》AT A KIOSK...

“What are those?” A little girl asked, pointing at the tests displayed.

“Those are the tests.” Carina replied, mimicking Micah's nasal tone.

“For what?” The little girl insisted.

My patience. Carina thought, then replied, “The virus.” Unfortunately, there was no vaccine against stupidity.

“What are the symptoms of the virus?” A man asked, coming from a world akin to the dark ages, he was curious about the phenoma.

Carina got creative with her response.

“The symptoms are quite common; headaches, coughs, nausea, respiratory problems, kidney failure, immune system fails, deprivation of oxygen, and cardiac arrest which could result in death. Highly contagious I might add.” Carina replied while she smiled sadistically behind the face mask.

“That's just a wife's tale.” He discredits her claim.

“It's like the Bubonic Plague of the 21st century, the only difference is that this virus spread throughout the planet in a span of a month claiming millions of lives. Instead of decaying, it destroys your internal organs first from the inside out.” The man fled.

If only the fear fueled the others to do the same but instead, they demanded to get vaccinated. The line got bigger by the time the Raptor Squad spotted her, believing that Carina was Micah.

After the Raptor Squad plotted to prank her, she used the opportunity to vaccinate one of them, despite this, they persisted in exposing her.

Carina was already annoyed by their antics, and it wasn't the worst part, the worst part was that Micah joined forces with the Raptor Squad to pester her with questions such as: “What are the long term effects of the vaccine?” “Can the vaccine alter my DNA?” “Which variant of the Coronavirus is most deadly?” The usurper responded dispeled the question with a logical response.

“The vaccine, like any other, has antibodies to protect the recipient from any viruses. The long term effects may vary from person to person. For example, one person may be immune to the virus after receiving a dose from the vaccine while another could have an undiagnosed allergic reaction to one of the ingredients once the recipient takes a dose of the vaccine. It doesn't alter your DNA nor causes any genetic mutation. The RNA is the cell that registers the information of the virus and copies the traits of the virus to produce antibodies to defend itself. It's common knowledge people!”

“I repeat, which variant of the Coronavirus is the most deadly?” Shadow asked.

“The Delta variant being the most dominant as of yet. Do you want to get vaccinated or not?” Carina countered whilst she prepared a syringe.

Blue signalled Shadow to not take the vaccine.

“No thanks, I don't trust shady shapeshifters.” Shadow's comment made the real Micah chortle and wheeze. An Indoraptor with shapeshifting powers and poisonous saliva flatly refuses to take a vaccine from an usurper that could potentially save them or doom them.

A partially drunk eyewitness murmured, “So that's how they went extinct.”

Stella heard Micah cackle from a 20 mile radius, it must be something funny if it got the usually monotonous Amoebian to burst with laughter. That, or the caffeine.

When she arrived, she found a line of people while the Raptor Squad annoyed another Amoebian, not knowing that it was Carina. Stella saw the alien taking samples of the clients. The usurper wore the face mask and scrubs and hadn't noticed Stella yet.

“Hey, Stella, are you going to take a shot of the vaccine?” Micah prompted while Spino scrolled through Micah's flipbook for the list of intergalactic criminals.

“Wow, there is a looooooong list of criminals.” Spino said while Blue, Ripper, Indy and Bary looked at the long alphabetized list, ranging from thousands of criminals.

“You're basically skimming through the lite version of the records. If you had the original, it would be longer than your collective ancestries combined.” Micah replied casually, not bothering to look at them.

Indy got spooked when one of the aliens she found looked like a humanoid urchin. The Urchinosapien, or the Trypanoplan, considered to be pacifist creatures residing in woodland areas, mountainous regions, the aquatic equivalent of their subspecies reside in fresh waters. The sharp quills of the female Trypanoplan are much larger and pricklier than the male. The criminal Trypanoplan was charged with cyanide poisoning and mass homicide, most likely pinned with attempted genocide since its kind are considered an endagered species by the I.B.I. though it didn't prevent the grey skinned Indoraptor from cringing from the sight of needles.

A nurse had finished eating from the food court and headed on her merry way to work. As she walked down the hall, she couldn't ignore the small group of people sitting nearby, waiting to take their test. Around the corner of her eye, she witnessed a larger group of people waiting to get their fair share of immunization.

“What is this?” The nurse headed closer to the kiosk Carina was borrowing and the people waiting for their turns to get tested, and hopefully vaccinated. The healthcare professional could plainly see the inconsistencies. Where are the vaccination cards? The forms and references that confirm the validity of the procedure? Who was this individual wearing the scrubs? And more importantly, did this nurse have an ID?

