Misadventures in the Multiverse

Chapter 10: Manufactured Menace

Without being seen, Raleigh was able to hide The Hopper in a cave close by, returning without issues. They both woke up leaving their respective rooms ready to take on whatever the day at to throw at them. Raleigh Yawns, not fully dressed, only in her white collared shirt and her hat. "Good morning Clyde." She said, still groggy. Clyde didn't look much better. Despite him wanting to wake up at the same time as her, he struggled to get to sleep, so he was still very tired. "Morning." He said shortly.

After they both woke up a bit more, Clyde spoke up. "I think they said they serve breakfast around this time, want to head that way?" He would ask. She started to stretch out her body while listening. "Sure, but after that Kugo said we were gonna spar, I can't wait to see how that goes." She said, finishing her stretching and following Clyde down. Before they even really got a chance to greet anyone in the dining room, an explosion shook the ground from outside. All of them looked a little annoyed, and not ready to go out and fight whoever it was, that was except for Kugo, and Raleigh. "Alright!" They both said excitedly, running out the door.
"Well, we better get going," Kyle said, a little upset, they interrupted their meal. They rushed outside to see there were two of them wreaking havoc on the city this time. There was a bug man like before, and a larger more intimidating one behind him not attacking, he was crossing his arms. Raleigh and Kugo stood in front of everyone ready for a fight. The larger creature looked unimpressed. "Really, you weaklings are the ones beating all my men? What a waste of time, I should've just let him take care of it." The leader said.

The Bug Man flew closer trying to attack Kugo, but Kyle and the other three jumped in front of him ready to fight. "We will handle this guy, Kugo," Kyle said Kugo nodded, though it seemed he was already planning to do that anyway. Raleigh seemed to be thinking the same, so Clyde decided to join with Kyle, as he honestly wasn't sure if he could even beat the weaker one. They split up to fight their respective battles. The Bug Man didn't appear to be that much stronger than the one before. He tried to get his poser to appear like the others, but it didn't he didn't seem to grasp how to use it just yet. But when the bug man came hurdling toward him, it quickly appeared to protect him.

They were at a stalemate of sorts. Every blow they made on it seemed to heal given enough time. "Coward, stop running so you can heal!" Kyle said, furious as his spirit attacked it. It connected a hit, wounding it greatly, but it only laughed. Clyde felt like he wasn't contributing enough. Sure, he wasn't much help himself, but with this power, he thought he could do more. He waved his arms like it was throwing ninja stars and just like he hoped his poser shot some out from his hand. He was glad because otherwise, he would have looked really stupid there. This damages it faster than it can heal. It's getting weaker, but so are his allies. It takes two of them out with a single blow, followed by the third one.

Kyle tried to hold his own but struggled. They were both weak, it looked like another hit would do it. Clyde tried pulling out a sword in his mind, hoping the ninja would follow suit and do the same. It did so to his relief. Finishing the bug man off. They had won, but Kyle fell over out cold for now. Clyde breathed heavily, drenched in sweat, and clutching his tie. His Poser did most of the work, but he still felt like it had taken it out of him. Did the Poser consume a lot of stamina, he wondered. He looked over to see how Raleigh, and Kugo were faring. They seemed to be having the same problem. They had gotten pretty banged up themselves, but ever still they both had a smile on their face.

Raleigh seemed like she was neglecting using her multi-tool for this, relying mostly on her Poser. "Fools, you are no match for my Poser and my healing." The Leader laughed, showing off that he too had one. They made blows once more. Clyde joined the fight after a breath throwing ninja stars at him. It took the leader off guard, giving Raleigh the chance to slash him up with her robot Posers blade arms, and from Kugo to punch him into a building. "No matter how strong you are we will surpass our limits and grow stronger ourselves!" Kugo shouts. The dust started to rise all over. Kugo, and Raleigh, began to celebrate their victory.

