Well, I hadn't expected chapter five to turn out as long as it did so I chopped it off and stuck it in chapter six. But you guys already know that from that evil little cliffy I left you with, huh? Ooohh, don't worry…things are getting…dicey!
6: The "New Development"
"If time is one your side, what is on the other side?" –Anonymous
Tony swore again, eyes wide, "It's never gotten this far before…" He put a hand to the mike running off the headset, "Greg, what's the status!?"
"Off the charts, sir!" Came the return voice, audible even over the thrumming of the machine, "I've never seen anything like it! 'Tis like the whole things building up en'gry from…somewheres else!"
Another string of swear words, "Get the quantum separators back under control!" Tony shouted, going into control mode, "Shut down the main energy feed loop if you have to! Keep everyone away from the hole! Cut the power to half the sphere implants! Sever the connection to—!"
Everything stopped.
No more bolts of electricity cracked down from the sphere, the loud hum of the steel rings had ceased, and silence had fallen, thick as the first snow, upon the lot of them.
Tony's headset crackled and they all jumped.
"What's your reading?" The red-head asked in a hushed voice that still carried throughout the room.
"'Tis stopped, sir." Came Greg's soft reply, "There ain't nothin' there. No energy, no spikes, just…nothin'…"
"That can't be…" Tony's gaze flickered over to the dais where the oval of colors still spun around lazily, "What's going on here?"
Kaz's heart was pounding in his ears, his breath was coming faster than usual, and he felt shaky and numb. Fear clawed at him. They were definitely in the wrong place to be at the moment. He took at step back.
The entire room shook and Tom wobbled on his feet, reaching out instinctively to grab Kaz for balance…only to find that Kaz wasn't there. Kaz was about two feet back, running for the stairs with panic etched clearly onto his face. Tom turned to follow when a wave of heat washed over his back and he turned around just in time to get a face full of brilliant white light and something slamming into his gut to send him flying through the air and crashing against the wall.
Dazed and with pain throbbing in the back of his head, Tom sluggishly got to his feet, trying to get his vision back after the blinding light. Everything came slowly into focus first as blurred lines and shapes, then as hazy figures, and finally jumped and settled into normalcy.
The engineers lay strewn everywhere, groaning as they attempted to get to their feet. None of them appeared to be seriously injured but it looked as though one guy did have a broken arm. Tony was already on his feet and surveying the damage from the blast. There were no scorch marks or any sort of indication that something had exploded, it was simply a wave of energy that had boiled over relatively harmlessly. The Head Engineer glanced at the dais but the swirling mass of colors was gone.
"KAZ!" The shout made him whirl around. He hadn't realized the two boys had followed him but that thought was blown from his mind and he dashed across the floor to Tom who was nearly having a panic attack over the position he found his best friend in.
Kaz was draped over the banister of the stairs to the control box, unconscious by the looks of things, with his glasses askew and a small cut on his forehead that had a trickle of blood dribbling down the side of his face.
"Calm down!" Tony said fiercely and Tom sucked in a calming breath that did nothing for the paleness of his complexion, "He's going to be fine, just get him to the Clinic." Tony glanced around, "Dorian," One of the men who had been uninjured trotted over, "Help Tom get his friend here to the Clinic."
Dorian nodded once, black hair falling into over his right eye in way that reminded Tom of the wanna-be emos at his high school. Dorian hefted the unconscious Kaz off the railing and shifted the boy around so he could carry him in his arms. Tom followed the man up the stairs, twisting his fingers around each other all the while. Willy was absent from the prep room when they walked through.
"You okay?" Dorian asked, a thick, German accent evident in his speech and Tom nodded mutely, still in partial shock, "No concussion?" Tom shook his head, "Ach, you are a bad liar. Shock, ja?"
"What about you?" Tom retorted, suddenly finding his voice as they neared the emergency elevator.
"Nein, I'm fine. This one though," Dorian tilted his head at Kaz, "He might have a heck of a headache when he wakes up!" The man smiled, "Push the button, will you?"
Tom did as he was told and as they waited for the elevator to show up, Kaz suddenly shifted and groaned, screwing up his eyes to fight off the pain in his head.
"Is he waking up?" Tom asked hopefully.
"Macht nichts," Dorain replied as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside, "He's still going to the Clinic." The German man shot a hard, green-eyed glare at Tom, "And so are you, ja?"
Um…ja?" Tom replied in a horrible imitation. Dorian laughed and Kaz made an odd whimpering noise, opening his eyes slowly. The usual bright brown was filmed with a disoriented glaze.
