Chapter 2: Regroup

Barnaby and Kotetsu, as well as Zael and the others quickly rushed back to Lazulis Castle, trying their best to explain what the heck was going on with each other. Kotetsu and Barnaby now knew for sure that they were definitely not at Stern Bild, definitely not on Hero TV and definitely not even in their own world at all.

They were in a place called Lazulis, where Hero TV didn't exist, and where the concept of 'NEXT' didn't really exist, either. And technology here in Lazulis wasn't so well developed.

So that kind of sucked for both the Wild Tiger and Barnaby Brooks Jr.

After everyone sat down at Lazulis Castle, got out of their fighting gear and gave their explanations about what the heck was going on (Barnaby and Kotetsu ending up spilling EVERYTHING that happened involving Hero TV and stuff, as well as Maverick's manipulation and then jumping to chasing the possible Ouroborous affiliate while Zael and friends explained about the war between the Gurak and Lazulis and how that all ended), everyone seemed to be somewhat satisfied with explanations...except one thing.

Kotetsu blinked. "Come again?" He managed. "You're telling me and Bunny that the guy we all caught together isn't some guy from Ouroborous?"

Zael shook his head. "No," He responded, "It's not. But..the weird thing is, he's definitely one of the soldiers affiliated with that rebellious Gurak faction. They split from the Gurak Continent's main army with plans to follow Zangurak and ultimately take revenge against me for killing their past king." He winced at that. "I guess the peace treaty wasn't enough for them..."

"So they're just going to go and try to take over Lazulis?"

Zael nodded. "Yeah. What's even worse is that apparently there are rumours going about that Zangurak has somehow..resurrected to lead them." He shook his head. "That doesn't make sense. A dead person can't come back to life. If too many people heard of these rumours, everyone would get in a panic. Calista and I have been trying to keep it down."

A silver haired young woman (Calista, Zael's wife and Countess of Lazulis) sighed, shaking her head. "First it's the war between the Gurak Continent and Lazulis, and now this." She frowned. "I just wonder why we can't have peace for once."

"We did have enough peace to rebuild Lazulis after the war though." Yurick reminded her softly, adjusting his eyepatch. The fire mage looked to Barnaby and Kotetsu with his good eye before speaking up again. "At least we know you're not enemies, so I guess you can stay here until you find a way home."

"Thanks," Barnaby responded. He pushed up his glasses, looking to Kotetsu and then to the others. "We tried to call everyone we knew, but none of them can answer. Considering that technology here is different than where Kotetsu and I come from, I guess trying to communicate is impossible. So we'll need a way back. Do those portals show up often?"

Mirania shook her head, munching on a muffin. "I don't recall reading about them before," she admitted, taking another bite of her muffing and swallowing. "But I can definitely try to see if there is anything that transports you both back to your own world, if you'd like."

"That would be great!" Kotetsu managed a grin, but couldn't help but think of Kaede. How would his daughter react to hear that her father went missing? Definitely not a good reaction for sure. He just hoped that she was okay. "Hey, and I guess I can help out with it, too. Two people are better than one, right?"

"I can also help out." Barnaby reminded Kotetsu, giving him a look. "Besides, being the old man between us you'll probably make the search more difficult."

"Hey!"

Lowell and Syrenne (a ginger-haired young lady who was married to Lowell and already expecting their first child, much to both Heroes' surprise) both looked amused, both of them laughing. Both men blushed, looking to them quietly.

"So, uhh..." Kotetsu felt awkward. How to break the ice here...? If he was going to be stuck here, might as well get to know the people he was sticking with, right? "So, you two are expecting your first kid. How is that feeling?"

Lowell grinned, trying to cuddle up to Syrenne, who blushed and tried to pry him off her. "It's wonderful! I honestly can't wait. Though we've yet to find out if it's a he or she..."

Syrenne looked to him, a smirk on her face. "Should I remind you that you were th' one who fainted at the news?"

Lowell had his turn to blush. "Uh, well, yeah..."

Calista blushed, looking to Syrenne and then to the Heroes. "Syrenne and I were in the middle of planning the baby shower when you all arrived, so...sorry about the mess." She managed.

Barnaby looked around (noticing the small, organized but still-messy piles of decorations that were obviously meant for baby showers), before grinning, pretending not to notice. "It's okay. Kotetsu and I were the ones who barged in, anyway."

"Heard anything from Kaede?"

"Nope. What about Saito?"

"I can't get anything from him. Have you tried Nathan yet?"

"I'm on it." Kotetsu quickly tried, but then that failed too. He groaned, sitting on the bed in the guest room they shared (after explaining to Calista and Zael that he and Bunny were romantically involved so it was fine). "Nope. He's not picking up either." He looked up to Barnaby, frowning. "So, I guess the theory you had earlier about the being-in-different-worlds thing is true. We can't contact them from here because of the differences in technology."

