Ch 75:Run!

Garuda, towering over me in his mountain-sized form, gazed down with a perplexed expression.

"What exactly are you doing?" he asked, his deep voice rumbling through the space around us.

I continued my work without looking up. "I'm implanting the Portal Vein into myself."

Wall-E, who had been observing silently, tilted his mechanical head. Garuda frowned. "Can't you already travel through time and space?"

I nodded. "I can, but using portals is more convenient. Plus, every time I teleport the usual way, I get blinded for a few seconds due to the literal flashes of light. This should fix that."

Garuda raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a waste of the Vein?"

I smirked. "Not really. The one I'm implanting is a copy I made. The original is safely stored away."

Garuda let out a huff, his massive wings stirring the wind. "I see… but are you sure it's safe?"

I flexed my arm as the implant settled. "Only one way to find out."

As the portal swirled to life, I took a deep breath and stepped through.

---

Well… shit.

I was falling. And not just any fall—I was plummeting from a ridiculous height. My body spun uncontrollably, making it impossible to stabilize myself midair. The wind howled past my ears before—

CRASH!

I landed headfirst, the unforgiving stone floor smacking me right in the face. Groaning, I pushed myself up and took in my surroundings. I was in a mountainous region, with only one visible path leading forward and a cave entrance that had a bizarre, carved mouth-like design.

Where the hell was I?

As I scanned the area, my attention was drawn to a pair of glowing red orbs emerging from the shadows. My gut screamed at me—this was not normal.

And then, it stepped forward.

A monstrous, deformed monkey-like creature, eerily familiar yet completely wrong. Its body was straight out of Temple Run, but for some reason, it was wearing the police uniform from Subway Surfers.

I stared.

It stared back.

"…In the name of all that's holy, what the fuck is that?" I muttered.

The creature let out a bloodcurdling roar.

I ran.

Yeah, no. Not dealing with that. I could probably kill it in an instant, but I was not about to get near that disgusting thing. Nope. I valued my life—and my sanity.

As I sprinted down the passage, I heard the creature bellow behind me.

"STOP RUNNING!"

Oh great. Thanks to my Animal Speech skill, I could actually understand what it was saying.

"No, thanks!" I yelled back, putting more power into my legs.

This was not how I expected my portal test to go.

---

I sprinted down the stone path, my mind racing just as fast as my legs. The eerie roars of the monkey-police abomination echoed behind me, its footsteps growing louder.

"WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?!" it bellowed again.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE FUCKING DISGUSTING!" I shouted back without looking over my shoulder.

My instincts screamed at me to keep moving, but my curiosity—damn it—was nagging at me too. How the hell did Temple Run and Subway Surfers fuse into this bizarre nightmare? Was this world a random mashup of different game mechanics?

Before I could ponder further, a deep rumble shook the ground. Up ahead, giant stone slabs suddenly shot out of the ground, creating a deadly obstacle course.

Oh, come on.

I vaulted over the first slab, barely rolling onto my feet before ducking under a swinging axe that came out of nowhere. Seriously, what was this place? A game-themed death trap?

The monster behind me didn't even slow down, smashing through the obstacles like a juggernaut.

"You've gotta be kidding me…" I muttered, pushing my body harder.

Then, just as I thought I was catching a break, a glint of metal caught my eye.

Oh no.

TRAIN.

A subway train was barreling straight toward me—inside a freaking mountain cave.

"WHAT KIND OF STUPID CROSSOVER IS THIS?!" I yelled.

I had about two seconds to react. What do I do?!

I barely had time to think as I flicked my wrist, opening a swirling portal in front of me. Without hesitation, I stepped through—

—only to immediately find myself free-falling.

"Oh, come on!"

Wind roared past me as I tumbled through the air. I quickly adjusted my body, angling myself toward the ground below. I caught a glimpse of the scenery—a sprawling landscape, far too familiar.

Wait.

That was a giant blue ramp… and a red bouncy spring…

I was in Sonic the Hedgehog's world.

"I need to stop rolling the dice on these portals."

The moment I landed, my feet hit the ground with a forceful thud, and I immediately broke into a sprint. The landscape around me was a blur of green hills, loop-de-loops, and floating platforms.

"Yup, definitely Sonic's world."

Behind me, I heard an all-too-familiar whoosh—something fast was coming. Turning my head slightly, I caught a glimpse of him.

Blue fur. Red shoes. Cocky smirk.

"You gotta be kidding me."

Sonic the Hedgehog was racing toward me. And judging by the grin on his face, he wasn't slowing down.

Before I could react, Sonic zipped right past me, skidding to a stop a few meters ahead with a cocky grin.

"Whoa there, bud! You run like you're being chased by a badnik, but I don't see any Eggman bots around." He crossed his arms, tilting his head. "So, what's the rush?"

I took a deep breath, debating whether to explain or just open another portal and leave. But before I could decide, a loud, monstrous roar echoed behind me.

Oh. Right. That thing followed me.

Sonic's ears twitched at the sound of the roar, and he turned to see the monstrous monkey-police hybrid charging through the portal after me. His eyes widened for a split second before his grin returned.

"Okay, now I see the rush," he said, cracking his knuckles. "That thing's uglier than Eggman's worst invention."

