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*"Cybertronian"*
Nowhere Mountains
The first thing Minato noticed when he teleported back to Dracon's side was that he seemed to be the only one moving around. This disturbed the former Hokage greatly, and at once his keen mind began to run through the last events before this. He last remembered entering into the dark tunnel that his Hiraishin allowed him access to, and then...
Minato frowned as he tried to recall what happened. He had been in that tunnel when an odd feeling had hit him, like... something had... interrupted his jump. His Hiraishin was a space-time ninjutsu, so if something could be felt while he was teleporting with it, it must've somehow affected space-time itself... somehow. Either that or he himself was moving so fast everything seemed to be stopped. Minato's eyebrows furrowed in thought as he tried to figure this out.
'It shouldn't be possible for my Hiraishin to be disrupted. And... I've used this technique for years now, so I know the seals aren't making me move super fast like lightning, on par with Living Bullet, or E-Male. My body wouldn't be able to handle it if that was the case.' Minato reasoned. 'No... I'm not the one who is moving super fast. It's like... time has... stopped...? But... how?'
Minato looked around, seeing everything was frozen. It was surreal to him, and he was the fricking Yellow Flash! There was no way his jutsu was disrupted to make him move so fast everyone was frozen in time to him, he knew that from experience.
'Something must've disrupted time and space, and the only reason I can move around is because of my Hiraishin and the fact my body is used to moving through space-time itself.' Minato realized. A frown crossed his handsome features as he realized that whatever had caused this mess was probably no longer in existence.
'I guess this means I'm on my own. Unless...' A crazy theory crossed Minato's mind. While it was possible, the fact he was even considering something so dangerous was a testament to how concerned he was about this whole thing. 'If I try to teleport someone with me, they should be able to move around, but it's too risky. For all I know, I may be the only one who can move around in these circumstances. Trying to get someone else to move in these circumstances could likely cause them to get trapped in a state of forever being frozen in time.' Minato realized.
The former Hokage knew he had to find a way to reverse this, but if it was what he was thinking, then the chances of him actually succeeding were only in the low teens percentagewise. 'It's most likely that something, like an explosion of some kind, sent out time disrupting pulses.' Minato theorized.
Upon this theory coming into his mind, Minato felt a chill rush down his spine. 'Shit... this means that I'm literally the only one who can move...'
Looking down at his hands, Minato could see his hands were shaking, a slight frown crossing his face. 'I could be the only who is still moving, but... will this pulse thing also affect me? I mean... I may be able to move now, but I don't know how long I will be able to. For all I know, that pulse thing could affect me much slower than the others.'
Clenching his fists, Minato looked around again, wondering if he would be able to do anything here. Yes, he was able to move at the moment, but he was getting the feeling it was only a temporary thing, and that soon, he would be frozen in time like the others. 'I'd better take this chance to do a bit of clean up, or at least set something up so no one here will be caught off-guard.' Minato thought before he frowned, realizing that doing the 'clean up' would be too easy.
A twinge raced through Minato's body, and he collapsed to his knees, gripping at his sides. 'Crap...! Is... is what happened already beginning to affect me?!' Minato thought in alarm as he panted, one eye shut in pain. It seemed likely, at least to him. 'S-Shit... If it is... I...' Minato shook his head, a desperate plan coming to mind. He used his Hiraishin to teleport to Dracon's side again, and found the pain was faded, but still there as a dull throb.
'O-okay... It seems using my Hiraishin slows down the effects, just... not as much as I would've liked.' Minato realized, but he knew if he kept using his Hiraishin, he would slowly drain his chakra and if whatever was going on wore off, when the battle resumed, he would be in a dire situation. 'Crap... I'm in a no-win situation here...' Minato realized as he gritted his teeth.
Standing up again, the Yellow Flash knew he had to act, but if he couldn't get far from his seals, he would be frozen in time. Minato took out one of his signature kunai and briefly, the idea of using them to teleport out and around crossed his mind. But that would drain his chakra and he would need every ounce he had if this battle resumed.
