Buddy Buddy Bromance - Part 1: Seeing Double

The world of the siblings is nothing short of weird. From sentient toy seals to their anthropomorphic sheep neighbor to henchmen who don't fear death (and can't spell it either), almost nothing is what it seems.

They've been through many an adventure together, and although the limits they've traveled are very small, the rest of their world simply opens the road to more adventures.

Needless to say, another adventure was on the horizon, but they weren't the only ones who would be experiencing it...

Somewhere Far From Seallium

In an alternate world, a plan was coming into fruition, and while the siblings were relaxing at home at this moment, there was a similar group that fought against similar enemies..

"There's no way you can stop my plan now!" a female version of Zetal chortled. She was sitting in the cockpit of a giant robot.

Looking up at her were the female versions of Bro, Zaire, and Porter and male versions of Amelia and Lily.

"You wanna bet on that?" the female Bro replied before running up towards the machine.

"Be careful!" the male Amelia warned. "If you mess up, our world will be in danger!"

"Me, mess up? Please! You know me, and you know I never mess up," the female Bro replied with a chuckle.

She climbed up one of the legs of the machine, barely avoiding a set of rockets targeting her.

"Sis, watch out!" the female Porter shouted.

The female Bro reached the robot's body and noticed a large fist swinging towards her. She made a leap towards the arm. The impact of the fist hitting its waist caused it to stumble.

"Woo-hoo! Go sis, go!" the female Zaire cheered.

"Don't let up just yet! Look up there!" the male Amelia shouted, pointing above the robot.

From above, a vortex was starting to brew. There was no time to lose.

She climbed up the arm of the robot and reached the shoulder, where the cockpit of the robot could be reached with just a jump.

"It's over, Zetalina!" the female Bro yelled before jumping into the control room.

"It's only over when I say it's over!" the female Zetal growled, turning a dial on the wall.

Meanwhile, the vortex outside was growing bigger and bigger, something the male Lily pointed out as it was happening.

Inside the machine was a catfight that ended with the female Bro being shoved against the controls.

"...And it's only over when I win," the female Zetal said, readying her eyepiece to fire a laser.

The female Bro rolled out of the way, causing her to shoot the control panel. With a spark and an explosion, the robot began to stumble over.

The female Bro looked around and saw a certain lever. Before climbing out of the cockpit window, she shut the lever off and ripped it straight off the panel. Outside, the vortex was beginning to disappear.

"Hey, get back here! My plan isn't failing yet!" the female Zetal shouted.

"Maybe, but your robot definitely is! Anyways, have a nice fall!" the female Bro retorted before jumping outside. She rode the head of the robot down as her enemy could be heard screaming from the cockpit.

The ground shook as the robot fell to the floor, the female Bro unharmed from the crash.

"See, Amet? We had nothing to worry about all along! Nice job, sis!" the female Zaire congratulated.

"Aw, please! You're gonna make me blush!" the female Bro chuckled. "Besides, we do this on the regular! Nice job holding fending off those Clonettes, by the way."

Their chat was interrupted when Zetalina crawled out of the wreckage of her machine.

"You may win on the regular, but even I can win once!" she coughed, pulling out a small device from her pocket and turning a dial on it. "Like I said, my plan hasn't failed yet."

Suddenly, the vortex that vanished earlier reappeared closer to them, starting to suck in everything too close to it. The males and the female Porter managed to hold onto something, while the female Bro grabbed the female Zaire's hand and she held onto the male Amelia's leg.

"Don't let go!" the female Bro shouted.

"I'm trying! I'm losing my grip!" the female Zaire cried.

In seconds, both the female Bro and Zaire were sucked into the vortex, which then closed thanks to the device Zetalina was holding.

"You... you're a monster! Give us back our sisters!" The female Porter demanded.

"Oh, I could. Or I could do this instead..." she reasoned, pulling out another device and pressing its button. In that moment, the remaining three teens were ejected from Zetalina's tower.

"There you go, nice job, boss!" another teen said. This one looked very similar to Casinoir.

"Don't congratulate me yet," Zetalina replied, "I have a feeling we'll be having to deal with them again real soon."

"Well, if that's the case, you can count on me and my bun-fu to deal with them!" the female Casinoir chortled, going into a fighting stance.

"Funny you say that, I might just need your help as soon as they come back," she admitted. "For now though, I better get to rebuilding this robot. Knowing them, they'll be back somehow..."

Meanwhile, the two females woke up in an alleyway of a city, disoriented and with no clue of where they were.

"You know, I have a feeling we're nowhere near Kleptopia or Glitzview City anymore..." the female Zaire groaned.

