Hi! This time I'm switching back to Penny and Talon. It's going to be a little bit of a flashback-ish chapter. I know my previous few chapters were quite short, so I decided to make it up to you, since I had a week off school earlier this month (thank GOD! High school is freaking HARD! Hahaha XD).
This one's for ALL of you (partly because no one reviewed chapter eight :P :D haha)! Thank you all so much for sticking with the story, I never really expected people would even find it and click on it, seeing that some actually read it and liked it and even took time to review it, I just don't know what to say. So thank you, you guys really surprised me in a very positive way :D :) Enjoy!
Penny's POV
I look up from my holographic screen once again, only to reassure that even the opening that would lead me back to the laboratory is gone as well. Gee, what am I supposed to do now?
That's it, I've been standing here long enough. If even my Codex can't solve this, I don't know what will. Besides, the only thing I should be worrying about is getting outta here, not how the hell I got here. So I start just walking forward with the light of my Codex guiding my way. Man, I haven't seen the sunlight for at least a day now, I guess my eyes have gotten used to the lack of brightness in this dungeon.
The one thing that really gets on my nerves right now is the wobbly floor. Every two steps or so, I almost trip over a rock or a bump. This tunnels are nothing like the bricked one that Talon and I were wandering through when we were looking for uncle Gadget ...
...
"Hey, Penny, look behind you," he says. So I turn around and notice my flashlight is pointing directly at a brick, that seems a little bit out of place. What a coincidence.
"That brick looks suspicious ..." I note.
"I wonder what happens if I pull it," He grins and moves towards the wall.
"Talon, don't! Nothing good ever comes out when someone pulls the suspicious-looking brick out of the wall!" I yell. And yes, that is not a saying, I just made that up.
"Too late!" he exclaims and pulls the suspicious-looking brick out of the wall. Why does he always do the exact opposite of what I tell him to? I don't mean to be an obnoxious bossy girl, but he could at least listen to what I say ...
...
Huh, I wonder where he is right now. Ummmm, by that I mean Gadget, who cares for the insane (-ly cute) Claw's nephew ...
Anywho, it is also strange how these tunnels just somehow magically appeared at some time of the night. No wonder they're so rocky. Ouch, my toe!
After a while of walking and tripping and falling and getting up and walking again, I'm starting to get bored. This path, if I can call it a path, appears to be getting me nowhere and I've got nothing else to think about except for how did I get here, what am I doing here and why haven't I got out of this mess already.
... I wonder what Talon's doing ...
Talon's POV
Booorreeeeeeeeeeeed!
These tunnels stink! Thank God my bracer has a biult-in flashlight, because if it didn't, I might as well consider myself screwed! And this is all Penny's fault! She just had to catch me on that stupid platform and drag me here, she just couldn't leave me d... Okay, I see her point.
But still, we wouldn't have been stuck in that freaky invention lab in the first place if it wasn't for ... me, pulling that brick out of the wall.
But still, who's silly idea was to race each other into the mysterious unknown hole in the wall like mindless dodo birds? Oh yeah ... it was my silly idea.
But still ... Nope, I got nothin'. Dammit, I'm such a screw-up ...
...
"Talon, don't! Nothing good ever comes out when someone pulls the suspicious-looking brick out of the wall!" she yells. I'm pretty sure she just made that up.
"Too late!" I exclaim and pull the suspicious-looking brick out of the wall. Like I'd ever listen to her.
"See? Nothing bad happened," I say with a victorious smile on my face. Penny still doesn't look like she's a hundred percent sure that we're safe. She slowly approaches the hole that was left there with the brick missing. She bends over to look inside, and just as I'm about to do so myself, the wall starts rotating! It pushes us out of the bricked hallway and into a completely different room.
Oops, my bad. What? I had to pull that brick ...
...
It's true. Penny didn't do anything wrong, she's adorab- I mean, perfec- I mean, pret- I mean ... Not screw-up-ish. For God's sake, is that even a word? Man, I must be bored. And I am just now realizing that all of this sickness is my fault. I can't believe I'm such an imbecile. Plus Penny's probably still mad at me because of the ... Incident, that happened earlier this morning. Or whatever time is it right now, I have no idea.