Not wanting to deal with whatever weird crossover nightmare this was, I quickly opened another portal. "Nope, I'm out."

Before Sonic could reply, I stepped through—hoping I wouldn't fall headfirst again.

Stepping through the portal, I landed feet-first this time—thankfully. Looking around, I found myself standing in the middle of a brightly lit cityscape, the neon signs around me flashing in a language I didn't recognize. The air buzzed with energy, people moved in a blur, and the scent of street food filled the air.

Okay, new world. No crazy monkeys? Check. No immediate danger? Check.

I let out a breath of relief, only for someone to tap my shoulder. Turning around, I locked eyes with… a very familiar red tracksuit.

"…Wait, is that you, Saiki?"

Saiki Kusuo, the pink-haired esper in a red tracksuit, adjusted his green-tinted glasses and sighed.

(Why do I always run into weird people?)

I blinked. "Oh, you're doing the whole telepathy thing already?"

(Obviously. And you're disrupting my peaceful life.)

I laughed. "I literally just got here."

Saiki pinched the bridge of his nose. (And yet, I already feel my stress levels rising.)

Before I could respond, I heard a familiar, distant roar. My face paled.

"…Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

The monkey cop had followed me.

Saiki turned his head in the direction of the incoming roar, his face as expressionless as ever.

(You brought something annoying with you, didn't you?)

"I, uh… may have."

Before I could explain, the monstrous monkey in a police uniform burst through the portal, its glowing red eyes locked onto me.

"Stop running!" it roared again.

I immediately took off in the opposite direction.

(Seriously?) Saiki sighed.

Next thing I knew, I was levitating mid-air. Saiki had used his psychokinesis to lift me off the ground.

(You're going to explain.)

"Hey just because I am allowing you to speak in my mind doesn't mean you have to do it the whole time."

Saiki's blank stare didn't waver.

(Then stop giving me reasons to.)

"Fair enough."

The monkey monster let out another ear-splitting roar and charged toward us. Before it could reach, Saiki lazily flicked his wrist, sending the creature flying through the same portal it had come from.

(There. Problem solved.)

I blinked. "Well… that was convenient."

Saiki crossed his arms. (So, are you going to explain why some nightmare-fueled cryptid in a cop outfit was chasing you?)

I scratched my head. "Uh… funny story."

Saiki sighed. (Let me guess. You messed with some ancient relic, and now you're being hunted by some guardian entity?)

I coughed. "More like… I implanted a portal vein into myself, and the universe decided to throw a Temple Run boss at me."

Saiki pinched the bridge of his nose. (Of course. And here I thought my life was strange.)

The air around us shimmered, and I felt a shift—something was coming. I glanced at Saiki. "Uh… do you sense that?"

(Unfortunately, yes.)

A new portal opened.

Saiki adjusted his glasses and asked, (What was your name again?)

"Arthur Wayne," I replied, brushing dust off my jacket. "And before you ask, no, I'm not related to Batman."

Saiki gave me a blank stare. (I wasn't going to ask.)

The ground trembled slightly, and I sighed. "Great, I think our Temple Run cop friend isn't done chasing me."

(Temple Run) Saiki's eyebrow twitched. (You sure that thing wasn't your creation?)

I pointed at the swirling portal where red eyes were starting to glow. "Yeah…no, got any escape plans?"

Saiki sighed, adjusting his glasses. (Tch. Why am I not surprised? You seem like a walking disaster.)

"Hey, that's rude. I prefer 'adventurer with style,'" I shot back, watching as the glowing eyes got closer. The temple-run cop-monkey hybrid burst through the portal, its uniform somehow still pristine despite the chase.

It let out an inhuman roar. "STOP RUNNING!"

I took a step back. "Yeah, no thanks."

Saiki's expression remained deadpan. (You brought this thing here. You deal with it.)

"Oh, come on, Mr. Psychic. Help me out a little?"

Saiki gave me one last deadpan look before vanishing into thin air, leaving me alone with the raging temple-run cop-monkey hybrid.

"Wow. Thanks for nothing, Saiki!" I muttered, quickly opening another portal.

The monster lunged just as I jumped through, its claws narrowly missing my back.

I tumbled onto solid ground, rolling to a stop. Taking a deep breath, I stood up and dusted myself off—only to freeze.

Great. I had just landed in the middle of a busy street. And judging by the stunned faces of the pedestrians, I had made quite the entrance.

Pedestrians stared at me, some whispering, others pulling out their phones—because of course, in this era, a guy falling out of thin air wasn't a cause for concern, just prime internet content.

"Uh… cool magic trick, right?" I said, giving them a thumbs-up before slipping into the nearest alley.

Checking my surroundings, I realized I was back in Tokyo. At least I wasn't in some weird hybrid world again.

Sighing, I muttered, "Okay, note to self—test portal landings before jumping blindly."

As I dusted off my jacket, I checked my phone. Battery was still good, and my location confirmed I was in Tokyo—again. At least I wasn't in another bizarre mashup world.

"Alright, let's not make a habit of this," I muttered, stretching my arms.

Just as I was about to open another portal, a familiar presence flickered nearby. Turning my head, I spotted Saiki Kusuo standing a few feet away, sipping a coffee jelly like nothing had happened.

'Huh? I am still in the same Universe?'

"Didn't think I'd see you again so soon," I said.

---Note

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