Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The Elmore Junior High Swimming Club was nothing impressive. It wasn’t a competitive team, just a small group of students who enjoyed swimming and met once or twice a week. Darwin had always loved swimming, he didn’t know why, but after Zach once told him he was a fish in another universe, it all started to make sense. Given all the recent craziness in his life, he surprisingly didn’t mind that revelation. If multiverse logic had to be real, at least he got an explanation for why he felt so at home in the water.

The club itself wasn’t large, consisting of only four members, and their chaperone was barely even present, probably only supervising because the school required some teachers to do so.

Surfacing from the water, Darwin rested his arms on the edge of the pool. The rest of his clubmates had already left to change in the locker room, leaving him alone in the quiet, echoing space. But swim practice wasn’t what was on his mind. He felt awful for not realizing practice had been rescheduled and even worse for blowing off Carrie.

He considered skipping to go with her, but swim sessions weren’t that frequent. Still, she had asked him to pick out horror movies again, and he knew she was looking forward to it. He loved being with her, but Zach had a point when he once said they didn’t have many common interests. Darwin absolutely adored Carrie, her personality, her sense of humor, but he wished she and his brother didn’t have such a taste for movies that seemed designed to be as terrifying as possible.

Taking a deep breath, he was about to push off the wall and dive back in when he felt a tap on his arm. Looking up, he saw Penny standing beside the pool, now fully dressed and smiling as she knelt beside him.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Wow, you can already tell something’s wrong?” Darwin said, mildly impressed.

“I live with my parents, reading people who try to hide their emotions is just something you get used to.” She gave him a knowing look. “Still worried about whether Carrie’s gonna be mad?”

“Maybe,” Darwin admitted. “I mean, she knows I don’t really like those movies, but I feel like she’s trying to make me like them.”

“Maybe she’s just trying to share something she loves with you,” Penny offered. “Like when I tried to get Zach to go ice skating.”

They both burst out laughing at the memory until Darwin suddenly frowned. “Wait a minute. Weren’t you supposed to be watching my sister and her friends today?”

“Oh yeah…” Penny said casually. “I left them with Zach.”

The moment the words left her mouth, both of them froze, processing what she had just admitted. An awkward silence stretched between them.

“Oh, come on, it can’t be that bad,” Penny said, but even she didn’t sound convinced.

Darwin didn’t respond immediately. He stared at her, his brain working through a thousand possibilities at once. Penny let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t wanna say it, but I’m thinking it,” she muttered.

“Wanna say it on three?” Darwin offered, shrugging.

“Yeah, but if we say it, it might come true,” she warned, narrowing her eyes.

“What if we both say it at the same time and it just… cancels out?”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, but sure. Let’s do it.”

Darwin nodded. “Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” they said in unison.

As soon as the words left their mouths, Penny groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose while Darwin practically leapt out of the pool, sprinting toward the locker room. Penny chuckled to herself, shaking her head.

Zach wasn’t the same person he was a few months ago. He wasn’t completely different, but he had changed a lot. And he loved his sister. There was no way anything too ridiculous could be happening.

Right?

Still, that didn’t mean Penny wasn’t starting to worry about her own sister.

It was exhilarating, it was everything he had ever imagined, and it was terrifying. Humanity had always dreamed of going faster, pushing the boundaries of speed until they became nothing more than a blur. The idea of light speed, the ability to move so fast that the world bent around you, had fascinated people for generations. Now, Zach had done it. First, he had broken the boundaries of the known universe. Now, he had broken the boundary of speed.

Somehow, impossibly, he processed it all. With no more than twenty pedal strokes, he had cleared the entire town. And then, just as quickly, he realized he didn’t even need to pedal. Within moments of clicking that button and pushing off, he had been forced to stop, slamming the remote against his chest as he desperately tried to come to a steady halt.

For a terrifying second, he thought he was either going to catch on fire or crash into something at a speed no human should ever reach. But then, as he slowed, panting and wide-eyed, he realized something incredible, and slightly horrifying.

He was already there.

Looking down at the nearly ruined tires of his bike, he scanned the area in disbelief. He was at the edge of the Forest of Doom, the exact place he needed to be. He had traveled across town in what felt like a blink of an eye. And yet, he had felt it all, the slightest turns, the adjustments, the wind resistance. It was as if his body had instinctively known how to handle that kind of speed, even when his brain could barely comprehend it.

The realization left him dizzy. His legs wobbled as he attempted to dismount, but as soon as his feet hit the ground, his stomach twisted violently.

And then, he barfed.

So much for breaking new ground for humanity.

Groaning, Zach sat up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He felt like garbage, but at least he had made it in one piece. And more importantly, he still had a job to do. That thought alone was enough to shake off the lingering nausea. Even if he currently had to stare at the remnants of his breakfast, his mission was still worth it.

Sniffling and trying to regain his bearings, he reached for the remote in his pocket, looking down at it with a mix of awe and fear. Maybe he shouldn’t have something like this, maybe no one should. It was too much power for someone like him. But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

Steadying his legs, he took a few deep breaths before breaking into a jog, heading toward the small cave where Tina was waiting.

"Tina, Tina, Tina," he hissed, keeping his voice low. He didn’t know why he wasn’t just shouting, but if there was even the smallest chance that Molly was wrong and there actually were bears in these woods, he did not want to find out the hard way.

Then, he heard it, heavy, thunderous stomps approaching from behind. But instead of fear, he felt a small smile creep onto his face.

Tina appeared in just a few broad strides, her massive frame skidding to a halt beside him. Her reptilian eyes flickered with confusion as she took him in.

"How did you get here so fast?"

Zach grinned, holding up the controller. "The same way I'm gonna get you home."

It was hard to read the facial expressions of a giant prehistoric lizard, but even Zach could tell she was looking at him with pure bewilderment, and, perhaps, just a hint of disappointment.

Zach's smug grin faltered as he noticed Tina's reaction, not excitement, not relief, just disappointment. His brow furrowed as he tried to read her expression, which was still hard to decipher given the whole 'giant dinosaur' thing.

"And what's with that face?" he asked, shifting his weight slightly.

"That's it?" Tina's deep voice rumbled, filled with skepticism.

"Yeah, that's it. This is gonna get you home," Zach said, his confidence returning as he pointed at the remote like it was some grand treasure. "Rob, oh, you probably don’t know him, he..."

"Yeah, I know him. He goes to our school," Tina interrupted. "I think he calls himself Dr. Wrecker now or something. It's pretty lame."

"Oh." Zach blinked, slightly thrown off before shaking it off. "Anyway, one version of Rob used this remote to do a lot of crazy things, and that includes opening a hole into different dimensions."

"So you're saying this thing can bring me home?"

"If anything can, it can." Zach flipped the remote in his hand, trying to look casual, only to fumble and almost drop it. He caught it just in time, hoping Tina hadn’t noticed his moment of sheer incompetence. He took a few steps back from her, both to get a better angle on the portal and to conceal how jittery he was.

Because this wasn’t just about opening a portal and sending her back. He knew he had to go in there with her. He had to make sure she got home. And that meant stepping back into the void—that possibly endless, impossible space that made his skin crawl.

