Chapter Ten: Bright’s Blight, Part Two

Imagine the worse day you could possibly have. Now imagine that twice as worse, three times, six times and even seven. Because in the face of it all, there is going to be one person having a worse day then you. And his name was Bright, just Bright, no last or middle name. For Kagens had none, and as a part of the Mutli-universal traveling race known as the Kagens, Bright had an obligation.

He had to fight the Riftwalkers, another Mutli-universal traveling race; and this war was bloody. But it wasn’t the numerous deaths he had caused that was bothering him, it was the future of the deaths he was going to cause. Because as Bright, stood there, his armor waving in the wind, blood of Riftwalkers stained into the metal, he realized he would have to let more blood let into his armor.

The future told him so, and looking forward into the brown gassed sky; a massive rocket propelled nuke flying at his body; Bright knew that when he survived that he would have to do something terrible. Bright’s day right now is at least eight billion, one hundred fifty million, six hundred and sixty-four thousand, a hundred and three times worse than yours, because he found out he would have to kill the entire human race.

Of course, this was not of his own choice, the Kagen General, Twilight had been twirling around the idea for a few weeks. It would be easy, let the planet catch into flames and abandon it; but Bright being the only one who could do it rejected such ideas and scoffed at his morally lacking brother.

And yet with his hands open and a green twirling fire spinning around, the shark wondered if he could change the future. This was mainly because of the presence of two more sharks, they were his future selves. Both future selves, well one future self, the other was deviated further behind. Both of the sharks, from a time period where he changed his name to Elias and moved to New York, came from a different timeline.

One was called good and the other bad, but right now neither seemed like a particularly good choice other the other. So they figured with their time traveling hologram Mary, that they would need to create a third timeline, one that they had evidence of because of Maryam Edison; the temporal agent had memories from a timeline that matched neither good nor bad.

The problem right now was Bright’s upcoming genocide of the human race in the universe. The second probably more important problem was the massive nuclear war head in front of them, being shot by Military General Volgin and his inattentive ocelot. This had happened before in the Good Timeline, which wasn’t good, Carson City was destroyed and the Outsiders only barely escaped. 

And yet Bright had his hand open, the swirling flame in his hand an ever-continuing reminder of what he was destined to do. And it seemed because of his older-self telling him that he would have to do it, that it was he who did it; the future was set in stone, any free will he had in the matter was gone.

The shark didn’t move, his mind walking forward into each secondly slowly. Iren was going to die, Edison was going to die, again; Bright was going to die. And then the shark realized something, that would create a paradox. If he would die here then he couldn’t be in the future, the Kagen’s timeline would be unraveled like strings, all catching on each other, weaved through the timelines.

And that was when time froze, the helicopter blades above them halted in the air, while Volgin’s evil laugh was silenced. It took Bright a second to realize but he and his peers were in completely frozen time. Which is when in front of him, a toucan appeared.

“Good job realizing the paradox that would be created, and I reward you with a few minutes to talk to your peers on the wildfire in your hand and on the real notion of free will.” Mary spoke and then she snapped her fingers.

Bright sat down, no his body was sat down for him. He was in the dinner from before, the train cart diner and outside of the window a peer into the alive and good future of New York City. That was the other thing, in the Good Timeline, New York City lived as well as Elias’s associates, the same could not be said in the Bad Timeline. That was the only measure of well worth Bright had right now on the real timelines.

Edison and the two Elias’s popped in, Bright caught Edison but both of his futureselves landed with a thump looking at the other as they looked around, it took them a second to realize they were in the dinner but they lowered their hands. The sound of good people enjoying their lunch in the distance filled their ears, as well as the cars speeding outside. The warm smell of fried pork entered all shark’s noses.

“I don’t think we will ever get to enjoy a good lunch here, anyone else realizing that or is just me right now?” Good Timeline Elias commented on as he looked around, everything was where it was supposed to be still. The good timeline was still sealed in stone; their brief actions did nothing.

“Well shit, so then we are getting a nuke thrown at us, but we half to talk about the wild fire about what we have know would happen.” Good Elias continued and raised his hand, he still had it; the green swirling flame spinning around. He looked to Bright and then over to his counterpart.

Bright raised his hand and a swirling flame appeared as well, Edison turned over to Bad Timeline Elias and they watched as he opened his hand. No flame appeared, he shut his hand and hit it like a mark of shame.

