Wow, you guys! Chapter Two! Pretty impressive, considering the ridiculous amount of homework I have these days! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and I would greatly appreciate if you'd drop me a line and tell me what you think via reviews!
Disclaimer: It's one o' clock in the morning. Chances are, by the time I wake up tomorrow (today?) I won't even remember writing this AN. What makes you think I can come up with a disclaimer?
"It was really nice of you to come see me, Gwen," Grandpa said, smiling as I waved goodbye to him. "I enjoyed talking to you. Just like old times, huh?" I could only nod at this as I felt the guilt build in my stomach. If he knew why I was really here...
But I couldn't ever let him know why I was here, so instead I just smiled back and said, "No problem. I had fun!"
I waved a final goodbye over my shoulder, then jumped on my bike to go home, regulating my breathing so I wouldn't give anything away. I scarcely made it out of sight before my excitement won over and I had to peek into my bag to make sure I'd succeeded. Everything I needed was in there- the Null Void projector, the suit, and those interesting hand grenades that had helped so much before. A thrill ran through my spine as I realized the implications of what I'd just done. I was supposedly the good child in the family, and here I was stealing from my grandfather! It was the most rebellious thing I'd ever done, and it shocked even me. Was getting Kevin out of the Null Void really that important to me? Either way, it was a good thing I had my magic- otherwise getting these things out of the Rustbucket undetected would have been impossible. It nearly was impossible, all things considered.
But phase one was complete now, and there was no point looking back. On to phase two. After checking my bag once more at home and stashing it behind my bed and out of sight, I picked up the phone to dial my best friend Julie.
After the third ring I heard the familiar sound of her popping her gum on the other end. "Yeah?"
"Hey, Julie. It's Gwen. I could use some help on something..."
KPOV
Two years. Two long, stinking years.
If I ever got out of here, Tennyson was going to hear it from me.
I'd always been the kind to look down on the people who stop thinking of it as living and start thinking of it as surviving. That is, until I got there myself. Now, I understood why. Now I could see it clearly- I was screwed.
This just plain pissed me off! Two years stuck in this neverending nightmare of a place, without even the excuse of humanity to keep me sane. For me, there was no such thing as humanity. Tennyson had made sure of that. But who needs humanity? They could leave me out as long as they wanted to. I just wanted out of here.
There was nothing here. Just... void. The "monsters" didn't even pose enough of a threat to be worth mentioning. What I wouldn't give to get out of here. To get my powers back- my body back. To live my life, instead of just surviving it.
I wondered if I'd really been here two years. That's what it felt like to me, but who knows if time worked the same way here as on Earth? I hoped it ran the same. Wouldn't it be just my luck to find out I'd missed a hundred years when I finally broke out of this hellhole? This was madness!
Two years. You'd better run, Tennyson.
GPOV
"So I'm doing what, again?" Julie asked, popping her gum loudly and eyeing the projector with suspicion.
"Just pull the trigger and hold it steady. It'll be fine," I assured her, struggling with the tiny belt I'd "borrowed" from Grandpa Max. I'd given up any hope of fitting into the suit- I had been ten last time I wore it- but the belt was indespensable. It was my way out.
"And are you sure Ben can't come?"
I sighed. Would she ever get over her crush on my cousin? "You know he can't be here, Julie, I already told you. For one thing, I don't want him to know what I'm doing. He'd kill me. For another, I really can't have you distracted. I don't want to be stuck on the other end forever. I have a history test tomorrow, anyway. So no."
"Fine. Are you ready yet?"
Everything seemed in place. "Aim it there," I instructed her, pointing to a spot that looked soft enough. I didn't exactly want to break an arm or something jumping through the portal.
She obeyed, and pulled the trigger. I winced at the sound of reality ripping apart. Or had my fear made me imagine that?
Julie frowned. "Are you sure about this? It doesn't sound to me like you owe this Kevin guy anything."
She was exactly right there. I had no idea where Kevin would be in the Null Void, for one thing. And I didn't owe him anything, other than maybe kicking his butt for all the crap he'd put us through. But I owed it to myself. "I have to be." So before I could try and change my mind, I bent my legs and jumped into the portal, into possible doom.
KPOV
It was startlingly quiet, which was never a good sign in the Null Void. Usually there was the racket of some odd creature attacking another. But nothing. No clashing, nothing.
Then, the sound of the space-time continuum ripping apart resounded directly above me, and out of the rip toppled a small figure.
At first I was too stunned by the fact that a portal back to earth- the one thing I'd been hoping to see most- was open right above me and someone had landed on me (hard) to think straight. But as the figure struggled to climb off me , I got a better look at them.
She looked about a year younger than me, maybe a little more. Her short red hair was done up in immaculate curls and she was busy dusting herself off from her shaky landing. For the strangest reason, I felt as if I knew her. I hedged a guess. "Tennyson's sister, right?" Belatedly, I realized that that would make her a Tennyson, too, and then I felt really stupid. Oh, well. Details like that weren't really important.
"Cousin," she corrected. "Gwen. Look, I'm here to help you."
That made about as much sense as the rest of this illogical place- I hadn't exactly been any chummier with her than I had with her brother. Cousin. It threw me off for a second that she would want to help me. Which might explain why the next thing that came out of my mouth had absolutely no thought behind it. "Who says I want your help?"
See? No thought. Of course I wanted her help. Anything to get me out of here.
She grinned triumphantly- Strange. I still remembered that grin. It was one of a kind. And I'd been too stupid to figure out who she was at first?- and told me in a tone that said she was sure she would get exactly what she wanted, "You want my help because I can get you out of here. And I might be able to help you with your-" she eyed my mutated form and frowned, searching for a diplomatic word- "that."
I wanted to believe her. I really did. I had been stuck as this mess so long that anything anyone could do should have been fine by me. But she was Tennyson's sister! Cousin! Whatever! "Uh-huh. And I'm supposed to believe that because...?"
Without a word, Gwen raised a hand, concentrating, and launched an indigo ball of mana into the air behind me at- well, who knows what? The Null Void was just that: a void. She could have just as easily been aiming for her imaginary friend.
So. It seemed there was some alien blood in the family. Maybe she could get me back to normal. And who was I to turn down such a generous offer? "All right, then. Lead the way."
She smiled that same triumphant smile and pointed above us at the still gaping portal. So there was someone maintaining the base. Maybe it would be Tennyson. I smiled. The first thing I was going to do back on Earth was track that little twerp down. "Ladies first."
There you have it- the... that thing. I need sleep now- one AM is really late for me, and I still stayed up for you people. Enjoy your life, and review! Ooh, and what do you think of "Fool's Gold"? I probably gave everyone withing a one block radius of my house a heart attack I screamed so loud at the end ("I'm gonna KILL you!!")! Anyway, there's the button. You know what to do with it.
M4