Zach inhaled sharply and pressed the menu button.

The air crackled. A thin rectangle of static flickered into existence just a few feet away, humming with an unnatural energy that made the hairs on his arms stand up. The fabric of reality seemed to ripple as the portal took shape, distorting the air like a heatwave on pavement. The tall standing square of static shimmered against the real world, utterly alien, like something not meant to exist in this plane of existence. It buzzed softly, its edges flickering erratically as if unsure whether to stabilize or collapse. Zach held his breath as it expanded, revealing the swirling, shifting unknown within, a void that defied all logic, its depths stretching endlessly beyond what the eye could comprehend. The sheer impossibility of it made his stomach twist, but for a split second, there was also wonder, like staring into the infinite itself.

It worked.

But then Tina spoke again, her tone still unimpressed. "That's it?"

Zach frowned, about to ask what she meant, when he turned back toward the portal and felt his stomach drop.

The portal was too small.

His brain stumbled over itself as he ran toward it, inspecting it with increasing desperation. Holding the menu button and pressing it again yielded the same result: a doorway. A normal, human-sized doorway.

That was a problem.

Tina wasn’t human. At least this one wasn't, She was a T-Rex, massive and towering, about the height of a school bus. This portal—this pathetic little entryway—was nowhere near big enough to fit her. And the worst part? He had no idea how to make it bigger.

His hands hovered over the remote, his mind screaming at him not to start mashing buttons in a blind panic. That never worked. But what else was he supposed to do?

Slowly, he turned back toward Tina, dreading her reaction. Her already subdued expression sank further as she lowered herself onto the forest floor, stretching out like she was resigning herself to her fate. She let out a slow, heavy sigh before rolling slightly to her side.

Zach could feel the panic rising in his chest.

He had messed up.

Badly.

Not only had he given her hope, but he had also failed to deliver on it. His fingers rapidly pressed the menu button again and again, trying to reset the portal, trying to make it work, but nothing changed.

The door stayed small.

And Tina stayed trapped in another world.

Darwin was a little disappointed Penny didn't want to race there, it was one of the rare days no one was available to pick them up so bikes had to be used to get from school to home. It would take what felt like an hour of biking just to get back to the neighborhood and with a normal swim session just ending it was a little tiring for both of them. But there was a little bit of motivation in this case.

“So…” Darwin says peddling back to Penny, maybe it's just all the experience from biking with his brother, but she seemed to go in a far slower pace than even his own little sister.  “An army of toast?”

“Yeah.” Penny said, Darwin couldn’t tell if she was tired or amused at the situation as she just shook her head maybe a little bit of disappointment. “I kind of dropped a box on their leader, and they all freaked out. It wasn't like some big fight.”

“But an army of toast, right?” Darwin said not believing it and Penny really couldn't answer him.

She just gave a light shrug and then went back to biking slow.

By the time they reached the Watterson house, at least they could say nothing outside looked wrong. But that didn’t tell them anything, everything they’ve encountered didn’t sound like it could destroy a house, sure Rob was apparently pretty bad, but an army of toast was surprisingly weak. And then he remembered what he had just seen. A T-Rex. Clearly, a T-Rex wasn't here, and it couldn't fit in the house. But it did give Darwin one thought.

Tina, the T. Rex was all the way in the woods at the forest of doom. Zach said he had a plan that involved her… what if? Immediately getting off his bike, he jumped off and rushed towards the front door.

Rushing up the stairs and pushing open the door, Darwin braced himself for the worst. His mind raced through horrifying possibilities, Zach missing, the kids gone, and worst of all, a hungry T-Rex rampaging through the forest. But instead, he found something completely different.

All three kids were in the living room, exactly where they were supposed to be. Anaïs and Polly were focused on their homework, Polly doodling happily while Anaïs worked through an assignment with her usual intense focus. Billy, on the other hand, was rambling about something that not even Darwin could muster the will to care about, directing most of his monologue toward who was on the couch.

But what truly caught his attention was the unexpected guest lounging across the couch like she owned it, Carrie.

The ghostly girl was sprawled out, taking up almost the entire couch, her legs draped over the armrest, eyes half-lidded as she stared at the TV. The screen displayed slow-moving, black-and-white footage of an old museum, zooming dramatically in on an obscure art piece. It was the kind of thing that would bore anyone to sleep, yet Carrie remained awake, if barely. What really stood out, however, was the way she clutched a horror movie case tightly to her chest, gripping it like a football in a championship game. A familiar case, one of Zach's favorites.

“Darwin?” Carrie blinked, only now registering his entrance.

“Carrie?” he echoed, relieved that nothing was on fire but confused beyond words.

The door swung open again as Penny stepped inside, just as bewildered. She scanned the room, her eyes landing on Carrie before shifting back to Darwin. “Wait… Carrie?”

Before anything else could be said, Polly let out a delighted squeal. “Penny!” she cried, abandoning her homework and bolting toward her sister. Despite her tiny legs, she launched herself at Penny with the energy of a professional gymnast.

Penny caught her with ease, shifting into full big-sister mode even as confusion remained on her face. “Yeah, I’m here, Polly. Did you have a good day?” she asked, stroking the little girl’s hair absentmindedly.

Billy let out an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes. “Is this all poor people do all day? Call each other’s names and ask obvious questions?”

Anaïs, without lifting her head from her paper, simply muttered, “Shut up.” Her disinterest in even engaging him was more brutal than any argument she could have started.

Darwin sat down next to Carrie, Penny settling on her other side with Polly still clinging to her. He glanced at the movie case in Carrie’s hands before looking up at her, eyebrows furrowed.

“Carrie, I know I’m about to ask a really obvious question,” Darwin started, hands gesturing wildly as his brain worked through all the implications of her being here, calm as ever.

Carrie barely reacted, shooting him a dull glance. “If it’s about whatever…”

“What do you mean ‘whatever’?” Penny interjected, trying not to sound offended but clearly alarmed.

Carrie shrugged, sitting up slightly but still looking entirely unbothered. “What’s wrong? He’s probably just gonna get destroyed by Tina like he always used to. He’ll be back in like, maybe an hour? I don’t know, I forgot how long I’ve been here. I’ve been listening to that annoying kid talk about art for so long.” She shot a deadpan look at Billy, who was still droning on about brushstroke techniques with an only passively listening Anaïs.

“Look, if it doesn't matter… wait, did you say Tina?” Penny asked, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

“Yeah...” Carrie replied, her own confusion growing. “You guys don’t know?”

“What do we not know?” Penny's voice sharpened, and she turned her gaze directly to Darwin. It was clear something serious was going on. Penny knew Darwin well enough to recognize when he was hiding something, and right now, he looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Darwin suddenly felt like he was under a spotlight, his brain scrambling for a response. Had Zach really told Carrie something before telling Penny? That didn’t sit right with him.

“Yeah, Zach went over to Tina’s house, I think… something about owing her money because she lent him some,” Carrie said with a shrug.

Darwin and Penny exchanged a look of sheer disbelief.

