Dimension Doors

The two old women looked at the empty cookie plate on the table, then at Doughnut, Noople, and Sun-hop.

“Here, have more cookies.” Said one of them in a warbling tone, and stacked the new full plate onto the old empty plate.

“Great idea!” Said Noople. “Hey. Could you get us some milk, too? My mouth is getting dry from that delicious cookie and I'm sure I won't be able to eat anymore without having a glass of milk.”

“Oh. Yeah. Right!” Sun-hop said. “Me too. Milk, please.”

“Of course!” Doughnut exclaimed. “A glass of milk, please.”

The old ladies grumbled and retreated carefully into the kitchen, never turning their backs. They could hear their voices. “Open the refrigerator.” “That's not the refrigerator! That's a closet!” “Now get the milk.” “That's not milk, that's a watermelon!” “Now get the glasses.” “No! Not glasses for your face! Glasses for the milk!” “Yes. Now carry that.”

While the arguing went on in the kitchen, Noople hid all the cookies under the couch. Sun-hop grabbed one out of her hands.

“What are you doing? Remember, it has been mixed with sleep potion!” Noople whispered.

Sun-hop nodded. “But they we’re still delicious.” He grabbed a handful of cookies and crumbled them onto the plate. “Yes. I'm just perfecting the trick. With these crumbles, it really looks like we ate the cookies.” He grabbed the rest of the treats and shoved them under the couch again. “It’s getting crowded under there.”

Doughnut giggled and spread some of the crumbs onto Noople’s shirt and Sun-hop’s pants. “Now it looks like you really ate them.”

They all started to giggle, right as the old ladies walked back in.

“What’s so funny?” One of the old ladies asked.

“Oh. These cookies are so good, that's all.” Noople said.

“Oh yes. And they are making us feel sleepy. Is there some sleeping potion in them?” Sun-hop said, smiling and closing his eyes.

“Really? They are making you feel sleepy?” Asked Doughnut. “They are making me feel more awake. Is there coffee in them?” She started flying around the room super fast.

“That seems incorrect. I feel strong after eating them. Did you mix a strength potion into the batter?” Noople asked, flexing her muscles.

The old ladies stood and said nothing. They slowly backed out of the room and into the kitchen.

“We should depart. I imagine they have puzzled together our ruse.” Noople whispered.

“Nah. Let's pretend we are asleep and see what they do.” Sun-hop said.

“No, let's do both!” Doughnut whispered. “Grab some sheets from the bedroom and stuff pillows under them. We’ll make it look like we are sleeping on the couch but really, we’ll sneak outside and watch through the window.”

So the three friends quietly and quickly grabbed pillows and sheets from the bedroom and make it look like there were people sleeping on the couch. They snuck outside and watched. Sun-hop opened the window and made a fake snoring noise.

The two old ladies crept quietly into the room. Seeing the couch, they drew the knives from some unseen secret pockets in their blue dresses and stabbed the pillows. “What? Pillows!?” Grok and Renald ran around the house shrieking and trying to figure out where the three friends were hiding.

Noople, Sun-hop, and Doughnut crept away from the cottage, covering their giggling mouths.

“Are you sure that was Renald and Grok?” Doughnut asked.

“I saw a fox tail and a lizard tail. I can’t say I’m sure it was them but I’d say it was a good guess.” Noople said.

“There could be another evil talking fox out there in the world, I suppose. I mean, as long as we're talking possible.” Sun-hop said. “So should we go back in there and get them? I think we could fight them, no problem.”

Noople paused and moved her mouth side to side. “Do you recall why we are here on Zinkadur, good friend? We're here to get you, the most exemplary fighter in the world, to help defeat Stylus. If we leave and trap Grok and Renald here, that will be even easier.”

“Yeah but with Renald having a new buddy here on Zinkadur, he may start to cause more trouble for the people of my world. I'd hate to leave my neighborhood with one more villain and one less hero.” Sun-hop said. “I'm the hero, by the way.”

