Chapter 5: Living Space
Omni sat silently at the main computer terminal as he searched through various Plumber databases. Since Soron and Tonto were out of the room, Omni wanted to take this opportunity to look up any information on the Cybermen he could find. After all, if these things were from another universe, then maybe Omni's universe had a rough equivalent, and maybe the Plumbers came across it at some point. Unfortunately, that was not the case as no matter what Omni did or what he searched, there was no mention of anything even remotely similar to the Cybermen. At most, the only thing he could find was an old document referring to a planet called "Mondas", which used to be known for revolutionary cybernetic implants, but the planet itself became uninhabitable when it drifted too far away from its sun.
Omni groaned and began tapping his fingers on the keyboard. He began thinking that maybe this was a waste of time. After all, Soron eradicated the Cybermen with his Kryptonian form, so maybe there was nothing left to worry about. However, Omni dismissed that thought almost immediately; for him and Tonto, there was no such thing as finished, and if the Cybermen were all as durable and tenacious as the ones Omni and Soron fought, than odds were that there were still more out there.
"You went into the TARDIS?!"
Omni was pulled out his thoughts at the sound of Soron yelling. He looked over to the hallway door, and within seconds, a completely soaked Tonto walked in with a noticeably irritated Soron following behind.
"Well, you left the door open, and I thought it looked cool in there, so I just figured-" Tonto began.
"Never enter the TARDIS when it is on fire and repairing itself! For all we know you could be a real life version of the freaking Hulk! I'm able to go in there since I built the freaking thing and I injected myself with a gamma radiation nullifying device! But how could you be so stupidly HUMAN!?" hollered Soron angrily as he visibly held himself back from punching Tonto.
"Radiation nullifying device," Omni murmured, "Because of course. Why not?" Omni then turned away from the two and went back to searching through the Plumber database.
"Hey, I've never seen a TARDIS before," Tonto defended, "You can't blame me for being a little curious."
"He also tried to fit most of my stuff in there," Omni added, his eyes never leaving the computer.
"For your information. The next time you see a ship like mine on fire DON'T ENTER THE DAMNED THING!" Soron yelled, before turning to Omni, "You, Omni, take the device I used to heal your head wound and start decontaminating your stuff. If it's left alone for an extended period of time the Gamma Radiation will become life threatening. I'll heal your idiot of an assistant."
"But I just took a chemical shower!" Tonto said.
"Doesn't matter," Soron said, "Radiation from the TARDIS doesn't just go away like that!"
"But-"
"Tonto, do what Impossible Man just said," Omni instructed as he kept working.
"Why don't you do it?" Tonto asked, slightly annoyed.
"Busy," Omni said.
"Your assistant can't go near that radiation again. If he does, he'll fall into a coma, never to wake again. Once he receives the Gamma fire's radiation, he's vulnerable to it for life," Soron said, "In other words, that particular Gamma Radiation is his Kryptonite. I doubt you've been in the TARDIS long, so you don't have that same weakness. In either case you'll need to take something before you decontaminate your crap."
Soron then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pill bottle.
"This is an advanced version of my nullifying device, but I haven't figured out how to make it permanent," said Soron as he unscrewed the cap, "You're going to need to take one if you're going to help." Soron then shook out a pill from the bottle, and threw it over to Omni.
Omni caught the pill and sighed. He then chomped it down, swallowed it and stood up.
"Fine, whatever," Omni said, stretching his limbs, "I was just trying to look up usable information on the Cybermen, but who needs that?"
"I'll take you to the rift they came from. I saw them exit, and soon after that they targeted me and called me a medic or something like that. The best place to learn about them is to go to the reality they originated from," said Soron as he kneeled down to Tonto's level and waved a spare healing device over him.
"That's probably for the best," Omni said, "I can't find anything about the Cybermen in the Plumber database. As far as I can tell, they're as much strangers to us as we are to them."
"But what if the rift's not there?" Tonto asked, wringing out a section of his shirt.
"My TARDIS's specialty is scanning for any kind of dimensional rift and analyzing its activity," Soron said, "If it's active then we can go through. I have to determine why they targeted me so quickly in any case. I don't want that happening again… especially when I'm in a regeneration cycle."
"Maybe they thought you were someone else," Omni said, crossing his arms, "You did say they called you a 'Medic' or something."
"Maybe they did, but who and why? Why do they hate this person they mistook me for?" muttered Soron to himself, before looking over to Omni, "Don't you have some property to decontaminate?"
"Fine, whatever," Omni said, rolling his eyes, "So where did you put that other healing device?"
"It's by your computer. I figured that you guys would need one considering how much you apparently bang your head," Soron said dryly as he pointed towards the desk.
"You would too if you encountered the amount of odd crap I put up with," Omni muttered as he walked over to the desk and picked up the device. He briefly looked it over and rubbed his chin in thought.
"Hey, is this Time Lord tech?" Omni asked.
"No. It's human tech but… about 1,000 years into your future? I made them fairly recently," Soron explained, "Click it three times for all-purpose decontamination and twist the head ninety degrees to the right till you hear what sounds like a fire alarm, albeit quieter. Then wave it over your stuff like I'm doing with this one."
