Kaylee in Wonderland Part Two

Chapter Five: Where’s The T?

Kaylee leaned back in Shinken’s cab. She was BORED! It felt like she had been stuck on this train ride for months! She looked over to Gogun; the green dragon was seeming to keep itself entertained by forming its body into two paddles and bouncing a ball between them. She wondered about the biology of such a being; how was it able to split itself into pieces like that? Didn’t seem realistic. Come to think of it, why was the train able to talk? Why give a train a face? Her brow furrowed as she thought more about her surroundings. Now she really looked, there were lots of things she didn’t find believable here. It was almost as if she was –

PEEP PEEP! “WE’RE HERE!”

Shinken’s sudden intrusion knocked the train of thought out of her head. She stuck her head out of the cab, looking down the rails. She saw a station approaching, and felt Shinken begin to slow, the sound of brakes being applied echoing through the air. The trio slowed down to a stop, perfectly placed within the station lines. SHIKETSU STATION was emblazoned on the sign.

Shiketsu? That’s familiar…

Kaylee recognized the word but couldn’t place her finger on why. Before she could delve into this, she was once again interrupted by Shinken.

“BRRR, bust my buffers, I don’t like being at the end of the line! The only decent sorts around here are ‘The Boys’, but there’s plenty of others that are servants of The Ultimate Warrior! If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to get back home as soon as possible!”

“That should be fine, thank you.” Replied Gogun, as he and Kaylee stepped down onto the platform.
“See you, Shinken, thanks for the ride.” Said Kaylee, as the engine reversed toward a turntable.
“PEEP PEEP! Good luck with your mission!” was the last the pair heard, as he went back to his home. Gogun waved goodbye, as Kaylee turned to find the path forward. Down the station steps, there was a path that led into the treeline.

“OI, GOGUN! You coming or not?” She yelled back to the floating green dragon, who had transformed one hand into a handkerchief to wave.

“Yes, yes. Parting is such sweet sorrow, but we must continue on our path! A shame, I felt that our time together was so much longer than it really was.”
“You felt that too? It was like we were traveling for months!”
“Yes, but we are here now. Come, we have to find my associates!” With that, the dragon flew off ahead.
“HEY, WAIT!” Kaylee took off in pursuit, her green Ki flaring around her.

The two of them didn’t stop until they reached an archway, the words “TERRITORY OF THE BOYZ” emblazoned across it, with a second sign underneath it haphazardly nailed to it reading “NO GIRLZ ALLOWD!”

“They need to learn how to spell properly.” Kaylee thought aloud, as she surveyed the area, her nose wrinkling. This whole area looked rather run-down, as though the people living here were not preoccupied with maintaining cleanliness, but rather left things where they fell.
“Oh, don’t have such a negative attitude! Why, I believe that you’ll get on with them like a house on fire!” exclaimed Gogun, as he went ahead. “Now, if I know them, they’ll be having a T party as usual.”
“A tea party?” Kaylee repeated. Was that supposed to be about her coming from Britain?
“Yes, now come along, I can hear them ahead!” with that, Gogun flew off, Kaylee giving pursuit. She could hear some noise, but it didn’t sound like any tea party she’d ever been to. Granted, the last one she had been a part of was when she had been 5 and the orphanage was trying to impart manners onto the lot of them, but still. If anything, it sounded like –

“YEAH BUDDY! LIGHT WEIGHT!” echoed out, followed by a loud clang!

The pair crested the top of the hilly path, coming to an opening. In the center stood a quartet of boys. Three of them were standing around the fourth, who was on a bench, pressing what looked to be an inordinate amount of weight.

“ALL YOU BUDDY!” cheered one.
“YOU’VE GOT THIS!” yelled another.
The third remained strangely silent, just staring down at the grunting fourth member. As the exercising fourth guy re-racked the weight, they finally noticed the approaching pair. The shortest lad, with a shock of blond hair along with blue eyes, lit up with a massive smile and cried out. He charged forward, eyes closed and hands outstretched, as Gogun did the same.

“GOGUN!”
“INOGI!”