There were only a few people in Elmore Junior High who knew anything about Tina’s financial situation, but what Carrie had just said? That didn’t add up. Even when Tina had been a full-on bully, it was clear she wasn’t doing it just for fun. It was often about money or food…and maybe sometimes fun. The idea of her lending anyone money, let alone Zach, was ridiculous.

“He went to Tina’s house?” Penny asked, now even more suspicious. “Isn’t it, like, a dump? Or at least, isn’t her house right next to the dump?”

As soon as she voiced her thought, she noticed something, Darwin had slouched over on the couch, avoiding eye contact, looking like he wanted to sink into the cushions. Penny’s instincts immediately flared.

“Darwin,” she said slowly, her tone shifting into something firm, “you better tell me what’s up.”

That caught Carrie’s attention. Her head tilted slightly as she turned her gaze to her boyfriend, curiosity piqued. “Am I missing something?”

Darwin’s nerves skyrocketed. He could feel Penny’s stare drilling into him, and to make matters worse, even Anaïs was glancing up from her work with mild curiosity. He could barely hear himself think over the pressure pressing in on him.

Without another word, Darwin shot up from his seat like lightning.

“I... well, I really... I need to make a phone call... and use the bathroom... so don’t follow me!” he blurted out before bolting from the room.

Penny and Carrie exchanged unimpressed looks, while even Billy momentarily paused in his endless talking to raise an eyebrow.

Seconds later, a small giggle came from Polly, who had been watching with wide-eyed amusement.

“Darwin is funny,” she said cheerfully.

“Yeah, a little too funny right now,” Carrie muttered, deadpan, crossing her arms as she stared toward the hallway Darwin had fled down.

“Come on, come on, pick up, pick up,” Darwin muttered frantically, pacing inside the upstairs bathroom. He clutched the phone tightly, his fingers gripping it as if his desperation alone would make the call go through faster. He knew his brother, reckless, unpredictable, and entirely too willing to dive headfirst into trouble. There was at least a 90% chance he knew exactly where Zach was right now.

Finally, the call connected. “Yes,” came a strange, almost formal voice from the other end.

Darwin nearly fumbled the phone in frustration. “Dude, you better— and I mean, you better—not be in a forest with a T-Rex right now. I don’t care what the plan is. You should’ve talked to me more!” he hissed, trying to keep his voice low. He could still hear Penny and Carrie downstairs, and if they found out just how bad things were getting, he'd be in even more trouble than Zach.

“Whoa, whoa, calm down, dude,” Zach replied, his voice slipping back into his usual laid-back tone. “I promise you, I am not in a forest helping out a T-Rex.”

Darwin exhaled in relief, immediately feeling his tense muscles relax. “Oh, thank goodness. I thought for a moment you were actually…”

“I’m in front of the supermarket,” Zach continued casually, as if this was just another ordinary conversation. “Getting food for a T-Rex in the forest that I’m gonna immediately go back to.”

For a split second, Darwin’s mind blanked, his relief frozen in place. Then, like a snapped rubber band, reality came crashing back in.

“ZACH!” He yelled, his voice echoing through the house.

Currently walking through the parking lot of the supermarket, Zach cringed when he heard how loud his brother yelled through the phone.

"Would you calm down? I'm not dead or dying... well, everyone's dying, but you know."

"This is not the time for jokes! Dude, what are you thinking? What do you mean you're at the supermarket?" There was an awkward pause on the phone. "Oh my God, is she at the supermarket with you?"

"Dude, are you crazy? That would be all over the news."

"Dude, nobody watches the news."

"Anyway," Zach continued, rubbing his temple. "My plan kind of failed. And when I say kind of, I mean it really failed."

"Maybe it would've worked if you told me what the plan was," Darwin shot back, clearly agitated.

"Oh really?" Zach said, already tired of this conversation. "Are you seriously gonna say that you being there would've made my plan, which, by the way, involved using the remote to make my bike go warp speed and then open up a menu section to take her to the void, actually work?"

There was an awkward pause as Darwin tried to process what he'd just heard. "Dude, not only are you crazy for that being your plan, but what are you gonna do next? I have Penny and Carrie here. They are going to start asking questions, and Anaïs is curious too. I'm done for."

"Dude, all you have to do is not talk about the simple subject of a giant T-Rex who just happens to be based off one of our classmates." Moving through the aisles of the supermarket, Zach made his way to his objective: the entire deli section. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was perfect. He knew Tina was no normal T-Rex, whatever that meant. At first, he thought about just feeding her raw meat, but then he realized that she was still a schoolmate like him. Maybe "inhumane" wasn’t the right word, but "animal cruelty" just felt insulting.

"What are you even doing anyway?" Darwin asked as Zach looked over the selection of premade small sandwiches.

"Well, let's just say I’m probably gonna be on the evening news if I fail. And sadly, not for going lightspeed."

"Oh my God, you're stealing!" Darwin's voice cracked through the phone.

"Wow, you got that really quick," Zach said, actually impressed.

"Are you serious? Stealing is wrong!"

"Would you keep it down? My phone is not exactly silent. I'm more likely to get caught if you yell." Taking a note from bandana-Anton, Zach suddenly moved the remote out of his pocket and hit the pause button, freezing a nearby security camera. He could tell from the effect that the camera wouldn't be able to see whatever he was doing. He really needed to find a way to make this up to Anton, even if his human self didn’t really deserve it.

"Dude, you know I can't support this or something," Darwin said, still clearly worried.

"Yeah, I didn't expect you to," Zach said with a bit of a smile. "Oh, Darwin, oh poor Darwin. Too pure for this world. I'm going to save the day by giving Tina everything she needs to survive until I can figure out how to do this. How does it feel? I'm gonna be saving the poor dinosaur, and you're just gonna be stuck trying to keep a secret."

"You're doing what..."

Zach froze. That voice certainly didn’t come from his phone. It definitely wasn’t his brother.

It was a low female voice, one he instantly recognized, mostly because he had seen the person behind it twice in one day. Lifting his head up awkwardly, he was met with a terrifying sight. Walking out of the aisle next to him was a tall girl with piercing, suspicious eyes. And now he really knew he was screwed.

"Why are you talking about me?" she asked, her tone slightly more heated now.

Standing right in front of him was Tina.

He had truly found himself in the worst-case scenario.

The phone cut off almost instantly, leaving Darwin frozen in place. Something had clearly happened to his brother, and judging by the abruptness of the call, it wasn’t good. The way Zach had cut out sounded less like a casual hang-up and more like he’d been ambushed. Great. Just great. Darwin sighed, rubbing his temples as he realized he was completely stuck. Even if he wanted to tell Carrie anything, it wasn’t like he had proof. He’d sound like a lunatic, rambling about T-Rexes and interdimensional remotes without any way to back it up. Zach had all the evidence.

Darwin had never been great at thinking fast under pressure, and this was exactly the kind of high-stakes situation he wasn’t built for. Penny and Anaïs already had some knowledge about the weirdness that had been happening, which made them the easy part. The real problem was Carrie, Billy, and Polly, the ones still blissfully unaware. At least Polly was young enough that whatever he said wouldn’t stick too hard. But Carrie and Billy? That was a nightmare waiting to happen.

He let out a nervous chuckle, thinking about how ridiculous it would be to try explaining the multiverse to a four-year-old. He barely understood it himself.

