[Jack Orion]

"Christ in Heaven, please don't let the guy think I'm too much of a geek with all of this..."

Jack muttered to himself as he would get dressed for the day, putting on more casual clothes for the first time in probably a few weeks. Given the back to back catastrophes, or even just going out on patrol, or even just wearing them to training, Jack had basically been stuck in his Hero Suit since the Elementalist attacks. He pursed his lips at the thought, knowing that this was basically just his way of taking a break from it all.

Since everything had happened, he realized quick that he was going to wear himself out fast if he didn't take some form of a step back and focus on his own mental health. At the same time, though, he knew he'd just drive himself crazy if he didn't do something that he could consider actually productive. So, time for a bit of a compromise! He had spent the last couple of days prepping for this, so he was really kind of hoping this worked out.

First, he spent a solid day and night typing up a bit of a theory for himself, given what he knew about his own Quirk and what it could be capable of doing. Given it's paradoxical nature, it could be possible for it to defy more of the laws of physics than they already know of, one function in particular he was interested in, given proper testing and the proper gearwork was prepared for it. By the end of all of his typing, he literally had 6 pages on the topic alone filled with basically a bunch of Quirk Theory. 

If he wasn't sending this to a Support Student he'd almost feel self-conscious.

Secondly was the matter of actually finding said Support Student. There was plenty of good options, especially since after the 'Armor Wars' event Jack had actually taken the time to look at some of the gear options and see who they were made by. One name in particular stood out to him, outside of the people who made his Vine Whips. Kei Hada. Admittedly he'd heard good things about the guy as it was. Someone who had a good personality to bounce off of would be good for Jack himself as it was anyway. 

Once those were set and done, it was just a matter of...emailing it.

To one Kei Hada of UA University.

Hi there! My name is Jack Orion. I'm contacting you in regards to a project that I had been thinking about, as both a passion project and a way to actually help not even just my hero work, but hopefully the world as a whole should we make it work the way we would want. I had honestly heard and seen good things about you, both in regards to your quality of work and, at least from word of mouth, your personality.

All the kiss-assing aside, how would you feel about a theoretical teleportation device?

I know that may sound like science fiction, even for the current era that we live in, but I genuinely believe my Quirk may be at the very least a step in that direction. Below I have attached a document regarding my thoughts and everything there is to currently know about the energy I produce, aptly named by Quirk specialists as 'Chaos Energy'. The document attached would likely explain this enough. 

Should you agree to this project and want to meet up, where would be an appropriate place? If there is also any sort of worry about funding or an actual proper place to test things, please let me know and I can most likely set up a good enough environment. I hope to meet back from you soon

ChaoEnergy.txt attached.

With all of that, Jack would hit send, and honestly prayed that this would work out. He REALLY didn't like having to talk even just partially professionally. It made him feel stiff even just typing it all up. Hopefully this would work out.

[Kei Hada]

Kei had to be staring at the email for at least an hour now.

Gear requests made in such a way had become surprisingly rare these days. Whether it be because clients would rather search for him in the labs or the idea sprang during a conversation, Kei could count in one hand how many times someone wrote something for him asking for his services. Those few times were nice honestly. They let him collect his thoughts and he wasn't put on the spot to respond immediately. Whoever this was also had a sense of humour with the kiss-ass thing, a laugh bubbling out of the junior as he relaxed further.

He should respond eventually though. He knew this. He even read the document attached three times already, the subject matter intriguing to say the least. Yet what solely kept his attention in place was the very item the guy was suggesting.

A teleportation device.

Likelihood of being an impossible venture aside, the very idea of it was dangerous. Experimental gear that can deconstruct a person wholly before reconstructing them at a different location? Seriously, what would happen if the process didn't complete? Or the reconstruction itself was faulty?

The concept was more Ana's style. She didn't shy away from the potential harm it would cause. Not because she wanted it to occur, mind, but because she'd always been more daring in her pursuits of science than him. She liked to take risks. He did not.

His skills were improving though. He was getting better, taking on more complex projects that involved materials generated by Quirks. There had to be a reason this person requested him instead of the renowned genius. Personality in particular stood out to him.

So okay. He'll give a shot.

He just needed to make a response.

To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Gear Request

Hi Jack!

You can call me Kei. I read through the document and I have to say, it's really intriguing. I've worked with radiation Quirks before and while yours is similar, the instability of that chaos factor could help us explore the possibility of teleportation. I'd want to at least test this on a few objects first before attempting to blink a whole person though.