The two ran in slow-motion, looking straight out of some corny romcom film. After several far-too-long seconds, they finally made contact with each other, embracing in a teary hug.

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE FOREVER!”
“I’M SO HAPPY TO BE BACK!”
“BRO!”
“BROOOOO!”

Kaylee couldn’t help but roll her eyes. The scene was almost saccharine; the two were bawling their eyes out, rambling out almost incoherently about how much they had missed one another. Kaylee walked past them to the other three boys. They all seemed rather short, with even the tallest of them not even reaching the top of her chest. Nevertheless, she had learned that being inured to positivity was no winning move, so despite herself, she smiled at the pair hugging it out as she walked past.

“Uhh, hey. While those two, um, catch up, I’m Kaylee.” She said to the trio that were standing around, as she extended a hand down to shake their hands.
The shortest of the three, the black haired, dark-eyed one, stepped forward and returned the shake.

“Uhh, hey. I’m Hifum, this is Booby and Sondy. The one hugging Gogun is Inogi, as you might have been able to tell.”
“YO, THAT’S ME!” The boy who had been hugging Gogun stood up at the mention of his name, bouncing to his feet as though he were rubber. Keeping one arm hugging his dragon buddy, he bounded over to Kaylee, and leapt up to pull her into an embrace.

“GOGUN TOLD ME ALL ABOUT YOU AND HOW YOU HELPED GET HIM HERE! HOW CAN WE REPAY YOU!”
“…who’s we?” muttered Sondy, the lanky member of the bizarre quartet. He was the one who had been hanging around at the back of the pack and had streaks of blue running through his otherwise black mangy hair. Inogi ignored him, simply maintaining his wide shining gaze up at Kaylee, as he beamed at the perceived saviour of Gogun.
This guy’s creepy, but at least give him the benefit of the doubt. Kaylee thought to herself. Remembering the whole lines about helping others, she supposed that this was her cue to improve.

“Um, yes. I wanted to know how to get to The Ultimate Warrior. Gogun told me that you…”

Kaylee trailed off as she looked into Inogi’s eyes. They had changed from puppy dog, full of happiness and excitement, to saucers of sadness. Looking at the others, they all had expressions that conveyed similar trepidation from the mention of that name.

“Is… something wrong?” She said slowly. The three not currently dangling off of her neck looked away, up and down and to the side, while Inogi wore his emotions on his sleeve and burst into tears.

“THEY’RE SUCH A MEANIE! MY BELOVED – OTHER BELOVED – JUST HAPPENED TO FIND OUT HOW TO REACH THEM, AND JUST FOR A LITTLE INFO, SHE WAS TRAPPED IN THE SWOOOOORDD!”

“Oh, stop being over-dramatic, Inogi.” Chimed in the other blond guy, the only one that didn’t look at least part Asian. “His girl got stuck in her own weapon after spying on The Ultimate Warrior’s base. I’d stick away from that place if I were you, that’s not someone to mess with.”

Inogi dropped off of Kaylee, sniffling and rubbing tears out of his eyes, before turning to face his friend.
“sniff SCREW YOU BOOBY, YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE HER!”
“Dude, you met her like a month ago –”
“SHE’S THE LOVE OF MY LIFE!”

Inogi started flailing toward Booby, windmilling his arms against the bigger lad’s chest. Gogun wrapped around him, pulling him back, crooning into his ears as he sniffled away. Kaylee repressed her urge to shut the crybaby up, as she turned to the other three.

“Right. Well, I was told that they have the only way back home, so I don’t really care how hard the fight would be, I’m going.”

The three boys looked at each other, but before they could respond, Inogi had another mood swing and leapt to his feet.

“YOU WOULD AVENGE MY BELOVED? OH, GREAT HEROINE, FIRST YOU REUNITE ME WITH GOGUN, NOW THIS?! I CANNOT EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE IN WORDS! COME, MY BELOVED KNOWS THE HIDDEN KNOWLEDGE, AND I SHALL SHOW YOU HER PRISON!”

