Chapter Eight: Backtrack to the Past, Part One

“Why did this have to happen, he was a young child. He didn't deserve this, why did this have to happen?" Rocco said to himself, he could have been in the market or the base, and even for all intent a black room as if he was on a stage and talking to you the audience. He lowered his head in shame, he should have gone in the pod.

But then the child would have been in the re-entry. The more he thought about it the less his thoughts made sense, the more discombobulated they became. Turning into noodles and getting mixed around in a blender, Antonio's death was wearing away on his soul. He felt like puking or falling over and dying.

“I need to figure out a way to save him, I can't survive for longer. Everything about this is killing me and I cannot deal with this. Every second I go on knowing that he hasn't destroys me so much more than I think, it is growing larger and larger." Rocco said letting his feelings free, the pain in his heart was too far. It felt like when Antonio died that he did take a part of him away, the uncaptured object that he never got to be better than. Something that could be saved, someone he always wanted to changed.

He put his head down and looked at the floor before him, he thought of it like a fabric. The fabric of space time, looking down on it he imaged time like multiple floors all slowly changing as they went down and he wondered about time travel.

It time was like a floor, then perhaps in order to travel in to the future you could increase you weight by go as fast as time, speeding past it. And to travel in to the past you had to slow you weight, perhaps fall in a void. Or perhaps like a floor in a New York apartment, there were cracks ways into the past.

He needed to find them perhaps he could go into the past and change time. One variable changing and he could forge the future. All he would need to do is make sure that Antonio was able to escape his captivity and never be frozen in his age; he could die his own death.

He just needed to invent time travel, he put his hand on his head and realized that it might be easier than he thought. He just had to take the easiest path possible and getting back would be easy because of Rolando's freeze machine.

Rocco felt better even the idea of hope could help him. All he needed to was believe in himself and he could do time travel. It probably be dangerous and would use a lot of energy to work. He might black out the whole city and barely get it running.

His lament was over it was now time for Rocco to move on, and to do it he would time travel. Every dog had his day and he was going to travel back to his day. It was time to get working.

…

The year was 2022 and by now the future as we know it was just barely starting, handheld computers running video games and solving five billon digits of pie were common features in just low end models. The age of the Nano-particles had begun, as discovered by a Dr. Seymour Audrey the Second, when running a flow of electricity through liquidized iron it could reprogram them with binary.    

With that they were off to the races, quickly using them to make more efficient, smaller, powerful, and cheaper chips than ever before. Something that was said to be impossible, like always had been broken and a new impossible was set. That was how innovation worked, improving or improvising on the current technology until some massive leap pushed them forward and a new standard was set.

Either way just barely in this timeline at this time was quantum computing possible, while exponentially powerful than normal silicon, by this time it was still too expensive to pull off. Only the rich and powerful had quantum computers, barely able to match the performance of regular computers.

And as with everything, there were clothes trends, seeing to find out who wore it better and lucky by now most people had stopped caring for some random celebrity who just managed to look good on the cat walk and got her money from that. It was the first truly prosperous age for humanity. Wars were concurrently being ended, GMOs were feeding so many towns and saving them, the future was amazing.

Except for two people, one Rocco Jones and a Zander Mathews; for them the future hurt. Due to those shifts in Earth's rotations, and the computations required to go on a different day just get with in a fifty percent probability of getting there, as well as the energy added on, they needed to go back to the same day they were in.

And thus time traveling back without Adriano or Rolando, much less letting them know what they were doing. They went on a mission to change the past and save Antonio in the future. So that night above One Franklin Square, the fifth tallest building in Washington still at the time standing at with the height restrictions only 210 feet, a glowing yellow ball appeared.

Not that the yellow ball was important, it was just heat effects from the time tunnel compressing the air through time. Falling through the crack in time both of them didn't prepare to have to continue falling, so both fell onto the old roof of the Franklin Square travelling through the East tower and giving the few remaining workers of the Washington Post a fright.

They grunted and yelled in pain as Zander, taking the blunt of the impact fell through all twelve floors, making a large leopard shaped hole in each as he made his way to the ground. He formed an elastic bubble around his body and just barely survived the speed from the ground impact as well as saving Rocco.

