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clumsiestgiantess · 7 days

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Chapter 22 of The Other-world Universe; it’s villain time, baby! >:)

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[Round two: Knockout]

A blaring horn woke me with an awful cacophony of noise. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep, but I was sure that there wasn’t an alarm clock for me in the other-world. “Ahh! What’s going on!?” I yelped, sitting up in an instant with my hands over my ears. “Finally, she’s awake,” an exasperated voice grumbled nearby. Looking to my left, I found a truck parked right beside where my head lay a moment ago. No wonder its horn had been so loud.

"Wh- Why are you here?" I asked Mr. Stoll as he paced a bit further away from me, "I thought you said I could have some time off." "Well, that was before I knew about this," he grumbled, messing with something in the truck. "We received a radio broadcast this morning. At first we thought it was more refugees, and in a way I guess it is, but.. well.. If I could just get this thing to-" I saw another figure inside the truck do something to the machine Marcus was messing with, and soon a harsh voice played out over a speaker system inside.

This is Nicholaus Albane, head overseer of the Inter-reality Multiuniversal Research Division. We know a human of our own size is with you. She has displayed extraordinary power. Unfortunately, it has been used against my scientists and has hindered my progress towards our goal. I cannot allow that to happen again.

There was a brief pause as static rippled over the radio. Anxiety built in my stomach, making me nauseous. If she is not present at our camp, or you fail to bring her to us at 34.5 degrees latitude and 28.4 degrees longitude… Terrified cries suddenly burst through the speakers — too faint to be anything but other-worldian. Everyone in this town will die. Then it will be your turn.

My message to the unnaturally-powered human: Do not resist. You can not overpower the twenty or so staff present here. Your tricks are amusing, but this isn't a game; no one's laughing. There are lives at stake. Come within the hour and the people here will be spared. If you don't show up, I can personally guarantee that after every one of those little creatures dies, you’ll be next. There was a sudden click, then the radio cut to static.

My stomach churned awfully as I realized what the scientist was saying. They were holding an entire town hostage just to capture me. If I came, they would undoubtedly drag me through a portal and lock me away somewhere, but if I fled, thousands would suffer the consequences. Before either of the other-world people could say anything, I promptly rushed into the woods behind me and threw up. There was too much going on, and way too suddenly; I was terrified. Everyone’s lives depended on me. But you already knew that. Their lives already have depended on you.

I desperately didn’t want to turn myself in. I.. can just.. leave. All I had to do was concentrate on a thought and I’d be home — far far away from anything here. The people from the portal wouldn’t be able to find me to punish me for not coming. But what would happen if I really left? I'd be leaving so many people to die if I did. I couldn’t do that. What kind of awful coward of a person would that make me? Not the kind I’m willing to be.

Eventually, I returned to the field where Mr. Stoll stood, slightly startled. The other person cautiously stepped out of the truck and looked up at me pityingly. It took me a moment to recognize it was Ivan. “We have no choice,” Mr. Stoll began, “We have to send you to their camp. Not to comply with their orders, of course. You’ll go there to fight them off with your gun, and whatever you need him for,” he said, nodding towards Ivan.

That’s right, with Ivan here I’ll have intangibility. I can escape with that. I took a shaky breath of air to calm myself and think straight. I have to at least try to help them. I don’t want anyone to die on my behalf. But if worst comes to worst, being intangible can help me avoid getting hurt or captured. “Alright,” I agreed solemnly, my voice shaking slightly. “I’ll go.”

Mr. Stoll immediately shoved a paper of sorts at Ivan and said something along the lines of ‘don’t screw this up’ to him. “This map has the camp’s location and the route there plotted on it already. The kid will take you.” “Wait, we’re leaving now?” I asked, confused. “I haven’t gotten ready. Erica isn’t here, and-” “They said come within the hour. Forget about her and get going,” Mr. Stoll growled the same time Ivan said “We don’t have time; we have to leave now.” I guess they were both right; I had to get there before it was too late, but I couldn’t help feeling a twinge of longing. I wanted Erica there. Her presence would be one small comfort in the midst of all the chaos, but there was no time.

Carefully, I let Ivan settle onto my hands before lifting him up to give me directions. I strode with as quick a pace as I dared with my small companion. Every once and a while he would give me new instructions. Otherwise, the trip was deathly silent. Fear and anxiety kept a capsule of quietness in the air at all times, only further increasing the tension.

