Sins of Future's Past(RPG)

• RPG For LightBright, Ferro Vida, and Stryke unless stated otherwise
  
• OOC Thread Here!
  
• RPG Rules/Rates Apply
  

Present Day

New York, New York

Back Alley, Bronx

The Rocky Mountains: October 17, 2031

Twenty years ago humanity’s pariah made himself known. He had been branded as less than human throughout his life; he had seen humanity for what it really was: an assembly of bestial creatures wallowing in their lies and sex and blood. The very existence that humanity had created for itself was built on a crumbling base. Their never-ending greed was destroying the planet, and in turn destroying each other. All of their wars and politics were just so that they could ensure that they would always be able to get what they wanted. Throughout history empires had risen and fallen. America was simply the latest in a long line of historical repetition. Someone had to see that the only way it would end would be in extinction. It was at that point that a boy who had made it his purpose in life to protect humanity decided that he needed to protect it from itself.

Twenty years later Felix Black, the pariah, strode through the halls of the “prison” he had built; or at least, that’s what the outside world thought it was. In all that time his sense of style had changed quite a bit, from the black trench coat wrapped about him to the clean black suit and tie beneath it and the black hair slicked back out of his face. His features had changed too; any sign of joy or sadness had been extinguished long ago. All that remained was his mind, uninhibited by emotions.

 A pure white door slid open, granting him access to the main viewing room where humans and machines toiled away in preparation for the next batch of “prisoners.” Upon his entry, all of them ceased what they were doing and stood at attention, returning to their work only when the lazy wave of his hand told him to do so. Hands placed behind his back, Felix strode past each of his workers as they toiled fervently, each of them knowing that if there was even one mistake he would see it, and if he saw it then they would join the crowd of cowed people below them. Finally coming to stop at the window, Felix glanced down as the large metal doors opened and the people slowly entered the large, white, domed room, each of their faces a masterful portrait of the terror that wracked their minds.

The worker’s supervisor sheepishly approached him. He took a deep breath and was about to tell his master that everything was ready when he was cut off.

“Good. Ventilate the room.” Felix’s voice was neutral, yet somehow possessed a dark chill that caused the head worker’s hair to literally stand up on end.

“Erm um, yes sir. Right away.” He was still shocked at how the pariah had already known what he was about to say, but he knew that asking would be a death sentence. The people in the viewing room were only there because they could do a job. In all likelihood, the black-swathed man at the window could easily perform every function that needed to be done on his own. It was simply more efficient to have a work force. Slavers had used the same reasoning.

With a wave of his hand, the supervisor indicated for the other workers to begin the procedure. Human and android alike began typing madly at their computer. A siren sounded and the people in the dome began to panic. Tiny panels inside the white room slid away and an invisible, odourless gas began to fill the room. After a moment the people began to fall to the floor, their screams of pain becoming gurgles and eventually fading into whispers. Within minutes their flesh had been eaten away and their bones would soon follow. When nothing remained of the unfortunate crop of cattle fans activated and began to ventilate the room where mass murder had just occurred. No one on the viewing deck moved. They were all absolutely mortified by what they had just witnessed; all of them save for the man who had made the nightmare a reality. He had known what would happen, from the moment that he developed the gaseous hydrochloric acid he had known.

Ferro Vida had decided long ago that people only really needed to be protected from themselves, and that meant culling the astronomical numbers and controlling the remainder. It was the only way to ensure the survival of both humanity and the Earth. Turning away from the window, Felix’s expressionless face nodded at the others in the room, the closest thing they would ever get to a commemoration for a job well done. Without another word, Earth’s saviour exited the room to return to the front lines of battle, leaving his staff of workers behind to decide if their own lives were really worth doing what they had just done.

An Apartment in Manhattan: The Present

The rain pounded the street outside as the sopping wet figure stumbled through the door into his cramped, unkempt living quarters. His faded, green jacket had been soaked through, drenching the plain, black t-shirt beneath and the worn pair of jeans that now clung to his legs. His body trembled uncontrollably: it had been almost a full day since his last hit. Finding a new dealer was hard enough, with the police and heroes alike trying to clean things up after the absence of Earth’s most prominent super-humans.

But ever since he had seen Despair, Felix couldn’t tell what was right anymore. His entire world had been turned upside down, and then kicked in the groin for good measure. Getting through a single day had become an almost insurmountable struggle. All of the money that he hadn’t set aside for rent was used to buy painkillers. He hadn’t even eaten in almost two weeks.

He tried to make it to the bed, but his legs gave way half-way there and he fell to the dirty, wooden floor with a thud. Indiscernible, animalistic cries of pain filled his mouth as his limbs thrashed about wildly; every fibre of his being felt as if it had been set on fire in an endless torment. Using every ounce of focus he had left, Felix reached into his messenger bag and extracted one of the syringes that he had purchased only a half an hour before. He tensed his every muscle in his body, trying desperately to steady himself long enough to inject the needle into his forearm.

Cold steel pressed into his flesh and entered a vein; he jammed the plunger down and the liquid entered his system. Almost instantly the pain began to fade, replaced by a physical numbness and a sense of self-loathing. Tears streamed down his face and he slammed his fist into the wooden floor, splintering several boards. After lashing out again and again for minutes on end, Felix finally stopped and slumped down against his bed, sobbing silently to himself. This is what he had become; this is what he was: nothing but a broken junkie.

New York City, 2031

The world was a scary place, but then again Jennifer Michaels knew that better than most. Her world had always been scary. From the moment she’d found out she was a mutant to all the death she’d faced in her life. New York was different now, almost completely destroyed. Most of the people had deserted the major cities since they were so heavily patrolled by the Sentinels. To be captured by a Sentinel was the worst thing imaginable as they would take you away to the mountains and no one ever came back from the mountains.

Jen was one of the few heroes left on the entire continent of North America, maybe even the world. Even though there were few free people left in the world anymore Jen felt they still needed a hero. Someone to look to for safety and guidance. Still, the fact was, the only way to survive in this world was to keep your head done and your mouth shut. For now anyways...Jen was ready for a change and so was the rest of the world. No matter what her past relationship with the new ruler of the world had been that was a long time ago. Things were beginning to change and Jen was going to be there when the world changed. Only this time she wouldn’t be so easily fooled. This time she’d be changing things for the better of humanity, not because of the delusional ideal of a megalomaniac. She’d been taken advantage of enough over the years and she would not be responsible for anymore superfluous deaths. Gingerly touching the long, jagged scar on her neck she ground her teeth and watched the new death machines march by. Coming up with new ways to kill a person that was all Felix was good at now. Things sure had changed.

New York City, Present

The cold rain pelted, piercing through the night like tiny shards of glass. They stung horribly, almost as if to remind her of what she was about to do. Her stomach rolled restlessly and sweat dripped from her brow, mixing with the rain and burning her eyes. Wiping her yellow glove across her forehead Jennifer Michaels, Agent of HYDRA, ground her teeth against the cold and waited for the go ahead. It was of the utmost importance that this mission be carried out without a hitch. Not a problem considering both she and her partner, Ben, knew each other inside and out. They could anticipate each other's moves in a heartbeat. Jen loved him for that and she knew he loved her right back. Even with all the HYDRA programming nothing could take away how they felt about each other. They'd been through so much together it was impossible for Jen to even think what life would be like without him beside her. She shuddered at the thought and shook it from her head. She had to stay focused now. The mission was what was important. They could make out later. Jen smiled to herself and raised a pair of night vision binoculars to her eyes. This entire section of the city was almost abandoned making it quiet beyond belief. That just made Jen’s job that much harder. She was going to have to be extra careful, especially so, considering the nature of the target. He wasn’t going to go down easily.

“Heads up, hot stuff.” Ben’s voice sent a warm tingle up the back of her neck. The next moment he appeared next to her with a cocky smile on his face. Jen handed him the binoculars and rubbed her hands together in a feeble attempt to warm them. Next to her Ben fidgeted and grabbed her hands, keeping them warm in his.

“Thanks, stud,” Jen kissed him on the cheek and glanced across the alley. The two of them were looking down on the target but there hadn’t been any movement for hours. Ben had just popped in to check on the room before anyone got home. “Anything at all?”

Ben shook his head and droplets of rain flicked from his hair. “Nothing but a lot of old crap covered in dust. I looked through some of the stuff on the desk, but didn’t want to put anything out of place.”

Jen pulled her hands free from his and pushed her hair back over her shoulders. This was supposed to be an important mission for the two of them, but this was getting ridiculous. If they spent any more time in this rain they’d both catch their deaths. Still, this assignment was important to not only HYDRA but to Jen personally as well. It was a simple job; really, just take out...Mr. W. Jen felt a pang in her heart at the idea. Mr. W had been there for Jen when she’d needed a mentor, someone to guide her through dark times. He was a mysterious man who liked to keep his secrets but Jen had known him well enough to trust him at one point. Now she had to take him out permanently because he was becoming a hassle to HYDRA. Something inside Jen was fighting the order but the programming was just that much stronger. Plus Ben was completely into it all. He almost seemed to enjoy the thrill, but then again he always did.

“Hey, check it out.” Jen pointed to the window across the alley. The lights had just flickered on in the apartment and a silhouette moved across the window. Jen turned to her boyfriend and he grinned back at her.

“Let’s get moving, hot stuff. The sooner we take care of this guy the sooner we can get out of these clothes.” He wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“And get into some dry ones?” Jen ventured. Ben shrugged and concentrated on getting back into the apartment. He needed to focus completely or his teleportation powers wouldn’t work.

“Yeah, sure.” He grinned and the two of them disappeared in a flash of light.

Jen bolted upright, her hair plastered to her soaked forehead. It was the same dream she’d been having for the last couple of months. Clutching the soft duvet securely to her chest she heaved and choked back tears. No matter how hard she tried to let Ben’s death go she kept reliving that night from beginning to end. Finding Mr. W’s home. Teleporting in. The fight and the eventual horrible end. Ben lying on the floor bleeding to death.

Her lips trembling Jen pushed herself out of bed and flicked on the light. For a moment she forgot her new roommate. Lily was sleeping soundly on the couch, cuddled up in a little ball. Jen smiled to herself as she slid quietly across the floor. For now that little girl was something to keep Jen preoccupied, keep her mind off of...Biting her lip she made her way to the kitchen. Everything was so alien about this apartment, so new. It was the same thing with the city. New York seemed so different now.

Sitting down at the table she tapped her fingers on the smooth surface. There was so much hate and pointless death in this world. More than anything Jen wanted to make a difference. That was why she was a hero. She had the means to save the world, but there was always something getting in the way. Nothing she seemed to do made a difference anymore and she wasn't sure what steps to take. What Jen needed was a bit of guidance or someone who knew what they were doing. She wasn't on talking terms with Mr. W, no matter how much she wanted to forgive him. It didn't matter, though, there had to be someone out there who wanted to change the world...

New York, New York

Manhattan,   A Top Ten Story Building

 
Stryke sat down on the edge of a building. He hadn't picked it by choice, it was just some building he had decided to stop on and take a minute for a break. In Manhattan he felt like there was always a view, even one of them \ can look different in many perspectives. The view from this building was absolutely phenomenal; the buildings surrounding him were reflecting the sun brilliantly. Even a small forest park gave color to the gray, almost uncolored buildings that were around him. The area was peaceful, even though a few stories below there were the noise from cars moving about and people walking and talking. There was nothing to do now in the city; his last patrol after handling the two muggers had come up fruitless. There were no muggers, robbers, or serial killers to have to deal with. The priority, now, was to relax and get recuperated from having to save others. That way when he began again he would be in tip top shape and performance, elegant and graceful. Don't get him wrong, he loved saving people though. However, he needed his time too. There was nothing wrong with that. Every hero needs his or her own freedom and rest. Life without that rest would make a hero nothing more than a monotonous robot with no feelings. One of the reasons Stryke liked to approach a scene with a approachable personality.
 
Laid back on the building's roof, Stryke looked at the sky. It seemed like something peaceful to do. The sky was more or lesspeaceful, oblivious to the problems that happen far below it. For a minute, he was about to doze off. Take a small power nap and then wake up to patrol around the city before dealing with more POINT Industries Technological production problems. There was a problem in his plan though, something he had overlooked. At first there had been a speck in the sky, no larger than a dime. He hadn't cared to pay attention to it, but when it neared and got bigger and bigger he took it as a threat. It was a metal sphere, with one red dot through the middle surrounded by a bigger black dot. It was otherworldly for some reason. Something not from this era, but still it was approaching fast. He sat up and looked at the ball concerned. If worst came to worst, he would shoot it down and out of the sky. It was something he was hesitant to do, mostly because as it got closer to him it slowed down. After it came within ten feet away of Stryke, it stopped altogether. 
 
Stryke looked at the ball in absolute curiosity. It was simply moving around him in sharp lines, running up and then running diagonal within a few milliseconds. Was this the work of aliens? Stryke wasn't into thinking that there were aliens abducting people, but after seeing Ninjans he was sure that there was "other people" all over the Universe. His question was answered though, but it leads to more questions.
 
"Hello, Stryke. Or should I say Ethan Luke Point, son of James and Aurora Point?"
 
Stryke was appalled. Although it was speaking, he was more surprised that it sounded like him. Exactly like him. What was this machine? Where was it coming from? How could it mimic his voice to the tee?
 
"...He...Hello..." That was all he could muster from his surprised face. Nothing more than one feeble word.
 
The ball quickly turned and stopped in front of his face. As it spoke through a slit right below the circles, he could see the red one blinking bright when it spoke and dull when it made no sound. "I guess I should explain myself." The eye dulled, as if waiting for Stryke to respond. After a few seconds, it continued ."I am prototype I-14. The fourteenth attempt at a time traveling machine sent from the year 2031. I was given the name of Revert by my creator...you."
 
Stryke looked up confused."Wait... You're saying I created you!? Not possible, not in a long shot buddy.... I might watch over the TECH branch here and lead it in production, but I don't think I have the knowledge to...build you."
 
" Well sorry to rain down on your denial, but you did build me in the year 2031. As a machine I was built to warn you of the future. It is not as you think it will be, it is a apocalyptic planet not in resemblance to the beautification I've seen on this earlier Earth. For this reason I have been sent to pick up three people, you are one of them. The future depends on you!"
 
Stryke looked up at him, oblivious to the idea of being sent for from a future self. "What am I doing now? In the future?"
 
“You have been dead for the past 20 years."The machine Revert responded coldly ."One of many...if not millions...possibly billions."
 
Stryke looked down at his lap. This was crazy! No way could he be dead in the future, that was not possible. He was invincible. Stryke had only seen himself in the future dying in his sleep of old age, not because he had died for something earlier than he expected. This possible future tore his heart out, it couldn't be so close. If he had been dead for twenty years, then his death would have happened in 2011. Meaning his death would have been one of many, and a part of something much more important. If he intended to save himself and the future, he needed to do what this robot said. No matter how fake the robot's claims seemed to be.
 
"So why am I needed?" The questions were piling up.
 
"I have run calculations and you are needed...Plus your future self understood that without you seeing the future, you would not be such a "lazy bastard"!"The machine made this sound like a joke, especially using Stryke's voice “You are needed so you can do what you think you must be done....The others have much relevance and importance and are needed to change everything about the future."
 
Revert began to get fidgety, moving around and observing Stryke's posture and his movements. It was kind of distracting, but it was still easy to think. Stryke was over being astounded by this. If the robot was truly from the future, than there was no reason to not agree. The worst thing that could happen would be him just having more knowledge of what could be if he didn't continue his work or approached something different than what other heroes would."Alright....I guess I'll go along with this and see what happens."
 
"If you are serious, than you must come with me."Revert moved over to Stryke in one straight motion to his hand. As Revert collided with Stryke's open left hand, the two disappeared. The building no longer had a hero sitting on it, nor a spherical shape able to talk. It was quite in the sky once more.

New York

Jennifer Micheals and Lily Cutler New York City Apartment

  
The spherical robot Revert had been in a immobile form for twenty some years. Yet, he had been awake for that long. Sitting around and looking, just waiting for Stryke to activate him and send him on his way. Instead he had been immobile, leaving him alone and almost stuck in place for an eternity. There was no adequate wonder as to why he would be fidgety. Now able to move, he wanted to fly around and take off the rust in his bolts and metal. Stryke, in 2031, had made Revert many things. One of which being a companion to anyone, a buddy to rely upon. And to that Stryke had made Revert energetic, mildly funny and a well rounded machine with a personality. Besides that, Stryke had made Revert a free robot. Allowing him to think, act, and respond in any which way he felt. Because of that, Revert had chosen to be a male figure instead of a female.

There are many things a robot takes into perspective upon being given a mission. It runs calculations immediately. Everything from what precautions and steps to take, from when to appear, and when to act. It's all thought before being enacted. Revert was no different, and as of the way he was built he had decided it would be less of an obstacle to pick up Jennifer Micheals, also Light Bright, than it would be the third person he needed to "pursue." His immediate plan was twenty years in the making, his creator was right in his hands once more and agreeing to do whatever it would take. Stryke hadn't put him down yet, but Revert was not so sure about the two others; the two others that put the pieces all in place....
 