I just hope I don't die here, at least not before my uncle destroys Gadget - which is quite possibly never, looking at his horrible, horrible, horrible 'evil' plans.
That's why I have to figure out how to get outta here, and fast! My uncle needs me! He doesn't know that yet, but it's true. I mean, sure Gadget is just as stupid as he is, but at least he has Penny. And his dog-babysitter, of course ... And Penny.
Hey, I wonder what she's doing right now ...
Penny's POV
Left, left, left, left ... Wait, am I walking in circles?
This maze is endless! I'm not even tired, yet my eyes feel so heavy I could just drop on the cold, rocky floor and fall asleep right here and now. It's like boredom is taking over my brain. There's probably like 0,001% left of it by now.
At least time'd be running faster if Talon was here ...
...
"Got ya!" I shout, throwing the flashlight on the floor and tackling him to the ground. We both start laughing so hard I'm forced to release him. We slowly get up and look at each other. He smirks and wiggles his eyebrows (he looks so cute when he does that). Then we start battling like we usually do on every mission.
At a point I press Talon against the wall. We stare right into each other's eyes for a while. His beautiful chocolate brown eyes. They are just so pure and flawless, the way they sparkle when reflecting the brightness of the flashlight that's lying on the floor by the brick wall behind my back. I swear I could just close my eyes and kiss him ... but I wouldn't dare to do that (well, maybe if he dared me to do it in a game of Truth or Dare that he mentioned earlier ...). So I break eye-contact and let him go ...
...
Nahhh, the last thing I need right now is that cold-blooded (and unbelievably good-looking) and insensitive (and extremely attractive) jerk! If I never see him again, it'll be too soon! Plus, I'm still very angry with him ... Yeah!
Ugghh, this whole situation is just so unbearably exhausting. I can feel my shoulders starting to slope downward, my arms flop against my body, causing my Codex to shut down, leaving darkness fill the space around me. And just like someone turned off the lightbulb in my head, I start yawning. I flex the muscles in my arms one more time, just to stretch them a little bit. My eyelids start sliding down my eyeballs, and just as I am about to pass out, I bump into something, uhhh ... Something that is actually not made out of stone!
I can't believe it! I found the exit!
Wait Penny, don't get all excited. It's pitch black, who knows what this none-stone-ish object might be.
So I let my holo-screen make some light, only to find out that my discovery is, as a matter in fact - A DOOR! Yaaaaaaaaaaay, I found a door! It's a door! Woop woop! Oh yeah! A D-O-O-R! A door! Hahaha! I start jumping around in circles, increasing the possibility of spraining my ankle, considering the unsafe construction of the ground beneath me, but I don't really care about that right now. I found the exit! I bet Talon's still walking around, feeling like a wooden-headed, pea-brained caveman, while I have found myself a doorway to freedom!
I'm sorry, I know that comparison to that silly (and handsome) dork is an insult for cavemen all around the world, but I couldn't think of anything better at the time.
Anywho ... I open the door, revealing the ... INVENTION LAB!? I'm officially through with this craziness!
Talon's POV
I'm officially through with this craziness!
My only source of brightness seems to be getting low on batteries, and so are my legs. It's like I'm dragging two elephants behind me, that are tied to my boots with an impossible knot! And to top it off, I'm sooo bored, I'd even consider coloring entertaining!
Arrrghh, I just need something to think about to keep my mind busy. I know! I'll analyze all the events of the previous two days, to see if that'll give me an idea on how to escape from this underground prison. Or use the previous sentence as an excuse to think about how lovable Penny is ... Whatever ...
...
We've been sitting here for quite some time now. I'm watching Penny playing around with her flashlight and making a really cute face while doing it. It should be a crime to look so cute without even trying. Well, I might as well call it a crime since we're 'locked up' in this creepy hallway. I try to rest my head on my hand, but this annoying brick wall is making it really hard to get in a comfortable position.
"Well, this is getting boring," she sighs and drops the flashlight on the ground.
"Truth or Dare?" I ask tauntingly.
"Shut up, Talon," she replies.
"How are you so sure that I'm not gonna escape again?" I say with a large smirk on my face.
"Because you don't carry a flashlight, I suppose," Damn, she's right.
Or is she? Wait a second ...
...