I'm available from 3-6pm next Tuesday-Thursday. If you're free during any of those days, let me know and you can come down to the support labs and ask the students around for directions to where I'd be. I'd give a room number but I tend to work in whatever room's free which changes a lot.

Hope to talk to you soon! And no need to worry about setting up a test area, UAU's the best hero university in Japan for a reason.

Sincerely,
Kei Hada
3rd Year Support Major, UAU
[e-mail]

---

Whichever day Jack would choose, Kei would be in one of the workshops well before the time of the meeting, with several books open at his table and Jack's document printed and laid out. Many lines were highlighted and hand-written notes were etched on the margins.

He's nothing if not over-prepared.

Jack Orion

[Jack Orion]

Jack would end up heaving a sigh of relief as he would get a response about an hour later. At least from how it sounds, Kei was on board with the idea. Honestly, he half expected him to call him a crackpot for even suggesting something like this. It just made everything a lot more easy, not having to justify his case more than he needed to.

Quickly typing out a reply, he would end up agreeing to come around that coming Tuesday - luckily for him, at the moment he had a lot of free time on his hands. Once that was all said and done, the dragon boy would nod to himself, already mentally preparing a list of things he would likely need to bring. First and foremost...

Luckily for him, he already had gone through the process when he was younger of actually containing Chaos Energy. It would be a little dumb not to at least have some sort of way of actually being able to properly look at it without it blowing up in your face going into this. Pulling out a small, uneven crystal container from his desk, he would eye it for a second, nodding to himself, knowing it would be better to save it for when the day came. It would sustain the energy for a while, but it would still dissipate after a while. Still, good to know where it was now.

---

A few days later

Jack would quickly begin to approach one of the various labs, deciding to actually take it a little more casual. At least, despite the surprisingly stuffed bag that he was carrying at his side. Research papers, said odd container, some snacks, yada yada. He felt like while this would definitely be a multi-day - if not multi-month - endeavor, he should at least do his part in making sure they were not only prepared but also comfortable. Especially when he was meeting the guy for the first time.

Soon enough, he would finally poke his horned head into one of the doors, looking around until he would end up seeing a black-haired, yellow-eyed individual. "Hola! You Kei Hada?" he would ask, smiling brightly with his sharp teeth as he would end up getting confirmation.

The small dragon man would approach, bowing politely. He recalled hearing something about the guy not being a fan of touching, so, y'know, best to respect that. "It's good to meet ya! Jack Orion, at ya service!" he chirped, setting his bag down to the opposite side of Kei's area, eyeing the other student's own respectable level of prep. "Starting to already feel like I made a good choice here. You said before you were familiar with radiation-based Quirks?" he asked, mainly just wanting to strike up a conversation before they started to get into the nitty gritty of it.

While Kei would end up responding, Jack would end up pulling out the crystalline container, the odd shape alone likely catching his attention. "For some reason, Chaos Energy resonates well with crystal-based materials. Makes it a lot easier to actually look at it. Speaking of..." he said, before cupping his hands around the container. Taking a deep breath, there would be a deep blue and purple glow emitting from his hands, before dimming down just a little bit. Uncupping his hands, the container would now be filled with the space like, almost liquid-looking energy. "It'll die down after a while, so there's no risk of it blowing up or anything," he would quickly add, before offering the container to Kei for him to look at.

Nothing like starting off a day by passing around cold space energy. That's what all the cool kids did nowadays, right?

[Kei Hada]

Kei was pouring over one of the books when he heard the greeting, prompting him to peek over the pages at the question. "Yeah, that's me!" For a delirious moment he thought this wasn't who he was supposed to meet. People walked in the lab all the time, asking if he was the guy they were looking for just like this instance. It's not like he kept a schedule everyone could reference. As far as anyone knew, he was free right now.

There was visible relief on his face when the student introduced himself. "Oh." Oh thank god, it's the guy with who sent the email. He smiled. "Hey Jack, it's nice to finally meet ya too!" Noting his interest in the papers, Kei let out a laugh as he closed his book. "Of course! And yeah, threw me for a loop mentionin' you control Chaos Energy, so I pulled out all the research I did when workin' with the other radiation-based Quirks, done mostly to create gear that could condense their energy and channel it better."

"The biggest challenge was to find somethin' that could hold the energy without blowin' up-" Cross eyes were drawn to the oddly large gem, and he stopped mid-sentence to take in Jack's observation. "Crystal-based materials?" That was a new one to him. He knew only diamonds could cut other diamonds, but he doubt he could make something out of diamonds. That would get very expensive very quickly.