Another twinge hit Minato, racing through his body. He grunted as he fell to his knees again, dropping his kunai and gripping at his sides again. "D-damn it..." He rasped out through gritted teeth. He reached out to grab his kunai, noting that his hand seemed to be getting slower as he grabbed the hilt of his kunai and picked it up. He teleported to Penelope's side this time, the twinges fading again.
Minato managed to push himself to his feet, panting slightly. He wasn't sure how long he could stave off what was going on, and he had to act, do something or just even move to find the source of the issue!
Yen Sid's dimension
In his pocket dimension, Yen Sid could sense that time had frozen in GF-007. It wasn't hard for a mage of his power and skill to detect the disturbance. Looking into his mirror that showed the different dimensions, Yen Sid could see one person was still moving, and it was the famed Yellow Flash himself. But he seemed to be having trouble staving off the effects of whatever had frozen time in that universe.
'His signature space-time ninjutsu has staved off the effects so far, but even that won't last forever.' Yen Sid noted grimly, no pun intended. There was no way that the Yellow Flash could stave off a Grimm invasion the size of the one Sammael was bringing by himself. No, he was only one man, and a mere human at that.
'It would seem Sammael is more cunning than we expected. The protectors and heroes will have to tread very carefully if they want to defeat Sammael and his forces for good...' Yen Sid thought to himself as he looked at the image of Minato struggling to stave off being frozen in time.
GF-007
Minato panted, feeling the twinges of pain coming back with more force than before. He only used his Hiraishin when the twinges became overwhelming, but even then it didn't help as much as it had before. Finally, the twinges of pain became too much for him and he fell to his knees, gripping at his sides as he shook with the pain. His face was pale in color as sweat ran down his cheeks and from his forehead. A soft groan escaped Minato as he finally felt his body beginning to freeze in time. 'N-no... I... I can't... I just... can't...'
Then, Minato's mind went blank as he tried to tap into his Hiraishin one last time. He had to stave off whatever was coming up on him! He just had to! His chakra reached out, latching onto what he thought was a familiar seal. Minato felt his body flicker before he found himself entering back into that dark tunnel, except, this time, Minato knew that when he emerged from the tunnel into the material world again, he would be frozen in time like everyone else. He wanted to remain in the dark tunnel, but he knew he had to emerge. There was no way he could stop it once he had started to teleport.
As soon as Minato felt his body exit the dark tunnel, his vision went white, and that was all he saw before his vision turned grey, then black.
Yen Sid's dimension
Yen Sid couldn't believe it. Somehow, against all odds, he was now in charge of the care of the person before him. The young blonde Shinobi had appeared in his dimension where he had been residing for that last 50,000 years since the fall of Pangea. Somehow, the young man had latched onto one of his old teleportation runes from when he had visited Van Kleiss's base over a year before, and was now in Yen Sid's dimension because of it.
The old mage chuckled as his gaze lingered on the limp form of Minato Namikaze. 'How fortuitous for him.' Yen Sid mused as he picked up Minato's limp form. 'I haven't had company in so long, it wouldn't do to be so rude and not offer him some hospitality.'
Minato groaned as he regained consciousness, feeling something soft and wet being run across his forehead. His whole body ached, and he felt like he had been asleep for years, or was it only minutes? It didn't help he felt nauseous either, which only served to make the feelings of achiness and temporal disorientation worse.
Slowly, Minato opened his bright blue eyes, but his vision was fuzzy before it slowly began to come into focus. Before his vision was a man who had a large blue, pointed hat on his head, long grey hair on his lower face and head, and he wore blue robes that had sky blue lining on the sleeves and a dark red interior. The most striking thing about this man though was not just the age and wisdom he gave off, it was his eyes, which had small pupils in comparison to the size of his eyes. Something about this unnerved the former Hokage, but he couldn't think straight, what with how fuzzy his mind felt.
"You need to rest, young one." The unknown man said in a deep, but soothing tone. "Temporal Sickness is always a tricky thing to deal with."