Slowly, he stepped out of the bathroom, trying to compose himself. But the moment he entered the living room, it was clear that the suspicion in the air had only thickened. The children had returned to their homework, but it was obvious they were listening, waiting to hear what excuse he would come up with. Carrie, of course, was watching him like a hawk, and Anaïs, well, Anaïs was always sharp. He was doomed.

Darwin’s eyes flicked over to Penny, practically pleading for backup. “Can we talk real quick? It’s about Zach.”

The shift in Penny’s expression was immediate. The casual curiosity vanished, replaced by something far more serious. Worry, frustration, maybe even a little bit of anger. Whatever Zach was up to, it was dangerous, reckless, and absolutely something beyond his control. Penny didn’t hesitate. She gently set Polly back down beside Carrie and motioned for Darwin to follow her. Without another word, the two of them disappeared into the kitchen, stepping out onto the backyard patio and shutting the door behind them.

The moment the door clicked shut, the suspicion in the room skyrocketed.

Carrie didn’t say anything right away. She wasn’t the type to pry openly unless she really wanted to, but the way she narrowed her eyes at the door made it clear she was keeping tabs on the whole thing. There was something going on, and she was going to figure it out.

She stole a glance at Anaïs, who, surprisingly, looked equally in the loop. That was interesting. Anaïs was never one to be left in the dark about anything. And if she knew something Carrie didn’t? That just raised more questions.

“Oh, is someone jealous?” Billy’s grating voice cut through the moment, smug as ever. He had barely spoken to Carrie all day, probably because he was a little intimidated by her. Not that she could blame him. She was, objectively, the scariest person in the room. Babysitting was not her usual gig, and the fact that she had spent most of it hugging Zach’s horror movie didn’t help.

Still, Carrie barely had the energy to be annoyed. Instead, she shot Anaïs a knowing look. “Not to insult your brother,” she said flatly, “but cheating is the last thing I’d expect from him. Especially with Penny. He barely has the confidence for one relationship. No, they’re hiding something.”

Anaïs didn’t react much, but there was the slightest twitch of her pencil.

“Well, I could’ve told you that,” Billy said smugly. “Is it something interesting?”

“Is it an adventure?” Polly chirped excitedly, practically bouncing in her seat.

Carrie tilted her head slightly. Adventure. Now that was a strange word to use. She turned her gaze back to Anaïs, studying the younger girl’s body language. That twitch wasn’t a fluke, Anaïs knew something, but she wasn’t saying a word. Either she was in on it, or she was at least aware that something big was happening.

Carrie leaned back into the couch, staring up at the ceiling. She had seen enough detective movies to know when to wait and when to act, and right now, she needed to wait. If there was something going on, she’d find out. Eventually.

Besides, whatever nonsense Zach was up to, Penny probably wasn’t taking the idea that he needed to borrow money for a date very well. That thought alone was enough to make Carrie chuckle darkly, earning some confused stares from the kids around her.

Yeah. Something was definitely going on. And Carrie intended to get to the bottom of it.

This was a spectacular level of bad that only Zach could accomplish, and so far, this day had only escalated from worse to insane, to crazy, to terrifying, and now to whatever this was. He stood frozen, caught like a deer in the headlights. Before him, wearing a dark green military jacket and towering over him, was Tina. No wonder she was a T-Rex in another universe. Not only was she unnaturally tall, but the nickname, Tyrant King, felt almost too fitting.

Tina the Tyrant.

Like all schools, Elmore Junior High had a subtle hierarchy. Even if no one tried to establish one, it formed naturally. Zach had spent most of his school life as a bottom feeder. Only in recent times, thanks to the strange events surrounding him, had he moved up from bottom feeder to slightly above average, somewhere near Carrie and maybe even Darwin.

Then there were the kids who naturally rose above the rest, whether they wanted to or not. Penny was the perfect example. She never sought popularity, yet it followed her. Unlike people like Tobias or Masami, she never flaunted it, nor did she enjoy being treated differently.

And then there were the bullies. The delinquents and the bullies had a clear divide. The delinquents were always in trouble for pulling some ridiculous stunt, but the bullies were a quieter, more persistent problem. For the students, they were worse; for the teachers, they were easier to deal with. It helped that there were really only two of them in their grade: Tina and Jamie.

On the first day of school, they had sniffed each other out immediately and formed an inseparable, ruthless duo. They were both physically imposing, unnecessarily cruel, and seemed to enjoy the chaos they caused. But one crucial factor made Tina different from Jamie: need.

Jamie had a good life. A loving father, a somewhat strict mother, the kind of home life no one expected from someone like her.

Tina, however, had it much worse. Her home was in a rough part of town, her house sat precariously at the edge of the Elmore dump, and she had only one parent. Her father worked in scrap metal, and that was all anyone knew because any mention of him made Tina shut down completely.

Zach had seen him once, a towering man, nearly as tall as a professional basketball player, with a scar running down one eye. His voice alone was enough to intimidate anyone, and Tina's obvious fear of him only reinforced that image. The one time Zach had seen him at a parent-teacher conference, it had been surreal. He had been joking around, inviting other parents to games and meet-ups, but there was something off about it, something forced. Even Zach's own father, usually the laid-back one in any situation, had kept his distance.

It was no surprise that Tina had turned into such a bully, but what was surprising was how it all eventually stopped. And the catalyst? Zach.

During the first half of the school year, he had somehow managed to make her mad enough to challenge him to a fight. Of course, being Zach, he had handled it in the worst way possible, by running across the school, practically screaming in terror. That had been the first time the faculty actually cared about Tina's behavior, and the resulting chaos had led to a meeting between their parents.

That argument had been something else. Zach still remembered sitting in the office, forced to listen as his mother and Tina's father went at it like two storm fronts colliding. Mr. Brown looked like he wanted to evaporate on the spot, and even the principal couldn't get a word in edgewise. The sheer intensity of their argument made both Zach and Tina quietly slip out into the hallway to escape.

And there, for the first time, they talked. Really talked.

Something changed after that. The bullying lessened. Slowly, over time, Tina stopped picking on students unless they deliberately crossed her. Jamie became the sole school terror, and she wasn't stupid enough to go against Tina alone. The girl still carried herself with a certain intimidating pride, but she no longer seemed interested in upholding her past reputation.

Zach had assumed that was the end of their story, an unspoken truce, two people who would acknowledge each other in passing and nothing more.

But, of course, he was wrong.

He had spoken one sentence too loudly at the wrong place, at the wrong time, about the wrong subject, and now, he was going to pay for it. Or at least, that was the worst-case scenario.

“Why are you staring at me like a dead fish?” Tina asked, her voice slow and menacing. There was no playing around when she was even a little agitated.

“Oh, hey, Tina...” Zach fumbled, leaning awkwardly against one of the aisles in a pathetic attempt to act confident. “Crazy seeing you here... in the supermarket... where everyone is allowed to go... yeah.” The last part came out almost as a whisper, his horrified expression completely betraying any illusion of composure.

Of course, his attempt to divert the conversation immediately failed. Tina stared at him, her gaze sharp and deadly, her presence looming over him like a storm about to break. She probably couldn’t even properly place why she was so aggravated, but she was too serious now to step back.