Stryke witnessed darkness before being blasted into another area of what he suspected of being still in New York. He was no longer atop a building in Manhattan. Instead he was in front of a simple wooden door. As he looked around he saw more doors, more similar doors in a hallway that was empty besides for the lights illuminating the hall. He didn't notice that was Revert was in his hands until the robot spoke in a slightly annoyed voice." What? You have never seen a condo!" As he looked down he could see the red circle looking towards him ."Knock down the door! Our next person is in there...She is going to be very important to us. And to our next comrade."
 
"Knock it down? Seriously?"
 
Revert stared. Stryke was all about the convenience of others, but now was not the time ."Do it....Or I'll teleport you to the sun!"
 
Stryke responded hurtfully."Alright...Alright...Dumb machine."
 
"Not as dumb as you," Revert answered,“Now do it, please."
 
Stryke raised his arm and put his right hand on the door. Revert levitated off of his left hand and then moved away. Now was the time to analyze the power of his creator. Stryke concentrated and then let out a small blast of concussive energy. The door broke from its hinges and flew a few inches until collapsing on the floor. Stepping on top of it, Stryke looked around. There were two females. One had dark hair and another had blond. They looked like they were either finishing up breakfast or talking to each other at a table with a cereal box near them both. As they looked over, Stryke couldn't speak. Revert however, was not so shy and considerate.
 
"Which one of you is Jennifer Micheals?"
 
As Stryke took more steps into the apartment he felt the hostility towards him and not so to the floating robot. As he looked up to the women, one stood up and fired some sort of energy at him. He had no time to defend himself, and the bolt of energy hit him in the chest sending him flying back. He hit a wall and slid down it in a sitting position. His suit had luckily absorbed the blunt of the blow, but the spot where she had hit was steaming from the intense heat he had just been attacked by. Putting his hands in the air, Stryke, slowly got up and then approached the door. This time he spoke, "I'm not here to harm you." He pointed towards Revert," Me and him just need to figure out which one of you is Jennifer Micheals. Something important will happen and we need her to help stop it."
 
 This was the beginning of something very complex, but Stryke was just looking to survive without dying now.

 New York City

The Apartment of Jennifer Michaels

 
Jen groggily lifted her head off the table and grinned sheepishly. Lily stood in the middle of the kitchen, arms crossed, looking empathetically at her. This hadn’t been the first time Jen had fallen asleep at the table, unable to rest peacefully during the night.

“Maybe I should just sleep in your bed. It’s not like you’re using it.” Lily shook her head and made her way to the cupboard where she selected a half empty box of Cherios. Seating herself across from Jen, Lily popped open the box and dug in. “Was it...the dream again?”

Jen bit her nails and looked away. She was supposed to be the mature one in this house, yet she could barely hold it together when someone asked about her nightmares. Lily was only eleven years old. She wasn’t supposed to be giving counselling. Swallowing her pride Jen nodded and turned away.

“It’s like the more I try not to think about it...him...the more I can’t get the idea out of my head. I should have done something differently that night. I could have saved him, but I didn’t. I’m a piss-poor superhero.” Jen buried her face in her hands so that Lily wouldn’t see the tears brimming in her eyes. That girl already had enough dysfunctional adults in her life, she didn’t need one more.

“Seriously?” Lily said with an exasperated sigh, “You think you’re a piss-poor hero? Honestly, the piss-poor heroes are the ones that couldn’t give a crap about the people like me. And, uh, newsflash, you seem to care about me.”

Jen smiled despite herself and wiped at her eyes. She did care about Lily and she was glad the girl knew it. Picking up the box of cereal Jen grabbed a handful. She definitely needed to get some bowls, or at least a couple of plates. Maybe they could eat out of cups...if they only had some spoons. Lily munched pleasantly, unfazed by the lack of any basic utensils. How that girl could come from such a rich family to such measly settings was beyond Jen.

“Okay, fine. You win. Thanks for the pep talk, coach.” Smiling Jen moved to stand but paused. Had she just heard something outside?

“It’s what I do. I figure it’s the only reason you keep me around, so I must be good at it.” Lily watched Jen and the cheeky grin fell from her face. “What? What’s wrong?”

Jen put her finger to her lips and sat back down. Lily swallowed nervously and followed Jen’s line of sight towards the door. Now that she was concentrating Lily could vaguely make out the sound of voices outside the door. Or rather, the sound of a voice.

“You hear that?” Jen narrowed her eyes in focus. For a moment Lily thought she was going to try and burn a hole through the door with her eyes. Then she realized what Jen was talking about.

“You mean...how it sounds like some crazy guy talking to himself?” Lily frowned in puzzlement and looked over at Jen.

“Exactly.” Feeling the energy building inside her Jen prepared to move when the door was slammed open. Great, she thought, I can’t even afford plates and now some ass has blown apart my door. He better be crazy or...

"Which one of you is Jennifer Michaels?" For a moment Jen wasn’t sure whether to be more surprised by the dumbfounded man standing in her doorway or the machine asking for her. It was obvious enough that the small, round orb was in charge. The guy looked too out of it to even put together a coherent thought. He was probably just some lackey or something. A bold lackey, mind you. He walked into the apartment like it was no big deal. Like he hadn’t just blown his way inside and disturbed their peace. That kinda really pissed Jen off...a lot.

Standing up so quickly that her chair tumbled violently to the floor she raised her arm to the man and let loose a devastating Flash bolt. She didn’t want anything brutal enough to hurt him badly; just enough to disorient him. He flew backwards into the wall and slid dazedly to the floor. The spherical robot looked from Jen to the man before floating over to his side.

“Get into the bedroom, Lily.” Jen nodded for the small girl to get to safety. Once she was sure Lily was clear Jen approached the dizzy man. He groaned and pushed himself up off the ground and held his steaming chest. Jen was a little caught off guard by the intensity of her strike; it was only supposed to be a mild attack. Looking down at her hands she could see the faint residue of Blue energy, which so far had extreme potential.

“Excellent,” Jen grumbled to her-self, “now my powers are acting stupid. What else could go wrong today?”

The man put his hands up in the air and took a couple of steps forward. Jen struck her most intimidating post, the one she always used on criminals. If this guy had any brains at all he’d back down right there.

"I'm not here to harm you." He pointed to his small floating robot awkwardly."Me and him just need to figure out which one of you is Jennifer Michaels. Something important will happen and we need her to help stop it."

Jen lowered her hand and felt the heat retreat from her fingertips. Wrinkling her nose at the man she shook her head. The only way he would know her name was if SHIELD had pointed him in her direction, but her handler should have informed her.

“I’m Jennifer Michaels...Agent of SHIELD. If you want my help you should really go through the network. I’m sure there are other agents who are completely capable of helping you with...” Jen was cut off by the globular robot flying at her face. It whirred around her head a couple of times, never taking its red eye off of her. Stopping in front of her the robot’s eye flashed brightly, nearly blinding Jen.

“Retinal scan confirmed. Identity confirmed. This is Jennifer Michaels.” The robot flew back to the man and hovered above his shoulder. Jen frowned at the two of them.

“Yeah. I told you that already,” Jen approached the man cautiously, “I’ve also told you that there are other agents capable of helping you.”

Moving as though it was shaking its head the robots’ eye dulled and then grew bright again. “Nope, you’re the only one we need. Well, you and...One other person.”

Jennifer ran her hand through her hair and shrugged. She couldn’t just leave Lily, and she wasn’t about to go off with some freak and his robot anyways. As she opened her mouth to protest but a blinding light engulfed the room.

When the light cleared Jen was no longer standing in her apartment. The three of them were standing in a dark alley. Blinking against the harsh change in lighting Jen rubbed her eyes and looked around. Then she froze. Movement caught her eye. He looked worn, broken, and all over destroyed in every sense of the word. Jen felt a bile rise in her throat from the horrid stench. Her heart ached at the sight of her old friend. If she'd known...how had this happened to him? He was a hero. A member of the GWE with Jen. And now he was just...

“Holy. Shit.” Jen breathed. “Felix?”

People always said that when you are on painkillers it feels like flying. Well, Felix had actually flown and he could tell you that they were nothing alike. Every time he stuck the needle in his arm, every time he pushed down on that plunger, and every time that numbness passed through his veins he felt like he was a corpse. Then the world would grow dull, and every movement would make him feel like he was submerged in water. Despair had tried to heal him during the War; to purge the morphine from his system. But she couldn’t remove the addiction. All it did in the end was cause him to go into withdrawal. Now it took him three times the dosage to satisfy the craving.

Minutes gave way to hours, and soon the bleak rays of early morning light peaked through his blinds, reflecting off the trails left by the tears that still stained his face. Had he really spent the whole night in his drug induced stupor? The numbness was only now beginning to recede. His body should have removed the toxins from his system already.

“What’s wrong with me...?” But before he could even begin to consider a possible reason, a noise, what sounded like a yelp of pain, from the street below grabbed his attention. Steadying himself his bedpost, Felix bended his knees and forced his body upright. He staggered to the window and lifted one of the blinds. Directly across from his building was the alleyway of a Chinese Laundromat and an old warehouse. The latter had been abandoned years ago for favour of more structurally sound locations, but the city still neglected to demolish. Most likely because the Laundromat moonlighted as an illegal poker ring and the influential men who gathered there liked having a place to store any transactions they might acquire during the game.

The cry had come from a man lying on the wet concrete and clutching his thigh, trying to suppress the blood that liberally gushed from it. Another man in a clean white suit stood over him. In his gloved hand was a silenced nine millimetre pistol. It took an immense amount of concentration, something he barely managed to do in his current state, but Felix expanded his auditory receptors in an attempt the learn something of the situation.

“Look Jackie- Aaagh- I told you I’d get you the money!” The man on the ground was in hysterics now as Jackie took aim once more, this time at his other thigh. “I just need a little more time! Please!”

“That’s what you said last time, Frank. Now, I like you, but if I give you more time, then people will start thinking I’ve gone soft, and we can’t have that, can we?” Felix squeezed his eyes shut as the whisper of the silenced barrel willed his ear, quickly followed by another deafening cry of pain. He couldn’t listen to anymore of this. Turning on his heel, Felix stumbled to the door as quickly as he could. The stairs to the ground floor were difficult to navigate, and he fell down the last few. For a moment he stayed down, unable to move at all. Another scream reached his ears, though, and motivated the one-time hero to pull himself up by the banister and fumble outside. The man in white was taking aim at Frank’s forehead, intent upon making this next shot the last one.

Using his momentum to carrying himself forward in a mad lope, Felix rushed the gun-toting man. He knew that in his current state he couldn’t risk using a lightning blast lest he miss, so instead he dove into a football tackle to bring the man down. At the last moment Jackie turned and, despite his shock at the sudden appearance of this smelly bum, managed to let loose a shot. They were just short of point blank now, but even if they hadn’t been Felix’s reaction time was still zeroed. He could feel the bullet enter his chest and puncture his left lung. His heart pumped blood and it began to pour in through the hole, filling his bronchioles. It was too late to stop his movement, though, and both went flew back into the alley and landed in a heap. Felix looked back at the other man, trying to focus through his blurred vision.

“Get out of here! Go!” Not needing to be told twice, the man pushed himself up and began wobbling away as quickly as his injuries would allow him. Felix let out a sigh of relief that he hadn’t been too late, a short lived sentiment, though, because only a split second later the butt of Jackie’s gun struck him across the face. The mob enforcer roughly rolled Felix onto the wet concrete to get a look at him.

“Stupid f@cking bum... You’re almost not even worth the bullet.” Jackie took aim at his head to finish the job, but suddenly froze in amazement and fright. Right before his eyes the bullet was working its way out of Ferro’s filthy chest. It was as if the wound had never been there to begin with. “What the f@ck are you!?” The man shouted out the question, fear gripping him now. Using the distraction to his advantage, Felix swept his leg at Jackie’s knees, taking his legs out from under him and sending him crashing to the ground. Ferro scrambled to his feet, doing his best to look menacing and to keep from swaying back and forth.

“Luckily for you I’m not a killer. Now go tell whoever’s in charge of your gambling ring that their games just ended.” It had been a while since Felix had tried to sound menacing, but thankfully this cowardly man didn’t need much to make him comply. Without another word he scampered off through the back door of the Laundromat. Felix stood there for a moment after he was gone, swaying slightly. Then, all at once, he fell backwards, slumped against the wall. He had nearly botched the most straight-forward rescue imaginable. If the enforcer hadn’t been as easily dumbfounded as he was then the whole thing would have gone much differently.

He ran his hand through his hair, compiling a list of reasons to just off himself when a bright light appeared before him. The sheer intensity was enough to blind him completely. When it died down once more, two figures with an orb floating around them stood before him. The man was vaguely familiar but otherwise totally unremarkable. The other person, the girl, caught his attention immediately though.

“Holy. Shit. Felix?” It was a voice he would never forget, and he fervently wished that the person that it belonged to didn’t have to see him in the state he was in. His eyes met hers and his heart shattered. It was a struggle to keep himself from crying again. The metal orb floated towards him, a red dot aimed directly at his face. There was another blinding flash of light and the machine spoke again.

“Retinal Scan confirmed. Identity confirmed. This is Felix Black.” It paused for a moment, the red dot going from the man, to Lightbright, and then resting on him.“Crap! He wasn’t supposed to be a smelly hobo! This could ruin everything! Especially if that stuff in his veins is what my scan says it is!” Felix’s eyes fell to the concrete ground. After a moment of silence that seemed to last for an eternity, he forced himself to look up at his former teammate.

“Hey Jen... It’s good to see you again... It looks like things have gone better for you...” His voice was meek. Jennifer Michaels had been his only friend in the world at one point, and though he never admitted it to anyone, Felix loved her with all his heart.

New York

Jennifer Micheals Apartment

 
Revert understood the meaning of time and when to respond and when to act. Everything is separately added in over another, so approaching Jennifer Micheals and not revealing information to her had been the perfect idea. Stryke knew all the information, but that was just in case that if Revert ever theoretically died, Stryke could begin calling the shots no matter who liked it or not. Jennifer Micheals and Felix Black were both important people in this ordeal; however Stryke would possibly be the first person to act rationally without biased actions. To Revert, Jennifer was a kind heart, and wouldn't kill her friends to save them from causing terrible destruction. She would try to find an alternative, but that alternative wasn't what was needed. There was only one approach to this terrible problem. Felix was the problem, but Revert's plan was to show Felix the future and try to set him on a new path. Revert had no intentions of telling anyone of Felix's impending actions. If he couldn't sway Felix however, than he would be forced to tell everyone of what Felix would become and ultimately give Stryke the choice to cohesively save millions or billions of people by killing the one called Ferro Vida. 
 
If worst came to worst, Revert would self-destruct near the fallen hero Ferro Vida. A small "nuclear"-like explosion would happen and then a ten foot diameter would be completely destroyed. His plan was flawless, with so many options to choose from there would always be a possible solution to the future problem in 2031. After all Revert had twenty years to figure out what the meaning of time and life was. His conclusion was the meaning of life had no meaning and was just some strange accident. So his plan was to simply go with whatever happened and hope that his calculations would prove correct.
 
Showing her a disdained Felix Black was one of many calculations. The plan was to catch this man at an ultimate low point and sort of push him into joining this crusade to the future. Revert, no matter how hard he tried to forgive Ferro Vida, could not simply because he felt his creator had been ultimately killed because of him. After satisfying himself that this was the Jennifer Micheals he needed, he became senile and ignored her words. Much to his eagerness, he found that after Jennifer saw Felix Black she was utterly surprised. And seemingly forgot why he and Stryke had approached her. However, Revert didn't plan on finding him completely wasted and not somewhat sober...
 
Stryke looked around the apartment. His body was still, but his head was surveying and sizing up the capabilities of this apparently much needed ally. It was normal for what he expected a superhero to be. After he heard this woman to be Jennifer Micheals, a SHIELD agent he was slightly surprised. From what he would have expected there would have been some extravagance but instead it looked empty and void of most furniture and essential items like utensils. It seemed like she had just moved in this small apartment, and had barely decided to do anything about comfort and convenience. As he peered towards the table he had seen the two women at previously, he saw there were no plates or spoons. Not even milk or a cup of OJ. From his perspective it seemed they had just been eating with their hands barbarically while conversing with each other. 
 
As he witnessed Jennifer bicker with Revert he saw the other young girl open a door a fraction of an inch that she was hiding behind. He had wondered where she had gone, but hadn't thought about what relevance she had to the Ms. Micheals. As she saw Stryke watching her she slammed the door shut. In that small glimpse he realized she did not look like in any way like Jennifer. So that ruled out family. A thought he had had in the back of his head. She was too young to be a friend or someone sharing the rent. Stryke's opinion was that she was adopted, but he couldn't get another glimpse as the pre-teenage girl didn't reopen the door she was hiding behind. He could only assume.

 “I’m Jennifer Michaels...Agent of SHIELD. If you want my help you should really go through the network. I’m sure there are other agents who are completely capable of helping you with...” That was enough confirmation for Stryke, however it seemed that Revert wasn’t satisfied enough. The robot wanted absolute assurance that this was whoever they needed. Whoever was truly needed to go on this golden crusade to the future, this was going to be her and not some liar. Perfection and precision, that was what Revert wanted.

