“But I don’t want to destroy the universe! Or anything for that matter! I just want to go home!” 

“I understand,” I tested out her defenses. My hand plopped right on her little shoulder. She was no longer wary of me, despite her protests. Children… far too trusting… “And I would love to help you go home. But for now, we don’t know how to do that. Until we do, you have to do what we tell you to do, and that is to help us!” Sternly and loudly, I had to assert my rank on her. This was my operation, and everyone under my roof was my worker, whether they came from this world or not. “I don’t care how much you’ll cry and whine, but the truth of the matter is you need to understand we’re dead set on completing our objectives! And you’re going to help us with this! Suppose we manage to find a way to get you back home to that computer-generated reality you call your home! In that case, we’ll send you right back on your merry way, only, and only if you do as we say! Do you understand!?” Of course, she did. Like all bad children, she was seething, saying nothing while glaring evilly at me. Those deep purple pupils of hers seemingly glowed in hatred. Holding out my hand to help her off the floor, she refused to advance toward me. So instead, I grabbed her. Took that rude child by the shoulder and forced her up. I immediately regretted it. For when Astrid grabbed a hold of my hand, she sank her fangs deep into it. Then came her tail, extending out to sweep my feet off the floor. I fell, yelling, as spurts of blood shot out from two holes in my hands. Just what kind of demon was unleashed in my abode? 

“She’s dangerous!” Trusty Ara shouted, commanding my men. “Take her down!” 

Before I could say ‘no,’ Ara and the grunts took out their blasters and started shooting at Astrid. She dodged them all effortlessly. She really was trained in the art of combat. Smoke built up from the number of hot lasers being shot into the air. It engulfed us, blinding our vision. I kept myself low, crawling in the opposite direction. But I was interrupted by a hand grabbing me from my shirt collar. It dragged me away from the smoke. I dreaded who it might have been. That little monster was more than I could handle on my own. So, when I was pulled out of the smoke, I was resolute in attacking whoever this person was preemptively. Would I use one of the blasters on my hip? Would I use a fist? Should I knee the little bastard in the chest and watch her gasp for air? All would come in due time. I just needed to be patient. I had a chance. Free from the smoke, I cocked back my bleeding fist, only to immediately stop. It was Ara who pulled me away from the laser fight.

Now on my feet, I used my uninjured hand to tightly apply pressure onto the other as I watched safely from behind Ara. The lasers were still being shot, yet I could no longer see the silhouette of the tiny terror. Eventually, the smoke cleared away, but Astrid was nowhere visible. However, Donald trained his aim onto a fellow grunt. Before I could protest, Donald shot his peer in the back of their head. He then continued slaughtering many of his peers quickly and swiftly until he was the only one standing. Disregarding my injured hand, I took out both my blasters. Ara and some backup grunts followed my lead as we all surrounded Donald. 

“What have you done!?” Ara was on the verge of becoming hysterical. Poor girl. She really should have meditated more. This line of work was so stressful. “What’s the meaning of this!?” Ara asked this rogue agent, but he stayed silent. 

“ANSWER!” I shouted, still feeling my hand throbbing in pain. The smoke cleared further, just enough to see the floor. With this new level of vision, I took a better look at the grunt Donald shot first, only to find... Donald was dead on the floor. “What the hell is this? How the hell are there two Donalds?” It was not my proudest moment. The excitement must have hampered my cognitive abilities. There was only one way that could be true. So when I looked up and crossed eyes with the killer Donald, he transformed. His appearance became that of Astrid’s. Still holding the blaster, Astrid scowled at me something disgusting and dropped the weapon. This was no child. It was a monster that had happened upon us, a judgment of fate.

“So, you’re a shapeshifter?” Ara clutched her blaster. The clicking of the gears meant only one thing; it was primed. She would strike the hair trigger and fire upon this monster before us at any moment.  

Astrid continued glaring evilly at Ara and me, “Stay the hell away from me....” Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, and then, a puff of purple smoke appeared, quickly covering her. One grunt started shooting, and many others did the same. But after a couple of moments later, the smoke dispersed only to reveal that Astrid was no longer there. 

“And a teleporter, apparently,” Ara rolled her eyes. 

“Professor, one of our fallen comrades was able to plant a chip onto Astrid during the chaos,” one grunt saluted while showing me a tablet. It displayed a tracking app reflecting the location of the chip. It was perfect. She was not too far from here. “Also, I ran a quick scan of energy levels similar to what the green crystal displayed. The closest matching energy level is at Bluebonnet Lake, where we found the crystal before our research.” 

“So, it somehow went back to where we found it, is what you’re saying?” 

“Precisely. Should we send a team out to retrieve it? Sir?” 

“No need,” I nursed my hand. “It’s at a place where other people wouldn’t suspect. For now, we should focus our attention on catching the girl. Understood?” 

“Yes, sir,” the grunt saluted.  

“Do some research on the character Astrid while you’re at it, too. Wiki, UTube, anything with information on her abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. I want to know it all.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Carry on now,” I released him. 

“Videogame characters in the real world...” Ara raised her brow. “I thought this was about the multiverse.” 

“It still is. Come now, Ara, did you think a version of yourself would pop up eventually? Must be such a disappointment.” 

“Well, no. But this is a character created from someone’s inner imagination. Is the multiverse that broad to where our creations could be existing out there, somewhere?” 

“It is infinite. The multiverse is an ever-winding sea. Anything and everything is possible. We need to better prepare.”