“Don’t play with me, Zach. I heard you say my name... what are you even talking about? Are you calling me a dinosaur? And what do you mean by ‘helping me’?” Her questions came rapid-fire, her intensity making Zach feel like a bug under a magnifying glass. She wasn’t angry, exactly, just suspicious and utterly unconvinced. Unfortunately, that only made things worse; if he clammed up now, she’d just keep pressing.

“Tina, I think you just misheard,” Zach stammered, taking a step back, almost backing into the deli section. He was scrambling for a way out when another voice cut through the tension.

“Hey, Tina, what are you doing?”

Both of them froze. Slowly, as if moving too quickly would cause an explosion, they turned toward the source of the voice. Standing at the end of the aisle was Tina’s father.

Tall and imposing, he looked as unkempt as ever. His posture was relaxed, but the heavy bags under his eyes and the scruffy five o’clock shadow made him seem even more intimidating. If it weren’t for his sheer size, he might have passed as just another tired adult trying to get through the day, but next to Zach and Tina, he was a looming figure.

He took a slow look at the two of them, his eyes briefly flicking to Zach before settling on his daughter. Then, to Zach’s complete disbelief, the man chuckled.

“Hey...” he said, his voice dropping to a lower, amused tone. “I thought you said you made up with that kid, girl. I know you’ve got a small brain sometimes, but that doesn’t mean you can just forget everything.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he let out a deep, raspy laugh, the kind that sounded like he found himself way funnier than anyone else did. He laughed for several seconds, his own joke apparently the peak of comedy, while Zach and Tina just stood there in painful, silent awkwardness.

Tina, to Zach’s shock, actually flinched slightly. She wasn’t cowering, not exactly, but her usual domineering presence dimmed in an instant. Her shoulders tensed, her stance shifted, and when she spoke, her voice was different.

“I’m not messing with him,” she said quickly, her tone softer, almost hesitant. Zach barely recognized it. It was the same voice he had heard that day in the principal’s office, when their parents had gone at each other like two wild animals. It was the voice of a girl who didn’t want to make waves, who wanted to stay out of trouble.

She cleared her throat and forced her usual edge back into her words. “I just heard him talking crazy. We’re friends now, remember? Right, Zach?”

The way she snapped her gaze to him made it very clear that he was supposed to play along. Confused, but not about to test his luck, Zach gave a weak nod.

“Yep. Kind of friends now,” he confirmed hesitantly.

Tina’s father didn’t seem particularly interested in the statement. He just shrugged.

“You better not be messing with him. First time I ever had to come to a dang school because my own daughter didn’t know what to do,” he grumbled. Then, as if remembering something, he added, “Are you coming or what?”

Tina hesitated. Zach could see it, the small war waging in her head. The logical option was to go with her father. She always did. She never resisted, never argued.

But then she saw the relief on Zach’s face, the barely restrained breath of relief that said, Oh good, I’m not about to die.

And that seemed to make up her mind.

“No,” Tina said suddenly, catching both Zach and her father off guard. “We just need to talk about something. About school. It’s just an assignment. Nothing else.”

Her father didn’t look entirely convinced, but after a moment, he just turned away with a grumble. “Whatever. Just don’t do anything that’ll get you in trouble again. Or at least keep it quiet this time.”

As he walked away, Zach let himself breathe again. He thought he was free.

Then, suddenly, a firm hand grabbed his shirt. Before he could react, Tina yanked him sideways and dragged him toward the nearest aisle. He barely had time to stumble before she pinned him against the shelves, her intense glare mere inches from his face.

Oh yeah. He was definitely still in trouble.

Zach felt his heart hammer against his ribs as Tina's grip tightened around his arm. There was no escaping this. Not when she was like this, relentless, locked in, and unwilling to back down. A real-life T-Rex in every sense of the word. For a brief second, he considered the remote in his pocket. It had gotten him out of trouble before, but using it on Tina? That was a whole new level of wrong.

His fingers twitched toward it instinctively, brushing against the remote before stopping dead. What was he thinking? This was not a solution. Using the remote in a situation like this was how things spiraled out of control. The second he felt the weight of the device shift in his pocket, he panicked. Too fast. His fingers moved too fast.

With a sickening clatter, the remote slipped from his grasp and hit the floor, skidding right to Tina’s feet.

“What?” Her voice dropped an octave, curiosity laced with confusion.

Zach lunged for it, but Tina reacted first. With a single, effortless motion, she pushed him back, her strength far exceeding his own. He barely stumbled before regaining his footing, but the damage was done. Tina already had the remote in her hands, turning it over, studying the bizarre assortment of buttons and symbols etched onto its surface.

“What kind of remote is this?” she muttered, her thumb tracing the unmarked keys.

Zach could feel his pulse in his throat. “Hey, hey, Tina, listen...that’s not something you should be messing with.” He took a cautious step forward, arms outstretched like he was trying to coax a wild animal away from a live grenade.

Tina arched a skeptical brow. “Oh, now you’re acting weird? First, you’re whispering about me, now you’re treating some dumb remote like it’s the crown jewels. What’s the deal, Watterson?”

He didn’t have time to answer before her grip tightened, her finger pressing down on one of the buttons. A sharp click echoed in the air. Zach’s breath caught in his throat. Nothing happened.

Yet.

Tina frowned. “Huh.” She turned it over in her hands again, unimpressed. “What is this, some cheap universal remote? It doesn’t even...”

She pressed another button.

Panic surged through Zach like ice water. Without thinking, he lunged at her, desperate to stop her from pressing anything else. But Tina wasn’t the type to be caught off guard twice. She whipped around, stumbling slightly in surprise, and before either of them could react properly, her foot caught on her other. She went down hard, landing flat on her back with a loud thud.

The remote skidded across the floor. Zach barely had time to register the wave of anger crossing Tina’s face before his entire world stopped.

Or rather. He did.

Tina pushed herself up with a groan, brushing her hair from her face with an irritated huff. “That’s it, you’re dead, Watterson. You better start talking or...”

Her words faltered.

Zach wasn’t moving.

Not in a frozen in fear way. Not in a too-stunned-to-speak way.

He was paused.

Suspended mid-motion, arms outstretched, mouth open in a silent protest. His foot hovered an inch off the ground like he had been caught mid-step. His whole body was coated in something unnatural, something impossible. A thin, flickering layer of static rippled over his skin like a glitching television screen, distorting his features ever so slightly.

“What… what did I do?”

Penny sat on the steps of Zach’s backyard, her hands resting in her lap as she stared at the ground, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her skirt. Her mind was racing, trying to process what Darwin had just told her. She exhaled sharply, shaking her head as if trying to physically dispel the absurdity of the situation.

“You’re not lying, are you?” she muttered, rubbing her temple. The weight of what she had just heard pressed down on her like an anvil. How had her life gotten to this point? She wasn’t even part of this madness, and yet here she was, dealing with it.

Darwin sighed, his posture slouched, shoulders hunched forward in discomfort. “I’m not lying,” he confirmed, his voice steady but hesitant.