As he spoke the last sentence, he grabbed her hand, and gestured to a pathway that seemed to be the only clean area of this place. Kaylee felt a moment of annoyance; what right did he have to force her to do anything? But even as she thought it, a twinge of forgotten memory came over her, that this scenario had some sense of familiarity. She rolled her eyes, drawn in by the boy’s exuberance, and let him guide her to ‘his beloved’. Followed by the other three, the six individuals made their way down the winding path.

At the end of the path, there was a hilt vertically on top of a stone, presumably with a blade buried beneath it. As it came into view, Inogi released Kaylee’s hand as his obviously turbulent emotions took over, and with a wail he dashed forward. He collapsed to his knees in front of it.

“HOGU¬! CAN YOU HEAR ME! THERE IS ONE HERE THAT PLANS TO AVENGE YOU!”

Kaylee walked up behind him, and while there may have been a faint murmur, there were no words that she could make out.

“So, this is the sword you mentioned?” she inquired. Inogi turned his head, sniffled, and nodded. Kaylee walked up next to him, put a hand on the hilt, and tried to pull it out. But it was stuck, not budging an inch! Inogi wailed as she did so, as Hifum came up to explain.

“Hogu got stuck in her own weapon, and then locked into the stone. Without removing the blade from the stone, there’s no way to get her out. She is also the only one who has the information that is needed to reach The Ultimate Warrior. We have trained ourselves, but as of yet, we have not the strength to free her.”
They dipped their heads in respect and mourning as Inogi continued to yell out to Hogu in her prison. Kaylee cracked her knuckles, before returning her grip to the hilt. This time, she gripped with both hands, one atop the other, as she firmly planted her feet down.

“So, if I want to get back home, I need to just lift this little sword out? No problem!”

She began pulling. The hilt refused to budge. She gritted her teeth, pushing her Ki downward, fueling her attempt. The ground around her feet cracked and broke, but still the sword wouldn’t move!

“I didn’t think she could do it.” grunted Sondy.
“It’s OK if you can’t, none of us could.” consoled Hifum.
“GANBATTE!” yelled Inogi.

“HHHHNNGGGRRRRRHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAA!”

With all her immense strength, she pulled while forcing her Ki as though she were to fly upward. Finally, the stone splintered apart, Kaylee’s momentum carrying her into the air, as the sword was freed!

“…can’t believe she did it.”
“HOLY MOLY!”
“YATTA!”
Huff, huff Kaylee panted from the exertion. It hadn’t been easy, but now she was one step closer to home!

As she floated in mid-air, the blade of the sword began to glow. The light amplified until, with a PING, a girl (at least, Kaylee thought they were a girl) popped into existence! She floated down to the ground, but before she landed, Inogi ran forward, catching her in his arms as he yelled.

“H-H-HOOOGGUUUU!”

The girl(?) blinked, eyes adjusting to her sudden surroundings. However, as soon as she saw Inogi, and that she was safe in his arms, she too cried out.

“IIIIIIIIINNNNOOOOOOOGGGGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!”

She wrapped her(?) arms around his neck and squeezed as hard as she could, nearly choking the poor boy. Not that he seemed to care. While he didn’t squeeze her(?) back, presumably to avoid injuring her(?) after so long imprisoned, he spun her(?) around and around while nuzzling like a dog reunited with its master.

Kaylee drifted back down to ground level. She looked over to the other three boys, all with shocked expressions on their faces, and gave them a smug “told you I could do it” look, before turning back to the lovey-dovey couple. They were spouting sappy platitudes to one another, and while Kaylee would never admit to being envious in matters of love, she was rather snappy when it came to breaking the moment.

“Ahem. I hate to interrupt this moment, but I was told that you knew the way to get to The Ultimate Warrior?””

The girl(?) looked up at Kaylee, craning her neck to look her in the eyes. “Ah! Yes, I do know the secret. You see, it’s –”
“BUT BEFORE THAT!” Interrupted Inogi. “WE HAVE TO GIVE YOU PROPER THANKS FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!”
“…who’s we?” mumbled Sondy.
Inogi ignored this comment, or perhaps didn’t even hear it. Either way, he continued. “YOU’VE DONE SO MUCH IN SUCH A SHORT TIME! YOU MUST JOIN OUR PARTY!”
“Oh yeah.” Kaylee said aloud. “Gogun mentioned that you lot would be having a tea party. I’m not the best at them, but don’t you need at least a kettle for tea?”

