A/N: I'm not happy with myself. Why? Because I had this finished yesterday, didn't realize it, and got this up a day later than I wanted. I was typing out this chapter, and when I copy-pasted everything I had done on a word document, I realized that I had accidentally typed out a chapter and a half worth of writing. DX Well, the good news is that I'm almost done with the next chapter, and I'll probably have it up anytime between later today and Monday (I have a lot of homework this weekend, so I'm not sure when I'll have time to finish it.)
And if there's a lot of errors in this chapter, or if it doesn't seem like my best work… Please give me a break. I was typing this on my iTouch, at the eye doctor's office, after I had these weird drops put in my eyes that made me practically go blind… Yeah.
April 28, 2775
Sive's POV
It was just a waiting game at that point. Chroniker, Tech, and Claire would be done at any time, so the rest of us just had to wait until they gave the word. We were all in a room that I supposed used to be a kitchen, but now had random technological odds and ends strewn about all over the place.
"This waiting is driving me insane!" Donny whined as he kicked their 'ball' back to Psycho. They were playing hacky-sack with a small, metal sphere that they found.
"Like it's not bugging the rest of us," Psycho countered as he kicked it back.
"What's the matter; missing your other half?" Wolfe jokingly teased.
"Well, duh! I'm never more than ten feet away from her, much less 100 years away!" I had no idea who they were talking about, but I didn't feel like asking right then.
I was still really worried about Lexi, Rev, Slam, and Duck. Every minute that ticked by was another chance that something would happen to them that we couldn't stop. It was pretty obvious I was anxious; I was hugging one knee to my chest while my other foot was soundlessly tapping the ground.
"Relax, Sive," Ace said to me, making me jump. He had been silent that whole time; I could tell he was probably more worried than I was. He hardly ever showed it when he was worried, but I knew; he had been drumming his fingers on the table for more than an hour. "Dey'll be alright."
"Maybe you should take your own advice," I replied, nodding my head in the general direction of his hand.
"Wha-?" he began. Then he realized what he was doing, and abruptly pulled his hand off the table with a nervous laugh.
"I-finally-found-you!" Claire suddenly yelled as she zipped into the room. Wolfe, Ace, and I shot to our feet and Donny and Psycho abruptly ended their game. "Seriously-I've-been-looking-through-this-whole-building-for-like-15-minutes-I've-already-passed-this-room-like-4-times-anyways-come-on-it's-ready!"
Claire shot out of the room, and the rest of us followed. The time machine was on the other end of the building, but we still made it there in less than three minutes (Claire was already there by then, though.)
"Is it ready, doc?" Ace asked.
"Sort of," Tech replied, writing something down on a clipboard. "There's one glitch in the programming we can't figure out. We spent all of yesterday trying to fix it, but we haven't gotten anywhere with it, yet."
"This glitch prevents us from changing the target date of the time machine," Chroniker stated. "We can change the year, but not the month or the day."
"So-we-can't-go-back-home-to-the-day-we-left-like-we-planned," Claire explained. "We-can-spend-a-few-more-days-trying-to-fix-it-but-if-we-can't-then-that's-even-more-lost-time-so-we-want-to-know-if-we-should-stay-and-keep-trying-or-go-anyways."
We all looked to Ace and/or Wolfe; they were the leaders. They looked at each other, then thought a moment, weighing the options. It didn't take them long to reach a conclusion, though.
"Let's go," they said simultaneously.
"I think that's a good decision," Zadavia stated as her image appeared off to our right, making everyone other than Ace, Tech, and I jump. I didn't know that she could appear wherever she wanted, but it still didn't scare me like it did with the others.
"Who are you?" Donny asked.
Zadavia was about to answer him, but Claire beat him to it. "That's-Zadavia-duh-gosh-Donny-you-can-be-so-dumb-sometimes!"
"You must be Claire," Zadavia stated. "You look a lot like Rev. And you must be Donny. I've heard a lot about you." Donny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly; I had been the only one to speak to Zadavia in the past few days, so he knew that whatever she heard about him probably wasn't anything good. He was right. "And then you're..."
"Psycho," Psycho filled in for her.
"Ah, yes. I see the resemblance." Psycho and I were standing right next to each other, so the similarities were pretty apparent. "Anyways, I, too, think it's a good idea to go on ahead instead of wait."
"Glad ta hear, Zadavia," Ace stated. "Callin' ta see us off?"
"Well, that, and I also wanted to know what you need me to do while you're gone."