Penny groaned quietly. Of course, Darwin wasn’t lying. After everything that had happened, the army of toast, the bizarre alternate versions of their classmates, she knew better than to doubt him. But that didn’t make it any easier to process.

“Let me get this straight,” she began, forcing herself to go step by step so her brain wouldn’t implode. “Zach left babysitting to go help… a T-Rex?”

Darwin nodded, his expression apologetic.

She inhaled deeply, preparing herself for the next level of insanity. “And this T-Rex… can talk?”

“Yeah,” Darwin admitted.

Penny’s eye twitched. “And this T-Rex is also Tina.”

“Yep.”

Silence stretched between them as Penny stared out at the backyard, blinking slowly. Her fingers clenched slightly as she processed the information.

“Really?” she finally said, her tone flat.

“Yeah. You know, with this whole Multiverse thing, it kind of makes sense?” Darwin offered weakly. “We’re not exactly the same in other worlds… I think.”

“Like Anton,” Penny murmured, half to herself. “I mean, I still don’t fully get that. He was… toast. A lot of toast. Were they all him? Was it one of him? I don’t...” She stopped herself before she could fall into the existential abyss. Instead, she took a deep breath and focused on the most pressing issue at hand.

“Why is Zach helping a T-Rex that’s also Tina!?” she finally snapped, her voice rising in frustration. It wasn’t quite loud enough to reach the house, but it was enough to make Darwin visibly flinch.

“I...well, he wants to help,” Darwin said, his voice quieter now, like he was trying to placate a wild animal. “She got stuck here. She didn’t mean to come here, and the remote’s the only way to get her back. She was really sad. And hungry, too.”

Penny clenched her teeth. “And he didn’t tell me,” she stated, voice laced with irritation.

Darwin shifted uncomfortably. “Well, I don’t think he wanted you to know how dangerous it was…”

Penny shot him a sharp look. “Oh, I am mad. Not just because he did something stupid...even though I am mad about that, but because he did something stupid, didn’t tell anyone, and is apparently helping out a giant reptile that eats meat!”

“Well, actually… she eats normal food. That’s why Zach went into the forest with his lunch.”

Darwin barely finished his sentence before Penny groaned loudly, pressing her palms into her face.

“That’s not the point,” she grumbled. “He didn’t tell you the full plan, he didn’t tell me at all, and what about Anaïs? She has no idea what’s happening! None of our parents know!”

“I know, I know,” Darwin sighed. “But… I mean, what were we supposed to do? It’s not exactly something you can explain without things going bad for her."

Penny let out a long, exhausted breath. She understood. She really did. But that didn’t make it any less frustrating.

“Darwin.” She stood up, her movements slow and deliberate. “We’re going inside. And we’re telling Carrie and Anaïs.”

“What?” Darwin looked up at her, surprised. He had expected her to keep fuming, maybe throw a few more complaints at him, but instead, she just looked… resigned. As if she had accepted the sheer absurdity of their lives.

“Your sister already knows at least a little bit about the stuff you told her… she’s clearly super smart. She’s gonna figure it out one way or another.” Penny leaned back against the railing, arms crossed, her expression firm.

Darwin sighed, shifting uncomfortably where he sat. His fingers absentmindedly drummed against his knee as he avoided her gaze. “I guess you’re right, but why Carrie? Shouldn’t this just be a thing that fewer people know about?” His voice wavered slightly before he hesitated. “And… and well, what if telling her, like, changes her view of reality or something?”

Penny exhaled through her nose, shaking her head. “Well, then that’s something we can help her with.” She stood up, dusting off her skirt before taking a few steps toward the back door. Her fingers wrapped around the handle, a glint of knowing amusement flickering in her eyes. “Besides…” She threw the door open swiftly. “I think she might already be a little suspicious.”

The door barely had a second to swing fully open before a blur of black and white lurched forward. Carrie, who had been leaning against the door, was sent sprawling past Penny. Her arms flailed in a useless attempt to catch herself, and with a high-pitched, undignified yelp, she face-planted straight into the wooden deck with a loud thud.

Darwin stared terrified. His girlfriend had just face-planted. Penny simply stared down at her, expression unimpressed.

Carrie groaned into the wood, shifting slightly before pushing herself up onto her hands. Her face was red from embarrassment rather than pain, her fingers pressing against her forehead as if contemplating whether or not to just sink into the ground entirely.

Darwin rushed forward, crouching next to her. “Are you okay?” His voice was frantic as he reached out to help her up, one hand on her arm, the other hovering uncertainly in case she toppled over again.

Carrie, still rubbing her forehead, let out a low groan before tilting her head up just enough to glare daggers at Penny. “So, how much did you hear?” Penny asked, deadpan, arms crossed like a teacher waiting for an excuse.

Carrie huffed, dusting off her hoodie. “How do you know I was spying?”

Penny smirked. “Just a hunch. I knew I raised my voice a little too loud when I was freaking out at Darwin. A little too loud for someone like you to resist.” She leaned forward slightly, eyes twinkling. “So, how much?”

Carrie clicked her tongue, shifting her weight as she crossed her arms. “I don’t like it when you get this attitude,” she muttered, before sighing. “I didn’t hear much. Just something about a T-Rex and Zach… You know, you guys really need to raise your voices sometimes. It gets a little hard to spy.” She shot them both a dry look, as if they were the ones at fault.

“I’ll keep a note of that,” Darwin mumbled awkwardly, but his tone betrayed him.

Carrie tilted her head slightly, her expression sharpening. “Darwin, what’s up? You’re hiding something.”

His whole body stiffened. “What? No! Us? Hiding something? That’s...”

“Sit down, Carrie,” Penny interrupted with a sigh, dropping back down onto the steps. Darwin followed suit, slumping down onto the step below her. Carrie hesitated for a second before plopping herself onto the one in between them, her body language skeptical but open.

“Alright, what is this about?” She leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on her knees. Her skepticism was clear, but the fact Penny was involved gave the whole situation a sense of credibility.

Penny gave a casual nod in Darwin’s direction. “I think Darwin should be the one to explain that.”

Carrie turned to face him. Darwin, for his part, looked ready to melt into the deck. His hands fidgeted anxiously in his lap as he glanced from Penny to Carrie, as if searching for an escape route. He found none.

“Wait, really?” His voice cracked embarrassingly.

Penny only leaned back lazily, arms draped over her knees, smirking as if to say, ‘Yup, have fun with that.’

Carrie, meanwhile, was staring at him like a cat watching a mouse squirm. Her eyes were practically glowing with interest. Darwin could feel the weight of her gaze, intense and unwavering, her entire body tensed as if anticipating something huge.

He swallowed hard, licking his lips before speaking. “Hey, Carrie… How much do you believe in… the supernatural?”

He braced for some reaction, maybe a scoff, maybe a sarcastic remark. Instead, Carrie blinked once, barely taking a second to think before answering in a completely flat, matter-of-fact tone.

“…100%.”

Penny, who had been reclining, suddenly sat up straight. “Wait, really?”

Carrie shot her a look. “Have you seen my house?”

“Fair point.” Penny shook her head, letting it go.