“Oh god, we should have done the height calculations. However, welcome Mr. Matthews to the world of the past." Rocco said nearly giggling with joy, all he had to do is change the future and he could save everyone. He could change the future, he could save Zander's father, the inspiration, the man behind the legend.

“Ok, first things first, let's try to minimally avoid changing the future. We only need to prevent the creation of Antonio and or preventing him from being captured. We get in and we get out as simple as that." Zander said knowing that he had a bomb over the head of the future and if his knowledge made him change the future than that bomb could go off.

“You know what you could do." Rocco said as he tried to convince Zander of what he could do with his power, create some stocks with uninflated future money or change Rolando's personality for the better. Who needs character development when you have time travel to fix that?

“No, we stay away from my father. He is too big a fixed point, Antonio isn't; we can Antonio because he is a pebble, my father is a bolder. Move him around and we risk destroying the future as we concurrently know its existence." Zander said warning Rocco, he made sure that he got his message close. Any major alterations and they risked a paradox.

“Zander, listen we have the ability to change the future for the better. Are you really sure you only want to change one tiny point, we could change so much." Rocco said trying to convince Benji of what good they could do for the world.

“No Rocco, you only came here to change one tiny point. You are changing up what you are doing, I'm not going to drag you around to your objective but so help me if you change the future in any way that threatens my and your existence, and then we will have problems." Zander said making sure that he was keeping Rocco on the right track; he didn't want the dragon to go willy nilly through time, change the future and erase their mistakes.

“Remember our mistakes are what separate us from our enemies. If we change the future and make us so perfect, imagine our egos and crazy that will be. We have our priority and we will follow that, is that clear." Zander said being serious with Rocco, making sure that they got the message.

By this point, they had wasted five minutes on arguing about time travel and it was by this point that the massive time tunnel had been noticed. And most concerned citizens around the building and or in the building had called the police which sent it specialized force.     

“Stand still and don't move or you will get your heads blow out." Zander froze up realizing the commotion they had had caused. Feeling the gun on the back of his head, he put his hands up in the air and Rocco did the same. The man with the gun said nothing nor did he advise Zander of his rights. Instead quite forcefully he pushed Zander forward and towards a staircase.

Passing Rocco, there was another man who had a gun pointed to his back as well. Zander walked up the stairs and looked at the damaged he had caused to the building. The floor looked like it was going to collapse and the building shook with his every step, he had compromised the building.

He tried to remember the building in the future but as he thought about it, time must have sorted it out as he couldn't visualize the building. Maybe it was always this way, maybe he was always destined to fall through the floor and destroy the building. Did that mean they had already failed there mission.

Either way he was lead out of the building and saw what was causing the commotion. Above the building was the time stream, however at this point it was burning bright and giving off a massive light as it compressed more air into plasma. People looked at it with wonder and intrigue.

Then it closed the time tunnel collapsing on itself and trapping them in the past until they would be able to escape back into the future. Zander ducked his head and was forced into the back of a vehicle, he was forced to sit down and the man pointed the gun at his chest. Rocco soon followed, but was blinking his eyes weird.

Zander realized that Rocco was transmitting a message in binary. The only problem was that he couldn't tell if the left eye was a one or the right eye a one. Also he couldn't read binary and he left his universal translator back at home, thinking that everyone would have been speaking English, he was wrong.

“Now then you two, we're getting some strange tachyon readings off that tunnel, so then where does it lead?" The man that placed his gun to his back said. “Now then welcome to the Outsiders."

Zander realized that he had screwed up, looking at the man who had helped him he saw his father. A snow leopard beneath the combat armor, and realized he was caught when Rolando pushed the Outsiders into the militant era before the relaxed era that he was used to. Rolando never told him what ended that era but he figured that he was going to find out. Looking at Rocco, he stopped blinking and realized a few more variables had entered the equation. He looked frozen, he looked like he was trying to figure out in his head how to navigate the soon to be temporally crowded situation.     

Zander tried to figure out what he was going to do, he figured that something was going on and for a second he felt dizzy. Time didn't feel right he didn't feel right, holding up his hand it suddenly vanished from before his face. He shook his face and then it was back again.

