Chapter 1: Homeward bound

Swimming downstream, Eugene squinted at the water ahead of him. I'm almost there, not that long until i'm in the ocean! He thought, trying to stay determined.

He suddenly realised he had reached a waterfall. "Oh great, just what I needed, a giant waterfall." He groaned. "I guess I'll have to go on land since there's no way i'd be able to fall down without breaking something...that water would feel like concrete..." 

He glanced at the rocky slopes on each side of the

waterfall and shivered. "Those rocks look... sharp..." He gulped. "I guess I'll need to be careful not to cut myself or slip..." He shook off the feeling. "I didn't come all this way for nothing. No point in turning back now." He said, confidence slowly returning.

He clambered onto the shore on the left side -since it looked like a slightly less steep slope- and started to climb down the rocky slope. About halfway down the slope, He put his foot on a small stone--

It crumbled under his foot. "GAH!" He exclaimed, holding on tight to the stone above him. 

He looked down at the ground far below him. I probably would've broken my legs if I fell... He shuddered at the thought.

He kept climbing down, and down until he got to the bottom. Panting from exhaustion, he sat on a rounded boulder and looked up the slope -which was actually more like a cliff or a wall than a slope. "Oh yeah, I totally could've broken my legs... or worse..." He gulped.

He got back in the river and continued swimming. He had only swam a couple metres when he 

saw something; the river seemed to widen, so much so it didn't look like there  were any shores.

"No way, NO WAY!" he exclaimed with glee. "I'm back in the ocean!"

He dived underwater and did a couple of underwater somersaults. Now all he had to do was get back to the king of the sea's castle to show him he was back and alright.

He swam past shipwrecks and kelp forests, until he saw a glowing light far away from him. He swam faster and 

faster and then dove straight down.

He swam up to the front doors. "Halt!" The guards spoke in rough voices. "I'm here to see the king." he told them. They searched him over for weapons. They never used to search me before... I wonder why they're searching me now... he wondered. The guards nodded at each other and opened the castle doors. 

"What is it now-- Oh my goodness is it really you?" The king gasped. "Where have you been? I was sending search parties to look for you! I was beginning to think you were dead! Tell me what happened."

"It'll take a while--"

"I'd still like to hear it if you don't mind."

Eugene explained to the king that he was swimming around one day when he was caught by a fisherman. He told him that the fisherman asked him to grant him a wish, and how Eugene told the fisherman he can't grant wishes so he was released in a river with no way to get home.

"How did you get back?" The king asked.

"I met a blue haired girl named Hilda!" Eugene explained. "One of her friends told me how to get back to the ocean!"

"I'm glad you're back, but I have to tell you something..." The king said.

"What is it Your Majesty?" Eugene asked.

"I'm sorry but you've been replaced... If it was my call to make, I'd have checked to see if you were still alive before I replaced you, but I was being threatened by someone who has huge sailing ships that could ensure

my people wouldn't survive." the king sighed. "I don't know why exactly they wanted me to hire someone else, but I have a feeling it had something to do with them not wanting peace with our kind."

"Maybe I can help--" Eugene started to say.

"No, you came all the way back here. You don't have enough energy left from your journey." The king told him sternly.

"Can I at least try to find someone to help?" Eugene asked. "I want to help!"

"Alright, but be careful! I don't want to lose you for good this time!" The king responded firmly.

"Thank you Your Majesty!" Eugene beamed. "I won't let you down!"

"Let's hope so, for all our sakes." The king sighed.

Chapter 2: The Journey to Trolberg

Eugene swam from house to house, asking for people to be security guards for the king until everything was resolved, but he had no luck.

"Darn. No one wants to help." he groaned. "Whatever shall I do?"

He swam back to the king's castle.

"Oh, back already?" the king asked. "I assume it didn't 

go well."

"Unfortunately." Eugene pouted.

"I guess it's decided then." the king sighed. "I'll be stuck with a jester wants to kill me, from a human who'll definitely do that if I don't accept the jester."

"No! There has to be a way! I won't let you die!" Eugene cried.

"I don't know about you, but I don't see a lot of options at the moment." The king said firmly.

Eugene thought for a few minutes until something

came to him.

"Your Majesty, I have an idea!" Eugene exclaimed.

"Alright, tell me. I need options. I don't plan on dying anytime soon." the king leaned in.

"I can go on land and maybe I can find Hilda and her friends so they can help us!" Eugene said enthusiastically.

"How do you know they'll help?" the king asked.

"I don't, but I have to try!" Eugene said with confidence.

"Alright, but if you can't find someone to help soon, I may be no longer breathing when you return." The king spoke calmly, as if his life wasn't in danger.

"Understood sir, I'll be as quick as possible to find someone." Eugene said, anxiously.

The king wished him good luck and gave him a dagger to defend himself with. Eugene thanked the king and swam out of the castle, determined to put an end to the conflict before it started.

