Drink the poison, close the door, the time has come for chapter 4. And yes ladies and gentlemen, it's time to leave Earth behind and move on to the new planet Solace. With new unknown dangers waiting for our contestants, and the second person with newfound powers, how will this trip go? And with multiple theories to choose from, find out if your theory will be right in the fourth chapter of Second Chances…
Aztec 13: Awesome ideas, mate. I'll try and incorporate some of them.
This will be a shorter chapter than usual.
We cut to the multiple crowds of workers in the massive ship, preparing for its voyage towards the planet Solace. Amongst the crowd of soldiers, engineers and special personnel, we see two that stand out. The infamous Kuben Blisk and the simulacrum Ash.
"Ok, this batch will be going to Solace. How about next month's batch?" Blisk asks.
"The next batch are mostly made up of mercenaries. They're planning to send them to Salvo." Ash states.
"Salvo? Salvo?! Are they out of their fucking minds?!" Blisk was angrily confused. "We've got enough troubles with Salvonian rebels after the Syndicate banished one of their leaders to the Apex games."
"Forces are still working hard to suppress the riots. I would like to take part in the carnage, but now is not the time." Ash states. "When is the time for departure?"
"Around noon today. Be prepared for any unexpected circumstances." Blisk states. "But why did you ask to tag along for supervision? You still have to host some of the arenas."
"I have… fond memories of this place." Ash states.
As the two walk into an entrance of the ship, Ash takes a bit of a look outside. Then something comes up.
"You think they've awoken already?" Ash's human consciousness, Leigh, asks internally.
"Highly unlikely. If anything, the facility is out of power by now." Ash states.
"I didn't try to get us back here to not have an understanding of what we left behind." Leigh states angrily.
"There is an unspoken rule about society. The past is the past and we move on." Ash states.
"Not unless the past, our past, bites us in the ass." Leigh states.
"No more fooling around, we need to get back to Solace." Ash states.
"Don't underestimate what karma can do to people who are unprepared." Leigh states.
As Ash walks into the entrance, a wild chaotic laugh echoes around the facility. This makes Ash stop in her tracks and turns again.
"That laugh!" Leigh acts up. "This can't be a coincidence. You need to investigate!"
"Hmm…" Ash thinks about it.
Ash then pulls out her sword and tears the fabric of space, teleporting her somewhere else.
Chapter 4: Path to New Dawn
We cut to another area of the dock, where the group was. The higher ups had given out breakfast trays, and our group was just waiting while eating.
"Hey, Courtney, have you checked the schedule of departure?" Gwen asks.
"I'm not really sure, but since they're speeding up preparations, my guess is sometime at noon." Courtney takes a guess.
"Oh come on. Can't you guys try and enjoy the cuisines they have here? This stuff is delicious." Duncan states while taking some bites.
"It's literally just eggs and hash." Gwen states. "Nothing to be excited over."
"But I've never tasted this kind of potato. And these spices are different." Owen states.
"Of course it's different, what did you expect?" Heather states.
"Honestly, I didn't really expect much, but this is an improvement on average food." Duncan states. "I'm gonna see if they sell some more."
"Well they don't… anymore." Owen states.
"Lemme guess, you ate it all?" Heather asks.
"Not really, me and some others got heated in an eating challenge." Owen states.
"Ok, I'll just look for another tent." Duncan states. "Don't bother coming, Owen."
"I don't really mind. I'm saving space for the food we see on Solace." Owen states happily.
"Well we are still trying to think of what to do once we get to Solace." Gwen states.
"Actually, I haven't had breakfast yet. I'm coming with you." Heather states.
"Okay then." Duncan states.
As the two walked out of the scene, another matter came to some of the groupmates' minds.
"Yeah, now that you think about it, the spices are pretty different than expected." Gwen states.
"Well yeah. But what do you think is used?" Courtney asks.
"The potatoes seem to have the similarities of Russets. Though I don't know about the spices." Owen states. "Hey Izzy? What do you think?" He calls out.
"Izzy woke up at 5 am this morning and has been running around for the past 2 hours. Don't you remember?" Gwen states.
"Oh yeah, right. I'm gonna ask the others about the food." Owen states.
We then cut to another part of the dock. We see Jo, Lightning, Eva, Tyler and Brick running laps around the ship. Looks like both a will to exercise and a competitive spirit doesn't fade within them.