"We might be in another city on the island," the female Bro reasoned. "Come on, let's start by asking around."

The two left the corner and saw a certain figure wearing an orange sweater and blue jeans walking down the sidewalk.

"Hey, there's Linley! What's he doing around here?" the female Bro asked, walking behind the figure.

"Sis, are you sure that's Linley? There's something off about them," the female Zaire pointed out.

The female Bro ignored her sister's warning, tapping on the figure's shoulder.

"Hey Linley, what are you doing around here? Are we still in Glitzview City?" the female Bro asked.

"Hm? Where's Glitzview City..?" the figure turned to face the female Bro, only for their eyes to widen when looking straight at her.

"Wait- Bro? Is that you?" she asked.

"Hang on- Linley?" the female Bro replied, her eyes also growing wide.

Siblings' House

Lily and Amelia were staring in confusion at Bro, who was watching the front door, unmoving.

"How much longer is he going to stand there?" Lily asked.

"You think we should ask him what's up?" Amelia replied.

"He's been standing there for two hours! Why ask now?" she retorted.

The two continued to stare at Bro until a faint ding could be heard.

"Oh, cookies are done!" Amelia announced. "Give me a second to get them out of the oven."

And just like that, she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Hey, Lily," Bro spoke, "you're wondering why I've been standing in front of this door."

"It would've been nice if you explained why hours ago," she said, "but go on."

"Right now, something is off. I don't know what it is, but I have this feeling something's wrong, and it's just outside the door," he explained.

After saying that, there was a knock on the door and saw Lini on the other end.

"Oh, well never mind, then." he shrugged, opening the door.

He was about to greet her when he noticed the female versions of himself and Zaire.

"Oh, never never mind, I knew it!" Bro announced. "Zaire, come here! There's a mouse girl here that looks just like you!"

"Oh? I didn't expect my copy to be so hunky!" the female Bro joked, garnering uncomfortable reactions from Lini, Bro, and the female Zaire.

"What? It's just a joke, I have my sights set on another man, anyway," she chuckled, then looked at Lini. "Funny enough, you look a lot like him."

Lini's whimper of discomfort was cut short by Zaire stepping into the conversation.

"There's a girl that looks like me? Yeah right! Most girls won't even look at me, but I'll humor you," he said.

Despite having similar fur color, similar clothes, and the same eye color, he was still skeptical when he saw his female counterpart.

"Are these cosplayers?" he asked.

"Doubt it," Lini pointed out, "you guys aren't popular enough to have those."

"Gee, thanks," Bro and Zaire replied in disappointed unison.

"Hey guys, the cookies are done and cooled!" Amelia reminded the two, bringing out a tray of cookies out to the front door.

"Ooh, cookies! Mind if I take one?" the female Zaire asked, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet!" she realized, grabbing one and taking a small nibble. "I'm Zaria, and this is my sister, Ambrose."

After everyone else exchanged names, Bro asked what the two were doing at their house.

"Well, you see, we got sent here by our worst enemy," Ambrose explained. "We managed to beat them, but then they pull out some trick straight outta left field, and BAM, we're here! Ooh, if I could get a do-over, I'd grab them and kick them in the-"

"Does this villain have a monocle, similar clothes to you and me, and an army of dimwitted copies of themself?" Bro asked.

"Yeah, why?" Zaria replied.

"'Cause we're about to fight some villains!" he announced.

"Before we do, can you give us a tour around here? We've never seen this side of Glitzview City before," Ambrose requested.

"Glitzview? This is Seal Island!" Zaire corrected. "We've never even heard of a place like that!"

"You know what this means, sis?" Zaria gasped. "That portal must've taken us to another world!"

"That would explain the toy seals and seeing male versions of ourselves," Ambrose said.

"How do you know you aren't female versions of us?" Zaire asked.

"Girls, girls! Remember your tour? You should probably get onto that! Maybe grab a souvenir or two before heading back to your worried family!" Lini reminded them, chuckling nervously.

Ambrose nodded. "Well, let's get going, other brother! Bet you're as sweet as you are tough!" She simpered, jumping into Bro's arms.

"Don't make me regret this," he muttered, clearly uncomfortable carrying her.

"I know you won't," she said, giving off a cheeky smile.

"... And I'm already regretting it."

And just like that, the four were to the main city, leaving Lini, Amelia, and Lily at the front door.

"So, if there's a female Bro and a female Zaire, and I'm a girl, does that mean..." Lily wondered. After a moment, her eyes lit up. "There's a boy version of me? That's awesome! I wanna know what he's like! I wonder what his name could be- maybe Lotus?"

