Beyond What's Known

Chapter 11

A/N: From here on out, there may be some discrepancies between how I write things related to the Goon Doc vs. the canon Goon. This isn't me not knowing canon, it's me taking some diversions from it ;)

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The townspeople in the King of Sling's living room stared at Trixie, Alana, and Junjie as they silently walked out of the mansion. Luckily, none of them directly said anything to the trio, but Alana could faintly hear them murmuring to themselves. This definitely wasn't over, but it looked like they would leave the Shane Gang alone for the time being, too thrown off by the appearance of Junjie.

Trixie led Alana, still holding onto her hand. Alana was grateful, because she honestly didn't know if she would be able to make it back to Siobhan's on her own. The town wasn't exactly a booming metropolis, but to her, it might as well have been the Cavern of Time. The sight of Junjie freely walking alongside Trixie (on Trixie's other side, not next to Alana) was so disconcerting she felt like she'd short circuited.

It had been easy to suggest taking in the Eastern Champion when he was unconscious. But now, seeing him up and walking around, Alana instinctively wanted to hide, even though she was trying to convince her brain that everything was fine. Even if something happened and Junjie attacked, he was severely outnumbered, and no longer had ghoul firepower.

Junjie looked around the town in wonder, staring for a few extra moments every time he saw a building that had been damaged from the explosions. His eyes were calculating, taking in every detail and drawing unknown conclusions. After a few blocks, he finally seemed to work up the courage to speak.

"I must know. Did... did I do this?"

His voice was drenched in sorrow and guilt without even knowing whether or not he was responsible for the destruction. Alana brought herself to glance up at his face. He looked at the rubble around him sadly, even though it was clearly somewhere he had never been before- or at least nowhere he seemed to remember.

How would he feel if he saw Palida Cavern, nothing but ash and destruction?

Trixie, who'd held a stone-cold expression through the walk up until then, softened her gaze slightly.

"No, this wasn't you," she assured quietly. "But it was the Goon Doc."

Junjie thought for a moment, then quickly stopped in his tracks and turned to face Trixie and Alana, panic in his eyes.

"Has he taken another host?" he asked urgently. "If so, he must be stopped immediately, we have to find him-"

"Don't worry, we're way ahead of you," Trixie said, tightening her grip on Alana's hand. "He took our caverns' protector, but we got him back. The Goon got away though."

"He got away?" Junjie asked, taken aback. He instinctively went to move his arms, likely to activate his blaster, but huffed in frustration when he remembered he still wasn't armed. "If he took your protector then you know the threat he poses to these caverns. We must find him immediately!"

His voice raised in volume, not in anger, but instead in urgency. That didn't stop Alana from taking a small step away from him, though, instinctively on high alert at his frustration. She immediately stepped back forward, embarrassed at her reaction. Junjie's gaze flicked over to her, but he pointedly faced Trixie instead.

"We know how dangerous he is, but he could be anywhere by now," Trixie explained tiredly. "There are wind-powered tunnels that slugs can use to get nearly anywhere in the 99 Caverns."

She kept walking, continuing the journey to Siobhan's, forcing Junjie to sigh and follow her and Alana.

"Then you must alert your entire realm," Junjie insisted, taking a moment to cause and rub at his head. He clearly wasn't completely recovered. "They must be on high alert, and I should leave immediately to hunt after the Goon."