Day One (Part 2/4)

Laura was sat in her next lesson waiting for her brother to appear. They'd been sat together again in the lesson but he hadn't turned up at the end of break-time. She was starting to get more annoyed with each passing second. Eventually, Jody returned to the room and sat next to Laura, looking very shaken.

"There you are. I was beginning to think of the many ways I could kill you..."

Jody didn't answer her.

"Did you find her then? Roberta?"

Jody remained silent. Laura smacked his arm. Jody jumps in terror. It was at this point Laura realised something was wrong.

"Jody...what is it...?"

"Nothing. Just leave it be..."

"No, I haven't seen you this scared since Dad was attacked in the car park. What's going on?"

"JUST LEAVE IT ALONE, LAURA!"

Laura is taken aback by Jody's outburst. Mel comes over and sits next to them again.

"Find Roberta then?"

"He wants to be left alone, Mel".

"Wow. She let you down that bad, eh?"

Jody looked up at her.

"She didn't let me down..."

"Then why do you look terrified?"

Jody looked up at Mel and Laura, who were both now seemingly concerned. He sighed.

"I...I...I saw something..."

The girls chuckled.

"Wow...you definitely saw her didn't you..."

"It wasn't her I saw. It was that weird teacher. Mr Joel..."

"What about him?"

Jody shook his head.

"Neither of you are going to believe me..."

Laura looks really concerned now and puts her hand on his shoulder.

"You know I will..."

Jody looks up at her, then at Mel. He leans into whisper. The girls do too.

"He wasn't Mr Joel. He was someone else. Wearing Mr Joel's face like...like a...mask!"

Mel looks confused.

"What? A mask like Mr Invincible wears or..."

"Like a whole face mask! He looked at me...right at me...this strange man...except...in a weird way...it was like I knew him!"

"Do you know him?"

"No. But he seemed familiar!"

They all sit down. Mel thinks before leaning over.

"Do you think...maybe...he's an...Aug? Or a Natural?"

Laura looks at her and gives her an odd look.

"That's the second time you've mentioned them. Do you have an obsession or something?"

"Let's just say I have a vested interest in understanding them..."

Jody thinks for a minute.

"I have to find Roberta..."

Laura sighs.

"For God's sake give your hormones a rest will you!"

"No, but before Mr Joel removed his face, she was talking to him about this thing called 'Tragedy'. And how this person might be a threat to the world!"

The girls look at him oddly.

"I swear! It was like a spy talk or something!"

"Jody...you're evidently traumatised..."

"No, Laura, Roberta's a part of this somehow. And I need to find her. Maybe she doesn't know that he's not Mr Joel!"

The girls look worried. Jody nods in his resolve.

"I need to find Roberta..."

******

Lunchtime. Jody looks around the playground to look for Roberta. Laura and Mel follow him and try to help him. Mel looks nervous though.

"I still think this is a bad idea!"

"Well. don't help me then. But Roberta might have answers. We need to find her!"

Jody pulls Laura aside.

"I can look through the entire school in under 7 seconds..."

Laura looks annoyed.

"No! Don't! you promised me!"

"This is important, Laura!"

"It's important TO YOU. There is a difference!"

"Laura...what if Tragedy is the guy pretending to be Mr Joel!"

"We don't know someone IS pretending to be Mr Joel!"

"When have I EVER been wrong about something like this? I was right when I said something would happen in the car park, I was right when I said a bomb would go off while we were in London recently and I was right when I said Mum was pregnant! My gut feeling is great. And my gut is telling me this guy is bad news!"

Laura sighs.

"People are going to see you and it'll ruin everything!"

"No. They'll see a blur. They might not even notice. People are generally unobservant!"

Laura doesn't like it but she concedes.

"Fine. I'll distract Mel".

Laura turns around and speaks to Mel. They face away from Jody.

"Mel...you still haven't told me a lot about yourself yet. Tell me what you like to do..."

Jody looks around to see if anyone else will notice. No one else is looking in his direction. In his moment of opportunity, he runs at super speed. The electricity follows him momentarily as he runs round the entire school in under 7 seconds. However, at the last moment he stops and sees Roberta walking alone down a corridor. Seeing her, Jody caught her up.

"Excuse me!"

Roberta turned around to look at him.

"Yes?"

"You're Roberta, right?"

Roberta smiles. Almost as if she knows him well.

"I am..."

"I have information for you..."

"And I've been waiting for you..."

"It's about Mr Joel. He's not who...wait, what?"

"I knew you'd come. That's why I introduced myself to you when I did..."

"What? How could you possibly know that?"