Lini shrugged. "Apparently I have a male version of me whose name is Linley, so who knows?"

Softener City

In the city, Bro and Zaire were walking around and pointing at a variety of buildings and giving information about them to Zaria and Ambrose.

"You know, we have buildings just like those, and their names are pretty close to them, too!" Zaria said, still munching on her cookie.

"Interesting..." Bro turned to face Zaria, walking backwards. "Sorta sounds like you live similar to how we do- you know, travel around, fight bad guys, get into random misadventures, stuff like that."

"Yeah, actually!" Ambrose agreed.

"If that's the case, I wonder what sort of shenanigans will happen with you in our world, don't you too, Bro?" Zaire questioned.

"Just as long as we get them back home. Their siblings must be worried sick," Bro responded.

Their conversation was interrupted when Bro bumped into a woman from behind.

"Who did that? I'll make you regret touching me!" The woman warned, slowly turning around.

Her statement was cut short when she saw Bro. He also recognized her immediately.

"You AGAIN?!" they shouted in unison.

"Outta the way, Mrs. Sweaty! I'm not dealing with your nonsense today!" Bro grunted before waving at her husband. "Hi, Max."

"Didn't your parents ever tell you to respect your elders?" the woman scoffed. "You're clearly being a bad influence to your sister here. How about you, kid? Don't tell me you actually follow in the footsteps of your brother!" she asked, looking at Ambrose.

"Nice to see you again Felix, how are the kids?" Ambrose greeted.

The woman's expression quickly went from shock to anger to embarrassment. After a series of stammers, she stormed off, leaving her husband by himself.

"...Is she actually your sister?" Max asked.

"No, and I'm glad she's not," Bro sighed. "I have enough sisters as it is."

"Nope, even better! We're a thing, clearly made for each other, right, boo?" she purred, giving Bro a smooch on the cheek. Bro almost dropped her for that.

"Somebody else please hold this woman instead," He muttered to himself. "No, this is Ambrose and her sister, Zaria. They're both from another world like this one," he continued in reply to Max.

"Right now, these guys are giving us a tour of their world before we head back," Zaria explained. "Gotta say, you remind me of this one lady who works five different jobs! Honestly, both you and her could use a vacation, or at least nap breaks at work..."

Max chuckled. "Well, hey, as long as I survive the 70-hour week, you don't have to worry about me. One question though- who's Felix?"

"I assume that's her male counterpart," Zaire reasoned, "so if Felicity's counterpart is Felix, then your counterpart would be.."

"Maxine," Ambrose answered. "Boy, will she be surprised to find out there's someone in another world who looks and works just as much as her."

"Speaking of other worlds, Tell me a bit more about your world. I'm intrigued now," Max requested.

"I won't lie, I'm also curious," Bro admitted.

"Well, our world doesn't have sentient toy seals or fabric-based landmarks, but knowing this place exists, I think it's safe to say any boy here is a girl in our world, and vice-versa," Ambrose explained.

"Guess Zetal wasn't responsible for their arrival..." Bro thought. "I wonder if he can still send them home somehow, though."

"Anyway, got any more places we could check out?" she asked with a yawn.

"Have you checked out the mall yet?" Max asked. "I hear they're doing celebrity meet and greets."

"Wonder what celebrities you have in your world. Well, you heard the man, other brother! To the mall!" Ambrose ordered, giving Bro's rear a slap.

"Help me..." he muttered, carrying Ambrose to the mall, Zaire and Zaria closely following along.

Max waved at the four, chuckling to himself. "A female me and a male Felicity, ain't that something. If that's the case, are our kids different too? Maybe I should ask for less hours at work..."

Fluffy Plains Mall

The entrance to the mall was so crowded, the lines leading to the doors were backed up all the way to the other side of the street.

"Why do I have a feeling it's not a celebrity and instead an internet influencer meet and greet?" Zaire asked himself.

"Hey, over there!" Ambrose announced, hopping out of Bro's arms. Just outside of the mall's entrance was a garden with palm trees. They stretched high enough to reach the upper floor of the mall.

"Come on!" she coaxed, running up to the tree.

"Ambrose, are you sure this is a good idea? What if we get caught?" Zaria asked as she climbed up with Ambrose.

"If they catch us, maybe it'll be a sign to them not to crowd the entrance," Ambrose replied with a chuckle. "Besides, it's not everyday we get to enter a mall like this!"

As the four climbed up the tree, Zaire looked down at the crowd below.

"...Why am I not surprised it's an internet influencer?" he grumbled.