“Retinal scan confirmed. Identity confirmed. This is Jennifer Michaels.”When Revert moved over to Stryke and then hovered on his shoulder, he felt that the robot was perfectly ready to continue the search for the three protectors for the future.

“Yeah. I told you that already,” Jennifer approached him cautiously, “I’ve also told you that there are other agents capable of helping you.” Stryke remained silent, letting Revert converse with this blond haired bombshell; he was contempt with just watching and seeing how she would deal with the situation. Stryke was not jealous that she was ignoring him; he was sort of ignoring her too.

Moving as though it was shaking its head the robots’ eye dulled and then grew bright again. “Nope, you’re the only one we need. Well, you and...One other person.” That she was, the one they needed. Now there was one more piece, Revert plans were becoming a monolithic masterpiece.

Strangely enough, Stryke found Jennifer Micheals to be a strong, selfless woman who had no fears. At least no fears she unintentionally showed to strangers. She acted like a strong, fully independent woman. However, his assumption was that she had just seceded from something that took a toll on her life and made her proceed in a new direction. Her attitude was dominating and she held a stance of brutality yet of grace too. She was definitely something special and someone with a lot of seniority of super-heroism than he did. However, Stryke had a feeling he could beat her on a good day. With enough effort, with about just enough so that he would come out alive and the winner of a fight.

In his thoughts, he witnessed a bright light. One similar to what he had felt during his first teleportation with this robotic orb or sphere. The same amazement he had felt the first time rushed back to him. It was an enlightening to feel, and when your body was moved it felt smoothly done and not absolutely rushed. It appeared like whatever was happening had all the time in the world, all the milliseconds, and seconds, minutes, hours, days, and years that it needed to approach the comfort of seemingly materialize and then rematerialize something somewhere else. It still made him wonder, could he really have built something like this? It was just too good to be a true! Stryke honestly couldn’t believe he had built this technology. Especially if he only built it two years in the future, it wasn’t comprehendible.

Here we go again ....., Stryke mustered sarcastically in his mind. It was like déjà vu for him. The same lights, the same feelings, everything positively the same while also being calm and enjoyable. His eyes felt no pain when they were blinded by a white light, and as they adjusted to an ally he still had the normal feelings that he had had a few seconds before. Stryke didn’t rub his eyes at all and instead just blinked rapidly until he was accustomed to the dark-lit area.

He noticed movement near him, but considered it just a bum and began moving on. That person couldn’t be someone they needed, or even wanted. He was some addict whose problems had caught up to him. Maybe it was an addiction to drinking, bar hopping and fighting here and there. Wasting money just for a nice on the rocks, mojito that would give him a good feeling when he got stoned. Or maybe this bum had a gambling problem, and had gambled his possessions away until his family was forced to leave him. This bum could also have some drug addiction, looking for a dealer here and there to give him some cocaine for that much needed snuff or joint. Either way, Stryke didn’t have much respect for a man like that.

As he began to walk, he realized no one was walking or floating with him. Jennifer Micheals seemed to know the man by “Felix.” “Holy. Shit. Felix?” Revert thereafter began circling around the man frantically, his one ‘eye’ not dull by a viciously red light. As the robot stopped in front of the bums eyes, the normal scan began. Retinal Scan confirmed. Identity confirmed. This is Felix Black.” It paused for a moment, and then continued on adding another comment. “Crap! He wasn’t supposed to be a smelly hobo! This could ruin everything! Especially if that stuff in his veins is what my scan says it is!” This Felix character fell on the ground, and then pushed himself up to look towards Jennifer. By now, Stryke was approaching the group. This was strange; was this that person they really needed? Some hobo who was probably drugged up!

“Hey Jen... It’s good to see you again... It looks like things have gone better for you...”   An unfamiliar voice washed inside Stryke’s ears. This was the voice of their third ally and companion, Felix. Revert hovered by Stryke again. This time Stryke asked some questions.

“What’s their aliases?,” he whispered softly.

Revert hovered in front of Stryke’s eyes.”These are Ferro Vida and LightBright…”

Stryke’s eyes widened, he continued to whisper as Felix and Jennifer got reacquainted. ”Ferro Vida’s a villain last time I was in the loop, and LightBright…I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her!”

“Well…the point is they’re both needed. Jennifer here will help us get him to join us. I’ll tell you the rest later….”

“No! Revert, you will tell me now.” Stryke said strongly. This was beginning to turn into a carnival, not to proceed and save the future.

“I don’t need to tell you now, but I will tell you in private.” Truth be told, Revert was not going to give this Ferro Vida a great time. He was going to torture this past version of the person responsible for killing Stryke.  His trust would have to be earned.

Stryke realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere.”Fine…You’ll tell me later.”

“Good.” Revert approached Ferro Vida once more. Seemingly pushing the hero Light Bright out of the way, his voice similar to Stryke’s began to speak.

“Felix Black….Ferro Vida. You are needed especially for this mission to the future. This future you will not like, and that will show you the destruction of our civilization and the mass murders of millions if not billions of people under one dictator with superhuman powers. You are important, just like LightBright. I am offering you two an invitation to change this future without force. The man behind me, Stryke, was my creator in the year 2011. He died a week later like many in this city. I come from the year 2031, and I promise that because you three come, our future will never go into that terrible turn of events. So my question is for both of you, will you come to save the future of mankind? Or will you stay here and wait for and watch the murders of many people and the ultimate dictatorship of everyone around the globe by force?”
 
Stryke remained silent as the orb spoke and then began hovering near his right shoulder. With his hands folded, he simply watched the faces of  Ferro Vida and Light Bright. Revert's 'eye' dulled once more and then began to move from side to side to look at both the reactions of Jennifer Micheals and her old friend Felix Black.
 
In the back of his head, Stryke could only think as he looked at them one thought. Are we really the saviors of mankind's future?
 
Inside the calculations of Revert, his most absolute calculation was simple. 
This is the three....who will save all mankind and steer them on a new future...there's no denying it!

 The Rocky Mountains 2029

Jennifer Michaels was devoted to the cause. Changing the world had always been her goal, but she hadn’t had enough vision or courage to take on the task. She was a hero to the end, no doubt about it. That was the reason she was hell-bent on making the world a better place. People were not only destroying the planet but each other. There was no end to their hatred, it seemed.

It was here in the mountains where people were now dealt with properly. This place, like most of the world, had been moulded to fit with Black’s vision of the better tomorrow. It was very sterile facility, it had to be considering what went on inside. This was where the prisoners were taken to be dealt with. It was always the same procedure. The prisoners would be shoved inside, Black would make his rounds and give the order, and they would all be “ventilated”. It was always the same process, so much so that eventually those working the facility would simply become indifferent to it all. Jen had. She’d been working in the mountains for almost five years as the overseer of the workers. Along with Black and a few of other scientists she had developed the process that ate away at the human body until there was nothing left. They’d made in as...humane as humanly possible. Or so they said.

Jen watched the large metal doors slide open as the newest herd of prisoners was forced into the large white dome. It was just like any other day, any other termination. Typing a few settings into the console Jen stood and walked towards the viewing window. Black wasn’t going to be at the ventilation today, so she was in charge of the process. Next to her a fidgeting lab assistant stuttered his way around his words. “Uh, ma’am?”

“Ventilate the room.” Jen said firmly, her face drawn tight but expressionless. The man quickly tapped at the keys of his console and flicked a switch.

Jennifer calmly watched the chaotic panic sweep across the hoard of people as the vents were opened. The gas was odourless, colourless, but the machine made a loud whirring sound as the virus was released. With cold green eyes the young woman panned across the crowd. Her lab coat suddenly felt too tight around her chest. Breath catching in her throat Jen staggered for a moment, dizzy. In the middle of the terror engulfed mass of people was a familiar face. Jen hadn’t seen Lily Cutler in years, but she would recognize that girl anywhere. Lily had always been a warm-hearted, loving girl full of life and vigour. Now her eyes sunk back into her head, her cheeks became sallow, her once silky black hair slipped loosely from her head. She didn’t scream or utter a word, no, Lily sat and stared up and Jennifer with nothing but sadness in her eyes.

New York City 2030

Running wasn’t Jen’s favourite pass time. Running from the so-called law was even worse. In retrospect perhaps destroying the gas chambers of the evil ruler of the world wasn’t such a great idea. She hadn’t had any kind of a plan. All it took was seeing Lily’s face fade away into nothing. Jen had blacked out, but when she’d woken up she’d seen the destruction. More than anything she recognized the devastation on her powers. Everyone in that facility was dead because of her, and yet she didn’t seem to care. That was what scared her the most. She’d been killing people for years, what was a few more?

Jabbing Jennifer with the butt of his gun the mercenary pushed her along the deserted streets of New York City. How he’d found her was beyond Jen. She’d been so careful about covering her tracks lately, especially with the hefty bounty on her head. Unlike the other hired guns that had come after her before this one didn’t brag about his name or plan. He was obviously smart enough to keep those to himself. It surprised her though, seeing as he liked to talk...a lot. Most of it was unimportant dribble or a few degrading comments.

“You’re kinda hot, ya know. If you weren’t going to be...ya know...killed for being a traitor then I’d totally be into hooking up.” Twirling a second, smaller gun around his finger the mercenary shoved Jen forward again. Blood dripped from the long and jagged cut that ran down her throat. Usually she couldn’t keep her big mouth shut, but the pain the wound brought was enough to keep her quiet.

“It’s too bad about that whole gassing thing, though. If they just hung ya or something I could still have a little fun afterwards.” Jen tensed but said nothing. Either the guy was a complete idiot or he was goading her into reacting. It didn’t matter, she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of an answer. Watching her closely the mercenary didn’t show his disappointment, but shrugged and moved to jab her again. This time Jen ducked to the side and dropped to the ground. With a swift quick she knocked his feet out from under him and took off running. He’d cuffed her with a pair of power dampeners and thought her helpless. Boy was he wrong. Running wasn’t Jen’s favourite pass time, but damn if she wasn’t getting good at it.

New York City Present

There were many way’s to spend a Friday. Bowling, a walk in the park, getting caught up in a good book. Standing in a stinking alley filled with urine, rats, and garbage. Jen hadn’t expected the latter when she’d woken up that morning. Life wasn’t good to Jennifer Michaels, or at least it was never good for long. Sometimes she’d get those rare happy moments but they would always slip away from her in the end. It was a fact she was comfortable with. Today was just going to be one of those crappy turns in life.

Now, standing over the crumpled form that was her one time good friend Felix Black, Jen felt her heart shudder. Here was the guy who’d had potential to be one the best heroes in the world, with all his power and spirit, and yet here he was lying in the gutter. On the GWE they had been good friends, but when the team had split up they’d lost touch. It had hurt Jen to lose such a good friend, but life had gotten crazy. And even though she’d had such strong feelings for him, he’d never shown any interest and there was always the thought of Ben weighing on her mind. Still, if she had known about his...condition...she would have done anything in her power to help him. Seeing him in his current situation made her sick to her stomach.

“Retinal Scan confirmed. Identity confirmed. This is Felix Black.” The small orb shaped robot shook Jen from her train of thought violently. She hadn’t realized how hard she been staring at Felix. Blushing slightly she turned away from him. Whirring, the robot continued,“Crap! He wasn’t supposed to be a smelly hobo! This could ruin everything! Especially if that stuff in his veins is what my scan says it is!”

Jen looked back up, from the robot to Ferro. His eyes fell to the ground for a long moment before venturing up to meet hers.

“Hey Jen... It’s good to see you again... It looks like things have gone better for you...” His voice was thin and reedy. Seeing as life hadn’t actually been that much better for her recently Jen considered telling him off but caught herself. Putting things into perspective she figured things probably had been better for her in the long run.

“It’s, uh, good to see you too, Felix.” Unsure of what to say, Jen hated the fact that her voice sounded so insincere. She was happy to see him. Behind her Jen could hear the man and his robot whispering to each other hurriedly. Whatever they were talking about was probably important, but she wasn’t really trying to concern herself with their situation.

Just then the round robot shoved past Jen so forcefully it nearly knocked her over. Glaring at it she rubbed her now sore shoulder and looked over at the strange man. He was staring at her closely, like he was sizing her up for a fight. Frowning besides herself Jennifer listened to the orb—with a bit of contempt—closely.

“Felix Black….Ferro Vida. You are needed especially for this mission to the future. This future you will not like, and that will show you the destruction of our civilization and the mass murders of millions if not billions of people under one dictator with superhuman powers. You are important, just like LightBright. I am offering you two an invitation to change this future without force. The man behind me, Stryke, was my creator in the year 2011. He died a week later like many in this city. I come from the year 2031, and I promise that because you three come, our future will never go into that terrible turn of events. So my question is for both of you, will you come to save the future of mankind? Or will you stay here and wait for and watch the murders of many people and the ultimate dictatorship of everyone around the globe by force?”

Forever the hero Jen almost leapt at the opportunity. Of course she would help! How could she help? That was her first reaction to everything. No matter what, no matter when, she was always a hero, almost to a fault. With a glance over to Ferro she could tell he was puzzling over the idea too. He was harder to read now, after so much time. Was he still the hero she remembered? Biting her lip Jen thought about seemingly everything at once. Living with the X-Men, leaving them to be a hero on her own, falling in love with and eventually losing Ben, Hydra, SHIELD, Lily. Everything she had to lose in the world, everything that meant so much to her. She wanted to change the world, and this was her chance.

“Count me in.”

Summary

Flashback 
 

New York City 2030

The future was a dark and horrible place. Most people couldn't survive the harsh rule of Ferro Vida, who was killing thousands of humans each day. Octagon was one of the remaining heroes from the last thirty years. He had been living on the run and just barely surviving. Over the years, he'd grown strong and had mastered his powers. He rarely used them any more, as he didn't want to attract attention from the Sentinels. 
 
Octagon woke up early. He'd been exposed to so much sunlight in the last thirty years, that he had built a tolerance to light. Standing up, he let the orange glow of the sun wash over him. He had been living in the wilderness on the border between the United States and Canada. He was on a high, rocky hill, watching the wilderness wake up with him. He began to walk forward and the ground beneath his feet began to give way. He slipped and fell down the hillside. He quickly teleported back up to the ledge below him. Almost instantly, he heard the roar of jets. Several Sentinels flew over the ridge of the hill. Octagon cursed to himself and prepared himself for battle. The first of innumerable Sentinels swung its arm down. Octagon formed a giant hand and pulled the robot's arm out of its socket and then smashed the arm into the robot's head, causing it to crash into the hillside. Octagon jumped forward and teleported into the trees. A laser cut his path off, along with several trees. Octagon formed energy around all of the fallen trees and hurled them at the Sentinels. Several of them fell to the ground, but more replaced them. 
 
Octagon looked up and saw a massive, robotic head. It scanned Octagon and said in a metallic tone, 
 
"Target relies on energy-based attacks. Deploy energy resistant shields." Octagon became angry and teleported onto the giant robot's head. He teleported away with it, leaving the robot without it's CPU. He charged the head with energy and tossed it into another Sentinel. The head exploded and took out the opposing Sentinel. Octagon formed to whips made of energy and began cutting the Sentinels around him in half. One shot an energy beam, but Octagon was able to pull up a half-dome of energy to protect himself. He then shot at one with an energy blast, but it was unaffected. The enery-proof shielding had taken effect. Octagon used his powers to hurl boulders at the Sentinels, but after awhile, they too were inaffective. Octagon fought off Sentinels for hours, but was finally outnumbered and captured. 
 
One Sentinel lowered itself down and a video screen appeared from its chest. The man Octagon once knew as Ferro Vida appeared on the screen.
 
"Hello. If you are seeing this, it means that you are a super-powered being that has been captured by my Sentinels. By using a variety of keywords, you may be able to answer the following questions. Will you be willing to serve me as your lord and master?" Octagon starred at the screen. 
 
"Are you proud of what you've done, Felix?" Octagon spouted. 
 
"I am very proud of what I'm doing. I'm cleansing the world of filth. I'm making it a better place," the video screen said.
 
"No, you're not. You think you have all the answers to humanity's problems, but you don't. Killing people to get rid of the filth is not the way to go," Octagon said, angrily.
 
"There is only one way. My way," the screen said.
 
"You think you understand humanity? How can you know what's best for them? Have you forgotten that you are human? Who are you to judge?!" Octagon yelled.
 
"I am Felix Black, supreme ruler of the planet Earth," the screen said.
 
"You're still human, Felix! You can't see the solution to humanity's problem! You're still in the realm of humanity. You can only see what's wrong, but you can't find the answer. You don't know anything. Sure, humanity has its flaws, but there's no way to fix them. Humans change slowly, over time. They adapt to new ideas. If you concentrate your efforts on making humans better, then the world can heal and your goal will be achieve your goal! Don't you see that, Felix? Don't you understand?" Octagon pleaded.
 