Stella was in line with the others before a real nurse came in. “Excuse me!” The nurse hollered before the usurper had spotted the uniformed nurse standing next to Stella.

“Yes?” The usurper queried.

“Who authorized you to open this kiosk?” The nurse questioned vehemently.

“I took the initiative to open this kiosk. It's basic protocol to inform and orientate the patients about the virus or any other equivalent to stay up to date and maintain the well being of the populace.” The usurper countered.

“Ugh, it sounded rehearsed.” One of the bystanders commented.

“Like a politician.” Another whispered.

“Is that so?” The nurse asked, chin raised as she gave a once-over at not-Micah. “Then where is your ID?”

“Getting laminated, unlike your faded ID card. When was it the last time you properly punched out, broad?” Stella heard the usurper's barb.

That totally sounded like something Micah would say. Stella thought to herself. Wait, she sounded just like Micah!

Micah removed her goggles, the creases around her beady eyes arched with joy and her puny irises beam. “That's definitely like me.”

“You should lay off the coffee.” Baci Llus commented.

“You! Take off your goggles!” Stella commanded, pointing at the usurper.

“No! I'm not risking my safety. The virus enters through the orifices, including the eyes.” The usurper countered. “If you'll excuse me, I have other people to attend.” As the usurper turned around, Stella removed the cap revealing the purple bob. Surprise surprise, same hair as Micah's to which the usurper flipped.

“Fraud!” The nurse shouted. 

The usurper extracted a sample of the nurse's blood with a quick poke of a needle that was attached to the device. 

Stella caught the usurper before the usurper smirked. “You'll burn out like a star,” The laser lipstick activated, “Stella Spacey.” As it tore a hole in the front pocket of Stella's sequined dark jacket. It pierced through the usurper's body as a gush of green goo poured out from the scrubs.

Stella released the usurper as the scrubs were covered in goo as she took off the scrubs, only wearing gloves, boots, a face mask and goggles. Micah blushed from second hand embarrassment as the usurper bled and regenerated, revealing its nudity shamelessly. It's as if the crowd was staring at your clone while the double exhibited themself stark naked. The awkwardness. 

Imagine the Raptor Squad sniggering. But in reality, they were confused.

“Can it regenerate?” Bary said.
“Is that what Amoebians look like?” No genitalia was seen, just skin. Amoebians had glutes, arms, legs, eyes and orifices, but no genitalia nor mammary glands. 
“I have no idea to be honest.” Baci Llus admitted as he thought about how Mitis would look like in this situation.

Amoebians have an urethra hidden within their pelvis that can be opened to urinate and a rectum to defecate, but that's it. 

Baci Llus slurped on his straw awkwardly as he tried to get the mental image of his coworker out of his head.

The false Amoebian dropped a smoke bomb. A dense smoke cloud enveloping the area blocking the vision of the eyewitnesses. By the time the smoke cleared, Micah was robbed of her cocoa cappuccino.

“My cocoa!” Micah cried.

“There's the freak!” A bystander pointed, accusing the real Micah this time. The Amoebian felt the glares descending on her.

“Wait! Isn't that the small cosplayer that's been yammering about users?” Another onlooker asked, scratching his head.

“Usurpers. U-sur-pers.” Micah corrected.

“Looks like a publicity stunt to me.” Spoke the same bystander.

“Or a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie.”

“Is there a hidden camera somewhere?” Another bystander darted his eyes looking for an imaginary camera, unless it was a camera Shadow had surreptitiously hidden somewhere and no one knew about it.

“No, only the security cameras.” The nurse clarified.

“We'll get to the bottom of this,” Stella started, “I apologize for the inconvenience.” The apology was directed to the nurse, though the onlookers were the ones that wanted answers.

“Crud, break time is over.” Which meant that Micah had got her Flipbook back from the Raptor Squad before they could tamper with the files, even if it meant hopping high enough to catch the device back from the large Spinosaurus.

Stella caught up to the Amoebian before removing her sequined black jacket to reveal her red frilly blouse. The nurse informed the onlookers that it had been a scam, the people grumbled, complained and dispersed. 

It was a strange coincidence that Gato contacted the covert cosmic corsair when he dropped by the stadium to keep a low profile and to get some rest and relaxation after transporting wares from one dimension to the next. It was also a strange coincidence that he spotted the Dimension Guardians, including the crystals in person. 

At first, the humanoid feline made a puzzled expression but when he saw one of the dimension crystals glow. 