Darwin, meanwhile, let out a slow, shaky breath. “Okay… so, imagine if there was our world…”

Carrie leaned in slightly, raising an eyebrow. “Okay…”

“…And then there was another.” Darwin hesitated. “…And… well, a lot more.”

Carrie just blinked at him. “…Go on.”

Darwin shot Penny a pleading glance. Penny only smirked and motioned for him to continue.

Carrie sighed, leaning back slightly, stretching her arms. “You know, this better be good.”

Oh, she had no idea.

Reborn. That was the only word Zach could think of to describe what had just happened to him. One moment, he was nothing, his mind a blank, his body frozen in time. The next, he was gasping for air, collapsing onto one knee, coughing as though he had just been violently yanked back into existence. His limbs felt sluggish, his body unresponsive, as if rebooting. He sucked in a breath, his wide eyes darting across the floor, too focused on regaining control of himself to immediately process the high-pitched scream that rang out right beside him.

By the time his senses returned, he looked up and realized Tina was sprawled out on her back, gasping just as much as he was. She must have collapsed the same moment he had, her chest rising and falling rapidly, eyes wild with confusion. His mind scrambled for an explanation, for anything that could make sense of the situation. One second he had been reaching for the remote, and the next...

Zach clenched his fists, fighting down the panic threatening to bubble up in his chest. The controller had been aimed at him. He had felt... off. Disconnected.

He had been paused.

His stomach twisted, and his breath came out shakier than he would’ve liked. Robert. He finally understood what Robert had gone through. And it had been worse than he could’ve ever imagined.

A cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he snapped his attention back to Tina, who was still lying there, staring at nothing in complete disbelief.

“You... you paused me.” His voice was hoarse, like he had been holding his breath for hours. He had barely gotten the words out before instinct kicked in, and he lunged forward, scrambling to snatch the remote before anything else could go wrong.

This time, Tina didn’t fight him for it. She didn’t even move.

“I... I did what?” Her voice came out frantic, cracking mid-sentence. The disbelief in her tone was obvious, but Zach barely had time to respond before an unexpected variable entered the equation.

An elderly woman, hunched over with wispy white hair, shuffled past the aisle, her small cart rattling as she moved. Zach and Tina both froze, locking eyes with each other in silent horror. The woman gave them the briefest glance, two kids sitting on the supermarket floor, clearly up to some stupid middle school nonsense, before shaking her head and continuing toward some other section.

Tina’s wild gaze snapped back to Zach’s.

“I did what?!” she hissed, keeping her voice low this time. It was as if she had suddenly realized, just as he had, that whatever had just happened was something that should never, ever be discussed out in the open.

Zach took a deep breath. He was proud of himself, really, he was. He wasn’t panicking, which was a miracle in itself. Any louder and they would’ve had dozens of people, including Tina’s terrifying father, coming over to check why two kids were screaming in the middle of a supermarket. He was incredibly grateful Larry wasn’t lurking around the corner, because that would have been the final nail in his coffin.

“Tina, what I’m about to say to you is crazy...” Zach started, shifting uncomfortably as his eyes darted around the supermarket. He could feel the weight of the moment pressing down on him. “But I think you’re already expecting crazy.”

Tina, still shaken, barely seemed to hear him at first. But then her expression darkened, her fear quickly morphing into frustration. “Zach, if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now, I’m gonna...” Her voice had a sharp edge to it, and Zach knew that cutting her off would have consequences, but he had no choice. He had to get this out before she completely lost it.

“I’m doing this to help you…” he blurted out.

Her expression faltered. The tension that had been building between them didn’t dissipate. If anything, it thickened, hanging in the air like a storm about to break. Zach immediately regretted his phrasing as he watched her slowly blink, her breath uneven. She looked terrified all over again.

“Help… me?” she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Well, not you exactly… another you.”

Tina froze. For the first time since Zach had known her, she was speechless. Her breathing, which had been rapid and unsteady, was now eerily slow. It was like she had been hit with something so incomprehensible that her mind hadn’t caught up yet. Zach could practically see the gears struggling to turn.

Taking her silence as an opportunity, he pressed on. “But you’re gonna need to trust me,” he said carefully, his voice dropping into a lower, more serious tone. He was trying to ease her into it, to prepare her for what was possibly the most absurd request he had ever made.

Tina gave a small nod, but her eyes were locked onto his, wide and unblinking. She looked the way he had felt when he had first learned about all this multiverse nonsense, like reality itself had just cracked open in front of her, and she was hanging on by a thread.

He swallowed hard, steeling himself for what he had to say next.

“I’m gonna need you to help me steal every single one of these sandwiches.”

The silence between them stretched impossibly long. He really hoped he hadn’t just lost her.

Carrie threw her head back and laughed, the sound ringing out across the backyard. It wasn’t a rare sight, but this laugh lacked her usual sharp edge, it wasn’t wicked or teasing, just full-on amusement. She was thoroughly enjoying the awkward, long-winded explanation Darwin had just given her, oblivious to the way his face slowly fell with each passing second. His shoulders drooped slightly, his eyes darting between her and Penny as if searching for an escape route.

Darwin had tried. He had really tried to explain everything to her, pouring out everything he knew about the multiverse, the anomalies, and Zach. But no matter how hard he tried, the craziness crushed his explanation. He had barely finished his last sentence before Carrie had erupted into laughter, leaving him to sit there, stunned, as she doubled over, gripping her stomach.

Penny, meanwhile, sat back with her arms crossed, watching the scene with an awkward expression. Her own experience had been a lot more undeniable. She had been chased by a horde of living toast, while Carrie had only been told. And apparently, Carrie thought this was a joke.

“Oh, please, please keep going,” Carrie gasped between fits of laughter, wiping a tear from her eye. “Penny being hunted down by killer toast? Darwin, this is the best thing you’ve ever told me.”

“We’re not making this up.” Darwin sighed, rubbing the back of his head. At least she wasn’t mad, that was something, right? He had braced himself for anger, frustration, maybe even hurt feelings. But this? He wasn’t sure if it was better or worse. “Zach’s out there right now helping… well, another Tina.”

“Oh yeah, Tina the T-Rex,” Carrie repeated mockingly, shaking her head. “I mean, Anton being toast, you being a fish, and your brother being a cat is one thing, but Tina being a T-Rex? Come on, Darwin. I thought you were more creative than that.”

Darwin mumbled under his breath, “I don’t know… it kinda makes sense.”

Carrie caught that and grinned. “I mean, I didn’t say it was wrong. I just said it wasn’t original. Be a little more outside the box.”

“Well, this has gone absolutely stellar,” Penny muttered dryly, finally drawing Darwin’s attention back to her. She was sitting with her phone in her lap, fingers moving rapidly across the screen. Her face was drawn into a frown, her usual patience starting to wear thin.

“What are you doing?” Carrie asked, her interest waning in the story now that she assumed it was a joke.

“Texting Zach,” Penny said simply. The only times she paused were when she received a new message, and whatever she was reading wasn’t putting her in a better mood.

“Oh yeah?” Carrie smirked, leaning forward slightly. “Is your boyfriend texting you about the T-Rex?”