They all laughed.

“Well spoken, friend. I don’t want our world’s dilemma to be your world’s downfall.” Noople said.

“Well, my buddies the magic pig detective and the horse are still here and they might be able to handle things without me but we're kinda a team, you know, with my as the leader of course but together we solve whatever problems come up because between the three of us we got major hero skills.” Sun-hop said.

“Well so then what do you propose we do?” Noople asked.

“You should die!” Grok yelled and swung his axe.

All the while the three friends had been talking and walking, Grok and Renald had been hiding in the shadows and silently following. As Grok’s axe moved towards Noople’s neck, Sun-hop lengthened his magic stick directly into the path of the blade and blocked it. Grok snarled and leapt at Sun-hop, showing his sharp lizardman teeth.

Noople shouted in surprise and looked around for more enemies. There, behind a tree was Renald with a crossbow. The fox aimed the weapon at Sun-hop’s head and fired. The monkey was too busy fighting Grok to notice, so Noople leapt into action and swatted the crossbow bolt out of the air with her sword.

Sun-hop turned around to look at Noople. “Good turn taking. I saved your life and you saved mine.” He laughed and pointed at some trees. “We should move the battle over there so it is harder for Renald to shoot at us.”

Noople nodded and they both quickly moved to the shelter of the trees. Grok stood grumpily with his axe. Renald frowned and lowered his crossbow. Doughnut, who everyone had forgotten about, was floating some distance away, wondering how she could help. From behind her, a monkey with a ghost trap snuck up, sprung the trap, and closed her up in the box. When the light of the ghost trap flashed, Noople and Sun-hop turned and looked.

“They’ve got Doughnut!” Noople yelled.

Renald, Grok, and the monkey ran away laughing.

Sun-hop snorted. “Well looks like our decision has been made for us and we’ve got a fight on our hands!”

Noople and Sun-hop gave chase. They could see the ghost trap. It was tucked securely under the monkey’s arm. The box was small. The monkey was only slightly larger than the box. The load was slowing him down. Sun-hop was catching up.

The monkey glanced back and screeched. The monkey threw the trap to Grok. The lizardman caught the box. Still running, he tucked it into his backpack. The monkey moved faster. Grok seemed unburdened by his new load.

Renald led the chase up and over a hill. There was a muddy field down below. Shadowy shapes shambled in the dirt and darkness. Renald and the others fled downhill. Without hesitation, Sun-hop and Noople followed.

Noople could see that the moving shapes were animals. Hybrid ant bears. Their bodies were ants, their heads were bears. Renald dove into the dirt and rolled around. Grok and the monkey did the same.

Sun-hop paused and grunted. “What are those fools rolling in the dirt for?”

Noople shrugged. “I am unsure but it seems an excellent time to close the distance!”

They moved closer. Sun-hop readied his stick. Noople drew her sword. When they were just shy of striking range, Renald and his buddies leapt up and ran past the ant-bears.

Sun-hop sprinted to try and catch up. As he moved past one of the hybrid monsters, it made a terrible roaring noise and lashed out to bite him. With ease, Sun-hop moved to the side and smacked the thing in its insect head. The creature toppled over.

A host of the ant-bears quickly circled around Noople. Sun-hop looked at Renald, then back at his friend Noople who was standing alone against hungry looking monsters.

The stone monkey smashed a bear’s legs. Noople cut off an ant head. Sun-hop leaped up and over the circle of monsters to stand side by side with his friend.

“That was your opportunity to rescue Doughnut.” Noople said, tightening her grip on her sword.

“And leave you here to get killed by ant-bears? No way, friend. We will take these things down together and then rescue our friend together. Together!” He yelled and smashed another ant face.

Noople swung her sword and chopped off a bear arm. “Why did these things let Renald and his buddies past? Why are they fighting us?”

Sun-hop kicked mud into a pair of ant eyes while sweeping a set over bear legs over with his staff. The blinded ant head sniffed the air and lunged to bite him. He somersaulted under the creature and kicked it in the belly.