I DO carry a flashlight! It's right here in my bracer! I am using it this very moment! Well, right now, even the letters spelling 'low battery' are shining brighter than it, but it's still a flashlight. I am such a stupid idiot! There was my chance! There was my exit, right there! And I screwed it up.
I could have just got up on my feet and pridefully walked away. I could have been flying above the clouds with my fixed and improved rocket boots. I could have been plotting a new evil plan and finally destroy Gadget, or at least watch my uncle plot a sucky plan and quite possibly mess it up even more. I could have been sitting on the couch at home, not moving a single muscle in my entire body, instead of walking down this stupid dungeon and burning the flesh off my feet. I could have been free. But noooo!
Penny had to go and mess it all up, with her dumb nutty uncle and her crazy smartass dog and her sparkly blue eyes and her silky blonde hair and ... Aaaaahh!
This is torture, this is pure torture. If I don't find an exit in the next few seconds, I swear I'm gonna ... Oh look, a DOOR!
I jump around in circles and almost crash my head into the pointy ceiling, but that doesn't even matter to me right now. I have found the exit! I have actually found the exit! Goodbye, stinky tunnels! So long, boredom! Rest in peace, crappy flashlight! Freedom, here I co-
Wait, what is this place? It looks familiar. Hmmmmmm ...
Penny's POV
This sucks. This seriously sucks.
I ran out of a wacky lab, came into a creepy tunnel, walked for what seemed to be at least a day, almost sprained my ankle on the rocky floor, bumped into a door, opened it and then somehow ended up in a wacky lab. What!? Aaarrghhh!
Oh what the heck, anything is better than the rat hole I just crawled out of.
So I start walking forward, staring at the inventions surrounding me. Man, these thingies are beyond weird. They seem to be getting sillier with every single laboratory I enter. How many freaky chambers are there hiding in this HQ 'basement' anyway? You could get lost in here even without the overnight stone-tunnel addition. Heck, if anyone, Talon and I should be the ones to know that, we are basically a living proof.
While I'm taking a stroll down the potion aisle, I sense a strangely familiar feeling of vibration in my feet, that appears to be originating from the - suddenly shaky - floor. Not another earthquake!
I look down and notice a self-cleaning napkin land in front of my feet. Haha, really funny. Does one of these have to be in each room I walk into? Because that didn't work out so well the last time ...
...
Then suddenly, the ground starts shaking! All the inventions start falling off the table one by one. I slip on a self-cleaning napkin and fall directly into Talon's arms. The time stops when I look into his lovable chocolate eyes, but unfortunately the earthquake continues. There's no time to waste! Even though I don't think every second of this day I spent staring at his beautiful dark brown eyes is wasted ...
"The door!" He shouts, pointing at the door on the other side of the collapsing laboratory. We sprint past the tables, avoiding pieces of broken glass and deadly potions, that were spilled across the floor like a dangerously toxic liquid rainbow. We're about sixty feet away from the door, when the ceiling above us starts falling apart! "Faster!" I scream, we leap across the floor and manage to protect ourselves from the giant brick rock, that was about to flatten us up against the ground. We run for the exit. I open the door, stop for a second and look up. I realize the ceiling right above my head is starting to crack! Seconds before it collides with the flooring, Talon jumps, pushes me through the doorway and closes it behind us. Just then, I hear a gigantic 'kaboom!' on the other side of the wall ...
...
Yeah, that was a fun experience. But who cares! It's not like I'm gonna slip on it aga- Wooooah!
I lose my balance and become a slave to the force of gravity, only this time Talon's arms aren't here to catch me and his breath-taking eyes aren't waiting to meet mine and stop the time for a moment or two. The only thing that'll catch me now is ... Well, the floor. And just as my head rushes into the cold embrace of the hard flooring, I notice the potions moving slightly closer to the border of the shelf each time it trembles.
Oh no.
Talon's POV
My thoughts are interrupted by a little piece of the ceiling hitting my head. Odd, I wonder why it fell off.
"Hm, never mind," I mumble to myself, when another one hits me. And another one ... Then the next second, I am swept off my feet by the sudden movement of the ground. I shove myself through the open door, right before it closes back up. It seemed like a safer choice at the time, but my eye-sight quickly disproves that fact. I am suddenly cornered by an ocean of rainbow-colored puddles, broken test tubes, small pieces of paper with 'danger' written on them floating around the place, lots of loony gadgets and OH MY GOD!