My heart broke a little as I left sight of the Cavern Town. My magnetic sixth sense was pulling me back the direction I'd come. It was a somber trip, just me and Ivan wandering towards the faint smell of machinery and upturned earth that grew stronger with each step. The moment the scientist's camp appeared on the horizon, I hid nervously with my invisibility. If there had once been a town there, it was impossible to tell. The entire area had been cleared to stake the base of the scientist's tents.

What will they do to me if I’m taken? If this is how they treat defenseless strangers who aren’t even taller than their hands, I don’t want to know what might happen to me — the person who can possibly stop them from doing it. "Hey," Ivan said softly, looking up at the empty space where I'd been a moment prior. "I'm really sorry about all this. I don't think it's right for these people or mine to put this much pressure on you. The only reason I'm here is, well.. Ok, Mr. Stoll forced me to come to the field, but I came with you because I knew you would want your intangibility. Unfortunately for me, that means I need to tag along." Though I couldn't hear it, I felt him chuckle lightly, "In all honesty, I wanted you to have at least one reliable getaway plan, because I knew you'd be a lot more scared without one."

Despite our dire situation, I managed a small smile. Ivan actually cared about me; he wasn't here simply because Mr. Stoll or the overseeing scientist had frazzled him with the threat of annihilation. His presence guaranteed a small piece of safety for me, even if it was at the expense of his own.

I tried to calm my breathing like Erica had told me the last time I got scared by the scientists. "So, do we have a plan?" Ivan asked hesitantly. "Let me see if I can scout things out a bit closer. I am invisible, after all." “But I’m not...” he replied nervously. I thought for a moment, “I’ll have to stash you in my pocket, but I’ll be sure to let you out before I go intangible, alright?” Ivan nodded slowly, looking like he already regretted his decision to come along.

Slowly, I slid him into my pants pocket and headed silently towards the scientists’ camp. This one was a lot bigger than the previous setup I’d walked into when I first introduced myself. There were three large tents about 20 feet long set up in a row along a small river. On the other side was a huge tarp structure that looked like a circus tent, only it was a dead grayish-white color and seemed much more foreboding. As I slunk into the edges of the campground, I peeked under tent flaps as people walked between them.

The first tent held a plethora of strange machinery. There were towering sets of humming boxes that flashed with blinding light every so often, and racks of glowing tablets lined the back wall. Some things were still fairly recognizable, like a water dispenser and monitors showing the charted region of the land the scientists had discovered. I held back a shocked gasp and waited a moment for someone else to walk through to give me another look at the monitor. The amount of land pictured on the screen was worrying. Is that a map of the land they’ve discovered, or the land they’ve already taken for themselves? I hoped it was the former.

Moving on to the next tent, I found some sort of storage room piled high with crates. It was empty of people. These tents didn't seem all that impressive. If I wanted to find out what was really happening, I'd have to get over to the large tent on the other side of the river. I call it a river only because it would be that size to the other-world inhabitants. To me, it was easily traversable. The scientists hadn't even bothered to build a real bridge across. A few slabs of rubbery plastic material were thrown across it to form a path just wide enough for one person to walk over.

I couldn't go over the makeshift passage, though. If someone were to walk across at the same time, they'd probably bump into me, and there were people crossing it constantly. Workers zipped in and out of all the tents across the field. They weren't even donning the 'hazmat giant' attire, just plain clothing — like they were simply going about a normal job.

Once I made my way over the river with a large step, I crept up to the main tent's entrance. The tent flaps were held wide open, but I couldn't see much of what was happening inside. I waited until the coast was clear, then slipped through the empty opening. My mouth dropped open in shock as I took in the massive space. I thought they'd flattened the town that was here — cast it aside to make room for this camp — but that wasn't the case. The entire town was corralled in the large space beneath the tarp ceiling. It looked like a model train exhibition, or something similarly fake. I mean, who would corral a real city full of people behind a glass pen built for displaying things?

One quick glance around the gigantic room and I spotted eight or nine scientists working on various projects involving the town, which was fenced in on all sides by thick waist-high glass panes. There were divots for people to step into the town, and clearings where scientists could examine the buildings more closely. However, the barriers around the openings were still far too high for any other-worldians to even dream of getting over them.

I stepped over one of these openings and knelt down inside. I'd assumed the other-world people were caged up somewhere, lying in wait as bait for me. However, as I peered at the tiny town, I could see small figures dash by windows, boarding them up in an attempt to keep the giants out. Everyone and everything was left pristinely untouched by the scientists. I doubted it was out of kindness. They wanted a perfect replica to study, and that was all. The moment they finished whatever it was they were doing here, everything would probably either be torn down or taken away through a portal somewhere, never to be seen again. I shuddered at the images that drifted through my mind.