Barnaby nodded. "Yeah." A sigh escaped him, looking to the nearby window that overlooked the courtyard of the Castle. "I think the best chance of us finding a way home is helping out Calista and Zael with their problem with the Gurak army faction. The sooner we get that fixed up, the sooner we'll have more time for them to help us find a way back..."

That was when the two heard a thump.

Both Heroes looked to each other, then to the door.

"Was that from outside?" Kotetsu went to the door, opening it. His eyes widened. "What the..."

"What is it?" Barnaby asked softly. He went over to the door, peering out and immediately understood what happened.

A male figure, wavy blond hair block the view of his face, groaned as he leaned against the wall, panting a bit. His clothing was disheveled, his whole being trembling as he weakly attempted to stand up straight.

"Hey! You okay!?" The two rushed to the man, who stumbled forwards. Had it not been for Barnaby catching him he would have hit the ground. Barnaby looked to Kotetsu, shaking his head.

"He's out cold already. We have to get help!"

They managed to rush the man to the hospital wing quickly, alerting the attention of Calista and the others. After getting a good look at the patient (after getting him into a room in the hospital wing of course), Calista looked to the Heroes, visibly distressed.

"This should be impossible." She uttered, looking to the figure on the bed and then to Barnaby and Kotetsu. "This is my uncle...he should be dead! What is he doing here?"

"Wait, wait—" Kotetsu looked to the man lying in bed, then to Calista. "That's your uncle? He looks really shaken up."

"I-I know." She sighed. "Remember how I told you that my uncle died during the war? His whole body disintegrated when he tried to activate the Outsider to make it use the Lazulis Cannon to attack the Gurak...so it shouldn't even be possible for him to a physical form. But now he's here. It makes no sense."

A soft breath escaped their patient's throat, and the three turned to see that Calista's uncle was awake. His good eye was half-lidded at first, his body shifting slightly underneath the blanket as he turned his head to look at them.

"C-Calist...a...?"

"Uncle!" Calista rushed to his bedside, sitting by the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Weak," Arganan managed as she helped him sit up. "What happened?"

"You..." She bit her lower lip. "You died. But now you're alive again. Do you remember anything?"

Arganan shook his head, confusion lacing his expression. "No. No a thing. Everything..." he closed his good eye briefly, before opening it. "It's a blur."

Calista nodded slowly. "The Gurak attacked. We went to the Turret Control Room to activate the Lazulis Cannon, but it wasn't working. We found a hidden entrance to get deeper into the depths of the castle, giving us the opportunity to get to the Lazulis half of the Outsider to activate it directly."

Arganan appeared to be remembering, judging by the furrowed eyebrow. Both Barnaby and Kotetsu stayed silent, watching, and Zael walked in only for both of them to shush him, signal him that what was going on was important and required concentration. "I think I'm starting to remember. I took out my sword and started slashing at it." He shivered slightly, his expression starting to look lost again.

Kotetsu couldn't help but wince at the sight. He had a feeling that something wasn't going to go well with the older man.

Nevertheless, Calista continued. "The Outsider got enraged because you attacked it, and so it sent out Sentinel Beast Mitra to protect itself. We had to battle it, and then it vanished and..."

"And then I started going crazy." Arganan whispered, trembling again. "I...it hurts, it hurts dammit!" His hands flew up to cover his ears, holding his head tightly. "N-no, I...no..."

"Uncle?" Calista tried to reach towards him. "Please, calm down—"

"I-I can't—"

And that was when he struck her in the face.

Everything seemed to freeze right there, and Calista gazed up at her uncle, who gazed at the palm of his hand, and then to her, with complete horror in his eyes. Calista shook her head, rushing out of the room.

"Calista!" Zael followed her, as Arganan just gazed at his hands, and then towards the door, deathly silent.

Kotetsu looked to Barnaby. "Can you stick with him? I'll go talk to Calista and Zael."

Barnaby nodded. "Got it."

As Kotetsu left, Arganan shook his head, looking up at Barnaby. "I...I don't know what to do..." He murmured numbly.

Barnaby couldn't help but empathize with him. He knew what it was like (the attacks, the anxiety, the growing dread as it completely overwhelmed him, to the point of losing all composure) and he knew that it was best just to stay calm right now, for the older man in front of him. "You're not dying right now." He told him calmly, making eye contact with him. "You're here in Lazulis. You're safe, Count Arganan."

Arganan looked almost surprised, before nodding slowly,leaning back against the headboard of the bed as he seemed to almost immediately pass out. Barnaby decided it was best to stick with him still, for now, until Kotetsu or Calista or someone came back to look after him.

He knew that it was probably painful for the older man. It would be bad to just leave him like this.