The four boys looked puzzled at this. “Why would we need kettles for T?” inquired Booby.
Now it was Kaylee’s turn to look puzzled. “I mean, I guess it can also be called cha, but it would still need heating, wouldn’t it?”
“OOOOHH!” exclaimed Hifum, slapping his forehead. “T isn’t tea as in tea leaves!”

Kaylee raised an eyebrow. “Then what is it?”

“The T stands for –” started Hifum.

“TESTOSTERONE!” they all yelled in unison, flexing their shirts off in sync.
…What? thought Kaylee, as they began pulling protein shakes out, throwing one to her, as everything faded to white.

In the real world

“Do you really think this’ll help?”
“Well, if nothing else, it can’t hurt right?”
“I guess so, but it’s still weird.”

Hifumi and Bobby set up the bench press next to Kaylee. She was still out cold, stuck in the coma that Maddox had put her in. It was hard seeing her like this, just lying there, as though she were simply asleep. The Doctor had done what he could, even Imai had tried to contact her, and what kind of heroes would they be if they didn’t give it a go too?

Sandatsu grunted as he carried the weight rack into the room. Inigo followed with several cases of protein shakes. They had multiple flavors – vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, etc. Hopefully some combination of the sounds or smells would get through to her.

“Well, come on then, let’s get on with it.”

Several minutes passed. The clang of the barbell and weights echoed through the room. Thankfully, these rooms had pretty good sound insulation, preventing much sound from escaping. That was good, as they hadn’t exactly been judicious at attaining permission for this impromptu training session.
They continued, building up a good sweat, but not seeming to have much of an impact. Finally, Bobby couldn’t take it any more. He cracked open a fresh strawberry shake and waved it under Kaylee’s nose.

“Come on, Kaylee. You’ve got to get up now.” He tried to encourage her as best he could. He wasn’t sure, but for a moment, he could have sworn that her eyes fluttered open, if only a tiny bit.

Chapter Six: Breaking In

The world came back into her sight, color coming into the haze of white light. Kaylee blinked in confusion. What had happened? She remembered getting to the boys, getting that sword out of the stone, but then it was all fuzzy. Shapes were now becoming visible, and the sound of the world began to hit her ears. What was this? Why had the world suddenly vanished?

“– so that’s all. Did you get that?”

Hogu was in front of her. The pair of them were in some mountainous region, with a glowing green portal in front of them. She(?) seemed to be awaiting a response, but to what, Kaylee had no idea.

“Um, could you repeat that?”

She gave a sheepish grin, feeling awkward, almost withering from the short girl(?)’s angry glare. She(?) sighed.

“OK, so from what I found, the main fortress has three challenges that have to be beaten in order to enter. The first is a test of Mind, the second a test of Strength, and the third a test of Speed. I was only able to overcome the first, but I was able to witness the other two before my capture. All I can say for the one test I passed is that one must be honest, any attempt at deception will result in your destruction, and be prepared for the most difficult and obscure of knowledge inquiries. As for the other two, I am certain that as you were able to break me out of prison, that you will be more than capable of rising to meet them. Just go through the portal when you are ready.”

Kaylee nodded, and turned to walk through the portal.

“Oh, one last thing!” Hogu called out. Kaylee turned to face her.

“From one girl to another, Good luck!” she said, giving Kaylee a thumbs up.

Huh, so she is a girl. Kaylee thought, as she returned the gesture, then turned around and stepped through the portal.

Kaylee found herself before a ravine. The bottom was out of sight, it seemed to go down forever, into a pure and inky blackness. There was a bridge some distance away. Kaylee approached it and saw that there were two pillars standing at the entrance. One was topped with a sphinx-like creature with fangs and threads of gold dancing around it, the other had what appeared to be a moon, and while it didn’t have a face per se, it had a pair of eyes looking out from a crater that was almost a hood, with small rocks almost appearing to orbit it. As she approached the pillars, they shot out their respective items, thread and rock blocking her path.