“They can smell us! That's why they rolled in the dirt! They were covering their smell!” Sun-hop shouted as he rolled in the dirt. “Get dirty! Jump in and swim in that dirt.”

Noople dove into the dirt, and Sun-hop followed suit. Wearing their newly mudded outfits, the two friends watched the ant-bears wandering off, snorting, growling, and apparently totally uninterested in fighting.

“Ha!” Exclaimed Noople. “The dirt appears to have concealed our scent and they don’t even know we are here any longer. Perhaps they are blind.” Noople looked curiously at the retreating antbears.

Sun-hop grabbed Noople by the arm and sprinted after the trio of kidnappers. They traveled the whole night, following the footsteps of the fox, the monkey, and the lizardman. It was an easy trail, because there had been no effort to conceal it.

As the sun rose, Noople stopped and let one knee fall to the ground. “I need a respite, Sun-hop. I am exhausted and famished.”

The stone monkey smiled and lifted his friend onto his shoulders and kept running. Noople fell asleep while riding, almost fell off, and snapped awake in a panic.

“It's no use, Sun-hop. I'm spent. My body requires rest.” Noople said.

The mighty fighter took his stick and made it long and thin like a thread. He wound it snugly around Noople’s waist and about his own body until it was snug like a belt. Then he stretched it further and made some shoulder straps. Noople fell asleep in her backpack bed. Sun-hop ran.

When Noople woke, Sun-hop was handing her a sandwich. She didn't ask where it came from. She just put it in her mouth and chewed. “This is the most amazing food I've ever consumed in my life.”

“That's because you're super hungry. It's just a ham and cheese sandwich that some nice lady in the market gave me.” Sun-hop smiled.

“I declare that from this moment forward on ham and cheese is the most stellar sandwich in the entire multiverse.” She took another bite. “Did we find Doughnut yet?”

Sun-hop nodded. “Sort of. The sandwich lady told me she saw a fox running into town and showed me the building he ran into. It's a warehouse a few blocks from here. I thought I'd wake you up, we could eat, and then go see what is inside.”

Noople nodded. “I'm ready.” She finished the sandwich. “Actually, do you have another one of those?”

Sun-hop smiled and passed her another sandwich. “Yep. I got four more.” He grabbed another sandwich for himself.

When they finished eating, Sun-hop made his magic staff into a walking stick. He pointed toward the warehouse. It was a red and black building with no windows. The only door had a huge lock and chain across it.

Noople walked up, ready to knock. Sun-hop pushed her out of the way and kicked the door in half. “This is no time for manners.”

Two giant rat men stepped out of the darkness behind the door. They were both holding wicked, curved daggers and showing their shiny white fangs. Sun-hop, with one sweep of his staff, knocked their legs out. Noople smacked one across the head with her fist, turning his jaw and knocking him unconscious. Sun-hop grabbed the ankle of the other prone rat man, swung him around and tossed him into the wall. There was a grunt and then no movement.

There was some sort of chanting coming from inside the building.

“What is that language being spoken?” Noople asked.

“Sounds like mumbo jumbo nonsense to me!!” Sun-hop said. “Let's waste no time.”

The stone monkey exploded into action. He smashed the door with his staff. This revealed a small army of rat men that gave Sun-hop no pause. He whirled his stick and became like a bulldozer in front of a pile of toys. The rat men scattered, regrouped, dispersed, and re-appeared.

Noople spotted a machine hiding in a corner. She saw rats wandering in one end, sniffing something, and giant rats emerging from the other end holding bagels and weapons. It was so thick with enemies there was no way she could get to it. She sprinted over to the whirlwind that was Sun-hop and shouted.

“There’s a device over there that is creating these wretched rat men! Throw me over the hordes and I will destroy it.” She said.

