Chapter 12: The Labyrinthine Laboratory

Tangelo's eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness.

'Wait a minute... is this the secret laboratory? But... I don't remember coming here.'

Tangelo looked around.

'There's no mistaking it. This is definitely that secret lab place I saw before. With the plans for that Project N thing... But there's something... off about this place...'

Suddenly, a piece of tarp fell on to the floor, revealing a strange device underneath.

'Huh? What's this?'

Tangelo looked at the glass on the top of the device, covered with condensation. He wiped some of the condensation off, and...

'Aaagh!'

Tangelo woke up in his bed, sweating and breathing heavily.

'You okay?'

'Y-Yaoi? Wh...' Tangelo paused to catch his breath. 'Why are you sitting at the end of my bed?'

'Oh, well...' said Yaoi. 'I heard you talking in your sleep pretty loudly. It woke me up. I was just checking that you were alright, 's all.'

'Yeah, I'm fine... Okay, actually, I'm not fine.'

'What's wrong?'

'Well, I had this weird dream. I was in this secret lab, and I saw this weird device... thing. I had a look inside it, and there was... someone staring back at me!'

Yaoi thought for a moment. 'Eh, well, it's just a dream. Don't worry about it.'

'Well, actually...' said Tangelo. 'Sometimes... I have dreams that seem to predict the future. Except... I can never tell which ones will come true and which ones won't. So, it's not very useful. But, I have a feeling that this one does mean something. After all, that secret lab I mentioned... I have been there before. It's a hidden room in the basement of that weird pocket dimension we were stuck in.'

'Whoa, so you're telling me there was a secret lab down there the whole time?' said Yaoi. 'Awesome! I wanna see it!'

'Well, it's not really that awesome, but... we should probably go. The sooner I get that weird dream out of my head, the better.'

'Okay... Looks like everything's working normally. Now, I just need to-'

Suddenly, the door to DPK's workshop opened.

'Oh, hey, guys.' said DPK. 'Why are you up so early?'

'I could ask you the same thing.' said Yaoi.

'Oh, y'know, just tuning up the ol' dimensional transporter.'

'Well, actually...' said Tangelo. 'That's what we came down here for. Can we use the dimensional transporter? There's something I need to check out in that other dimension.'

'Sure thing.' said DPK. 'I'll come with you, and make sure there's no problems with the portal. You can explain what we're doing when we get there.'

DPK paused for a moment. 'Oh, by the way... There is a 1 in 10 trillion chance that when we get there, the portal will stop working and we'll be stuck there forever. But it's just a 1 in 10 trillion chance. Don't worry about it.'

Later...

'This is the place, right?' said DPK. 'Doesn't look anything like that basement place I rescued you from.'

'Yep, this is it. Well, it's the classroom, at least.' said Yaoi. 'The basement's down that way.'

'So, if we turn right here...' said Tangelo. 'The entrance should be on the right wall, near to that room with the Orb... Here it is!'

'What? I don't see anything.' said Yaoi.

'Well, if you look closely, you can see two lines on the wall. That's how I found it.'

Tangelo paused for a moment, and moved his hand forwards. A section of the wall slid downwards, revealing a staircase.

'So, Monika just hid this whole secret lab behind a wall?' said DPK. 'Doesn't seem that hard to get into.'

'Well, actually, there is another layer of security.' said Tangelo. 'This door with a combination lock, here.'

'Oh, great.' said Yaoi. 'Too bad I left my flail at home. Then we could've just busted the door open!'

'I doubt it.' said Tangelo. 'That door seems pretty strong. But luckily, I know the code. It's just a simple 4-digit combination, and luckily, I got it right on the first try.'

Tangelo walked towards the door, and inputted the code; 2209. The door opened.

'How did you guess that?' asked DPK.

'22nd of September.' said Tangelo. 'Monika's birthday. I guess I was just lucky she couldn't think of anything more creative.'

'So, this is the secret lab, huh?' asked Yaoi.

'Heh, this is nothing compared to my lab.' said DPK. 'But, anyway, what were you saying?'

'So, I told you about Project N, right? Well, this is where I found those plans.' said Tangelo. 'And, if I remember my dream correctly, that device should be right... here.'

Tangelo lifted some tarp off a strange device, that looked exactly like it did in his dream. He wiped some of the condensation off the glass, and...

Yaoi recoiled in shock. 'Aah! It's a dead girl!'

'Now, hold on a second.' said DPK. 'I recognise this particular piece of equipment. This is a cryogenic freezing chamber.'

'So?' asked Yaoi.

'So... That girl's probably not dead in there. Just frozen. If we warm her up, she'll probably regain consciousness.'

'I see.' said Yaoi. 'I guess that's why it feels so cold in here.'

DPK pressed a button on the cryogenic freezing chamber, and a blast of cold air came out as the chamber opened, revealing a short, blonde-haired girl inside.

'Hey, wait a minute!' said Yaoi. 'That's, uh... Nozomi, right? What's she doing stuck in a freezing chamber... thingy?'

