The Beginning Of The End

Traveling between worlds was easy on past adventures. That's why we were all confused when we ended up somewhere else.

"Where the hell are we?" commented Jason.

"This isn't where you said we'd end up." said Clara.

"I don't know what happened either!" exclaimed Jon.

"You had one job!" responded Cerise.

"Now, now." said Lilith, "It's not like he did it on purpose."

"Well, anyways," said Lucas, "rather than arguing, why don't we figure out where we are."

"Well, there's no fire." I said, "So we're definitely not in hell."

All around us was a bunch of metal. There were several different paths and a handful of bridges without any railing, which meant if we weren't careful we could easily fall and die. Not only that, but there seemed to be a bunch of robots moving around.

"Careful." said Jeff, "They're likely hostile."

"Why don't we get moving?" suggested Jean, "We won't accomplish anything by standing around."

"Right." said Charles.

"I want to rip those things apart." commented Mikaela.

"You… have fun with that." responded Christina.

Slowly, we walked through the strange place. Whenever we got close to any of those robots, they prepared to attack. There were several kinds: some humanoid and there were a few orbs floating around. We just did what we could, using our weapons to take them out. Thankfully, they weren't too much trouble for us.

"So, where were we supposed to go?" asked Lucas.

"Another one of those worlds that looks like something out of a history book." answered Jon.

"Well, obviously, it's not whatever… this is." commented Clara.

"Only God knows what the hell this is." I replied.

As we continued walking, we reached a door. On the other side was an open area.

"What's with all this empty space?" said Iris.

"It's probably a trap!" exclaimed Christina, "Prepare your weapons!"

Right after she said, a large robotic knight appeared.

"Shit." responded Jason, "Of course it wouldn't be that easy in here!"

"It almost never is." responded Jean.

"Whatever." said Jeff, "All we gotta do is attack this damn thing!"

Jeff immediately began shooting at the monster with his laser gun. After that, Jean followed by striking it with her sword. As for me, I created a cat-themed bow and some arrows that I was quick to start shooting. Jason also ran in with his sword. Next, Clara shot it with her gun. Then, Lucas and Lilith ran toward it with glowing green swords. Mikaela was jumping all over our enemy and swinging her scythe.

Then there was Cerise, who was making similar movements and attacking with a knife. Jon was using a whistle that had him moving all over the place whenever he played it. Every time he teleported, he'd give the monster a hard kick with his foot. Iris was throwing knives at the monster, and Charles was shooting his gun. The knight kept trying to strike us with its gigantic sword, but for the most part, we were all able to dodge. In the end, the creature blew up.

"Glad that's over." commented Iris.

"I want to collect all its parts." said Mikaela, seeming excited.

"Do what you want." responded Cerise.

"Alright, we should be able to keep moving." said Lucas.

"Thank God." I said.

"Hopefully it's not too much longer." said Jon.

"Who can say?" said Justin.

The entire team continued walking. There were a few more enemies on our path, and then we entered another open area.

"Crap." said Charles, "I hope we don't have to go against another one of those things."

"There is nothing to worry about." a voice most of us were familiar with said.

"...!" exclaimed Clara.

"It's been a while." responded Jason.

In front of us, a woman in a red dress appeared. What stood out the most about her appearance was the fact that she was glowing. Also, there were signs that her eyes didn't work.

"Who are you?" asked Justin.

"For those of you that don't know me." the woman said, "My name is Matilda. I've been watching over the chosen heroes for the past several years."

"You've been… watching?" asked Clara.

"A certain somebody that created most worlds wanted me to take care of heroes that would come to save them." said Matilda, "Honestly, letting them come close to their end due to boredom… some deities, I swear."

"That aside," said Ron, "whatever you're here for must be something important, right?"

"That is correct, leader of the heroes." she said.

"L-Leader!?" I exclaimed, "I never agreed to this."

"Didn't you take charge most of the time?" asked Jason.

"Well, maybe but-" I started.

"They've got you there, Ron." said Iris.

"Well, what is it?" asked Lucas.

"You are currently between dimensions." said Matilda.

"Between… dimensions?" asked Jon.

"Yes," said Matilda, "your foe this time is trying to manipulate the rules of each world."

"Great." I complained.

"This could get ugly." said Christina.

"There is already proof in this room that the rules are being messed with." the glowing woman continued, "There is a certain presence here that shouldn't be."

"What are you talking about?" asked Ron.

"You'll find out eventually," said Matilda.

"If the rules are being messed with," said Jon, "we could end up with a war… something worse than what we've dealt with in the past."

"Something worse?" responded Charles.

"What could be worse than all worlds merging or almost getting completely destroyed… more than once?" I said.

"You've gotta be joking…" commented Clara.

"He's not kidding." said Jon, "We've been on all kinds of crazy adventures."

"Yep… and he's certainly grown from all that training in Dovacath back when he was in high school." said Lilith.

"Let's see," said Jon, "then after that, we went to your world to collect magic gems. Next, as each world was falling apart, we collected more so we could open up an old door."

"..." responded Christina.

"...?" responded Jason.

"Yeah, and then I created Dimension F." said Jeff, "And then every world got destroyed… but Ron managed to get them back."

"After Lilith and I got married," said Jon, "we had Ron and Jason come over to investigate some strange events… which led to an adventure that had us going all over the place."

"I remember going on several adventures after that," I said, "but nothing quite as big as those ones."

"Heroes," said Matilda, "this is Dimension B."

"B?" replied Jason.

"Because it's 'between'." said Jeff, "Y'know, like how 'f' meant 'final'."

"So, how much longer do we have to go?" asked Justin

"The door to where you're planning to reach is just beyond here." said Matilda, "Good luck."

"I'm still confused…" said Clara.

"They're waiting for you." added Matilda.

"What are you talking about?" asked Clara.

"You'll find out as you continue your quest," said Matilda, "your pasts will play a part."

After that, Matilda faded away.

"H-Hold on!" exclaimed Clara.

But it was too late. The mysterious woman had completely disappeared.

"Are you okay?" asked Jon.

"I'm fine." she said.

"What was that about…?" asked Christina.

"Something about her seems familiar." said Clara, clearly lost in thought.

"I'm a little concerned about what she said a bit ago." said Lucas, "Who is waiting?"

"I'm not sure if she was talking to all of us or not." I said, "Oh well, we need to get going!"

"Ron's right!" said Christina, "We need to stop wasting time and find that door!"