"Error. No appropriate response," the screen said. "Although it has been nice talking to you, I'm afraid our little chat will have to end now. Have a nice day." With that, the screen went back inside the robot and it lowered its head down to Octagon's level. It's eyes glowed red and Octagon's head was blown away by the blast. His body went limp and the Sentinels let it go. They flew away, back to their master to report the day's findings.

New York 2030: Rocky Mountain Installation

The numerous monitors that made up the far wall of the room caused an eerie light to fill the otherwise black space. A simple, white chair supported by a three-inch thick leg was the only furniture, and on it sat the great conqueror himself; across his lap was a shiny black touch screen with LED lights indicating the different keys. He typed several of the illuminated buttons and a single screen showing the head of a man held in the grasp of one of his sentinels being incinerated. It was unfortunate that Octagon Freak had not accepted the new world order, because Felix knew what he was capable of and had a spot waiting for him among the chosen.

The aged hero’s last words reached the pariah’s ears and he shook his head in disappointment: why could no one understand? Humanity had become corrupt and cancerous. Felix did not enjoy being the greatest mass murderer in history; it was simply something that needed to be done. Could no one grasp the concept set forth by his advanced mind? Of course there were those who claimed they did, like the Mercenary that dubiously referred to himself as Closure. Obviously he had proved himself useful during the cullings, but he was only in it for the money, and if that was true then it meant that he traded with the rebelling factions: money was not a factor in the New Eden.

Those who had been chosen would have everything they needed provided to them, so that only the best would reproduce. Each couple would produce no more than two children, and chemical alteration would ensure not only that one would be other each gender, but also that only the most desirable characteristics would be passed on. Once the children had reached the age of sixteen, their parents would be removed to a different facility where they would live out the rest of their lives in peace, after which their bodies would be composted and used for everything from power generation to fertilizer. It would be the perfect, sustainable world.

His touch-screen vibrated and a mechanized female voice came to life in the speakers.

“The criminal known as Jennifer Michaels has been apprehended by one of our operatives,” Felix knew that is was probably Closure, that psychotic, sadistic beast. “Do you consent to instant termination, or would you have her brought to the gas chambers?” The Pariah had stopped listening to the voice, though. He typed several keys and all of the screens monitoring the activities of his sentinels disappeared and were replaced by and old photo. In it were three smiling faces: the first of them, highlighted by her beautiful features, was Jennifer, and the second was Lily Cutler, a girl Jen had taken in many years ago. But the third was one that Felix didn’t even recognize anymore: it was his own face from twenty years ago, and he couldn’t even remember having been that happy. He stared at the picture for a moment, memories of how Jen had supported him in his crusade. Truthfully, she was the only one who he would show any semblance of emotion to. When she had destroyed the facility that she had been overseeing, Felix was hesitant to call for her termination; he had reserved a place of safety for her from day one.

“Sir?” The soulless voice abruptly woke him from his musings.

“Yes... Jennifer Michaels is not to be harmed in any way. She will be brought here to plead her case.” His voice was still cold enough to make the computer sound bubbly, but there was something different to it, almost as if he had been affected by nostalgia.

“As you command, sir.”

New York City Present: A trash-strewn alley across from the apartment of Felix Black.

“It’s, uh, good to see you too, Felix.” Her voice betrayed the lies behind her words. Not that he could really blame her; Ferro had honestly hoped that no one who had known him from before would ever see him as he was now. He lowered his eyes once more, using every ounce of will power in his broken form to keep his heart from breaking. Ferro was dimly aware of the orb and the other man whispering like school girls behind his old teammate, but he couldn’t care less about what they had to say. Theirs weren’t the opinions that mattered to him, and he could tell exactly what she thought from the way she had been staring at him.

After a moment they stopped their muttering and the floating orb moved towards him, shoving past Jen in the process. Had it even been a week ago Felix would have been on his feet and striking the shining ball from the air for such a transgression; as things were he couldn’t even force himself to stand up. The little red dot flashed and the orb began to speak again. As it did Ferro kept one eye on the other man, who seemed to be sizing Jen up like a piece of meat. Felix didn’t know who this was, but he was not making a good impression.

“Felix Black.... Ferro Vida. You are needed especially for this mission to the future. This future you will not like, and that will show you the destruction of our civilization and the mass murders of millions if not billions of people under one dictator with superhuman powers. You are important, just like Lightbright. I am offering you two an invitation to change the future without force. The man behind me, Stryke, was my creator in the year 2011. He died a week later like many in this city. I come from the year 2031, and I promise that because you three come, our future will never go into that terrible turn of events. So my question is for both for both of you, will you come to save the future of mankind? Or will you stay here and watch the murders of many people and the ultimate dictatorship of everyone around the globe?”

Felix knew without even thinking that Jen would immediately agree to the journey; Jen was a hero above all else, she always had been and probably always would be. A year ago he would have had the same reaction. But now, after everything he had seen and everything he had done Ferro had to wonder: would it make a difference what he did? If this future had already happened, then that would mean that the scheming of this floating science fair reject and its would-be creator wouldn’t alter the outcome. Even if he did go, what good could he possibly do? He could barely even move from the wet asphalt that he sat on, and he would need a hit every few hours to keep from going into withdrawal again.

“Count me in.” Ferro looked up at Lightbright as she spoke. It was exactly what he had expected her to say, and even in her pyjamas she managed to strike a heroic figure in the early morning light. He sighed and reached up with both of his arms, digging his fingers into the grooves between the bricks and pulling himself to his feet; he had to lean heavily on it to keep from falling down again.

“I’ve made machines that can travel through time, and even across dimensions, and I’ve seen millions die in the fires of war. I wasn’t able to change any of the outcomes, so what makes you so special? And even if I did agree, what use would I even be to your cause?” He paused and looked from the orb to Jen, letting his eyes rest on her for a long moment before returning them to the shiny ball. “I’m broken and useless.”Once more his voice cut out, choked off by a fresh wave of tears that threatened to overwhelm him. “If you want proof of that then watch me try to get back to my apartment.”

New York City 2030

It hadn’t been a fool proof plan, considering she wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to him after all though years, but Jen had promised herself she would find Mr. W. She needed to be with someone she could trust, someone who could help her through the dark days behind and ahead. After all those years she hated herself for not seeking him out, but she had been so caught up in Black’s plans to change the world. Stupid, naive, idiot girl. Only too late had she realized how far he had strayed and how much death he was willing to deal in order to reach his ultimate goal. She was just another disposable part of the progress. And now she was going to die.

The stupid mercenary had been so busy talking about all the horrible ways he could do her he’d left himself open for an attack. Jen may be stupid, but she wasn’t about to miss a perfect opportunity. He’d gone down easily enough, but he wouldn’t stay that way. She had to make the most of her head start and run. If it wasn’t for the damn power dampeners she would be safe by now. Unfortunately Jennifer Michaels was never that lucky.

"LightBright, last time we met you were at Funez Industries.  I'm sure this should be ringing some bells Jen.  The name is Johnathan.....Jonathan Funez II." That caught her slightly off guard and for a scary moment Jen almost stopped running entirely. It was enough, though, because her stride had been broken.

Behind her the Merc was shouting something inaudible. Then...the terrifyingly familiar sound of gunfire broke through the air and Jen felt a bullet punch its way through her right calf. Stumbling to the ground she felt a second bullet whiz by, inches from her head.

Scrambling against the ground in a feeble attempt to get back to her feet Jen could hear his footsteps crunching on broken glass. Getting closer and closer.

"You know LightBright, I always did have a crush on you." He was on top of her now. She’d lost every chance at escape now.

“You’re sick, you perv,” Jen spat. If he killed her, she would make sure he would somehow die along with her. Keeling over suddenly the man’s scarf dropped from his face. He muttered something about never seeing his face and quickly pulled it back into place. But not before Jen caught a glimpse of an X like scar crossing one eye. He also looked vaguely familiar, like she’d met him in a past life or something.

"LightBright, can you ever forgive me?" He whispered pathetically. "Too much has changed Jen, what happened?"

She remembered this guy now, Thunderbolt’s kid. And he was a mercenary no less? Things had changed. Not about to give him an answer Jen felt her anger building. The heat of her power rippled through her body before she remembered her training. Don’t talk, just fight.

Focusing all her anger into her attack Jen shot her knee up to connect with Johnny Junior’s chin. Hopefully there would be a very bloody result, but Jen wasn’t about to stick around to see the consequences of her handy work. Already on her feet again Jen ran as fast as she could, which wasn’t very considering she had an adamantium bullet lodged in her leg.

Her face set in steadfast determination Jen promised herself she would get to LA and find her past mentor. As far as she was concerned Mr. W was the only solution, the only who could kill Felix Black before he brought about the end of the world.

Los Angeles Some Months Ago

“Do you want to know why I keep beating you?”

“Not particularity, no.”  Jen rubbed her sore shoulder and glared at her mentor. Mr. W grinned slyly, one of his more charming features. He always seemed to be in a good mood. Then again why shouldn’t he be in a good mood? He was rich, handsome, happily married, and able to kick someone’s ass without blinking. Even though she hated to admit it, Jen was a little jealous of his life. What she knew about it, anyways. Before a few weeks ago Mr. W had just been a mysterious old man that had trained her from afar, but now she knew the truth. He was a man named James Kato and wasn’t really all that old. In fact, he was pretty hot.

“It’s because you let your anger get the better of you. All the time.” Mr. W said, ignoring Jen completely. Sitting down on the hard mats of the dojo he crossed his legs and motioned for her to do the same. Sighing loudly to show how much she despised sitting quietly Jen sat down across from her mentor and took a deep breath.

“And to think most people say I’m a calm and balanced person.” Jen jibbed, grinning devilishly at him. Mr. W seemed to be the one person in the world she couldn’t goad a reaction from. He wasn’t ever haughty about his abilities, he just stated facts.

“Most people are idiots,” Mr. W stated factually, closing his eyes. “I’m not most people.”
Silence filled the cavernous dojo and eventually Jen closed her eyes as well. If she concentrated hard enough she could just make out sounds from around the house attached to the training room; Rachel, Mr. W’s wife, singing quietly in the kitchen, the waves crashing against the shore just next to the beach house, a soft whirring as the air-conditioning hummed to life. It was all very peaceful, so much so that Jen almost lost herself in the sounds.

The next moment she was pinned to the ground, her arm locked painfully against her back, and her face grinding into the coarse mats. Mr. W’s grip was firm, unbreakable.

“That’s not fair!” Jen grumbled angrily.

“What? That I’m better than you?” She could hear the arrogance seeping from his voice. Her blood boiling Jen felt an intense energy building up inside her, warming her entire body. Letting go of her arm Mr. W stood and she let the power slowly die down inside her. Pushing herself up into a seated position she kept her eyes on the ground.

“You can’t blast away all of life’s problems. You know that your powers are emotionally triggered and anger is the most intense emotion in the world. Second only to perhaps hatred.” Jen looked up and caught a flicker of emotion cross her trainer’s face. He was speaking from experience, like he always did.

Letting out a deep breath Jen nodded and stood. She didn’t think she had anger issues, but if she did it was probably best she handled them here and now. Mr. W, after all, seemed to be the only person in the world who was ever able to handle her explosive powers. She could potentially kill someone else by complete accident, and if that happened she’d never forgive herself.

“Letting go of anger is never easy, but if you overcome it then the world opens up to you. You’ll find that you’re capable of more than you ever anticipated. Anger is a destructive force, don’t let it get the best of you or you will always fail.” Mr. W made his way across the mats towards the door. Obviously the lesson was done for the day, but Jen wasn’t quite ready to call it quits just then. She wanted to know one thing.

“Who did you kill?” Her and her big fat mouth. Sometimes she just couldn’t leave well enough alone. What kind of student asks their teacher something like that? A stupid one. Mr. W froze, not turning around to face her.

“The men who murdered my parents. The man who bound my wife to a wheelchair. Many people. Some of them had families, friends, pets, and lives. I killed them because they deserved it and that’s what I will keep telling myself that because it’s better than dwelling on should haves and could haves.” With that said he left the dojo, the door slamming shut behind him. Standing alone in the large, empty room with Mr. W’s final words ringing through the air Jen felt like she was missing something. Everyone seemed to “get” life, everyone but her.

New York City Present Day

After everything she’d been through in her life, all the death, fear, hatred, and anger Jen figured she could relate to Felix’s situation on some level. Though she’d never been as low as he was now, she couldn’t deny that there had been times when things looked so bleak that it felt like she was being smothered. Luckily for Jen she’d always had someone to bail her out of those terrible times. There had been Ben, then Lily, and of course always Mr. W. Maybe she should recommend her mentor to Felix. Couldn’t hurt.

Pulling himself shakily off of the ground Ferro had to lean against the wall to keep from slumping back down again. Jen wanted to move to help him, but restrained herself. This was the moment where he had to decide for himself if he was strong enough.

“I’ve made machines that can travel through time, and even across dimensions, and I’ve seen millions die in the fires of war. I wasn’t able to change any of the outcomes, so what makes you so special? And even if I did agree, what use would I even be to your cause?” Ferro spoke as firmly as he possibly could and looked to Jen. She didn’t bother trying to hide the disgust on her face. How could he just give up like that? What was wrong with him? Only a few months ago she had been moping around mumbling the same sort of thing, but she’d been able to pull herself together. There was no way she was that much stronger than he was. He could pull through this. For a moment it looked like he was about to change his mind.

“I’m broken and useless.” He said finally, tears welling in his eyes. Jen felt her hope shatter instantly. “If you want proof of that then watch me try to get back to my apartment.”

How could he have become so pathetic? Beside herself with anger she watched the limp and broken man that had once been her friend. She had feelings for him, dammit. Why was it she was always attracted to the messed up guys?

“You know what? Go right ahead. If you want to throw your life away because things have gotten a little hard, then fine. Be a big goddamn baby. Go cry and sulk and get all nostalgic about how things used to be!” Jen felt her power surging, getting that extra burst from her emotions. Her fingertips sparked and a thrilled tingle flew up and down her spine. “Do you want to know why life keeps beating you? Because you let your anger get the better of you. You hate yourself, that much is obvious, and it will destroy you. Slowly and painfully.” Next to her a garbage can crashed into the wall as it slowly disintegrated, the energy flowing into her chest. Her hair billowing out around her Jen felt hot tears stinging her harsh, glowing eyes. Coming from her, Mr. W’s words didn’t hold as much intensity as she’d hoped and standing in her blue cotton pyjamas she was sure she didn’t look that threatening either. “Letting go of anger is never easy, but if you overcome it then the world opens up to you. You’ll find that you’re capable of more than you ever anticipated. Anger is a destructive force, don’t let it get the best of you or you will always fail. And I know you don’t want that!”

Only too late did Jen realize how much power she’d built up. Her heart pounding, a cold sweat running down the back of her neck, Jen felt the hair on her arms stand on end. A blue light flashed from her chest and expanded around her body, lifting her off the ground.

Before she could stop herself the energy exploded from her body, blasting out in every direction. The brunt of the discharge was sent Felix’s direction, but the entire alley seemed to shudder under the power. With a low rumble the buildings began to collapse into themselves, bricks cracking into powder.

Drained completely Jen dropped to the ground in a heap. Blood trickling from her nose, the light began to fade until she had blacked out completely.

New York, New York 
Back Alley Near Felix Black's Apartment 
Present Day

Stryke shifted into a more comfortable position. With his hands crossed and his legs spread apart, he looked like a modern day general looking at his unit. The hovering ball Revert was in front of him. He looked calm, cool, and collected. Outside he seemed like a stone golem, watching curiously. Inside he had a torrent of emotions from fear to courage. He was desperately uneasy. The future was going to be grim according to Revert. Yet, he had an important role in this future. He still did not understand his importance; however, this role made him feel fear and cautiousness. From the unknown though, he had a sense of courage and fearlessness. He wanted to go to the future and save it; he wanted to be a savior. He wanted to redeem his, and everyone else', future. That was part of the reason why Stryke felt uneasy. The other part was the orb that was floating in the air. Revert, in his technological glory, was a curious thing to look at. Stryke's eyes always peered towards the orb; the astonishment always returned to his face. The robot was headstrong, a flaw that he also had. Stryke was befuddled with amusement at the orb that acted like him in a way. It however, brought many questions that disturbed him. Why would he have built a robot reflecting him anyways? What was the reason to give the robot the ability to have emotions and choose opportunities? Even more so, Stryke found it strange he would make the robot use the same voice. Was his future self trying to explain something, or inadvertently show him something of importance?
 
 They'll be reluctant. Let's just get this over with, and just go to the future already! Stryke expected a forceful resolution. One exactly like the confrontation with Jennifer Micheals to cut to the chase. However, Revert was playing things out slowly. Without knowing the machine's motives, Stryke only assumed that the orb was waiting for something to happen. With the ultimatum delivered, Stryke looked from the hero Light Bright to the drug addicted Ferro Vida. The doubts within him were unimaginable; they weren't the top-line merchandise, especially when anyone else could have been chosen. Still, Stryke knew he was just along for the ride.
 