Sun-hop picked her up, handed her a hammer from a fallen rat man and threw her at the machine. Dodging the claws and swords of her enemies, she bounced inside the mechanical cylinder and brought the hammer down upon a flashing screen and a handful of buttons. Sparks flew everywhere, knocking her over. Rats and rat men surrounded her. She threw her arms up around her eyes and screamed.

“Get up.” Sun-hop said.

She looked around to see that the monkey had laid the enemy to waste. “That babble is coming from there.” He pointed at a rickety set of wooden stairs.

Swiftly, Sun-hop scooped up Noople and sprinted up the stairs. As they crested the final step, they saw their kidnapped friend tied to a post and surrounded by four figured. Three of the figures they recognized immediately as those who had taken Doughnut - Grok, Renald, and the Monkey. The fourth wore a shiny black and silver cloak, covered with purple letters from some ancient alphabet. The mysterious figure was the source of the chanting they had heard earlier.

They had not been spotted yet, so Sun-hop set down his friend and then two of them snuck behind a black metal cabinet that seemed to be the only piece of furniture in the room. From there, they noticed a white chalk circle on the floor next to Doughnut. It too was covered with squirmy incomprehensible letters, like the ones on the cloak.

Noople whispered to her friend. “What are we witnessing here?”

The mysterious figure turned toward them, its hood falling down, revealing s beautiful and terrifying snake face. At that same moment, a glowing blue door began to emerge from the floor. It sputtered and flickered, casting multiple shadows through the room.

Sun-hop picked up the cabinet that they had been hiding behind and threw it at the snake faced figure. Grok and Renald dove through the glimmering door. The monkey and the snake were smashed in a cacophony of crunching metal and splintering wood.

Noople ran forward and untied Doughnut. “Where does the portal lead to?”

“No time to think.” Sun-hop said, grabbed his friends, and jumped through the door.

They swirled and slid. They flopped and flitted. They dove and danced. They found themselves surrounded by an army of lizardmen.

There were thousands of them, armed with bronze spears and clad in shining silver armor. They were arrayed in three circles, glaring angrily at the three friends. Noople, Sun-hop, and Doughnut stood up slowly, still feeling unstable from their dimension door journey.

Once on their feet, they could see the burned down castle of the Empress. Just outside the ashes sat Stylus, flanked by Grok and Renald. Stylus stood up from the throne and adjusted a golden crown on his head. He sniffed, then smoothed down the velvety, fur lined purple cloak he was wearing. “Kill them!” He said casually and then walked away, followed by Grok and the fox.

The lizardmen swarmed. Sun-hop swirled. His staff spun, knocking over the reptiles as quickly as they charged. Soon there was a ring of groaning, concussed soldiers. Noople and Doughnut stared at each other in panic.

“We’re trapped!” They shouted at the same time.

The lizardmen shouted from outside the ring. Then, a spear from outside the ring came flying at Noople. She stepped to the side.

“Doughnut! Fly! Noople, hop on my shoulders!” Sun-hop yelled.

More spears came flying in. Doughnut flew straight up into the air and disappeared. Noople scrambled up the monkey’s back. He sprung over the ring and crashed through the circles of lizardmen, collapsing them like withered leaves before the scythe of his magic stick.

They run and run, hearing the stomps of soldiers behind them. They sweat and scream. They sprint. They find themselves at the shore, standing before a canoe. Doughnut is already sitting in the boat, rowing it out into the water.

“Get in!” She screams.

The army closes in.

Noople and Sun-hop dive into the water and swim after the boat. They clamber inside. Doughnut rows. They look behind them at the rocky shore and see the reptile soldiers throwing spears uselessly into the water around them.

They row. For a whole day they row. They reach the shore and stumble out, too tired to tie up the boat. Noople knows where they are.

“To Zoughnut’s house!” She croaks with a dried out throat.

They shamble to their friends house and knock on the familiar wooden door. The sounds of a dog barking excitedly came from inside.

The door opened, revealing a sleepy eyed ghost. Zoughnut. Everyone smiled and failed to notice Tomato the dog slipping outside and jumping all over Noople. They fell to the ground and soon the cat was fending off loving kisses.

