Monroe

Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-four. Fuck the wheels, I'd rather walk.

Bob walked out of Dave and Amanda's house and turned towards the garage. Vera's van was there, with a trailer hitched to it. Vera was tugging on the garage door handle in front of the van.

"I just bet there's a fucking box of some shit leaning against it," she growled, stepping away and giving the handle an angry look. "Give it a pull; you've got to be stronger than me," Vera instructed.

Bob reached down, turned the handle, and gave it a gentle pull. The door didn't move. He tried again, pulling gently, before gradually increasing the strength he applied. The door broke free and flew up along its tracks, spilling out a box full of what appeared to be Christmas lights onto the ground.

"Told ya," Vera smirked as she stuffed the lights back in the box before tossing it back up on the pile it had presumably slid from. "Make with the magic, and I'll be ready," she said as she climbed back into the van and started the engine.

Bob shook his head and pulled another hundred mana crystals from his inventory. He made it a point to keep his eyes open while visualizing the pattern for the mana. It was much easier when he had mana sight running, but the lack of mana regeneration on Earth made that a challenge.

One hundred seconds later, the portal twisted into existence, covering the front of the garage. Vera let out an excited laugh and drove the van and trailer through it.

Bob chuckled as he imagined the van bouncing over the ground next to the Adventurers Guild. He dropped the portal, turned, and realized there was another van in the driveway, engine still running. The two men in the driver and passengers street were staring at the open garage in disbelief.

He hoped that they were Mike's friends. Either way, he was due for yet another awkward conversation.

"Alvarez, Freeman," Mike called as he walked out of the house, "glad you found the place."

Bob breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that they were, in fact, the right people. The garage was set back behind the house, so you'd have to be pulled up past the house to see the garage door, but even so, he should have taken more precautions.

"Hanson, what the fuck was that?" the driver yelled out of his window.

"That's a hell of a story, brother," Mike said as he walked over and stood next to the driver's door. "One best told over a cold beer, assuming you Freeman haven't given up drinking?"

"Hell no," the passenger, presumably Freeman, replied loudly, "especially not if it's your beer."

Freeman swiveled the passenger seat a hundred and eighty degrees, and Bob could see a ramp lowering from the passenger side of the van.

He walked up to stand behind Mike. "Hello," Bob said, "I'm guessing you're Alvarez?"

"I am," the driver agreed before spinning his own seat around.

Twenty seconds of silence, at least for Bob and Mike, there was a bit of swearing coming from the van, and both men wheeled around the front of the van in wheelchairs.

Bob turned and looked at the front steps. He had just come down the back steps.

"Follow me," Bob said, turning to walk towards the garage, which was now nicely hidden from the street by the van.

"Again, what the fuck is going on, Hanson?" Alvarez asked, his voice surprisingly calm for having just seen a van disappear into a portal.

"Not here," Mike said and gestured for them both to follow Bob.

"I'm looking for some answers too," Freeman told Mike as he wheeled up to the garage, "because I just saw a van with a trailer disappear into a garage that ain't big enough to hold the trailer."

"Ok," Bob rubbed his hands together, "Which one first?"

"Which one first?" Alvarez looked at Mike, "I don't like the sound of that. Who is this guy Mike?"

"Bob, you aren't good with people," Mike sighed, "look, Alvarez, give this guy two minutes of your time, ok?"

"I'm sorry," Bob apologized, "it's been a couple of rough days, and my ability to interact with people has been completely drained."

"I'm gonna put my hand on your shoulder for one hundred seconds, Alvarez," Bob held out his empty hand, the other having become occupied with a sack of mana crystals, "just... don't break my arm or anything."

Bob carefully placed his hand on Alvarez's shoulder. He could feel the tension in the man.

"Mike," Alvarez hissed warningly.

"Brother, ninety-eight more seconds," Mike responded.

"Is this some kind of faith healing shit?" Freeman asked. "My mom drug me to church for months after I got out of the hospital, praying for a miracle. I humored her because it's my mom. You ain't my mom Hanson."

"No, I'm your brother, and I'm just asking for a few minutes of your time," Mike replied calmly.