While I knelt there, one of the scientists wheeled a machine over and hooked it to a track that sat on the rim of the glass wall. After a few moments, it flared to life and began making a slow circle around the entire ring. What is that thing? I didn't have a clue what most of the scientists’ machinery did, but as the flat metal piece drifted in my direction, it let off a blaring alarm.

The scientist who'd placed it on the track examined it for a moment, then looked directly at me. I hesitantly stood up, unsure if I'd been spotted. They then called over a few of the others in the room, and soon everyone was staring at the invisible spot where I stood, looking back and forth between me and the machine. My pulse quickened; I could feel it in my chest. Easing my hand into my pocket, I slid Ivan out and hid him behind one of the buildings as soundlessly as I could. I had a feeling that I was going to need my intangibility soon. Suddenly, one of the scientists cried out. "It's her! The anomaly is here! Get the overseer!"

I slid into intangibility and raced out of the enclosure to an empty part of the tent as everyone stampeded out. As much as I didn’t want to get any closer to where the scientists would be, I really didn’t want to stay in the little town. I could all too easily flatten it trying to fight or run from the portal ‘giants’.

Just as quickly as the scientists fled, a new team of 'giants' appeared. This group wore distinctly armored clothing. A few were equipped with futuristic weapons that looked somewhat similar to rifles. There were a lot more people here than I thought. I turned hesitantly to visibility, but clung tightly to intangibility — latching onto Ivan so desperately I would’ve been clinging to him if he were still physically with me. The crowd parted, revealing a tall, thin man with taunt muscles and eyes that were unmistakably golden-yellow.

He sized me up for a moment, then smiled almost welcomingly. "I see you got my message," he observed, gesturing to my arrival. His voice was undoubtedly the same one I'd heard over the radio. The overseer looked between me and the captured town for a moment, then laughed haughtily. "You were trying to save these tiny creatures? How sad.." he mused, "That's just not going to happen. But you'll be joining them on their trip through the portal very soon." I tried to shake off his subtle threats and focus on what I came there to do. I had to put a stop to this.

I made my way in front of the captured town in a slow, decisive march, planting myself between the group of ‘giants’ and the glass walls behind me. “This isn’t right,” I announced to the crowd, “Trust me, I’ve been in denial myself. I didn’t even believe this world was real. But I know better now; these are real people, these are real lives you’re destroying. It has to stop. It’s not right for you to do th-” “That’s where you’re wrong,” the man from the radio cut in, putting a hand up to silence me.

“We have every right to be here. We discovered this world, so why shouldn’t we take it for ourselves?” I huffed, “But there are already people living here!” “Too bad for them,” he replied nonchalantly. “Do your people know the expression ’survival of the fittest’? Surrender or die? Kill or be killed? Don’t your people also claim land from others for themselves?” “Well.. yes,” I stuttered. “That’s all we’re doing,” he explained calmly. “So pick a side. Before we decide for you.” “But that’s not-!” “Pick. A. Side.”

I know who I’m going to stand with. I have to help the people of the other-world. But if this becomes an all-out war over land, am I ready to stand in the middle of it? I inhaled a deep breath to calm my nerves, steadying my position in front of the town. “I’ve already made my decision,” I remarked coldly. The cruel overseer only sneered. He turned swiftly on his heel and stepped to the threshold of the tent. “Capture her,” he ordered, “and slaughter the town.”

The tent became a blur of motion as the group fanned out. Some people headed into the town through the glass openings, while others advanced towards me. I pulled out of intangibility and grabbed my new weapon — immediately firing at the people who tried to attack the captured town. Dodging the oncoming shots, I rushed around the side of the glass barrier. I flinched as bullets of glowing hot metal stuck fast in the glass. Thankfully, the enclosure barrier seemed thick enough to protect me.

As the three people with weapons reloaded, I quickly switched to multi-shot mode and decimated one side of the glass wall to allow everyone from the other-world a potential escape. Turning on my pursuers, I fired off another round and they all scrambled out of the way as explosions tore open the sides of the tent. The other ‘giants’ clearly hadn’t anticipated that I could fight back with a weapon of my own.

Someone gave a signal and those without weapons disappeared out of the torn opening. As I held off the rest of the group, a flood of other-world townspeople made their way out the shattered hole in the barrier. Tearing open the side of the tent with a few explosive shots of my gun, I followed the group from behind, still facing my oncoming attackers.

