Cyrus Stout and The Wonders About

~Nine~

"So may I please get an explanation?!"

We were in a small wooden house, and I sat on the floor with a bowl of something I didn't recognize, having been told to 'eat this. It'll help with all the activity'.

Rifle Dude stepped up. "First, a quick introduction. I'm Sharpshoot. I guess you could call me the leader."

The teammates responded with a few badly-concealed laughs.

He turned. "If I'm not the leader, then who is?"

"It's just that you sound so uncertain. 'Uh, I guess'," Wings Girl imitated him with a laugh.

He rolled his eyes and pointed to the guy with the bow. "This is Arrow. Even he doesn't remember where he's from, but we do know that he can take a man down in just three shots. And he has trauma issues that he won't talk about."

Arrow grunted from his half-seated position on a shelf with a bowl of whatever it was I had.

He pointed a thumb to Metal Wings. "This is Wren. She's a cyborg. After being enhanced with machinery, she escaped the lab she was being kept in and flew free."

Wren waved slightly, and her wings coiled behind her, as if shy.

"And this is Mosquito," Sharpshoot pointed to Net Guy. "He's the son of a former fisherman, and when his dad was killed by one of those T3chi35, so he stole some netting and vowed to avenge his father or whatever."

Mosquito made a face and laughed. "You make me sound like some action movie hero. Some leader you are."

Sharpshoot rolled his eyes and looked to the girl and the boy.

He motioned to the girl. "This is Ginger." Then he motioned to the boy. "And this is Little Ginger. We found them together, and they still won't answer our questions about their past or their names, so we just call them Ginger and Little Ginger."

"We're right here," Little Ginger pointed out. "And I still don't see why I had to be Little Ginger."

"Because you're smaller than me?" Ginger offered.

"Ah, yeah, I can see that," Little Ginger agreed with a nod.

Sharpshoot turned to his crew. "And we're the Resistance."

There were a few half-hearted whoops and applause, then Sharpshoot turned to me.

"And you say you want an explanation? We've got the best information center in all the dimensions, right over here," he said, then turned and gently slapped Arrow on the arm, who sat down his bowl and walked over to me.

"How much did they tell you back at S.T.O.R.M.?" He asked, leading me by the arm into a separate part of the house.

"About the star who fell in love with my mom, and had a baby with her, despite knowing that his 'essence' would go inside of me, and then it grew with me, and then that was when I got threatened."

Arrow nodded, eyes narrowed, as if deep in thought.

"And what did she say exactly?" He asked.

"Something about it being time that his essence was removed from me and put back in its rightful place."

Arrow began to laugh, as if me being the target for several interdimensional groups was hilarious.

"I'll bet they think the star is just living inside you, glumming off your heart," he said, turning to me and crossing his arms.

"I'd say so. She told me that herself," I commented.

"Well, I can promise you, it's not," Arrow assured. "It is your heart."

"Woah. So, can you tell me what that has to do with all these people wanting my head on a silver platter?" I asked, still slightly shocked that my heart was really a flaming ball of gas that belonged in space and also used to be my dad.

"Sure. All the dimensions are kept alive, thriving, and in check by the stars. And a huge one like your dad, well, he had a big part. By having a baby with your mom and giving his star to you, and knowing the consequences of that, he sent all the dimensions askew. And with you growing up on Earth, more and more dimensions continued to disappear. That's how we all came together. Sharpshoot's and my dimension was the first to go. We found G and Little G right after that, Ginger having just discovered her portal abilities so that they could escape. Then we picked up Mosquito and Wren as their dimension was decaying. Hold on, I'm getting sidetracked. Anyway, soon, if you continue to live in Eservinu, all of the other dimensions will cease to exist. So they're trying to kill you. And we're going to get you back to your home, safe and sound."

"Oh my god. But... you guys can't avoid the decaying dimensions forever. At some point, you guys will have to disappear, too," I realized.

Arrow smiled sadly, patting my shoulder. "It's the right thing to do."

I bit my lip. "I-I can't let you guys do that. I'm helping you do whatever you have to to get all the remaining dimensions to stay."

Arrow considered this. "I don't know if that's possible, with you being half human and all, but it can't hurt to try. But for now, you need to get some sleep."

I nodded, and soon we were all curled up on the floor.

But wait. My day is not over. I still have being thrown off a roof to look forward to.