"'Kay," Omni replied. He then did as Soron instructed as he walked over to the mini-fridge.
"So… Guys," Tonto said, "How do you think the Cybermen found our universe?"
"I've actually been wondering that myself," Omni said as he waved the device over the mini-fridge, "It could have been dumb luck, but I doubt it."
"It was probably random. Like how I arrived… unless my TARDIS' automatic dimensional SOS activated and sent the signal across the multiverse. I doubt that it's the latter though since, as I've said before, the Multiverse never existed before mine vanished," said Soron as he turned off his healing device.
"Speaking of that," Omni said, "When exactly did your universe 'vanish'? Because, from what I can remember, the Multiverse existed long before you crashed into our lives."
"Quite literally, actually," Tonto added.
"Quiet you," Omni said as he finished decontaminating the fridge.
"Yes sir," Tonto said.
"In my own personal timeline my universe vanished maybe five seconds before I arrived in yours. The last thing I remember before I arrived here was being sucked through a blue swirling vortex, and then before I knew it, the TARDIS was heading towards the Earth while I was regenerating. Whatever that vortex was, it sent me, maybe, Billions of years into your present. Guess it makes sense; my universe vanishing may have been the big bang of the multiverse, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I have to arrive at the very beginning," explained Soron as he stood up to help Omni finish decontaminating his stuff.
"Time travel, and the creation of the Multiverse," Omni said as he walked over to his filing cabinet, "Paradox and Bella would have a ball with you."
"Who?" Soron asked.
"Friends of ours," Tonto said.
"I'd like to meet this Paradox one day," Soron said, "I'm not sure if I'd like meeting this Bella though. I don't get women and if I say something wrong she'll probably cut my manhood off."
"Maybe," Omni said as he activated his device and began decontaminating the filing cabinet.
"But why does this Paradox guy call himself that?" asked Soron as he stood up to go to a different object to decontaminate.
"Don't know," Omni said, "That's just how he introduced himself. I did ask him about that, but he said something about telling us another time."
"If he travels through time then it makes sense. Calling himself Paradox would be easier than calling himself by his own actual name. Easier to remember anyway. It also helps ensure his safety. After all, there are powers in names," said Soron reasonably.
"I'm aware of that," Omni said, rolling his eyes.
"It's kind of why Omni calls himself Omni," Tonto said.
"Tonto!" Omni snapped, briefly halting the cabinet's decontamination.
"He didn't reveal anything. I knew that 'Omni' was just an alias. Nobody would ever name their kid something ridiculous like that," said Soron with a smirk.
"That…" Omni began, trying to think of a counterargument, but coming up with nothing, "Is true."
He then looked away from Soron and continued using the device on the cabinet.
"Still, it's a secret identity anyway," Omni said, "And while I know that 'Omnitrix the First' is as dumb a name as they come, I'd prefer that people on THIS side of my life only knew me as that… With some exceptions."
"Like me?" Tonto said.
"Yes… Like you," Omni said, his gaze still focused on the cabinet.
"I don't even remember what my real name is. I just picked Soron MacLeod at random," Soron said, "In all the 900 years I've lived, I forgot to write my real name down. Soron MacLeod just sounds good. Same goes for Kronos. I went by that name nearly all my life after I left Earth on my 30th birthday. I even met some interesting creatures called Vreshnayens. Turned out to be dicks, but while it lasted we were friendly to each other. It's very easy to remember what they looked like. They looked a little bit like the Elites from those famous Halo games. Especially Halo Origins: Sangheili."
"Never played those games," Omni said as he finished decontaminating the cabinet, "Was never interested."
"That and Destiny are really the only game franchises that interested me," Soron said, "Never played them but I did take part in making the later games. Mainly because I invented true virtual reality. None of that Oculus Rift crap."
"Gee, you invent the cure for Cancer too?" Omni sarcastically whispered.
"What was that?" Soron asked.
"Nothing," Omni said, turning back to Soron, "For now, let's just focus on getting you familiar with this world so you can get moving."
Soron only grunted at Omni's remark; he didn't feel like it was worth pissing Omni off right now. Just then, his Megatrix started flashing and let out a noise that sounded a lot like a donkey braying.
"What's that?" Tonto asked.
"Looks like the TARDIS has finished repairing itself, but that's not all. I'm getting an interdimensional breech alarm!" said Soron as he looked at his watch while turning off his healing device.
"Why does it sound like a donkey?" Tonto asked, confused.
"My old assistant knocked me out at one point and when I woke up he left a holographic message with him gloating about getting the drop on me," Soron said, "Apparently he made it so my watch would sound like an ass. Everytime it goes off I'm reminded about that day. Not my finest moment. I tried to remove it but I failed. It's permanent now. Ugh."
Upon hearing that, Tonto glanced over at Omni and he began rubbing his chin in thought. Omni quickly noticed this and got into a defensive stance.
"Don't you even dare!" Omni said, covering up his watch.
"Okay. Omni you wanted your tour of the TARDIS so now you'll get it," Soron said, "The radiation should have gone down by now, so it's probably harmless."
"Probably?" Omni said.