“HALT!” they spoke in unison “Who would cross the Bridge of Death, must answer us these questions three, Ere the other side he see!”

Kaylee clenched her fists. This was it, the first challenge of three that stood between her and home. “Ask me your questions, I’m not scared!”

“FIRST! What – is your name?” Asked the sphinx.
“My name is Kaylee!” Easy enough first question. She thought.

“SECOND! What – is your quest?” Asked the moon.
“I seek to return to my home world!” Another simple question? How difficult is this last question going to be?! Kaylee thought, far more nervous now than she was a moment ago.

“THIRD!” they exclaimed in unison “WHAT - IS YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?”
“Green!” Kaylee answered instinctively.

“Right, over you go then.”

…EHHH? Kaylee was stunned with how simple that was. Hogu had said it would be difficult, and while Kaylee’s grades weren’t the highest, she wasn’t that dumb! Still, it would be dumber yet to not take advantage of the turn of good fortune.

“Um, thank you!” She said, as she walked across the bridge. At any moment, she expected some backstabbing. The bridge to fall, a sudden attack, something. But no, she made her way across the bridge without interruption, and found herself safe and sound on the other side. There was another portal, promising to take her even closer to her goal. She gave a last look at the guardians behind her – they were immobile on their plinths – and continued to face her next challenge.

Another bridge met her. This one was not guarded, but instead blocked by a colossal boulder. She made her way toward it, cautious not to allow a sudden ambush to surprise her. But she couldn’t have predicted what would happen next. As she stepped onto the bridge, she could suddenly hear a voice, high-pitched and mean, saying all manner of vile things.

“See, this is why you’re just left out here! If it weren’t for me, then you’d be all alone, and then what would you do! And another thing –”

A second voice suddenly spoke up “Oh! A new person has arrived!” This voice was far more pleasant, if not much timider than the first. A face suddenly emerged at Kaylee’s feet, while another appeared on the rock. The face on the bridge spoke up.

“Hello, new person! My name is Ashl-”
“You’re AshLAY! You know why? Because you LAY down for for anyone to walk all over you!” interjected the rock. This rankled Kaylee and drove her to confront this mean mineral.

“Oh yeah? And who are you then, a pissy pebble?”
“HUH!? You’ve got some gall, I’m Miorball the ‘Orrible Boulder! You overgrown gorilla! What, did you escape from a zoo? Or are you a pervert, pretending to be a woman by shoving some melons down your shirt?”

“OK, FUCK YOU!” screamed Kaylee. This boulder was going to the crusher! She grabbed hold of it, right where its stupid cheeks would be, and buried her fingers into it as she gripped it.

“HUH? What are you doing, you stupid biiii–”

It did not get a chance to finish its sentence. Kaylee hoisted it onto herself in a front squat, then with a grunt and a heave, she threw this rude rock over the side of the bridge. As she wiped the sweat from her brow, she heard a third voice. This one was deep and baritone, obviously male.

“It seems big girl has beaten second trial.”

Kaylee span around, seeing a giant blue man with horns and fangs jutting from his lower jaw. She raised her hands, ready to fight.

“Who are you?” she demanded. The blue giant simply waved one massive hand, as if to dismiss her query, as his other brought up a bucket.

“Oh, Drekus is no part of big girl’s dream sequence. Drekus is simply here for the dream chicken.” he said, as he reached into the bucket and pulled out a comically large drumstick. Rather than tearing the meat off the bone, he simply chomped down on the whole thing at once, chewing and swallowing it bone and all.

“Big girl has won this fight, she should go on to next one.” he said, as he continued to eat. Ashlay finally found her voice to support this weird being.

“Y-yes! Congratulations, tall one! You have passed this challenge and must move on to the next and final trial! A-and thank you for rescuing me from Miorball, she was not pleasant company.”

