Jenny sat on the porch, still too dazed to fully grasp what had just happened. She stared across the street, at the place where the hole had been, trying to sort through the events in her mind. Suddenly, a voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Jenny," the voice said, urgently. She looked down at her lap to see the tiny cat-girl standing there. "Jenny!" she said. "This is no time to rest! We've got to get them out of there!"
Muriel stared at her. "Who're you?" she asked, more than a bit aggressively. The cat-girl shook her head. "I don't have time to explain right now!" she said. "Those kids' parents are on the other side of that portal! We've got to save them!"
The policewoman took a step closer. The sirens were getting nearer now. "I'll go," she said. "I don't know what just happened to Jenny, but she's in no condition to-"
The cat-girl's ears went flat against her head. "I know that!" she hissed. "But you can't get back through that portal, and none of the others are on hand!"
Muriel sighed. This was all crazy-talk... Or at least that's what she'd think if Jenny hadn't somehow managed to close off that place all by herself. She knelt down next to her ward. "Jenny?" she said. "The cat-thing is right. There's two people in there who really need your help. Can you help them?"
Jenny shuddered. All the noise and confusion had made her so scared...she didn't want to go to wherever those things had come from! But...she looked at the girl from inside the house. She was trying to be brave, but she couldn't hold back the tears. If she didn't do this, those kids would lose their mommy and daddy like she lost hers...
She stood up. "What do I gotta do?" she said, her voice trembling.
The cat-girl smiled, and Muriel looked so proud... "All right," the cat-girl said. "First, you need to be in magical-girl form again, so count to four..."
Jenny closed her eyes and counted to four, tapping her foot as she did so. A rhythm took hold of her, and she began to dance without even thinking about it. Muriel watched in amazement as her clothing changed, until Jenny was once again dressed in the uniform she had had.
"Okay," the cat said. "We don't have time to train you right now, so you have to remember: don't try to fight anybody. Go in, find them, and bring them out, as fast as you can."
Jenny nodded, biting her lip. "All right," her little mentor said, "make a door."
She paused, puzzled. Make a door? How? She didn't have any tools or stuff, or even a frame to put it in! Then it struck her: four points is a door frame, right? Not quite understanding what she was doing, she removed the hair clips that had appeared on her braids and reached up, setting one into mid-air to mark one corner. Next was the other top corner. Then she reached down to the ground and marked two corners there.
Jenny stared at the space in front of her. It didn't look any different, but she thought she knew what to do. She reached out in front of her, and her hands came to rest on what looked like thin air. She gave a gentle push, and it swung inward to reveal a completely different landscape. Taking a deep breath, she ran in.
Toby still couldn't quite believe what had happened. They'd been sucked right out of the world, and into some dark hellscape! It was tumbled, barren rock as far as she could see, and dark, cloudy purple skies above, all as animated as herself. She huddled against a rock that provided enough cover to hide behind, unsure of exactly what she was hiding from or where on earth she could hope to run to.
Terri was not far behind her. "We're in trouble," he said, sitting down next to her. "Whatever that vortex thing was, it's closed up. I'm not sure where we are or how to get out of here, but I was thinking that was our best bet..."
Toby sighed. "I...oh God, I want to get out of here, but I just can't stop thinking about the kids! Terri, what's going to happen to them?"
Her former wife sighed. "I don't know, honey," he said. "They're safe, I think; I watched the portal closing up and I know they didn't come through. But...if we don't find a way out of here..."
This was too much for Toby to take. She stood up, set her jaw, and squared her shoulders. What was she doing hiding behind a rock? Man or woman, she had her family to consider! "No," she said, "no, we will get out of here. Come on!"
Terri gaped. "Do you have any idea where you're going!?"
"Nope. But we're not going to just sit here."
Her spouse shrugged. "I guess I can't argue with that," he said. "Just...let'sbe careful, okay?"
They walked for some time along the rocky wasteland until they came to a steep incline. Maybe a quarter mile below them was a ravine through which was marching a veritable army of assorted gremlins, goblins, and other unpleasant-looking things. Toby quickly ducked down, and Terri dropped right after her.
Terri frowned. "Where are they going?" he said. "There doesn't seem to be anything off in that direction..."
Toby shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe it's just too far off to see. Do you think we should follow them?"
Terri shook his head. "No," he said. "It'd be nice to find sonething, but probably not whatever it is we'd find there. Besides, we're not exactly inconspicuous right now."
Toby looked down at herself. This was very true; the rich blue and soft creamy pink of her new body would stick out like a sore thumb against this somber, darkened landscape. They'd have to stay hidd-
"Hi," said a voice. Both of them nearly jumped out of their skin, and whirled around to see who had spoken. It was a girl maybe nine years old, dressed in a sort of geometrically-themed outfit, with long white braids. Four wing-like quadrilaterals hovered behind her back. She looked as nervous as they felt.
"I'm hereta save you!" she said. "C'mon, I gotta door open! Hurry!"
Neither of them were quite sure what to do, but with no better plan and the girl being the first thing they'd seen here that didn't exude malice, they decided to trust her. She took off at a dead run and they followed; somehow, despite her size, she outpaced them, and waited nervously by what looked like a doorway in thin air.
They dashed through and she followed, slamming the air-door shut behind her and quickly deconstructing it. There was a thump just before she gathered up the final corner, and they shuddered to think what might have been following them. But here they were, back in their own world safe and sound and sprawled out on the front lawn. Toby laughed and embraced Terri, and they hugged on the grass for nearly a minute before they remembered that their children were waiting for them.
"Okay," Muriel said, "now that we have a minute or two of peace and quiet, explain to me just what this is all about."
The little cat-girl looked around. They were in the living room of the house they'd saved from the monsters. Jenny, exhausted and scared from her experience, was clinging to the bug-plated woman, looking drained and ready for a long nap. The anime couple were seated on the couch; the young son was sitting in his...mother's? lap, clinging tightly to her, while the older girl was sitting next to the brunette guy that appeared to be the blue-haired woman's husband.
She sighed. "Look, there's not a lot I can tell you. That was another dimension making contact with this one, and I helped Jenny put a stop to it."
The boy spoke up. "Why'd the stupid sun go and let them in!?" he snapped. "My parents almost got killed!"
She shook her head. "It wasn't the sun that did that," she responded, tail swishing. "I don't know much, but I do know that whatever this is, it's been coming for a long time. If anything we're lucky - the sun has brought forth a force capable of standing against it."
His eyes went wide. "Really?"
"Really."
Muriel scowled. "I still don't like this," she said. "Why did you have to go and drag Jenny into this? Hasn't she been through enough!?"
The cat-girl sighed. "It's not like that at all," she said. "I didn't pick her to be Four, I found her because that is what she is. You can blame the sun if you like, but these powers are as much a part of who and what Jenny is as her body or her mind."
Muriel's scowl softened a bit, but she still didn't look entirely convinced. The blue-haired woman leaned forward. "I'm the manager at Channel Seven," she said. "Is there...is there anything we can do to help? Any warning we can give people?"
The cat-girl shrugged. "I don't think so," she said. "The only advice I can offer is pretty obvious - if a giant portal starts sucking things in, get away. And please don't broadcast that, because it'll just create a panic. But...if you get a tip on anybody else like Jenny, would you please let us know? It's very important that we find the other numbers..."
Toby nodded. "All right," she said. "I'll keep that in mind. Where can I contact you?"
Muriel sighed. "I'm sort of looking after Jenny at the moment, at least until we find out who she is or where she lives. You can contact me through the police department." Jenny hugged her tightly, and she patted the little girl on the back.