"So, how long do we have to circle around this thing?" Tyler asks.
"Around 5 times. I estimated that an entire lap will be around 200 meters, so I can get my daily 1k in." Brick explains.
"Heh, you're limiting yourself to that? Come on, I'm circling this thing 15 times." Jo states with arrogance.
"Oh-ho! Is that a challenge?" Lightning asks. "Who can have the most laps around this ship?!"
"Oh, it's on, dickheads." Eva states, gearing into competitive mode.
As they were gearing in, Izzy managed to zoom past them incredibly easily.
"I heard you guys are in a race, and I want to see what happens to you guys!" Izzy states.
"Oh fuck off." Eva says.
"Eh, well then, bye!" Izzy says cheerfully.
Izzy then continues zooming ahead, quickly leaving the group behind.
"How fast is she running?" Tyler asks.
"And how long has she been at it?" Brick asks.
"I don't know, but I'm gonna be the first one to catch up." Lightning states.
Just as Lightning begins to accelerate, he hits something and trips to the floor. The others just went on ahead.
"Heh, that's what you get for getting cocky!" Jo blurted out.
As Lightning got up, he turned to see what he had tripped on. He sees Shawn on the floor also getting up.
"Hey! Watch where you're going! We're trying to race here!" Lightning yelled.
"What? You should have seen me!" Shawn states. "This area isn't even crowded!"
"I didn't see you! How could I not react?" Lightning asks. "I'm off!"
Lightning begins running to catch up as Shawn looks in confusion.
"But I was out in the open…" Shawn states.
We then cut to Emma in another area. She was sitting there with her breakfast, thinking of what to do knowing she's a mutant. Should she tell everyone outright? No, not right now.
"Huh, I've seen stuff like these in shows but I've never realised how hard it'd be." Emma solemnly states to herself. "Hopefully there would be an easier way to do this, I don't want to alarm anyone."
As she sat down, Kitty then approached her.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Kitty asks. "You've been acting this way since last night. Anything you wanna tell me?"
"Bah, nothing, there's just a lot on my mind. I don't feel like talking." Emma states, trying to stop her from digging too far.
"You could have felt that way back at the facility. You only felt it last night?" Kitty asks.
"Just… you know, during those jet rides, I'm sure the reality has set in for almost everyone." Emma still tries to make excuses.
"Well, that's the same for me, but I'm trying to ease out the tension around here." Kitty states. "Come on, tell me what's wrong. I'll try to understand."
"Um… well…" Emma began to explain but was interrupted by something.
There were sounds of sirens blaring around the dock, and everyone turned their attention to it. Once the sirens stopped, an announcement blared.
"All civilians begin boarding. Departure in 1300." A female voice was heard.
"Okay, tell me later, we have to begin boarding." Kitty says before she gathered with the others around the ship.
"Ok, phew. That was good timing." Emma sighed with relief. "Better finish this breakfast."
1 Hour Later
We cut to a large crowd gathering around the ship. There were a large number of lines set up around the ship. Among these crowds and lines, we see a part of the TD group lined up, Harold, Leshawna, Cody, Sierra, Brody, Bridgette, Geoff, Owen, Izzy, Noah, Emma and Kitty.
"Um, is anyone else feeling nervous?" Brody asks.
"I am, bro." Geoff states.
"Me too. This feels like a very incredible experience." Bridgette says.
"I said that I really didn't believe in multiple planet civilisation, but now I'm taking it all in." Leshawna states.
"Even I feel my legs getting weak." Owen states.
"I really don't like this." Kitty states.
"Just hang on, we'll make it through this." Sierra states.
"Yeah, this may be tough, but there will be light at the end of the tunnel." Cody states.
"Hey look! I see DJ over there! Hey DJ!" Izzy yelled out, waving to DJ who was on another part of the line.
"Of course she's having her own world. Absolutely nothing phases her." Noah raised an eyebrow at this.
"Yeah, you told me about her before. You ain't kidding." Emma states.
"Just get used to her. We're all family in this." Owen states.
As the group makes it to the bridge leading into one of the entrances, a guard lets everyone but Emma and Izzy on the bridge.
"Hey man! The hell are you doing?" Emma asks about the sudden interruption.
"Sorry, the passenger limit of Wing A is full. Move on to the Wing B entrance." The guard states.
"The fuck does that mean!?" Kitty asks angrily.