 “Count me in,” Stryke looked towards Jennifer Micheals surprised. There was no hesitation in her voice, no reluctance, not even any form of fear. She was willing to put her life on the line to change this future that Revert preached about. Stryke tallied a few points in his head for respect to her. Good, that's one down. Let's see the other one talk. 
 
 “I’ve made machines that can travel through time, and even across dimensions, and I’ve seen millions die in the fires of war. I wasn’t able to change any of the outcomes, so what makes you so special? And even if I did agree, what use would I even be to your cause?” Stryke became enraged. This drug addicted boy was nothing more than a lost soul. There was no need to add him in this conquest; he would just be dead weight that would be dropped later. Revert might have missed something, because Stryke could only see a failure and a man who didn't want to at least try! The loser of our world, willing to stay here and watch the world burn and plummet to an abyss.“I’m broken and useless.”
 
Strike that, the loser of this universe... and the failure of all mass. More proof of the uselessness of this Ferro Vida character. He had already given up, and was just waiting to die. He was becoming a bum, a whelp to society. Stryke knew this guy could bring himself back to some sort of glory, but Stryke also knew that Ferro didn't want to. There was no point pondering about here.  “If you want proof of that then watch me try to get back to my apartment.”
 
"Stop whining you baby! Goddammit, let him die here." Stryke was done hearing Felix Black's irritating voice. He didn't want to go, so let it be. Stryke wasn't going to convert him into a new direction; he wasn't the Pope for god's loving sake.
 
Then he heard Jennifer's voice. He smiled in absolute amusement. She was literally tearing Felix apart. Dissecting his manhood slowly before throwing it to the floor and stomping on it. It brought a smile on his face to see someone else do the talking and literally just take it out on someone like the drug addict in front of him. Anyone can make a comeback, they just choose not to. Eventually people get to a point of no return, and Felix Black was going right in that direction. His smile faded when he saw her be enveloped by light. From her chest protruded a blue light similar to the blast he had been hit by before. As it expanded over her body, she began to lift into the air. Her body hovered, and then a flashing light. He thought he was dead. The flashing light blinded him.
 
After a few seconds he heard a faint bird chirp. Stryke opened his left eye, and looked around. The sky was a putrid light red. The clouds were white, but they were slightly discolored. There was a blue bird on his chest, and a decimated wooden cabin behind it. The structure was still intact, but half the roof was gone. One wall was in broken pieces the size of basketballs. The glass that had filled the windows was all over the ground around squares. With his right eye open also, Stryke got up into a sitting position. The bird flew off into the air, and then disappeared.
 
 The orb flew in front of Stryke's face, and then it stopped abruptly. The red eye lit up.
 
"Follow me," the light dulled."I'll explain on the way."
 
Then it turned on a dime, and began floating towards the destroyed structure some three hundred yards away. Stryke got up hesitantly as he surveyed the area a little more. There were a lot of trees around, it seemed like this was in the middle of nowhere. Fast walking towards Revert, Stryke began to get a full explanation. As he did, the cabin got closer and closer. 
 
"The sky is probably the first difference you noticed, right?" Revert turned around so that the eye was viewable. Yet he still continued in the same direction, like walking backwards."The dictator of this world uses new models of Sentinels. The first one he had was a Sentinel 6, and then he's slowly began to manufacture more humanoid like Sentinels in order to infiltrate those against his 'kingdom.’ The manufacturing buildings produce a lot of harmful chemicals that are eating away the O-Zone.”

Revert stopped. “These people against this dictator are what you call rebels. For the people here though, they are the hope of our future…Until now. These underground rebels have been greatly diminished, but consist of a lot of the remaining heroes and villains of this planet. There is an underground entrance here, built by you before you left for New York."
 
Stryke was before the structure. As he walked in through what was supposed to be the door, he found the inside to have only a couch inside. It was on the brink of falling apart. The floors were just brown earth."This is an entrance to an underground base?" Stryke kicked the couch, “This is just a trash bin!" Turning around to face the robot, he looked at Revert's red eye which was bright red."This is it...So shut it dumb ass, look behind you." 
 
"Well you're quit a talker aren't ya machine, and your friend here is quite an idiot." Stryke half-turned to see the bud of a sawed off shotgun placed in between his forehead. A man was holding the weapon, and his right eye was closed while he left eye was near the weapon aiming. He looked about nineteen. The couch was missing, and two other men were standing in the place it had been. The second man walked off towards the entrance that Stryke had walked through. Holding his shotgun, he peered out, looking at the sky. The third held his shotgun towards the ground and curiously looked at the orb floating in the air. The man with a gun to Stryke's face looked over towards the entrance waiting for a response from the second man. "It's cleared boss, no Sentinels out in the sky." 
 
Nodding the man holding the shotgun looked back towards Stryke. His voice was deep and raspy, as if he had seen a lot of battle and a lot more of death."You're intruding, and what the hell is the orb floating behind you?" Stryke took a step back and fully turned. "You're making a mistake boy, don't mess with me."
 
It seemed the man finally got a good look. His eyes shot wide open, and he lowered his weapon."This isn't possible...you're dead!"
 
Stryke looked at him with a frown."Last time I checked, I'm a living being here." 
 
"You are Ethan Luke Point of POINT Industries, right?" 
 
"Yes," Stryke raised his left arm."How do you know that?"
 
"I'm Edward-,"the man saw Stryke's movement and then immediately raised his weapon."Don't do that... Your concussive blast would be wasted."
 
Stryke, lowering his arm, became curious."How did you know what I was going to do?"
 
Edward looked at him and lowered his weapon."I'm Edward Point."

"Funny you say that, because you aren't related to me then." Stryke stated strongly.
 
"You don't know me becau-"
 
"Hurry up now, won't you," Stryke cut him off.
 
"Never mind, but you need to come below the surface. Staying up here to long, especially in Montana, is dangerous." Edward Point turned, and hesitantly Stryke followed. The man near the entrance came back to where the couch had been, and Edward followed in suit. Stryke stopped abruptly, and turned around. "What are you going to do, Revert?"
 
"I got to go get the addict and that find young beauty... I've left the time continuum for too long and need to get them."
 
Stryke sighed."So leaving me here with these guys, huh?"
 
Revert's red light lit up."Yes, yes I am you idiot. I trust these people."
 
Stryke turned around and then stopped in the piece of ground the couch had been. Right when he stopped, the ground began to lower. Slowly they were brought down to another level below the house. The ground stopped lowering, and then the three men got off. Stryke followed, and then from somewhere the same couch was put back in place. The ground rose, and then the light from the outside was gone. Electrical lights were in place, but this underground area was poorly lit. Stryke could however, see tunnels leading to other areas. This was a underground facility more than anything. 

The two men put their shotguns on racks near similar weapons, and Edward Point did the same thing. The two dispersed into different tunnels. Edward however, turned around and looked at Stryke. Now, in the poor lighting, he thought he could see a resemblance. After a few moments he shrugged that idea off and then spoke, initiating a conversation."What?"
 
Edward looked at him, “I’m your son..."
 
Stryke stumbled back. His eyes widened and his mouth opened up. "You...You...Can't be!"
                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                     ***

Above ground, Revert disappeared in a flashing light. With Stryke safely in place, he needed to get his other chess pieces and start the game. Appearing back in the trash strewn ally he looked at the destruction Jennifer Micheals had caused. She was lying on the floor, and Felix Black was over her with his hands to her chest. Revert sped forward and then stopped near them. "Felix Black, stop being a pervert," the robot said jokily."That rack she got there isn't to be abused."Revert quickly scanned Jennifer, and then the circle lit bright red."She'll live, probably be out for a while, but she'll live." 
 
Revert heard sirens, and they were becoming louder and louder. Zipping away from the two life forms, his "eye" lit up again. "We have to go."
 
In a quick flash of light, the mass of the three people disappeared. When the air was returned to a normal state, they were gone and only a destroyed alley remained. They reappeared in the same place that Revert and Stryke had appeared. There were a few discrepancies. The sky was darkening and the clouds were dispersing. The trees were beginning to shake from the wind naturally coming in but were beginning to still. And in a hole in one of the trees a blue bird sat, watching everything happen. It didn't understand what was happening, but it began chirping in a rhythmic tune.

 "Pick her up Felix. We're going towards that cabin. Follow."  Small words and small sentences for a small brain. After all, being a drug addict can do a little bit more than you expect.

Felix counted the number of compressions to himself as he worked. After thirty she still hadn't responded; he leaned in to give her another three breaths when a blinding light appeared before them. The floating orb was there but the other man had disappeared. Before Felix even had a chance to think it had begun speaking yet again. "Felix Black, stop being a pervert,"He could hear the jovial tone to its voice, but the fact that this machine would make Light of the fact that Jen was injured infuriated him. "That rack she got there isn't to be abused." His face turned scarlet and for a brief moment he contemplated giving it a jolt: nothing big enough to destroy it, just enough to cry its voice box. The thought passed, though, and the robot eye lit up as it scanned her still figure. "She'll live, probably be out for a while, but she'll live." The rush of relief that passed over him was quickly numbed by the sound of approaching sirens. Over the last three weeks there had been thirty-two rapes and fifty muggings in that neighbourhood, not counting the events that he had stopped, and every time the police hadn't shown up until it was much too late, if they did at all. But as soon as there's the possibility of a terrorist bomb threat they make record time. It was sickening. "We have to go." Felix opened his mouth to protest, but remained silent has he looked down at Jennifer. If she was willing to try, then he would too. Besides that, he didn't trust the man or the floating orb enough to take care of her while she was unconscious.
 
A blinding light surrounded them for a moment, and when it dimmed Felix found that they were in a land that looked like a depiction of the rapture. The sky was the colour of deoxygenated blood, and the clouds looked like rips of cotton from an old, worn out blanket. In the hollow of one of the few trees that stood among the ruins there was blue bird, its keen eyes never leaving them for a moment. A chill breeze picked and Ferro felt a shiver run down his spine; for many it would be hard to believe that one man could cause so much destruction, but Felix knew from experience that it was all too possible. The rhythmic chirping of the tiny, feathered creature seemed completely out of place in the otherwise desolate setting. "Pick her up Felix. We're going towards that cabin. Follow." Ferro caught the condescending tone of his voice, but elected to keep silent as he reached down and wrapped one arm around her lower back and wove the other underneath her legs, lifting her up and letting her weight rest against his body. There would be time soon enough to prove his worth to the machine.
 
"The sky is probably the first difference you noticed, right? The dictator of this world uses new models of sentinels. You know those big robots that hunt mutants. Well the places that build them are destroying the atmosphere. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" While he was rapidly growing tired of being talked down to by a glorified PC, Felix merely nodded. If what the robot told him was true, then whoever the ruler was had access to some of the most dangerous technology imaginable. They were just approaching a modest building, a shack even, when Ferro finally spoke up.
 
"You're wrong about the atmosphere. It looks like its being detroyed, but it's really healthier than it has been in hundreds of years." He kept his voice as neutral as possible.
 
"Wha-" The orb stopped in mid air, obviously befuddled by the sudden development.
 
"There are machines making the sky appear the way it does. Probably to make any rebels lose hope. I can sense the electrical currents powering them all over this planet. Even if I couldn't, just take a breath: the air is clean." Felix stepped into the building as he spoke the last sentence, leaving the orb outside to puzzle over what it had just heard. Inside the modest structure was a single, worn, red couch against the far wall. As Felix stepped towards it the sound of a firearm being cocked came from beside him. Felix whipped around to see a rather large man who looked to be in his mid-thirties aiming a sawed-off double barrel twelve gauge at him.
 
"Lay the chick down on the ground and I won't hurt ya too much." His gruff voice barely managed to hide a strange glee that seemed to bubble up inside him; this was probably the first time he had seen someone of the opposite sex in quite some time. Felix didn't move a muscle as he starred down the large man, who was quickly losing patience. "You stupid or somethin!? Put her down now!" The gun-toting pervert began moving towards them, aiming the barrel of his weapon at Felix's head in an attempt to avoid damaging what he was after. As soon as the man came close enough, though, Ferro's head flew forward and collided with his skull, causing a dull cracking sound to rip through the air; as the man dropped to the floor like a sack of bricks, the sound of gears turning and an alarmed voice crying out cause Felix to turn again.
 
"Richie!" Three men also carrying shotguns had appeared in the spot the couch had been a moment before; the one who was speaking bore an uncanny resemblance to the man that Lightbright and the orb had first appeared with. The three newcomers raised their weapons and took aim at Felix as they encircled him, one of them checking Richie for a pulse.
 
"He'll live as long as he doesn't try to touch her again." A subtle undertone of rage could be detected in his voice, enough so that all three men cocked their guns at the slightest sign of movement. Ferro shifted his body so that he covered as much of Jen as possible; he tensed every muscle in his body to twist around and take an early shot, or to create a shield around her still figure.
 
"Alright, knock it off all of you!" The orb came floating in, its eye glowing brighter than ever. "Tell your men to stand down, Edward. These are the two that I left to find." Reluctantly, Edward lowered the barrel of his weapon and signalled for his allies to do the same.
 
"Dave, help Richie to the infirmary." The man closest to the unconscious pervert took lifted his limp around his shoulder and picked up his weapon in his free hand; he heaved the massive figure over to the spot where the couch was supposed to be. The other two men and the orb quickly followed.
 
"Come on then, you idiot. We haven't got all day." Keeping his eyes on their weapons, Felix hugged Lightbright closer to his body as he stepped onto the slightly discoloured rectangle. As he came to a stop, the area on which they stood began to slowly move down, revealing a whole other section below the small house. Florescent tubes ran along the ceiling, casting a dim light on the cavernous room. There was some modest furniture here and there; several well stocked weapon racks near the lift, with tunnels leading off in all directions. As they came to a stop Dave and the other man began carrying Richie off down one of these, while Edward replaced their weapons in the empty spaces on the racks and took a seat on one of the old couches that littered the room. On one of the other ones sat the man that had been traveling with the orb, a stupefied look plastered on his face. Stepping off the elevator, Felix gently laid Jen down on another of the sofas, kneeling down next to her, concern etching his features.
 
"I can have someone look at her." It was Edward speaking. "We should take her to the infirm-"
 
"I'm not leaving her side," Felix interrupted him, his voice conveying to the rebel leader that the topic wasn't up for discussion. "Especially not when your men can barely control themselves." The atmosphere instantly changed to one of hostility. Edward got to his feet and stepped forward, his hands clenched into tight fists.
 
"I'm sorry about what happened, but if you keep insulting my men you might find yourself attracting the attention of a sentinel patrol." His voice was low and threatening. It sounded like Edward would die for his soldiers before he let anyone badmouth them. Felix didn't even bother looking up from Jen as he replied
 
"We already have." The entire room fell silent for a moment that seemed to last forever.
 
What are you talking about?" Edward's eyes had widened and a wisp of fear could be heard in his voice. This time Ferro looked directly at him as he spoke.
 
"Think about it. If someone was actually able to take over the world, then they would need to have some pretty hardcore tech to even have a chance of beating all the heroes. Maybe even the kind of tech that would alert them to the energy signature created by a time jump." Felix glanced at the orb for a second before continuing. "Besides, he already knew you were here before that." Edward stepped back, a look of disbelief on his face. Felix simply gestured up at the lights. "He would probably have something to detect electrical activity. Besides, I've seen how fast sentinels can work, and less than sixty seconds after that flying rice-cooker reappeared in this time they would have been on you guys before you even had a chance, which makes me think that whoever is in charge of everything now has known about you for a while and either believes that you aren't a threat or has a plan for you." Felix could tell from the look on the rebel leader's face that he still didn't buy it. "You need more proof? Okay, answer this for me. When did blue birds evolve wireless cameras instead of eyes?" More silence followed as Felix returned his attention to Jennifer.  

Los Angeles 
The Home of Mr. W 
A Few Months Ago

Rachel and Jen sat in the kitchen of the beach house across from each other. One of Jen’s favourite things about visiting her mentor was having a little quality time with his wife. Rachel was an amazing woman with an even more impressive past and she always had some good advice for Jen. If anything she sometimes needed a female role model in her life, someone to talk to who could understand her problems on a better level.

“I know how he is sometimes, Jenny, but if you manage to put up with him just long enough you’ll be amazed by how much he’ll open up to you.” Rachel smiled and rested her hands on the table. Today’s gossip topic was none other than the fabled Mr. W himself. From the moment she’d arrived he had been incredibly harsh with her training, more so than usual. It was surprisingly draining. “You know how guys are. Takes them a while to open up.”

Jen nodded and glanced around the small kitchen. It was clean and glossy, like something out of a home improvement magazine. Nothing like the dump that was her home. That was another part of the reason she liked visiting Mr. W. Not only did he live in LA, on a beach, but he could afford a superbly luxurious life. Jen didn’t consider her-self shallow, but there was no way around the fact that she wanted something like what he and Rachel had. With Ben she’d been so close to having it too. Now her potential “happy ending” seemed forever lost.

“Tell me about it,” Jen returned Rachel’s smile half-heartedly, her gloomy thoughts getting the better of her. “Ben was never one to get overly emotional. In fact I think every guy I’ve ever known has been pretty closed off.”

