Dex POV
My family and I had gotten to the campsite not long ago by this point in time. Dee Dee and Father had taken it upon themselves to set up the tents together while Mother set out food for lunch on the picnic table. Briefly I looked up from my notepad and over to the tents with a scowl. I hated camping. It was all so primitive. Why on earth would you go outside where there were bugs, and wild animals, and sleep in the dirt when you had a perfectly good house that itself had a perfectly good oven, fridge, bed and bathroom.
"Hurrrrhg…", I shuddered when I realized we would all most likely have to "go" outside. Knowing my father this place he had handpicked wasn't even a mile close to a functional bathroom.
Briefly I looked over at my mother and realized she was probably dealing with the situation worse than I was. Compared to most I'd be considered a germaphobe, but if I were to compare myself to Mother she'd be the germaphobe. It 'twas uncommon to see the woman without the latex gloves, even now. Refocusing I repositioned myself on the hood of the car and continued writing in my notepad. At first it was to just deal with stress. I had wrote a "revenge list" that, in all honesty, I had no intention of carrying out. It had all the names of the scientists and Superheroes who had brushed me off when I went to find help. Even Major Glory, a hero I had once idolized. On the side of the paper were some rather crude comments that would, should my parents ever find this, almost certainly get me grounded.
Despite having started as a destresser the notepad had quickly become jumbled with notes and a timeline of my research about "Planet Fuse", as it had been deemed. Briefly I looked up at the green tinted sky that hung above my head before burying myself back into my notes. Silently I scribbled a picture of my "wondrous" time machine. Honestly, I should have known better. I had created such machines before and the results had never ended well. I had taken apart every time machine I had ever built before any of them even reached a day in age because of this. Now that I think about it, any time I had tampered with temporal forces something bad had happened. Not world changing mind you, just minor things that either got me slapped or that I had to fix.
Yet, I had been so sure that the still operating time machine in my lab was designed well enough that it would somehow be Dee Dee proof. Maybe it was ego, or desperation, or both. I'm not sure what it was but now it's entirely possible that the girl who had so courageously volunteered was dead. To make it worse I, at the time of the camping trip, had wholeheartedly blamed Dee Dee. I refused to see how it had been my fault. A cold wind blew by and I had clutched my labcoat to myself. Before we had left I had convinced Father that it was the only coat I could find, mostly because I needed something familiar at the time.
"Dexter, sweetie, can you go get some firewood?", Mother asked as she started setting out plated.
I looked at her for a moment, rare confusion stretching across my face before asking, "Why? Weren't they going to get some?"
"Yes, but I have a feeling they had gotten sidetracked with fishing. You know, like they did last year?"
I groaned as I remembered the event before sliding off of the hood. I tucked the notepad into my coat pocket and headed out. I heard a faint cry of "Stay on the path!" as I entered the woods. I had shook my head when she said this. After all, to get decent firewood I'd more than likely have to stray from the path on some level.
I didn't really concentrate on my task at first. For awhile I just stood in a clearing and looked up at the sky. Eventually I snapped out of my stupor and did what I was told to do. Slowing grabbing branches, edging further and further from the path. Everything had been fine, but then my hands began the shake as I looked at the sky above. It wasn't the green tint that made my hands shake, it was what was falling from the sky. Several glowing green meteors streaked through the sky as they plummeted to Earth.
And that's when it happened. This horrible explosion of pain in my stomach. Dropping the branches I clutched at it and screamed, falling to my knees. As I took in several sharp breaths I looked around. Everything was flickering, and my mind felt like static. I managed to look up towards the sky, barely seeing through the canopies of the trees. There were waves of light flooding the sky, colliding together and turning something that should be blue, greener and greener. Pain suddenly struck the back of my skull, clutching the back of my head I found my myself convulsing on the dirt of the ground.
Then suddenly… it stopped. Blinking I sat up, dirt musing up my once pure white labcoat. Looking around I realized that my surroundings were different. Still a forest, but the trees around me weren't the same species as they had been moments early, and no path in site. I became frantic then. Getting up I began screaming for Mother and Father… and Dee Dee. A gust of wind swept past me causing me to bury myself into my labcoat. Had I been half as logical as I usually was I would have stayed there. I would have waited. Instead I was panicking, trying to find the campsite.
I ran deeper into the woods.
A/N: Since I haven't gotten to write this story in so long I went back and reread the previous chapters. Now I'm all OCD about the mistakes I just now noticed went under the radar during the editing process. I'll probably go on some kind of mass editing spree later.
Also I'm sorry getting chapters out has been so slow. Y'know, life happens. Thankfully winter break gave me some free time, and now that I'm starting to get into the groove thank to updating my other stories, and starting a new one (dear god what's wrong with me XP) these should be cranked out sooner. Fun fact time: Fusionfall seems like it may have gotten a "spiritual successor" in the form of a comic called "Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War", I don't know much about it but it seems interesting.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review.