The seconds passed, and Bob opened his eyes as the ritual completed, quickly removing his hand from Alvarez's shoulder and stepping back.

Alverez let out a startled yelp and fell out of his chair, clawing at the stumps of his legs as the puckered and scarred skin broke open, and bone, ligaments, and tendons shot out, extending and then completing his missing legs, the skin flowing down to cover the new limbs.

Alvarez lay on his side on the concrete driveway, staring at his legs. He reached down hesitantly and touched his knee, disbelief written clear on his face, as tears started to run down his cheeks. "My.. my legs..." he whispered, his voice breaking.

"Yep, those are your legs," Bob agreed, stepping around him and smiling at Freeman, who was looking at Alvarez in wonder. "Same thing, if you could not hurt me, that would be great," he asked as he carefully reached out to touch Freeman's shoulder.

Juan Alverez stared down at his legs. They looked perfect. Hell, the scar he'd gotten from skateboarding when he was twelve wasn't even there.

He had never been able to remember the explosion, but he'd never forgotten waking up in that bed, struggling to sit up, and then looking down to see the stumps and the flat sheets where his legs should have been.

"Mike," he swallowed hard, "I'm not dreaming, right? Those are really my legs?"

Mike reached down and helped to his feet. To. His. Feet. Juan had to lean on him for a moment but then took a step back, marveling at the sensation of standing on his own.

He took a step forward, then a step back. He turned left then right. He snapped to attention. "I can't fucking believe it," he wiped the tears from his cheeks and rubbed his eyes. He looked at Mike. "How?" he asked.

"That's a story I need Bob to tell, and he's busy getting Freeman his dick back," Mike replied.

"Oh, fuck yeah," Steve breathed, "Dude, I ain't gay, but I'll suck your dick daily if you can grow my dick back along with my legs."

Mike shook his head as he chuckled. "Don't scare the man when he's working his magic," Mike advised, "I don't know if he can fuck it up accidentally or not, but why take the risk?"

"Magic?" Juan asked, pulling at Mike's sleeve. "This guy can just fucking magic people's legs back?"

Mike nodded, "And more," he responded, his voice lower, more serious.

"Like I said, I need Bob to tell this story, but we gotta wait for him to finish with Freeman," Mike reached down and picked up Juan's chair, nodding to the trashcan beside the garage.

"Might as well toss it. You'll never need it again," Mike said.

"Fuck," Juan breathed as he took ahold of that fucking chair, folded it, flipped the lid off the trashcan, and stuffed it in.

"Goddamn it," he muttered, wiping his eyes again. He couldn't seem to stop crying.

He turned around in time to see Bob step back from Steve as he grasped the arms of his chair tightly, and his legs regrew.

Steve stood up shakily, looking down. He pulled the front of his shorts out and looked down before letting them snap back into place, his head coming up with a huge smile.

"Oh, I'm back bitches!" Steve shouted to the sky, "hot damn, I'm fucking back!"

Bob hurried past Mike and Juan, heading for the back door of the house. "Can we all get inside? I'm afraid we're making a scene," he said dryly.

"You could have waited till we were inside to heal them," Mike retorted.

Bob turned as he opened the door, looking at Mike, then looking down at the stairs, then looking back up. "I figured they'd rather walk up the stairs than be carried," he said before heading into the house.

Juan looked down at his legs again. "He's not wrong," he admitted.

Shaking his head, he followed Mike into the house, Steve close behind.

They walked into a kitchen, Juan taking two steps forward before coming to a sudden halt. There was fucking puma or a mountain lion sprawled out on the kitchen table.

"That's a big ass cat," he said cautiously.

"That's my buddy, Monroe," Bob picked up the cat, draping it over his shoulders. The huge cat barely twitched, but it did start to purr. Loudly.

"Come on into the other room, there's more space and more chairs," Mike gestured for them to follow him.

Juan instantly recognized the hex board and DM screen on the table from his childhood. "D&D and real magic?"

Bob sat down, depositing the massive cat on the table in front of him. "The magic doesn't have anything to do with the D&D," he explained, "this is just a friend's house."