Minato wanted to speak, to ask what this man meant, but his body refused to listen to his mental commands. He tried to get his voice to respond, but he couldn't even get his voice to respond to his brain's command to speak. Minato felt a series of harsh coughs escape him instead, much to his frustration. He tried to sit up, but his body was too drained for some reason. Minato knew he still had some chakra left, but there was no way he could be this exhausted, right? The last thing he remembered was trying to stave off being frozen in time, and then everything went blank. The Yellow Flash wanted to know what had happened so badly, but everything was so messed up for him; he had no idea how long it had been, if it had been years or minutes, he was aching all over, his mind felt fuzzy and muddled in some areas but clear and sharp in others, he was feeling chilled or warm, and he felt sick to his stomach.
The unknown man reached for a small bowl of water and picked up what looked like a cloth before he rang it out and gently wiped away any sweat from Minato's face with it. "I know you're probably feeling confused, but all will be explained after you recover." The unknown man said soothingly.
A soft groan escaped Minato, but that was all he could get out. It frustrated him; he was the fricking Yellow Flash! He shouldn't have to be cared for like a helpless, sick little child. Minato tried to clench a fist, but his left hand refused to respond; all his hand did was twitch before going limp.
Minato knew he had to move though, and with only sheer willpower to go on, he managed to somehow push himself up slightly.
Yen Sid frowned as he saw the blonde Shinobi trying to sit up, but he put a hand on the young man's left shoulder before giving a gentle push. As the younger man was still feeling the effects of Temporal Sickness, it was quite easy to push him back down onto the bed, as the blonde could not offer any resistance to the gentle force given to him.
"You need to rest." Yen Sid said to his unexpected guest, who looked back at him with a confused look in glazed over blue eyes. "Once you have recovered, we can talk." The old mage said gently as he carefully wiped away more sweat from the younger man's face with the wet cloth.
The blonde opened his mouth slightly to speak before more coughs escaped him instead. A slight groan escaped the younger man as Yen Sid gently ran the wet cloth over his forehead to try and ease the fever. Temporal Sickness was always a tricky thing to treat, as no two cases were alike. But luckily for his guest, Yen Sid had seen all manner of cases for this, so he knew all the possible symptoms.
Placing the cloth back near the bowl of ice water, Yen Sid then reached for a bottle that sat on the table. It was an elixir of his own creation, one that would help with Temporal Sickness and its effects. It would not cure it outright in one use no, but it would make the effects more bearable and restore some sense of passing of time. Yen Sid removed the stopper on the bottle and carefully poured some into a small cup that he had summoned to his side.
Once the elixir was poured, the old mage then put the stopper back before placing the bottle back on the table. He then took the small cup and gently slipped a hand under the blonde's head, lifting his head just enough so he would be able to drink the elixir safely. "Drink this. It will help with the effects of Temporal Sickness." He said gently.
The blonde Shinobi was clearly not wanting to, but Yen Sid knew the younger man wouldn't be able to do anything to stop him. He gently held the cup to his guest's lips, allowing the elixir to flow down his throat. The elixir began to take effect, but it wouldn't be a sudden relief. No, it would take a few more doses before the Temporal Sickness truly began to go away.
Yen Sid removed the cup and put it on the table before gently easing his guest back down onto the bed. Already there was a slight improvement in the younger man's condition, as he didn't look as pale as before and his eyes seemed to be a bit clearer and brighter now. However, Yen Sid knew better than to just drop everything and assume the younger man would be alright, as Temporal Sickness never acted the same each time. No, his guest would need to be watched carefully over the next two days until the Temporal Sickness went away.
Dimension O-000
Commander John Alaric frowned as he sat waiting on the Archangel's bridge, wondering when the Constitution would be making its return. It was already a day behind schedule, and it was not like Heero to be late for a check-in or a return even. No, something was wrong, very wrong.
He tapped his com-line to the UEN HQ on Earth. "Sir, we're requesting permission to launch and head through Slip D-4."
"Why?" The Secretary-General asked, a frown in his face as his image came up on the main bridge monitor.
