"What?" Athena asked.
"I probably don't have time to explain, you need to give me the DTH." DTH Jon told her. Athena picked it up off the floor where Biff had left it.
"I'm not giving you this unless you explain what is going on." She said while waving the DTH.
"Okay, but you need to get as far away from the 'vacuum' as possible." Athena moved to the other side of the cage. DTH Jon turned to his companions. "You guys too." Everyone moved into a huddle of the far side of the cage.
Directly underneath the spot where Sarah and Biff had hopped, dust started to rise up off the floor. "It's getting stronger." DTH Jon told them.
"What is it?" Karyn asked.
"It's a wormhole to the flower petal dimension. That's how the DTH works, it creates wormholes between dimensions."
"You told me you didn't know how it worked." Athena said.
"I lied, get over it." Jon told her.
"The DTH doesn't leave these wormhole things behind, does it?" Karyn asked, a little worried by the possibility. Dust from the whole room was moving towards the spot now, the angular momentum formed a growing disk of particles around the hole.
"It doesn't. My DTH doesn't anyway. What should happen is the DTH scans us and measures our mass. This is normally just our bodies and clothing. It opens a wormhole to the destination and fires the mass,us, through it. Once the initial measured mass has travelled through, it collapses the wormhole." The suction from the wormhole was increasing as he spoke.
"I've never noticed any of that before when we hop."
"It happens in the tiniest fraction of a second. It's practically instant. Wormholes can't stay open for long." The wormhole boundary was making a noise as the air rushed into it. He turned to Athena. "You wouldn't believe this but wormholes are incredibly unstable, especially when connected to weird ass dimensions." He could barely contain the sarcasm.
"Maybe it will close eventually." Athena said hopefully, just as some small nails and screws went flying by her head.
"Leonard was obviously having trouble reproducing this part of the process. That was why he got you to specifically ask me about it. I didn't give you any answers, so I'm guessing he fudged a solution with his imitation DTH. Probably dooming the world in the process." DTH Jon told her. More small objects flew towards the hole.
"Can you fix it with the DTH?" Athena asked.
"No but I can use it to get us the hell out of here." Small tools and paint tins were starting to fly off the shelves into the growing wormhole.
"You could be trying to trick me." Athena said as she held the DTH close to her chest. The pull was becoming so strong she had to reposition her feet. The cage occupants had started holding on to the bars.
"Seriously? Look around us Athena." DTH Jon said as he pointed around the large room. Nearly every small item in the basement was swirling around the wormhole. Everyone could feel the pull on their bodies. Athena was still in two minds then the discarded sledge hammer lifted off the floor and went pirouetting into oblivion.
"Okay, okay." She said as she grabbed on to the outside of the cage. She pushed the DTH through the gap in the bars and DTH Jon grabbed it. He started programming it. As he did so he held up his left hand.
"Everyone grab Jon's hand." Karyn told them. They all did as instructed including Athena who pushed her own hand through the bars. The hole was sounding like a hurricane now as vast amounts of air were getting sucked inside. Jon activated the DTH.
It beeped loudly at him. "No! That crazy wormhole is interfering. The DTH is struggling to form a coherent wormhole of it's own."
"Why did it have to break down now of all times?" Karyn asked. The large wooden beams above their heads started creaking.
"I've never hopped with five people before, the increased mass is not helping." DTH Jon explained. They now had to shout to hear each other.
"Maybe if we ditched some weight." Zoe shouted while looking at Athena. Athena tried to scowl as best she could even though she felt like she was in a tornado.
Jon pushed some more buttons. He looked at Karyn "I could randomise the destination. That should create a stable wormhole but I've no idea where it will send us." He shouted at her. Just then the tiny basement window exploded as the pressure difference became too much for it to handle.
"We're not ditching anyone. Do it!" Karyn shouted. Jon activated the DTH again. The five of them vanished just as a large crack appeared in the ceiling dropping plaster and rubble on to the cage.