“The Flames of Apollo, the wild fire; you used it; shame on you truly. It was never meant for war but for threatening, I know we knew that but it seems all the more shameful now that young us has to do it!” Good Elias explained, his eyes dragging over to his otherself and saw the shame on his face.

“I know I used it, Twilight told me to use it. And it seems that you will have to use it as well, we have to keep the timelines continuing. You can’t feel guilty about what will happen or what has happened. Because those memories are just implanted ones and you will forget what we told you the second we leave you back there.” Elias spoke to the frightened young face sitting there, even Edison giving him a hand of support on his shoulder and the shark cracked.

“Fine then, you have to still do wildfire because of what happened. That energy was absorbed by both of us from the star in Tau Ceti and you as a time traveler have a right to make that happen again, else this future and the memories and shame that come with it not happen.” Bad Timeline Elias spoke and he looked down.

“But if I stop then maybe we can change this, maybe if you don’t release the wildfire then this will be better?” Bright spoke as he closed his hand, the fire disappearing.

“No because then the Good Timeline and the third timeline will never even be created, we have a mission and we have to figure out whatever in god of Mary’s name she wants us to do to create them!” Bad Elias cried out and then he put his head down, his necklace glowing.

“I sent them away it is only the two of you now.” Mary spoke into his ear, Edison and Bright both back in the frozen time. Elias stood face to face with Elias, both shark’s touching their features and trying to find the familiar features. They might have looked the same but they had different personalities different ideas.  

“If we split the timeline earlier then how come we both end us in the same place, the same time; the same boyfriend lizard and the same ideas in our heads; the only different is that yours sucks and mine is better?” Elias from the Good Timeline finally spoke up and Bright held his hands to his head for a second, that was a good question and he didn’t know why. But he could try to make sense of it all.

“Well maybe the timelines just had to keep close, such as that we could move from each other, maybe there is no thing as free will; maybe the Wildfire doomed me to a horrible life or maybe splitting the timeline did as well, who knows.” Bad Elias shrugged it off and looked into his own eyes, the two sharks same face and maybe the same thirst to explore and find out information.

…

“So then here we are, face to face; Kagen to Kagen, and unlike in the days of yesterold we know not to fight. And I want to know one thing Elias Smith, tell me why did you go back in time?” Good Timeline Elias asked his counterpart, the two across from the other and looking into each other.

“Because Mary appeared to me and I accepted her off to go back, because if it meant I could go back and change what happened then maybe I would be able to change the timeline for the better. Sadly I learned that Kagens have this trend of breaking timelines in two as they go back unless they are careful.” Elias leaned back and looked forward adjusting his jacket and looking forward.

“So then tell me, you went back to the bad timeline first, right before Bright uses the wildfire to engulf the planet, because you’re not telling me something or your skipping something.” The other Elias pressured his counterpart, with a smug look on his face, he leaned back and smiled.

“No, I am sure of it. I went back to the bad timeline; I don’t have any other reason to not go there.” Elias argued, looking forward but he knew his little game was over. Good Timeline Elias laughed a bit and twisted his foot and stood up. The shark laughed a bit in response and wondered how badly he did at lying.

“Listen if you’re not going to tell the truth, Bad Elias, at least try a little harder because I tell when I am spitting bullshit out of my own mouth.” Elias spoke and looked forward. The shark had the pressure on him, he closed his fist. “So then I will try this again, when did Mary come in and where did you go first?”

“First off understand why I went back in time, I wouldn’t have gone back if it were someone like Dustin, Finn or Ronan, but you know why I went back...” Bad Timeline elaborated.

“No, I don’t spell it out, we’re a very dumb shark.”

“Fine then, Colin died. He died not only because of Ronan but he died under my watch, I promised his father and mother I would protect him and when I failed at that, I wanted to leave.” Elias looked out of the window and took a breath, this was his deepest shame.

“I was willing to let Dustin and Ronan duke it out on their own but I didn’t because I owed Colin that and a funeral; but when I saw the blood I created, what happened because of us and Ronan, I knew that I had to change it. So I get the necklace of infinity and travel back, and change the future, view the new future, act dumb to Mary when I realize that it didn’t work.”