"Just make sure that you work on decontaminating your stuff every once in awhile. While you get your tour, I'll be searching for why the interdimensional breech alarm is going off," Soron said before running over to his ship.
Omni and Tonto looked to each other, slightly surprised, before Omni shrugged his shoulders, put the healing device in his pocket, and ran after Soron, with Tonto following behind.
All three Matrix bearers then ran into the TARDIS which, thankfully, was no longer on fire. On top of that, all the wires protruding out of the walls were gone, and the console seemed to be 'Beeping' and 'Booping' as all it systems on it were now fully functioning. However, one particular screen on the console was still active as the words "Interdimensional Breach Detected" flashed on the screen in red letters.
However, as Soron went over to the Console to investigate this, Omni just stood frozen by the door.
"You know, I should be used to this," Omni said, leaning against the door as his breathing picked up, "Fighting monsters, aliens, and various super villains? It prepares you for a lot. But… This place… This place is still weird!"
"Spend a few hundred years traveling through space inside of this ship, and you'll get used to it. In fact, being inside of a box that's not bigger on the inside will feel weird instead. If that makes me mad then I really don't care," said Soron as he typed something into the keyboard. Immediately, a holographic version of his past self flickered into the TARDIS before the image switched over to his current self.
"Holo-Kronos, go ahead and give Omni the grand tour of this place. Leave nothing unsaid and/or unshown. Except for the areas that I have labeled off limits for all life. Go ahead and see what's in there if you have to. Give him your schematics as well… the ones written down. Not the digital copy. He will be extremely paranoid about me if you show him everything that's digital and none of the handwritten crap," ordered Soron before turning back to his monitor and clacking commands down on the the keyboard.
"That just makes me more paranoid," Omni said as the hologram walked up to him.
"I heard that. Nobody ever believes digital stuff, which is why I told him to show you the hand drawn schematics. Besides, he'll show you literally everything anyway. After I say 'everything' or 'anything' he just tunes me out." said Soron before he frowned at the hologram and added, "I need to get around to fixing that."
"Hand-written stuff can be faked too!" Omni called out as he and the hologram walked off into another area of the ship, leaving Soron and Tonto in the main room.
"So Soron," Tonto said, walking over to the flashing screen, "What's up with this?"
"I don't know," Soron said, examining the screen, "Normally the TARDIS would be able to track the freaking signal instantaneously, but since we're in unknown territory, the TARDIS is going every which way it can. It's currently marking planets with their coordinates without naming them. Makes it much more interesting to travel through space anyway. But while we're here, do you plan on telling me why a fairly important part of my ship's console is missing?"
"Huh? What?" Tonto said, becoming nervous.
"A circley thing. It doesn't need to be connected for either part to work, but it is important if I am to traverse the Multiverse should I ever want to," Soron said, "Currently, it only works to get to sub-dimensions but I can easily upgrade it. Unfortunately it's easy to break off the console. Now tell me, why you were flipping levers, turning knobs, and basically touching everything on here? Was it your inane human curiosity or just simple stupidity? Because I can believe either since you proved what you are capable of when you got infected by gamma radiation, which is generally incurable by the way. As long as your friend is in here I'll let you hang about, but if it's just me, then I promise you won't be getting back in here again. So tell me, now that I'm done ranting; what did you do with the console piece?"
"I…" Tonto began, sweat forming on his brow, "I… Um… Don't know… What you're talking about!"
Soron scowled as Tonto went on.
"I mean, yeah, I came in here, but just to move stuff and put out a few fires," Tonto said, trying to sound as innocent as possible, "I wouldn't touch your stuff. Scout's honor."
"YOU WERE NEVER IN THE SCOUTS!" Omni's voice yelled from somewhere in the ship.
"You weren't in here messing with my console?" asked Soron with mock surprise before he became serious again and asked, "Then what's this?" Soron then flipped a switch on the console, and a second later a hologram spewed out from a roundel showing Tonto moving about and fiddling with the console for a few minutes before something he was touching on the console snapped off. Then, the hologram showed Tonto putting the object into his pocket before hurrying to the exit.
"Somehow I don't believe you're all that innocent at all. Especially since I have security holo-cameras installed," Soron said dryly with a blank neutral expression.
"Um…" Tonto said, the sweat on his forehead becoming more apparent, "That… Was… My brother?"
"Just give me the piece," Soron said bluntly.
"Yes sir," Tonto lamented, hanging his head in shame. He then reached into his back-pocket, pulled out the TARDIS piece and held it out to Soron.
"Now go play with your Barbie dolls in the rec room little lady," Soron said as he swiped the piece from Tonto and examined it all over, "I have to make sure you didn't damage it too much while I wait for the scan to finish."
"I don't play with Barbies," Tonto murmured as he walked over to a random corner and slumped onto the floor. Soron saw this in the corner of his eye, and released a sigh at seeing Tonto miserable.
"Look kid. I'm sorry for being an ass. I just get very angry when my stuff gets destroyed. Especially by people I grow to be protective of. I see it as a betrayal. Besides, I haven't really been around civilized life for over 800 years," said Soron, feeling a twang of regret...again.
"It's fine," Tonto murmured, waving it off, "Just focus on the thing. I'll get over it."