Trying to relearn binary he flashed what he thought was a few pieces of banter, he held up his hand and made sure that Rocco could see what happened. They looked concerned both of them having no idea what to do. Staying still suddenly Zander phased away, his motion disappearing and falling through the van.

Landing on the ground Zander realized that he was phasing in and out of existence, his body disappearing as the chances of his birth happening decreased. As he pickled himself up he felt more stable and figured that the phasing, had made him more likely to exist again. 

He stood around trying to figure out what to do and then he turned. Like as deer in the headlights, he stood still as the car hit him. He was knocked against the ground, a tiny energy bubble shielding his body against the impact. He tried to figure out what was happening as he landed.

A woman walked up to him and felt his body. He then felt that he was being picked up and as he was placed in a car. He closed his eyes and despite everything telling him no he closed his eyes, probably the most dangerous thing he could do. Despite the danger he let himself get absorbed into the darkness of sleep.

As he woke up he felt comforted, a warm wet towel on his head. He felt cooled and someone was rubbing his leg. He opened his eyes and he looked around, he was in some sort of teenager's bedroom. Posters and a pink wallpaper behind the many dressers and guitars.

“Oh your awake, I thought you would never get up again. I would have felt real bad for not taking you to a hospital. Sorry, nurse in training. It would be best not to give them a superhero." The woman said feeling the beetle on his back, Zander giggled the beetle turning into a ticklish spot.

Zander looked up and he was shocked again a snow leopard before him, if the past was convenient than this was his mother before him. He knew his mother was a nurse in the future, but he would have at least hoped she would have taken him somewhere safer. His beetle would have reacted and disappeared.

He then also realized that he had shown his face to both his mother and father, the future was compromised. How would they know that the one criminal they meet and the strange guy they ran over was their son? However, he did have a sigh of relief when he realized his perception filter was turned on.

He raised himself up and looked at the woman, he knew that look. That was one half of his look, he saw the love that pushed him so far. He needed to prevent this from happening, he couldn't have the happen, much less become his own father. So he came up with the first thing on his mind.

“Well, I do have to get back to the outsiders and my boyfriend. However, if you're looking for someone else I do know another snow leopard, who is quite straight." If Zander was right, and he hoped he was this was still the age of anti-multi species relationship, and hopefully his mother would go with that.

“Oh you do, well I haven't had a flame in a while. No one ever died by dipping toes in their feet." She said, making Zander feel lucky, but wonder how insane his mother was to accept that idea. However, that was only one half of his plan. He needed his father on his idea as well.

“Here, let me give you his number." Zander said quickly writing down the number that was listed in the outsider data base, he knew that would come in handy one day. Making his way to the window, he opened it and waved to his mother confident that his existence was still assured.    

Falling out, he formed a bubble before him and looked around. Still without the advances of the mid twenty century, it looked prehistoric. Sodium vapor lamps covered the streets and shined their orange lights down on the city. Zander walked forward, he tried to figure out what to do.

He needed to get his father to meet his mother or at least make him more likely to go with her. Make sure that he was more likely to exist. He realized that his comms was still in his ear and so would Rocco. The range wouldn't be close enough to communicate though, he needed to find a way.

Realizing that phones in this era were connected by cables still, he ran over and found what looked like a defunct payphone. He grabbed it realizing that it would have still worked with in a limited connection, while the technology might have been off by thirty years or so, but it might have been able to downgrade itself.

He heard a buzzing sound in his ear and he could sense the connection going through to every phone, then connecting to nearby phones and then using their networks to find the adjacent comms device. Pulling out his phone it connected with his comms device and he opened the GPS.

After his phone sorting out its own confusion a location appeared and it did seem to be that Rocco was currently being transported to the base, the one that he was normally used to as well. Soon enough the comms device ringed in his air. He held up his phone and made sure he was getting signal.

“Rocco, don't say anything don't let the Outsiders know we're communicating." Zander said as he tried to get Rocco in order to secure his existence for the situation. He waited a few seconds in order to make sure Rocco would notice him.

“Now then I have my mother to meet my father, you need to get him lonely. Ask him if he has a boyfriend. Make sure he feels different, make sure you use his powers. Make sure he knows there are people who would want people with powers, that's how the story goes." Zander said as he quickly stopped the comms signal, the Outsiders wouldn't be able to detect him but he didn't need to give Rocco too much. 