Well, OK then. Kaylee thought this was a weird trial, but she wanted to get home, and if this trial was considered completed then she was one step closer to that. She crossed the Ashlay bridge, reached the portal on the other side, and stepped through.

At least it’s not another bridge.

She was in what appeared to be a stadium. There was a track around her, that must have been a mile in total. There was no portal to a next level here, instead there was a massive pair of doors, presumably to where this Ultimate Warrior was. Kaylee walked towards them, only to be interrupted by a pair of blurs. They zoomed around her, faster than she could see, before coming to a stop in front of her. One was male, the other female. The male was levitating off the ground, while the female had a sword sheathed at her waist.

“HALT!” Another pair that insist on speaking in unison? “We are the guardians of the gate, entrance to the home of The Ultimate Warrior! To enter the gates, you must defeat us in a race!”

Kaylee looked down at the pair. The male looked smug and self-assured, while the female was far more stoic, almost as though her face was a mask.

“OK then,” Kaylee said to them “which one of you is fastest? I’m not wasting any more time here than I need to.”

“Well, that’s easy” spoke the pair in perfect unison “it’s obviously me!”

Their ‘perfect unison’ was shattered only at the last word. As both claimed to be the fastest, they turned and glared daggers at one another.
“WHAT?! I’m obviously faster! No, I am! No, me!” they even argued in unison!

“Fine! We solve this with a race between us first! Stranger, give us a countdown!”

They zipped over to the starting line of the track, looking at Kaylee expectantly. This was weird, but at this point Kaylee figured to just go with it. She flew over to them, before raising an arm to show when to start.

“On your marks! Get set! G-”

The instant that the last syllable left her lips, the two speedsters took off, blurring as they raced around the massive track. Kaylee took the opportunity to think about the white light from earlier.

It didn’t seem like I lost track of time, it was different somehow.

She tried hard to think about what she had seen in that light. It hadn’t just been an empty void, there was something, or someone, there. She thought hard. She thought that she could remember – lights? Not just a light, but fluorescent lights. Something that you’d see in a hospital…

“HA! I WIN!”

The sudden jubilation snapped her out of her thoughts. The girl was celebrating, having just defeated her male counterpart.

“LUCKY FLUKE! BEST TWO OUT OF THREE!”
“YOU’RE ON! GO!”

They took off again. This time, Kaylee watched as they completed the track in mere moments, this time the guy winning. Off they went again, and again he won.

“BEST THREE OUT OF FIVE!”

Off they went again! They didn’t seem like they were going to stop this nonsense any time soon, so Kaylee decided that she wouldn’t waste her time with them anymore. She went over to the doors to the domain of The Ultimate Warrior.

“BEST FOUR OUT OF SEVEN!”

They were large, metal, and probably very heavy. But Kaylee is very strong, and the guardians were, to say the least, somewhat distracted.

“BEST FIVE OUT OF NINE!”

They weren’t paying any attention. Kaylee put her hands on the doors and pushed as hard as she could. There was a grinding noise, as though machinery or heavy furniture was being shoved along a tiled floor. She heard the two guardians behind her.

“BEST SIX OUT OF ELEVEN!”
“NO, YOU FOOL, SHE’S BREAKING THE RULES!”

They started charging toward her, but for once, they were too slow. Kaylee had already opened the doors. As she stepped through the doors, the world of the final test faded away behind her.

In the real world

Chris scooted the big chair right next to his friend’s bed. Bobby had spotted the eye movement, told The Boys, and together they had alerted The Doctor. He had stormed down the hospital’s corridors, cravat fluttering, determined to aid his patient. Especially one whose condition had been puzzling even to him. Scans indicated growing activity in her neocortex, suggesting that she was regaining conscious activity. Once he had had the requisite machines (as primitive as they were by his standards) set up, he had Nurse Weber call for the young Cain lad. They were close friends and, fingers crossed, having him present and hearing his voice would help push her back over to the waking world. The other four youths had remained as well, wanting to be there if she was about to wake up.
Chris had only gotten home the day before, and with his father’s nosocomephobia had made transport back to the hospital difficult, he had made the effort to drop him off just at the car park before getting away from his phobia. That had been more than enough for Chris, he was massively grateful to his father’s effort, and was now solely focused on being there for Kaylee. She had saved his life, and he blamed himself for her being here, the least he could do was ensure there was a (hopefully) friendly familiar face there for her when she woke up.