"Admiral Yuy has missed the check-in time. Not to mention he said the ship would be returning after the breech machine was destroyed." Commander Alaric said. "I can't help but get the feeling something may have them held up."
"Hmmm... that is unusual." The UEN leader noted with some concern.
"Hence why we should be allowed to launch." Commander Alaric said seriously.
"Very well. Permission is granted." The Secretary-General said before the line went dead.
"You heard him! Get the ship launched and ready to head out!" Commander Alaric ordered.
GF-007
The Archangel arrived in a flash of light, but something was wrong. Commander Alaric could feel it in his bones. Things were... still... too still.
"I want a scan of the planet and anything around it at once." Commander Alaric ordered.
Meyrin Hawke, who was on the ship as navigator, looked at the radar and other sensors. "Things seem calm sir, but I'm detecting no radio activity, or if there is any, it is not being picked up by the antennae." She replied. "However... I'm picking up some... strange energy from the planet below. Like it's... temporal... in nature..."
Commander Alaric's eyes narrowed at hearing that. "Temporal energy...? But... how? Even we don't have technology that can put out temporal energy..."
"Whatever is the cause of the temporal energy being put out, it would appear it's affected the entire planet, if not the universe." Meyrin continued. "But we can only assume that last part for the moment."
"Agreed." Commander Alaric growled. "But if everything is affected by this energy, what does it mean? Are things moving too fast for us to see, or are we moving too fast to be seen?"
"No, sir. It would appear everything is... frozen..." Meyrin said, her tone going soft and trailing off as her eyes went wide, horror slowly beginning to dawn on her.
Commander Alaric, as well as the rest of the bridge crew, began to get the same implications as Meyrin. Horror began to fill their own eyes.
"Time has... stopped..." Commander Alaric realized.
"No... Not stopped." Andrew Waltfeld said as he looked back at his longtime friend. "She said frozen. Stopped would mean there is no passage of time whatsoever. We are not affected, so this is different."
"Commander Waltfeld is right." Saul Kessel, who had been called to serve on the ship quickly, said. "The energy being put out, from what the sensors are telling us, has frozen time, meaning everything is stalled, not truly stopped."
"But how are we still moving around?" Commander Alaric wondered.
Commander Waltfeld smirked. "How did we get here?"
Meyrin caught on quickly; being part of the bridge crew for a dimensional drive-equipped ship meant all crew had to know how the drive worked down to the science, even if it was theoretical at best. "Of course! The Jump-Slip Drive!"
Commander Alaric looked at Meyrin in confusion. "So? How does that tie in to us being able to move?"
"We open the tunnels to other dimensions by literally boring through space and time. The Space-Bridge technology of Cybertron bores through space, and we can access that space by the Slip Drive." Meyrin began. "That's all normal operations for when we use the Slip function. But when we use the Jump function, we are tapping into a previously theoretical aspect of Space-Bridge operations, the ability to travel to other dimensions. The energy that is put out has to literally tear apart the fabric of space-time to get to these dimensions, and when we travel through the openings we create with that method, our ships get coated with that very energy, allowing us to slip through the openings."
"Well, that's all well and good, but that doesn't explain how we can move around in this situation." Commander Alaric frowned.
Saul was thinking before it came to him. "Actually... it does."
"Huh?" Commanders Waltfeld and Alaric looked back at him.
"If you think about it, our ships are covered by this energy that allows us to travel through space-time openings. We travel through time and space. Therefore, we should be frozen in time under these circumstances. But we aren't. Why? Because we travel through space as well. Meaning, there is some kind of shielding energy or radiation that is covering/coating our ships, thus allowing us to move around." Saul explained.
"The dimensional energy..." Commander Alaric realized. "When we pass through the openings, it covers us!"
"Exactly." Saul replied.
"Well, the eggheads back at the Nexus Federation will have a field day when they hear of this." Waltfeld chuckled.
"We can worry about it later." Commander Alaric said as he looked at the planet below. "We have 8 pilots to rescue and a ship to find."
"Yes, sir!" The crew said with a salute.
