Misadventures in the Multiverse

Chapter Three

The hopper enters the new world's atmosphere. Clyde approached the window to look for himself at whatever was before him. There were portals all over the sky with aircraft constantly entering and exiting them. The portals almost covered the entire sky with few gaps in between. Raleigh chimes in happily still plugged into the ship. “Interesting right. This is Porta Nexus, people come from all over the multiverse for ship repairs, jobs, and other not so legal activities. They don't even bother closing the portals since there is so much traffic.” They fly closer to the ground to a bustling city there were all kinds of different looking people, and mounts. Some of them looked like they were taken straight out of history while others looked so foreign and strange Clyde avoided looking at them. They slowly flew to a small hanger close by, a couple robotic looking humanoids directing the ship so it can land properly. Raleigh yanks the wires from her head putting her hat on as her eyes reverted to their normal orange color. “Lets get going.” She says in a hurry to leave. 

“Oh, one more thing.” She stops at the door opening, a panel that is almost hidden from sight if it wasn't open. There were several cubes like the ones attached to her belt. She throws one at him, he struggles to catch it unprepared for it, almost dropping it. “It's called a Multi-tool.” He struggled to catch it in his hand, somewhat excited about a chance to use it. “How do you get it to do all that crazy transforming stuff?” He asks with interest. “Oh well, that one's not as cool as mine.” She pulls out the main one she uses, showing it off with an air of superiority. “Most of them can only transform into two things, so you just have the option of a knife or a pistol. We can switch it out later if you want something else.” She explained to his disappointment. He stuffed it into his pocket, significantly less excited.   

A young girl with brown hair was waiting for them outside. She was wearing a white tank top, and huge tan pants with tons of pockets filled with all sorts of tools. She was covered in oil or what appeared to be oil. Raleigh stepped forward with a grin on her face like she had already hatched a plan. “Hello there ms as you can see our vessel needs repairs, we barely made it this far. We......” The girl cuts her off with an annoyed look on her face. “I'm not fixing it for free, I don't know why all of you world hoppers try this.” She crosses her arms waiting for her to answer. Raleigh looks legitimately surprised. “Damn it I really thought I found the right world.” She mumbles obviously upset her plan failed. “Well can't blame me for trying, can you? I have the money for it anyway.” She tosses the cube full of gold to her that she tried giving to Clyde before, after some inspection the girl puts it away. “Alright.” The girl replies. “It might take a day or two with the damage, but this should cover it.” “Thank you, thank you.” Raleigh says turning toward the exit and out into the city. Clyde almost feels like he should apologize. He makes a half-hearted attempt to do just that saying. “Eh...” She cuts him off too. “Don't worry about it, I got my payment. Like I said they all try it. Anyway looks like she is going to leave you behind if you don't get going.” He nods chasing after Raleigh.

He catches up with her outside though barely thanks to the large crowd moving through the city. “Why are you in such a hurry?” He growls. “What, I'm hungry, besides we are going to be here a while, might wanna get a room for the night, and maybe get some temp jobs before the good ones are gone. Where's your sense of adventure?” She explains. He doesn't even try to ask what she is talking about. “Right.” He puts his hands in his pockets following beside her. Not far behind them a man with long white hair and an eye patch follows behind them just out of their sight.

Clyde sees a group of people standing near a building wearing the same uniforms as The Empire, panicking, and trying to hide. Raleigh looks a little confused until she puts it together. “Oh don't worry, yeah they are around, but the port authority runs this place, they won't do anything to get themselves banned from the world." She points at another group of people in uniforms. They were mostly brown, and gold, but with a little white, they looked more steampunk in appearance compared to The Empire's militarized imperial garb. He calmed down and started to walk with her once more. 

Not too much farther down the way, they saw what looked like another faction wearing green uniforms. “What about those guys?” He would ask, pointing to them. She looks over, seeming to not be a huge fan of them either. “Oh them? They are The Union. The multiverses first universe spanning nation.” She said mockingly. “They have a similar sorta deal that the empire does on this world.” “I see.” That is all he says. Looking around, it would seem his small little universe wasn't much in the grand scheme, something that somewhat brought him enjoyment with his feelings on his home. 

It was a lot to take in so many different factions, and interests in one place, this place must be a really important hub, he thought to himself. They saw a few other people that stood out, but he didn't want to keep bugging her with questions, none of them seemed as prominent as the main three anyway. One thing he noticed is that The empire seemed to have only human members, while the others had many different races. He saw a cute dog girl patrolling the streets next to a cat person who seemed to clash with her a bit. For all this new information he is learning, it would seem some things never change. 

   They arrive outside a lively tavern. People are yelling, and laughing inside with no filter at all. Clyde frowns. “We aren't going into this loud place, are we?” She nods her head. “Yep, places like these are the most interesting, and of course dangerous. Besides, this is where I make most of my living when I'm not on the run.” She opens the door, not caring what he thinks. He just sighs and follows her in. After ordering some food, they sit down, and after a while, they are eating it. Raleigh ordered significantly more food than Clyde. He was surprised that a place like this existed. It very much resembled a guild hall you would see in a fantasy world, but here it was in this world. 

She starts shoveling the piles into her mouth. “What's wrong.” She says, not stopping. “Not what you were expecting?” He sighs, thinking they would be taking up one of those said jobs from the board by now. He glares at her. “No, I'm just waiting......” She stops eating, confused. “For what?” Before he can answer, the man following them points a gun at the back of Clyde's head, making an audible clicking noise with it.  

Despite what Clyde just said he seems to be just as surprised by it. “That....” Quickly she lunged toward the man firing at him. He dodges it pretty easy, but her goal was to get him away from Clyde. She pushes herself and Clyde behind a table turning it on its side firing at him. “Who the hell is that.” Clyde yells. “The Reaper, or what I like to call the biggest pain in my ass. You know how many times I've killed his dumb ass?” “What do yo...” Clyde tries asking but failing to as the man resumes his attack. “Look he's after me lets split up for now here's the room key.” She runs out the door while shooting at the man, he chases after her. “Ugh you should never split up it never works.” He looked a little furious running after them. No one in the hall seemed to be phased by it. Unfortunately for him he went to the opposite direction they went without realizing.

Clyde runs into the huge crowd trying to find them. He is completely lost now. “Fuck.” He says out of breath kneeling down. “Why did I skip leg day.” He gets up walking now even though he has no idea where he's going. His surroundings started to change to a very different environment. Bright neon lights were all over. A peddler tried to stop him, Clyde had no trouble shoving past. “Damn it where the hell am I?” Seemingly out of nowhere a guy appears behind him. “Where are you? Well this is the diamond in the rough, the greatest place in this world.” Clyde turns to the guy talking to him, as he started to laugh. A well-dressed man in a black suit with a very fluffy looking golden main appears before him. “Hello I am Loki at your service.” He gives Clyde a bow like someone preforming a play revealing the lion ears on his head as his tail sways behind him.