He asked an old underwater cartographer for a map to the port of the city of Trolberg.

"Trolberg? Why would you want to go there?" The cartographer asked.

"It's not important." Eugene quickly said, eager not to scare him. "Well, it is, but just to me. Do you have a map to help me get there?"

"Of course I do. That's my job!" the cartographer chuckled.

Eugene flushed violet from embarrassment. "R-right of course! Can I borrow it? I REALLY need to get to Trolberg."

"Forget borrowing, you can keep it! I've been handing out maps for free since people don't come by to pay for maps anymore!" The cartographer guffawed.

"Thank you so much! I'll tell people about you so you can get more business!" Eugene beamed.

"Thank you very much! Be safe!" The cartographer

smiled, handing Eugene a map to Trolberg.

"Thank you again! Goodbye for now!" Eugene said, smiling awkwardly.

"See you around, err... what's yer name young man?" the cartographer asked.

"Oh, uh, just call me Eugene." he responded.

"My name's Cain. It was nice meeting you Eugene." The cartographer said kindly.

"It was nice meeting you too Cain." Eugene said, slightly less awkwardly.

Then he swam off. That was so awkward... It's like I forgot what a cartographer does! how embarrassing! Eugene thought, cringing.

"Well at least I can still get help from Hilda and her friends." He sighed.

Chapter 3: The Strangers

"I'm sorry, but we can't help you right now. Frida's at witch training, and Hilda's with her. Besides, I can't help you by myself." David explained.

"There has to be something you can do! The king is going to die if we don't do SOMETHING!" Eugene responded, panicked.

"Eugene, I want to help, really, but I'm not strong enough to be a guard!" David told him in a serious 

tone.

"But where else can I find someone to help me?" Eugene asked.

"Try down at the docks. That's where adventurers hang out, as far as I can tell." David recommended.

"But I was just there!" Eugene whined.

"Well you have to look really hard. They aren't always the easiest to find, so let's hope this matters enough to 

you to look for them." David mused.

"Trust me, this matters a lot." Eugene answered quickly. "Um, thank you David." he added.

"No problem. If you need to, you can come back here later if you can't find someone." David replied.

Eugene nodded. Then he ran back to the docks.

Eugene looked around the docks, asking anyone who looked like they might be even the slightest bit 

interested in helping, but unfortunately nobody wanted to help.

He had almost given up hope, when, suddenly, he saw 6 hooded figures.

He followed them, wondering why they were being so secretive. He tiptoed after them as they went into an alleyway.

"I don't get it, this has to be the right universe! We saw it go through the portal! This city has the most people it has to be the right place!" a voice whisper-shouted.

"I know, and we'll find your boyfriend Krel, I promise we'll find him." another voice whispered.

"I really hope he's ok..." the first voice -Krel apparently- whispered back. "Oh poor Finn..."

"I'm tired of hearing you two argue." muttered a third voice. "Maybe I should just cut out your tongues." the third voice got more insane sounding as they said the second sentence.

"No Grey! You won't be cutting out anyone's tongue!" a fourth voice whispered.

"You think you're the boss of me Comet? You're so naive." the third voice, Grey chuckled.

"That doesn't matter! you still shouldn't do that!" Comet responded--

Eugene accidentally kicked a small stone.

"Quiet. We're not alone." Grey growled.

Eugene ducked behind the corner before the hooded figures turned to look at where he used to be standing. he put one of his hands over his mouth, determined 

not to make any noise. He peeked around the corner... and saw one of the hooded figures was gone.

He rubbed his eyes, making sure he wasn't just seeing things--

Someone grabbed him by the collar of his vest.

"How much did you hear? Answer before I start chopping off limbs!" The hooded figure named Grey snarled, pushing Eugene up against the wall and holding a knife to his throat.

"N-not m-much I swear!" Eugene stuttered voice wavering.

"I said how much?" Grey snapped, voice firm and angry.

 "A-all I-I h-heard w-was y-you s-saying y-you'd c-cut o-out t-tongues!" Eugene responded, voice getting shakier by the second.

"You're LYING." Grey hissed.

"Grey. Leave 'em alone. You're 15. That's still a boy. you shouldn't be killing anyone in the first place. Drop 'em. Now." the second hooded figure commanded with a firm voice.

"This isn't over." Grey told Eugene, voice full of hostility. He released Eugene from his grip.

"Wow, thanks." Eugene said sarcastically.

"Sorry about him." the second hooded figure apologized, taking off their hood. "He's just a very 

unstable individual. What's your name? Mine's... uh, well it's hard to pronounce... just call me John Doe. Or Doe for short."

"I understand, my name's hard to pronounce too, so you can call me Eugene." Eugene responded. 

"Oh? Tell me, what's your real name?" Doe asked.

"Not if you don't tell me yours first." Eugene said.

"Ok, it's weird though."

"I think I can handle it."