Yen Sid's Dimension
Minato didn't know what was going on, but whatever that man had given him seemed to make him feel a bit better. At least his mind wasn't as fuzzy as it had been before, but he still felt achy all over, enough to the point he didn't want to move.
His sharp blue eyes watched the unknown man carefully, not wanting to be caught off guard by anything. The unknown man didn't seem to be hostile though, much to Minato's relief.
Still, the former Hokage was not about to take any chances. He didn't want to be caught by surprise when it came to where he was. At least, that was his intention. But despite feeling a bit better, Minato noted he felt a bit drowsy and for a moment, he wondered if he had been drugged or poisoned. But that was ruled out, as he hadn't tasted anything that could've been a drug or a poison. In the growing haze in his mind, Minato wondered if he would be able to get back to his new world and his family. Finally, sleep came and overtook him.
It was a few hours later when Minato awoke. His blue eyes opened before he looked around, noting he was still in this odd place and not back in the middle of the battle, or even in the hospital. Minato also was quick to note he didn't feel as achy, nor did his mind feel as fuzzy. The feeling of nausea was not as pronounced, and he didn't feel as chilled either.
Looking around again, Minato noted that the unknown man who had been with him before was nowhere to be seen. A frown crossed his face before Minato made to sit up, but he wasn't able to get very far, as his arms gave out from under him after about a minute of trying to sit up.
The Yellow Flash realized he was still drained of energy and that made him frown slightly. Why was it that he still felt drained despite having enough chakra to move and use some of his ninjutsu still?
He only hoped the odd man would come back so he could get some answers. Sadly, Minato felt sleep take him once more before he could even attempt to move again.
GF-007
Nowhere
The Archangel arrived over the town of Nowhere, where the crew could see 8 Gundam-type Mobile Suits, one of which was Wing Zero SX, the famed war machine of the two Bloody Valentine Wars.
"We found them." Commander Waltfeld noted as Commander Alaric frowned.
"Yeah, but they are not moving. I think this temporal freezing affected them because they don't have this protection of dimensional energies that we do." Commander Alaric mused before he stood up. "Let's go. We need to get them onboard and back to our dimension."
Commander Waltfeld nodded and stood up, following his fellow commander.
In a matter of minutes, one Gundam, the Farsight II, and a GOUF launched and landed.
"You get the pilots. I will handle the machines." Commander Alaric said as Commander Waltfeld nodded. The Farsight II was the best suited to move 8 Gundams due to being a Gundam with comparable stats.
It took a few hours, but once all 8 pilots and 8 Gundams were on the Archangel, the ship powered up its Jump Slip Drive and was gone in a flash of light.
Dimension O-000
Athrun groaned as he woke up, feeling nauseous as well as achy and disorientated for some reason, like he couldn't tell how much time had passed. Was it only a few minutes, or was it hours? Had he been asleep for years? He didn't know.
Emerald green eyes opened before his vision began to become clearer. He was surprised to see he was in a hospital room, or was it a ship's medical bay? Looking over, Athrun could see the stars of space outside the window, meaning he was in a ship's medical bay. A frown crossed his face. 'Why am I on a ship? Did something happen? And... Wait!' The haze began to clear from Athrun's mind as he grunted, trying to sit up. While he did manage to, his stomach twisted with the action, making him groan as he tried to keep himself from throwing up.
As he was a Coordinator, Athrun normally never got sick, which was thanks to his superior immune system which fought off every disease known to mankind, save for having Re-entry Syndrome once or twice, which was where a Coordinator got a fever and aches from an unprepared, or unexpected, re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. So to find he was actually sick to his stomach was unnerving for him. But as unnerving being sick was, Athrun had other, more important, priorities to worry about that pushed his odd illness to the back of his mind. "Heero... the others..." He rasped, trying to recall what had happened. Last he knew, he had been with the other pilots in the town of Nowhere, preparing for a Grimm invasion that was coming and then... everything was blank, like a few minutes had passed where he had zoned out.
