CHAPTER 126: WORLDS COLLIDE

"Marcus this place is amazing!" Tom squeezed his cousin's shoulder hard enough to leave bruises. His eyes were everywhere at once. "Look tiny people everywhere. Almost in every shiny mirror."

Tom was running everywhere like a golden retriever discovering a new park. He bounced from the TV to Tyler's gaming monitors to the microwave, pressing his face against each glowing screen. Even Marcus was in clear denial still but Tom had already adapted and was trying to communicate with Tyler about his gaming PC through enthusiastic pointing and grunting.

How Tom was so calm and accepting Marcus had no idea.

"Tom leave Tyler alone. He doesn't speak Valdrian. I'll show you how computers and phones work." Marcus went after his cousin but Tom was already trying to swipe TikTok on Tyler's phone. His massive fingers fumbled with the tiny screen.

When Marcus took the phone away Tom let out a cry like a wounded animal.

"Hey that spider kid was gonna kick that ugly bird's ass!" He tried to take the phone back with his giant hands, reaching over Marcus's head.

Tyler was watching the interactions in great surprise. His mouth hung open. His eyes kept darting between the two identical faces in his apartment. "Marcus, you're also Marcus right?" he asked finally.

"Yeah Tyler it's still me."

"Dope...." His puzzled face remained intact. He scratched his head slowly.

"Tom how are you so calm and accepting?" Marcus finally got angry and let it out on Tom. His voice cracked with the weight of everything. "Aldric got caught. We are on a different planet. We don't know if the city survived." He sat down at the nearest chair. His legs felt weak.

"Calm down Marcus." Tom's voice was surprisingly gentle. He walked over and sat across from his cousin. "Before we were pushed through the portal and after I let go of the brain freeing machine. Palwin sent me information of the city." He grabbed a carrot from the counter and bit into it with a satisfying crunch. "Apparently we won after Malachar left for us."

Marcus felt some tension release from his shoulders. "And for your situation? Palwin mentioned?"

"How?"

"Well you know we are close." Tom's face softened at the mention of her name. "And when she tried to mention her other planet situation she also mentioned you are also living in another world. And it makes sense. How do you know so much? Why are you so small? Because you are divided in two." He chuckled at his own observation.

"Ha! Ha!" Marcus thought unbelievably that other than him no one was understanding the heaviness of the situation.

"Now that Mr. Pressley is gone. What are we gonna do?" Other Marcus entered the room talking in English. His face was tight with worry. Huh. Still only me thinking about the situation, Marcus thought.

Irene emerged from the bathroom. Her eyes were red from crying but she had washed her face. "I just can't believe my dad let go of the situation so easily."

Tyler jumped up from his chair. His whole body was vibrating with nervous energy. "Guys guys you realize we just witnessed magic and possible world transfer." He looked around the room at everyone's relatively calm faces. "HOW ARE YOU ALL SO CALM?"

Tom jerked up with the sudden burst of shouting. "Why is he shouting?"

"Nothing nothing. He just doesn't understand how we are calm." Marcus returned to Tyler and continued. "We are not calm. We are just in shock as well."

Other Marcus nodded vigorously. "Yeah we were attacking a dictator mage one second trying to save our lives and now we are on another planet. I just can't process the situation..." He got up and tried to take a sip from the water cup. His hand shook so badly he spilled some down his chin. "Not fully anyway."

Tyler's expression shifted to guilt. He looked down at his feet. "Your parents are also coming Marcus. I... I am sorry I thought you were genuinely throwing your life away."

Marcus met his roommate's eyes. "I mean I was for the sake of Valdris but.."

"No more," other Marcus finished.

They looked at each other and smiled bitterly. "No more."

Irene walked up behind Marcus and wrapped her arms around him from behind. "Yeah I am not sacrificing my part of the Marcus anymore."

Tom had been watching the exchange with growing confusion. "What's going on? Explain to me too bro..." He returned to the group and let out an English word. "Yeaah. You keep saying things like this."

Marcus switched to Valdrian. "I will explain to you later. For our situation here I think we should wait for Celestine. Maybe she can help."

Other Marcus nodded. "Yeah only Celestine can help us but who knows where she is and when she turns up." He switched back to English for Tyler and Irene's benefit. "For my parents I don't want to show other Marcus and Tom. I will deal with them normally." He turned to Tyler. "Tyler you can also say like you misread the situation."

Irene frowned. "Until this Celestine person shows up are we gonna sit and wait?"

Marcus shook his head firmly. "No no... for their return we need to buy stuff. Actual rifles and bullets maybe."

Tyler's face went pale. "Ummmm... Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Tyler we are actually fighting a near immortal dictator mind mage and now we can see he has the power to travel between planets. He is about to become an interplanetary threat."

Tyler winced and ran his hand through his hair. "Okay I take it back but with what money? Sorry to bring it up but I paid your share last month. And I don't think your Valdris counterpart has any money."

"Correct we don't have any money."

Tom was looking at Marcus with begging eyes. He tapped his cousin's arm. "Dude please?" His tone made it clear he wanted to know what was being discussed.

Marcus translated. "We are discussing buying new equipment in this world for our return but we don't have any money."

Tom's face scrunched in confusion. He opened his hands in both directions like he was showing the size of a fish. "Marcus? What do you mean you don't have money? We are rich over Valdris!"

"Yeah I don't have Aldric or Sara in this world so I am broke."

Tom pointed at Marcus's head. "You still have this. You can make money. You know how. You can sell stuff."

Marcus blinked. The simple logic hit him like a lightning bolt. "I mean yeah I can.." The realization spread across his face. "Yeah I can."

"But what?" Other Marcus asked. His eyes had lit up with the same spark.

Tyler threw up his hands. "Guys once again you switched languages and now we can't understand."

Marcus turned to his roommate. "I mean Tom said we are getting rich over there. We have the know-how. We can become rich here and fund their return."

Irene tilted her head. "But with what? Selling what? Making crude weapons?"

Marcus started pacing. His mind was already racing through possibilities. Soap making. Leather work. Food preservation. Machinery. All the things he had learned to survive in Valdris. All the knowledge trapped in his head.

"I don't know but have to find something and act quick."

The apartment fell silent. Three people from one world and two from another, all staring at each other, all thinking the same impossible thought.

How do you fund a journey between stars?