Roberta smiles.

"Come with me and I'll show you..."

Roberta opens a door and walks into it, vanishing. Jody looks around once more and super sped into the door. The door closes behind him. Jody looks in front of him and looks astounded. It's stunningly beautiful what he finds. It's like an old Victorian Library. Massive, wooden panels, with a fountain in the centre of the room. Books everywhere as well as computers, devices and other little nik naks that seem almost futuristic. Jody cannot believe what he's seeing. But Roberta just admires him looking around.

"I had the same look on my face when I first saw it..."

Jody looks at her with confusion.

"What is this place!?"

"It's called 'The Archive'. And it's my base of operations. Although, it's not strictly speaking 'mine'!"

"Whose is it?"

"That's a very long story for another time. I look after it though..."

Jody looks around once more and then looks back at Roberta.

"Who the bloody hell are you?"

Roberta smiles.

"My name is Roberta Neave. And I'm the Caretaker!"

"Of the school?"

"...Not quite, Mr Kent..."

******

"For nearly 500 years, the Caretaker of Planet Earth and its associated Moon have based themselves here in Trillingham School and saved the planet from a various number of different threats..."

Roberta takes Jody down a corridor. There are photos of numerous people. All in frames and all of them look happy.

"These photos are all the previous Caretakers. Right from 1516 through to today..."

"They didn't have photos in 1516, so how could they have their photos taken?"

"The Archive can exist outside of the space/time continuum with no influence from the Akara. So it can exist in different time periods if it wishes too. When it was first installed, it did. But since 1945 it's been disabled. It was deemed too dangerous..."

"You know about the Akara?"

Roberta nods.

"Not as much as you though..."

She smiles at him. Jody isn't sure how to react.

"What do you mean?"

"You know more about the Akara than I do. Seeing as you are a child of Akara...and still connected to her..."

Jody swallows with nerves.

"I don't know what you mean..."

"Yes you do. I've seen the way you run..."

Jody chuckles nervously.

"Spying on me?"

"In a way, yes!"

Jody suddenly looked troubled.

"It's my job to be aware of every Natural, Aug or Alien in the vicinity of The Archive. You and your sister were two of them..."

"My sister?"

"You can run really fast. Hell I'd even hazard a guess you're the fastest person on Earth. And your sister can...phase out of existence?"

"She can escape the universe while remaining tangibly linked to it. Akara gives her the power to effectively turn invisible and lose physical contact with the universe but only for certain amounts of time".

"Fascinating..."

Jody wanders back into the main section of the Archive.

"So, you protect the planet? From anyone nefarious?"

"Yes. I've been doing it for 6 years now. But it's almost my time to go!"

"Why?"

"Because I want to move on. This life isn't forever. Especially if you don't have abilities yourself..."

"You don't have powers?"

"No".

"So how do you stop people?"

"I'm clever!"

Jody chuckles.

"The fact of the matter is, Jody, that I need to move on. And the world needs a new Caretaker".

"Got anyone in mind?"

"Not me, exactly. But the Archive does!"

Jody looks confused once more.

"The one thing left over from the Akara is a database of every Caretaker. Past, present and future. But the future ones only get revealed once the current Caretaker expresses their desire to leave in a certain timeframe. The Archive showed me who was next. So I went to look for them and ease them into it".

"And who is it?"

Roberta smiles.

"You. Jody Kent".

Jody looks surprised.

"Me? Haha, ummmm, no! Not happening!"

"Why?"

"I'm 11! I can't look after a planet! I can't even look after my own Dad let alone 6 billion people!"

"I heard about your Dad and I'm sorry. But being a Caretaker is different. There are more people coming through with powers who might be able to help you. In ways I never had help!"

"You really expect me to go up against people like Cosmos as an 11 year old!? You saw what Cosmos did to Mr Invincible!"

"Doesn't mean he'd do that to you. Anyway, trust me, Cosmos is VERY far away".

Jody looks nervous.

"I'm sorry, Roberta, but I'm not the guy you're looking for. I can't save the world from different threats like you can".

"I thought the same when I started. I was 12. But I've survived so far!"

Jody starts to walk away.

"What if I told you I know a bit more about your future than you do?"

Jody stops and turns around.

"The computer tells a little more about the next Caretaker. Not everything and it's all selective but it gives some interesting details..."

Jody walks forward slowly.

"Tell me".

Roberta smiles again.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to know the future?"

Jody nods. Roberta smiles.

"You become the Caretaker whether you like it or not. And your era as Caretaker is the most illustrious of all the Caretakers. You'll get much bigger threats than anyone else before or after you but you'll eventually lead a team against them. And this world will love you and other worlds will fear you. You even get a name..."

