Indeed, Agent Bionic had been to Hell.
Or, more correctly, a version of it. He had dimension-shifted into a sort of secondary universe parallel to our own. It would be pointless to bore one with the details and scientific data of another universe existing parallel to our own (although Professor Frink would gladly do it), but some explanation is needed.
The world, henceforth known as the Realm of Rhûn or simply Rhûn (pronounced as “ruin”), is an entire universe that mirrors our own in a shadowy way. The adventures of Team 13 involve only the parallel to Earth (and even then only a small portion of the planet), but there are other “inhabited” planets. The Realm of Rhûn is where the faithful of the Reef (Reverend Rotwood’s twisted religion) banish the less-than-faithful for eternal damnation. How, one might ask, are the banished doomed? We’ll explain that after describing the world a bit.
Rhûn is a dilapidated, post-human place that mirrors and decimates the world from which we came.
Much like the Hell of Christianity, Earth “freezes the moment you cross over” to Rhûn. In other words, the time system in our world pauses when you climb into Rhûn. Nothing moves further unless affected internally.
When one crosses over, a “bomb” also drops on the world with which we are familiar. Earth is butchered, and all plant forms of life die and crumple into dust. No animal/human form of life can be found outside of the visitors and the inhabitants of the realm. Buildings, mountains, and other terrain become burnt and destroyed almost completely. Everything becomes a ruin except for the visitor.
Then the wind hits and the light system flies out the window. A perpetual wind, coming from an unknown source and always providing fresh oxygen, begins to billow all remnants of the damaged world. This wind distorts and partially drowns out all sound (including voices, which makes communication possible only though headsets). In addition, the sun and all other forms of light disappear and are replaced by an unnatural green light that eerily glows on certain facets of things and comes from an unknown source. Normal rules of light do not apply (except for shadows).
Finally, a “motion blur” appears around all objects. The wind seems to cause the edges of objects to move and become generally sketchy. This is true everywhere on the planet, and can have an adverse affect on vision and perception after a while.
During Johnson’s and Bionic’s trip to the realm in the Adventure 005 Sequel, the only living things they encountered were other visitors to the realm (specifically, worshipers of Reef). Had the agents stayed longer, they certainly would have encountered the regular inhabitants of this unearthly realm.
Demonspawn make up the populace of Rhûn. They prowl around beneath the top ruins of the planet in the sewers and caves. They surface constantly looking for life to destroy. The wind and light have driven them even more insane, to the point that they will attack anything (including themselves and other evil creatures). The only exceptions are the worshipers of Reef (even so, the worshipers never stay long in this desolate realm).
One may then ask how it was that Bionic was able to survive his trip from Florida to Milwaukee with no sustenance and loads of Demonspawn in this world.
As will be later revealed, Bionic was given a certain artifact by the recruiting agents of Bureau 13 as incentive. They did not anticipate him to use it to escape, but he was able to use it for protection long enough.
The artifact known as Huxley’s Vase was used in ancient Greek times to traverse Rhûn (which was then thought to be part of Hades). This vase can store water or wine and any type of food originally found on the Grecian peninsula and constantly replenish it while in Rhûn. The vase also serves as a ward against Demonspawn and defends its holder against the effects of the wind, light, noise, and atmosphere of Rhûn for up to a week.
Bionic had managed to steal a vehicle from the hospital, load it up with extra fuel tanks and grapes, send it into a large mirror that was being carried outside for washing, and drive it most of the way to Milwaukee. When Bionic got stuck in the mirror in Team 13's bathroom, the vase’s effects had begun to wear off (he held the vase in his jacket), which is why his lower half looked so beaten.
But why did Bionic ave to use mirrors for transport between the worlds while the truck in Adventure 005 did not?
Simple: the truck’s operators had used a gate spell (Bionic and Johnson had gotten though the gate just before it closed). Mirrors are the only other way besides spells for someone to enter Rhûn. To use a mirror to get there, one must have a piece of Rhûn (like a chunk of rubble) in one’s possession. One can then push though a mirror large enough to shift though without disturbing it. One can also exit this way (although finding an large, unbroken mirror in Rhûn is quite a task).
In conclusion, Rhûn is a hostile world used to throw enemies of Reef to their “eternal” doom. You don’t want to go there.
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