Between Realities

Soooo... Nice weather we're having?

(F) Gänger POV:

"-But why the heck would a bad feeling make you not want us to go after Dopple?! If something dangerous is out there, then shouldn't that just give us more of a reason to go after her??"

M squirmed slightly under my sharp glare. "W-well... th-that's not what my bad feeling is t-telling me..."

"Enough with your lame excuses! Just spit it out! Why do you not want to go after her?"

M shook his head. "It's not like that... I don't know what it is... but I feel like Dopple is safe out there. B-but... if we went..."

"How could Dopple of all people be safe and us not?! It just makes no sense!"

M suddenly looked around the room, and his face paled. Then, his gaze locked onto the door outside. Suddenly, we both flinched, lightning sounding from outside.

"...What was that?"

M, still pale, didn't answer, but instead went to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside. Annoyed, I followed him. Immediately upon leaving the house, I noticed something was off in the mushroom patch. One of our teleportation mushrooms... it's missing!!

I suddenly facepalmed when I realized what must have happened. "That little- He snuck out and took a mushroom!"

M nodded. "He... he'll be safe..."

"Oh, so Elite can go after Dopple, but not me?!" I demanded, my glare hardening even more.

M, surprisingly, didn't shrink. Instead, much to my fury, he nodded.

"UGGH!!" I gave an exasperated sound. "Whatever. I'm going after Dopple, and you can't stop me!"

M's pale complexion seemed to, somehow, become even more pale. He shook his head fervently. "No! You can't!!"

"Oh really? Just watch me!" I pulled out my mushroom, only for M to immediately tackle me. "Wha- hey!!"

M, a look of pure desperation and terror on his face, wrestled the mushroom out of my grip. We were both gasping for air from the exertion by the time he succeeded in taking it from my hand.

"You stupid Red Steve!! Just let me go after my sister!!" I shouted at him.

M, out of breath, shook his head, keeping the mushroom away from my grasp. "I- I can't! I can't let you go after her!"

"Why?!"

"BECAUSE HE'S THERE!!"

I froze, staring at M in absolute shock. His voice had been a harsh scream when he'd spoken; it was something I had never expected to hear from him of all people.

BECAUSE HE'S THERE!! his shouted words rang through my mind. Of course... I remember now. That presence I sensed when I noticed that M was mute. Back when we first met. It was his presence. Twisted Rainbow.

I noticed, now, how much M was trembling. I decided that whatever I was going to say next had to be very careful... or else this wouldn't end very well. I feared he would run off with my mushroom. And, while normally I would be able to simply grab a mushroom from the patch, Elite had taken the only one ready for teleportation use. The rest were still growing and unusable... unless you didn't mind losing a limb, or worse. And I, in fact, would very much mind losing a limb, or worse.

"...How do you know...?" I asked him with a soft tone.

"...I can just feel it; his energy, his aura, his power. I've been around it long enough to know what it feels like..."

"...Why do you think Dopple and Elite would be safe, then, and not me?"

"Elite... he can be brash at times and run into trouble because of his own bad decisions, but he's gotten a lot more level-headed recently. And Dopple... Well, Dopple is an entirely different story. Something about her... Something about her makes me feel like he wouldn't hurt her. At least, not right after their last encounter. He'd probably be a bit more wary."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "Something about her?"

M nodded. "Something about her is... calming? She just seems to have a certain aura around her that I can't quite place..."

His explanation gave me many more questions than answers, but I didn't bother. I'll have to ask him about it another time...

Suddenly, there was an awkward silence. Neither of us would meet the other's gaze, and we stood in the front yard of my house for a while longer. I had no idea what to say, but the silence was absolutely unbearable. Looking at the clear sky above me, I gave a small sigh.

Fully aware of the awkwardness of the question, I lamely asked M, "Sooooo... Nice weather we're having?"