Kei's eyes grew wide at the glow, and all of a sudden the gem had something inside. Huh. Didn't need to be diamonds. Material was one less thing to search for. Kei looked at Jack as if to confirm he was indeed allowed to touch the crystal before reaching out to take it. Holding it in his hands, he stared at the energy in wonder, tilting it gently to watch it swirl around. "Woah... and you think this could power your teleportation?"

Jack Orion

[Jack Orion]

Jack couldn't help but smirk a little bit at Kei's pause when he saw the crystal. It made sense, when you thought about it. The one person who would absolutely be an expert on anything and everything Chaos Energy would be the one person who's actually able to produce it. That said, even he couldn't help but be surprised when he first made the connect. It suddenly made a lot more sense why there were crystalline materials poking out of his head and his chest, and, were he to have an x-ray, speckled all across his skeleton, almost like a mine.

Yeah, it was weird.

"Yeah, it's kind of a doozy, huh? Of all types of materials, not any sort of other inorganic or organic materials could manage it without eventually shattering. But...crystals? Definitely an odd one, to say the least." he agreed, handing Kei the container and watching him swish the energy around. Sitting down, he'd lean back a little bit, looking up while he let Kei get the awe out of his system. Smiling to himself, already appreciating his attitude so far. He could tell he would get along with him well.

Finally snapping to attention when Kei popped the big question, Jack would smile from ear to ear, eager to get deeper into the topic. "I genuinely think so, yeah. Most of my life I've dabbled into the biology behind Quirks and people here and there, mainly just to figure out what exactly is going on with it. And, after a lot of studying between it and other radiation-based Quirks that are on record, I did end up coming across an...admittedly obvious revelation, in hindsight. It's nothing like any other energy in recorded history, as you can already see. The wavelengths are completely all over the place, it doesn't produce any sort of heat...it basically comes across as something that already breaks many laws of physics that we know today," he said, pulling out a couple of sodas from his bag after a moment. "Sorry if I'm rambling a bit. Thirsty?" he asked, handing one over to Kei while using his tail to pop open his can.

Taking the pause to sip and gather more of his thoughts, he would take a second to see Kei's initial reactions before he would end up continuing. "Between all of that and the whole space gimmick it's got going on, my working theory right now is that it's one of, if not the primary, energies that ended up causing the Big Bang. If it's something that would have theoretically existed before our universe was born, it stands to reason that we shouldn't throw anything out the window without testing it first. Regular electricity probably couldn't hope to power something like a teleporter - at least not yet. But with the unpredictable nature of Chaos Energy, it could work, in theory, as a way to displace beings and objects with the right materials."

With that, he would take another swig of his drink, before grinning eagerly at Kei. "What say you, amigo? Willing to give it a shot?"

[Kei Hada]

If Kei wasn't so afraid of the damage he could cause, he'd shake the crystal in his hands just to see if it would trigger the explosive reaction he read in Jack's document. As it stood though, he was a safety-first kind of manufacturer. Goggles and gloves would've been mandatory had he not seen the other student hold the container with his bare hands.

He listened in on Jack's speech, nodding at his words. Undiscovered energy... Meaning not all its capabilities may be discovered. It made sense in a way. And there was really only one way to truly find out. He blinked at the offered soda though and raised a hand. "Oh- no thanks, and I recommend we don't drink soda from cans here actually! The inability to reseal them can be a hazard in the lab." Then came the awkward grin. "Sorry." God, he's seen this guy for the first time and already he's laying down the law. Made himself such a stickler.

At least Jack was holding it. Less likely to spill if it wasn't left unattended.

"I get it though! Even if we did have pre-existin' data on the energy you create, it's pointless when that energy was generated by a person of all things. Because then you're considerin' the person's makeup and how they could resist what was supposed to be dangerous." He pointed a finger at Jack. "Interestin' theory on yours emulatin' the Big Bang though! Especially since the Big Bang is technically a theory in and of itself, to explain why the universe is still expandin' today."

Kei lifted the gem to look at the swirling energy again at the question, before turning to the hero student with a smile. "I'm in! Though I will say- since we're tryin' to discover wholly new functionality with your Quirk instead of just channelin' it, you may need to come here often to experiment with how to draw that power out. You okay with that?"