“Get used to it, honey. Until you find that special one they all just seem like test dummies. With extra emphasis on ‘dummies’.” Rachel advised sagely. Leaning forward on her elbows she brushed a stray lock of red hair from her face and looked Jen directly in the eye. “I got lucky enough to marry my special guy on the first try, but chances are you’ll have to take a few chances. They won’t always work out, but sometimes it’s the one guy you least expect.”

Jennifer blinked back tears. Ben’s death was still so fresh that it felt like she was having her wounds torn open once again. This whole trip was supposed to be all about healing but she wasn’t naive enough to think that Rachel or Mr. W was going to be soft on her. They were, after all, both fighters which meant neither of them was good at being soft in the least bit.

“I guess I see your point.” Jen rested her head in her hands and let out a sigh. Just then the kitchen door swung open and Mr. W came in and looked at the women. An awkward silence filled the room.

“What?” He looked at each of them as he walked towards the table. Putting his hand gently on Rachel’s back he gave her a quick kiss and sat down.

There was no way around it. Jen felt a little jealous for what Rachel and Mr. W had, especially when she’d been so close to having it herself. Now that Ben was gone there was no way she would ever have it, no matter how hard she tried. Of that, she was certain.

Now

There were a couple of ways for her to realize none of it was real. First, everything was way too bright and shiny. Secondly, Ben Warrow was dead. So how was he standing in front of Jen at that moment? Truth was, he wasn’t. She knew that, that it was all a figment of her imagination. And yet she still started to blubber like a little girl when he wrapped his arms around her lovingly. Jen could hear his heartbeat, feel his warmth, and even smell his cologne (which was especially odd considering she’d thrown that terrible stuff away).

“I thought you’d left me forever.” She barely managed to choke the words out past her sobbing. It was pathetic. Jen honestly couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried so hard.

"Come on Jen... You didn't give up on me, so I'm not giving up on you..." Ben said pulling her in closer to him. His voice sounded distant, almost like someone else’s. She felt a sharp pain in her chest, like there was somebody crushing her. The weight on her chest had to be there for a reason. It was the same reason she couldn’t sleep at night.

“I did...” Jennifer shuddered, even in Ben’s warm embrace. “I did give up on you. You...died and I lost you again. I gave up. I’m so sorry.”

Jen felt a new wave of misery crashing down on her. She was a horrible person. No matter how much she tried to redeem herself, she always ended up harming someone she cared about. She lost everything that ever mattered to her. And she would keep losing everything until she was on her own again. There was no way Jen could manage that, not again.

“Jenny,” Ben pulled back from her and looked down into her eyes. He smiled at her and leaned in closely. “Moving on isn’t the same as giving up. I’m so proud of you because of your strength. You save lives, Jenny, and as long as you do that you will never give up on me.”

As he moved to kiss her there was a great flash of light and Jen felt like she was taking her first breath in hours. Her ears were ringing and her vision was clouded but she could make out a few voices and blurry figures. There was something about sentinel patrols and birds with cameras for eyes but everything seemed to simple smear together in an inconceivably convoluted piece of science fiction.

“Glorious dog farts!” Jen bolted up right, her head swimming. It was always the same when she returned to consciousness. She always had to spew up some nonsensical gibberish and make a complete special of herself. “Oh, god. Please tell me I wasn’t talking in my sleep...and that I didn’t say what I think I just said.”

Looking around she noted that the setting had changed drastically. And that everyone in the room was staring at her, some more intently than others. Feeling a little overexposed Jen crossed her arms tightly over her chest and tried to salvage her pride. There were a few familiar faces in the room, Felix, who was looking surprisingly better, and the weird guy from before. Of course that stupid little robot was still floating around with all the arrogance in the world. There was, however, another man in the room. He didn’t look much older than Jen, though a bit battle damaged. The man actually looked eerily similar to the orb’s minion.

“If you’re all done staring at me then maybe I could get some clothes or something. There’s a bit of a...draft.” Jen felt the heat rise in her cheeks and tried to avoid any direct eye contact. She really should have gotten dressed first thing that morning.

“We have a few spare things in the back.” The new guy offered graciously. He threw his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of a door.

“Thanks, uh...” Jen lifted herself off the couch and headed towards the back room, holding her PJ’s firmly to her chest. The man blinked as if he’d forgotten his own name.

“E-Edward.”

“Thanks, Edward.” With a feeble attempt at a smile Jen walked past him and into the room. It was dark and smelled vaguely of mushroom soup, but she needed some less revealing clothes. While she changed Jen let herself get lost in her thoughts. One of her best weapons was her uncanny logic. She could comprehend things a lot easier than the normal human, which allowed her to come up with a game plan quicker than most. Outside the door she could hear some people talking in hushed tones. Overhead the light flickered and water dripped onto her head. Stepping back out of the room Jen set down her blue pyjamas and observed now crowded room.

“So let me clear up a few things, boys. One, we’re in obviously in the future. That much is obvious from the living conditions and the tightly wound gun toting rebels.” Jen held up her hand and began counting her list off on her fingers. “Two, Eddie here, and Stryke was it, Are somehow related. You guys have similar build and hair tone. It’s kinda freaking me out, but whatever. Three, we’ve got a problem with sentinels and spying birds. And lastly, I left an eleven-year-old girl at home with no supervision and I would really like to get back soon, so the quicker we wrap this up the better.”

Taking a deep breath Jen put her hands on her hips and stared down every guy in the room. Except for the fat one that refused to make eye contact. Lily was a good girl and could very well take care of herself, but Jen wanted to be responsible and leaving the young girl to fend for herself didn’t qualify as responsible. The sooner she got back from the future, or whatever, the better. Besides, the little orb had practically dismissed her from the beginning. Obviously she wasn’t as damn important as Ferro or that Stryke guy. If she was just along as moral support then she could do that from her apartment back in her own time.

“It’ll take as long as it takes, missy.”That stupid orb was really starting to irritate Jen on a whole new level. “This is too important to rush things. First things first, we’ve got to—”

The ground shook so hard Jen found her-self suddenly thrown to the ground. A terrible thundering sound echoed around the cavernous room. Without some much as a word to each other Edward’s men scrambled around grabbing weapons from the rack against the far wall. Jen could barely hear a thing over the roar.

Then a giant metallic hand burst through the ceiling, a hand Jennifer recognized only too well. It was something she was taught to avoid at all costs as a small child. It was a sentinel and it was wrapping its cold fingers tightly around her.

With a whoosh the ground shot away and Jen came face to face with the giant robot. Dizzy from the sudden altitude gain she felt bile rise in her throat and tried to choke it back down.

“Target acquired. Traitor Jennifer Michaels apprehended. New objective set: return fugitive to Rocky Mountain Installation immediately.” Now Jen was having trouble holding down her puke. She didn’t want to go to any kind of “installation” in the mountains, but she was still too weak to use her powers. Thinking fast she came up with one failsafe plan.

“Find James Kato, Mr. W.” She wasn’t sure if they had heard her below, or if the sentinels would leave her alive, but if there was one person in the world she knew could help save the day it was Mr. W. Jen didn’t even consider that he might be dead, because frankly, she didn’t see it as a possibility. Besides, she just wanted to make sure everyone on the ground would be all right. After all, she could take care of herself just fine.

Helena, Montana 
2031, October 18 
Present Day

Stryke's mouth was gaped as he staggered backwards. This...This....This is my son. His left hand landed on a dirt wall plastered with plastic wrap, and he quickly hit the wall with his back shattering the wrap to plastic pieces. With his right foot lodged into the ground, he looked towards Edward. It can't be...true. I mean....I'm only a tad bit older than him, but he seems still a child needing guidance...Needing...A Father. His body was unmoving after that as he stared at the seemingly young son of his. This sense of shock was expected; finding out you have a son in the future can do that, it is not that easy to recover. This shock he had within him felt like being stabbed through the stomach. The cold edges running through him and then steadily leaving him in a state of sorrow and in panic. The blood trickling down his stomach as he squeezed for just knowing who'd done the deed. Does this mean...I'll find the woman of my dreams? So soon in my life? Why would he think of something like that? In this future, he should be worrying about living than a future wife. For a few moments he felt himself become more acute to the world around him. 

The giggles and laughter of children in one of the tunnels enlightened him in such a sorrow place. The laughter of men gambling together for a few candies was hilarious and the women watching with smiles as they folded clothes and put them in a warm spot not damp like the walls were. Even the baby crying a few tunnels down gave him a smile that there was something left to fight for. However, this boy in front of him had stolen his attention completely. Ethan Luke Point became incoherent; he couldn't hear the laughing or the giggling and not even the crying of the baby that had all attributed to giving him a smile of self-worth. This is my son...
 
His jovial, hard headed attitude went into hiding, leaving his face expressionless and his body almost limp. Stryke's legs felt like jelly, simply to wiggly to work properly. Although he had the strength to stand he still needed a comforting, dirt wall to keep him stably on two feet. Stryke's eyes were dulled, as if the life had been sucked out of him from behind. His tongue was stale from the utter intrusion on his 'know-everything before moving' mentality. The dampness of the base left a stench that he smelt for the first time. He felt absolutely dismal at this discovery. My son, and I can't stand to look at him. Literally. I was probably the worst 'Father' to this boy, yet he shows a childish love to me...

Stryke's eyes became lighter as his body became more controllable and the shock wore off. Edward Point hadn't moved a muscle, yet he was extremely tensed. His face was red with anger; almost as if he expected to be disappointed because of Stryke's inability to cope with having a son in a not-so-far-off future. Inside, Stryke knew he would have felt the same way. And this made him feel fear. They were so much alike, and so much the same. Their hair were the same color tone, they're masculine features were almost exact. It was sad to say otherwise, but he still couldn't decide to believe this boy. He is me, I am him. We have the same Point blood running through our veins. Denial kicked in. Edward barely looked of twenty one anyways, yet his body rivaled a professional Wrestler's not on steroids. Somehow though, it matched Stryke's masculine body almost to a tee. I... This isn't possible! No way, he's a liar!
 
 Stryke was completely honed on three words. 'I'm your son.' This future was a turning into a trial of future events. But he needed to get a hold of himself and see this through, he needed to Sheppard himself to whatever he needed to accomplish. One boy, even if related, couldn't stop him from that. Stryke slowly began to gain his composure. He felt his legs become strong, and he closed his jaw. His eyes reverted to a normal size, and then he pushed himself off his wall. His attitude and composure returned, his pale skin gave a new vibrant color that aroused his presence further.
 
"I'm not one to stay with a girl boy; this one must've been something!" He said in a cautious tone. Stryke put his hand on Edward's chin in a fatherly manner; however what he was doing was far from being fatherly. Inspecting his face for any evident features that he was in all actuality, his real son, Stryke slowly became a believer. Pushing Edward's head right, then left, and then forwards a few times he finally realized and accepted this kid was an almost miniaturized him. Stryke put his hand down and then looked into Edward's eyes."You are my son..."

  "Ya, you are my inspiration," Edward said casually amused as he relaxed."Your my old man, and you don't even remember!"
 
 Stryke laughed, "Well excuse me for being 'dead' for twenty years and having a problem with catching up! Not my fault I was pummeled, boy-o."
 
Edward narrowed his eyes, "You might be my old man, but you sure got a way of annoying people. Plus your only a few years older than me"
 
"I was about to say the same thing about you," Stryke said with a droll stare," You are after all, what I would call mini-me."
 
 
"More like an improved you."
 
Stryke plopped down on an empty couch, "More like a child."
 
Edward walked over to the elevator, "Jackass."
 
Stryke laughed in amazement. Edward was acting like him, but didn't even know it. It was like playing a basketball game with two equal players. Everyone was acting like him. But they weren't him. Even a damn robot could talk and act exactly like him; while also being different. "You are still the mini-mart of the mini-" Stryke was cut short as someone entered the room. He was slightly disappointed, as he wanted to ask where his 'wife' was and if she was even remotely alive at all.
 
A guard interrupted hesitantly, "Some damn people are upstairs again. Friendlies or not, we need to get up there before they catch to much attention." 
 
Edward glanced at his father, "Gotta protect the nest, right?"  With a turn of his head Edward took initiative quickly."Grab two others; I'll be joining you up there Gerold, so get your pansy ass moving." The guard, Gerold, turned onto his heel and crouched as he entered a tunnel."Yes sir!" Without looking towards his father, Edward grabbed a double barrel shotgun. In his hands, Edward held it like he had used it many times before. Cocking it open with expert mastery, he loaded four rounds.  Cocking the weapon to its former glory, he stalked towards the elevator. With everything secured and ready, he looked upwards with a stone face. The guard who had interrupted emerged from the tunnel he had gone through with two men, roughly in their thirties. They grabbed sawed off shotguns and formed a triangle formation around Edward. Gerold pressed a green button and then the elevator jerked upwards. Within seconds, the four men had dispersed from the area.
 
 Stryke was dumbfounded. Edward, barely twenty, was commanding people ten to thirty years older than him! No one was complaining, or trying to fight for power. They trusted Edward's decisions even if it got them killed. Somehow, Stryke saw that Edward had gained loyalty from everyone in the underground hideout. Stryke also knew that Edward held trust towards those in the hideout, making the reliability mutual. Each one of them would gladly risk their lives for him. In return, Edward would also. That kind of loyalty is what power is.
 
Minutes rolled by before the elevator returned. This time one of the men was brandished with a black eye, and he was unconscious. Two men, one Gerold, were carrying him away to the infirmary most likely. Felix Black had Jennifer Micheals in his arms, and she looked severely drained in her unconscious state. Revert floated over to Stryke, and then hovered over his left shoulder. Stryke was confused, and his dumbfounded face hadn't been 'put away' yet. Staying still, Stryke waited for someone to speak. Edward put the patrol's guns on the racks gently. In an attempt to make up for whatever the unconscious guy had done, Edward slowly approached Ferro Vida. 

"I can have someone look at her." Edward spoke with sincerity. "We should take her to the infirm-"
 
"I'm not leaving her side," Felix interrupted him, his voice conveying to the rebel leader that the topic wasn't up for discussion. "Especially not when your men can barely control themselves." The atmosphere instantly changed to one of hostility. Stryke sat as he watched everything unfold. His son quickly tensed, and began to ball his fists. Subconsciously, Edward's teeth were grinding together in annoyance and more so his face showed what Stryke had suspected before. The man trusted everyone in the underground facility; Felix was definitely crossing a line.
 
"I'm sorry about what happened, but if you keep insulting my men you might find yourself attracting the attention of a sentinel patrol." His voice was low and threatening. Edward's voice maintained his undying trust for every last soldier, child, and woman under his care and protection.
 
"We already have." The entire room fell silent for a moment that seemed to last forever. Edward narrowed his eyes skeptically, but slowly gained interest. Stryke's was done with expressions, so he simply returned to a appealing, cocky half grin.
 
What are you talking about?" Edward's eyes widened and a wisp of fear could be heard in his voice. Apparently, the boy hadn't thought they would be caught in this place for a while, especially since the future Stryke had said it wouldn't be found for fifty years. Stryke looked at Felix while Light Bright was still clutched tightly in his arms. Stryke could see more than protectiveness in Felix, there was something else behind his reason of holding onto her. She meant something to him, something more than a friend or an old ally. Stryke thought that Felix was in love with the girl. He was obviously close enough with the way he was gripping and growling towards anyone who came remotely close. Ferro Vida continued, this time he looked into Edward's eyes.
 
"Think about it. If someone was actually able to take over the world, then they would need to have some pretty hardcore tech to even have a chance of beating all the heroes. Maybe even the kind of tech that would alert them to the energy signature created by a time jump." Felix glanced at the orb for a second before continuing. "Besides, he already knew you were here before that." Edward stepped back, a look of disbelief on his face. Felix simply gestured up at the lights. "He would probably have something to detect electrical activity. Besides, I've seen how fast sentinels can work, and less than sixty seconds after that flying rice-cooker reappeared in this time they would have been on you guys before you even had a chance, which makes me think that whoever is in charge of everything now has known about you for a while and either believes that you aren't a threat or has a plan for you." Felix could tell from the look on the rebel leader's face that he still didn't buy it. "You need more proof? Okay, answer this for me. When did blue birds evolve wireless cameras instead of eyes?" More silence followed as Felix returned his attention to Jennifer.     
 
Everything happened quickly thereafter. Compromising with Felix, Edward was able to put Light Bright in a bedroom with four guards. Each one willing to take down any perverted man who was trying to get a 'peek' at the new meat. Stryke, Edward, and Felix stayed outside and sat silently with the hostility towards each other still in the air. After a while though, Edward went into the room to check on things. Felix made an impulse to follow him, but Revert stopped the action. This was when Revert chose to speak, and he spoke in a tone that showed him to be very annoyed.
 
"Felix Black, watch the tone when you’re around these guys. We've only seen the low-lives; we don't know what Edward's packing out back. Stryke, you've been pretty much useless the past...Hmm....." The robot continued."Hour or so! Anyways, you’re probably wondering why I brought you here, right? I could have whisked you all to this dictator, let you get killed, and then go back again and get a better strategy. However, that wasn't what I was planning." 
 