“Why didn’t it work?” GT asked with a self-satisfying smug smile stuck on his face.

“Because in saving myself and Colin, once again Dustin and his friends died worst deaths, and I felt guilty. So when I go back, I make sure that Mary thinks I did nothing and time travel back.” BT spoke and looked down with shame to the ground.

“Good, what happened, how did you split the timeline?” Good Elias spoke and leaned up. His eyes realizing things might be slightly more complicated than normal.

“Fine then Mary appeared because I split the timeline, I went back to right before you and Basil first met and changed the events, I made it so that you would bump into him instead of walking right past him. You two would look into each other’s eyes and I thought it did good I was wrong. Mary appeared back at Riker’s Island and said that if I was happy I could destroy my universe and transfer my consciousness into yours.” Bad Elias admitted he wiped away a tear from his eye.

“And you saw the suffering Dustin and his team were put under and you felt shame for them, you stopped yourself and knew you had to find a new place, so then why didn’t you have Mary revert the events, as it look like we haven’t effected this timeline or the bad timeline.” Good Elias looked forward and into his eyes again, the tears running down.

“Well done, you figured us out. I did this because I couldn’t accept death, but I have to live with the actions of the Good Timeline because unlike Mary she is the word program of time travel, she can keep us from interacting, she has an undo button and she is powerful, I am not and I split the line without even thinking twice about it?” The Elias from the bad timeline spoke and looked forward.

“Oh shut up, Elias if you think I was dumb to you not traveling in time well I wouldn’t be that stupid. I came because you alerted the fabric of the universe, how could I not notice?” Mary appeared, the holographic toucan sitting Indian style on top of the table, her wings open. “What I did was something we in the industry call giving your sorry ass a second chance.”

“But why won’t you tell me the answer, where I have to go back, what I have to change, what I have to kill in order to create the timeline from where Edison is at and so that it can exist and give the best ending?” Elias looked up at the toucan who laughed.

“Because you have all you need in here.” Mary touched the shark’s head and held him still for a second, he looked forward and realized something. “I’ve already given you all the time travel stolen information you need, everything that has been said to you is important and you will realize that time travel has a way of fixing itself.”

“And she disappears.” Bad Timeline spoke as he watched the hologram phase from in front of him and the two left alone again. They just stood there, trying to figure everything out and the sharks came up with nothing. The world wasn’t giving them much and their ideas of grandeur and pride had nothing to contribute.

“Fine then suppose that we need to go back to a lower point on the timeline that is obvious, say one of us goes, you probably, what do you even change?” Good Timeline spoke up and raising his eyebrow and a question to his bad timeline counterpart.

“Well I mean I could start off right after universal consolation with killing Twilight or Octavian…”

“No, then the Riftwalkers get to much power. Try again, we have to think harder about this, I know there has to be a solution.” Elias pointed out he pondered the moment and then looked back for a second, the tower reflecting the light into the dinner. The other Elias nodded in agreement.

“Okay I kill Ignatius… But that would give the Kagens too much power and they overwhelm the Kagens and create a time paradox.” Bad Timeline Elias added to the conversation. The two looked for their idea, it had to be somewhere. They had to be able to bootstrap some sort of situation together where all the parties came out with a good solution that affected all.

“Yes, you’re getting this but we don’t need to worry about a paradox, as this isn’t becoming the main timeline, things aren’t branching off. And we don’t need to worry about the Elias in that timeline doing anything because even so the events of this universe and the other up to the point where they are destroyed and consolidated into the main timeline should repeat.” Good Timeline Elias put together as he leaned back and pondered for a moment.

“Figuring this out might be harder than it appears.”

“Well maybe we should stop thinking like Kagens or Riftwalkers and think like mortals; outside of the box we are trapped in.” 

Good Timeline snapped his fingers and the idea was shared between them, the two of them seemingly sharing a thought to meld their mind. Both of them stood silent for a second and then finally one opened their mouth.  

“Okay then, I can get behind that, if we can’t directly kill either of the teams but we don’t need to worry about creating a repeatable event this should be easy. If we do something that would be easy but we don’t know about what happens or how to manage anything.” Bad Elias stood up and as time passed the sunlight finally moved on his head and he smiled.