Soron frowned a little before he went back to scrutinizing his device. He then sighed in exasperation before slumping down in a chair as he groaned, "I need my Sonic. I can't tell if this thing is broken for good without it. If only that stupid talking velociraptor with wheels for feet didn't destroy it."
"That was Omni," Tonto said, flicking a speck of dirt, "He has some anger issues. He tries to work on them, but sometimes he can go a little overboard."
"Not surprised. Eh. It was time for a new one anyway," muttered Soron before an idea popped into his head.
"Kid. You want to help me design my next Sonic Screwdriver? I'll even make you and Omni a couple to use in scenarios you can't use any of your… whatever you have stored in your Megat… Omnitrixes," offered Soron while staring at Tonto.
"They're aliens," Tonto said, looking over to Soron, "Specifically, alien DNA. Mine and Omni's Omnitrixes contain the genetic material of every single species in the Milky Way Galaxy, with some exceptions here and there. You didn't know that?"
"No. As I told the both of you before, my universe never had aliens, not counting the Vreshnayens. I do barely remember you and Omni mentioning something along those lines, but that DNA crap isn't important right now," Soron said, shaking off Tonto's question, "You want to help with the sonic screwdriver's designing process? You know, to help pass the time?"
"Well… I suppose," Tonto said, getting up from his spot, "But what about the 'Interdimensional' what's-its? Aren't you going to look into that?"
"The TARDIS will alert me once it finally tracks the breech. If it's on Earth then it'll be within the hour… probably. If not, two hours. In any case, my Megatrix will let me know when it's done because it's connected to the TARDIS console. It's sort of like a wireless connection. Besides, don't you want the more interesting and fun tour? Don't tell Omni this, but I sent him on the boring tour. Walking. Ugh. We'll be using transport pipes. I've been waiting to use those for a long time," said Soron grinning at the last bit.
"Well… Sure," Tonto said, a small smile appearing on his lips, "Why not?"
"Okay do everything I say and try not to let your mind wander or you'll get sent to someplace like the farm which is a billion miles in length and width. I call it the farm because it farms oxygen. It's more of an Oxygen factory. Tree-borgs. Trees plus technology. If you have to, just imagine me at all times," warned Soron as he lead them over to a wall where he pressed a roundel which opened the wall, revealing what appeared to be a holo-pad with a set of controls connected to it. Tonto and Soron then stepped onto the pad while Soron messed with the controls, and a second later a hole opened on the ceiling just above Soron and Tonto.
Soron immediately pressed a button that had Phoenician-looking symbols on it, and a second later Soron grinned at Tonto before he shot up into the transport pipe.
"WHOA!" Tonto said, before he felt the suction and he was pulled up after him.
Tonto and Soron flew through the pipes at great speeds, with Tonto cheering the entire time. Then, within the span of a couple minutes, Soron and Tonto were quickly deposited into Soron's workshop. The room itself was rather cluttered; scattered around the area were various machines in states of repair, and strewn across the walls were blueprints detailing plans for future inventions. For Tonto, this was a sight to take in. Soron on the other hand...
"Dang it! I knew I was forgetting something. Next time I'm going to deactivate the window tints so we can see more than darkness. Ah well. At least the TARDIS created a Holo-map of everywhere we went," grumbled Soron angrily. He then picked up what appeared to be two bicycle helmets and couple USB devices and he threw one of each to Tonto.
"Put this on your head and insert the USB. You'll instantly see everything we passed through as if you were actually there," said Soron, "Just don't walk. I don't need you bumping into things."
However, Tonto didn't immediately listen as his gaze went all around the room, and with each new thing he saw, his eyes grew wider.
"Wow," Tonto said, "This is cool! Kinda reminds me of our lab, except a little smaller."
"Hold on," Soron said, looking over to Tonto, "'Our' lab?"
"Yeah, me and Omni have our own lab," Tonto said, "It's where we keep most of our alien stuff. It's got it all; a Null Void Cannon, a Cloning Machine, a Transporter, and a lot of other stuff that I can't immediately remember."
"Well don't touch anything here," Soron said, "It's all very sensitive equipment. One wrong touch and you could blow up the ship along with half of whatever state we're in."
"It's Minnesota," Tonto said.
"Whatever. Besides, I have a particular workstation for us to go to. Go ahead and look at the Holo-map. It won't be as interesting for me, but I guess Omni would want to have some of this tech," said Soron before he muttered to himself, "Anything to keep him from trying to boot me off of Earth."
"Well, I don't entirely blame Omni for that," Tonto said, putting the helmet on, "There have been a few times where some of our villains have tried to pull the wool over us. Heck, one guy was once his psychiatrist."
"I'm sorry, what?" Soron said, a little surprised.
"Yeah, his name was Dr. Byron Switch, though he calls himself Dr. Switch," Tonto explained, "The guy spent years looking after patients with emotional problems, but unfortunately, it was too much for him. One day, he just snapped and started believing that his patients should give in to their chaotic impulses. After all, it was that lust for life that made them individuals. Or at least, that's what he thought. So, when people went to see him, Omni included, he slowly dosed his patients with some kind of drug that made them open to suggestion, and over several sessions, he turned his patients into violent monsters. He even zinged Omni. We managed to beat him by turning the local police onto him, but after that he took on his supervillain mantle and has tried constantly to prove to the world that humans not only should give into their violent impulses, but that they need to."