"What?"

"Speedfreak".

Jody laughs.

"Speedfreak? Seriously? What a crappy name!"

"What would you prefer?"

"I don't know. Something like...'Quick' or 'Zoom' or 'Wanderlust!"

"Wanderlust? Well, tough. Your'e going to be called Speedfreak!"

Jody looks upset.

"You also suffer more than any other. But that's a risk you'll have to take. This life isn't easy. There will be heartbreak and other terrible events along the way..."

Jody starts to consider the offer.

"So, why do you do it?"

"Because I care about the world. Like I know you do. You care for Earth, not for Eden..."

Jody knows she's right.

"Think about it".

"I don't need to. I kind of have to it seems".

"True but just let it sink in..."

Jody nods.

"Anyway, what's this 'information' you had for me?"

Jody remembers.

"I wanted to talk to you about Mr Joel. I saw you two talking..."

"I had a feeling you did..."

"But when you left, something happened!"

Roberta looks concerned.

"What? What happened?"

Jody thinks of a way to describe it.

"He...took off his face. To reveal another underneath..."

Roberta looks shocked but thinks for a moment. She gets up, runs to a desk, picks up a piece of paper and runs back over to Jody.

"Did the guy under the mask look like this!?"

Roberta shows a picture of Tragedy.

"Yeah! That's him!"

Roberta throws the picture on the floor.

"I knew something was different with him today..."

"Who is he? This 'Tragedy'?"

"We don't know. But he knows a lot about us...And if he knows I'm onto him then that means I'm in serious danger..."

"...I think I might be too..."

"Why?"

"...He looked right at me too..."

Roberta nods.

"Welcome to the life of the Caretaker, Jody Kent..."

Freaks: Day One (Part 1/4)

"I feel like a fool".

"You look great, Jody. Just suck it up and act normally".

"I can run faster than anyone in this place. Why should I act normally?"

"Because you promised me!"

Jody and Laura Kent look at their new secondary school and take in a deep breath.

"I could seriously just run a lap around this school in under 5 seconds and no one would know!"

"You leave a momentary trail of electricity when you run due to your disruption of time. I'm pretty sure someone would notice!"

Jody sighs.

"I'm going to hate it here!"

"It's our first day. Just try? Please?"

Jody sighs once more as he turns to look at his twin sister. She smiles sweetly.

"Fine. But only because you're asking so nicely!"

They walk into Trillingham School. A medium sized, daunting secondary school. Especially for 11 year olds.

******

In a dark room, barely lit, an oldish looking man wearing a tweed jacket is tied to a chair. He's hunched forward as blood slowly drips from his mouth. Someone else can be seen in the light with a bloody knife.

"I must admit, Mr Joel, I'm rather concerned for you...I'm not sure how much more of this you can take!"

Mr Joel looks up feebly.

"Please...just let me go...I won't tell anyone! You have my word!"

"But you haven't answered my question!"

"I've told you everything I know!"

The man with the knife laughs.

"Haha. No you haven't..."

Mr Joel sighs. The man with the knife kneels down in front of Mr Joel and holds his head up by his hair.

"I know you know who they are. I've seen you talking to her. You have a particular interest in one female student don't you...but not in any way that would be considered untoward! No. You're her...scientific advisor?"

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Maybe you're just her pet? Maybe I'll go and visit her myself. She might be more willing to talk..."

"Leave her alone..."

"I'm sorry?"

Mr Joel sighs.

"At last, he admits he knows the Caretaker!"

"Leave her alone..."

"Oh, I'm not leaving her alone, trust me!"

"Take her on and she will stop you!"

"Oh she'll try. She will try..."

The man drops Mr Joel's head.

"The truth is, Mr Joel, I already know what's going to happen. To you, to Miss Neave...and to who comes next..."

Mr Joel looks confused.

"Are you another time traveller? I've dealt with time travellers before you know! I once met a wonderful young woman who could travel through time with ease..."

"I'm not a time traveller. I'm so much more than that..."

The man plunges a knife into Mr Joel's chest.

"...didn't they tell you? My name is Tragedy. I'm a trickster and I am older than your universe..."

More blood comes out of Mr Joel's mouth. Tragedy smiles.

"Here's what I'm going to do, Mr Joel. I'm going to wear your body in an attempt to trick the Caretaker into letting me help her against a beast from the planet Yurik. Then, when the opportunity arises, I'm going to kill her. So that the next Caretaker can take over. And THAT'S when the real fun begins. I've waited billions of years for this day and it's as wonderful as usual..."