Revert began hovering around Felix Black."The game plan is to find out what our dictator here has as much as technology goes... You've already mentioned generators and shit, that opens a good opportunity for us. We need to know a lot more than just generators that mess with the sky, however they still are fundamental. I do have a way of helping elevate the rebel stance. Felix, the generators you mentioned... You know... those thingy's? Well we need to find them. We need to find the main one's and then lay a preemptive strike onto them. If we can knock those generators out, the sky will return to normal, and the morale for a lot of the rebel's on this planet will boost considerably. Why is this important?"
 
Revert left Felix and then moved to Stryke. Landing on his head it somehow managed to remain still.
 
"It's important because believe it or not, we need these guys. We need all of them....And all their support. Returning the sky will return the hope for a wealthier salvation and more fruitful future for these rebels. And we might just obtain some new members by doing it. As o-"
  
Done with hearing Revert, Felix walked off and opened the door to where Jennifer was. Stryke followed and closed the door behind him after Revert had made his way inside. They had great timing; a few minutes later Jennifer awoke, and she awoke very surprised. Relief overwhelmed Stryke as he sat in a chair. Looking over to Felix he could see the man was enlightened by seeing her wake up, and was even smiling at that awkward moment she was having with everyone looking at her.
 
As the men began closing in on her; Stryke could see Felix wasn't so happy anymore. Stryke wasn't happy either. Enough of the men were controlling their male instincts, however a few very intent people were watching very closely. 

"You three got extra cleaning duty, cleaning all the dishes for a good four weeks.  “So let me clear up a few things, boys. One, we’re in obviously in the future. That much is obvious from the living conditions and the tightly wound gun toting rebels.” Jen held up her hand and began counting her list off on her fingers. “Two, Eddie here, and Stryke was it, Are somehow related. You guys have similar build and hair tone. It’s kinda freaking me out, but whatever. Three, we’ve got a problem with sentinels and spying birds. And lastly, I left an eleven-year-old girl at home with no supervision and I would really like to get back soon, so the quicker we wrap this up the better.” 
 
Stryke nodded, "Yes, he's somehow my future son. Uncanny resemblance is because we're dire-"
 

“It’ll take as long as it takes, missy.”Revert said. Stryke could see how irritated Light Bright was, so he grinned jovially as he listened to the orb continue. “This is too important to rush things. First things first, we’ve got to—”
 
Within sheer seconds the ground began to shake, interrupting the robot. Everyone fell to the ground. Stryke was blinded, but as he opened his eyes he could see the debris that had accumulated over him. A blinding white light was flashed over the underground facility's room. With fear and hesitation, Edward's men quickly scrambled to grab weapons. Two however, ran off into the tunnels. Stryke thought they had abandoned everyone but as he saw through the tunnel, he could see that they were gathering up the women and children and putting them somewhere. Standing slowly back up he found Edward near him in a fetal position. He was obviously disturbed, his eyes were wide and he was sweating. Somehow Stryke could feel the boy looking into a past experience.
 
 Quickly crouching down, Stryke put his left hand on his son's back. The boy jumped up, and then noticing Stryke he regained his reign on the present. He grabbed a double barreled shotgun on the floor and then sat up."I'm....I'm sorry you had to see...." His voice dozed off when he gazed up at the hole in the ground that had been shielding all of them. Stryke also looked up, and for the first time he saw a massive figure. A humanoid silhouette that had to be at least ten to fifteen stories high. In its hand was the blond beauty Jennifer, and it looked very intent as it glared at her smaller body. Before he knew it, Stryke witnessed his son disappear into a tunnel. Left on the ground in amazement, Stryke reacted with a concussive blast at the object he suspected of being a Sentinel. The blast hit the robot's leg, but it did not stir. Instead the Sentinel's head looked towards Stryke. The colossus' free hand was immediately pushed in the general direction of Stryke. There was a large hole through the middle.
 
A blast ten times Stryke's own flew from the Sentinel's hand. The aiming was off, but the Sentinel didn't want a direct hit obviously. It hit the ground around Stryke, and he was thrown forty feet back into a wall. Like a rag doll he was thrust away. In the few moments he was airborne, Stryke felt morally insulted. Someone of power had been taken down so easily, so very easily. The ground broke into pieces over him as he crashed into it. Lying there, he felt one of his ribs broken. He put his arm to the left side of his chest and grimaced in pain. "Friggin, this Sentinel packs a punch!"  As he glanced up the robot fired another shot, it hit him and pushed him into the wall further. His body was torn; he felt half the bones in his body simply being broken. More debris crashed onto him, and the weight wasn't helping his pain. Is this the end?, he asked himself with a sly smile. Then the world around him blacked completely out. His body lye motionless this time, his only fear was a realization. Death was coming early it seemed. 
 
Revert had been under a large pile of rubble the whole time. Slowly it ascended from the debris. Emerging from under the rubble victoriously, the robot fell upon the destruction of the underground base. The robot scanned around and quickly saw the metal colossus. It stood tall, with a women in its hand it over looked the area with a strong defiance. More Sentinels were landing around the area and were attempting to apprehend a lot of the mutant rebels. Scanning further, Revert saw a wall caved in. Floating over to it, Revert's eye burned red. Stryke, motionless, was lying in the rubble and large debris. "These damn....I won't let another one die. Not when I have the choice of saving him, when I'm mobilized and able! He will not die!"
 
Turning around, the robot saw Jennifer Micheals squeal one last effort in saving herself from being captured. “Find James Kato, Mr. W.” Revert knew well enough that that obviously was a friend, however he didn't think a lot of her friends would still be around. The robot zipped forward at full speed. A few moments later he clashed with an arriving Sentinel. The two disappeared in a blinding white flash. Then the robot was back, this time with a newly-discovered vengeance. Revert challenged another Sentinel, and then teleported in a blinding white flash. 
 
Revert appeared again. The red dot on it was burning a searing crimson red. Somehow it was in war mode, and it was lusting for vengeance. Or more likely, Revert wanted to know what kind of wires and liquids Sentinels would bleed out when he was done with them. No one and nothing would ever touch Stryke with the intent to kill. Loyal to the end, the robot would die for him. With him possibly dead, there was nothing holding Revert from destroying everything in sight .Revert had the worst in his mind as he started a one-man assault against the robots that were coming. He counted about three down with his own attacks, and another four on the ground with five coming from the sky. This was about to get very bloody.
 
For those who are wondering, Revert was sending these robots into the center of the Earth. The molten lava was burning them upon teleportation, leaving Revert to quickly escape. It was a dangerous line to walk, but vengeance and anger and resentment can make that dangerous line a little wider.

Helena, Montana 
Cabin 
August 1, 2026

Eight Years Ago.....
 
"Go Edward! Run, run, and don't turn around." Edward's mother screamed as she dropped him into the tunnel that his father had built to protect them."Go as far as you can, the tunnels are huge and when you grow up you'll learn how to use the stuff daddy put in there.... Be the savior....." She whispered hesitantly as the lights shone brighter through the black curtains. "Wha-What-About you?" Edward asked scared as he looked up at her. Her face was filled with sorrow; she obviously didn't want to answer that question. There were loud noises, and bright flashing lights and even the ground was trembling. It had happened all so quickly. They were eating dinner at the dinner table, and then the lights went out. Right after that, bright lights had flashed on and had quickly surrounded the area. There was nowhere to escape but into the tunnels. He was so very, very afraid. His body was trembling as his mother began closing the latch."They came here for us, but I'll only give them me! Don't say a word, and don't scream...No matter what happens."  That last bit she said as the ground's trembling became harder to ignore. She closed the latch and then all Edward could see was his mother through a few slits in it.
 
She stood tall and without fear. Edward however, couldn't see the fact that she was biting her lip in anxiousness. The twelve year old boy was inspired, but the fear amounting inside him was overwhelming. Although a few minutes, it seemed forever as Edward watched his mother stand tall in the middle of the house. He wanted to jump out and hug her, but before he had decided there was a loud bang. The bang was actually the roof being ripped off by a large, metallic hand.
 
 Two red eyes stared down upon the inside of the cottage-like structure. Wanting to scream, Edward put his hand over his mouth and pulled away from the slits in the latch. With just enough room to see, he witnessed his mother being grabbed around her whole body besides her head by another free giant, metallic hand. With one arm holding Edward's mom and the other holding half the roof, the metallic 'man' stood up. Tossing away the roof with ease, the robot continued to search the home.
 
A bright white light erupted from the center of its head. Although seeing through slits, Edward was blinded. Pulling away from the latch he instinctively put himself into a fetal position. With his face buried in his knees, and his arms wrapped around his legs, he began to viciously shake in fear. His eyes were closed; he didn't want to see anything more. It was all so scary. To lessen his fear, Edward lowly hummed the song his mother used to sing to him. It cooled him down, it relaxed him. 
 
The tension in his body and the fear in his mind dissipated a little. He crawled into the tunnel further to find a room with a couch. Hearing the ground still shaking, he jumped onto the couch and wept. He cried for his mother, he cried for his father, he cried for everything he didn't tell them. He was alone; with the only option being dependence, he knew he was all alone. So very alone…
 
Before he knew it, he was unconscious on the couch sleeping. A few hours he awoke and jumped up. For a few moments he didn't know where he was, but as he looked around he realized what had happened and why he was in the tunnel he'd only seen once before. Crawling to the entrance of the area, Edward looked through the latch' slits. Half the roof was gone; some of the furniture was turned over. The TV was busted, part of the wall was in pieces of debris the size of 44' inch televisions, the pictures his mother loved where sprawled about over things. Some even had holes through them or had been stabbed by other furniture. T
 
he rugs were rolled into circles; the light bulbs were all busted. The kitchen was in ruins, and his bedroom was disintegrated. The only place left that wasn't destroyed was the wall around where the door had been. It was totally untouched, the pictures were aligned perfectly, and the lamps were placed on tables and hadn't budged an inch. Even a book was laid open on the page his mother had left off after reading 'Eragon' from the young author Christopher Paolini.
 
This was all that was left. No mom, no dad, just Edward Point and tunnels holding technology and a few pieces of furniture and artwork that was prized by his mother. Edward was alone and this was just becoming the beginning of a long, long journey. 
 
"Mommy...."
 
The boy emerged from the tunnel and walked around.
 
"Daddy...."
 
He stopped dead as a cold chill ran down his back. The sweat on his face began to pour down. His eyes dulled as if his hope and personality were gone.
 
"Am I.....Really alone?...."

Helena, Montana 
18 October, 2031 
Present Day 

 Edward ran through the tunnels he had built with blood, sweat, and tears like a speeding bullet. He avoided running into the other rebels, but still bust through those who wouldn't get out of his way. As long as he was around, no one would be taken by a Sentinel. Those who were innocent deserved no death; they deserved no punishment, they were lucky to be alive. They survived, but were still being hunted like ruthless dogs. This was infuriating to another level, and another reason Edward was so angry. Edward had his mission planned out; save Jennifer Micheals, someone who had been put into this world to save it. If it meant his death, so-be-it. He couldn't stand by and watch as Sentinels took her away. Not after...
 
No, through and through he was here to help. He had built this hideout to save any that he could. Disappointed at times, and even betrayed, he still was happy here. This was his home and the home of many others who were under his protection and guidance. Edward was going to trust himself to trust the newcomer Jennifer. He would save her, and even if he was disappointed he at least knew he saved a life. 
 
Emerging into a large corridor the size of four football fields he looked at three small ships. Advanced, they were built to speedily escape from a mess. Meant for battle, Edward had converted these ships into cruisers that could hold a mass amount of personnel.  Right now they were the transportation for the women and children who were frantically trying to escape the death that was to come.
 
Jumping onto the closest one, he yelled to the pilot who was helping people get in."Start the damn thing, we need to end this.... And I'm the only one with the magic fingers." With a shit-faced smile, the pilot turned and jumped into his chair." Will do, let's see how many of these boys you take out.....I'm bettin' about three at the least!" Edward laughed, however he was still ready to evacuate the people on the ship and also complete his mission. The sly smile on the pilot's face only furthered himself to want to complete the job. This was why he was here, to bring smiles and joy to those around him. This was the good fight.
 
 Taking on some stragglers before they left, the ship lifted straight up in a hovering position. The ship's hanger was closed manually by Edward. Standing by it, he was ready to jump off if he had to. With a few clicks from the pilot on his control panel the floor seceded away like a hanger door. The rebel ship lifted up and then turned on a dime quickly.
 
Faced towards the Sentinel with Jennifer in its hands, Edward grimaced as he saw the fear tint her face. The Sentinel began to take off. Edward felt his stomach drop. Strong as Jennifer was, he caught a glimpse of her fear. Not fear for what was to happen, but for what she didn't know would happen. "Turn this damn ship around; I'll open up the back!" As the pilot spun the ship around, Edward was simultaneously opening the hanger door. 
 
When the flying vehicle stopped, Edward didn't jump. Instead he made his way to the other end of the ship. With the shotgun still in hand, Edward turned and then ran forward. Sprinting twenty times an Olympic runner’s speed, he put his faith into his left foot. As it collided with the hanger door, he was pushed off of the ship.
 
Literally leaping through the air, Edward pushed the shotgun up to his chest and then fired a round towards the Sentinel. The bullet hit straight in the metal colossus' forehead. After that though, the gun flung away from Edward's body. Whilst in midair, Edward collided with the Sentinel's neck. With Jennifer looking at him, Edward held onto the Sentinel and then pulled off a black glove on his left hand. With his bare hand viewable he put it onto the Sentinels' neck. Like clockwork the metal began disappearing. The neck was halfway gone before Edward jumped off and slid down the Sentinels' chest with his gloved hand on it. As he came to the metal colossus' legs he put his bare hand onto the right. Before he knew it, the appendage that was holding the leg to the main body was gone. With a strong jump, Edward jumped onto the Sentinels' left leg. Clenching it, the metal slowly disintegrated. Three stories in the air, the Sentinel lost it's ability to of flight. It quickly dropped to the ground, but not before Edward and the leg he was holding fell. Closing his eyes, Edward could see his mother. 
 
The air that was rushing by his ears didn't bother him. What did was the disturbing picture his mind painted of him watching his mother before she was taken away. Oh how he wished that image would leave. But it wouldn't, and it had wormed his way into his soul, his heart, and his mind. Whenever he would dream, he would dream of the day his life was destroyed. The day his mother was taken and the day he unknowingly knew his father was dead and he was all alone. It was a constant reminder of why he didn't want others to have to feel alone like him. Never knowing what would have happened if he'd laid his bare hand onto the Sentinels' death grip. That always nagged inside him.
 
Seconds flew by before he hit the ground. Edward was thrust quickly away as the collision caused a lot of fracturing in the metallic leg. Pushed some twenty feet away, Edward rolled a few more until he halted on his stomach. Looking up he spat the dirt and mud out of his teeth and brushed away the same from his face. Damn... He would need a bath soon, and probably would need to wash and brush his teeth. Yet there were still a lot of Sentinels left, and the cruisers were gone. Jennifer had most likely survived the three story fall. Edward had to much adrenaline in him to go find her, instead he looked around. Some of the mutant rebels had stayed to help, but those who stuck out where Ferro Vida and Revert...
 
Edward panicked. Where was his father? Scanning the battleground, over destroyed and dismantled Sentinels and vicious fighting mutants. There.... His father was there. Debris were piled over him, and only his face, his arms, and some of his chest were showing. He was motionless and dug pretty deep into the hole. Edward's heart skipped a beat. Was his father... 
 
"He can't be... Not again!" Edward rushed forward and sprinted towards his father. A flashing light stopped him. Revert was there before him, with a gleaming crimson red dot. The voice spoke menacingly intimidating. "We need to finish these Sentinels before we start helping others, get a man to help guard him until then. Right now we need you and your abilities in this battle!" The robot twisted around as if to look to Stryke for guidance. "Go..." The robot said as it turned around and vanished in a bright light.
 
A mutant nearby rushed towards Edward. Out of breath, he put his hand on his thighs and relaxed for a moment through all the chaos."What...Do you need?" 
 
Edward looked at him with a droll stare."Stay here and guard the man that's underneath that rubble... He's very important to me and that means he's important to you.... So don't let anything else happen to him." Yes, Stryke was very important to him. More important than his own life. He would kill to talk to his father and he had been fortunate enough to meet the man that had died in New York twenty sum years ago.
 
The mutant rebel looked at him."Will do...Go get 'em cowboy."
 
With one more look at his father, Edward rushed off."The first two are for your help!"

Los Angeles Present Day

Sweat dripped down his forehead and into his eyes, stinging badly. Ernie blinked and dragged his sleeve across his face. He was shaking from the adrenaline and nerves, and the darkness of the back road didn’t help any. The bleakness of night had been his friend when Ernie had started robbing the rich suckers that lived in the Hills and when he’d shot the one old guy that had seen his face, but now it was being used against him. Now, Ernie swore he heard footsteps and saw shadowy figures everywhere he looked. The thing is, Ernie was screwed the moment he messed up and pissed him off.

Lurking just out of sight James smiled to himself. He loved the fear he inspired. Every jerk in the city knew his name and whispered in the dives and back alleys. You couldn’t buy better publicity. And the moment that publicity was paying off.