Kugo gave a little side eye to the smoke like he was waiting for something but taking no action. Clyde looked at the smoke, feeling uneasy. He pulled out his multi-tool, setting it to kill, looking into it before shooting. Both Kugo and Raleigh looked at Clyde confused. "The hell are you doing, Clyde?" Raleigh would ask, but when the dust cleared, she got her answer. The Leader was still alive, and regenerating, if not for his actions it would have gotten back up fully healed. "Nooo!" It said falling to the floor now vanquished.
"What, haven't you ever watched a show like this? If there is a bunch of dust and stuff like that, they are fine and about to attack again." Clyde said making Raleigh laugh. "I can't believe you were right about that." Kugo looked almost angry that he did that. After a long silence, he walked over to Clyde, putting his hand on his shoulder, gripping a little too tight. "Good job bud." He said with a fake smile before leaning in closer. "But next time, maybe just let us handle it." He said flying off right away.

Clyde didn't know what to think it was a strange interaction to him, but he shrugged it off for now, going over to see if Kyle and the others were OK. They had already gotten back up, and dusted themselves off, ready to return home. Kugo was eating cereal, clearly looking upset. "Wow, Raleigh, you're something. You might be as strong as Kugo." He said only seeming to make him more mad. "Oh hey, Kugo you want to come get drinks with us to celebrate our victory?" Kyle would ask his friend. He gripped the spoon tight, crushing it. "You go have fun without me. I have plans."

Kyle seemed a little surprised but accepted it. "Ok, what about you, Clyde?" He asks. Clyde was starting to get some bad vibes from Kugo and wanted to see what was up with him if he could. "I'll pass, that fight took it out of me." He said, even though that was only half the reason. He seemed to accept that, leaving with the others. Raleigh going along, buttered up by all the praise he was giving her. He stayed back, keeping a close eye on him, but trying to look like he wasn't. It didn't take much time for Kugo to leave the stadium. And fly off.

Clyde decided to follow him, barely able to keep up. He returned to the battlefield for some reason, talking to the cleanup crew. "Hurry up, and get this to the lab." That is all he said before flying off. There was no way he would catch him with the speed he was going. He looked at the crew, thinking something was weird about them. Looking closer, he saw that they had multi-tools on them, something this world didn't seem to have.

He followed them just out of sight. They took the monster to a compound outside the city, making Clyde start to regret doing so. He managed to sneak in behind them undetected. He was about to follow them even further when he saw who else, but The Reaper, in another room with three others. Furthermore, he hid nearby to listen in on their conversation. "Must you insist on working alone? Surely we would have more success together." A voice said to the reaper. "You are a liability to me. I will take control of this base, and capture her."

"Wait a minute, this is my base! I'm in charge he..." Another voice started to say in protest but seemed to back down out of fear of The Reaper. "Very well be that way. Darrain and I will be waiting just outside the world when you fail." The first voice said to The Reaper, seeming to piss him off. Both he, and another one of the men in the room leave, only the empire's assassin, and the enemy commander remain.

They leave the room as well, heading into the one they took the monster remains. Clyde peeked inside, a little shocked to see Kugo in there with them. "It's about time you got here. The Empire promised to make me strong monsters to fight, not a bunch of weaklings. Who's this guy?" Kugo asks them. "Ah well, he's..." The man starts to say. "Who I am is of no consequence to you. I'm here for one reason only. To capture this person." He said, holding out a hologram of Raleigh. "Hmm, what a small universe I met her not that long ago, her friend ruined my fun. I think I have an idea that will help us both out." Kugo started to say.

Clyde was getting nervous, clutching his tie. He pulled his phone out of his pocket. It wasn't super useful now, and it didn't have much battery left, but he figured at least a picture of proof would be helpful now. Then he could run out of here. He raised it, taking one, but forgot to turn the flash off. "Fuck." He said in whispered frustration. The Reaper had already caught on and put his hand around his neck. "You again. You are lucky, I need someone to draw her out." He said knocking Clyde out.