“I figured it out, and its perfect to add. And I know the perfect vector for this situation, we both go and act as vigilantes, like ninjas in the night preforming both events on the Kagens and Riftwalkers, distracting them from each other while setting the Outsiders up for success. It’s not like everything from these universes has to be lost.” Bad Timeline Elias’s eyes to the window, a car filled with a lizard, a shark and a wolf passing by. A tear falling out of his eye, he caught it with his finger and wiped it away.

“But him, but Colin we won’t get him.” Good Timeline brought up.

“Well I suppose we plant some subliminal messages into this Bright’s mind and make sure he gets to New York but if it happened in two, I’ll give it a good chance of repeating.” Bad Timeline Elias concluded as he leaned back happy that maybe he could give a chance to one Bright and Colin pair to have a happy ending.

“And the Outsiders?” Elias looked over to his counterpart, quickly mapping out a path on a piece of paper. A timeline next to two already formed before the other cut off and a line connected it to this main timeline’s source. The perfect plan, to take an branch timeline and make it the main one.

“We’ll if we go back then I suppose that, I know what will happen but I can’t tell you and I know how we will manage everything, there might be two of us but we can manage everything if we have eyes everywhere.” The Kagen shark smiled as he realized there was a way to fix the mistakes of the good timeline and his own.

“Mary take us back.” Elias raised his hand and snapped his finger…

…

Elias acted jumping forward off the ground from a sitting positon, shooting forward through the sky and managing to fly towards the nuke. And then he held his hand forward, a field of energy forming as he stopped the nuke in the middle of the air. And Elias from the Bad Timeline felt like a god standing before his peers.

And then turning towards the shocked Volgin, he only snapped his finger. An energy beam re-directing around the field and hitting the helicopter. Metal melted and the tail snapped off, sending the man and his military into a tail spin.

Elias didn’t have time to watch such actions and jumped down, the nuke floating up in the air where he left it. The shark grabbed the hands of his good timeline counterpart and Edison, and then looked to Bright and Iren. The tiger and shark standing their with confused looks on their faces.

“Iren, I’m sorry but in a few minutes, I won’t be able to; which is why I suggest you enjoy your time. And Bright when it happens know that was the way to create the future we will all enjoy hopefully.” Elias spoke.

“What the hell are you talking about, let us go, have we gone mad!” Good Elias cried out as he struggled with his hand, before the other Elias snapped his finger and they teleported disappearing from the air. Leaving the shark and tiger, still confused, on the Outside of Carson City with a nuclear device above their heads.

…

Elias teleported to the only person he knew he could trust for sound judgments, and he bowed his head in respect to Finn as he landed. Elias looked over, Edison confused and Isaac raising his hands in defense.

“I am sorry for appearing, we come from the future. We accidentally changed this timeline and we have to fix it which is why I need to now a time to travel back to and where to change the past. If I could have a memory to target.” Bad Elias spoke to Finn, the military leader looking down at the Kagen before him, he raised his foot up and placed it on the shark’s neck.

“What the hell are you doing we are no danger to you!” Good Elias countered with but seemingly Bad Elias accepted what would be coming for him, and yet the human just stood there.

“You are a Kagen and Kagen are evil, they have proven themselves unworthy of my trust multiple times over and if I can kill one without getting my men’s blood on my hands then it’s a good day.” Finn looked down and pushed his boot down, seemingly Elias accepted his faith.

“Finn, no he is not lying and do you want to know why?” Edison finally stepped up putting her hand on her waist.

“Stay out of this Edison.” Isaac raised his hand and Edison was frozen where she stood, even as she shifted her feet the ground just kept her grounded and she was frozen.

“Have you gone crazy from this war, there is no time travel, it’s impossible; If I could go back and save Tidus’s life…” Finn countered with and pushed his boot further, the neck of the Kagen starting to break. Soon his lungs would be cut off and without oxygen he couldn’t regenerate.

“No it seems you two have, but if I can’t convince you otherwise well this is the proof. My body is timeline proof and I got this from Volgin in the other universe when he went crazy and I had to steal it from him, it was probably what I would consider my defining moment.” Edison revealed the metallic cylinder and clicked on it, a whip extending out and hitting the ground. “This is one of a kind and I assure you that if you go to Volgin’s corpse out in the forest you will find one on him.”