Her teasing tone did nothing to lighten Darwin’s mood. He suddenly sat up straighter, eyes widening. “Wait! Zach! Is he okay?”

"He's fine," Penny said, glancing down at her phone, her thumb tapping out a quick response. "Although someone else knows now."

"Another person?" Darwin groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Man, we're really bad at keeping this secret."

Carrie, who had been watching them both crossed her arms. "Okay, guys, you can stop pretending now. You're kinda weirding me out."

Penny, completely ignoring Carrie’s comment, continued reading her texts, her lips curling into a smirk as another message popped up. She let out an amused huff. "You'll never believe who it is."

Darwin, already bracing himself, cringed. "Please don’t say Tobias."

"Even better," Penny teased, flipping her phone around to show them the screen. Zach’s messages flooded the chat.

Darwin leaned in, eyes widening at the sheer amount of texts. "Oh no... that can't be good."

Penny: Your brother told me everything.

Zach: It's true… I am not good at skateboarding.

Penny: ZACH! I know about the T-Rex. Are you gonna keep lying to me?

Zach: Wait, Penny, please don't be mad. I didn't mean to get you in any danger or trouble.

Zach: I'm sorry about leaving Carrie to watch over your sister, but when you think about it, she’s probably more fit to do something like this than me… Please tell me she didn't traumatize Billy. That would be really bad… funny, but bad.

Zach: I know after the whole incident with the toast you expect me to tell you everything, but please please please please PLEASE don’t be angry at me. I know I messed up. I love you. Please don’t break up with me.

Penny: Zach… just because I’m mad doesn’t mean I’m gonna break up with you.

Zach: …thank you…Zach: I’ll explain more when I get back. Let’s just say I’m handling a lot right now.

Penny: A lot… meaning a T-Rex?

Zach: Well, yeah… and now regular Tina knows too. She kinda used the remote on me and my life flashed before my eyes, but I'm okay.

Penny: SHE USED THE REMOTE ON YOU?!

Zach: It was an accident! I swear! I’ll see you soon. Me and Tina need to get going… let’s just say we’re not exactly doing something… legal.

Penny: Yeah, I kinda expected that, and I don’t know why… Just be safe… Love you too.

Zach: Love you more.

Penny: We’re not doing this right now. I’ll see you soon, Zach.

Holding out her phone, Penny glanced down at Darwin and Carrie, gauging their reactions. Darwin's brows knitted together as he tried to process the long string of messages, while Carrie's smirk slowly faded, her usual confidence slipping into something more uncertain.

"Hey guys, it's not funny anymore…" Carrie's voice was quieter now, her usual edge softening as her skepticism started to crack. She hadn't fully believed the story but now it was getting to her.

"It's gonna take a lot more to convince her…" Penny muttered, exasperation creeping into her tone. She had already gone through enough insanity in the last few days. Trying to prove something that was actually true to someone who refused to believe it was somehow more frustrating than dealing with reality itself. "No matter how much we tell her."

"Yeah, maybe if you gave me actual evidence first," Carrie shrugged, her arms crossed. "At least people fake photos of ghosts."

Penny rolled her eyes, but before she could respond, Carrie squinted at the last message Zach had sent and frowned. "Okay, hold on, what did your brother mean by 'he’s not doing something legal'?"

She turned her gaze toward Darwin, who groaned and dragged his hands down his face, his shoulders slumping under the weight of whatever fresh disaster Zach had just cooked up. "I don’t know, okay? But considering everything, I really, really don’t want to find out."

Larry Needlemeyer probably had one of the most exhausting lives of any average person, but he dealt with it. Not many could say they were working essentially every day of the week, but for him, it was just another part of life. Some questioned why he didn’t settle into a stable job, bouncing instead between countless part-time gigs, but he never let it bother him. He had a house, a girlfriend, and a car, what else did he need? Sure, his parents disapproved of his career choices, constantly harping on about the importance of stability, but as long as the paychecks kept coming, he figured he was doing just fine.

Yes, the locals of Elmore made fun of him for being everyone’s lackey, a jack-of-all-trades but master of none. Yes, he was hired and fired so often that he might as well have had a revolving door of employment. But work was work, and Larry wasn’t one to turn down a paycheck.

Today, working the deli section should have been easy.  All he had to do was stock, sell, and keep things moving.

So, when he rounded the corner and was met with the sight of an entire section of pre-made sandwiches completely wiped out, he could only stop and stare for a long, defeated moment.

He really needed to start looking for yet another job.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry!" Zach muttered frantically, stuffing his phone away as he and Tina struggled under the weight of two completely overloaded shopping bags filled with barbecue sandwiches. He was breathing hard, not just from the running, but from the very real fact that if he wasn't currently using the remote to pause all the store’s security cameras, they’d be in the middle of an outright felony. Only now did it hit him that there were probably much better ways to do this.

He had passed every camera along their exit route, slipping past unsuspecting customers and employees, sometimes using the remote to nudge things in their favor.

"You do realize that if my dad finds out I just robbed a store, he's literally going to kill me," Tina muttered, struggling to adjust her grip on the food.

"Your dad looks like he’s killed someone randomly," Zach shot back, not even slowing his pace as he sprinted toward his bike. He skidded to a stop beside it, looping the bags onto the handlebars. It was only then that he noticed Tina hovering awkwardly behind him, clearly realizing the next problem: transportation.

This was definitely the heaviest passenger he'd ever attempted to carry. He was used to giving Darwin a ride when his bike had a flat, but this was different. Tina was not only taller than him, but definitely heavier than his brother, and she didn't seem thrilled about this idea either.

After an awkward pause, she begrudgingly swung one leg over the back of the bike, shuffling forward. The sandwich bags between them made it even worse, forcing her to hold onto Zach in the most uncomfortable way possible. 

"Watterson… what the hell are we doing?" she asked, clearly regretting everything. "Are we seriously about to ride all the way to the...wait, did you say Forest of Doom earlier?"

"Yeah, I did," Zach replied, adjusting the remote in his grip while trying to keep the bike steady.

"And you're  sure that this person, who you swear is important, not just to me, but to this weird, universe-breaking remote, is actually out there?"

Zach’s face turned serious. "Yes." There was no hesitation this time.

Tina sucked in a breath, gripping onto his shoulders a little tighter, though her grip felt hesitant. Yeah, she definitely didn't trust this.

Zach adjusted his footing on the pedal, feeling his heartbeat quicken as he raised the remote. "Hold on tight. I’ve only done this twice before. Also, please don’t barf on me."

Tina stiffened slightly behind him, her arms locking around him just a little more. This was by far the most serious she had ever seen Zach, and that made this even worse.

Zach took a deep breath, he almost laughed when he felt Tina do the same. Then, he pointed the remote at himself and pressed the button.

“All right… lightspeed.”

There was no questioning, no time to react, because the moment Zach pushed down on the pedal, the world twisted.

Light bent and warped around them, stretching out in every direction. The whole town of Elmore blurred into nothing but streaks of motion, color, and sound. For a split second, Tina felt as if she were weightless, as if gravity itself had let go. And then, just as suddenly as it began.

They were gone.

One second, they were at the side of the supermarket.

The next, it was as if they had never been there at all.