Between Realities

Chaos and Confusion

(M) M POV:

[INTRUDER DETECTED! INITIATING LOCKDOWN!]

A shrill siren suddenly blasted from above the table, and I flinched, covering my ears from its horrible sound. Pensive and Intransigent exchanged worried looks, and the iron door that separated the bunker from the maze-like tunnels slammed shut, locking in place with a clunk.

"Intruder? How the heck did someone find this place?! And how'd they get the front door open?!" Pensive asked Intransigent as the other frantically ran through the open door that the strange, drone-like machine had gone through. I heard a series of buttons pressed and levers flicked, but when Intransigent came back into the room, he looked deathly pale.

"Well? How did they open it?" Pensive had to yell to be heard against the screaming alarm.

"There is no door. Whoever just got in completely obliterated it!!"

"Obliterated?! But-"

All of us flinched, cowering slightly as we covered our ears to a horrendous, explosion-like sound with just a hint of screeching metal. The iron door flew to the far wall, a cloud of dust filling the space it had once been. Suddenly, two blasts of energy came from the dust cloud, seeming to appear out of thin air. They hit Pensive and Intransigent, knocking them backwards with an incredibly powerful force; one powerful enough to crack the rock walls the two of them had hit. They slumped to the ground, and, to my horror, I realized that I couldn't tell if they were merely unconscious, or...

I peered into the cloud of dust, and for a moment, I could've sworn that I saw two people; two silhouettes. But the moment I blinked, there was only one. I'm so disoriented... I must have imagined the second person. Even so... who's there?

As the dust began to settle, a very confused, nervous Gänger stepped into the room; she was the silhouette I had seen. She was the only person there. But how the heck could she accomplish something like this?! Is she really that... that powerful?!

"M! Are you okay? Did they hurt you? Who are these people? Why did they take you?" Gänger bombarded me with questions, and I began to suddenly feel very overwhelmed.

"I-... I-..."

Gänger looked at the two limp bodies with a sudden horror. "Are-... are they even... alive?"

"I-..."

I didn't meet her gaze, my eyes instead transfixed on the limp bodies of Pensive and Intransigent. Somewhat hesitantly, I approached the body of Intransigent, kneeling down to inspect him. Before I did anything, I fixed his position to be that of a much more comfortable one; he had fallen forward after the impact with the wall and had essentially face-planted, so I flipped him over so that he'd lay on his back instead. Once I succeeded at this, I checked him for a pulse. Much to my relief, I found one. However, it was very faint. If he were to live for more than a few hours, he would need immediate medical attention.

I quickly went to where Pensive was to check his pulse as well. Just like Intransigent, he had fallen forward, and so I turned him onto his back before checking him. Before I even felt his wrist for a pulse, however, I could already tell it was too late. Despite being attacked only moments before, his body was already cold to the touch.

My throat tightened as I struggled to swallow a sob. Even with my best efforts, tears stung my eyes and traced lines down my face, plopping onto Pensive as darkening splotches on his clothes. My ears began to ring, and Gänger's muffled voice sounded, though it was too distant for me to make out what she was saying.

"-need to get him some help immediately!" Gänger said with urgency, her words finally coming into focus as the ringing in my ears dissipated. Her hand was placed gently on my shoulder, as though she were trying to comfort me and get my attention at the same time.

My voice caught in my throat, and when I spoke it was in a bitter, grieving tone. A tone I had heard myself speak in many times before. A tone I was accustomed to, as though it were a blanket of security, despite how empty it made me feel. "What- even happened-?!"

"S-Sabre came and he-... he stormed into this place and-... and then he-..." Gänger's voice cracked with horror, sorrow, and fear, her eyes wide. "W-we need to get out of here, M! We need to get him help!"

...Sabre? Sabre came here? He-... killed Pensive? He's the one who did this? My mind went numb as I tried to grasp an understanding of the situation and what had happened.

Gänger's gaze darted from Intransigent to Pensive to me. She then abruptly grabbed my wrist, forcing me to my feet, though I was unsteady as I stood. The moment I was standing, she brought me over to Intransigent. "Please, M. We need to get out of here."

Her tone was desperate as she continued. "Please, you have to get us back to my house. We can help him if we just get there. There's healing stew and other items that can help us, but only if you can teleport us there. We'll never make it on foot, not with how serious his condition is."

My movement and mind numbed and blurred, and I became unaware of what I was doing, seeing, hearing, or even saying. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the chair perpendicular to the long couch in Dopple and Gänger's house. Intransigent was laid across the couch, and Gänger had pulled up a small wooden stool to be beside him. She was currently forcing him to eat stew, having a difficult time getting the unconscious Red Steve to swallow it. My hands were tightly gripping part of my long, tattered cloak, and my knuckles were turning a pinkish-white. Even with this grip, however, I couldn't stop my hands from trembling; my entire body from trembling. I was dully aware of the rouge tears still streaming down my face, my full, acute attention on Intransigent's shallow breaths, the slight rises and falls of his chest. Intransigent... Hold on...