• [Roger]

    “Get off me you dope!” I say, copying Jens line.
    He gets up and dusts himself off. “I thought you were in big trouble”
    “Well don’t rush right in without thinking first!” I hiss. I fell down a hole, a deep one at that. Once I hit the ground, Jen came and increase my pain.
    “Say…has this hole always been here?”
    I looked around, it was smoky in here just like out there. “I’m pretty sure there was never a hole here but isn’t it really hot in here?”
    “Uh….actually yeah, it is” he loosened his shirt and fanned his neck.
    “Mmnnn…” I stomped the ground then placed my hand on the wall. “Ow!” I jolt my hand away.
    “What is it?!” Jen asks, worried.
    “The walls burning hot. If I were to guess…the floor, wall and…” I quickly tapped the ceiling, “And the ceiling are made out of metal”
    “Eh? No way—oh ow!” he shouts, “Feet burning, hot!”
    I laughed but then I start to feel the same thing “Ouch!” I started hopping on each foot then broke into a run. If I’m going to stay here in this heat, I might as well hurry and get out!
    “Hey, hey, stop leaving me!” Jen curses as he follows from behind.
    The temperature increases the more we advance. I’m sweating like crazy and panting hard. Running in this heat just drains my energy. There’s this strange sent in the air, first it was barely noticeable but now its odor’s stronger.
    “Man that stinks!” Jen pinches his nose.
    “Be serious. Stop joking around!” I hiss. “You got keep your mind in focus or else—“ I hit something hard with my right foot then tripped forward. Jen caught me just in time before I got a serious burn.
    “Look who’s talking about staying focus” he smirked.
    I glare at him.
    He raises his hands in defense. “Whoa there, Captain, you wouldn’t want to hurt your fellow underling, do you?”
    “Will you ju—“ I was cut off by a loud cry. It came from up ahead. Without hesitation, we ran forward.
    “Kert!” Jen called out. There was no answer, just crackling noises that sounded like fireworks and a view of thick smoke.
    I slowed to a walk as I noticed that the room was bigger, wider. I glanced around, where’d Jen go? I can hear the echo of his footsteps but I can’t see him. I coughed—the burnt air is screwing up my lungs. It’s irritating my eyes, too. I stumble around, blindly waving my arms around to feel anything solid.
    “Aha!” an unfamiliar voice yelled out.
    It came up ahead to the left. I rubbed the tears from my eyes as I changed course. Then suddenly the floor began to vibrate and I could hear short clacking sounds, like glass hitting one another. The noise screeches and gets louder as the vibration intensifies. I can’t hear anything anymore, just ringing and static. I cover my ears and scream—at least I think I’m screaming.
    Then air blowing. It must be a crazy thought but I think it’s a huge fan that makes the sound of a vacuum. The hellish heat suddenly turned cold, too cold. I think I’m going to die of frostbite in ten seconds. The powerful force almost sends me flying in the air. I leaned as far forward as I can, my feet skidding backwards. I couldn’t exactly see what was happening because my eyes were shut tight. I wouldn’t want them to end up desert dry and dented. What in the world is—everything instantly stopped and I fell flat on my face.
    Someone laughed. “Sorry about that, Roger” it was the same unfamiliar voice as before. The person cleared his throat and coughed.
    I looked up. “Kert?!” I was baffled, seeing him with only minor injuries but even more shocked at the disappearance of the smoke.
    “At your service” he says, sounding more like himself.
    I gape, noticed I was lying on hot metal, and jumped up with a yelp. “Hot, hot!” I flared my arms around.
    “Calm down!” Kert chuckled. “Everything’s fine, you’re not burning”
    “But, but the—“
    “Floors not hot, it’s just your imagination!” Jen came walking towards us. I laughed at his messed up, spiky hair. he growled, threatening me in return.
    “It’s true” Kert added. “I knew something was going to explode some time now so I made” he gestures to a huge, square, metallic machine with the most enormous rudders connected to the front. “This. It’s a true life savor. The blistering heat mixed with frigid cold balances one another out to this” now he’s gesturing to the atmosphere. “Warm, isn’t it?” he grins, proud.
    I stopped hopping around, starting to take in the area. Every wall was made with metal. This place looked like the inside of an igloo, a huge one! It looked ten times wider and twenty times taller than the cottage. I’m beginning to question the laws of science. When did Kert make this? How did Kert make this? Why can this all fit underground? I should ask him about it—no, I shouldn’t, he’ll just say it’s to complicated for my mind to handle.
    “What’s with this place?” Jen asks.
    “It’s my workplace, where I experiment” he replies then slowly examines the area. “Everything is disintegrated except for…” he trails off.
    “Did you make something?” I ask. “The explosion shredded everything up there. Must be something amazing, right?”
    He beams excitedly when I said that. “Feast your eyes on these!” he ran over to the only thing that seemed to survive the deathblow. It was a tall, wide, long, thick glass, dark with ash. There was a handle on top. Kert held it with his gloved hand and lifted, showing us the contents. Me and Jen gaped, exchanged glances, then jumped with glee. This is the most amazing thing, ever!
    Kert grins. “When shall we depart?”

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