“Your right, he wouldn’t let that go even in death but you managed it; but that would mean that…” Finn looked up and he pulled his boot away from the Kagen’s neck, Bright smiled as he looked up. It might have taken a while but they had another believer on their team and if all went well, then time would be fixed.

“I came from a timeline, where Tidus, Ross and even Billy are still alive and I need to make sure that timeline is created and these two are the best hopes of it happening anytime soon, so they just need a memory of yours, that is all we ask, sometime sixteen or so years ago, even a year after Tidus would have appeared in the desert.” Bright asked and he looked to Finn, but then someone else stepped up, Isaac looked forward at the two.

“I know the perfect place, but this memory is the reason I have two mechanical legs and it is strong in my mind, you will find it easily and you will know what will happen and where to go.” Isaac stepped forward and leaned his head out, both Elias held his hand forward and putting their hands on the shark’s head, they felt the magnitude of the memory.

“Weird I always thought it was just one.” Edison quipped as she looked forward at the two Elias’s, both of them with a morbid sober look on their face. And Isaac nodded, they paused and backed up. Both Elias’s bowed down to Isaac and the shark smiled.

“None of what we have gone through is worth that, and I will make sure to lesson it in the new timeline, thank you but it is time for us to go. Edison will go back to normal and time will continue as if we were never here.” Elias explained he stepped forward and extended his hand to Finn.

“Thank you and good luck in this timeline and in the next.” Elias said and the sharks smiled, the two Kagens disappeared and time continued as normal. Finn stood blank faced in front of him and then turned around, the same effect on Isaac and Edison until they turned around and continued preparing for battle.

…

Bright continued running, something was wrong, his memories felt different; he charged forward. A massive dragon, massive beast with wings was chasing him and he ducked into the forest. It had a massive sword, and it charged for him. And the shark made the choice.

“I’m sorry Finn, Isaac, forgive me for this, but this is for my brother.” And like that Bright opened his hand. Summoning his courage and his want, he summoned the Fires of Apollo, swirling green fire, wildfire. It burned with only two rules, it would spread infinitely through any planet and it would not affect true Kagens.

And as the dragon, no shargon landed on him, knocking him down to the ground Bright nearly remembered all he had before. But he was gone, he didn’t know the future, he only knew the past and he knew that Riftwalkers had to be eliminated even at the cost of the mortals.

Bright turned around and faced the shargon, Basil stood there and looked down in doom. Bright smiled and looked up.

“You will never win against us; we will never bow to you.” And Bright put together his fingers, flashes of memories never were, them together not interrupting him, the two sharks finding love, against the odds, against the races. And then Bright snapped his fingers, the fire released from his control.  

Basil was knocked out, and Bright stood up as the fire hit the ground. He controlled it and he controlled that it would burn not Kagens, if he could make it work with two then he would. But as the fire swirled around his body and then swirled out it hit trees and engulfed them in flames at the speed of light, explosions raking out and hitting the city, even as a massive ball of fire erupted.

Bright smiled as he did what he was commanded and fell to the ground, crying as he realized what he had done. He killed Finn, Isaac, Ross, Edison, Iren, all of them and their memories dying and the shark promised himself one thing. He would carry those memories, the fire blasted out as Bright’s hand struck the ground, tears running down his face. He screamed out and the fire blazed, never hitting him, never letting him feel the heat; but the future was saved.

…

“And from the ashes of that world, and these two universes we will make a new timeline raise anew.” Bad Elias spoke of he remembered those scorching memories and yet he had a new one to focus on. He stood in front of his counterpart, both of them taking one last look at the dinner.  

And then the door opened; Dustin, Colin and Ronan all walking in. Both shark smiled and wave, they nodded at each other and then over to the hologram Mary, just sitting there with a smug face look on her face, invisible to the others.

“For them.” Both of them spoke and she teleported one, both Elias appeared in their original timeline, in Riker’s Island, in the same positon and both of them looking at a Mary. And yet one stood their confident, the other not so much in his choice. And as Bad Elias stood their trying to figure if his choice was right, the toucan waited for his choice.

…

The sun shined down on Riker’s Island, Elias held the pearl in his hand, the energy of all the Kagens in his hand, their legacy in his hand, he got to decide the Kagens’ legacy. The seeds they would not get to sing, the universe a great unfinished garden, symphony, notes being created at the moment, so many people on the other side. Looking forward at the burned Manhattan and the sunset, the orange ashy water striking the rocky beach, it was all so beautiful and spoke of rebirth.