“Ok, existence feels a bit more secure now then, need to find where the outsider's base is and meet up with Rocco, we can then find Antonio and go back to the basement and use the cryo chambers." Zander said to himself, as he turned the corner suddenly a large lizard turned as well and fell on him completely surprising him.

Zander formed a bubble below himself and cushioned his fall. As they fell they landed back under the light of a vapor lamp. While his back wasn't broken, he was still be crushed by the massive lizard. In the light the lizard's features became more and more visible.

“Boy the past is sure convenient." Zander said as he realized the last person he would have wanted to meet in the past appeared, the man who remembered. Feeling Rolando's body on his, he pushed the lizard off him. The drunken animal rolled off of him, laughing a bit as he stopped.

“Hello, Xander. I want to say I love you" Rolando said, Zander knowing he was talking about his similarly named fathered by the way his spoke of him. There was always this longing lisp when he said it, as if he wanted to stretch his voice out and enjoy it for as long as possible. When Rolando said his name he always said it as quick as possible as if trying to ignore a good and bad thing at the same time.

“Hello Rolando, I'm not my father. Sober up you drunk." Zander said grabbing Rolando by the perception hidden military gear and slapping him. Placing him against the wall he waited for Rolando at probably the worst time in his life to return to normal.

“You look just like him pretty boy, you sound just like him as well. So I don't see any difference." Rolando said releasing someone his true feelings. Zander and practically everyone knew that Rolando viewed Xander as the one that got away, he must have hurt so much with his father's death and it must have gotten worse when a person looking exactly like him joined the team. 

“Yeah trust me, you'll figure it out when you sober up, you raging alcoholic." Zander decided to take the tough love route with Rolando, but that made him think that they had already failed. Perhaps they were already in the stable route, the events they would take in the future already happening and he only thought he had the perception of free will.

“I'm two hundred years old, I can have any drink I want." Rolando argued, despite looking only 17 years old, the lizard was right. In the sense of his immortality, he could have drenched his liver to death and he would have gotten another chance, lucky bastard. 

“Well then, I'm just going to call Rocco and remember don't tell anyone about use meeting until we in the future tell you we went back in time." Zander said as he sat Rolando down on the ground making sure the lizard wouldn't run off from the location.

“Your secret is safe with me, I won't tell a soul or nothing." Rolando said as he wobbled around in his position. Zander ignored him and reactivated his comms link to Rocco, making sure to leave it ringing for a few seconds before he stabilized the line so that Rocco couldn't ignore him.

“First things first Rocco, are you in a cell yet?" Zander asked as he realized he didn't give the dragon a way to say no. “Sorry, if you're not cough a bit." Zander waited and then there were a few seconds of coughing, giving him the signal.

“Ok don't worry remember they can't hurt you and you are too big a point in time to fade out for now, we can keep on going. I'll call you back." Zander said as realized he needed to entertain Rolando for a few more minutes. Looking at the lizard he reached down and grabbed the komodo by the shoulder and helped him stand.

“Stand up, sober up realize who I am." Zander said as he thought that it would be good to go back in time, set everything up and make it so everything worked well. He then thought about an infinite line of Zanders going back and setting things up for the next one, Zanders all the way down.

“Wait, I met you in 1985. You told me to expect this and to trust you, I doubt that this has happened to you. The flow of time is confusing without looking at it from a non-liner stand point, it sometimes get all wibbly wobbly timely wimey." Rolando said as he sobered up and stood up, Rolando's liver probably recovered and he stood at attention.

“Well then, we have a few things on my list. First off we need to make sure that my mother meets my father, second we need to save Rocco and change the timeline so that a kid named Antonio doesn't die in the future." Zander said explaining to Rolando enough that it wouldn't impact the future, maybe his Rolando already knew, perhaps time travel was confusing.

“We're looking for an organization called the RAF, they were responsible for the creation of the child from the beginning. I don't know where they were situated during this time, but I have the feeling they are in this city of adventure." Zander said as he watched Rolando take in the information, he looked confused.