"Did I lose?" He muttered, slurring his words slightly. Tom hid a smile behind his hand, not trusting himself to speak for fear of laughing at his disoriented friend. He was saved answering by the "ding" of the elevator doors. A single stretch of hallway with two doors at the end was laid out before them. Tom followed Dorian down the hallway and through the door to the left, swallowing his laughter with much effort as Kaz asked again if he'd lost.
Tom fell asleep in the Clinic as the nurses attended to Kaz. They'd dabbed some alcohol on the bump on the back of his head and given him so pain killers but he'd soon gotten bored and drifted off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.
When he woke up again, the room was quiet and the crimson and black curtains were drawn around the small bed he'd fallen to sleep in. Someone had taken the liberty of removing the hazmat suit and his shoes and socks. Rubbing the sleep from his blue eyes, the black-haired boy swung his legs over the side of the bed and put his bare feet on the cold, white tile floor. Then he cracked his neck and pushed the curtains aside. There was one other set of curtains drawn around the bed next to his and he stuck his head through.
"Hey Kaz," He said with a smile and the other boy shot a glare at him, "Whoa! What was that look for!?"
Kaz uncrossed his arms from across his chest and straightened up, indicating the Band-Aid on his forehead, "What is this!?"
"Um…a Band-Aid."
"And what's under the Band-Aid!?"
"A…cut?"
"Yes!" Kaz exploded out from underneath the covers of the bed, sending blankets everywhere, and was on his feet, toe-to-toe with Tom, "When my parents find out they'll never let me go anywhere again unless I'm covered in BUBBLE WRAP!"
"Easy, Kaz! It'll heal before summer's out and your parents will never have to know!" Tom stared his best friend down with a raised eyebrow and Kaz fell back onto the bed with a sigh.
"Sorry, I was overreacting. The whole…Generator thing freaked me out." The red head ran a hand through his spiky hair.
"Really," Tom said in a sarcastic voice, "I hadn't noticed."
"Oh, ha, ha." Kaz shot back unable to get past his irritation, "Listen, I'm going back there tomorrow whether Tobias gives me permission or not."
"Well that's gusty of you." Tom teased and ducked the fist Kaz swung at him, "Calm down! Why do want to go back there anyway? Wanna see if you can clear the stair way in the next explosion?" He dodged another punch, "Come on, Kaz! You know I'm teasing!"
"Something's up with that Wormhole Generator! Levi was right, it is trying to open somewhere other than Chaotic and Perim and I want to know where to!" An excited glint shone in Kaz's chocolate eyes and he grinned.
"'Revenge of the Nerd'!" Tom laughed and Kaz threw his shoe at him.
It hadn't worked.
He stared blankly at it. If he'd been able to express it, he supposed half of him would be happy that it hadn't succeeded and that the other half would be disappointed.
He hadn't done any decent hunting in a while.
Then again, was the thrill of combat worth the risk of destroying the lives of people who were ignorant of their ways? Probably not, he supposed.
"You look tired." Said a voice, "Sleeping much?"
"I'm fine." He lied; his dreams had been haunted by that boy again, whoever he was, "Do you think we'll ever get this to work?"
"Hmmm…" His companion rubbed his fingers over his chin thoughtfully, "Maybe. I figure busting into someplace that isn't even remotely connected by the ways we or normal humans travel is pretty tough."
"It's isolated." He muttered, turning away to look at its hazy existence, "And lonely. How can anyone be happy in a world like that?"
"Aw, come on!" An arm dropped around his shoulders and spun him away, "You've been spending too much time around those sticks-in-the-mud! You gotta learn to relax!" The taller companion laughed and tapped a finger to his forehead, "Got it memorized?"
A little short, maybe, but I figured that was a good a place to stop as any. And I totally just gave away what this is crossed over with. Well, to anyone who recognizes a certain catch phrase, anyway.
I don't know why I continue to update this, anyway. I haven't gotten a single review from you guys. I mean, come on, I know Chaotic isn't all over the place and it doesn't even have its own category on this site but I'd really like a review please! I can't really threaten to stop this 'cause then what would I do with all these pent up ideas? Geez, I think I'd explode worse than the Generator!
How's this, I'll keep writing but unless I get at least one friendly (and I emphasize friendly; I've had some really rude people leave me reviews lately) review…not one chapter will be posted! You hear me!?
Feed the starving authoress, people! Come on! I will NOT post anymore chapters unless I get at least ONE review! I'm freaking serious!
There. I've had my say. Now it's up to you guys. I'm sorry I had to get nasty but, hey, you win some, you lose some.
Thanks for reading anyway and have a great day! Byes!