"Oh- uh," Ace started. Zadavia usually told us what to do, not the other way around, so that threw Ace for a loop. "...Probably cover for us while we're gone. We don't want da bad guys knowin' we're out; it'll cause a city-wide crime-spree. Also, keep an eye out for Celeste and company."
"And what about me?" Chroniker asked.
"We'll need you to continue working on the time machine," Tech stated. "Try to figure out that glitch if you can. Also, in two weeks' time, open a portal to when we are. We should hopefully have this conflict resolved by then, and if we can't take Ceci's time machine, we'll need a way home."
"Sounds like a plan," Chroniker stated. "You all had better get going. I'll start it up."
We followed Tech and Claire to the arch while Chroniker went to the computer. He typed in a few things, and then a loud, mechanical whirring started coming from the arch. This went on for a few moments, until suddenly, a small flash of teal light formed in the center of the arch. It faded, then came back. That time, instead of fading away again, it grew until it almost absorbed the arch.
"I've got to warn you guys; time travel isn't pleasant," Wolfe said to Ace, Tech, and I.
"Any suggestions?" I asked.
"Hold your breath." Wolfe walked into the light, and disappeared from view.
"Last one in's a rotten egg!" Donny yelled as he ran into the light after Wolfe. Psycho followed him.
"I'll-go-last," Claire said, stepping behind the rest of us.
We looked at each other, then back to the light, unsure of what to expect. None of us wanted to go first. Tech and Ace looked at each other for a moment, then looked to me. They were about to say something to me, but I read their minds.
"If you say 'ladies first,' I'll kill you." Claire laughed behind us.
"Well, it's now or never," Ace said after a moment as he stepped forward.
"Ace!" Zadavia called before he disappeared. "Bring them home safe."
"Will do, Zadavia," Ace said as he stepped into the light.
"See you," Tech said as he stepped in and disappeared.
"Hasta la vista," I said behind me as I quickly went into the light.
It was really bright, and windy, which was strange due to the fact that there was no air. It felt like I was falling endlessly, but other than the no-air part, it wasn't that bad. The landing was the worst part.
Suddenly, the light faded, and I landed hard on my feet. I stumbled and almost fell, but Tech caught me and helped me back on my feet.
"Thanks," I said to him as I looked around.
We were in the middle of an empty lot a ways away from any other buildings. There were a few metal bars, chunks of concrete, and other debris around that suggested there used to be a building there. There was a city skyline in the distance, but it didn't look anything like Acmetropolis.
"That wasn't that bad," I said to Wolfe.
"It was different from Ceci's," he replied. "I don't know why."
"Where are we?" Ace asked.
"Home!" Donny yelled, collapsing and trying his best to hug the concrete.
"You live on an empty lot?" I asked sarcastically.
"I-think-this-is-where-Chroniker's-lab-used-to-be..." Claire stated as she landed on the ground behind us and looked around. The portal abruptly closed behind her.
"Is anyone else creeped out by that, or is it just me?" I asked. Ace and Tech nodded in agreement.
"We don't have time to look around," Wolfe stated. "We need to get back to HQ. Now."
Wolfe, Claire, Psycho, and Donny ran off, and Ace, Tech, and I followed behind them.
Don't worry, guys. We're coming.
xoxoxoxoxApril 28, 2939 Lexi's POV
It had been a tough few days. We were just sitting around, waiting for something to happen; there was nothing else we could think of doing.
I was thinking over our situation in a hallway while everyone else was somewhere else doing something else. I was in a pretty bad mood, and I thought I was alone, until Nega walked into the hallway I was in.
"I wondered where you got to," she said.
"Well, here I am."
"What's up?" she asked. "You seem a little... Out of it."
I have no idea why, but I just exploded at her. "Well, excuse me, but the world as I knew it just fell apart in one day, and there's nothing I can do about it! My boyfriend and team leader is dead, along with my best friend, and another one of my closest friends is stuck alone in our time wondering what the hell happened to us! And now Rev, Slam, Duck, and I are stuck here, and they're relying on me to be the leader! I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility!" The stress of the situation seemed to hit me all at once, so I ended up letting it out in one big explosion. I immediately felt bad about it afterward, though, and I was worried that Nega would be mad at me for it.
Nega was silent for a moment before calmly asking, "Feel better?"
That was the last thing I was expecting from her. "Uh... Yeah, I do, actually."
"I did the same thing earlier," Nega stated. "Buzz was my punching bag."
"The stress of all this... It's driving me insane..." I said as I rubbed my eyes. "I'm going to have grey hair before I hit 35 at this rate."
