going to let my guard down".

"Me neither." said Piercy.

Keeps their guard up and slowly walk to the clearing.

Harrison and Piercy head towards the clearing with Giannis, carrying the unmoving Chris.

"I think I see some sort of building up ahead." Said Giannis

"Where is it? I can't see it." said Harrison.

"Over the giant branches Harrison." Said Giannis

"Oh, right." Harrison replied. "But it's going to be tough work to get there, especially with Chris unable to move. It would have been enough of a challenge trying to get there as is".

"Any idea how we're going to make it there without our hands free?" asked Harrison. "It's going to be tough to get over there without hands to pull ourselves over things".

"Over what the building and bushes guys." Said Giannis

"This is hopeless." said Harrison. "I don't think there's any way we'll be able to get over there at this rate, since there's all these bushes and branches and stuff in our way".

"Well i van clear sum with my shadow hands but its a lot, we need like weapons." Said Giannis

"I'm not sure if we need weapons," Harrison said. "Just the three of us alone should be able to clear these bushes and branches." Giannis looked at the obstacles again and then looked back at them, clearly thinking. "Yeah we may be able to clear this path if u guys help me. Just put Chris on the ground for now."

"But it's still raining?" Harrison replied, looking at Piercy, who was apparently refusing to look back at him as he kept his eyes on the ground. "He could get more damage like this," Piercy lowly stated.

"It's just something we gotta risk," Giannis told them, beginning to go into his shadow form, with the sky lightening up a bit. "It seems to be lightening up some, anyways."

Noticing the sky, the brothers lowered Chris to the ground and walked over to Giannis, Harrison looking over his shoulder towards the android. "I hope he'll be okay like that".

A little while after working on clearing the path, the trio could see a bit of the city they had left earlier. "I see the city now," Giannis said, "Maybe we can find someone who can repair Chris there." "Do you really think we can?" Harrison asked, "I'm not sure how many people there will be able to fix an android." "U just gotta think positive, we can't just leave him like this," Giannis said as he removed more branches. "Yeah..You're right," Harrison replied.

As the sky continued to clear and the rain lessened to a small misting, the trio finally managed to make their way through the bushes and branches, reaching the other side where the city was easily accessible.

The group slowly began to walk over to the comatose-like Chris and lift him up, each unsure of what would come next. "Here goes nothin," Giannis said, as they began to make their way back into the unfamiliar city.