“Come on, Kaylee, come on!” he whispered, hoping against hope that any moment now she’d wake up. Even if the first thing she did was to punch him in the face, that was infinitely better than seeing her in this state.

Chapter Seven: Fond Reunions

“Come on Kaylee, come on!”

Kaylee looked down at the butler figure. He was short (though who wasn’t by her standard?), with ridiculously thick glasses that were almost goggles, and a big top hat. He was leaning on a cane, and with his other hand, he gestured her forward. Kaylee turned to look behind her, but instead of seeing the door through which she had come, instead there was a corridor stretching off forever behind her. She turned back to face the butler.

“Who are you?”
“Oh, we are well acquainted, I assure you. We have been waiting for you, you see. It has been so long; we were worried you’d never make it.”
“Who’s ‘we’?”
“Myself, and the one I am to bring you to. You have come this far, now please, follow me.”

With that, he turned and, gesturing for Kaylee to follow him, he walked up a flight of stairs that seemed to materialize as he stepped on each one. Now Kaylee was beginning to get scared, for the first time since this whole affair had started. The world around her had seemed… unsolid. Like it fell apart when she wasn’t looking. But that had been a suspicion, now it was happening right in front of her, or at least behind her.

The light before, the drowning, all those jumps between places. What’s going on?

The only other being here was also the only one who could provide some answers.

“You didn’t answer; who are you?” She demanded from the butler. He didn’t stop, nor did he answer. He just kept walking up these stairs. Kaylee didn’t even try to overtake him; the way this world was only forming as he walked suggested that it wasn’t real until he moved there.

Finally, a light began to emerge above them. The steps continued upward toward it, until it banished the surrounding blackness. Kaylee could barely keep her eyes open, so instead she focused on following her guide, using his silhouette to shield her sight.

Eventually a door appeared in front of them. This one was hardly anything like the previous one. It was white gold, arched and lined with gold.

“I cannot take you past this point. I could only guide you here.” The butler said, gesturing for Kaylee to proceed – alone.
Kaylee stepped past him, about to open the door, when she turned to ask one last question. “None of this is real, is it? This is all just in my head.”

The butler removed his glasses, staring up at Kaylee with eyes she recognized. “Just because this is in your head, doesn’t mean it isn’t real.”

Kaylee nodded in understanding, opened the door, and for the last time was swallowed in light.

This time she did not emerge in a new place. This time she did not seem to emerge in any place. Kaylee found herself in a void. Nothing, absolutely nothing, in all directions. Up, down, left, right, all was just an empty whiteness. She couldn’t tell how long that she had been standing there, looking around for something, anything, when a voice from behind her nearly made her jump out of her skin.

“You’re late.”

Kaylee turned around, but no matter how prepared she might have been, it wasn’t enough for what she saw. Floating at her eye level, was what appeared to be her. Albeit younger, nothing more than a child, but definitely her.

“Who are you?”
“Why ask such a stupid question?”
“Why are you here?”
“We.”
“I didn’t know I was so pedantic. Fine, why are we here?”
The younger version of her just smirked, before punching Kaylee so hard in the gut, that she went flying back. Kaylee staggered to her feet, feeling pain hit her nervous system.

“If you wanted a fight, all you had to do was ask!” she coughed out, before narrowly dodging a follow up.

“You’re here because you’re weak, a chained impotent version of us, and I am here to rectify the problem.”

Kaylee dodged another attack, this one from range. The Ki blasts exploded, but without any proper frame of reference, there was little way to determine their size. Their power, on the other hand, was felt all too much. The shockwave ran through Kaylee’s body, bringing her to her knees. As she writhed from the attack, recent memories came flooding back. Maddox. The apartment building. The pummeling she got. Then the other flashback hit her, a flashback within a flashback. She saw the previous sight of this version of her, about to kill a hero, before…something that they did caused her to pass out. Kaylee came out of the flashback stack, only to see this other her inches from her face.