As Ragdoll had seen one of the Dimension Guardians in action, he waited for the right moment to steal one of the dimension crystals. He stroked his whiskers while he watched them search for Sora at the time. Now that the Dimension Guardians regrouped, he needed to find the weakest member of the team.

As the furry anthropomorphic corsair spied on them, he passed by a red haired lad consoling a coppery skinned centenarian. 

First was the death of Barbed Wire and Lava Wire, née Lamp. Two Shadow Soldiers that grieved for the loss of their only son and were killed by a deadly toxin known to their own species categorized as Highfeldiläxomurntarianfox 45. 

Stella and Micah were searching for any clues to where the usurper may have gone. When the Izarian was around the corridor adjacent to the infirmary, when she had neared the door of the storage room Scale had found her and begged for her help.

“They were being controlled.” Scale said, convinced after Stella noted the names of the deceased Shadow Soldiers.

“What gave you that impression?” Stella asked while she noted Scale's statement.

Scale then recalled how Lava had tried to fight back. At first, she was determined to eliminate Scale, but then she had a brief recollection of her surroundings and was disoriented before she recognized him.

“Scale, is that you?” She called fearfully, a disoriented look pressed upon her face. Scale nodded, but as he did so, she began convulsing, a large, inhuman grunt escaped from somewhere deep inside her body.

Scale so desperately wanted to help his friend, but he had no idea how, so instead, he did what he did best. He ran.

“I saw her convulse as if she were possessed. The grunts sounded inhumane.” Scale described while Stella typed his declaration. “Barbed and Lava weren't acting like themselves. Despite the fact that they were still grieving for the loss of their only son, they wouldn't have come all this way to simply attack us.” 

“I'm sorry for your loss.” Stella mentioned as she saved the file. In all honesty, there was nothing she could do to help him. Possession and the supernatural were out of their control.

“They were distraught by the death of their only son, he was murdered by a revolution governed by the Shadow Soldiers.” Scale mentioned.

“So this Shadow Soldier Revolution, is it a movement linked to any communism or terrorism by a certain group within that realm, or is it an isolated case?” Stella asked.

“Well--” Scale explained what had occured related to the revolution. “--it started out as an alliance to prevent invaders from stealing their land and resources since their world was mostly governed by the Shadow Soldiers at the time. The realm is the only place they hadn't invaded yet. The revolution divided itself into two factions; the ones who believe that Grim Bootleg will succeed in gaining dominion, and the ones who believe I can stop him.”

“Grim Bootleg, sounds like a name for a space pirate if you ask me.” Stella commented before she added, “So the son of the Wire family got killed because he believed that you're the one able to stop him.”

“He and the others formed an alliance that planned to help train me. Unfortunately, half of them were dead by the time I arrived for my first training session.” Stella then reopened the file she previously closed adding the revolution and Grim's full name in the file while he was noted as the prime suspect. “The rest later got picked off one by one. Barbed Wire and his wife believed their son was just a random killing, but I know that it was because of my association with the alliance that this happened.” What Scale doesn't know is who orchestrated the killings?

“Do you have any leads of who the killer may be?” Stella asked him in earnest, she gave him a serious glance. Her red eyes were piercing round rubies.

“That's what I've been trying to figure out, it's as if whoever is after me knows my every move, following me around like a shadow at every turn.” Scale admitted as he mentally revised everything that occured to the days leading to the contract and tried to figure out who it was.

Grim tossed the empty can of Cröstnack in the trash bin, then he saw the chaos that ensued. A crazy curly haired brunette swung her glaive as she sliced clothing, stabbed the magic users while her baby blue dragon bubbled up the next targets to harpoon with. For an instant, he considered recruiting her for his upcoming army once he succeeded in claiming ownership of that realm, despite that his twin brother and sister-in-law had stated if he defeated Scale despite that he knew that they were openly against his plans for intergalactic domination.

Or was it multiverse domination?

He shouldn't have gotten distracted since he got trapped in a bubble the baby blue dragon created.

“We finally caught him.” Maori declared. The dark cloak, tall stature and ambiguous face was very misleading since she hadn't caught a glimpse of his face, though the dark energy Grim exuded like a thick musk was similar, not as potent, but staggeringly close.

Grim yawned and laid down, bored. Maori fumed before she stabbed through the bubble, but instead of stabbing him, the bubble popped as it let out a dark smoke.

He leaned behind her, and whispered, “Boo.” Maori turned to slice him in half but he teleported out. “As much as I'd like to stick around and get impaled, I have better things to do.”

A/N: The flashback related to the death of Barbed Wire and Lava was written by JohnathanSmith026.

Some of his original characters were borrowed for this chapter. Thanks for reading.