In time, the four reached the upper floor of the mall, where they grouped up near the doors.

"Alright, you two, take in as much of our mall as you can. Me and Zaire will be out here when you're ready, then we'll get you back home," Bro stated. "Oh, and have fun."

The two girls ran off inside, while the boys stood outside thinking of how to get their counterparts home.

"Speaking of home, how are we gonna send them back? We don't know how to use that technology or even where to get it!" Zaire complained.

His question was answered when he noticed a vortex floating above another city on another island.

"You're right, we don't know how to use that kind of technology, but he does," Bro replied, pointing at the island.

"We're ready to head back now, other brother!" Ambrose announced, greeting Bro with another slap to his posterior.

"I answer a lot better to 'Bro'..." he said, rubbing his rear. "Anyway, see that island? To get you home, we're gonna have to get over there first."

For once, Ambrose's coolheaded demeanor was replaced by dread when she saw the island with the vortex above it.

"Is that... Kleptopia..?" she stammered.

"Kleptopolis, actually," Zaire corrected, "and it's also where we go to fight our local villains!"

"That sounds all well and dandy, but how are we going to get over there? I think you noticed this already, but it's over there, and we're over here," Zaria asked.

The two boys looked at each other as if they heard a stupid question. Within a moment, Zaire started flapping his arms and hovered into the air while Bro just stood there with his arms open.

"Answer your question?" they asked in unison.

"I-I guess?" she answered, grabbing onto Zaire's legs. Ambrose hopped back into Bro's arms, and the four were off to the island.

Kleptopolis

They landed on the top of Zetal's tower, closest to the vortex. While Zaria was complimenting Zaire's endurance and how terrifying it was being so high up, Ambrose's compliments to Bro were a bit more flattering.

"Wow, other brother! Gotta say, those powers of yours are quite enlightening! I could only imagine how useful your powers would be when we deal with bad guys in our world! Now where is this villain that's gonna send us back home?"

"You called?" Zetal replied, sitting in the cockpit of a large robot.

"How do you do, dear enemy?" Zaire waved. "What sort of scheme are you brewing this time? No doubt, it has to do with that vortex floating above our heads, right?"

"You'd be right, my rodent-faced rival!" Zetal confirmed. "For the longest time, I've wondered how easy it would be to get rid of you all with a force from another world, another realm far from here..."

He stopped when he noticed Ambrose and Zaria.

"That's not your sister, who are these girls?" he asked.

"Long story," Bro replied, "could you cut the villain act for a moment and help us get these two back home?"

Zaria looked up at the vortex swirling above the robot. "You know, this portal looks a lot like the one Zetalina used!" she announced, nudging her sister's arm.

"If that's the case, we don't need to ask for help, we can easily deal with this ourselves! Just give me a minute to deal with this guy..."

After saying this, Bro rushed into the air in a ball of light, preparing to take on Zetal.

"How about I send you all underground instead?" he suggested instead, sending his Clones to deal with everyone else.

Meanwhile, the vortex above was starting to grow bigger. Flashes of green lightning circled out of it, and it seemed like something was about to crawl out of it.

Zaria looked back up at the vortex and gasped. "Ambrose, we've got to stop the portal! If whatever's in there manages to get out, who knows what might happen to this world!"

Ambrose nodded in response. "Zaire, cover us!" she ordered, grabbing Zaria and running to the robot.

"Say no more, I got this!" he chuckled, readying his katana in a fighting stance.

As for Bro, he was dodging, blocking, or destroying every weapon Zetal had in his arsenal. Every missile, laser and cannon couldn't bring down Bro. However, a forceful punch from Zetal's machine sent him several feet back, barely able to block it.

He looked over the robot's head and saw a dark, ominous figure climbing out of the vortex. He then looked down and saw Ambrose and Zaria climbing the waist of the robot.

Bro pushed the robot's fist away and rushed to the vortex, trying to get the creature's attention. When the thing caught sight of Bro, it began swiping at him like a cat playing with a toy.

Zaire, who was still fighting off Clones on the ground noticed Zetal slowly reaching for either Bro or the creature in the vortex. He sprang into the sky, bumping into the robot with enough force to send it a few feet into the air. This also sent the two girls flying and landing on the robot's head.

"Bro!" Zaire called, flying up to meet him. "We can't let that thing get out of the vortex!"

"I know that! You distract it so I can get back to fighting Zetal!" he advised.

And just like that, the two brothers flew off in separate directions to fight their enemies.

Zaria looked around and watched as her counterpart fought the figure in the vortex.

"Sis, come on! We've got to help them out somehow!" she exclaimed.