And the Kagen just sat there, looking over the city he decided that he didn’t need to protect. Instead he decided to admire the beauty of the sun setting on the city and soon enough rebuilding would start, because New York City always was there in the end. And then the Kagen looking down at the pearl, stared at it and knew all the credit he had in this.

And he knew what had to be done, and what had to remembered, who’s flame had to be stoked. And in that moment, when all the universe seemed to come to and understanding the Kagen’s head, he had one sentence come to his tongue.

“There should have been another way.” Elias stared into the abyss and he felt afraid that it might stare back at him. He took a breath and held the pearl again, it glowed and the hologram Mary appeared before him. Appearing courteous and non-judging, it was up to Elias to manage both of them.

“So then does he know what will happen to him and does anyone else in this universe know what will happen to them?” Mary asked as she looked out.

“No, he doesn’t and neither does anyone else, these timelines will come to a complete halt and the energy they kept as a loan from the new main timeline will be returned into them, minus what we needed to time travel.” Elias spoke and he looked over to Mary and he held his hand forward.

“Siphon the energy needed through us, make sure that we are fully read to go as soon as he land because we will need to do something.” Elias spoke and Mary nodded her head, he snapped his finger. The stars above him bursting into energy, all of it flying forward. Steeling floating into the sky, burning blue and turning into pure energy.

And Bright screamed as it followed into his body, the shark starting to float as the stone below him was absorbed into his body. Bright screamed out, throwing his hands out and a golden energy shining around his body. His hair floated up and shined blond as he screamed out.

And then as the universe turned into a black void, the shark looked out into the hope for him and the hope for the future. He felt his body smashed into something else, his eyes opening and looking forward at the wall. He was on the top step of a stairwell.

He looked forward at his hands, his body different but the same; his figure the same but his mind buzzing with activity. With his hand to his chest, he walked past the top step and looked around. His ears started to work and he heard screaming in his ears.

“What happened to us?” Elias spoke from his good side, his minds settling into their head as they melded.

“We fused, we combined into something new. Our minds our combining and our hands are…” Elias looked down at his hand, a metallic layer of skin replacing the other skin. His entire body was transforming, the shark walked over and saw a table, a potted plant and a landline sitting on the table. Elias walked to it and turned around, a simple open door and light shining out from it.

“Isaac will need help, call 911.” Elias turned his head around, wobbling as two people combined in his head, but still argued for control. The sharks hand grabbed the phone and pulled it off the charging stand, tapping the three necessary buttons and then dropping the phone to the ground.  His feet argued with each other as he stumbled forward, his body engulfed in darkness.  

And then Elias made the trek forward, he silently laughed a bit; he did it, he managed to combine the timelines. This was the nice timeline, he walked forward and then looked into the room. His hand on the frame, he knew what he would see. A woman standing there with a knife in her hands, and tied to the bed was a child, a young shark stripped nearly naked, and blood gushing out of his leg.

The woman quickly acted, grabbing a butcher’s knife and remaining silent, the shark quickly sliced it down. Looking at the two as one, smiling with a sadistic smile as she threw it down into her child’s leg. Elias felt the urge to puke, Isaac screamed out and the combined Kagen raised his hand. 

His mind combined, good timeline and bad timeline neither existing or having influence, a new being with the idea of working to do all he could to save the timeline. And he blasted a single glowing blast of energy, the woman was knocked back and slammed through the window, crashing out of the house and onto the outside grass.

“Isaac I’m sorry this had to happen to you, but this is a memory we need to happen and in the future when you have a pretty cool mechanical leg, well I wouldn’t worry about it, I know what happens to you.” Bright charged forward and jumped onto the window, ducking down and looking back. “Stay hopeful kid.”

Bright jumped out and landed on the road, he was in the middle of the desert, nothing in either direction. He did it, he did it, and he smiled in the moon lit night. The shark held his hands up and the metal spread up to his elbow. The shark started to run, the nanobots excited in his system had no reason to act, they had no commands, Bright set the commands.

