Camp Arachnid

Chapter 9 Searching The Lab

Once Ben and Peter reached back to the camp, the sun was high in the sky. And all of the other survivors were awake. "Hey, Ben, hope you picked out some good berries this time!" Kenji called out to them. Ben rolled his eyes as he walked over to everyone. "Maybe if some of you helped like a normal person, I wouldn't have almost picked those poisonous ones last time!" Ben said as he placed the berries down on a small wooden table, what they had probably made themselves. "Did Peter come and help you pick the berries?" Sammy asked, smiling at Peter.

Ben sighed. "No, he didn't. In fact, he nearly killed me."

Everyone looked surprised. "What? What do you mean?" Darius asked. "It... was an accident Ben...." Peter said. All Ben did was look at him annoyed, crossing his arms. Everyone else looked confused. "Um.... then how are you both still near each other if that's the case? If someone tried to kill me, I'd stay clear away from them..." Kenji said. Ben scoffed, then walked away from all of them.

They all watched Ben leave, then looked back at Peter. Peter decided to just tell them what had happened.

****

"You... accidentally thought he was a Dinosaur in the bushes and almost KOed him?" Darius asked. Kenji started to laugh. "Why is that so hilarious!" He laughed harder. Peter sighed and covered his face. "My powers really failed me this time..." He chuckled, nervously. "I hope I can make it up to him somehow," There was something about Ben, and for some reason Peter really wanted to make friends with Ben. But it's hard to make friends with someone who generally doesn't trust or like you. "Ugh, don't worry about Ben. We need to get you home!" Brooklyn said. Kenji nodded. "Yeah, we need to find that Collider-Thing-amabob."

"All you had to say was 'Collider' Ya didn't need to add more words..." Darius said. Kenji sighed and then looked over at Darius with an annoyed look. Peter just chuckled at them. "So, where should we go? To... search for the Collider?" He asked them. "Well, with how you say this Collider is a dimensional rift machine... I guess it's somewhere in the lab." Darius said. "The lab? You mean that building I found you and Kenji in?" Peter asked. Both Darius and Kenji nodded. "But I walked around most of it, and I didn't see anything that looks close to a Collider," Peter told them. "Oh, the lab is actually bigger than you think. Pretty sure you didn't search all the rooms."

That was true. Peter was sure he hadn't gone into every room. And with how on edge he was at the time, he wouldn't be surprised if he had actually walked right past the Collider and didn't see it. "So, are you all going to come to help me?" Peter asked, looking at them. They all nodded. "Yeah, we are," Yaz said. "W-What about Ben?"

"What is with you with Ben? Let him act weird all he wants. He's probably with Bumpy. He doesn't need to come with us." Kenji said. Peter nodded. "Alright.... let's go."

***

They all entered through a door that led into the lab. From the back area of the building. "Ok, so any idea what the Collider even looks like?" Darius asked. "Well it's this giant machine. But, I'm not sure if they can be in different shapes and sizes." Peter said. "Well, what did it look like in your world?" Sammy asked. "It was huge. Bigger than... most of the lab-," Peter said. "Bigger than what?!" Yaz exclaimed. "Most of these rooms are small... so... it wouldn't be here..." Brooklyn added. "Maybe it could be underground in some secret area? I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case." Darius said.

"Guys, don't stress yourself out, remember I said I don't know if they could be different sizes... so for now, let's just search for it in the rooms that we can enter for now," Peter told them. He didn't want anyone to stress out. Even though Peter needed to get back to New York, he was calm. No form of good thing happens when you panic and stress yourself out. "Yeah, let's go with that plan," Darius said. "Like, what about that room up there?" They where walking along a corridor of the building, until they saw two doors. "Isn't that the door to that egg room?" Kenji asked. "Egg room? I think I was in there when I first came here. Of course, I didn't see anything that looked like a Collider, but I guess we all can try."

Before anyone could say anything else, Darius went ahead and opened the door. "Geez, wait for us..." Kenji said. Peter looked around the room. Peter is the type of person, who is good at science. Like, really good. He has his lab, where he makes web fluid, new suits, and upgrades to older suits. He was looking around the lab, to see if there was anything he could use, to make some web fluid. Since he had lost his suit, and his web shooters, he's been using the biological webs that he makes from his wrists. But depending on how he's feeling, and what his body is going through, his body can sometimes fail at making the fluid. That is why he has the web shooters with the artificial web fluid, as backup. "What are you looking for?" Kenji asked, looking at Peter looking around. "What do you think he's looking for genius?! The Collider!" Darius snapped at him. "Hm? Oh, sorry guys. Just got distracted. I'm... somewhat of a scientist myself. So... Seeing all of this, is reminding me of my world a bit."

"You're a scientist? But you're a kid like us, how do you know about this stuff?" Brooklyn was listing on in their conversation and joined in. Peter looked at her. "The suit I own. I've made it myself. I design everything I use." Peter said. "Wow... that's amazing!" Darius said. "But didn't you say your suit disappeared?" Kenji asked. "It did. I don't know what happened to it."

"Hey guys, what's this?"

Peter stopped talking with Darius Kenji and Brooklyn, and they all turned to face Sammy, who was at the far end of the room. "Huh? What is it, Sammy?"

Yaz was with her. She was standing next to her, they both seemed like they were looking at some table. "Sammy found some strange panel. Could this be the Collider?"

Peter walked over to them, and Darius, Kenji, and Brooklyn did the same. As Peter got closer, he saw the panel close up. The panel was guarded by a metal bar. "Could this be something? I mean, why would it be locked down so much?"

"Well, not meaning to burst you guy's bubble. But maybe it's just something simple and it's locked down to prevent the baby dinosaurs from touching stuff if they manage to escape in here?" Darius said. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Darius on that one."

But Peter kept scanning it. "Let's press some..."

"Press some?" Darius was talking to them about the panel, but they all stopped and looked at Peter when he said that. "We can't it's locked up," Kenji said. Peter put both of his hands on the metal, then in one movement, and pulled it clean off. "WOAH!" They all exclaimed, looking at Peter surprised. Peter threw the metal covering on the ground. "I don't think I'll get over the fact that there is a superhero among us...."

Now that the bar was off, it gave them access to the buttons and dials. But there were so many, and none of them was marked. "How are we going to know which one to press?" Darius asked. Peter looked at all the stuff. "Guess we just press random ones..."

He presses one of them.

All of the robotic arms that are used to turn the Dinosaur eggs, flew up. "Hm..." Peter said. He turned a dial, and then the arms spun out of control. Peter quickly turned it down, "So these control the arm..." Peter said. "Clearly not anything to do with a Collider," Brooklyn said. "Don't worry guys, we'll find it."