Once everyone evacuated outside, the ‘giants’ tried to surround us, but I stopped them with a shield smoke bomb. By the time the haze cleared, I’d cast a protective dome over the whole group, trapping them inside. Just as I turned back to the other-world civilians, a keening noise split the air — sounding like a higher-pitched gunshot. I flinched expecting to be hit, but nothing happened. Then, a shocked cry echoed inside the barrier.

Turning back around, I saw one of the people lying on the ground inside. They’d tried to shoot the barrier to escape with a smaller firing weapon, but the bullet, or whatever the weapon shot, had ricocheted off the wall and hit him instead. The others inside began panicking as they realized that there was no way out. Before I could address either of my problems, another one emerged.

The group that had left earlier returned, armed with lightweight shields and more of those strange futuristic guns. I fired off a few quick blasts as the new group charged me, shields raised. My light bullets seemed to have no effect on the shield material. The force of the multi-shot explosion caused my attackers to falter, but that was all.

I put the gun away and went intangible and invisible. Come on Alexis, think! What else can you do to- Oh! Of course, my abilities! Racing forwards, I began taking them out one by one, using invisibility to attack unexpectedly and intangibility to dodge anything they threw at me. I was doing fairly well until one of the ‘giants’ figured out my strategy. He slid past my invisible arm as I aimed my weapon, grabbed it, and threw me to the ground, knocking it out of my hands. I lay there stunned, shock chasing away the powers I'd clung to a moment prior. The force had knocked all the air from my lungs and all the thoughts from my head.

Gasping for breath, I couldn’t stop two of them from hoisting me up to drag me off. When they did, I was able to see the group of other-world people I’d saved, giving me some much-needed encouragement. The Cavern Town truck fleet had arrived. All of the survivors were being loaded onto the vehicles, headed safely back to the protected town in the valley. Despite my dire situation, I’d managed to save them.

My body surged with new life once I realized that my job was complete. I slid into intangibility so I could escape the men's grasp. However, they still held me fast. What’s worse, they’d also seen the other-world civilians escaping. I tried again to switch over to intangibility, but I realized that I had been dragged too far away from Ivan or anyone else I could latch on to; I had no way to get out. Panicked, I jabbed one of them in the ribs as hard as I could. He let out a surprised yelp of pain, and I tried to writhe my way out of the second person’s grasp, but it was no use. The second man stuck his leg out beneath me just as I broke away, and I fell face first into the ground.

Blood dribbled out of my nose, but before I could do so much as wipe it away, I was dragged upwards again. I thrashed in their grasp, but it only earned me a violent kick to the stomach, sending me right back into the dirt. My fight to escape became a desperate animalistic struggle. After a few more escape attempts where I was immediately thrown back to the ground, the butt of one of the men’s rifle-like weapons struck the side of my head — ending my struggles. I was still half conscious, but my vision had gone black for a few minutes as the men continued dragging me off.

Once I could see and think again, I glanced back over my shoulder to see the other-world people. The caravan was speeding away. I'd distracted everyone enough that they no longer cared about them, but I noticed with a pang of terror that I'd almost been dragged all the way to the river crossing. One of the tents on the other side had a portal inside it.

Digging my heels into the ground, I tried desperately to get away. If I could just find anyone to latch onto, I could escape. However, I could barely stand anymore. All I could do was try to slow my captors down, but that was starting to annoy them. Finally, after my fourth or fifth attempt to get free, the man I’d hit turned on me. His hands suddenly wrapped around my neck with a crushing grip on my throat. I gasped fearfully, clawing at his fingers. Faintly, I heard the other person comment: “We’re supposed to bring her back alive, Rowan.” “I’m just putting her to sleep,” he growled in reply as more pressure forced my windpipe closed. Seconds away from passing out, I thought ruefully of my family back home — how they’d never know I died here. The force on my throat vanished, and I fell onto carpeted flooring.

It took me a long while to recover enough to figure out what happened. My thoughts had taken me home. The house was empty. I vaguely remembered my family planning to go somewhere without me after I turned them down.

I sobbed in relief, hesitantly sitting up from my spot on the floor. How am I so stupid? I chided myself internally, I could’ve escaped to my world any time I wanted! Laughing numbly at my mistake, I yelped at the pain it caused me. I couldn't make a single noise without my throat closing up or burning like it had been rubbed raw. Slowly, I got up, nearly stumbling back down to the ground, but I grabbed a nearby chair for support. I made my way to the basement kitchenette and gulped down water. It hurt my throat, but I was desperately thirsty. After my more primal needs had been taken care of, my adrenaline high wore off, and I quickly spiraled into fearful recognition.

