The Dawn of the New World

'Find the one you came for, touch none of the others.'

Hao Xuan took Mr. Hyde's advice to heart and bent down, swerving left and right to avoid any obstructions.

All the pods were above him, either hanging loosely or attached to the floor by the numerous roots and branches which made it that much easier for him to move unhindered and with relative safety. There were still a few hair-thin branches that reached all the way up to the sides of the ceiling where he was, but they didn't cover the entire area.

Hao Xuan noticed that some of the pods had slightly different shapes and colors to them with a lot more roots and branches interconnecting them to the other pods that were nearby.

'Wouldn't wanna wake any of these guys up,' he thought inwardly.

Following the trail of the black streak which moved in between this forest of pods for what felt like a good little while, he eventually found its final destination after a couple more minutes. The streak ended outside a small to medium-sized pod surrounded by numerous branches.

The top half of its fleshy surface was the only part still left uncovered. Hao Xuan focused in on the flesh, staring at it without even blinking for a few seconds until he caught sight of some movement within.

It jerked every ten to fifteen seconds whenever the nearby roots pulsed and injected a shot of whatever liquid that was following through them.

Unsure about how to proceed, Hao Xuan decided to ask the only person that did know what was going on here.

'Should I just cut it open?'

'Only the flesh, yes. It hasn't taken solid form yet so there shouldn't be a problem. But don't touch a single branch,' Mr. Hyde warned for what felt like the hundredth time.

Hao Xuan swallowed the urge to curse him out and stood up. The pod was just half a meter above him so without wasting any more time Hao Xuan reached out and grabbed the semi-translucent white flesh that covered the top of the pod.

It felt extremely cold to the touch as if he was touching ice. But when he pushed the top with just a light touch, it caved in instantly. He used his fingers to tear open the 'skin' to reveal the inside.

There was a milky white substance filling the insides. It was thick with hard lumps forming within it. But the strangest part was that even though it was above him, it did not 'spill' on him. Hao Xuan quickly sidestepped to avoid it for no reason apparently.

'So it's not that the gravity is inverted, but I am,' he concluded correctly. Everything else was still following the normal laws of physics, he was the exception here.

'Because you are not supposed to be here so the world rejects your existence. I told you this was a mirrored reflection of your world. If you stay here long enough you will also start to physically change and take on a new form, one that conforms to the laws here. That's why it is best to leave as quickly as possible.'

'As for the inversion, did you not notice any of the written words along the way? They were all backward.'

'I didn't notice because I don't speak whatever this language is. To me it looked all the same,' Hao Xuan clarified.

'What? How do you still not speak the language? Is this not the same world as before?'

It was fair to say that Mr. Hyde's unexpected question startled Hao Xuan more than it should have. He couldn't very well tell him about the existence of the Celestial Webway, or the fact that he had access to it and at this moment, he couldn't come up with another lie.

'I-I just didn't learn the words, okay? Let me focus!' he gave a poor excuse which did manage to shut him up, at least for now.

Suffice to say Hao Xuan was left quite perturbed, thinking that Mr. Hyde would naturally connect the dots even though it was extremely unlikely. And in that moment of inattentiveness, he stepped on a nearby small branch, squishing it under his weight.

And a moment later, somewhere deep within the dense forest, an otherwise ordinary-looking pod that was more than five meters across shook, and its top burst open.

**

Hao Xuan reached into the pod and pulled out the barbarian, who fell on the ceiling just like him. His eyes were closed and was barely breathing.

'Oi oi, don't die now after I came all the way here,' he pushed several times on his chest, applying just enough pressure to wake him up.

Tasgall gasped and then gagged, throwing out multiple mouthfuls of that milky white viscous substance. He grabbed Hao Xuan's shoulder and tried to speak but his tongue was gone.

He groaned and kicked up a fuss from the pain but Hao Xuan quickly covered his mouth, saying the only word he knew in Tasgall's language without Baracus's translation skills.

"Shh, Monster!" he whispered, pointing towards the other pods.

Tasgall shook his head trying to say something but how could he without a tongue?