Is that a floating waterbed!? This certainly brings back some memories ...
...
"AAAAA!" she yells while quickly jumping off the bed. I blush - and I mean it, my cheeks feel so hot you could literally grill bacon on them right now - but I'm not sure this puts Penny in a better position, since she's blushing twice as hard herself. Regardless of that, she's looking directly in my eyes. This whole situation is so awkward I just wanna go hide behind the teleport machine prototype in the corner, but she looks like she's not letting me get away without getting to the bottom of this, this, whatever this is.
"Sooo ... What the heck happened!?" I shake my head and open my mouth to say something, but remain silent. My eyes are jumping all over the place, looking for a good explanation. Ughh, who am I kidding, I don't even know what actually happened, how am I supposed to make up an excuse in under ten seconds? "Would you stop doing that and just look me in the eyes! You're really annoying me right now!" she exclaims. I hesitate, but eventually pick up the courage and look at her - which possibly makes my cheeks go even red-er - and then open my mouth again, but still words just don't seem to get out of it. She just looks so adorable when she's angry ... Snap out of it, Talon!
No, really, there's an earthquake happening in this dimension that some people like to call REAL LIFE!
...
Lost in the flashback, I hardly notice the purple microscope, dropping quickly towards my direction, that was about to crack my skull open.
Oh no.
Penny's POV
I try to gather myself together, but my head is kinda dizzy from the impact with the floor. Then suddenly, my vision focuses on an erlenmeyer flask, filled with some sort of greenish goo, slowly rotating, tripping over and starting to fall, releasing the frothy substance from its glassy frame. I panic, but soon react by quickly rolling over and bumping my elbow into a nearby table, leaving the potion to spill all over the flooring. At least it didn't create a hole in it, like it probably would have in my stomach.
With the first strike made, series of oozes, sludges and gloops of all colors start falling off the shelves like crazy!
I jump back on my feet and start running like the wind. Halfway to the opposite side of the room, an intergalactic payphone (seriously? What is it used for, calling Mars?) bends over and lands on the ground right in front of me, blocking my way. I turn around and there's a rapid river of foaming potions coming my way, about to burn my shoes off. I look up and see a grape vine hanging off the ceiling (again - what!?). It looks unsafe, but still safer than being terminated by a poisonous flood of rainbow goo.
So I leap up and grab it, swing and pray to God it doesn't snap in two, than release it, returning my feet to the ground on the other side of the broken payphone. Everything starts stabilizing slowly as I finally feel secure enough to drop my guard.
I look around and notice a door. I calmly walk closer and place my hand on the door knob ...
Talon's POV
I barely manage to escape the sudden attack by jumping up, doing a perfect flip and landing safely a few feet away from the spot where the microscope hits the ground and shatters to pieces. I locate an exit on the other side of the room. I start running for my life, avoiding the bubbling flows of toxic substances and flying science equipment as I go. I see a self-cleaning napkin lying on the floor a couple of inches away from my feet - too bad Penny isn't here to slip on it and fall in to my arms, so I can get lost in her crystal blue eyes for a moment or two ...
No, this is not the time!
About 30 feet before reaching the door, I stumble upon something, that I assumed was an invisible trash bag (told ya it's useless - you can't see it, but it's always there when you need it the least). I turn on my back and look behind me, expecting a wave of some kind of aim-bot sharp objects coming at me. But luckily the place starts cooling down slowly and all the inventions are once again placed securely on the ground.
Uffff, I'm sure glad that's over!
After a few moments of lying on the floor, cursing the inventor of the invisible trash bag, I carefully stand up and move closer to the door. I place my hand on the door knob ...
Penny's POV
I open the door ...
... And guess who's behind it.
Talon's POV
I open the door ...
... And guess who's behind it.
"Penny?" Well that's just great.
Penny's POV
"Talon?" Well that's just great.
While we just stand there staring at each other, the door behind him somehow automatically closes, so does the one behind me. There's nothing left besides us but the metallic box surrounding us. After all we went through, we are now boxed up in metal ... Together.
This should be interesting.