"Omni's not the only one who had to face an enemy like that," Soron said grimly as he gained the long stare that war veterans had. Soron then shook his head to get those thoughts out before focusing on designing his new Screwdriver.
"Enough talking. I'll work on writing the programs and apps for the sonic while you look at the Holo-map. When you're done we can decide on the look of the Sonic casing," said Soron.
"Alright," Tonto said, before holding up the USB device and placing it in a slot on the side of his helmet. Immediately, Tonto's vision was encompassed in a large, blue map. It didn't show much (in fact, the majority of the structure was mostly grey and opaque) but a few rooms glowed in a light blue hue, and between those rooms Tonto could see the image of the pipeline he and Soron used.
"WOW!" Tonto exclaimed, "It's like a map in Metroid!"
"Metroid is the one with the armored chick who has the blaster hand and looks very alluring outside of her armor, right?" asked Soron as he looked up from his work.
"Yeah, pretty much," Tonto said, his attention focused entirely on the holographic map.
Meanwhile…
At this time, Omni stood frozen in front of a room. For the past few minutes, the Holo-Kronos had shown Omni just about every nook and cranny of the TARDIS that it knew about. However, this latest room was the one that made Omni freeze up.
"He's got a pool?!" Omni exclaimed.
"Affirmative, guest of my creator," Holo-Kronos replied with a voice similar to Soron's but like a holo-communication in Star Wars.
The pool itself was rather large. In fact, it was practically an Olympic Style pool. It even already had the dividers and diving boards set up. For a while, Omni said nothing. Then, Omni swallowed the saliva building up in his throat, and closed the door to the pool room
"Okay, it's official," Omni said, "I am going to kill Soron and steal this TARDIS for myself."
"I'd advise against that. The creator has devised a way so that nobody but him is able to pilot this vessel, though my processors indicate that his arch-nemesis Bruyva a.k.a Uranus could be able to trip that system. I have analyzed that you don't have the intelligence or technological trickery to do so though. I'm very confident that you would waste your time. Also, I would disperse you into atoms the second you decide to kill him. As the living would say, a pre-emptive strike if you will," replied Holo-Kronos with zero emotion.
Omni just stared at the Hologram, slightly confused, before he just shook his head and walked away.
"It was a dark joke," Omni said.
"I do not understand. How can a joke, which is intended to be funny according to the dictionary, be dark? I believe the word for this is…. hmmm. My personal language selection given to me by the creator doesn't have the correct word for such a strange scenario as this," said Holo-Kronos with an emotion new to him, which was confusion.
"You know what? Forget it," Omni said as he approached another room, "I'm not explaining a joke to a program."
"Forget what?" Holo-Kronos said, following behind him. To this, Omni just groaned and started massaging his forehead.
"Nevermind," Omni said, "Just… What's this room?"
"Ah. Welcome to the Oxygen Factory. This is the creator's latest pride and joy," said Holo-Kronos in a monotone before he opened the door.
Omni's eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before him; it was a forest. An honest-to-goodness forest. There was grass on the ground, trees across the landscape, and Omni swore he could hear a few crickets chirping.
"He has a forest?!" Omni exclaimed again, "How does he have a forest?!"
"Negative. It's an Oxygen Factory. The mechanics are too lengthy to explain to any human. However, I can give you the schematics," said Holo-Kronos as he popped open the side of a tree. A second later a tray popped out with a holo-disc on it with a small hologram of the technology plus the formula to create the tree-borgs in the margins.
"Uh…" Omni said, his left eye twitching, "You know what? I'm good. They're science trees. That's all I need."
"Tree-Borgs," Holo-Kronos said.
"Yes… Tree-Borgs," Omni grumbled as he walked away from the room, "Can I get anything right?"
"Of course you can. You are the closest in intelligence to my creator, but you were never bonked on the head in the right spot like he was when he gained his intelligence. Normally, he'd get along with you, but from what my scans show me, you're too much like him. Nobody ever likes people they're similar to because they can't trust them. Unlike you, my creator is trying. Especially since he's looking for redemption for what he did to end the war," said Holo-Kronos as he followed Omni.
"Well, I'm trying my best too, but you're creator hasn't exactly been very cordi-" Omni stopped talking as he registered what the hologram said, "I'm sorry. What was that?"
"My creator has programmed me to never repeat myself. He hates broken records. If you are confused then please rephrase your question," replied Holo-Kronos as they stopped in front of another room.
"You just said something about ending a war," Omni said, "What war?"
"I'm unsure. That's all that was in his holo-journal. If he ever went into depth, then I'm sure he deleted them because he didn't want to remember," said Holo-Kronos as he opened the door to the room.
"What about you then?" Omni asked, not looking into the room, "If you're his on-site computer, then you must have some record of it, so tell me; what happened during the war?"
"You misunderstand. I am his holo-journal. I'm literally connected to everything in this vessel. However, this room here is the room of mementos and basically anything my creator doesn't want me to know about. He never goes in this room. Since I can't see what goes on in here, you won't get in trouble for entering," informed Holo-Kronos.