Jack Orion

[Jack Orion]

Jack couldn't help but pause mid-drink at Kei's response to the drinks. His face looked like he wanted to laugh, but all that would come out in the moment was a puff of starry-looking steam from his nose. Taking a breath, he would suddenly then rear his head back as he would aggressively chug the rest of his soda, his eyes bugged out in an angry-looking determination! Within the matter of a couple of seconds, the dragon would have finished the drink off, before leaning forward and exhaling another puff of galactic steam from his mouth, gasping for air. "Yeah, my bad," he would rasp, before shaking his head wildly before regaining his composure. "I'll bring bottles next time."

That said, he would then go on his little ramble session, smiling widely as he would see Kei agreeing on a lot of his points. Someone who can actually get my freaking nonsense?! Someone, pinch me! he thought, but opted instead for simply nodding and smiling. Raising an eyebrow at Kei's suggestion, he snorted. "You sure you won't end up getting sick of meh? I know I can be a lot sometimes," he replied, making sure that his general personality wouldn't at least turn him off a few days in.

He then smirked, nodding assertively. "I'm in, though. If we can actually make this work, God knows what else we might be able to accomplish in the long run." Digging into his bag, he would start to pull out a sketchpad and some pens. "I got a couple of ideas flowing in this brain of mine that I'll sketch out, if that's alright?" he asked, realizing that this was probably the one thing that he probably should have been a bit more prepared for.

...Assuming that it wasn't completely on purpose just to get the know the guy better. He really was a little shit when he wanted to be.

"Soooo...while I get this drafted out, tell me 'bout yaself! Got any pets? Watch anything interestin'? Gimme all them deets, amigo!" he chirped, paying apt attention while he drew out some ideas. "Hrm...if we're gonna safely power this thing we might need to connect it directly to my spinal cord or around it..." he muttered, ideas flowing in his brain as he multitasked.

[Kei Hada]

Kei could only watch as the dragon came to the realization on his own. How would he react to the - well it wasn't even a reminder, moreso an explanation on why unsealable drinks would be not great in a lab. Was he the type to wave it off and assume things would be fine? The guy who'd leave the room and throw it away? He seemed considerate enough so Kei hoped he wouldn't react badly to the callout.

What Kei didn't expect though was for the guy to chug his drink. His eyes grew wide as he reached out to the student, only to halt the motion so he didn't surprise him mid-sip. "Hey dude, it's okay! Nothin's runnin' right now so you don't nee-" but just like that, he was done. Blinking, he pulled his arms back with a smile. "Yeah, bottles would be better."

Jack looks to be ready to get started, which Kei was thankful for. And seemed to have his own ideas already about how to go about the device. "Oh don't worry about it, I'm a lot too," he admitted with a laugh. It came with his tendency to ramble- which he was sure the guy saw a glimpse of already. With a free hand he pushed aside his papers to make room for Jack to put his own down. "And go ahead! I'm interested in seein' what you got in mind."

As the dragon student drew, Kei blinked at his questions. Now those weren't project related. He didn't expect them so it took a bit for him to answer. "Pet! Yeah I do, I have a pet-" he pause, lips pressed in a line. He probably shouldn't open with the fact he has a shark. So he went for a more generic descriptor. "Dog-like creature!" Nailed it. "His name's Jawny, loves to play and run around. Always begs for treats and I have a hard time denyin' him."

He eyed the sketch Jack was making and nodded at his words. "That makes sense. Teleportation's a big feat, so I wouldn't be surprised if it needs a lot of power to make it happen. I'll try to make it as flexible as possible so it doesn't mess with your maneuverability."

Jack Orion

[Jack Orion]

Jack couldn't help but grin devilishly at Kei's surprise. "Sorry, I can be a bit anal about fixing a problem that I know I can fix," he laughed, shaking his head a bit. Throwing the can away, he would come back, ready to sketch things out and talk all the while. Honestly, his type of perfect day.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Jack snorted another small burst of starry steam. "Ah, yes, a dog-like-creature. Definitely one of the best of pets," he joked, shaking his head and chuckling. "If that's ya way of skirting around the fact that ya also have a Quirked pet, then we have that in common." He stopped drawing for a second, pulling out his phone. "Here, one sec," he said, before pulling up a photo of Opal and Lapis, sliding the phone over to Kei for him to see. "The white lil fox there is Opal, and the big ass cat there is Lapis. He's an actual lynx, but they're both sweethearts, trust me," he said, smirking again at Kei. "That help ya relax a lil on the matter more?"