"The ship has three Wings, which are chambers for the passengers to stay in, but the passengers need to be spread. Weight imbalance could cause some problems for our crew." The guard states. "Listen, I'm not the one making the rules here. Just move on to the next entrance."
"Then that means we can't meet each other until the trip ends?" Emma asks.
"Well, you still can. Just before takeoff." The guard states.
"This hopefully won't cause problems." Noah states. "Stay safe."
"Catch you on the flipside, sis!" Kitty says while finger gunning.
Emma returns the finger gun and walks off to the next entrance, while Izzy has just randomly disappeared.
We cut to another part of the line, with another part of the TD group. These are Shawn, Jasmine, Dave and Sky.
"I had a weird encounter with Lightning this morning. He just flat out ran into me in the open, not even making eye contact." Shawn states.
"Really? You sure you're out in the open?" Dave asks.
"Yeah. I was literally right in front of him, but he didn't acknowledge me until we crashed." Shawn states.
"Maybe he was just in the competitive zone. He was racing with the others, so he must be focused." Jasmine states.
"That would be likely. But I'll just take that with a pinch of salt." Shawn states.
"Just try not to think about it too hard." Sky states. "We're moving through a new era in our lives. Try and enjoy it."
1 Hour Later
We cut to the inside of Wing B. It was a large cargo hold-like area, with multiple people lying down or doing their own thing. There were stairs leading up to walkways lining the walls which in turn have doors leading towards other smaller parts of the ship, like janitor rooms, medical bay and armories. There were also some guards walking around, trying to keep an eye on suspicious activity. Among the large crowd of passengers, we see Gwen and Courtney sitting down next to a secluded corner.
"This place looks like a fucking prison. Who even approved of this?" Courtney asks.
"Just try and get used to it, this will only be at least a short trip." Gwen states. "Judging if they have hyperspace jump technology. Which they probably have, considering they have already spanned a supposed exoplanetary civilisation."
"Do you think it would be possible?" Courtney asks.
"Look around the ship. It doesn't really have resources for long term survival. And yet all these people know that and are still comfortable." Gwen states out the facts. "They know this will be a short trip."
"I really can't find flaws here." Courtney states. "Might as well begin to rest."
The ship shakes a bit, and the main gates close, sealing them inside for the trip.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are ready to take off. Hyperjump will be ready in 30 minutes." One of the pilots' voices was heard over the intercom.
"We're almost at the path for our new dawn." Courtney says, slightly nervous.
"Yeah. And now, we have to start anew. Hopefully we don't fuck it up." Gwen states.
"Hopefully. Hopefully." Courtney states.
Then out of nowhere, some random passenger in the room approached them. He was wearing some sort of mercenary looking jacket and attire with a rugged and annoyed look.
"Are you guys associated with that crazy redhead running around?" The guy asks, annoyed.
"Yeah? What about her?" Courtney asks.
"The bitch has been running around causing trouble for me. Either you do something about her chaotic nature, or I will." The guy was pretty annoyed.
"Listen, she's always like this. And to be honest, I don't think that'll change." Gwen states.
"Listen, whatever she's done, we'll try to fix it." Courtney states.
"Keep her from everyone else's business. I don't care what you have to do, just make her leave us alone." The guy states.
"Okay, I'll call her." Gwen states. "Hey Izzy!"
Izzy then jumps down from a walkway and in the middle of the three.
"Someone called me?" Izzy asks.
"This guy says you've been causing trouble, what kind?" Courtney asks.
"Oh hey McCrappyPants! I forgot to tell you your bag was open. You have some really nice stuff." Izzy states, smiling at the guy.
"You piece of shit, what did you see?!" The guy was angry.
"Well, I saw some records, and you've caused quite a bit of trouble with your temper. Kind of like the average Salvonian." Izzy states.
"Don't compare me to those bastards!" The guy yelled angrily.
"What? You still have a lot less incidents than all the well known Salvonians." Izzy states.
"Izzy, will you shut it?" Courtney growled at seeing this conversation getting out of hand. "We don't need any more problems."
"Well, we won't have any problems, at least not as much as him." Izzy states.
As the anger of the guy was getting worse by every word that comes from Izzy's mouth, we see Emma entering Wing B, having been from Wing A after talking with Kitty and Noah.
"Okay, phew, didn't have to mention my mutation, got cut off by the announcement." Emma was a bit cathartic. "I should probably sit down somewhere.