"Ok, my real name is..." Doe then proceeded to make static and glitch noises.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!?! THERE WERE EVEN PICTURES!!!" Eugene exclaimed in shock.

"Alright, what's yours?" Doe asked, still grinning from Eugene's reaction.

"Not as cool as that."

"Aw, c'mon i'm sure it's still cool."

"Alright... my name's Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerynchwyrndrob."

"Oh my... that sure is a mouthful..." Doe breathed.

Eugene looked at John Doe. He had a black sweater on under his cloak, even though it was a warm day - almost as if he was hiding something (or was just 

somehow cold). He had baggy black jeans, matching black loafers, what seemed to be black painted fingernails, and eyes so dark brown they looked black. his long black hair was down to his waist in messy curls and had red streaks. Not to mention...

"Why do you have...breasts...?" Eugene accidentally said out loud.

"Hm? Oh!" Doe exclaimed. "I have... um... a larger chest than most men haha... people have thought I was a woman, -which by the way is completely fine-  and 

honestly it's not a problem since I'm technically genderfluid."

"Gender...fluid...?" Eugene asked.

"Oh! yeah it means that you identify with multiple or all pronouns -like he/him, she/her they/them, it/itself etc.- and have a constantly changing gender, or in my case can change your physical gender." Doe explained.

"So... what are your pronouns?" Eugene asked awkwardly.

"My pronouns are He/Him, She/Her, They/Them, or It/Itself. You can use any of those when refering to me. I really couldn't care less." Doe responded.

"I'll... just call you a he if that's ok..." Eugene breathed, dizzy from the barrage of words.

"That's fine! Pronouns are a tricky thing. Oh! What are yours?" Doe asked, his curiosity peaked.

"I thought mine were He/Him... but this is confusing..." Eugene said.

"Well what gender do you feel like?" Doe asked.

"Oh wait! I'm getting distracted! Can you help me with something?" Eugene quickly asked.

"Sure! What is it Eugene?"

"So... um... there's this guy that wants the sea king dead... aaaand I could use some help keeping him safe from the entertainer who replaced me. You see, the guy who wants the king dead is the one who hired the jester... can you help me resolve this and keep the king 

safe while this happens? Please?" Eugene begged.

Doe looked at Eugene's pleading face.

"I can't help you since I can't go in water, but I can send Grey, Comet, and Krel with you." Doe told him.

"Can I go instead of him? He's ready to come with you, even though it's dangerous. Can I help Eugene?" asked  A formerly cloaked young woman with light brown hair and emerald eyes.

"Please? I need to come with you to find my boyfriend! 

The Pibby Corruption has a grip on him!" Krel pleaded.

"The... Pibby... Corruption...?" Eugene asked, very confused now.

"I'll explain later... Monika, if I send you instead of Krel, can you promise me you'll stay safe?" Doe asked.

"Babe, I'll be fine! You know I have combat training!" the young woman, Monika exclaimed.

"I'm not trying to underestimate your abilities I just don't want you to get hurt when I'm not around to 

help. Please be careful." Doe responded.

"I will. Don't worry." Monika said calmly.

Grey, Comet and Monika waved and walked off, following Eugene to the ocean.

Chapter 4: More people?!

Grey, Comet, Monika and Eugene walked towards the water when, all of a sudden, they heard a very loud sound -like metal hitting concrete.

"W-what was that?" Eugene asked, nervously.

Monika squinted towards the area the sound came from. "Ohhhhhhh no... I told them not to follow us here!"

"Um... who?" Eugene tilted his head, confused.

"Friends. We need to go check if they're ok." Monika broke into a run.

Comet and Grey seemed to have no trouble keeping up with Monika. Eugene however was significantly shorter than all 3 of them.

"Wait... up... I... have... little... legs!" Eugene said, panting between words.

Comet looked at Grey. "I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no." Grey responded in his cold, 

intimidating voice.

"I'm having a hard time as it is and I sprained my wrist. Please Grey? I can't carry him." Comet gave Grey a pleading look.

"Fine." Grey sighed. "B-but it's not for you! It's because you make a good point."

Grey lifted Eugene up onto his shoulders and continued running.

As they got closer to the source of the crash, they 

heard people shouting at each other.

"Idiots! Didn't you hear what Monika said? She told us not to come!" a voice snapped.

"Bite me! They probably need our help! We can't just leave them! Besides, we haven't been on a mission in a while! I'm getting bored!" another voice shot back--

"Can both of you please stop fighting? Blue's hurt!" a third voice shouted.

"A-ah... I'm fine... my ankle is j-just a-a little sore... that's 

all..." A fourth voice said, wincing in pain.

Grey, Comet, Monika and Eugene walked around the corner to see a skeleton and 3 robots.

The skeleton saw them and tried to stand, but then collapsed.

"O-ok... Maybe my ankle m-might be j-just a l-little sp-sprained..." the skeleton, Blue, grimaced, sucking air through his teeth.

One of the robots turned to look the direction Blue was