'Well, we'll probably find out sooner or later...' said DPK. 'But for now, let's get her somewhere safe! Probably not somewhere in this dimension.'

DPK, Tangelo and Yaoi carried the girl to where the dimensional portal was.

'Phew.' said Yaoi. 'For a second, I thought the portal would've disappeared like you said!'

'Well, I did say it was a 1 in 10 trillion chance.' said DPK.

'Yeah, well, in stories and stuff, whenever there's a really low chance of something like that, it always ends up happening. Kinda weird, actually, when you think about it. Anyway, let's go!'

Later...

'Hey, Satsuma, wake up!' said Tangelo.

There was no response. 'Heh... She always was a heavy sleeper.' Tangelo muttered to himself. He gently shook Satsuma.

'Wake up!'

'Mmmph... Huh?'

'There's someone I think you'd like to meet...'

Nozomi opened her eyes as she lay in a bed unfamiliar to her.

'Huh... Wh-where am I?'

'Well, we'll explain everything soon enough.' said Yaoi. 'But, at least you're safe here. And, well, not unconscious.'

'Wait... Y-Yaoi-san? Is that you?'

'Yep.' said Yaoi. 'And, you can just call me Yaoi, y'know.'

Tangelo and Satsuma came through the door.

'Um... Tangelo, what's going o-'

'Satsuma-chan!'

'N-Nozomi? Is that you? I thought you had gone missing!'

'Well, she did, but we found her.' said DPK.

'So, anyway, about that whole explanation thing...' said Yaoi. 'Well, we found you in this weird cryogenic chamber thing, and brought you back here. And, well, that's all, really.'

'Actually, we were wondering if you had any more information.' said Tangelo.

'Well...' said Nozomi. 'I'll try to remember the best I can...'

'Oh, by the way, just say if you need anything else. Extra blankets, hot water bottle, et cetera.' said DPK.

'Um... Sorry for being so impolite, but... who are you?'

'The name's DPK. I'm just a friend of these guys.'

'Okay... So, one day, I went into one of the rooms... I can't remember which one... but, as I was about to leave, the door disappeared! I found another exit, but it led to some kind of dark passageway. I wandered around in there for so long, and I got lost, and managed to get trapped somewhere.'

'Hold on.' said Tangelo. 'Dark passageway... She must mean the basement! And the room you were in must be-'

'The room me and Harry fought Monika in, right?' said Yaoi.

'Huh?' Nozomi looked confused.

'We'll explain later.' said DPK. 'Just carry on with what you were saying.'

'Well... After what seemed like days, Monika finally found me. But, there was something different about her. She was... scary. And she took me to this strange place, and locked me up again! And I heard what she was going to do to me...'

Everyone listened intently.

'She said... "With my new power, I'm going to get rid of the others so nobody can stop me! With this brain, I'm going to control you, and turn you into a mindless killing machine with ultimate power!" At least, that's what I remember. It may not be exact. And, I think there were some words that I didn't understand.'

Suddenly, Tangelo looked shocked. 'Wait a minute... Project N... The blueprints... Oh no...'

'Huh? What?' asked Yaoi.

'Well, I'm almost certain that you were the recipient for Project N!'

'Hmm?'

'What you said about her plans... It seems like Project N's goal was for you to be brainwashed into an evil killer who would be powerful enough to defeat all of us! I knew about the plans, but I never knew that an actual human was involved! Project N... Nozomi... of course! How could I have missed it for so long?'

'Whoa, whoa, don't beat yourself up over it, Tangelo!' said Yaoi. 'The important thing is, Nozomi's safe now.'

'Yeah... And I destroyed the brain, so we don't have to worry about it ever again.'

'I don't want to think about what would happen if you did get mind-controlled...' said Satsuma. 'I would never want that to happen to you.'

Nozomi smiled. 'Heh... Thank you, Satsuma-chan. Anyway, some time after that, Monika said that the device wasn't finished yet, so she trapped me in that extremely low temperature chamber. Um... What's the word again?'

'Cryogenic?' said Tangelo.

'Thank you, Tangelo-san.'

'Anyway, wanna stay with us?' asked Yaoi. 'I'm sure there's enough space here for you. It's really cool in Prismopolis, you know! They've got loads of weird stuff here!'

'Well...' said Nozomi. 'I'm sorry, but I think I would prefer to go back home. I think I've had enough adventures for now, and I believe my parents will be wondering where I am. But, if you're staying here, I guess this is goodbye for now...'

'Hey, don't worry!' said Tangelo. 'With DPK's dimensional transporter, we can visit you any time!'

Later...

'Are you sure you're well enough to travel?' said DPK. 'I don't want you getting dimension-sickness or anything.'

'I'll be fine.' said Nozomi. 'It's just that I want to see my family as soon as I can! I'm excited!'

Nozomi stepped through the portal. 'Goodbye, everyone!'

There was a bright flash. As Nozomi left, Tangelo felt a strange feeling inside of him. The feeling that everything had turned out fine in the end. A feeling of peace.