Then Emma notices what was going on at Gwen's group. By now, the guy was pissed a lot. What she thought was the logical thing? Interfere.
"Oh you piece of shit!" The guy was angry and wanted to charge.
"What the hell is going on here?" Emma then barged into the conversation.
"Well, this guy is getting angry because SOMEONE…" Courtney turned to Izzy with a killer look. "...won't fucking shut up."
"Ok, Izzy, just leave him alone." Emma then turns to the guy. "Sorry for that, just ignore her."
But something went wrong. Another spark was emitted from Emma's hand, jumping towards the guy.
"Gah!" The guy jumped in pain and immediately turned angry again. "You bitch!"
"Ah shit!" Emma exclaimed.
In his anger, the guy takes out something from one of his pockets, a taser, and shoves it onto Emma's shoulder.
"Gah!" Emma yelled for a brief moment.
"Oh shit!" Courtney yelled.
Among the shock and fear of the group, they noticed that something was wrong. They were hearing some sparking noises from the taser, Emma wasn't reacting much and wasn't falling over. In fact, it was like she wasn't feeling anything at all.
"Um…" Emma notices something. "Is this supposed to be a taser?"
"The fuck?" The guy was confused.
The guy then pulls the taser away from Emma, but the sparks are still going.
"Guys, something's wrong." Gwen states.
"Is she absorbing the electricity?" Courtney asks in confusion.
As more and more of the crowd look towards the scene, Emma's eyes turn electric blue and electric sparks begin to shoot from her body.
"Oh no, nonono." Emma realises what's going on.
"Guys, I think we've found the second mutant." Gwen states.
"Emma! Calm down!" Sanders yelled.
"I-I can't! This is becoming too much for me!" Emma yelled.
The security force in the area noticed this and began to surround the area, moving the rest of the civilians away. The electric sparks were getting more severe
"Guys! What do we do?!" Courtney asks.
"Ahhh! Do something!" Emma was panicking a lot.
The guy was getting overwhelmed by what was going on. Seeing the sparks getting more and more intense, he felt like he needed to stop it. And the logical thing this guy does? Take out a pistol.
At this time, things were getting hectic. To focus on the situation, Gwen amplified her senses, and time felt like it slowed for everything.
'Okay, so a retread, Izzy annoyed this guy, Emma interfered, and got tased. But now we know she's a mutant, this didn't affect her much, but her powers began to go out of control.' Gwen thought to herself.
Gwen glances at the crowd and security.
'Good thinking, guards. Moving the civilians away before dealing with the situation.' Gwen thought.
Gwen then glanced at the guy. Knowing he was the closest, she thought he might do something. And that something was a gun.
'A gun?!' Gwen's eyes opened wide. 'Fuck, what is this guy thinking?!'
Gwen finally glanced at Emma, who still hasn't noticed the gun aiming at her.
'Gah! Fuck it! Here goes nothing!' Gwen decides to make a move.
And Gwen's senses go back to normal. She begins to run at what was happening. As the gun fires, Gwen jumps into the way. The bullet only goes through her side, and continues its way, hitting Emma in the shoulder.
We cut to Wing A where Kitty, Noah and Owen were sitting in. They were noticing the sudden alertness of the guards.
"You think something happened?" Owen asked.
"Yeah, probably. Probably some riot." Noah states. "I know some people have been rejecting this decision."
"Yeah, but do you think it would be odd for a riot to happen right now?" Kitty asks.
"Hmm, didn't think about that. Maybe nothing big." Noah states.
Suddenly, a gunshot echoes across the ship. This caught the attention of many in the ship, including the group.
"Nothing big, huh?" Kitty remarked. "Listen, if that was a singular shot, maybe we can check it out, but if a full on shootout happens, just stay here."
And in that moment, a couple screams filled the ship. Very familiar screams.
"Gwen?!" Owen perked up
"Emma?!" Kitty perked up.
Another sound echoed, a sound like a sonic vibration. As the sound intensified, it stopped completely.
"You think we should check it out?" Owen asks.
A loud sonic boom echoed at once as a powerful electric field moved through the ship. This caused the ship's power to stop completely, and the emergency lights booted up.
"Yeah, we should check it out." Noah states with worry.
