Chapter 6: Relapse
"Why are we back here again?" I asked as we trekked through the waist high grass in the Dual Season World. It's been a week since we talked to the CEO, and Arch and Juro both collapsed in that time span. Arch got dizzy and fainted, he was up on his feet again in a few minutes. Juro just got tired for a few minutes and had to take a break. Both happened on sweeps.
"We have to find another disruption. It might be that dragon, or Tom-Toms," Blinx said.
"Personally, I hope it's the dragon. Might be able to sort this all out," Tora said.
"We can't do this forever," Arch said.
This is useful in fights though, I told everyone. In the last week, we learned how to control the telepathy, sending it to only a few of us at a time and send them faster. Before we had to think then through so it was as fast as talking, now we can have a five minute conversation in a minute.
"Stay focused guys. We're almost there," Bandit said. Just as he said that, we heard a roar followed by shouting. We looked at each other.
Guess we get both. We ran up the hill we were climbing and saw a battle going down when we crested the hill. Tom-Toms we're running around, some shouting, some panicking, and others shooting the dragon. The dragon was meanwhile swiping at the pigs with its claws and tail. It occasionally blew a gust of air with its wings, and appeared to have no thought of retreating.
"Any ideas?" Juro asked, crouching in the grass. We came up empty.
How are we supposed to fight a flipping dragon? Tora asked.
Same as I fought a golem that could control time and was made of stone. Find it's weak point.
It's tail? It's mainly attacking with that Arch said.
Try the face or stomach I said.
Just shoot it Tora finalized. She activated her sweeper, took aim, and fired. She hit the dragon on the wing. It turned to face us, but didn't attack us surprisingly.
I've been waiting for you was all I heard before a bright light blinded me.
When I opened my eyes, we were in A000. We were still together, disoriented and confused above all.
"Wait, it was waiting for us?" Blinx asked. Even with his experience, I'm guessing that even he hasn't seen this before.
Yes I have. I need your help. The dragon landed in front of us. We could tell it was male due to its voice.
"What do you mean? It can't be that bad, can it?" Tora asked.
It can actually. This resulted in the need to give you power over time, to a certain point.
We can control time?" Bandit asked.
Yes, you have telepathy and the ability to use a time control at will, but only one kind each.
Just my luck, Blinx said. Juro patted his back.
Yes you have been through a lot. But you are also the most qualified Sweepers for the task.
"Well it can hear our telepathy," I said.
"Wait who has what control?" Arch asked. "And how come we can't use them?"
You'll see in time. Now you must go back. This universe needs you. With that, we were sent back to the Dual Season World, laying on our backs in the grass. Sitting up, the dragon was gone and the Tom-Toms were leaving.
This is getting better and better.
-XxXxX-
"Well this complicates things," the CEO said. We apparently neutralized the disruption, and came to fill in the CEO, who needed to know that something was going to go down.
"Blinx resolved the B1Q64 incident without any powers, and that was big. Can there be something bigger than that?" Arch asked.
"Well, yes, that was a world. It might be more than one world affected this time," Bandit said.
"Just let me know if anything develops," the CEO said and we left. We were about to step onto the walkway, but everything went black around us.
"What's going on?"
"I can't see."
"Wait for your eyes to adjust."
Where are you guys? I asked.
Look behind you, Tora said. I turned, but I didn't see my friends. I just saw colored light. Soft colored light, so I wasn't blinded. It was like the light at dawn, there but barely. With a start, I realized that it was our eyes. Red for Juro, orange for Tora, yellow for Arch, green for Blinx, and blue for Bandit. I guess my eyes were purple, it was the only color missing. The other Sweepers were starting to notice as well.
"What the heck?" Bandit asked calmly.
"Guess we have flashlights now," Arch shrugged.
"They don't provide that much light," Blinx said.
"Well, I can see a bit now," Tora said walking away. "Might as well find the problem." We rolled our eyes and followed her. Just then the billboards turned on. The picture showed us a world, and all its inhabitants, plus some Sweepers, were frozen in time. Or dissolving into crystals super slowly. It switched to another world that was experiencing the same thing. And then another. It did this for another and another. It kept going until Benito appeared, looking distraught.
"What the heck did you lousy slobs do? These worlds are falling apart here! Even those mangy cats are affected! Who-" Benito got cut off by another transmission, and the alarms going off in the Factory. This time the screen showed the Goddesses, and the time crystals in a star shape with the Retry crystal in the center. There was ancient characters in the screen, and then our current language underneath. It read "guardians of time."
Well this is interesting Tora said. The alarms and billboards shut off again and everyone was silent, letting the situation sink in, the fact of our eyes glowing forgotten. As if someone hit the play button, the Sweepers ran to the gates, for any world. But the gates were down, and no one could get in or out of the worlds. Suddenly, the power came back on, and the gates opened. A team came out of the gate that we were trying to get into, and we were able to talk them.
They were pretty freaked, as for them time froze, and they could still function cognitively, but not physically. We explained what happened here, from the power to the transmissions. Apparently they froze when the power went out here. But one thing was for sure:
Whatever the dragon was going to happen was starting.
Shout Out to thebluedemon. Thanks for favoriting the story. And also to catgirl 140 for linking this and giving feedback. This was overdue, sorry. Have a good week . Go get 'em fey!
-ThinMintE