"Guys, get your gear ready, we're going on a trip" Alex announced to her team. Jaz and Wave, who were locked in an arm-wrestle, broke apart and got to their feet. Shade was working on a mechanism nearby. He raised his goggles back to the top of his head and looked at their leader.
"Where are we going?" Wave asked excitedly.
"You'll see." Was all Alex told them.
"If you don't tell us where we're going, how do we know what gear to pack?" Shade questioned her as they packed the ship.
"Bring all the essentials" she instructed him. "It's not a mission, exactly." She walked off to sort through the items Wave was carrying over.
"Exactly?" Shade murmured in confusion.
His eyes were drawn to Jaz, as he watched her carry a heavy looking container over to the side of the ship. A smile spread across his face as he watched her. He hurried over to her.
"Need a hand?" he asked her. She simply walked past him as if he weren't there. At first he thought she didn't hear him, but that thought disappeared when she called back, "Nope" without even glancing at him. His smile faded and he sighed softly. Just as he thought. There was no way she'd be interested in him; he was just an engineer. What would she see in him? Trying to keep her out of his mind, he helped Alex and Wave pack the rest of the things, glancing over at the pilot he crushed on every spare moment he had.
"Alex, where are we going?" Jaz asked her leader as she flew the ship at a steady speed through the darkness of space. They had been flying for a long time and Alex still hadn't told them anything.
"Trust me" was the simple and not at all helpful response she had given to them.
"Alex we've been flying for hours," Shade added. "There's nothing here; just empty space." Wave stirred awake beside him.
"Are we there yet?" she yawned.
"There being where exactly?" Jaz asked sarcastically.
"Ok, I know you're all wondering why we're out here, but trust me it's for a good cause" Alex tried to settle her team.
"How's being lost a good cause?" Jaz countered.
"We're not lost" the crimson dressed girl responded.
"Then where are we?" Shade asked. Alex covered her eyes with her palm in frustration. This conversation was going in circles.
"Just keep flying straight" she ordered Jaz. With a look of doubt on her face, Jaz kept on flying.
"There's really nothing out here" she said, looking over her shoulder at the rest of the team.
"Jaz look out!" Shade yelled. Jaz turned her head back to the front, seeing a black vortex straight ahead. She tried to steer away from it but the pulling force of it was too strong, and it began to suck the ship into its dark centre.
"I've lost control!" she exclaimed. Alex held onto her seatbelt, not taking her eyes off the vortex.
"Alex! What do we do?" Wave cried. She didn't answer, still focused on the black area of space that their ship was being pulled into.
"We're going in!"
In the Alpha Dimension, clouds gathered in the sky, growing darker and darker. A single flash of lightning split the sky, opening a black vortex in the sky. The ship was hurled from its eye, crashing into the ground, sending a shockwave echoing. Inside the ship, Alex opened her eyes. The ship was surrounded by smoke, making it impossible to see what was outside.
"We made it" she whispered to herself. She looked around at the rest of her team. Wave was lying upside-down, her feet on her chair, her back and head on the ground. She was moaning. Shade was next to her, kneeling on the ground, clutching his head in pain. Alex looked to Jaz, who lay unmoving across the controls.
"Jaz?" she murmured her name. She didn't move. Alex quickly moved over to her, more slowly followed by Shade and Wave. Alex touched her hand to her shoulder. She turned her over, revealing a rather large piece of metal piercing into the side of her body. Blood flowed freely from underneath her ribs. Thankfully, she started to stir awake. Alex helped her off the chair and lay her down on her back.
"You're going to be fine" she assured her. Jaz shut her eyes tightly in pain as Shade removed the metal. Alex lifted up her shirt and applied the bandages onto her pale skin. Wave helped her sit up straight.
"You ok?" she asked her. Jaz groaned her reply.
The four of them sat in the ship for a while, allowing Jaz to begin to heal. Suddenly, Alex stood up.
"I'm going to have a look around" she declared. "You guys stay here, I'll be back soon." Jaz attempted to stand.
"Not a chance. You can't go out there alone. We'll go with you" she offered.
Alex frowned. "Jaz, you're hurt. There's no way I'm letting you come. Just wait here; I'll be back before you know it." Before anyone else could argue with her, she ran off the ship and vanished into the smoke-filled atmosphere.
Shortish chapter, shorter than I'd hoped but not to worry.
I just want to clear one thing up. So basically, the Zap/Jenny relationship (at least in the series) has consisted of Zap's feelings for her being obvious since day one. Jenny however has much more success in keeping them hidden. Jaz and Shade are Beta forms of those two; but to mix things up I decided to make Jenny's alternate be the love-struck fool when he's around her, instead of the other way round. Does that make sense?