A/N: Chapter 2! I made some edits in the first chapter so see that as well. I don't own anyone!
Meet the Family Ch 2
H'earring was sitting upon Chaor's bedside table, setting up a small glass of water, a candle holder, a small bag of rocks, and a menagerie of various sized books. Kopond had been working nonstop, entering each Chaotic player mind and untangling the memories within. He had finished with Kaz, who was currently in Chaor and Takinom's bed and covered in furs, over two hours ago. Chaor and Takinom were hovering by the door, each looking doubtful at the rabbit Underworlder.
"Are you sure this will work?" Takinom asked for the umpteenth time. H'earring rolled his eyes, though he couldn't blame her for being concerned. Kaz was a favorite of hers, and Takinom was as possessive as Chaor when it came to her favorites.
"Of course it's going to work! I've done this to him before! Of course, he was okay during those times, but it still should work," he claimed in his squeaky voice. Takinom looked to her leader, her mate, and Chaor nodded.
"Wake him up," he ordered. The mighty red Creature glared at the innocent backpack that they found next to Kaz. "I want to know what's in that bag."
H'earring nodded and began his operation. First, he knocked over the candle holder. Kaz only made a small stirring. The glass of water met the floor next, splashing water everywhere and the cup rolling under the table. Kaz twitched this time, but still didn't wake up. H'earring grabbed the small bag of rocks and a small book and dropped them to the floor, creating a groan from Kaz. Finally, he randomly chose books and let them drop to the ground. The resulting sound was compared to a balloon popping multiple times. This caused Kaz to groan and open his eyes. Squinting slightly, he aimed a glare at the grinning H'earring.
"Do you always have to do that when you want me up?" he asked the Underworlder. H'earring just chuckled darkly. A low cough caused Kaz to look over at Takinom and Chaor. Sitting up quickly and rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Kaz watched the leader of the Underworld and his mate come over to him. Takinom sat at the edge of the bed and her jasper eyes bore into Kaz's chocolate ones.
"So," she drawled out. Kaz looked between the two Creatures.
"Okay, besides me passing out, what happened?" he asked.
"All the humans passed out with you and your friend in the Kolmogo," Takinom said.
"All the tribes took their players home, and the source of why you went under hasn't been found yet," H'earring followed up, climbing up onto the bed to snuggle with Kaz.
"What I want to know is what that thing is!" Chaor growled in his deep voice, pointing to the harmless bag. Kaz peered around the bedside table to see…
"How did my schoolbag get here?" he asked in astonishment. Takinom perked up at the word "schoolbag."
"Schoolbag?" she asked mischievously, a wicked smirk on her face. Kaz caught her expression and panic flinted across his face.
"No! Absolutely not! No!" He tried to climb out of Chaor and Takinom's bed, but he was too tangled up in the furs and H'earring was a heavy weight next to him. By the time he got out of the bed, Takinom was high in the rafters with his bag.
"Let's see what we have here," she grinned. Her hands unzipped the bag and dipped in to reveal a large hardcover book with the title World History. Takinom whistled.
"World History, huh? Wonder what's in here," she said, opening the thick book. It was full of color pictures, and words marched across the pages.
"Come on, Takinom, can I have my books back?" Kaz's voice brought her attention to the floor, Chaor next to the tiny human boy. H'earring was still on their bed, content on sitting and watching the drama. Takinom snapped the World History book shut and placed the book back into the schoolbag.
"Do you have school work to do?" the winged she-Creature asked Kaz. Frowning, Kaz nodded.
"Good. Get it done," Chaor rumbled. "Work before play."
With that said, Chaor pushed Kaz back into bed and ruffled his red hair. Takinom dropped down from the rafters and throw the schoolbag on the bed.
"Aww, come on! Do I have to?" Kaz pouted.
"The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can go scanning," Takinom countered, closing the door after her mate. Kaz looked astonished at the closed door, then to H'earring.
"Since when did they start channeling my parents?" he asked. H'earring just shrugged.
