Lilac-Handed

Chapter 5

     Days had passed. The machine had been growing, and with each passing day it had come to look more extravagant and bizarre- it was truly a sight to behold, with clear, polyurethane tubes wrapping around the outside and pumping with water; rounded shells of iron and copper mixed together into a blend of silver and bronze. There was a main laser head, spanning out across the top of the pointed machine, glowing red lights flashing with an even pulse. Lilac had somehow found the right materials and a sufficient amount of cooling reactors through taking apart some of his oldest creations- everything had somehow managed to work as perfectly as it could be expected to.

     "Foliage! I'm done, I'm finally done-" 

     Lilac was interrupted by a hug, one that caught him by surprise and sent him falling back onto the floor- thankfully not on the machine, but by the time he'd caught his breath Foliage was full on lying on top of him, crushing his ribs in a bear hug that Lilac didn't know could even be done.

     "Get off me," Lilac grumbled, kicking his feet a little. "This is weird, y'know."

     Foliage snickered, refusing to budge but holding in a laugh instead.

     "Please," Lilac huffed, clearly annoyed.

     "Oh, fiine..."

     Foliage was laughing under his breath as he got up from over a clearly irritated Lilac, pulling him up to his feet and sucking in laughter.

     Lilac looked up at Foliage, who was now staring at the machine with a curious look- his head was tilted to the side, his gray-green eyes were sparkling with an inquisitive glint, and the vines on his head were perked up in an almost alive fashion. And... how long had those glasses been there?

     He shook his head, clearing his thoughts and walking back to the laptop and checking over the code again- as if he needed to. Everything was running properly, and for the 4th time that day Lilac closed out the system.

     "Alright, now we just need to get Purple- right?" Foliage was looking around as if he was expecting a portal to appear out of nowhere and send them in the right direction.

     "We do need to get him- but... do you think this'll work?" Lilac muttered.

     Foliage stared at Lilac for a bit before he started sputtering what sounded like half nonsense. "What- what do you mean? What's that- I- of course it's going to work, do you know how long you've spent on this?!? There's no way this won't work- if it doesn't then this place is fucking rigged. You hear me?"

     Lilac snickered, clearly amused with what Foliage was up to, only to receive a punch on the shoulder.

     "Okay- but anyways, how the hell are we supposed to get out of here?"

     "I have a portal machine, but it's rusty and it might throw a wrench in our plans-"

     Tick.

     Was that a clock? As far as Lilac knew, he didn't keep any clocks-

     Tick.

     That was a clock. Definitely a clock.

     "D'you hear that?" Foliage's voice seemed to echo around the room, now quiet except for the occasional-

     Whiir.

     What were these noises? It sounded like gears grinding against each other, struggling to work at a straight tempo.

     Tick.