“Why is the British air force trying to take over the city, even I didn't live through the War of 1812 and I know they wouldn't have the balls to do that again." Rolando said as he tried to rationalize the events and create a reasonable explanation for Zander's exposition.   

“No, we are dealing with a different RAF. They are far more evil and have done so much in our time, you will probably begin dealing with them in a few years or so." Zander said as he explained with some more futuristic exposition, to Rolando he must have just seemed like he was given some bad foreshadowing.

“Ok, I have never heard of this RAF before, I have no idea how to track them." Rolando answered. Zander sighed, at least the lizard had an idea on who he was. “However, I do have an idea on who might know where they started off. There is one problem with that though."

…

“Ok this is a bit better, Rocco could meet us here and then we sneak out and find the RAF location." Zander said as Rolando took him into a janitorial closet, in his time the section of the Outsiders base they lived in was closed off from even them something that had happened in the section and they were allowed in any more.

“Yeah, don't freak out when you see this. This door is programed to only open on certain dates and this date has been inputted, so we can go into the room that the date matches up with." Rolando said as he saw the door unlock as if it was reacting to the time as well.

“Wait this is the cryogenics room, Rolando, you in the future said we would never be able to get in. It is protected by a nuclear war head and a three millimeter plasma shield. It is impenetrable." Zander said as he pushed open the door like it was nothing, it was the lobby room a dark and sunless room that had many doors leading in and out of it.

However, on that door one of the locked doors were opened. Walking forward Zander felt the coldness as he walked towards the cryogenic chamber. Entering the room, there was one cryogenic camber in the room. The chamber was a lone one with mirrors on both sides, as if the room was built around this chamber.

The glass on the surface was frosted over and Zander wiped his hand on the glass. Another Rolando, one with future Outsider's gear on was in the chamber, this was Rolando was when he was time displaced by a goo blob. He remembered the lizard speaking of the occasion.

The cryogenic chamber opened and unfolded upwards, ice started to melt and steam flowed out of the top. Zander backed up remembering how Rolando said he saw Zander. The Rolando in 2052 thought sometime before he defrosted that Zander had accidentally come to the room and said it while viewing the chamber and his mind picked up on that, but what he said didn't make sense.

Rolando fell and Zander caught him, his heart started to beat his mind rushing and he said the first thing that came to his mind. The words that would keep the time line stable.

“Where is the RAF in 2022?" Zander said as he kept the other Rolando behind him. Rolando's body shivered and his mind numbed, he was frozen and his body might have started seizing. The lizard looked up and saw his face, he saw sadness and regret.

“They are here, I'm sorry." Rolando said as the present 2022 Rolando, ran over and placed his future self in the cyro chamber again. Seeing Rolando frozen back, he stood still as he hoped that no temporal paradox would occur. That meant that 2052 Rolando was right and he had to say that. He was wondering if he could win, maybe they should get Rocco, make like a tree and just leave.

“This is getting confusing quick, you can't remember this. 2022 Rolando, I'm sorry for this." Zander said as he turned around and landed a punch square on Rolando's face. Ignoring the guilt on the lizard's face, Zander knocked Rolando down on the ground in order to preserve the future.   

He was confused, after Rolando was transported back to the 19^th Century, he built the first cryogenic chamber and in between then and now someone built an air tight locked room with many chambers. Him and Rocco went back in time to save Antonio and met frozen Rolando, where he spat a phrase he got from future Rolando. At the same time he was ensuring his creation in a room that only opens on certain days.

“Whelp, no more time travel adventures after this, we've only been here two hours and I'm already confused." Zander said pulling Rolando out of the room and placing him outside the closed door. The doors shut by their own power and locked again, once again preventing anyone from messing with the temporal nexus.

Zander saw there were many rooms, that must have meant there were also many cryo chambers and in them many people. He wondered who built the room and what they were doing, but for sure he needed to get a chart to keep track of this. 

Suddenly an Outsider turned the corner and saw Rolando. They ran over but at the same time as if the action of capturing him would have caused a paradox, the universe phased him to prevent his capture. The outsider carried the lizard away and as soon as he was out of site Zander appeared again.

Walking forward, the snow leopard figured that he was free from capture and walked simply away from the room and towards the containment section that they were fond of not using. Guards passed him and he simply disappeared.