The scientists, the townspeople, the hostages — it was all too much. I had barely escaped with my life even with my gun and my powers. The people from the portal world attacked in a group too big for me to handle; I couldn’t defend myself from all of them at once. My first fight was a fluke. I only won because the scientists hadn’t expected me. This time, they called me there. This time, they wanted me to fight them. I should’ve known that they’d figured out a way to subdue me. I’d only escaped because I remembered I could return to my own world with a thought. If it had taken any longer, I would’ve been choked unconscious — stolen away to the scientists’ world. And Erica had to watch everything happen.

I saw her out of the corner of my eye after getting thrown painfully onto my back during the fight. She stood in the middle of the field, closer to me than the group of fleeing other-worldians but still far enough away that none of the soldiers could easily get her — staring in horror as I was thrown down again and again. Weak and barely able to stand, I fell onto the couch feeling like I was dying. Maybe I am dying. I would disappear from the other-world never to be seen again. Everyone would think I abandoned them, but in reality, I was just dead.

For a few hours, I lay on the couch in agony, finally managing to get up for some pain reliever across the room before heading right back to lay down some more. I can’t fight the people from the portal. I have no choice but to leave. I’ll run away and never go back. The other-world residents can’t convince me to return if they can’t get to me. My stomach sunk with guilt, but I reasoned that if I went back to fight, I would either get kidnapped, end up dead, or both.

Wait, I can’t leave Erica! I’d already made the mistake of abandoning her along with the other-world. I’ll have to separate the two… I’ll have to take her with me. Surely she’ll also want to get away from her apocalyptic world. Especially now that the 'giants' are on the path of destruction. I moved to lay on my side, staring at the empty spot where the table once stood. The noises of my family returning home sounded from the floor above me. My dad came down to see me, so I hurriedly covered as much of myself as I could with a blanket, trying to hide all my injuries. I made an excuse that I wasn't feeling well, and he left me alone. I was internally shocked at how sick I actually sounded. My throat was still rugged after the forced attempt to squeeze it shut.

Several hours later, after the pain subsided to something more tolerable, I returned to the Cavern Town. Well, a cutoff of the valley near the Cavern Town. I couldn’t bear to go back there and be expected to keep protecting it.

Sitting there in subtle secrecy, I thought through what I would say to Erica once she undoubtedly found me. My brain kept thinking in circles from I can’t leave to I have to leave over and over again. About a half-hour later, I felt Erica’s presence begin to get closer. Sure enough, a lone truck turned down the cutoff to face me, stopping just short of where I sat. Erica stepped out and looked me over, agony distorting her features. Both of us faced eachother in silence before she finally spoke.

“Alexis, I’m so sorry…” I shook my head, stopping her from saying much else. “Don’t apologize Erica, none of this is your fault. It’s neither of ours.” “You-” “I’m leaving.” “What?!” She blanched, stepping towards me slightly, almost pained. “I- I mean I understand why, but.. You’re really leaving?” "Yes. I can't keep living here like this. I'm leaving, and I'm taking you with me." Erica suddenly halted in her gentle approach. "Wait, but.. this is my world, my home. I don't know if I can just.. run away with you."

"Of course you can! It's not like you have anything left here to care about. Just come with me, then we'll both be safe!" I begged. Erica's expression clouded over in a mixture of emotions that passed so quickly I couldn't read them. "And what then?" she asked tiredly, "I can't live in a world that's at least thirty times my size. You get to go back to your normal life, but what about me?" I flinched as I heard more trucks heading down the cutoff. "Please, we’ll figure it out later, but we have to go now." I reached out to scoop Erica up, but she sidestepped my outstretched hand and backed away. "No! Stop it! You can't just grab me and take me off to your world, that's kidnapping!" Clouds of dust sprawled out near the entrance to my little ravine. The trucks were almost there, I had to run before they forced me to stay. Anxious to flee the world and its people, I cornered Erica with both hands and held her tight — disappearing quickly into the air just as the trucks came into view. The next thing I knew, I was kneeling in the basement, Erica still trapped in my hands.

#Alexis… you poor thing #she has no clue how to fight #weapons and powers can only get her so far #have fun with the cliffhanger :)#g/t #giant/tiny #other-world universe

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