Omni squinted his eyes at his holo-guide before looking into the room. It was essentially a giant library. Stacked across the walls were hundreds upon hundreds of bookshelves with hundreds upon hundreds of books in each one. And all across the room, on various pedestals, were statues and artifacts. A few were beneath glass cases, while others were out in the open.
"Jesus," Omni muttered, stepping into the room.
"What about that raving lunatic? The creator met him once, and nearly died from being stabbed in the stomach by him," said Holo-Kronos not understanding that Omni was just saying a word people do for situations like these.
Omni's shock went away for a minute as he turned around and gave his holo-guide a look of confusion.
"Okay, as a Christian, I'm just gonna forget I heard that," Omni said, turning back to the room, "But tell me, where would Soron keep any entries on this 'War' you told me about?"
"I do not know. All I can suggest is that you go where you would put such entries. In the meantime, I must go. I have to recharge the emitter's batteries. Just holler when you're done," replied Holo-Kronos before flickering away.
"Alright, fine," Omni said, his eyes scanning the shelves. Considering how much stuff was here, Omni knew that if he looked at everything individually, he'd be here forever. Thankfully, Omni had something to get around this, and that something was on his wrist.
Omni brought his watch up and began scrolling through his aliens. Then, after finding the form he wanted, he brought out the dial, slapped it back down, and one green flash later, in place of Omni was something else. It was slightly taller than Omni, with a body that was mostly black. Its hands, feet, and chest were blue, giving the illusion that this creature was wearing some kind of outfit, while its face, while also blue, had two black patches of fur where his eyes were, and on this creature's chest was the symbol of the Omnitrix.
"Alright Soron," Fasttrack said, stretching his limbs, "Time to see what skeletons you have in your closet."
Fasttrack then rushed through the Library, intent on finding something about Soron's past.
Back with Tonto and Soron…
Tonto had just put down the devices Soron handed him to show him the Holo-map when Soron put the finishing touches on the programming and adding apps for his next Sonic Screwdriver.
"Okay, Tonto. Here's the bit that's going to be even more fun for the both of us. Do you remember those Marvel movies involving Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark?" asked Soron as he turned towards Tonto.
"Yes, I do," replied Tonto, "Why?"
"I use the same hologram device Tony uses when he designs his tech. I have a special room for that device. Follow me," replied Soron as he grabbed a USB with the program on it and stood up.
He then made his way over to a wall with Tonto following behind. Soron then placed his hand flat against it, and the wall vanished, only to be replaced by a doorway with a keypad next to it. Soron entered a sequence into the keypad and the door opened into what looked like the Holodeck from Star Trek. Tonto stopped in his tracks as he widened his eyes in amazement and his jaw dropped to the floor.
"I know," Soron said, entering the room, "Cool, right?"
"Uh huh," Tonto muttered as he followed behind.
"Well keep up. Let's get started. Oh how long has it been since I started the scan?" said Soron as he walked over to a spot on the wall next to the door and pressed a few buttons.
A second later, a hologram of the Sonic that Omni destroyed popped up. After Soron placed the USB into the wall the hologram flickered once which indicated that the changes were made to the Sonic Screwdriver's programming.
"Whatcha doin'?" Tonto asked.
"What does it look like? I'm adding the changes I made to the Sonic Screwdriver's programming," Soron said, "After I decide on the casing and make changes to the programming, it'll create a 3D print inside of the console. When we return, I'll grab it from the Sonic Screwdriver's charging port. Same deal for the Sonic Screwdrivers I'll make for you guys. However, we only have enough time to make mine today… I think."
"I see," Tonto said, coming closer, "But I'm wondering, does the little… Thingy at the end have to be red?"
"Course not. Having a device that's constantly one color is boring. The version you see there was only the first that ever had a glowing bit. I just chose red at random," scoffed Soron, as if it was obvious.
"Well then why not change it up?" Tonto suggested, "You know, new model, new color? Maybe this one could be blue!"
"Blue. Used to be my first favorite color till I changed it to gold. Why not?" mused Soron as he replaced the red glowing hologram with a blue one before tossing the red one in the recycle bin.
"And why not make it a bit more… Streamlined?" Tonto inquired, "I mean, this design isn't too bad, but why not slim up the neck and make it look less like a pen?"
"Yeah. I have no desire to have a pen-like one again anyway. How about adding a button feature too? It'd be easier and faster than having to pull down a piece of the sonic to activate it. Maybe make it so we can extend it for higher settings?" Soron brainstormed, "I have higher settings written into the program anyway. But anyway, enough talking. You got any ideas for the casing?"
"Well…" Tonto said, "I really don't know what else to add. I've kind of said my peace."
"Hmmm. If that's the case then it's a good thing I have a few random ideas I came up with in the past but never implemented. Good thing I added it to the system as well, because I forgot what they were. Hold on," said Soron as he raised his right hand and waved it hard to the left, sending the torso bit of the sonic, minus the additions, flying past till a box with all of the ideas he had appeared, showing all of them to the two. Each one was a different shape, size, and color, and each only slightly different from the rest.