Continuing on he followed into a restricted corridor, his body simply phasing through the door and allowing him into the section. His body stayed phased as there were probably cameras. Walking down looking at all the supervillains he kind of wished he was born in this age.

He enjoyed the militant era of Outsiders history, put into place by the leader of the Outsiders and Rolando's successor. Zander saw at least twenty Outsiders staffing the base and guarding it; it was an interesting time. The outsiders weren't a four man group staffed by half incompetent people. He liked this time, people had to follow codes and they had something to believe in.

Perhaps he would see if he could recreate this golden age in Outsider's history. That would have been the greatest thing he could see, people following codes and making tactical plans. Protecting the people and capturing the greatest supervillains.

Passing through all the cells he found himself in Rocco's, his body unphased and signified that he was out of danger. Rocco looked at him and tried to figure out what sort of plan he was going to follow. Grabbing Rocco the timeline signified what was going to happen, they both unphased.

“Ok, were both here and we are free. We have two choices we can try to change the future or we can give up. The cryo vault is going to open in another day so we can just stay there and hitch a ride to the future. This is your choice what do want to do?" Zander asked as Rocco noticed him and turned towards him, both of them looked at each other and tried to decide what to do.

“I think we should go to the vault, the future can't be changed. I see that now." Rocco said as he realized that everything was going as the timeline dictated, standing up the dragon walked the way that Zander came in, the way towards the vault. However, as he did his body unphased and he crashed into the wall.

“Then again I don't think the timeline wants us to do that, perhaps this way." Zander said as he walked towards the back wall and crashed into that as well. He leaned against the wall and pushed downwards moving perpendicular to the wall and trying to find where he could phase into.

He found it and so did Rocco when they phased out of the cell and into the main hallway.

“Come on this way." Zander said as he felt around and his path was the door opposite the way he came. Both of them passed through the door, ignoring the prisoner who was freaking out because he just saw two ghosts.

“Which way is this leading us?" Rocco said still unfamiliar with this wing of the building that he had never purposely entered. It was like a maze with many left and right turns to follow. They passed up stairs and went down into the basement.

“I think we found it." Zander said as the path forward stopped and instead they were trapped at a singular janitorial closet. Both of them nodded at each other and passed into the closet, passing through that they entered a pale orange hallway. And then their phasing stopped they were in danger of being caught nor did they need to follow a path they were back on the way they needed to go.

“I don't like the look of this, secret hallways never end up well." Zander said as he walked forward, cautious and looking around the corner up a head. He stayed still for a few seconds and Rocco realized that they were trapped in the hallway. He walked behind Zander and stood still for a few seconds.

“Why would the timeline take us here and why are we referring to the timeline as an entity?" Rocco asked wondering what had gotten into them. Zander stopped stooping around the corner and walked past it, Rocco following suit. As they walked forward, an orange glow appearing on their body.

Zander's eyes needed to adjust but he came to a large room, he blinked a few time and he could see all that needed to see.

“No, no this cannot be happening." Zander said dread in his eyes, his mind putting the pieces together. Rocco walked up as well and he started shaking, realizing that everything was wrong. The site before them was changing everything they knew.

Before them a large warehouse interior, perhaps larger than the main room in the regular base wing. Red and blue wires were spread over the room, and electricity was quickly running through the room. Below them people in hoods walked around but as they looked it became more and more clear what was happening.

Before them in the center of the confusion and the room was a large glass cylinder container. Inside of it was a glowing child, about eight years old. To them it was obvious who the child was supposed to be. However, as the pieces fell into place it became more clear and clear.

“How could this happen?" Rocco asked as he saw the birth of Antonio before him, not his life birth but his purpose birth. The day he was given his powers. As they looked down they knew this was too big not to spread and it would be figured out, and it had to happen and they were hopeless.

The day was April 22, 2022; perhaps the most temporally active day for now. Three people from different times interacting and yet that wasn't the most interesting thing found. As Rocco and Zander looked down on that warehouse floor they too did realize something more important than time travel and even Antonio's creation, instead they realized the idea that was always there from the beginning.  

As they looked down one though entered their head, “The RAF didn't start in the Military; the RAF agents were rouge Outsider agents."