Hydrogen had stumbled back through the desert, carrying a passed-out Crash in her arms. The heat and panic did not slow her from returning safely. On her arrival she announced to everyone, the stress of the situation and made sure everyone was willing to help.
Crash was laid out on a table in Gasoline’s laboratory; she immediately began testing, and attempting to revive her from her slumber. With her was Poof, who was doing a satisfactory job in helping, even for her standards.
Everyone else was then banned from entering the lab as Gas feared they would get in the way, and had to stay outside. Some waited right outside the door (Such as Dead), while others, one being Cellophane Knight, preferred to wait outdoors.
The attempts to revive Crash progressed for hours.
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I cannot open my eyes.
My breathing is undetectable, even to me. All I can hear are my thoughts. My vision is blinding white. I cannot even feel the presence of my own body.
I am numb, and I wonder if, maybe…. Am I not alive?
I can hear a distant mumble now, fuzzy and soft. The mumble becomes louder, and more distinct. I can barely make out words.
Then I start to drift off again, into silence.
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Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…
“QUICK POOFIE, SHE’S AWAKE!”
“Stop calling me that! It’s Poof, and you… wait… she’s alive? Brilliant! I’ll tell the rest!”
“Wow, wow, wow, now wait Poof, we’ll wait for her to open her eyes first. Just… tell them she’s alright, but no visitors yet.”
I hear light footsteps leave the room, and Poof close the door silently behind her.
“I’m glad you’re alive, Crash.”
I’m glad I’m alive too.
I try to reply, but my mouth won’t move, and my eyes won’t open. I can’t move any part of me to signal that I’m awake.
Or am I awake?
I slowly start to loose the only grip I have left on reality and fade away once more.
No, not this again… I fight desperately to keep those nightmares away.
I can feel a mask on my face and a ray-gun in my hand.
I open my dream eyes and look around, there’s a building beside me, it seems strangely familiar, and I appear to be guarding it as a draculoid.
I notice a green-haired killjoy sneaking towards the building through the corner of my eye. I try to turn and ask for help, information, anything to get me out of this nightmare! But instead, I turn and shoot.
The killjoy goes down in a blur of green, and brown sand.
Just as I’m standing over her, my vision twists, and I appear in a blindingly white office.
The bald man from my previous nightmare is staring at me, he’s speaking but it takes me while to understand his speech.
“remember the guard that zone with your life, we must not let the killjoys find it before we do, or our happy, perfect city could be destroyed.” He pauses. “I’m sending a search team to scan the area for it as soon as I can, if this mission is a success then you’ll certainty get promoted.” My vision starts to turn blurry again and the office starts to fade.
The man’s voice echoes in the silence, “Keep smiling”.