"There might be something in the robot to close off the vortex!" Ambrose replied. "Hang in there, I'll be right back!"

She carefully slid down the head of the robot and climbed into the cockpit. She was immediately spotted by Zetal.

"So, tell me little lady, where exactly are you from and how did you get here?" he asked, grabbing her arm.

"I'm from another world like this one, And I fight a villain who looks just like you, and just like her, you're about to take a serious loss!" Ambrose growled, kicking Zetal back.

He bumped into his controls which jolted his robot forward and made Zaria almost fall off its head.

Ambrose looked around in the depths of the robot's control room, searching for something that could stop the vortex. Her eyes lit up when she saw a lever similar to the ones in Zetalina's robot.

She reached out to grab the lever but was instead grabbed by the wrists by Casinoir, who just so happened to be nearby.

"Been a while, Bro. If I cared enough, I would've beaten you down at the door to this room." they said.

"Nice of you to call me Bro," she smiled.

"...Huh?"

Casinoir took a closer look at Ambrose's smile, and after realizing it wasn't Bro, he shrieked in panic.

"What's wrong, buddy? Never seen a girl like me before?"

She tossed him to the side and wrenched the lever before pulling it off the wall.

Zaria watched as Zaire delivered a blow to the figure's face. The figure let out a growl as it crawled back into the vortex it came from before the vortex itself vanished.

Her cheering was cut short when the 'floor' below her started to shake. She tried to keep herself steady but fell off the robot as it began to power down. Fortunately for her, Bro saw and managed to catch her as she was falling.

Meanwhile, Zetal was struggling with the controls in the cockpit when Casinoir ran up to him to complain.

"Boss, who on earth was that girl?" he asked. "She looked exactly like Bro, but she isn't, and she was smiling, a-and... Oh, my brain is hurting with how confusing this is..!"

"I don't know who she is, but she said she lives in a world like ours and fights a villain that looks just like me!" Zetal replied. "But if that's the case, does that mean my other me has a catalog of different machines and an army of minions?" he wondered.

"What do you think, genius?" Ambrose questioned as she ran out of the control room and leapt out of the cockpit, Zaire swooping down and catching her.

Zetal's frustration turned to fear as the ground in front rapidly approached them. In seconds, the robot crashed into the ground as the four friends set foot back on the ground safely.

"Um, Zaria, we're safe now. You can let go of me now..." Bro offered.

Zaria nodded, climbed out of Bro's arms and tried to stand, though she couldn't stop trembling.

"I thought you fought bad guys every so often?" Zaire questioned.

"We do, but I've never done something so dangerous before!" Zaria panted. "And unlike you, I can't fly, so if I hit the ground..."

She hugged Bro tightly, still trembling. While he felt awkward, he didn't push her away.

Ambrose sighed. "Gotta say, this almost felt like déjà vu; climbing the robot, cutting the power, escaping in style... The only thing that's different from the last time is that I also found this..."

She pulled out a strange looking green crystal out from her pocket.

"I dunno what it is, but if it does what I hope it does, we'll be home free."

She pointed the crystal in front of her, and a vortex opened similar to the one they closed earlier.

"Well, guess it's simple as that," Zaire shrugged. "If that thing can lead you back here, please, feel free to visit us someday."

"Oh, don't worry. I'll come back soon, after all, knowing this world and you guys exist, I'm sure you'll see me a bit more often!"

She startled Bro with one last slap to his bottom before grabbing Zaria and jumping into the vortex, her sister silently waving.

"Guess that's that," Bro sighed, "come on, let's go home and have some cookies."

"Yeah, I have some words I'd like to exchange with Lini, telling us we aren't popular enough to have cosplayers..."

The two turned around to walk away when they felt the vortex grow bigger behind them. They tried running away as fast as they could but ultimately also got sucked into the vortex.

Crawling out of the robot wreckage was Casinoir and Zetal, holding a switch with a dial attached to it.

"As I was saying," Zetal continued, "I think those two girls live in a world where genders are swapped. That explains why those girls were able to beat us, and given the circumstances, I believe her."

"Wait! If there's a girl Bro, and she said there's a girl you in her world, does that mean that there's a girl me?" Casinoir asked, intrigued.

"Perhaps..." Zetal shrugged. "Those two siblings also fell into that vortex, so they're on their way to that world. I say we also drop by and join forces with our female selves and help them destroy their enemies."

"Ooh, that sounds fun! I wonder if my girl self likes card games..." Casinoir agreed.

After this, the two villains jumped into the vortex to search for their counterparts.

*To Be Continued...