Reaching up, Athrun ran a shaking hand through his dark blue shoulder length hair. 'Okay... what happened? I know we were preparing for a fight against Sammael and his forces and then... I'm on... the Archangel? What's going on? What happened during those few minutes where I zoned out?' Athrun wondered as he made to get to his feet, but the achiness in his body came back from a dull throb to all over his limbs. The Zero Squadron Sub-Commander realized he wouldn't be getting up anytime soon for the near future and groaned to himself.
Deciding he would get answers when the captain of the ship, most likely Commander Alaric, came down to see how he was doing, Athrun settled back into his bed and looked out the window at the stars in space again. 'There had better be a good reason I was picked up by the Archangel.' He mused. 'I don't think Heero will be too happy at this turn of events either...'
It didn't take long for Athrun to see Commander Alaric enter the medical bay. The former ZAFT commander looked the same as Athrun remembered him, save for more gray hair than brown.
"Good to see you up, sir." Commander Alaric joked with a grin. While Athrun was his superior in rank, in terms of experience, the older Coordinator outranked Athrun himself.
"Why am I on the Archangel?" Athrun asked, surprised to find his voice was somewhat raspy.
"You guys failed to check in on time." Commander Alaric replied. "So we requested to be launched to check in on you guys. Imagine our surprise when we realized time had been frozen."
Athrun blinked, his superior Coordinator brain easily processing the implications that would confuse any Natural. "Time was frozen?"
"Yes." The older Coordinator replied. "The only reason we of the rescue team were able to move around is because we just came through the slip D-4. The dimensional energies around the ship allowed us to move without being frozen in time."
The Zero Squadron Sub-Commander remembered the theories behind the Jump-Slip Drive, including the theoretical dimensional travel that had only recently been proven. "So that protected you guys..." Athrun realized.
"Or so we are assuming anyway. As for why you pilots were affected, we can only theorize that this dimensional energy protection wears off over time, so because you were there for so long, it wore off and thus you guys got frozen in time." Commander Alaric explained.
"Why do I feel sick to my stomach?" Athrun groaned as he curled up, holding his stomach. "I feel like I want to throw up..."
Commander Alaric frowned. "Since this is the first time we've seen this kind of sickness in anyone, Natural, Enhanced, or Coordinator, we are not taking any chances. But... considering you were brought back here from a dimension that was frozen in time, it may be your body is trying to get used to time moving again." He explained. "But again, this hasn't been seen before, so we need to keep a close eye on you pilots for the time being."
Athrun groaned, both at the idea of being in the medical bay for an unspecified amount of time and at the twisting of his stomach.
"How... How long were... we frozen in time?" Athrun asked at last. "You said we missed the report date...?"
"Ah, yeah, I did, didn't I?" The older man muttered sheepishly before he sighed. "You were late by almost a day."
Athrun's eyes went wide at this new information. So that explained why the Archangel had been sent in after them... Athrun then frowned a little. "But... if it's been almost a day, why does it feel like a few minutes to me?"
"I have no idea." Commander Alaric admitted honestly. "My best guess, and I am no expert on this phenomena, is that your mind just thinks a few minutes passed."
Then the older Coordinator looked at Athrun. "You're the fifth one to wake up, so I have to ask, did you feel... off... when you woke up, like you couldn't comprehend how much time had passed?"
Athrun frowned. "Who else woke up?" He asked, needing to know that first.
"Your two former squad-mates were first." Commander Alaric grinned. "Yzak was swearing like a sailor while Dearka was just moaning about needing some food. Then Derek woke up, and he threw up all over the nurse who had come in to check on him. Stella was the fourth one to wake up, and she just wanted to lay in bed like a turtle in its shell."
"I see." Athrun sighed, glad to know some of his fellow pilots were awake. He then looked back up at Commander Alaric. "And to answer your question, I did feel off... like I couldn't tell how much time had passed."
The commander nodded at this news. "Just like the others then. They all reported the same thing, but it went away after an hour or so."
"Why would it go away after an hour?" Athrun asked.
"Again, this only speculation and theories, but I suspect it may have to do with the fact we have been to different dimensions with different time-rates." Commander Alaric replied. "Dimensional travel is still new to us, so we are still learning about it and how it affects us, both physically and mentally."