That being said, as they would continue to chat, Jack would get the first drafts drawn up quickly: the one that stood out to him a little personally was the more star-shaped gem that would extend on his back a bit like an exoskeleton. "I think if we connect the teleporter to my back it'll naturally draw energy as Chaos Energy passes through my body- it, uh, does that instead of electricity in me. Same results, just different energy. I think with that we could wirelessly connect a GPS mapping system to make precise coordinates when teleporting over long distances..." he started, rambling on a bit on how he thinks it would end up working out. He had a surprising amount of technical knowledge, but nowhere near the amount to ever really put it into practice.

After a little bit of rambling, Jack would smirk a little bit if they would end up coming to an agreement on the idea. "What say you, Professor Kei? Let's get to work?"

---

2 Months Later...


The next couples of months that they would work on this were...eventful, to say the least. Sea monsters randomly attacking the city, people going out and about off the coast of Japan for various reasons, a Vigilante group suddenly going on a rampage...it was a lot. Something that honestly kept Jack going through all of the chaos was this project, not even for the sheer excitement of the breakthroughs they constantly made.

He couldn't help but admit that he clicked extremely well with Kei. Something about the gadgeteer's own energetic nature, especially for his own passions struck a chord with him. The more they talked, the more the dragon got interested in his own ambitions. There was even one point where Jack would open up about his past and childhood, why he's as passionate about things as he is. That probably in of itself showed how much he trusted the guy, all things considered.

That said, there were definite ups and downs to the whole project. Trying to even figure out how to make a teleporter from scratch alone was a headache, but there was also the matter constructing something that could be powered by Chaos Energy to begin with. Many days and nights were spent trying to achieve what was thought to be science fiction in the past.

It just made it all the more sweeter when they successfully managed to teleport an apple from one side of the room to the other. At that point all that could be heard from the room was absolute cheering. All that was left from there was testing the range, testing the limits of the size and weight of the objects being teleported, and finally if more than one thing could be teleported at a time.

When that was finally all said and done, the final day had arrived. Donning his Hero Suit for the special occasion, Jack would shoot a quick call towards Kei. Making sure the C.A.T.S. was all put together and ready to go, and a bit of an odd request. "Okay, this is gonna sound weird but roll with me for a sec. You mind bringing Jawny down with you? I promise on my Mama's soul he will not be used for any sort of testing, but if everything works out I got something y'all will enjoy," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

He couldn't help but be glad that this day had come, and all the more confident and proud in what they had accomplished.

[Kei Hada]

Annnnd Kei was immediately caught. Damn it. "It was that obvious huh?" God, he hadn't even lied. He was just omitting a truth! Why was he so bad at this?

In seeing the guy's own pets though, he relaxed. "Yeah that does help. Though I will say, at least yours are meant to be on land." Because yeah, fox and lynx were weird, but they still weren't shark with feet weird. He's still not mentioning it though- at least not yet. He didn't want to look like he was competing with Jack on who had the most odd pet.

They had a job to do anyway. Kei's eyes were drawn to the sketch, nodding. "We need the GPS to pinpoint where you'll end up for sure. Gotta be detailed enough that you don't end up in a wall or somethin'." Oh boy, the potential problems were leaking in already.

Hopefully he wouldn't bring down the guy with his negativity.

---

Kei nearly called it quits at one point. The time he and Jack spent testing his quirk turned from days to weeks; several items broken as results ranged from duds to the subjects getting burnt to a crisp to the device itself exploding.

Sure, the support student was used to failure. Yeah, he expected this to happen when working with such volatile energy. But with each burst and object ending up "dead" by his standards - and those standards were high, this thing was supposed to be used by person eventually - came the increasing realization that maybe he wasn't cut out for this. That he found a limitation he couldn't surpass.

Teleportation? Man, who was he kidding, being the one to accomplish that? Jack was such a good guy too. He was gonna let him down.

But then the apple teleported.

It was charred; burnt once again due to the energy it endured but the fact it moved at all was insane, let alone the distance. It cleared the entire room. Previous tests it couldn't even nudge itself a centimetre. He didn't realize he was cheering until Jack joined him. All they needed was to adjust the power and the limitations of the teleportation and they were set.

---

And just like that, the day of final tests had come, and Kei was as excited as Jack was.

He was preparing to leave his apartment when he received the call, brow perplexed at the request. "Bring Jawny? What do you need him for?" As if on cue, the shark padded his way to the student's feet, tongue lolled out as he looked up at him. Kei covered the receiver with his hand. "No Jawny, it's not time to walk yet-" Oh god he was giving him those eyes again. The kind that would net him treats outside what he was allowed to eat. The gadgeteer was getting better at resisting him during those times, but trips out weren't nearly as bad surely?

