The Eighth Dimension

Chapter 22 | The Alley

Ron sat up, rubbing his eyes. His arm stung, throbbing a little. Syville was lying beside him, unconscious. He nudged him, trying to wake him up.

They were in a random alleyway, trash bags and trash cans surrounding them. Some were knocked over, probably from their arrival. The place didn't look familiar to Ron, but he didn't rule out the possibility of it being a dimension that they had previously visited.

Syville sat up, groaning and rubbing his head. "We lived?" He said as if he was hoping they were dead. "Where the hell are we?"

Ron stood up, brushing off his jeans which had torn during the duration of their adventure. He was surprised to see this dimension perfectly intact and not overrun by acromads.

Syville stood up, yawning and stretching. He peered out of the alleyway, dashing back inside and pulling Ron in deeper. "Do not go outside. For the love of God, do not leave this alleyway,"

"What? Why? Where are we?"

"Ron, I don't think we are in any normal dimension," He said, his face turning pale.

"Then where are we?"

"Ron," Syville whispered, lowering the distance between them. "There were acromads walking the street,"

"Acromads?" The teenager asked. "How? Wouldn't they have destroyed this place when killing all the humans?"

"Ron, there were no humans. It was just acromads,"

"How's that possible?" Ron asked. "We are so dead, we are so dead,"

"Is this the fabled acromad dimension?" The doctor asked, combing his fingers through his hair worriedly.

"It may as well be," The young Keeper told him. "We are gonna die no matter what. Why the hell did I let you convince me into believing I was the last hope for humanity?"

"Because you are, Ron! I wouldn't tell you that if I didn't believe it was true,"

"It isn't true. If I was like my true parents, then why don't I have powers?"

"You have powers, Ron! Please, just listen to me! Dig deep. Use your powers to get us out of here,"

"So what are my powers then? Can I fly? Am I invincible? I want to be just like Batman!" Ron angrily mocked. "I'm gonna be a superhero when I grow up!"

Syville slapped him across the face. "Shut up, Ron! After all we've been through and you still don't believe me? Have I lied about one thing this entire trip?"

Ron didn't answer.

"Did I lie about the Keepers being taken? Did I lie about me being one of the last ones left? Did I do anything wrong in this situation?"

Ron thought for a hard minute. "You convinced me to trust you. I trusted you so much that now you've led me to my death,"

"Ron," Syville reassured him. "Dig deep. Get your powers,"

"Screw this," Ron told him. "I have no powers! What do you not understand about that!"

Syville's eyes flickered to the street that was outside of the alleyway. "Ron, shut up!"

"No," He told the doctor. "I'm sick of this crap! I am not an Ancient Keeper! I am Ron Kinbur! If my parents aren't really my parents, then who the hell are my parents?"

"Ron, shut up now!" Syville whispered.

"You shut up!" The kid cried, voice raising. "I'm done. I don't care if I get myself killed because I was already doomed when I decided to help you on this mission!"

Footsteps sounded at the entrance to the alleyway. Both of them turned to see three acromads, mouthes gaping.

"Humans," one whispered.

Ron stopped going off on Syville. Everyone went silent as the groups simply stared at each other.

"How-how did you get here?" One of the acromads eventually said. "And why are in our alley?"

"We don't know," Syville answered for them.

"It's all his fault! He's the screwup!" Ron shouted.

"Shut up, Ron!" Syville pushed the kid away.

"Well," One acromad began. "This is where we come to smoke some pot. If you leave and don't tell no one then we won't tell no one about you. Got it?"

"That's it?" The older Keeper asked. "Deal, but we can't really go out into the streets. Do you know a way to leave this dimension?"

"I mean," the one in the back said. "There's no D-T for you Keepers. You're Keepers right?"

"Duh," another beast said, slapping the other behind the head. "They can see us,"

"Oh right," The one in the back said. "Anyways. No D-Ts here since us acromads can just teleport out of here. How'd you get in here?"

"Our friend was working on a new version of the D-T that can transport you to any dimension you want," Syville said. "It was charging up and sucked both of us in,"

"Ah," One said. "I get it. We are gonna say this one time. The acromad dimension is literally between the other dimensions, so if that thing was charging up then it hadn't reached its target or whatever and undershot and sent you here,"

"Wow," the one in the back said. "And I thought you were an idiot,"

"Shut up, Nark," The front said. "I don't know how to get ya'll outta here, but I suppose we can hide you for a bit if you don't tell no one about our stuff. Okay?"

"Deal," Ron said for Syville, glaring up at him.