"I was having the same thoughts, only I'm not sure if I can go grey," Nega stated. I gave her a questioning look. "I got my powers from this weird accident that happened in high school. It's also why I look like this. It was really unnatural, and the effects so far have been permanent."
"What happened?"
"I, ah, don't like talking about it much... I'm not complaining about the powers, though; they make me strong enough to fight Celeste. Wolfe and I were the only ones skilled enough to stand up to her in a fight, but now that he's gone, it's up to me. I don't think I'll ever be able to actually win a fight against her."
"But back in the park-"
"That wasn't winning, that was holding her back long enough for the situation to turn in our favor, making her annoyed enough to leave. I've never actually beaten her in a fight before... I just can't do anything right."
"Oh, come on, that's not true."
"I've been fighting against the same people for years for varying reasons, I haven't beaten them once, they've beaten us multiple times, and I can't even use my powers right for Christ's sake!" I gave her another questioning look, and she realized that she hadn't told me all about her powers. "I think I can rewind time for myself, but it hardly ever works, and the best I've ever been able to do is slow it down. I've never been able to do anything right..."
"Hey, you did something right when you saved Rev, Slam, Duck, and I, and I'm sure everyone else here agrees." That cheered her up a bit. I stood still and rubbed my head for a moment.
"You alright?" Nega asked.
"Yeah, I just have a headache," I replied. "I think I'm going to go get some fresh air."
"Need help finding your way out?"
"No, thanks; I'm good," I said as I started walking away. I needed some alone-time, anyways.
I wandered around for probably 45 minutes before finding my way outside. I wouldn't normally have taken that long, even in that maze-like building, but my mind was in a fog. I was still trying to make sense of a few things, but it wasn't easy.
I stepped outside and took in a deep breath. It was completely silent right there, but I could hear noises in the distance. The building was on a quiet street, and there was no one around at that time of day.
At least, I thought there was no one around. I was in more of a fog than I thought, because I should have heard the person sneaking up on me before she actually started speaking.
"Hello, Lexi," said the familiar, silky-smooth voice behind me.
I whipped around, and saw Celeste floating a few feet off the ground a ways away from me. She looked pleased with herself, and I got worried. It wasn't like I could call for help; the nearest people around were the team around 150 or so floors above us. Unless they realized what was going on, I was screwed.
xoxoxoxoxNega's POV
After Lexi walked away, I went back up to the living room. Everyone else was in there, even Mei. Laela was staring intently out the window, Buzz and Slam were arm wrestling (even though they did it before, and Slam always won,) and Duck, Rev, and Mei were talking on the couch.
Rev saw me walk in, and he asked, "There-you-are-did-you-find-Lexi-how-is-she?"
"Yes, I did, and she's stressed out," I replied. "This is a lot for her to handle. This is a lot for all of us to handle."
"At least you're in your own time," Duck said bitterly. He wasn't reacting well to the situation, either, but from what I remembered hearing about him from the stories about the original Loonatics, he was usually like that in bad situations.
"Where's Lexi?" Mei asked.
"She went outside to get some fresh air."
Just then, Laela sharply took in a breath. She was staring unblinkingly at the ground, which she always did, but she had a nervous, almost scared expression on her usually stoic face. That was more than enough to get me nervous.
"Laela, what is it?" I asked urgently as I approached her.
She ignored me, though, and turned to the others. "Rev, where is Lexi right now?" she asked urgently. She had a tone in her voice; that meant that whatever was going on, it was really bad.
Rev's eyes glowed, and he stood still as his GPS or whatever it was worked. "Gimme-a-minute-here-I'm-not-familiar-with-these-surroundings-yet-well-she's-not-in-the-building-and-oh-there-she-is-wait-a-second-someone's-with-her-oh-my-gosh-is-that-I-think-it-is-it's-Celeste!"
That made everyone jump to their feet with a mixture of worry and fear on their faces.
"Rev, where are they?" I asked.
"Outside-the-main-entrance!"
"Okay, you run ahead of us, and try not to get lost or killed." He ran down the hall, trailing flames behind him. "Everyone else, follow me!"
I ran down the hall with everyone else in tow. For a short while, we were following the trail of soot left behind by Rev, until it veered down a wrong turn. I knew the building was hard to navigate, but this was ridiculous!
I just hope he finds his way out, I thought. I also really hope nothing bad happens to Lexi.
A/N: Yeah, I know it's short, but I had nowhere else I could make the end-of-chapter-mark that would make sense, and if I kept going, it would be way too long. So, expect the next chapter in the near future. R&R!