"Wow," Tonto said, "That's a lot of Screwdrivers."
"Not screwdrivers. That's only a third of the screwdriver. The torso if you will. After the torso we'll go to the 'feet'. I'll leave the head for last. The head is always the hardest to decide on," said Soron.
"Why not make the body silver?" Tonto said, "That way, it looks nice and shiny!"
"Hmm. Nah. Done that. Too bright on certain planets and if we're trying to be stealthy and a light shines… you can tell how successful stealth is at that point." said Soron rejecting the idea while giving a good point.
"But it's going to be in your pocket," Tonto said, "Who's going to look in your general direction and say, 'Hey, that guy's got a silver something in his pocket.' Odds are, no one's going to see it."
"It won't always be in my pocket, and I won't always have time to put it in my pocket," Soron said pointedly.
"Well, then what do you suggest?" Tonto said, crossing his arms.
"Maybe a tan-ish grey or a greyish tan. Whichever looks better," replied Soron.
"Alright, fine," Tonto said, "But I want mine to be Silver."
"Okay then. Let me just create a new document labeled 'Tonto's Sonic'," said Soron as he created the document and put Tonto's request in there so he wouldn't forget.
After he put that to the side, he returned to the original file for his sonic and implemented the changes to the torso. He then closed the box of torso ideas and moved to the head and repeated the process.
"So, which one of these should we use?" asked Soron as he looked over the two ideas in the box. One had a claw and wavy looking light bulb and the other just had a kind of a dome with what looked like vents in a cylindrical bit connected to the dome.
"Hmm, I like the dome," Tonto said, pointing to his choice, "The claw just feels like too much for this model."
"Yeah. Good point. I see that as well. I assume you want a similar model to mine for your sonic?" said Soron as he made the changes after he closed the box.
"Yes, I would," Tonto said.
"In that case. Let me just…" said Soron has he placed the index finger and thumb of each hand into a pinching formation right before pulling his hands away from each other. Once he did that there two versions, and he only let go of one while moving the other to the file for Tonto's Sonic.
"Didn't think that would actually work," remarked Soron with a little surprise.
"Well, okay, so what's left to do?" Tonto asked.
"The 'feet'," answered Soron as he moved down to the bottom bit and did the process again. This revealed two ideas for the bottom; one looked like a curvy cone like thing and the other was a bit more cylindrical with a smaller bit that kind of looked like a small thick penny.
"I like the cone," Tonto said, "Reminds me of Ice Cream."
"Ice cream. Tasty, but torturous," Soron said, "You eat too much and your head hurts like hell."
"I know," Tonto said, "It's how I get my brain to shut up when it and I disagree."
Soron suddenly stopped what he was doing and looked at Tonto strangely. However, he decided that it was best to not question him; Soron began feeling that the less questions he asked about this kid, the better.
"Anyway, the cone one does look better for this design. I think I'll make the bottom bit black," said Soron as he added the cone like device with the black color to the Sonic's hologram.
"Great!" Tonto said, "So now what happens?"
"I add color to the head, and I think I'll make that silver with blue wires inside of a plastic tube in the extended portion. The button would also need to be a slider," said Soron as he waved his hands about, performing the changes. After that, he walked over to the panel by the door and pressed 'confirm'. The hologram immediately flickered and a timer popped up, indicating how much time till the sonic was to be completed.
"Okay. Five minutes till it's complete," Soron said. However, at that time, Soron's Megatrix went off, getting his and Tonto's attention.
"And look at that, my breech locating alarm is going off. Right on cue. Oh. We better use the tubes again. Don't want Omni to get irritated I took you somewhere he has no idea how to find. This room is only accessible via transport pipes," rambled Soron.
"Hang on, I'll call Omni and let him know what's going on," Tonto said as he brought up his Omnitrix and began entering a few codes.
Back with Omni…
Omni was now back in his human form, and was currently reading a book that he had resting on a table. Even as Fasttrack, it took him a little while to find what he wanted (especially since Soron apparently didn't use the Dewey Decimal system). However, after he spent enough time searching, he finally managed to locate Soron's journal, though it didn't exactly look like a journal. In fact, Omni would probably say that the more appropriate term for it was a tome. Almost very little of it was actually read like a journal and instead seemed like one of those ancient texts that people keep in museums.
But for Omni, it didn't matter. For him, this was the key to understanding Soron, and right now, he didn't like what he was finding. It was a bit hard to skim through a lot of the earlier chapters, but Omni managed to find the one on this 'War' his former Holo-Guide mentioned.
"My God," Omni muttered as he read. The journal spoke of a War in the Prime reality; a struggle between a race of interdimensional beings called Vreshnayens and the human race, with everything else caught in the middle. Omni couldn't get everything, as it looked like some entries were either torn out or erased, but from the entries he could read, it sounded like Soron blamed himself for this. Like, whatever started this war, it somehow involved Soron.
"MacLeod, what did you do?" Omni said, a small scowl forming on his face. However, before he could read any further, his Omnitrix began beeping. Omni quickly noticed this and briefly turned away from the book to activate his communicator.
"Omni here," he said.
"Hey Omni, it's Tonto," Tonto said on his end, "Soron's done tracking down the dimensional disturbance. We're heading to the main room now."