Intress was watching Tom very closely as he did his schoolwork. When he woke up, the teenager was greeted by the sight of Intress sitting cross legged on the bed with an Earth Science textbook in her lap. He had panicked and tried to take the book away from her. A quick argument and wrestling match later, and Tom was grudgingly doing his work as long as Intress was in the room to make sure he didn't sneak off. She had the Earth Science book in her lap still while Tom worked on his math. When Maxxor entered the chambers, he was astonished to see the two so absorbed in their activities.
"Intress," he called out. Intress looked up from the chapter she was reading. Tom looked up as well. Maxxor strode over to the bed and sighed heavily.
"The source of the humans' collapse came from the Arsenal. Apparently, Bodal was trying to fix the machine that the Danians were trying to take over the day we made the alliance," he explained. "The machine malfunctioned and the humans' Earth selves merged with their Chaotic selves."
"So, that's why we all fainted?" Tom asked cautiously. Maxxor nodded sagely.
"There's something you're not telling us, Maxxor," Intress scolded. "What is it?"
Another heavy sigh erupted from Maxxor. "There are two portals, one that possibly leads to where you play your games, Tom." Tom nodded. "And another one, well, we're not completely sure where it leads. We're sure that it leads to Earth, but not where on Earth."
Tom paled under his olive skin. That left many possibilities running through his mind, and many of them not good.
Vinta just stared. Peyton was still asleep, but he was mumbling in his sleep and clutching a pillow in his arms. It looked uncomfortable, and Vinta longed to correct it. But Enre-Hep's instructions were clear. Sleep for a couple hours, then wake up the players and tell them the Tribal Alliance plans. Vinta looked at Peyton's watch again and decided that enough was enough. He was going to wake up Peyton!
"Peyton, wake up. Wake up, Peyton!" He shook the Chaotic player's shoulder, but all Peyton did was let go of the pillow. Vinta frowned. Then he tried everything that he could do on his own: take the blanket away, yell, and even pour water on Peyton! Nothing worked.
Vinta scowled. This meant war!
Quickly, he left his home to get back-up. Fortunately, Sobjtek, Siado, and Tiaane were waiting just a couple homes down from his.
"Sobjtek!" Vinta called. "I need your help." The trio went with Vinta into his home and where Peyton was sleeping.
"Okay, on the count of three, we flip the bed," Vinta explained after the laughter over Peyton's sleeping pose subsided. The four Mipedians grabbed an edge of the bed and Vinta began the countdown.
"One…two…THREE!" The bed was over turned, and Peyton went with it with a yelp. Vinta immediately went around the mess to see if the Chaotic player was all right.
"What happened?" Peyton shouted, sitting straight up, covers barely allowing him to move. Vinta took one look and just began to laugh. Tiaane, Sobjtek, and Siado joined him as Peyton struggled out of the blankets. As soon as Peyton was out from his entrapment, his face gained its customary grin.
"Hey, Vinta!" the human said. A frown flinted across Peyton's face a second later, and he began to pat himself down. "Uh, where's my scanner?"
Siado smirked. "It's confiscated, by order of Prince Mudeenu and the rest of the Tribal Alliance. You'll get it back when your schoolwork is done."
Peyton looked shocked. "How did you know about my homework? And how come you guys are acting like parents?"
"Chaor and Takinom told us about your 'schoolwork' after Kaz told them," Sobjtek answered with a small grin.
"And some of us have been parents before," Tiaane added. Peyton's face fell.
"Aww, man!" Siado chuckled.
"Hurry up and get that work done so we can head to Kiru City and meet up with the rest of the Alliance," Vinta said and the Mipedians left the human with his backpack.
Sarah wasn't sure how she got into Wamma's nest, but she did know that Lore was going to be in a world of pain for waking her up for a simple physical that could have been done later!
"Lore, seriously, I am about to feed you a knuckle sandwich if you don't stop!" she growled, trying to free her fist. Lore ignored her, completely used to the irritated threats.
