Between Magic and Science

So this machine, Nexus hoped, was going to open a portal to another world. Pretty crazy, but it was the result of research in science. The power source was the portable generator that powered all of his crazy experiments, now in an unpowered state. Nexus lifted his hand in the direction of said generator, focusing his mind on his synthetic implants, and of electricity. Almost instantly, a thunderbolt had jumped from his outstretched hand to the generator with a loud crack, causing it to spark to life and start pushing electricity in the the portal projector. His implants pulsed for a moment, returning the energy they had used to his body.

This would work, it had to. Nexus took in the surroundings of his lab for the billionth time. Grey cement walls, cold and damp, were covered in blueprints and wires that stretched across the floor. Different workbenches and tables were in various areas, some against the wall, some out in the open, but all overflowing with materials and papers. An operating table was in the furthest corner, and his current project, the projector, sat in the center of the room,

The projector itself wasn't like the ones in movies or books, with a large ring shape to walk through or such, but it was more of a node, just a small orb on the end of a rod that stuck up from the main projector unit. The main projector unit actually generated the portal, using power from the generator, so on and so forth. Nexus was getting caught up in his overly descriptive thoughts. He needed to turn it on!

Nexus turned to the control mechanism. If he was correct, it shouldn't be so difficult as piloting a helicopter, which he had only done once before. The settings were set to open a portal on Delta Earth, which he was certain was the name of the world he had came from. Taking a deep breath, he turned the projector on, and a purple vortex enveloped the machine, giving sight to what appeared to be space on the other end of the portal.

Must’ve set the coordinates too high... He thought to himself.

As he looked over the controls, another device began to go off; his spacial distortion scanner, a device that measured the amount of matter in a wide area, and reported any large changes in it. This one was set to scan from the Razorback Mountains, just outside of Tanktown’s west border, to Beaver Creek, a small body of water in the Ashfall Forest. It had been expected to change a little bit, but it had suddenly spiked, and Nexus knew  it could only mean one thing.

He had brought something else into this world.

He’d have to find it, there’s no telling where it would end up, hopefully it wasn't sentient, or at least intelligent enough to be upset with what he had done. He’d have an easy time finding it if it was some sort of animal, like a deer or something, cause there weren't many around TankTown at this time of year. Misplaced furniture was another common one. Shame he had to send it back, some of it was nice.

Nexus turned off the portal projector, and the generator that powered it, and took a look at the scanner, which now read “+81.6 Kg” under the displacement section. He swore under his breath and covered his face with his hands. That was the mass of an average human being, so unless he somehow warped a life sized replica of someone, then he definitely warped someone, and that meant they wouldn't be too happy.

Out of all the things that could have gone wrong, he had to bring another person out of their world? The irony of the situation was burning at him, but the fact that another being was pulled from whatever world they came from, and into this world, just like he had... He needed to talk to his friends, see if they could help him out. But he couldn't go and bother all of them, and he didn't want to cause panic. Who would he talk to?

Peaceful Pride was good at listening, but he’d probably be busy working at his armour shop. Whirlwind would probably be out on an aerial mission, or sleeping off a hangover, and Trax Dash was training for the next Arena tournament. Buttercrust was going through one of those random phases, and Burning Star, she would flip out, no doubt. Nova Burst was probably harvesting his potatoes by now, and Powerjack... He could talk to Powerjack, actually. Powerjack was the overseer of Tanktown’s militia, and was usually never busy. He was calm most of the time, if not a bit shy.

This was kind of an urgent matter, and he didn't want to waste time. There was a tank in the garage, which was the normal method of transit for the people of Iron Core, but it wasn't exactly fast. He needed something quicker, like a motorcycle. Burning Star had one, but she never used it much. Nexus came out of the sealed airlock in his lab, and walked up the stairs to the house. Having a lab in the basement was kind of ghetto, but Burning Star, being his roommate, wanted the place to look somewhat presentable. Which, he had no clue why she was still living here after have helped him save the world several times over.

“Hey, Burning Star, you mind if I borrow your motorcycle?” Nexus said, entering the garage. Burning Star was laying back a skateboard, working on something underneath their armoured vehicle.

“Yeah, sure, the tank’s not ready to go anyway. Where you headed?” She replied, still working on whatever it was she was doing.

“I’m going to see if Powerjack is doing anything...”

Later, he had been sitting with Powerjack in his office, watching him sort through papers. The mirror in his office allowed Nexus to see himself for the first time in what seemed like forever, for he hadn't had a mirror in the bathroom in his lab. His dirty blonde hair fell short of his ears, and was spiked up in some places for an unexplained reason. Bright blue eyes looked at him through the mirror, observing his every detail. A face of youth, but stained with hard work, and undeniable experiences. A plain orange jacket, his blue jeans, and the purple marks running along his arms and body. That’s what gave him his power. Then there was the tattoo on his lower left arm, which marked his specialty in his combat unit. He and his friends had originally gotten them to identify and remember what they did for the group. Nexus had a sword, symbolizing him as a leader. Others had just thought it was a cool look, and some had gotten their own.

Powerjack looked over at him, ready for him to say something.

His quiet voice said, “What did you want to talk about, Nexus?”

His voice didn't fit his physical appearance at all. Powerjack was a huge person, and could easily lift over thrice his weight. He was at least a whole head taller than Nexus, and appeared very menacing at a glance, but Powerjack was gentle, he almost never hurt anyone, unless they hurt him -or someone important to him- first. He wore a simple brown t-shirt and blue jeans, obviously patched together from other jeans to fit him. His implants were green, which meant he could manipulate virtual data and machines, and upon his lower left arm was a shield.

Nexus sighed. “We’ve got a problem.”