Somewhere in between 3

23.

(Start the song „everybody knows" by Sigrid)

They walked up the mountain and then arrived at the highest point. Right above them was the huge purple vortex from which lightning kept shooting. This was the place where this chaos had originated.

He made Jasmin sit down on a stone.
She was exhausted, she had no strength left and she didn't know how she was going to cope with what was coming.
"Are you finally going to tell me what I have to do?"
Jasmin sounded annoyed.
She was being kept on tenterhooks and made to wait, even though she had no time to lose.
„Just a moment," Prowler replied. „Then we can start." He only whispered the last part to himself so that Jasmin didn't hear it.
She waited impatiently, weaving up and down with her foot.
She was worried that the mess would only get worse and she wouldn't be able to save it in the end.
But suddenly a potal opened before her eyes.
She was puzzled.
Why was a portal opening?
Who was Prowler expecting?
Who did he need to explain to me how I could save my universe?
Several people stepped out of the potal.
At first, she could only make out silhouettes, but when she saw their faces, her blood ran cold.

Miguel O'Hara.

It was a trap.
Suddenly she realized everything.
Prowler had only deceived her.
Right from the start.
It was nothing more than a lie.
Prowler walked over to Miguel.
"Just as you asked," he said firmly.
"Well done. At least someone who can do his job well," Miguel sneered, looking at the two other men behind him.
They looked sheepishly at the ground.
Apparently they were men from the addiction squad who had been sent after Jasmin and had been unsuccessful every time.
"Y-you... lied to me..." came from Jasmin.
Her voice was weak and horror could be heard in her tone.
Prowler just grinned at her.
A smile spread across his and Miguel's face.
"Matter of opinion," he replied dryly.
"You took advantage of me!"
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
She was stunned.
She didn't know what to do.

"And you believed me. Me. Prowler." He laughed contemptuously. "You're so naive!"
Miguel looked at Prowler, confident of victory.
"I've finally got you. God you got on my nerves. How I've been trying to catch you all this time!"
He walked towards Jasmin.
His gaze was serious and dark.
"And I've finally got you!"she panicked.
She was far too weak to run away, to get away, to somehow escape this situation.
Prowler and Miguel have been in cahoots all this time. All the time.
"So you didn't even know how to save my planet?" she asked, turning to Prowler.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Not in the slightest."
"Then it was all a lie? So you just used me as an excuse to hand me over to Miguel?"
Jasmin's voice became more panicked and angry. Her body was drained of any energy she had left.
"Clever girl."
"At last we can put an end to all this. Take her!" Miguel shouted to the two men behind them and, without batting an eyelid, they agreed with Jasmin.
"No!" she screamed, "Let go of me!"
They grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up from the stone.
She struggled, trying to tear her arms from their grasp.
They got her up so that she lost her footing.
She kicked her legs around, but it hopeless.
"You interrupted a canon event and caused this planet to go down. Apart from that, you broke into the HQ!" Miguel yelled. "Look around you. This is all your fault!"
Her breathing became much shallower and she could no longer manage to take deep breaths.
She was panicking again.
Her planet was in ruins, as was her heart and her psyche.
Now everything really seemed lost.
No one was there to save her.
She could scream as loud as she wanted, but no one would hear her or come to help her.
It was four against one.
She was alone.
And she didn't even have a hope that her friends would show up at the very last second to get her out of here.
"My work is done then. I want my..." but Prowler didn't get a chance to finish.
Another portal opened, and Andrew, Miguel's right arm, stumbled out of the potal. He looked rushed and panicked.
"Andrew, what are you doing here?" his boss was horrified.
"I'm trying to save you from making a serious mistake," he said frantically.
"What are you talking about?" Miguel was confused.
"What kind of mistake? I'm not making a mistake."
"Oh, yes, you are. You are. If you take her now, back to HQ, this planet will implode."
Everyone looked at him in confusion. Jasmine no longer understood.
"The planet will implode anyway. Whether she stays here or not," Miguel protested.
"No. Her world isn't coming to an end because she interrupted the canon event. It's because she was separated from her planet for too long."
"What?" Miguel got angry and turned to Andrew.
"Let me explain it to you. To all of you."

He took a deep breath before he began to speak.
"She interrupted the canon event of her own planet. Her universe was out of balance, it was, but it wasn't that bad. The universe was righting itself. If she had interrupted another planet's canon event, it would have been fatal. But that's not the case here.
The reason for the collapse is that she was separated from her planet for too long. Because she didn't return for several weeks."
„But that can't be right," Miguel grumbled.
His plan was in danger of falling apart.
Suddenly it became clear to Jasmin.
That was the reason why she felt so bad.
She had been away from her planet for too long.
"This is all your fault!" she screamed at Miguel

"You sent search parties into my universe, which is why I never came back here, worried that you would catch me. My planet is being destroyed because of you!" Jasmin was furious.
None of this was ever her fault, but she felt it. "That's a lie!"
He looked at Andrew to agree with him, but he didn't.
Miguel had the feeling he was going to break inside.
This can't be happening.
Never, he thought to himself.
"My money!" shouted Prowler, looking angrily at Miguel.
"No!" he shouted back. That was the last thing he needed right now.
"Kept my end of the bargain. I want my money now!"

Miguel couldn't stand it any longer. He just wanted to get out of here. He created a portal and disappeared into it with his two men and Prowler.
Now Jasmin, Andrew and their destroyed world were alone.

(Listen to the song „last one standing" by Skylar grey as the outro of this chapter)