Misadventures in the Multiverse

Chapter 9: Welcome to Contestus

The Hopper had made it to the new world this time with no complications. "You'll love this world, Clyde, it will be a great..." Raleigh started to say, only to stop herself like she made a mistake. He looked out the window, seeing nothing, but a wasteland. "What's so great about this?" Then, almost like the universe heard him say that he was hit with a wave of energy. It didn't feel painful, just different, like there was something slowly starting to well up inside him. Raleigh seemed to feel the same sensation but was less bothered by it. "You feel that, right? What is it?" She looked at him with her glowing eye while she kept flying the ship. "Some worlds just have a different energy to them, you'll get used to that sorta thing." 

He accepted that for now, but couldn't help, but feel there was more to it than that. He could see a city In the distance as they slowly approached till they were right next to it. One of the buildings exploded into flames. It wasn't clear what was going on, but Raleigh quickly moved it out of range. A flying bug-like creature flew out of it, chasing after Them. "Strap in, Clyde, it's going to get crazy!" She said a little too late as he had already face-planted against the wall from the sudden movement. He struggled to climb to a seat and do that as she moved around The Hopper, trying to avoid the bug monster's attack. 

He didn't know if the ship had that much firepower to deal with it, and was somewhat curious to find out. Raleigh managed to maneuver the ship and get in front of the creature. Some turrets on The Hopper started to fire on it, seeming to do major damage. It cried out in pain as they flew off. "I'm going to land us on the city outskirts, there is no telling if the city is safe after seeing that." She explained to him doing just that.    

Once they landed she quickly unplugged rushing out, Clyde following closely behind. There didn't seem to be anything wrong in the area. They both took a deep breath, letting their guard down a little. "That was strange. What's the deal with this place?" Clyde asked. "Looked like they are under attack by some sort of aliens, it's a little weird they aren't swarming the place, though." She said looking around. Clyde looked deeper into the city, no longer seeing any issues. 

"Well, let's go in and see what's up." She said, already walking into town. Clyde couldn't shake the uneasy feeling like someone was watching them. In the city, most of the civilians seemed to be unfazed by the attack, like it was a somewhat common occurrence. It looked mostly modern in design, but there were a few futuristic aspects to the city such as a few flying cars, and holograms. However, wheels still seemed to dominate the road.  

Before they could get any further, the creature from before showed up out of nowhere, seemingly healed completely, lunging at Clyde. "Clyde!" Raleigh said in a panic, but couldn't stop the monster in time. He had no time to react, he felt like it was going to hurt closing his eyes and hoping he would survive, but that blow never came. He opens his eyes and sees a shadowy ninja spirit protecting him. The Bug looked shocked, backing away. "You. You have a poser!" 

Clyde looked a little surprised the thing could speak. He moved his arm up and down, seeing that the ninja was copying him. "Hmm, how about that? More importantly, why are you attacking us, bug man?" He said calmly, filled with confidence in his new-found power. Raleigh looked a little shocked, but let him take the lead. The Creature just laughed, "The king sent me here to take over your pathetic planet." Clyde looked a little confused, as did Raleigh. "Wait, like just you?" 

"Well there were others, but they were defeated now it's my turn, enough talk." The monster said, lunging forward once more. This time Raleigh stood in the way, blocking it. A spirit of her own jumped out of her, slashing at the creature, cutting its torso off. Hers resembled more of a robot. "Curses!" The Monster said trying to move away as its body started to regenerate, before he could a man also with a spirit rushed over using his to crush it dead. 

He looked around the area, seeing that no civilians were hurt, making his spirit vanish. Four other men joined him. "Fellow poser users? What a surprise, but you helped out, thanks. I'm Kugo." The man said, holding his hand out to them, ready to shake whoever took it. He was wearing a fighting dojo uniform for some reason, as were the others with him. Raleigh took his hand with a strong grip. "Howdy. We just rolled into a town. Names Raleigh, and he? Well, he's my sidekick, his name is Clyde." She said to him. "What do you mean sidekick," Clyde said in protest. 

She looked back at him, smirking. "If the shoe fits." She said, letting go of Kugo's hand and shrugging it off. Kugo let out a chuckle. "Well, aren't you two a laugh? Why don't we host you guys while you're in town?" "Really, just like that?" Clyde said a little skeptical of his motives. "Yeah, why not, we have plenty of room, and you did us a solid. Their leader is bound to show up soon." Kugo said joyfully. "You bet, lead the way," Raleigh said, accepting his invitation without another thought. "Great follow me." He said turning around, his spirit reappeared surrounding him. It looked like some sort of monkey warrior to him. 

Before they could do anything, Kugo started to fly into the air and off toward a large stadium in the distance. One of the guys he was with just sighs. "Come on Kugo you should know other people's limits. Sorry about him, he doesn't think about that sort of thing. I'm Kyle." Said one of the men left behind by him. He also stuck out his hand this time, and Clyde took it. "Nice to meet you," Clyde said to him avoiding eye contact feeling a bit awkward for some reason. 

He let go, motioning for them to follow them. Clyde looked around curious, having many questions about the world. He was unsure if Raleigh would know the answers. "So what's up with these spirits, I haven't had one for very long?" He asked Kyle. "Oh really? Well they are called posers not everyone has one, but they are really powerful, it's like a piece of your soul made manifest. It's a good thing we have them because otherwise, those aliens would be destroying us." He explained. "I guess that explains more why they only feel the need to send someone one at a time, do they outmatch the average person that much?" 

Kyle sighs. "I'm afraid so, that's why the military shoots every spacecraft they see out of the sky it hardly helps, but the aliens are nothing, but powerful conquerors." Both Clyde and Raleigh swallow hard, wondering how they avoided that fate. "I um, think I left something back there," Raleigh said nervously. "It's just over there, right?" She asked, pointing to the stadium ahead. Kyle just nodded as Raleigh got her confirmation she turned around running to hide The Hopper before it was discovered. 

Clyde thought it might be a good idea to go with her, but she was already out of sight, so he just stayed. When they got closer to the stadium, he looked in awe. There were holograms all over showing what looked to be Kugo fighting in a match. "The good old days," Kyle said. "Who would have thought a bunch of Martial artists would be fighting evil aliens." "That's quite the career change," Clyde said back. "Well we didn't have much choice, someone had to step up. Things just aren't that simple anymore." Kyle said leading them in. "Well, The spare rooms are that way." He said, pointing up a flight of stairs, and handing him a key card. Clyde nodded, walking up to get settled.