“We did it, but what are we turning into?” Elias spoke through his body, one mind still holding on and keeping separate. Metal spread over his body, his armor covered and seemingly absorbed into his own body

“A new person, we will be the original Bright in this timeline and the Bright here will turn into Elias, he won’t have to travel back but so long as my solution remains, then all will work well.” Elias from the Bad Timeline opened his own mouth, holding forward his hands, the metallic armor shining against the dim moonlight.

“Fine then, I can feel myself fading, I assume this will be a new mind, yes it will won’t it.” The minds of the two Elias’s merged and from the shining desert in the moonlight, a new Bright was born. No longer Kagen and not for the Riftwalkers,  the nanobot warrior ran forward, for the humans.

And running forward, the shark sped through the desert. Changing and yelling out, time passed for him and he realized all he needed to do. And as six months passed and his transformation was complete, he found Owlman and became his master, helping him extract the nanobots from Tidus to create the original strain.

Bright had a new name, he was the nanobot master. And he smiled at such a moniker, he was evil and he got to be the dragon emperor once again for one last time. And with a blast of energy forward, the shark flew forward and did all he had to.

…

I, I Bright changed the future. And it all started the night I released my master plan on the city, I studied the Outsiders for what seemed like a million years, absorbing their personalizes and creating the perfect plan. I started by releasing the nanobots a few weeks before the invasion of the Riftwalkers. One might question how I was helping them but this was my master plan, the least possible causalities.

And that would prepare them, I only gave them something that would hurt no one except for a few of the transformed and a space station. I never said I had to be good, and as I struggled with my morality, the nanobots prepared the Outsiders for war, they were ready to wage a battle against the nanobots.

This meant that the stakes were raised when the Riftwalkers invaded and thus Finn and Isaac were able to stand up to the leader instead of cowering for two months until they did the first actions of the war at the airport. And with that I stayed in the background, only releasing the Generation Ones to satisfy Owlman and bring Iren to my younger counterpart’s attention.

And three months after the airport, I was the happiest man in the world, with Owlman and his cohorts cut off I was free to control them. And I knew that Erick would push the Outsiders away from the truth, as his mental scanning abilities increased he would split the team, thus he had to go, but I replaced him with Barry, allowing the Komodo to go on my own accord.

The next action was to re-establish my dominance and while I hated to interrupt a good wedding, it was needed. One the treaty was wrong, I had done the math multiple times and knew that it would only lead to a repeat war. So I simply tore it up and killed Finn, allowing Isaac to revive him and giving the two, Basil and Bright guilt to betray their side.

And then with that I had only one way forward, Joss was too powerful a treat, so I stole his power and gave him the command to break the treaty, telling him I wanted nanobots on it. And from them I have been quiet, standing in the background, masterfully manipulating variables such as drawing Twilight back and giving Edison the death she deserves. Making sure neither side became too powerful until everything was right.

And all the while I knew that I was sinking, I was becoming Evil, and repented. I looked to the future, because while it might have been calculated, it was never set in stone. The Kagen War could change everything and like a masterful painter, I set everything up right.

Say what you want about me, that I might have changed everything but I did it my way and I did it for the sake of this planet and the love of Colin and Elias; Finn and Dustin, love connecting people and love pulling them apart. And I know that as the counter ticks down to the end of war, Bright will not burn everyone and he will end up in New York, most of the starting Outsiders alive and Colin never facing the treat of Ronan.

…

A shining metal body stood above the city of New York, his body glowing under the setting sun as he watched from the building. This Elias would not know the pain he had to do and while he wondered what sort of character that would take away from him, he knew that never facing Ronan, Twilight or becoming a vampire would be better for the end.

He looked down the shark walking forward, wearing a blue and white stripped tank top and a loose leather jacket over that and a pair of jean shorts. Bright felt half shameful and half proud at his futureselves openness, he might have managed to create the gayest Bright so far. And then he corrected himself, that Bright with his arms and lips on Colin was not him, he had his own destiny, both of them did.

He turned back and jumped off the balcony, landing and focusing on what happened next. The shark didn’t know if the city would stay like this once he traveled back in time, but he had a reason of figuring so. Time Travel usually gave whoever did it what they wanted, for example in three timelines all subtly different Tidus managed to make himself exist. The sun shined down brightly on the city of New York as the New Bright stood over it.