“Okay! Okay! I get it. You adore me.” Noople scooped the red dog up in her arms and stood up.

Tomato looked at Sun-hop, wagged her tail, and gave a friendly bark. The monkey walked over and scratched behind the dog’s ears. “Hey buddy. What’s your name?”

“That’s Tomato.” Zoughnut said. “I’ve been dog sitting for Poople and Noople.”

Doughnut floated over and reached out her hand to pet the dog but Tomato snarled and bit at her fingers. Zoughnut shrieked and jumped back. “Woah! What is up with that?” The dog continued to growl.

“Calm down, friend.” Noople said soothingly and rubbed the dog’s back. “Doughnut, perhaps being in captivity left you marked in some way?”

“Captivity?” Said Zoughnut with wide eyes. “What is going on? What happened?”

“I got captured by an evil fox named Renald.” Doughnut said, moving a bit further away from the dog.

“Huh.” Zoughnut said. “Well maybe you better come inside and tell me the whole story.”

Sun-hop moved quickly across the threshold. “Well, I don’t know if we have enough time for the WHOLE story but being a master spinner of yarns myself, I’ll fill you in on what you’ve missed.” He said himself on the green fuzzy couch. “When is the last time you saw your buddy Noople there?”

And so they took a couple hours to get Zoughnut back up to speed. Throughout the storytelling, they were periodically interrupted by Tomato growling, snarling, and generally giving the stink eye to Doughnut.

“Maybe when you were a prisoner some magic goo got on you or something?” Zoughnut asked.

“Perhaps a visit to the witch would be revelatory.” Noople suggested.

They walked over to the witches’ house, barking dog in tow. When they knocked on the door, it cracked open slightly. “Why is the dog so angry?” Asked Poople’s voice.”Is it going to attack? Have you been feeding it blood instead of tomato juice?”

Noople stepped closed to the door and the wooden porch beneath her feet gave off a comical squeak. “That is why we are here. We would like to consult with the witch about why the canine continues to be distressed around Doughnut.” She pushed the door inward, opening it all the way. “Now give me a hug.”

Over the sounds of the yapping dog, everyone hugged Poople.

“What’s that… all that noise?” The wizard said, emerging from the bathroom. He grinned widely upon seeing his friends and joined the group hug.

The witch came bursting from the bedroom. “You’re back!” She hugged everyone. “Can’t someone silence that dog? Percy the owl is trying to sleep.”

Noople picked up Tomato and snuggled with her. “It seems her canine sense of danger has been set off by Doughnut. We suspect that our adversaries did something nefarious to her while she was in captivity.”

The witch snapped her fingers, widened her eyes so it looked like they might pop out of her head and walked over to Doughnut. Faint yellow beams emerged from the witches’ dark brown eyes and landed on the ghost.

“That tickles!” Doughnut giggled.

“It does not.” Said the witch. “Now sit on the couch and be still.”

The ghost frowned and sat next to Sun-hop. The monkey grinned and wiggled his fingers toward her. “Want to be tickled?”

The both laughed and squirmed.

“Cease this foolishness. This spell does not last long.” The witch grumbled.

Now the monkey and the ghost frowned together.

The yellow beams moved all over Doughnut, from bottom to top. Finally, upon reaching her pink hair, they stopped. Doughnut held her breath and went completely stiff.

“Aha!” The witch reached out and plucked out a tiny green rock. “Here is the thing!”

Doughnut exhaled. Sun-hop immediately began tickling her and they both burst into giggles. The couch scooted noisily on the wooden floor.

The witch moved away from the commotion and over toward the dining table. Noople, Zoughnut, and the Wizard gathered around. Tomato had leapt from Noople’s arms and was hiding in a corner and whimpering.

“What is that?” Noople asked.

“Is that a giant booger?” Zoughnut asked.

“Looks to be a magical tracking device.” Said the wizard.