Kei groaned as he lifted the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, I'll bring him." Jack would hear barks on his end as the support student laughed. "I'll see ya in a bit." Hanging up, there was one more number he needed to call. He raised the phone again after clicking his favourite contact. "Hi Yaoyao, I'm takin' Jawny out..."

---

He was in the lab now in his usual jumpsuit, the landshark nestled at his side gnawing on a piece of jerky while he scrolled on his phone, waiting. What could Jack be planning?

Jack Orion

[Jack Orion]

Jack smirked as he heard the barking on the other line, his tail swishing from side to side. "Wellll, let's just say expect a fun day if everything pans out well," he replied, leaving the matter vague enough for Kei to ponder on in the meanwhile. Pulling out his locket from his pocket, he stared a moment at the picture inside. At his beloved pets, who he'd quite literally die for if push came to shove. Was he really so confident in their invention that he would jump to teleporting them over?

...Yeah, yeah he was. Between the two of them, more than plenty of tests had been made to make sure that beings outside of Jack himself could actually use the teleporter in a worst case scenario. They've come this far, and he trusted Kei's genius more than enough to try it.

Finally arriving at Ground Beta, Jack would look up at the buildings and city while he would wait for Kei to arrive. Before he could even think about teleporting other people, he had to make sure that he could teleport himself quickly and reliably at a moment's notice. Thus, he had made a special request to the faculty to make a bit of an obstacle course in the area for the test. Various platforms would be sticking out of the sides of the buildings, some bearing dummies of varying sizes and weights, all to make sure that everything was right.

After a moment, Jack would cock his head to the side. This honestly was a extraordinary accomplishment, even by the highest of scientific standards. While he thinks it's been more or less done before, making one from scratch at all was huge. It made his heart pound from excitement and anxiety, knowing that this was even a huge leap for Jack himself, regardless of what he's gone through in the past. Instant teleportation...

Shaking his head, Jack would see Kei come by quickly. A wide grin would form on his face, seeing him and, of course, little Jawny accompanying him. "There's our resident genius! Ready to kick some ass, amigo?" he asked, before looking down at the little shark besides Kei. That grin on his face suddenly turned into a face of awe, wonder and love all at the same time. "And this must be lil' Jawnyyyyy! Look at them big chompers! Ain't you just a danger marshmallow, ain't you?" he cooed, looking at Kei to make sure it was okay to pet him before he started showering the land shark with affection.

After a couple of moments, Jack would finally recompose himself, laughing. "Sorry, I had to. Hard to resist a lovable grin like that, dontcha think?" He shook his head, chuckling. "That all being said, you got the C.A.T.S.?" he asked, pronouncing it like the word, rather than the abbreviation. The C.A.T.S. ... The Chaos Assisted Teleportation System.

He couldn't help but admit that he made the name up on the spot.

[Kei Hada]

And there was that fated text. Jack was waiting for him in Ground Beta. With a deep breath, Kei picked up the project and headed over with a sated Jawny in tow.

His arms spread wide when he was able to see familiar wings. "Hey Jack, ready as I'll ever be!" A strained smile was plastered on his face at the statement. For all the tests they've done, he was still nervous. This was easily the most complex project he'd taken up- and also the one with the most risks. He didn't make a robot or a blaster after all- he made a freaking teleporter. Something he thought he'd maybe be involved in researching when he was well into his career, not as a solo project while he was a student. So many things could go wrong and no one would hire him as a result and he could end up in jail for killing somebody.

But you know, at least Jack was confident in his skill. And Jawny had taken up the attention for the moment which was always a plus, loving the pets he was given by his new friend by the way his tail was wagging. "And yeah, that's Jawny! Poor guy was stuck in a pipe when Yaoyao and I found him, so we took him in instead of the bird we were plannin' to get initially."

Kei blinked for a moment, confused. "Cats? No, I only have the shark." Silence overtook him as he tried to figure out what Jack was talking about before he realized. "OH! Oh you mean the- yeah! Yeah I do!" His mechanical arms were carrying the device in fact, swinging it around himself for the hero student to see in all its shining glory. "So you came up with a name for it? That's an acronym right? Easier than teleporter for sure."

Jack Orion

[Jack Orion]

Seeing Kei's strained smile, Jack's own smile faded into a more reassuring expression himself. The way his star-shaped eyes would bore into the mechanic would speak a thousand words on their own, much less what Jack himself would say outright. "Oi, I don't wanna see no self doubtin' right now. We've come a long way. You've come a long way. Stand proud!" he chirped, pounding his chest with his fist a bit, that bright smirk growing once more.