Mr Joel slowly slips away. Tragedy smiles.

"Now...I've perfected the process a number of times...should be painless...

******

"You are all Year 7 now. Primary school is over and it's now time to act a little bit older. A little bit more responsible than you had to before. In Year 6, your teachers probably told you that you had to set an example to the younger children. Well, now you're the younger ones and you need to act a little bit more mature than you did last year and you need to treat others how you wish to be treated. This school is in the middle of an area that has seen increased Natural and Aug activity in the past 5 years and we need to have our wits about us. Some are dangerous, some aren't. So treat others how you wish to be treated and always be on the lookout for suspicious behaviour!"

The headteacher addressed the new intake. He was a strange looking man with a bald head and a hunched back.

"Trillingham is a safe place but it's only as safe as the resolve of its citizens. And in this school, if you see anything suspicious, you need to report it to us so that UKETT can come and deal with the issue at hand. Do not try to tackle the threat alone!"

Jody shook his head disapprovingly as the headteacher continued. Laura turned to him.

"Don't shake your head like that. You'll draw attention to yourself!"

"How stupid is this guy? Of course some of us can tackle the threat alone!"

"No we can't. And don't get cocky!"

"It's just stupid and naive!"

"Just shut up and listen will you!"

Jody did so, still fundamentally disagreeing with everything the headteacher says. 

"So just be aware of the threats that face our school. Now, do any of the tutors have any messages?"

One teachers raises his hand.

"Mr Joel. Go ahead".

Mr Joel stepped up to the front, looking around and finding Jody.

"My name is Mr Joel. I'm the head of science. And I just wanted to welcome all of you to Trillingham School. A truly wonderful establishment. And I just wanted to say on behalf of all the teachers in this room that, if you have any problems at all, do not hesitate to come and talk to us. Any problems...at all..."

He once again locked eyes with Jody, smiled and walked away.

******

"That science teacher was creepy..."

Jody sat in class next to his sister as they waited for the class to filter in and take their seats.

"He kept looking me like a predator to prey!"

"You're imagining things, Jody..."

As Jody was preparing a retort, a young woman came and sat next to Jody. They looked at each other, smiled and the young woman unpacked her bag. When she had and sat down, she turned to Jody and smiled again.

"My name's Mel! What's your name?"

"My name's Jody. And this is my sister, Laura".

"Jody? Isn't that a girl's name?"

"I spell it with a 'dy' as opposed to a 'die'".

"Right...ok..."

As they complete this conversation, a voice appears from the next table.

"Who names their kid 'Jody'?"

Jody turns around and sees some boys sniggering to themselves.

"My mother. Problem?"

"It's a stupid name".

"Can't be any stupider than yours. What's yours?"

"Carl".

"Carl? Who names their kid 'Carl' these days? How old are you? 70?"

Carl looked annoyed.

"At least my Mum didn't name me after a girl!"

"At least I don't sound like one of the elderly characters off Coronation Street..."

Carl stands up and walks over to Jody.

"You better watch your mouth, Jody. Or I'll punch it sideways across your face".

Jody stands up. He's shorter than Carl but he doesn't look afraid.

"I'd like to see you try. Because, believe me, it won't end well for you..."

Carl's about to punch him when the teacher comes in. It's Mr Joel.

"A fight? Come, come, boys. We don't fight in Trillingham School. Sit down and wait patiently. Now, my name is Mr Joel and I'll be covering your history lesson today. So, in this half of the year, we're going to be looking at various events that happened in the medieval and renaissance periods. We'll be looking at the Norma Conquest of England, the Domesday Book before finally finishing at the Renaissance and a particular event that happened in the town of Nuremberg in 1561..."

Mel put her hand up.

"Yes...What's your name?"

"Mel".

"Mel. Go ahead".

"Will we learn anything about Naturals and Augs? The history of them?"

"We don't have that on the national curriculum but there's a theory the aforementioned event in Nuremberg was caused by a Natural. But beyond that, no".

Mel looks sad. Mr Joel looks at Jody once more, as he did in assembly. Jody notices.

"No. The course will be slightly boring in Year 7. But I promise it gets more interesting in Year 8 onwards. You'll find it much more...satisfying..."

The gaze between Jody and Mr Joel intensifies for a few moments before a knock at the door breaks it.

"Enter..."

The door opens and a young woman steps in. She's a Year 13 but she's beautiful. Long flowing blonde hair, leather jacket and just generally stereotypically beautiful. Jody sees her and gets lost. He's somewhat interested.

