Beepsumu cast her eyes downward. “W-well, um… We don’t know. I’m not really sure what effect we could have on a dimension we don’t belong in, but I imagine it wouldn’t be good… Anyways, the house. Please come with us.” She took Bowyetta’s hand and led the two indoors. “Gosh, we’re sorry to trouble you over something like this, but we can’t risk harming someone else’s dimension.”
The Repairman, whose business mainly revolved around going to universes he didn’t belong in, tried to reassure Beepsumu: “Relax, the dimensions’ll still be around when you leave. Besides, more often than not, things don’t really change for long.”
Then again, the Repairman did have an incredible lack of presence for decades…
“Eh, that’s all right, it happens all the time. I just wish there were more Toons who were as concerned as you. Now, let’s see…”
He pulled a cart out of seemingly nowhere. It had a large red toolbox on the top shelf, and a large blue one on the bottom. Digging into the red toolbox, he produced a blowtorch, a full face mask, and a sheet of metal. This job shouldn’t be too hard…
I grumbled, “Finally! I’ve been itching to go ruin somebody’s day for a while now!” Psycho giggled, and I could see the Repairman visibly cringe as we walked/wheeled along the sidewalk. Greasy pointed out, “uh…hey, boss? Where’s this Nega-Verse? How we gonna do anything if we don’t know where it is? What, do we like jump through a mirror or something?” -Smartass
The Repairman shook his head. “Nothing like that Wonderland stuff. I just go there.”
He pointed to his siren light.
“Just follow me and we should end up there pretty soon. This siren hasn’t failed me yet!”
…”Wonderland stuff”? he thought Why did I talk like that…? Ugh, gonna have to get unsculpted soon…
“Can’t you just squint or close them? Problem solved.” Ace grinned, taking some of the meat away from the fire. He wrapped it in some bread with lettuce and beans and took a bite. “I’d offer you some, but I wasn’t planning on company…” He apologized to the repairman, silently wondering if he even ate.
“Eh, that’s all right,” he shrugged. “I don’t really eat much anyhow.”
He considered the suggestion for a moment. It did make sense…
To make sure, he pulled a mirror from his hammerspace and began to look at himself. He tried squinting, winking, blinking incredibly fast, rolling his eyes… Nothing seemed to work. His eyes were still visible, even if they were just outlines.
“Wait a minute,” he realized. “Am I the only one who’s eyes are easy to see in the dark?”
If he was, then maybe no one would want to bother him…
Bowyetta nodded. “Please be understanding, Bowyetta does not wishing to return. It was not very pleasant to living, and Bowyetta is quite afraid of Smithy…”
Beepsumu tilted her head. “She’s always talking about this Smithy guy, but she hasn’t told us who that is. Anyway, our situation is kinda complicated… But since you’re not going to kick us out, I’m going to be honest with you. As per our living agreement, we’re not really supposed to be interacting with dimensions that aren’t our own. It is true that Bonk never really followed the rules… But we really can’t risk causing a panic in other dimensions, or even breaking them altogether… I don’t know where she went, but when I see her again…”
The name ‘Smithy’ rang a very faint bell, but it wasn’t enough to help the Repairman understand. There were several characters named ‘Smithy,’ he’d wager.
Apparently, no one here but Bowyetta knew what that meant, anyway.
“Oh, really?” the Repairman asked. “This…’Bonk’… can break dimensions?”
That seemed like kind of a stretch Causing a panic, maybe, but the Repairman knew of very little that could really hurt a universe. Well, aside from the Wall…
Speaking of which, he still had to get in the house.
“Hmm…” he finally said. “In the meantime, can I see what the damage is…?”
His eyes pointed towards the house.
“Well exCU-USE me!”, drawled Greasy, his voice oozing sarcasm. “We only just learned about this Nega-Verse thing and don’t know what it does!”
Stupid butted in “Since we’re aligned as Chaotic Neutral, are the version of us in the Nega thingy good guys or bad guys?”
I turned to Stupid, “That’s the last question I’m allowing. It’s like we spent three weeks just bickering back and fourth and’ve gotten nothing done! So after the…nice little blob finishes explaining to us what the rules are, we can get to work!” -Smartass
The Repairman side-eyed the green weasel, but said nothing. It was a fair point.
“Well–” he began, turning to Stupid.
He was quickly interrupted by the pink one’s outburst. He winced as he hears slight creaks from the Wall, but thankfully nothing else came.
After a moment’s thought, he concluded there was nothing else really to discuss. Thus, he turned his wheelchair around and started pushing his wheels. He stopped to look at the Toon Patrol.
“All right, let’s go!”
After all, he wouldn’t want to be accused of running away or vigilantism.
Sparky grinned at the Repairman’s comment. “Whew, I’m glad you do! We were really afraid it was gonna come down on us. Oh, and yeah, things are pretty different from when I was alive! Thank goodness for the Spirit Tracks though, as long as they’re around I can still find my way!” He started leading the group along a set of unusual railroad tracks. The ties were tringular and alternated between light and dark green, and the rails themselves were bright yellow. If the Repairman was sensitive to such things, he might be able to feel a humming magical aura gently pulsing outwards from the tracks. There were other rails- normal looking ones- that intersected the Spirit Tracks, leading to cities whose architecture had a much less diverse mix of modern and ancient styles than the ones served by the Spirit Tracks alone.
Green addressed Inky as they walked.