Turning his attention to Jawny, Jack wasted no time in showering the land shark with as much love he could possibly give in the short time he had. One pointed ear twitched in Kei's direction, a smirk forming on his face as he would look back up at his friend. "Yeah, sounds 'bout right, knowing you. Looks like you made a good choice, ain't that right, Jawny?" Giving more loving to Jawny and patting him on his smooth head, Jack would stand back up, ready to get started.

His smirk grew at Kei's further confusion at his words, giving him a second to figure it out before the dragon started to cackle. "Sorry, I had to! Wanted to see how long it was gonna take for ya to guess," he laughed, taking the device from Kei's mechanical arm, examining it. "The Chaos Assisted Teleportation System...or the C.A.T. System. Rolls off the tongue, dontcha think?" he asked, grinning. "Coulda said 'Chaos Energy Assisted Teleportation System, but C.E.A.T.S. doesn't quite sit right."

With that, he would hold the device up, getting a good look at the machinery inside the crystalline casing, matching the gem that was imbedded in his chest. "Prolly a good call to make it look like my gem. Harder for people to guess this is where the magic happens," he said, nodding.

Holding the device carefully to his back, Jack would let just the smallest amount of Chaos Energy release from his body. Attracted to the energy source, the device would quickly lock on, almost magnetically positioning itself in between his wings. From there, two thin crystalline strips would extend up and down his back, stopping just before the top of his tail and just below the back of his neck.

He could feel the energy in his spinal cord shift ever so slightly, and soon enough small text would start to form within Jack's system. It would quickly turn into an image of a spinning globe, calibrating its GPS systems. After a moment, it would all fade away, leaving Jack with just a small dot in the very corner of his vision. "Looks like we're online!" he chirped, nodding over to Kei. Letting him get ready to take notes, the dragon would take a moment to stretch and take a couple of deep breaths. "Ready on your mark, amigo!"

Now Playing: Radical Highway

Once Kei gave the word, Jack would suddenly look towards one of the dummies that looked like a villain, up towards the higher level of one of the buildings. Focusing on it, giving the mental cue for the device to do its thing. In the blip of cosmic light, Jack was suddenly right where the dummy was, not even a scratch on him!

He had to feel himself up and down for a second, looking all around him, just to make sure he was all there. "Ha...hahaha! HAHAHAHA!!!! He laughed triumphantly, raising his fists up into the air. "IT FREAKIN' WORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKED!!!!" he cheered, kicking the dummy off of its stand, sending it crashing to the ground below.

"LET'S GO!!!"

Suddenly, Jack was gone, off towards another villain dummy closer to the ground. Again kicking the thing straight in the head, just as quickly, he was gone again! And again, and again, and again! He kept on teleporting all over the place, taking care of all of the villain dummies in less than ten seconds! It all happened so fast, it didn't feel real!

Suddenly teleporting back to where he was, a wild grin was on his face as he looked at Kei. "You...are very lucky you're taken. Otherwise I'd kiss you right now."

[Kei Hada]

Ah, looks like Jack honed in on his nerves immediately. Kei let out an awkward laugh. "Yeah, I know- I just can't help it is all. You're puttin' a lot of trust in me to get this thing workin'. This is gonna be different from those apples." Apples didn't talk after all. Sure there was no damage to them, but what if there was some underlying mental shift that took place? They wouldn't be able to tell. And there was no way he'd ever test the technology on animals.

He was getting in his own head again. Rubbing his face, he took a deep breath. He just had to trust that Jack would come out of this okay. The guy was depending on him too.

Kei let himself calm down by focusing his attention on Jawny, smiling at the affection the little shark was given. "Oh yeah, no regrets whatsoever. He's been a good boy, right Jawny?" The aquatic quadruped let out a bark that was likely of affirmation. And he'd be 100% right.

The gadgeteer reeled his metal arm back once Jack took his new equipment, nodding. "It's a good name! I'm glad you're able to come up with somethin', I'm actually horrible with them. These things I have?" Two metal arms waved before tucking themselves in again. "A colleague called them quarms and I kept it ever since. Short and to the point."

A sigh escaped him as the device latched on to the dragon, and he circled the hero student for his final checks before standing back, making sure Jawny kept his distance as well. "Yeah, we're good to go! So on three, you initiate your teleportation! One! Two! Three!"

And just like that, the guy was gone.

