As Val, Bo, Riggs, and Fon materialized back in their underground quarters, the teleportation left an aftermath of dizziness that only some seemed prepared for.
Riggs and Fon immediately staggered, clutching their stomachs, and ran toward the bathroom.
"Urgh—" Riggs groaned, barely managing to find the sink before retching echoed through the room.
Fon, barely able to stand, lurched beside him, groaning, "Warn us… next time!" as he braced himself against the stall door.
Val, standing nearby, rolled his eyes, then turned to Bo with a half-smirk—only to freeze when he caught sight of Bo's face. Leaning against the wall, Bo looked pale, his expression vacant, and his skin an alarming shade of green as if his very soul had taken a one-way exit from his body.
"Bo?" Val's voice wavered, and his usually calm demeanor cracked. "Bo, are you—are you okay?"
Bo's eyes rolled, and he let out a weak groan, looking as though he might pass out. "Teleportation… just… give me a moment…"
Panic set in on Val's face. Abandoning any semblance of calm, he gripped Bo's shoulders, shaking him as though to jolt him back to life, his usual composure entirely gone.
"MEDIC! We need a medic!" Val's shout echoed in the quarters, the urgency in his tone leaving no doubt about his concern.
Fon, caught up in the frenzy, started running circles around the room, clutching his head. "Where's a medic when you need one?!" he muttered, as if his pacing alone might summon one from thin air.
The sounds of retching, shouting, and a very alarmed Val filled the room—and the hallway beyond. The noises didn't go unnoticed. A passing medical officer paused, straining his ears. Words like "soul" and "Bo, stay with us!" came through the door.
The medic's eyes widened in horror. Whatever was happening in that room had to be catastrophic.
He sprinted down the corridor, bursting into Dr. Lewis's office. "Dr. Lewis!" he gasped. "Team Unknown—they're… it's chaos down there! I heard screaming… something about souls leaving and… and vomit!"
Dr. Lewis sprang up, his face paling as his mind raced through possibilities. "Where are they?"
"In their quarters, sir! It sounded bad—life-or-death bad!"
Without another word, Dr. Lewis hurried out, his heart pounding as he imagined the worst. His colleagues, hearing the medic's report, quickly followed, grabbing emergency kits, stretchers, and supplies as they rushed after him, concern evident on every face.
The hallway erupted into a flurry of white coats, a veritable stampede of doctors and medics. The sounds of chaos from within only grew louder as they approached.
Inside, Riggs, Fon, and Val were still huddled around Bo, each of them shouting directions and frantically trying to help.
"Breathe, Bo! Just… just keep breathing!" Val insisted, half-squatting beside him as though he could will Bo's color back to normal.
Riggs, having just finished his own bout of nausea, threw open a cabinet, rummaging through its contents. "There's gotta be something in here for this, right? Emergency anti-soul-leaving pills, or something?"
Fon, running around frantically, finally grabbed a water bottle and stumbled over to Bo, practically shoving it into his hand. "Drink, Bo! Maybe… I dunno, maybe hydration will fix whatever this is!"
Bo blinked, bewildered, as he accepted the water. "Guys… really… it's just teleportation sickness. I just need—"
Before he could finish, the door to their quarters burst open, and Dr. Lewis charged in, followed by a small army of doctors and medics, all wide-eyed and ready for disaster.
When Dr. Lewis threw open the door, the sight before him was anything but what he'd expected.
Val was gripping Bo's shoulders, shaking him with an intensity that made it look like he was trying to shake his very soul back into his body, his usually calm face contorted in panic.
Fon, meanwhile, was running circles around the room, still muttering, "Where's a medic when you need one?" and holding his head as if the world was ending.
Dr. Lewis's mouth twitched, his eye following suit as he took in the spectacle. It took every ounce of his professional restraint not to explode right then and there. "What… in Clareo's name… is going on here?"
Several doctors rushed to Bo, all crowding around him at once, and one nearly tripped in his haste to check his pulse.
"Stand back, everyone!" a young medic yelled, shoving a thermometer into Bo's mouth so forcefully he gagged.
Another medic shone a flashlight directly into Bo's eyes, causing him to squint and flinch back.
"Dilated pupils!" the medic called out as if discovering something groundbreaking.
"Could be neurological damage!" another murmured, pulling out a stethoscope and attempting to listen to Bo's heartbeat through his cloak.
Fon, standing off to the side, looked around in awe. "Do you think they're about to perform an exorcism?"
Riggs, trying and failing to suppress a grin, replied, "Wouldn't put it past them at this point."
Bo, caught somewhere between amusement and horror, tried to wave the medics off, his voice muffled by the thermometer. "Guys, really, I'm fine—just teleport sickness. I'll be—"
"Nonsense!" Dr. Lewis barked, clearly frustrated but also visibly relieved Bo wasn't dying. "You look like a ghost, Bo! You're—"
Bo spat out the thermometer and held up his hands. "Sir, really, I'm okay. Just… a little green."
One of the senior doctors cleared his throat, looking utterly baffled. "So… you're telling us you're not on the brink of death?"
Bo managed a weak chuckle. "Not yet. But I was pretty close when Riggs and Fon started panicking like I was about to kick the bucket."
Riggs shot Bo an exaggerated glare. "Hey, it looked serious! You had that whole 'soul-leaving-the-body' vibe going on!"
Fon nodded, trying to look serious. "I wasn't about to take chances. Look at you, Frost! You went full ghost mode!"
Dr. Lewis took a deep, steadying breath, his eye twitching as he turned to Val. "So… this entire… emergency was a result of teleportation sickness?"
Val, realizing the absurdity of the situation, offered a sheepish nod. "Uh… yes, doc. We may have… overreacted."
The doctors, realizing the true nature of the crisis, groaned collectively, muttering under their breath about "Team Unknown" and "elite squad" as they began packing up their equipment.
A nurse shook her head, muttering to herself, "And I thought we were the dramatic ones."
Dr. Lewis cast a long, exasperated look over the team, visibly restraining himself. "Well," he finally managed, his tone icy with forced calm, "Next time, perhaps consider that your team's souls are intact before alarming half the base?"
Team Unknown looked down, each struggling not to laugh.
"Yes, sir," they replied in unison, trying to keep a straight face.
Dr. Lewis shook his head, waving the medical team out, muttering about "overworked doctors" and "Team Unknown's questionable sanity." The doctors filed out, some chuckling, others rolling their eyes.
Dr. Lewis sighed, shaking his head with a hint of exasperated fondness. "Get yourselves sorted. And Bo… drink some water, for heaven's sake."
With that, Dr. Lewis exited the room, leaving the boys in stunned silence.
Bo finally snorted with laughter, which quickly grew into full-blown chuckling as he leaned against the wall. "Teleportation sickness… and we had half the medical staff convinced I was dying."
Riggs wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "The horror on Dr. Lewis's face… priceless."
Fon, grinning, held up an imaginary award. "And the award for Most Dramatic Overreaction goes to… Team Unknown."
Val chuckled, a rare smile breaking through his usual stoic expression. "Alright, alright. Let's try not to turn every teleport into a medical emergency, yeah?"
The team broke into laughter, each replaying the ridiculous chain of events in their minds, knowing they'd remember this as one of their most absurd—and unexpectedly hilarious—missions yet.