And for some reason Zonate always snapped and used Kagen souls to travel back in time, if only the fool knew how right he was with that. And standing their he thought back as he clicked his necklace and without the guide of Mary he teleported back. As it turned out the Outsiders found another military base, the shark appeared outside of it.

The wind blew in his hair and through the trees around, he adjusted himself and jumped up to a window. Bright knew for a face as he landed on the window, the moon shining off his body that Isaac was sleeping alone that night.

…

Time was strange and it acted accordingly, sending yourself back in time to the wrong time or even place might just change the timeline you were trying to create into the bad timeline. But all of it made scene in theory at least, calculations could be ran and even over time you could approximate how a timeline would go.  

But over time, lessons were learned and lessons were taught, and surely there was a human factor, that could throw everything off. Working to minimize that effect was everything and making sure that nothing would happen. But sometimes thing went off and additional procedures had to be taken, but over the years it was down to a process.

And then the shark’s plan worked, he managed to set it off without a hitch and Elias smiled. Landing in the light of the moon, the grass blowing on his feet. And his eyes shining blue, he put his hand forward and to the exterior wall the two attached. Climbing forward, he reflected on the Outsider’s new base and the open window.

And time after time, Bright knew of his past, future and present; because he had nearly done all this before. His hand gripped the course texture of the window opening and pulling himself onto it, remained as silent as a hunting hawk.

Finn would be in the medical bay, and the shark would be sleeping alone, Isaac would be alone that night. The wind blew into his metallic hair and he bent his elbow, the decorative screws twisting and his interior heart silently beating through his chest. He stood quiet and grabbed onto the edge of the window.

“I’m not sure but if over the years that I’ve existed and seen this planet, there is one thing that I am most sure of…” Elias bowed before opening the window, seeing the silhouette on Isaac in front of him. He ducked below and walked in, one fin on the shadows head wobbling back and forth. And then seemingly as a sharky smile appeared on his face, he spoke the eternal words. “Everything happens for a reason.”  

Isaac stood still in his bed, his lungs slowly rising and pulling air into his body, how precious Bright through for a second as he silently lowered the window and walked towards the shark.

…

Bright had done it, he managed to affect everyone around him; the total death count of the war was lower and he had a controlling interest in what happened during the war. This effected everyone, he knew them all and he had seen them in his dreams, his life and his walking nightmares.

Basil had been changed from the warrior to the lover.

…

“Today I learned that in Earth 264HF-4, a group of Kagens attacked a group of Riftwalkers it is an act of war.”

“Which is why today I did this, I knew that if this war happens I might not survive, I might not come back, so I need to pack up my baggage and get out of dodge. I will have to leave this world.” Basil looked back Matthew and frowned, I knew he wasn’t lying, he wasn’t kidding.

He imagined his lips touching Bright’s thoughts of the shark in his own.

…

Finn had died and been revived, he turned into the leader that neither timeline could imagine.

…

Finn placed his hand on the tank and held it there, electricity passing through into the water filled with salt and other conductive materials, the shark opened its eyes again and then Finn pushed harder, pushing more power through until the shark turned into nothingness, his cells being ripped apart instantly, surely no pain then he had already felt gone.

“And I didn’t think that I would have to hide this from you until I could make sure they were killed properly, but I think you managed to do a good job with that one, want to do it with the other three. When I look at them I can’t kill them, they look to much like you.” Isaac spoke with horror in his eyes as he walked into the room, Finn turning.

“So then you did this, and you let them exist here. While they disposed, and were torn apart by their own bodies!” Finn turned toward Isaac with anger filling his body, he knew it was for himself and it was a good cause, but this wasn’t how you did something.

…

And well, Isaac was a person all his own.

…

“And then let’s talk about our name, besides those goddammed cylinders I don’t see our last named plastered across the head of buildings or on steaks or planes, I don’t see any reason to think of us as famous and yet you do. You live in a delusional world and I think you need to wake up!” Isaac was fully screaming at his father, the man scraping at the floor of the cage as he backed up to the bars at the back, trying to escape the truth.

…

And Basil couldn’t be prouder that he did that, he changed it all and he felt like a God in the way that the Kagens couldn’t even imagine. And then his foot hit Isaac’s bedpost, and the shark awoke. The eyes of the shark quickly extending out and a hand being raised at the nanobot shark. Bright could only smile, he had but one thing to do and Isaac was his clay piece.