“Just turn yourself in and I won’t have to beat you to a bloody pulp. It’s really that simple.” Rumor dropped down from the shadows in front of Ernie. The thief fired at him madly, but James dodged the bullets easily. “You know, I’m missing quality time with my wife for this. At least try and put up a fight.”

The vigilante closed in on the dumbass crook and the fight was over almost instantly. It was really pathetic that James had been reduced to wailing on no-name thugs. He’d gone by tons of names and had a different reputation for each. James Kato was his guise, the business man happily married and gladly giving his money to non-profit organizations. When he was training new heroes he went by Mr. W, a name used only for the fact that, hey, it’s easy to remember. Shadow had been the name taken on to fool the six ancient ones in order to join their ranks and bring about his vengeance. That led to Dark, a name which he’s held on to for years. He took on Tiger Fist when he was infiltrating an underground cult in LA. The newest addition to his collection was Rumor, a vigilante who was named after the very thing that garnered his fearful reputation. They were all more than just names, however, they were facets of who he was and perhaps even who he was meant to be. The fact of the matter was, James was almost too good at taking on new personas, eerily so.

Leaving the loser tied to a lamppost Rumor whistled to himself as he started back up the road. He needed to change into his spare clothes and get home before Rachel began to question his whereabouts. He’d already had too many close calls that month and she was too good a sleuth to stay in the dark much longer. Just then his cell rang.

“Where the hell are you?” Speak of the devil. Rachel sounded annoyed more than anything which was good. James could deal with annoyed. Angry was harder to handle, especially when it was fairly late at night.

“Sorry, I decided to work late at the office. Had some stuff to tie up with that whole Point Industries thing.” Sounding cool and calm as ever James pulled off his mask and entered the alley where he’d dumped his spare clothes. “What’s the emergency?”

“Lily called. Something big happened and Jenny’s...gone.” Rachel’s tone quickly changed to one of distress. She’d always had a bad feeling about leaving Jen and Lily to fend for themselves even though James assured her it was a growing experience for both of them.

“Call Stewart and tell him to prep the jet. I need to get to New York immediately.”

Los Angeles 2024

It wasn’t like James to get upset easily. He was a calm man, prone more towards thinking things through completely before acting. Rachel was the same way. The problem was none of his pupils seemed to ever consider the consequences of their actions until it was much too late. That was how it had always been with young Jennifer Michaels. She always dove headfirst into trouble without even trying to assess the situation in the least. Jen had always been one of his most promising students and he had to admit he had a father like affection for her, but sometimes it felt like that girl went out of her way to piss him off.

“You can’t possibly think I’d consider joining on to this...cause of yours.” James crossed his arms over his chest and stared down his student. She wasn’t a little girl anymore and she had never been easy to intimidate, but it never hurt to spook your opponent every now and again. And if Jen was anything to him now it was his opponent. “I believe in justice and what you have planned isn’t justice. Not in the least bit.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes at him, something that he’d always found to be irritating. Next to him Rachel played with her wedding ring and avoided all eye contact. She had been running herself ragged the last couple of years, helping with the rebellion in secret. They both had. Ever since the tyrant had taken over the world James had exhausted his every resource trying to put things back the way they were, the way they should be. He was a man of honour and he planned to uphold his title at any cost, even that of his life.

“I figured you’d say that,” Jen said in a tired voice. She looked almost drained of life and lustre. If anything she wasn’t the woman James remembered. “But I figured I’d come to you first, try to sway you a bit. I owe you that much, after everything you’ve done for me, I guess I just wanted to give something back.”

Turning to leave Jennifer passed one last backwards glance at the two of them. Rachel swallowed her anxiety knowing that they’d been blacklisted for ventilation. She had no regrets, only anger left. After all she’d had her baby taken away from her all those years back during the insanity of the so-called “cleansing”. But no matter how much it hurt her, she kept the truth from her husband. There were more important things for him to attend to. James had to stay strong for the rebels in LA or everything they’d worked so hard for would fall apart.

“He’ll send them to kill you, you know that?” Jen looked from her past mentor to his handicapped wife. She felt a pang of remorse, but only for an instant.

“He’ll try.” James said boldly. If there was one thing he wasn’t afraid of it was death. He’d faced it too many times for it to have any hold over him.

Los Angeles 2031

James Kato, or Mr. W as he is sometimes known, had lost things dear to him over the years. His adoptive parents had been the first to die, and before them his birth mother. Then there was Rachel. She’d been killed right in front of him and there had been nothing he could have done. Now he was just some failed experiment, tossed aside and long forgotten. The drug they’d been testing on him, the M980, hadn’t had the right result so he’d been left with nothing except his new addiction. Even with his meditation and focus the drug had all but destroyed him mentally and physically. Try as he might to stay in shape and concentrate on tasks at hand, the M980 had destroyed him and left only a husk of a man. There was only one choice left to him.

“Is everything arranged?” James glanced over his shoulder at his trusted right-hand man, Stewart, his eyes as tired and worn as the rest of his body. He barely seemed able to focus on the man without squinting.

“I’m almost hurt that you should think you have to ask.” Stewart spoke in a hushed tone so that none of the other rebels would hear. If they learned the truth about what was happening with their leader their trust would be lost forever. “Of course everything is arranged. You’ll be in the Rockies by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”

Running a hand through his auburn hair James let out a tired sigh. He wasn’t one to give up the fight, but he had grown old. Being unable to age was one thing, watching the people you loved fade away, but when it meant that he would forever some godforsaken failure of an addict it was more a curse than ever.

“Good, but I’d like a quick stop over in Montana. Helena, preferably. There’s a base down there that I want to get familiar with. Ethan Point’s kid is handling it.” James let a whisper of a smile cross his face. Years back one of his board members advised him to try and buy out Point Industries in order to eliminate any competition. Boy was he glad that deal never got signed off on or they’d all be in trouble.

“You really want to see Edward Point? James, after all these years, you don’t owe him or his family anything.” Stewart, forever the voice of reason, knew that his argument fell on deaf ears. That never stopped him from trying, though.

“I’m the one that fed his mother all that garbage about him saving the world, Stewart. It’s my fault she died, my fault his whole family’s dead.” James clenched his fists, remembering the look on Aurora Point’s face when he told her that Edward would help to save the world. He’d made promises that he’d been unable to keep and that was the worst of it. If anything he didn’t handle failure very well at all.

“It was the drug. You never would have given away their position if...” Stewart saw his boss tense and shut up immediately. It was better not to bring up the past these days.

“You’re in charge until I get back.” James pushed his way through the heavy metal doors and into the dark night. Walking the short distance from the doors to the plane he couldn’t help but think how lucky he was in a perverse way. He’d managed to survive this long that maybe he was getting a little cocky. There was no way around the fact that James Kato was the best, but even the best have their failings.

Boarding the small stealth jet he told the pilot the plan and sat back in the ragged seat. The plane had once been a luxurious one, but now was only used for shuttling around rebels under the radar. The new world tyrant had good tech, but Kato/Brant Industrial had always been good at staying one step ahead of the competition. Still it would be a long trip to Montana and that gave James time to think, think about how he was going to repay his debts.

A few hours later James woke to someone shaking his shoulder. Blinking he looked up at the young pilot and yawned.

“We’re in Helena, sir.” The man’s face was a mask of terror. “And something big is going on outside, like, sentinel big.”

Without a word James shoved his way past the pilot and out of the jet. Outside metal and debris lay strewn across the ground. People were screaming and shooting at the sky as giant robots exploded and shot back. Over the roar of the battle James heard a familiar voice. Edward Point was leading the assault and he was doing a pretty good job. Until he jumped onto a sentinel and blew it up completely, sending him and another person falling to the ground.

"Stay here,” James told the young pilot. The last thing he needed was to have the only guy that could fly the jet killed in battle. “I’m going to see what I can do to help. We might not be going to Canada as soon as expected."
The pilot nodded and climbed back into the plane as James started to what seemed to be the center of the attack. If there was one way for him to make things right it would be by helping any injured people as best he could. And as luck would have it he stumbled upon one almost immediately. The familiarity of the face almost made him freeze in place. Ethan Point had been dead for a while...and old. But James was staring at the man clear as day. He didn't look like he was in the best of conditions at the moment. 
Kneeling down next to Ethan he moved away some of the rocks that lay atop his broken body. "I don't know how you're here, Ethan, but if you die on me I swear to god I'll make your afterlife hell."

Despite his antics and the derogatory tone he took when speaking to Felix, Revert's plan was a good one; if they could restore the will to fight in humanity then the odds of winning the war that the time travellers now found themselves in increased exponentially. Felix knew that attacking weak point of the beast was the best idea. He also knew, though, that until he had learned whether or not Jennifer was well he wouldn't be able to focus on anything else. Which is why he walked off in the middle what he could only describe as a cross between a mission briefing and a tirade with the intent of returning to Jen's side. After entering th room he gave the door a passing shove to close it, only for Stryke and Revert to follow behind him. The machine no doubt planned to begin berating him again, but before it had a chance Lightbright shot upright, blurting out the phrase "Glorious dog farts" at the top of her lungs.  
 
 “Oh, god. Please tell me I wasn’t talking in my sleep...and that I didn’t say what I think I just said." Felix couldn't help but smile as he turned to see her crimson face, and it was all he could do to keep from breaking out in laughter, not because of what she said, but because it was either laughter or tears of joy. The fact that he had displayed the former rather than the latter was a good sign, especially given the bleak setting that they all now stood in. Suddenly his knees felt weak; it hadn't occurred to the hero just how tense he was until just then. Fumbling backwards, he fell back on one of the old couches just as Jen was leaving the room to change. He rested his face in his hands and moved them up, running his fingers through his dark-brown hair. Felix glanced over at Edward, the rebel leader.
 
"I'm sorry if I insulted you back there... And I won't insult you further with excuses." His still voiced trembled slightly from the release he had felt moments ago. Before any response could be given, though, Jen had reappeared wearing something much less revealing and had begun analyzing the situation using her uncanny logical abilities. It was a trait Felix had always admired in her; even in the most dire situations she was able to keep a perfectly cool head.
 
 “So let me clear up a few things, boys. One, we’re in obviously in the future. That much is obvious from the living conditions and the tightly wound gun toting rebels.” He nodded along as she went, a grin spreading wider and wider across his dry lips with each new point. “Two, Eddie here, and Stryke was it, Are somehow related. You guys have similar build and hair tone. It’s kinda freaking me out, but whatever. Three, we’ve got a problem with sentinels and spying birds. And lastly, I left an eleven-year-old girl at home with no supervision and I would really like to get back soon, so the quicker we wrap this up the better.” As she finished Felix felt like standing up and applauding her observational skills. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that the fat man who had greeted them above ground still hadn't made eye contact with her, which only served to fuel the fire the was rapidly growing in his pupil.
 
 “It’ll take as long as it takes, missy.”Once again, the impudent orb was talking to her as if she was a child. By this point it seemed obvious that it had an issue with both Felix and Jen. Did they do something it, or maybe its creator in the future? “This is too important to rush things. First things first, we’ve got to—”  Suddenly the very foundations of the building began to tremble violently, and a thunderous crash filled Felix's eardrums as the house that sat on top of the rebel base was ripped away by a monolithic metal hand. Pieces of rubble ranging from the size of beach-balls to the size of Hummers rained down on them. Taking a deep breath, Felix raised his arms with the palms facing outward and erected a barrier of polarized electrical energy around those assembled. Wood, and Stone, and Steel rained down, deflecting off of the shield amd falling to the ground. His arms fell to his side and the energy field dropped as he gulped in mouthfuls of air. Damn it! Why hadn't he sensed the Sentinel's approach? He could have warned them three minutes in advance, and they could begun evancuating. But as the mechanical fingers grasped around Lightbright and group her up to the hunter's face, all thoughts up but one left his mind.  
 
“Target acquired. Traitor Jennifer Michaels apprehended. New objective set: return fugitive to Rocky Mountain Installation immediately.” 
 
"Jen! No!" In a single, crazed thought Felix created a magnetic field around his body that opposed that of the Earth, and like some creature of fiction rocketed toward the behemoth in a surge of lightning. electricity crackled from his eyes, mouth, and nostrils as his left hand transformed into a massive, iron sledgehammer. The speed he was travelling combined with his inhuman strength and the shear mass of the construct he had just created would be enough to put the sentinel's head into orbit. That is, if the rest of the squadron hadn't arrived just at that moment. Out of the corner of his eye Felix saw one of the machine's counterparts focusing energy into the glowing, blue circle in the center of its chest. Ferro barely had a chance to react when the steel beast fired a monstrous energy blast at him. The concussive beam hit him head on and sent the hero hurtled back to Earth as if struck by lightning from god. So great was the force of the asssault that it drove his bod a metre into the Earth before finally cutting out. Felsh sizzling, in some parts burned away completely, and every fibre of his being screaming out in pain, Felix just barely managed to catch Jen's voice above the din of combat above.
 
 “Find James Kato, Mr. W.” Had she actually said that? Teetering on the edge of consciousness as he was Ferro couldn't be sure. Mr. W had been her mentor, hadn't he? Would he even have survived after everything that Revert had told them happened. He hadn't heard the man's name in so long that it felt like another life. In many ways it was just that.
 
 Then, for only a moment, Felix wasn't in some some desolate possible future anymore. In fact, he was in his own past. God's Watchful Eyes were in the middle of their first mission: rescuing Thunderbolt's sister. The rag-tag team had just finished dispatching the main fighting force of the Future Criminals, some wannabe organization that never really recovered after the grievous defeat. It was at that moment, as Felix lay with his entrails stewn about the floor, that one of their own betrayed them. He could still remember the cocky grin on her face as she drew her nine millimeter and aimed it and Lightbright's head, the smell of blood, and death, and gunpowder in the air as the hammer clicked and the bullet exploded forth from its chamber. He had always known that he would be willing to die for Jennifer, but it was in that instance that he realized just how much she meant to him; he would do anything for her.
 
A blood-curdling battle cry erupted from the crater that his impact had formed as Felix's burnt and corpse-like figure burst forth from the Earth. Had anyone looked at him, they would have witnessed what was in essence a reverse autopsy; muscle tissue began to grow over the exposed bones and covered up where organs threatened to fall out, and charred, mutilated flesh slowly regenerated. The sentinel that had attacked him to begin with noticed it's quarry was still breathing and began moving in to finish the job. Raising his left arm and aiming his outstretched hand at the machine's head, Felix focused the electrical energy through his body and along his arm. A bolt of unearthly lightning shot forth from the tips of his fingers and passed clear through the montrosities forehead, lobotomizing it and fusing the wound shut all at once. Swaying in spot for a moment, the Iron Giant fell backwards with a thunderous crash, sending up a haze of dust across the battlefield. Energy still crackling from his body, levitating him five feet off the ground, Felix whipped around. After a moment he caught sight of the sentinel that had taken Jen through the smokescreen, or at least part of it. The hand that had held her, still tightly grasped about her body was speeding towards the Earth. Even if she did survive the fall, the half-ton of steel that encompassed her would no doubt be less forgiving. Felix's eyes widened for a moment, only a moment, though. The hero inside of him that he had long thought had been resuscitated.
 
"Not this time..." With his jaw set resolutely, Felix propelled himself through the air towards the imminent collision. Reaching out his right hand, Ferro felt the magnetic energies that reacted on the tightly clamped hand. Using his manipulation of magnetic forces, Felix forced his will upon the construct. The mechanical grasp loosened, releasing his friend. At the speed of thought a set on leathery, bat-like wings form on his shoulder blades and stretch out, heaving back towards his legs and firing his body forward at double his speed. Passing between Jen and the sentinel's arm, Felix reached out and clasped her hand, pulling her just out from under it.
 
The effort he had to apply was herculian. The hero released Jennifer's hand just before he made an ungraceful landing, colliding with the rough dirt and tumbling head over rump for about ten yards before finally managing to dig his heels into the ground to slow his progress. Glancing down at his scared and naked body, Felix noted the severity that the landing had aggrevated his wounds. Grunting through the throbbing pain that was his body, he looked up trying to see if Jen's landing had been any better, only to be met with yet another sentinal reaching for him, the indentation in the centre of its palm glowing as it charged. There was no time to think of a strategy now. He had to act on instinct alone. Suddenly, each finger on his right hand transformed into a four-foot long curved blade. With a quick horizontal slash Felix cut deep into the mechanical hand, corrupting the charging power source and causing to energy to be released explosively in all directions. The blast washed over him, but he ignored the searing sensation as best he could. When the light of the energy faded he saw that it had cost the sentinel its right arm.
 
"Re-analyzing threat level." Ferro smirked as he raised his arm and pointed his clawed-fingers at its head.
 
"D@mn right you are..." All five claws shot out, becoming flexible, bone-like tendrils and aiming for the machine's eyes, nostrils and mouth. The sharp tips penetrated through the thick plate metal, then each whipped off outwards in a different direction, segmenting the steel skull. "Keep fighting! We can beat these things!" Felix's courageous cry rang out, mingling with the clamour of battle.