"And you suspect that is why Yzak and the others recovered their wits about them in terms of time comprehension, right?" Athrun asked as the older Coordinator nodded.
"At this point, yes. But as I have said, dimensional travel is still so new to us, so we need to understand all we can about it. For all we know, this could be a new sickness from traveling between dimensions. However, since this seemed to come on after we brought you back here, the head doctor here thinks it may be a Temporal illness, like a sickness, of some kind that comes on from being affected by temporal disturbances." Commander Alaric replied. "Being frozen in time certainly counts."
Athrun could only chuckle at that.
Yen Sid's dimension
Yen Sid watched this from one of his many dimensional peering objects. He smiled to himself. These SEEDs certainly caught on fast. Yes, it was because they were dimensional travelers that they were not as affected by the temporal disorientation of Temporal Sickness as much. The other reason they were not as affected physically was because they had genetic enhancements. 'It is fortunate for them that they can travel between dimensions then, as sad as it is that the dimensional boundaries are weakened due to Van Kleiss's meddling.'
Yen Sid recalled how these guys went from dimension to dimension. It wasn't exactly a breech, no. It was more like a a bridge, not a tear on the dimensional boundaries. 'Yes, the Space-Bridge technology they have was an excellent building block to dimensional travel. It allows them to bridge to new dimensions, like a gate that is opened instead of tearing open the dimensional boundaries like with Breech and her powers.'
This information made the old mage smile. Yes, it seemed the dimensional travel abilities of these newcomers seemed ideal to preserve the dimensional boundaries indeed.
Dimension O-000
Heero was looking over the reports, having woken up just a few minutes after Athrun an hour and a half earlier. The reports were on what was observed by the rescue ship, the Archangel, when they had jumped to GF-007, as it was now officially called. 'It would seem we have much to fully understand about dimensional travel yet, but what we have observed is interesting at the very least. The fact our ships get coated in some kind of dimensional energy that can allow for movement in dimensions where time gets frozen, a temporal illness that can affect even Coordinators with their superior immune system, temporal disorientation and that the effects of it can be muted by dimensional travel experience... This is a literal gold mine for us in terms of dimensional travel knowledge. Not that we intend to travel to other dimensions as a past time, but still...'
The Superior Commander set the data-pad down and stretched his arms over his head. It was fortuitous that he and his unit had dimensional travel experience, but it didn't help with the fact that the rest of his unit, on the Constitution, was still frozen in time. There was no way that the ship could be jumped back to their dimension in the middle of a battle.
'But how? How did we not see this coming?' Heero wondered, although deep down, he knew why. 'Even if we can train for every scenario we can think of, what are the odds of time itself becoming frozen? It's not like we can replicate those exact conditions, and we wouldn't dare to try it. Even Sextilis City in the Nexus Federation hasn't been able to crack the science behind temporal events, and they handle the higher-dimensional and theoretical physics.'
Heero sighed to himself. It seemed like there was much to talk about with the UEN in the near future...
Yen Sid's Dimension
Minato groaned as he woke up again, feeling less achy than before. He grunted, managing to sit up for the first time since he had wound up in this new place. Looking around, Minato could see the place he was in was most likely some kind of castle if what he was seeing was correct.
A slight frown crossed Minato's face as he wondered how he had gotten here. The last memories he had was reaching out for one of his seals, and then everything blurred to blackness before he woke up in this new place. 'How did I get here? I don't understand how it's possible I'm even here. I never placed a seal here.'
Carefully, Minato made to get up from the bed he was on, and found he could move his body without much issue. He was sitting on the edge of the bed with no issues. Nodding to himself, the former Hokage made to get to his feet. As soon as he was standing on his feet however, Minato felt his legs give out from under him, causing him to fall onto his stomach with a loud grunt. The air was knocked from his lungs with the impact with the floor, stunning him. The Yellow Flash lay there, trying to get precious air into his body so he could move, but it was hard due to the fact he had the wind knocked out of him.
