The P.I.E Rises (Venturiantale)

Chapter 9: Fellow Adventurers

Two weeks had passed in Cyrodiil. The Oblivion gate stood, towering over the 11 figures, ominously. The portal was very intimidating, indeed, and even Papa shook in fear.

"Are we really gon' go in there?", he asked, scratching the back of his bald head, "I mean, it looks like the kinda place you wouldn' come out of very easily."

"Yes," replied Ghost, "It's the only known way." Ever since the incident in the forest, Ghost had seemed...different. It was almost as if he had become a statue, preferring to answer questions with as little words as possible, almost never altering a stern expression that covered his face. He looked grim, and hardly laughed at jokes.

"Don't worry, Mr. Acachalla," added Toast, "We don't even need to go into Oblivion to get out of here!" He, on the other hand, seemed perfectly normal, as if his friend had never been confronted with any enemy. Maybe this was to comfort Ghost. No one questioned his odd behavior.

"tsk- Can someone please- tsk- get this girl- tsk- off me?", William struggled to pry Lena from his neck. She had been acting weird, recently. Whenever William would walk by, she would sigh dreamily. Now, she was trying to hug him.

"She totally has a crush on you, Will!", Bethany giggled.

"That's- tsk- the problem! She's also trying- tsk- to strangle me- tsk- !", William gasped.

"Here," Mimi sighed, "I'll get her. My sister can be a little...strange when it comes to flirting." She walked over to the wrestling pair, and grabbed Lena by the waist. She, in return, began kicking and screaming like a child, as her twin carried her off.

"Mimi, you're the worst sister ever!", she cried when Mimi set her down. Meanwhile, William wheezed softly, attempting to get air through his lungs. Asylum rolled his eyes.

"Every day of my life...", he muttered to himself. Next to him, Jordan laughed a little. He knew only too well. Jordan was still affected heavily with the woods episode, but he had found hanging around with Asylum very comforting. But he had also noticed something wrong about the pirate. Asylum seemed...lost. Jordan noticed how he walked, moved, even spoke. Asylum was acting as if he was at a funeral. But that wasn't the first of Jordan's concerns. Here was more interdimensional travel coming right into their faces. What if something went wrong? He had noticed Ghost, as he suddenly blew them off course. There was something familiar Jordan had seen in his eyes. Something dark. Something terrifying. A different person. Jordan shook himself. Maybe he could speculate later, but now, it was time to head to his home, and put an end to this madness.

"Sir?", Toast waited for his partner's que.

"It's time, Johnny," the man replied. The others stood, ready. Lena tried to grab William's hand, but Mimi pulled her away. Sari held her hammer so hard, that Jordan thought it was going to break in her orc hands. Papa Acachalla readied his shotgun, while Toast pulled out the control panel for the second time. Jordan stared at Ghost, who looked away from everyone else, in shame. Toast pressed the red button, and this time, Ghost did not interfere.

***

The wind swirled around them, wildly. What had happened here? Jordan could see his own house, but a black twister was in the fields near their home. There was a hole in the wall, where Jordan and his siblings had been flung into their own role play."What happened here?", Isaac asked in dismay.

"I think the tornado took a little too much out of our house!", Bethany exclaimed.

"Just a wonder the whole house didn't get blown away," muttered Cierra.

"Maybe Gmod tornados aren't as strong when they are in our world," pondered Jordan. While the tornado whirled through the forest, the siblings entered their house. Surprisingly, not much had been disturbed on the first floor. A few action figures had been knocked over, but that was about it. But when they reached Jordan's bedroom, everything was a mess. Somehow, the floor was still there, but many items were scattered around the room. Jordan could only stare. This had once been the place where most of the team's videos were made. Now, it was a disaster. Jordan slowly made his way to the computer. The glass was broken, and the screen was frozen on the last moments of their adventure. To Jordan's surprise, he moved the mouse, the game began to play normally, as if nothing had happened.