“You sounded really confused about what Vio said earlier. So the thing is, me and Vio- and there’s two more of us named Red and Blue-” he gestured at Vio’s and his tunics, illustrating the origin of the nicknames “we’re not twins. We’re actually the same person. We used this sacred sword called the Four Sword, and as its name implies, it split me into four copies of myself when I drew it. We each got a different part of my original personality, so that’s why we seem so different. We all merged when we put it back, but after I died we could all be separate people again. It’s more fun that way!”
Vio added “You don’t really have to worry about it. The four of us act like different people anyways, so if you just pretend we’re actually separate people, we wouldn’t mind.”
“Yeah, well…” the Repairman laughed, trying to sound modest. It wasn’t often he was outright told he was necessary.
“All right, after you!”
He didn’t really feel anything odd as they followed the strange train tracks. However, something (or, more likely, some things) in his blue toolbox, which was resting on the lower shelf of his cart, clearly did, given that humming, beeping, and other sounds softly came out of it. There was even a bit of multicolor glow emerging from the crack between the lid and the box.
He looked at it, curious as to what magic was happening. Not that this wasn’t a world where magic existed, but if the ghosts of heroes past didn’t set those doodads off, then what was?
He shook his head. If these guys weren’t worried, why should he be?
“Ah, okay,” he said, after Green and Vio finished explaining, “I’ve heard of things like that before.”
After a moment’s thought, he added, “…So no one else got to that sword?”
“If there’s a Nega-verse,” began Greasy, “maybe the Nega-You is the one destroying walls. If there’s a Fourth Wall Repairman, there’s gotta be a Fourth Wall Destroyman.”
That….actually kinda made sense, I thought. Of course, I wasn’t gonna TELL Greasy that, but it’s the closest thing we got to a lead. An ACTUAL lead; because we don’t really feel like asking around. Thinking back on it, Bugs Bunny wouldn’t really want to destroy the walls he relies on, like I originally thought….
“Well, whaddya say, blob? Think that’s a solid lead?”
-Smartass
”Breaker,“ the Repairman muttered under his breath. ”Fourth Wall Breaker.“
If they were going to meet the anti-Repairman, the least they could do is give him the right title.
"Uh, yeah,” he replied, hastily, “it might’ve been him.”
Knowing the Breaker, the Repairman wasn’t sure whether or not it was. Still, it was possible. The Breaker could be almost as resourceful as him, after all…
E looked at the notebook in their hands and debated on how much to say. The repairmen didn’t seem to have any ill intent and but for all the small talk and questionings he was still a stranger.
Probably one of the most interesting and most non-human looking one they had yet to meet but still, something told E that saying “oh I’m running away from the very people who made me and kept me in a cage” was saying too much. E flipped to a new page.
‘I wasn’t monster hunting I was trying to get through to the other side. I wasn’t expecting a rescue but just think of it like luck being on your side that I was their.’
E paused before showing the answer but shook their head to themselves and decided that’s all they wanted to say for now.
“Hmm,” he nodded. Well, there was that, too.
“Well, again, thank you for that. Not sure what kind of creature eats ink, but I wouldn’t want to meet it!”
He chuckled, and then glanced back into the dark. Gosh, he hoped none of those monsters would want to slurp him up. He hated the spit getting on his inky form. Oh, and being eaten alive was no picnic either, even if it wouldn’t kill the Toon.
Bowyetta was the first to speak. “Hello! Bowyetta, that is me!” She smiled widely as she spoke, revealing how large her mouth really was…
“And my name is Beepsumu,” said the cyborg. She began extend her arm for a handshake, but stopped herself as she was unsure if the creature had hands or not. “We know, you’re here for Bonkakira, but we… Um…” She stopped, trying to think of an answer. “L-listen, I tried to warn her, but she never listens, thankfully I caught her before she did any real damage. If you’re going to kick anyone out it should be her and not us, besides Bowyetta here really can’t go back to her own dimension because…”
As she said that, Bowyetta’s smile disappeared. “Bowyetta not can going back to there. She was been kicked out.”
The Repairman simply replied “Hello…” to both of them.
Bonkakira? Was she the one breaking the Wall?
More importantly, these folks already knew about him? Huh… Apparently there was some confusion on their part. They thought he evicted folks? Wow.
He also noted how quick Beepsumu was to throw this Bonkakira under the bus. Hmm… He’d worry about it when it came to that, he supposed.
“Um, no, I don’t kick people out,” he reassured them, “I’m just here to fix it. I’ve never heard of people getting thrown out for something like that.”
He looked at Bowyetta with mild sympathy. Never having a world of his own, he couldn’t relate, but it didn’t look or sound good.
“…Sorry to hear that,” he managed to say. “That must’ve been awful.”
“What’s a Nega-Verse??” Asked Stupid, bouncing around like an idiot, while being simultaneously confused.
I facepawed and just groaned. “A Nega-verse is a……” I trailed off, because I don’t know what that is. “Hey, blob. ” I called over to you, “what’s a Nega-Verse?”
-Smartass
"Oh, the Nega-verse is where…” he began, searching for the right words.
After a moment’s thought, he continued, “…the anti-you lives. Bad is good, good is bad, and your exact opposite looks a lot like you.”
He wondered if that made sense. It was hard to explain the difference between the Nega-Verse and Topsy-Turvy Town.
“Anyway,” he said, remembering he wanted out as soon as possible, “where’s our first lead?”
Siblings-a-Fixin' 