Footsteps reached his hearing, but Minato was too dazed to try to sense who it was. He made to get to his feet, attempting to move his hands under his upper body, but to limited avail.
A hand around his left arm made Minato look over, only to see the unknown man whom he had woken up to earlier.
"You should not be getting up, especially since you still have Temporal Sickness." The unknown man said seriously as he helped Minato get back onto the bed, much to the Yellow Flash's frustration.
"Maybe now would be a good time to explain some things then?" Minato asked, finally finding his voice and making it work, much to his relief.
"Ah, so you can speak now. Good, good. This is an encouraging sign." The unknown man said with approval.
Minato frowned a little, but didn't make any comment.
"I suppose you have questions, do you not?" The unknown man asked as the former Hokage nodded.
"Yes, like who are you?" Minato asked.
"Ah, a good first question." The unknown man said with a slight smile. "I am Yen Sid, pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Ah... Minato... Minato Namikaze..." Minato introduced himself as well.
"Yes, the Yellow Flash himself. I have seen you in action from my residence here." The man, Yen Sid, said with a smile.
"Your... residence?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, this place you are in is my humble home." Yen Sid replied.
"But how did I get here?" Minato asked. "I never placed one of my seals here."
Yen Sid gave a wry smile. "You apparently latched onto one of my old teleportation runes, mistaking it for one of your seals. It was a two-way teleportation rune. That is how you wound up here."
Minato looked skeptical at best. "One of your seals? I think I can tell my own seals apart from someone else's."
"Not if you were suffering from Temporal Sickness." Yen Sid explained. "It's a sickness that occurs when temporal, or time, disturbances are suffered and one tries to stay moving if time has frozen or stopped."
"And I have this... sickness?" Minato asked.
"Yes, but it is not fatal." Yen Sid reassured the former Hokage. "It is, in essence, just a horrible flu that is accompanied by temporal disorientation, or the inability to perceive the passage of time, for a while."
Minato frowned at this, but it did explain why he had been so confused about how much time had passed. 'So that's why I was so confused about how much time had passed...' He realized.
"Temporal Sickness only lasts a couple of days, so you should be up and about soon." Yen Sid continued to explain.
"I hope so." Minato sighed. "I can't exactly just stay here. I'm needed to help stop someone's plans."
"Ah, Van Kleiss. Yes, you were helping in that fight, but someone already did him in." Yen Sid said. "But it's just as well. You're going to be needed in the coming fight, the fight that is just on the horizon."
Minato raised an eyebrow at what he was hearing.
Dimension O-000
The UEN leaders had made their decision.
Zero Squadron was to head back to GF-007 to get to the bottom of what was going on. Those were the orders from the world leaders.
"We've got our orders." Commander Alaric said as everyone on the Archangel was waiting to head out. "We are to head back and find out what the heck is going on."
Heero spoke up next. "Now, based on what Commander Alaric and the rest of you observed, it seems we can move around after we arrive in a dimension where time is frozen. However, we have no idea how long the dimensional energies protect us, so we have to err on the side of caution."
The main monitor lit up behind Heero. "We plan to jump back here every 23 hours so as to replenish the dimensional energies around the ship. We have no idea how long this protection lasts, so we are assuming it lasts for a day at most and best."
"If you feel yourselves starting to slow down, like you are becoming frozen in place, let Commander Alaric know so we can jump back." Heero continued.
Everyone assembled nodded as Heero looked at the commander.
"Are you ready?" He asked as Commander Alaric nodded.
"Never been more ready in my life." The commander said with a grin.
Heero gave a grin of his own. "Then let's get back there. Archangel, we're moving out!"
Minato finds himself as one of a select few who can move around, but alas, his Hiraishin can only hold off being frozen in time for so long. A teleportation gone awry lands him in Yen Sid's dimension, where he recovers from Temporal Sickness. Meanwhile, Zero Squadron misses their report date and a jump by the Archangel later, the 8 pilots find themselves back in their home dimension, recovering from the same sickness. But now a new fight is on the horizon in the meantime. What happens next? Read on to find out~! :3 Don't forget to read and review! ^^