"Wamma, you better still be sitting on her," Lore simply said. The fat Danian saluted the muge with a grin. Sarah scowled from her position.
"Wamma, you're squishing me!" she exclaimed as Lore checked her eyes. Wamma shifted a little so that Sarah could have more breathing room. Some other Danians were hanging around and laughing. Sarah glared at the heckling insect-Creatures.
"All right, Sarah. Everything looks like it's functioning normally. Wamma, let her up as soon as I'm gone," Lore joked. Wamma chuckled as Sarah pouted.
"You are all very horrible," she simply stated. As soon as Lore left, Wamma let Sarah up. That didn't mean that she didn't try to go after Lore, however. The group of Danians watching Sarah's escape attempts left and Tassanil, a red brown Danian noble with long white hair, took their place. He watch with a raised brow as Sarah tried to wrestle Wamma in revenge for sitting on her.
"Come on, Sarah! You weren't staying still! And Lore had his orders straight from Odu-Bathax!" Wamma cried, laughter laced in his voice.
"I don't care, Wamma! You don't sit on anyone!" Sarah managed to keep Wamma pinned for a couple of seconds before the Danian escaped. Tassanil frowned and pulled Sarah off of Wamma.
"Quit bickering with Wamma and get your work done," the noble said, passing Sarah's bag to her. He left the room with Sarah growling at him. With a huff, Sarah sat Indian style and pulled a textbook and notebook out. Opening the two books, she glanced at the page. Then she looked at Wamma.
"Do you understand proofs?" she asked. Wamma looked at the girl player confused.
"What are 'proofs'?" he asked. Sarah sighed.
"Homework mixed with Creatures," she muttered. "This will not end well."
On Earth, a man about thirty stood at the portal mouth, located on a military base. Tall with olive skin and dark brown almost black hair, his stance was straight and proud. His face was wary of the forest in the portal entrance, and his earth brown eyes darted from tree to tree lining the trail into the world beyond. Burly arms and legs boasted of his strength and the 0.9mm handgun at his right thigh made him feel safe. His uniform said that he was an US Marine Captain and the shadows under his eyes shouted that he was running on adrenaline and coffee.
"Majors," a voice commanded, large and deep. "Majors" turned to the visiting general and saluted sharply.
"Sir," the man replied.
"At ease. Get some sleep, let the science boys handle this. More of their area, you know?" the general ordered. Majors sighed.
"Permission to speak, sir?"
"Granted."
"I can't sleep, General. My little brother is missing, and it may be the fact that I haven't slept in awhile, but I think that portal is the reason he and his best buddy are missing. The entire family is on full alert and my madre is going nuts," he explained. The general nodded.
"How old is your brother?" he asked. Majors sighed. "Tom is only fourteen, sir. The same goes for Kaz."
The general nodded gravely and clapped the captain's back friendly.
"Again, get some rest," the general said and walked away.
Majors stared at the portal a little bit longer when he noticed movement near the trail. Frowning, he took a step closer to the portal. Squinting, he could barely see an equine shape against the setting sun of his world. Fishing out his cell phone, he zoomed in on the shape and snapped a picture. He had just put the phone away when his baby sister of twenty-nine found him.
"Diego Bruno Majors! What do you think you're going?" she shouted in Italian, her dirty blonde hair blowing in the wind.
"Shut the hell up, Anamaria. I'm thinking," he replied smoothly back in Italian. "I'm in no mood for your attitude."
"Oh really? How about Mama's attitude? Are you in the mood for that?" Anamaria shot back. Then her own olive face softened with its sapphire blue eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm just worried, that's all."
Diego grabbed his sister in a hug, her face buried in his muscular chest. He squeezed, knowing his sister was physically strong and fully capable of hurting him.
"We all are worried," he simply said.
Then he let her go and the two began to walk back to the mess hall. Just before they entered, Diego looked back at the portal and whispered, "Essere sicuri, fratellio."
Then he entered the mess hall, the words heavy in the air.
Be safe, baby brother.
A/N: What do you think? Enjoy it?