10 Minutes Later
We cut to a small medbay room within the ship. It looks like a standard medbay, but with sleeker designs due to the technology in this era. We see Gwen and Emma lying down on beds with the medics tending to their injuries. Courtney, Duncan and Heather were sitting around, thinking of what had happened.
"Well, that was incredibly hectic." Courtney states.
"Were you guys trying to make the situation worse?!" Heather asks, annoyed.
"Hey, it wasn't me! It was Izzy!" Courtney yelled.
"Damn, we couldn't do two days of our journey without losing members of our squad." Duncan states. "We are fucked."
"Come on, that was just a hiccup." Courtney states.
"That 'hiccup' caused problems in the ship and got these two shot!" Heather yelled. "Listen, we've gotta stop drawing attention to ourselves. We can't afford to lose people!"
"This is getting harder than I thought. But hey, at least we know who's the second mutant." Duncan states.
"Yeah, that's nice to know, but we need to do better. Things can go real wrong real fast." Heather states.
As the three argue about what had happened, the medics take out something interesting. It looks like a high tech device in the shape of a glue gun. After a quick charge up, a medic jams the device into Gwen's arm.
"Gah! The fuck!?" Gwen was confused by this.
Then Gwen felt a strange feeling, starting from her arm, and moving down towards her injury, where the bullet pierced through. The wound then felt like it was closing up, with muscles reattaching together. Then it closed up completely, leaving nothing but a painful scar.
"Whoa, that was… really weird. And strangely rejuvenating." Gwen states.
"Ah, first time getting shot, huh? Well then, it might be your first time using these specialised medkits." A medic states. "If you're planning to get shot even more, you'll get used to the feeling." He joked around
"The fuck will I plan to get shot? That's absurd." Gwen states.
As the medics do another medkit on Emma, Kitty and Noah rush past the door, but noticed and stopped by.
"Oh shit!" Kitty yelled.
As Noah was about to say something, Owen ran into him and they both crash down the hallway.
"Kitty?!" Emma asked, just as her medkit was finished. "Gah! That was wierd!"
Kitty entered the room and approached her sister, with Owen and Noah behind.
"Sanders notified us about what happened." Noah states with worry. "Are you okay?"
"Well, other than this weird pain in my now miraculously healed shoulder, feeling pretty down." Emma states. "By now, they would have told you I was one of the mutants."
One of the medics then raised an eyebrow. Gwen notices and begins to talk.
"Don't try and understand. It will only lead to more questions." Gwen states.
The medics awknowledge this and began to do their own thing.
"Yeah, it's a bummer, really." Owen states.
"Man, I really didn't want you guys to know." Emma groaned while covering her face. "I didn't want to cause anymore worry."
"Hey, it's okay. Calm down, and maybe we can talk about it." Kitty tries to comfort her sister.
"Yeah, we're here." Noah says.
"Thanks guys." Emma smiled before cringing from the pain in her shoulder. "Gah! Maybe later. My shoulder still hurts."
We cut to Gwen, Courtney, Duncan and Heather walking down the hallway a moment later. Gwen still felt pain, but was holding her own.
"Where the fuck is Izzy?" Courtney asks.
"I have no idea. She disappeared right as the power went down." Gwen states. "Don't think about trying to kill her. We've said multiple times that we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves."
"We've already caused an incident in the second day of our journey." Heather states. "What is even going on."
"Look, let's all just rest, but keep an eye on anything bad. We can't afford another incident." Duncan states.
As the four walk down the hallway, we see a room where they have passed by, and we see Ash secretly observing them.
"It seems they're planning to make a new life here." Ash states. "Judging by what has happened, it won't be long until another incident arises."
"But wait. What if our paths will be locked onto theirs? What would happen if destiny will be in their favor and intertwine with us?" Leigh asks.
"Highly unlikely. They won't be able to find me, nor will they ever uncover our past." Ash states.
"Watch and wait, my robotic self, watch and wait." Leigh snarked.
Ash then took out her sword and slashed herself another portal, teleporting somewhere else.
Okay then, this was also another hassle for me. I was in another mindset of planning for another story, but I'll get to that way later, and I'll probably announce it sometime. Anyways, with this chapter done, our group is headed towards Solace, where new opportunities arise, from prospering communities, new possible friends, and a certain bloodsport popular in the Outlands. And with the destinies of the group and the resident simulacrum intertwining, things will go in an unexpected direction for our group's Second Chances.
Red Sun… Red Sun Over Paradise…