Omni quickly looked down to the journal, not exactly wanting to stop. However, he decided that while he wanted to know more about Soron, the more immediate problem deserved more attention.
"Alright," Omni replied, closing the book and getting up, "I'll meet you there."
Omni then deactivated the communicator and began scrolling through his aliens 'till he came across Fasttrack again. One green flash later, he was transformed again, and he rushed out of the library to join the other Matrix bearers.
In the main console room…
Tonto and Soron quickly 'whooshed' back to the main console room and Soron quickly rushed to his console screen. He then looked at the scan and noticed that it was far away from their current location.
"Okay. The disturbance is originating from a planet that I don't know the name of. The coordinates are here though," said Soron as he quickly hurried to the keyboard to type them in. Tonto then went over to the screen and read them out loud.
"'Quadrant 3-9/7-H'," Tonto read aloud, "That's Appoplexia. What's happening there?"
"We'll find out when we get there. What… alien… I have to get used to the idea of aliens existing. What was I saying? Oh, right. What alien race should I expect to meet on Applelexia?" said Soron as he ran about pulling levers, turning knobs and pressing buttons.
"Appoplexians," Tonto answered, "They're… Well… You know that tiger guy Omni turned into when you first arrived?"
"Yeah," Soron answered.
"They're those guys, except they wear clothes," Tonto said.
"Oh yay. A planet full of wrestler wannabes. This is going to be fun," Soron said sarcastically, "Remind me to punch Omni in the face for attacking me for no freaking reason. He's not the only one that can hold a grudge."
"Well, you did crash your box into my warehouse!" a voice echoed throughout the halls. Soron and Tonto looked to see who spoke and within a second, Fasttrack ran right into the room.
"BTW, you're fixing the hole," Fasttrack said before he slapped his Omnitrix symbol and reverted back into Omni.
"Alright, so what's happening?" Omni asked.
"Well, Soron managed to track down the Dimensional Rift to Appoplexia," Tonto said.
"Appoplexia?" Omni repeated, "Why there?"
"Who the heck knows! As for your roof, I'm not fixing it. If I do, it'll end up looking like something from a scrapyard. I'll build you a warehouse that's bigger on the inside instead… Once I figure out how to do it without using one of my Keyblades. They're all broken anyway. As useful as clubs. Maybe I'll do you one better than a warehouse," Soron rambled.
"No, no, no you're not," Omni said, "I've had that warehouse for years and I'll be damned if you're just gonna replace it! The day I lose that warehouse is the day the universe ends."
"Oh don't get your panties in a bunch dear. I'm not going to replace it. Just going to upgrade it. Maybe add a self-repairing mechanism that repairs anything that is broken. It might even fix your girlfriend's hyman," Soron retorted with irritation at humanity's fear of change.
"The Hell's a hyman?" Omni asked.
However, as the two bickered, the TARDIS console began to light up as the commands Soron input began to take effect.
"Um, guys?" Tonto said, trying to get the pair's attention.
"What!?" both Soron and Omni shouted.
"The thing's doing something," Tonto said as the pillar in the center of the room began to move.
"Oh. That just means we're about to take off," Soron said reassuringly before he realized what that meant.
"Uh oh. Hold on to something!" yelled Soron as the TARDIS suddenly started shaking, knocking them about. Unfortunately, Omni and Tonto were too slow, resulting in both boys falling onto their backs banging their heads on the floor.
"GAAH!" both boys yelled as the TARDIS began making a wheezing, groaning sound, signalling that it was taking off.
Meanwhile…
John woke up, confused since he couldn't see anything at all. He was able to determine that he was chained up somewhere since he felt something hard biting into his wrists.
"Where the heck am I? What happened?" John muttered to himself before something smacked him in the face.
"Let me tell you something Terran! You don't speak without permission and I never give permission!" yelled an obviously angry voice right in John's left ear. John was able to tell from the smell that his assaulter had approached till he was only five centimeters away.
"Look, I don't know what's going on," John started to say, "Just tell me what's-"
John was interrupted by another swift smack to his face.
"I told you!" the voice said, "Never speak unless I say so."
John wasn't exactly happy with this, but he complied nonetheless. After all, in his current state, who was he to argue.
"Now let me tell you something Terran!" the voice said, "We don't know why you came here, but Lord Vexx wants to find out!"
"Who?" John chanced to say.
"Our ruler," the voice said, "And 'till he says otherwise, you and Rigel are going to be spending a lot of time together."
"Oh yay," John replied sarcastically right before he was whacked again, but this time in the stomach.
"I said NO TALKING!" yelled Rigel right before kicking him constantly while roaring.
John just bit his tongue as he took the abuse. Whatever this place was, he needed to find a way out, and fast!
Sorry for it being longer than normal. It was kind of unexpected. I hope we'll get our protagonists stuck in the SMALLVILLE universe in the next chapter. I actually expected it to happen in this chapter, but I like it how it is. we'll try to get it done earlier than we did this one. good night/day whenever you read this. as always please review, like, and follow for notifications on updates. this story will undoubtedly be still in progress well into 2018. that makes me happy. see ya next time. :)