More deep breaths were taken. Relax, Kei, he wasn't really gone. He moved spots. That's how it was supposed to worked. He stepped forward and waved his hand around the space Jack used to be in to confirm that he actually disappeared and not just turned invisible. And it was when he was doing this motion that a familiar laugh echoed from a place much higher up.

Kei turned and a wide grin appeared on his face when he saw Jack standing unharmed, repeating his exclamation. "IT FREAKIN' WORKED- AHH!" God the crash of the dummy falling made him jump he was so antsy- but you know, that was such a small thing compared to the fact his creation actually worked. He tried to keep track of all the places the dragon moved too but it was hard. At times he lost him, only to find him again every time he heard a training dummy get forcefully dismantled.

When Jack returned to the ground he laughed with him, arms raised in the air. "Dude that was amazin'! You were so fast!" Then he laughed harder out of embarrassment at the man's admission. "Hey remember- you're taken too!"

Letting the adrenaline die down a bit, Kei encircled the dragon again for further checks on the CATS post-run, firing questions all the while. "How are ya feelin' though? Like everythin's together? Your mind still intact? Not havin' random questions about what's gonna happen to Antarctica when the aliens take over in 3297?" Jack looked fine, elated even, but only Jack could tell him if something was really off.

Jack Orion

[Jack Orion]

Jack's wild grin grew more into a devilish smirk. "I mean, yeah, but Leo's a lot less likely to kill me than YaoYao would be," he replied, cackling again. Of course, he wouldn't actually do his boyfriend dirty like that - he was just excited, was all. Even his edgy boy would understand that. From what he had heard about YaoYao, though...

Yeah, no. Ain't touchin' that can of worms with a ten-foot pole.

Stretching out his limbs casually, he raised an eyebrow at Kei's sudden questions. "...You been bingin' sci-fi movies again? It would be 3397, 'bout a hundred years off there." Crossing his arms, cocking his head to the side. "I'm all here, amigo. Thanks to someone's particular genius and safety precautions. Dunno who that is, though." He would slightly bump Kei's shoulder with his own, chuckling.

Cracking his knuckles and his neck, Jack would look back around towards the obstacle course. "Right, so we got the self-teleportation down. Now we need to test teleporting more than one thing at a time," he said, looking up and around, just so he knew where he was going. "On your mark!"

Once Kei again gave the word, Jack would suddenly warp to one of the civilian dummies. Putting his hand on it, he would quickly teleport back with it in tow. Before actively looking at if it ended up working properly, he was already off towards a duo of dummies, repeating the process several times! Again, it only actively took a matter of seconds to get the test done - it was genuinely amazing how fast teleportation actually was in practice. He'd probably put the fastest people alive to shame with this thing!

Once it was all said and done, Jack would look towards all of the dummies he had brought over - roughly ten in total. Looking them all up and down, it would be apparent that none of them were damaged in the slightest! Whistling lowly, he had a relieved look in his eyes as he would look back at Kei. "Looks like we're all good in that department," he said, taking a deep breath. Looking down at the little shark pup besides them, Jack would give Jawny a good pat on the head, before looking back up at Kei. "Now...for the final test! And the reason I asked ya to bring Jawny with ya," he said, stepping back a bit.

He would go quiet for a second, mentally putting in the command to teleport him to a specific location. He already had a couple of 'waypoints' programmed into the GPS - the school, home, a couple of specific places on campus. It would make it easier than having to mentally picture the exact place he needed to go like would normally have to. Even if the fact that was even an option was a feat in of itself. "Right, be right back!"

With that, he was suddenly gone, away completely from the field. Teleporting home, Jack would quickly pop up in his bedroom. He knew he had made it safely once he head the meowing and yapping of Lapis and Opal. The two animals quickly jumped on their owner, sniffing him up and down relentlessly! "Okay, okay! Sheeeeeesh, you two, settleeeeeeee." he cooed, kissing them both on the head. Smirking at the two of them, he could feel his heart racing. "Y'all wanna go out? Y'all wanna go ouuuut?"

Lapis would end up cocking his head to the side, looking confused at the sudden invitation, while Opal would suddenly be spinning around, yapping in excitement! Jack chuckled, nodding. "Alright, alright...hold still, hold still." He would put his hands on the both of them, before promptly teleporting with them back to Ground Beta!

Appearing back to where he was just standing a minute prior, Jack would appear with Opal and Lapis in tow, the animals, of course, completely unharmed! Smirking at Kei, he would spread his arms, gesturing towards his pets. "Pet playdate?"