“What do you think that was? A memory? An introspection? I guess it doesn’t really matter, what matters is the difference between us then, and you.” The last word was almost spat, like Kaylee caused her other self disgust.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, as she backed off and stood up. The younger Kaylee allowed this, simply floating up to maintain eye-level eye contact.

“It means that you are weak. Held back. You – we – should gods of destruction, not playing caped crusaders with a bunch of morons! You’ve lost our fighting edge! Even in this room, the real room we’re in, there is one who is about to explode into an orgy of violence, but you haven’t even noticed! And that’s just one case, you should be destroying and crushing all others on this world, but what have you done? Played chess with a nerd and had playfights for crowds? Pathetic!”

With that last word, the younger Kaylee dashed at her, too fast for her to dodge, slamming into her at full force. There was no let-up; strike after strike rained down on Kaylee, as it seemed that this tiny version of her was releasing a lot of pent up stress. Kaylee struggled to defend herself from the barrage. She tried to block with her arms until, with a scream of her own, she released a Ki shockwave potent enough to force this diminutive copy back.

“Well if I’m pathetic, what does that make you? A little ball of hate and ruin, all alone and lashing out at any-and-everyone, too scared to make any connections, and too angry for anyone to try!”

Now it was Kaylee’s turn to launch an attack. The smaller version was harder to hit, but she had training now, learning how to fight instead of simple berserker rage. The two of them began to clash in earnest. There was nothing in this space, nothing but their own imagination, and no reason to hold back from themselves.

Kaylee managed to get the upper hand. Pulling the smaller her into a grapple, she managed to pin her underneath her larger body. She looked down at the child, its face a mask of rage.

“That’s all you are, and all this place is. Some hidden part of myself that I haven’t had to face. A knot of fury that, while powerful, can’t see beyond their fists. Well, guess what? I’m done with that.”

Kaylee stood up, releasing the little demon. It scurried back, hissing as it did so.

“What, you think that you can just walk away? We live to fight!”

“I know that. But I’m going to fight because I enjoy it, not because a villain inside my soul demands it.”

“You can’t get rid of me! I am you!”

“Of course I can’t just dispose of you. But what I can do is control you. I am the one in the driver’s seat, you’re nothing more than my imagination giving form to an instinct. I’m done with this. I’m going home.”

Kaylee turned, and walked away. The dwarven wretch howled, leapt at her back, and dissipated into the air.

Kaylee felt a sensation akin to flying. She was heading upwards, faster and faster, but not into an all-white light. She felt her body – her real body – and was bombarded by the sensory input. Blurred voices, blurred faces, even blurred smells. With a colossal effort, she forced her eyes open for the first time in over a week.

Her friends and classmates who got the news (even Hailey was there, even if just because Hifumi insisted), all crowded around the bed, and when Kaylee’s eyes finally opened, a great cheer came up. Only to be immediately quashed by The Doctor.

“Right, I let you all be here for the moment of awakening, now get out! I’ve got to ensure she’s not suffered any long-term injury, and you all have classes! Nurse, escort these students out!”

Two Days Later:

Kaylee felt fine. Better than fine, really. Turned out that The Doctor more than lived up to his moniker. All her injuries had been repaired, there was no sign of brain damage, and all her physio tests were passed with flying colors. More than that, even. It seemed that the rest had done her a world of good, she was breaking her own records with ease after only being awake for a day! The hospital insisted that she remain under their care for at least the rest of the week, and with no official guardian to contest, Kaylee remained there. Not that she minded. The hospital catering was provided by the same staff that did the canteen, and at least here she had a proper bed!

She lay back in her bed, looking out of the window at the night sky. She could barely remember her dream, as like so many, it began to fade as soon as her mind woke up. But there was a definite change in her. The details may have faded, but the lesson learned would not. There was more to life than fighting. Even if fighting was the best in life, there were other things that were important too.

She lay down and pulled the blanket over her. She once more slept, this time unbothered by dreams, as the next day waited to dawn.