A/N: Here's chapter 6
Chapter 6: Inside time.
"Ah! 09:35:46 PM!" Paradox greeted his teenage friends. "Right on time guys." Natsume cursed between his teeth. He really wanted to prove Paradox wrong even if just by a second, but like he had always been, Paradox was right. And that was really frustrating.
"You knew and you didn't warn us?" Natsume grabbed his collar, almost about to hit his face. "Natsume!" Mikan tried to calm him down. She placed a hand on his shoulder and tried to get him to look at her.
"We could have been killed! Mikan could've been killed." He shook Paradox trying to knock some sense into the whacko.
"Ah! But you aren't, right?" Paradox was nonchalant. He raised his eyebrow in an amused matter-of-fact manner.
"Why you!" Natsume raised his right fist to punch him, but Paradox vanished from his grip. He was shocked. Where'd he go? Was he going to ditch them again?
"Behind you," Paradox called out to the three. He was seated at the back of the factory calmly as if he were meditating.
"How'd you do that?" Ruka was amazed. "You were right here in front of Natsume, and in a split second you teleported yourself behind us."
"I don't have the teleportation alice, my boy." Paradox replied. "I merely used a time warp hole to reach here."
"Time warp hole?" Mikan was confused.
"Advanced quantum physics, my dear," Paradox said patting her hair. "Let's not dwindle into the laws of quantum physics now. Some of them haven't even been postulated yet."
"How do we get to Noda-sensei?" Ruka asked with concern. "You must know where he is, right?"
"Yes, I do, but I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Mikan asked. "Please, he's your old friend. You have to help him." Mikan pleaded.
"Don't worry about Noda. A team of DA members is being recruited to rescue him as we speak. And I know that they'll rescue him without much effort. After all it's the 'A Team' we are talking about. Now my main concern here is to send you kids into a safe house."
"You still haven't answered my question," Natsume had a dark look on his face. The Kuro Neko I-could-kill-you look.
"You really are persistent aren't you, Kuro Neko?" Paradox's voice had a hint of sarcasm. "Very well, I didn't warn you because I don't want to end up trapped like your friend. I can't intervene in every trivial matter, else the flow of time would be too distorted. I just can't do as I please. Yes, I said that I break rules and stuff, but there are some things which even I can't change else I'll end up like Imai siblings."
"Oh! So you really aren't God then," Mikan concluded.
"That's right, darling," Paradox said. "Now lets get you to the safe house."
"What about Hotaru?" She protested.
"You'll meet her there, in the safe house."
"Huh?" Mikan was confused.
"The dimension of time is the safest place for you right now. Because that's one place the AAO can't attack you. So you have to go inside time. Get it?"
Mikan nodded.
"We're going with her. She can't go there alone. Besides it's not exactly the 'safest place'." Natsume said as he stood beside his fiancé. He intertwined his hands with hers to assure her that she wasn't alone.
"Of course. Of course," Paradox agreed.
"Now there's something I want you two to understand." Paradox addressed the two boys, "First, the time commonly misunderstood as a continuous flow like a river. But I've discovered with experience that it isn't. Like there are turns, waterfalls, and pebbles in a river, it's the same with time. It has ripples where it's discontinuous. The ripples are created by time distortion caused by time alice users like Noda and me, or some 'foreign visitors' like your good friends. They are concentrated around the object causing them." Natsume felt as if he was attending a quantum physics lecture, but it was more interesting than those at his school.
"Secondly, time warp holes, or wormholes, are created due to excessive ripples. They link two different 'time eras'. They are like short cuts from past to future or to present. Now you two have to figure out which wormhole to jump in and which ripple to follow to get to Imai's."
" if you're so smart, why don't you guide us to Hotaru?" Mikan asked politely.
"I am afraid that wouldn't be much fun now would it my dear?" Paradox smiled away causally.
"So how do we know which ones would lead to Imai?" Natsume asked.
"I believe our young animal lover will figure it out," Paradox winked at Ruka. "Put those weird mushrooms to some use," He hinted. Ruka was confused, like always, by his words.
"Okay now, stand back people."
Paradox removed his pocket watch and a blue light shimmered out of it. The light grew bigger and turned into a beam which projected as a round window. The window was big enough for the three to cross over. They knew very well what it was. It was a time window. They had been through one before.
"Okay, when I signal you guys jump in," Paradox instructed.
"Hyuuga! Remember to use it carefully and appearances can be deceiving my dear friend. Always listen to your heart. Don't give into temptations." Paradox turned to Ruka and said, "Always remember who your friends are. Trust your inner voice, my boy. Never give in to your jealous side." And finally, he looked straight at Mikan. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes, and Natsume didn't like it. "And you, young lady, don't give in. No matter how difficult things get, just push through." He left the three friends utterly baffled once again, and before they could ask what his warnings were for, he signaled to them.
"Now! Jump!"
The three friends held each other's hands and jumped into the time window. "Good luck young friends."
They felt as if they were inside a tornado or whirlwind. A vortex of time surrounded them sucking them in. Pressure trying to separate them from all sides but they tightly held onto to each other's grip. If they were separated now, then it would be bad. They had to stick to each other.
The 'storm' calmed down and they landed. It was the same feeling as they got before. Emptiness everywhere. There was no solid ground yet they were standing as if there was a firm surface supporting them. There was no sun, yet there was light clear enough to locate their way through. There was no air, yet they could easily breathe. Being "inside time" really was a different feeling.
A ripple of wave spread through their feet. As Paradox said, they were foreigners, they had caused distortion in the continuity giving birth to the ripples.
Mikan breathed a sigh of relief. She was one step closer to finding Hotaru. The real mission, 'Finding Hotaru' begins now.
"Sir, they are in." A servant reported to the HSP. Paradox had contacted him telling him that he had safely sent the three friends into time where the AAO couldn't harm them.
"That's good to know. Now prepare the assault on the AAO HQ," he declared. "Let's rescue
Noda." He wanted the AAO mess cleaned up and done with before Mikan could return. If not, they couldn't predict what might happen. But when you're dealing with the AAO, it's best not to take things lightly.
"What?" Scarlet yelled at her messenger. "You're telling me they escaped into time dimension?"
"Ye-yes ma'am." He shuddered in fear.
"How will we get hold of her now? It's impossible for us to go there now!" She smacked him again. "You bastard! You should have stopped them! Useless!" And she landed another kick on him.
"Relax now, Scarlet." A voice said from behind her. "We'll wait until they come back. Let's capture her right under her uncle's nose from the Academy itself and show them how powerful we are." Zagi calmed her down.
"But sir, we had this golden opportunity to-"
"I am trusting you. I know you won't let me down Scarlet. I know you'll capture her from Academy," He said.
"Yes, osouji-sama. As you wish. Your order is my command. I'll capture her at the Academy when she returns."
"Meanwhile, I want you to monitor the little time traveler you've captured."
A/N: And done. Scar now goes to monitor Noda where he's held captive. And Mikan and the gang travel to find Hotaru. While the DA tries to save Noda. Will they all succeed?
This chapter was written by edwardelric108 and edited by Neverlookback756 and Sonic-Keyblade 007
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