Ethan stood still. "We're doomed," he said quietly.
His hands were shaking a little. He looked around, but nothing made sense anymore. The air still shimmered like it wasn't fully real. Sally barked once, low and uneasy.
Then a small beep came from his wrist. His high-tech gear lit up with a blinking green light.
He tapped it, and Natasha's face appeared, the signal cutting in and out.
"Ethan—Evan—can you hear me?" she said, her voice sharp and fast.
Ethan looked at Evan. "It's them."
POV switch – Natasha
The crew was already in chaos. Natasha was the first to talk, her words rushing out.
"We have to tell Mr. Derek—now!"
They ran out of the portal room and grabbed the first cab they could find. No one said a word the whole ride. When they got there, Natasha didn't even wait—she pounded on the supervisor's door until it opened.
Mr. Derek looked at them, furious.
"You can't just barge in here—"
But when he saw their faces, the anger dropped.
"What happened?"
Natasha took a breath and explained everything—about the flying object, the shaking, and how Evan, Ethan, and Sally were still out there.
Mr. Derek went silent for a long moment. Then he called to his assistant.
"Bring me the emergency booklet."
The assistant ran and came back quickly. Derek flipped through the pages until his hand stopped.
"If someone from the Inner Zone gets trapped outside, they have a week to return. After that, they lose their power and become part of the Outer Zone permanently," he read slowly.
He kept reading. "There's only one exception—the crystal Amethyst Mythos. If they find that, they can survive there longer."
Then Natasha took out the small object Evan had thrown to her before the portal closed.
When Derek saw it, his expression changed. "I gave him this on his sixteenth birthday," he said quietly.
He took it in his hands, connected it to his system, and nodded.
"With this, we can still contact them. But we can't tell anyone. If the Author learns about this breach, they'll be erased from the records. Understand?"
Everyone nodded. Natasha pressed the connection link.
POV switch – Ethan
The screen on Ethan's wrist flickered again. Natasha's voice came through.
"Listen carefully. You and Evan have two options to get back. One—record something so entertaining, so powerful, that it reaches a five-star rating. Two—find the Amethyst Mythos."
Ethan frowned. "Five stars?"
Evan's voice went low. "No one's done that for a million years."
For a second, both of them just stood there. Then Ethan tried to smile. "Well, we'll be the first, right?"
Evan exhaled and nodded. "Alright. Let's find someone worth recording."
Ethan's face lit up. "That girl—the one with the white hair. She's interesting. There's something about her."
Evan shook his head. "No. Too risky. We'll film one of the superheroes instead."
They sat down on a bench, started writing plans, sketching camera angles, and mapping the area.
Then they noticed people staring at them—phones up, whispering, pointing.
Evan looked down. The streaks of blue in Sally's hair were glowing faintly. Their suits were too high-tech for this place.
"Yeah, we're standing out," Ethan said.
Evan gave him a look. "You think?"
Ethan snapped his fingers. "Wait—I've got it."
Their suits flickered. The glowing tech faded, replaced by casual clothes.
Evan now wore a simple red round-neck shirt and black trousers. Ethan's look shifted into a black cap with gold edges and a red front, a hoodie with streaks of red, yellow, and white, and blue-white knickers. Sally's collar changed too—now a normal leather one, though still high-tech inside.
Ethan looked at himself in a reflection, flexed his arm, and grinned.
"That's how it's done."
Evan rolled his eyes but smiled anyway.
Cut to black.
End of Chapter 6.