Steve sat down next to him, grinning like Juan hadn't seen since before the explosion.

"So, you got Eric and Andy coming to get healed too?" Juan asked.

"I do," Mike confirmed.

"So, what's the deal?" Juan asked, "I'm not complaining," he hastened to assure them, "but you don't just grow people's legs back for no reason."

"Well," Bob began hesitantly, then he looked at Mike. "Can't you tell them?"

"Bob," Mike said patiently, "I don't know anything, remember? You gave me the quick and dirty. I've still got a lot of questions."

"Right," Bob muttered, sinking his fingers into Monroe's ruff and rubbing the cat's neck.

"Maybe we should wait for the other two?" Bob suggested, "so that I don't have to go through it again?"

"Dude," Steve said, "just tell me what I need to do. I don't need irrelevant details."

Juan grimaced and shook his head.

"I need you to kill monsters," Bob said, "lots and lots of monsters."

"What like D&D monsters?" Steve asked.

"Kinda, yeah," Bob confirmed.

"Shit, me and Juan can kill all the goblins you want," Steve boasted, "or bugbears, or whatever."

"Seriously?" Juan looked at Bob, "you want us to kill monsters."

"It's a long story," Bob shrugged his shoulders, "I really should wait till the other guys get here."

"Yes, you should," Mike growled.

"Alright," Steven conceded, "I'll wait. Just want to get going on whatever Bob needs done. Hopefully it involves walking, or hell," his grin widened, "even marching."

"Well, you weren't lying about the glacier," Roger grumbled.

"I wasn't lying about anything," Amanda replied with a sigh, "I just didn't mention that we were going to another universe, is all."

"Well, I think it's lovely," Helen said, "fresh air, beautiful trees, mountains, and that glacier is gorgeous as well." She quirked a smile at her husband. "And don't think I didn't see you eyeing that river either."

"Assuming," Helen turned to Amanda, "that we can go home at some point?"

"Yes," Amanda was quick to reply, "Bob can portal us back."

The tavern door flew open, and Vera bounded in. "Hey! Can I get some help with the generator?"

Dave and Amanda both quickly stood up. "We'll be right back," Amanda said, then rushed to follow Vera out the door, Dave hot on her heels.

"Well, you certainly brought enough fuel," Dave grinned as he looked in the trailer.

Amanda peered over his shoulder. There were four huge drums in the front of the trailer, with the generator sitting in the back.

"I figure we can just set it up outside here and run one of these hundred-foot cords in through a window," Vera gestured to a pile of bright orange extension cords next to the generator.

Dave lowered the ramp for the trailer and hauled the generator out, rolling it over to the side of the building.

Amanda and Vera followed with the extension cords.

"How much did this setup run you?" Amanda asked curiously.

"Well, the generator was three thousand," Vera began, "and the drums were two hundred each, empty, and I filled them with fifty gallons of fuel each, so a bit over a grand in fuel, then about fifty bucks for the extension cords."

"Oh," she continued, "the trailer ran me two hundred bucks, and I need to have it back by tomorrow afternoon."

Amanda shook her head. "How long will that much gas last?"

"At full load, twenty days," Vera grinned, "but that baby is just gonna be idling with only my server and router hooked up, so maybe six months?"

"Well, at least we'll be able to charge our tablets and phones," Dave grunted as he wheeled a drum next to the generator.

"Amen," Vera replied fervently.

"So," Vera whispered to Amanda as Dave pulled the dolly back to the trailer for another drum, "I see you got your folks here."

"I did, although I didn't mention we were going to be in another dimension," she confessed. "Mom's taking it well or pretending to take it well enough that I can't tell the difference, but Dad is a little cranky."

"Did you get ahold of Daniel or Ben?" Vera asked.

"Texted, emailed, messenger, but no reply as of the time we left," Amanda frowned, "one of the downsides to being here is that we pretty much have to wait for a ride back home. It won't be a big deal once everyone is over here, or once we can portal on our own, but for now, it's a hassle."

"Still," Vera grinned, "worth it to get magic, right?"

"Absolutely," Amanda grinned back at her friend.