"Mr Joel, sorry to intrude, I was just wondering if you were around at break or lunch today? I need to talk to you about something important? Sorry, it can't wait!"

Mr Joel smiles.

"Of course. You can speak to me anytime. Come at break time. I'll be in my usual room!"

"Thank you, sir"

The young woman went to leave the room but she locked eyes with Jody. As they do, she smiles at him. She vanishes almost as quickly as she appeared. Laura notices and looks unimpressed.

******

Jody, Laura and Mel leave the room together. Jody is still awestruck by the young woman. Laura is just unhappy he's gone into a strange state.

"Who was that girl?"

"A Year 13 who would have no interest in a Year 7!"

Jody looked at his sister.

"Way to crush a boy's dreams..."

Mel intervened.

"She's called Roberta. I know her. She doesn't live too far from me. She's a weird girl. She's always out in the middle of the night and always sneaks back into her house in the early morning. She's weird!"

"Stay away from her, Jody!"

"No. She's beautiful. I'm allowed to admire beauty when I see it!"

Laura stopped him.

"Ok, stop. I know what you're like when you get obsessed with something. Remember the phase you went through when you loved Pompeii? The time you were obsessed with Mr Invincible? The time you heard that story about the girl from the middle ages who could open time portals? When you get sucked into something, you tend to sit on it for a long time and get completely absorbed by it. Don't get absorbed by a girl who is quite blatantly out of your league!"

Mel stands there awkwardly. Jody doesn't look impressed.

"Well I'm going to find her anyway. She's interesting and I want to know what she's like!"

Jody turns around and bumps into someone. It's the young lady from earlier. She smiles.

"Look where you're going, young man! You never know who you could bump into in these halls!"

She chuckles as she walks off. Jody watches her with interest. Laura smacks him on the shoulder.

"You'll never get her..."

"Watch and learn, little sis...watch and learn..."

Jody followed her back towards the room from he previously exited...

******

Jody snuck up to the classroom and put one ear to the door. He heard as the young lady and Mr Joel have a debate.

"I don't understand how you're so complacent about this. If this guy is real, he's a threat!"

"Or he might not be. What would his motives be?"

"I don't know. But there are stories. Stories saying he's older than the universe itself!"

"So why come here now?"

"I don't know. Maybe he's something to do with the Akara?"

"Akara is unimportant at this time. This 'Tragedy' is more important. What do you know about his current intentions and whereabouts?"

"There was a spike in energy a few days ago in Elizabeth Gardens in the city but, beyond that, nothing yet. Only whispers!"

"Ok. Well, I'll keep an eye out. Just keep me updated in the meantime..."

The young woman starts to leave the room. As she comes closers, Jody hides.

"Oh, and Roberta?"

Roberta turns around.

"If he's as dangerous as you claim, be careful!"

Roberta nods. She opens the door and walks out. She walks away. Jody steps forward with a smile on his face.

"Roberta..."

He chuckles to himself for a moment before looking back into the classroom where he sees Mr Joel. However, as he looks on, he sees Mr Joel remove his face to reveal a stranger. Jody looks terrified as he realises that the Mr Joel isn't who he says he is. As he looks on further, the stranger looks to the door and sees Jody. He smiles and winks. Jody speeds away in horror. His superspeed getting this better of him. He hides behind another building and tries to process what he's just seen.

Tragedy looks at the door and smiles evily.

"So...Jody Kent...it begins..."

The End...

Ok, so, confession time. The stories that have been written so far have gotten out of hand. They didn't transpire the way I hoped and, frankly, they've become way too convoluted. Even I can't keep up with them anymore. So, I've decided to retcon the entire Freaks universe and do it the way I originally wanted to do. However, I'm going to do it in a certain way. Yes there will be unanswered questions from characters that I've already introduced but in the new continuum, they will be answered. So if you follow the stories already, things will be answered. I promise. It just might take some time!

So here goes. The End of Freaks Universe #1.

******

Othergirl stood over Visionarie's body. It was all too much and she couldn't cope. The woman who helped her adjust to life in the 21st century, dead. Everyone else stood around and watched with sadness Othergirl collapsed to her knees and draped herself over the corpse. Crying as she does. Speedfreak steps forward.

"Liz...I'm so sorry..."

There was a pause as Othergirl continued to mourn. But after a few moments, she looks up at the man looming over her. Also sad.

"You should be..."

She stood up with anger in her eyes and punches Speedfreak in the face.

"YOU SAID POLARIS COULDN'T BREAK HER! YOU SAID THAT SHE WAS THE MOST POWERFUL PSYCHIC BLOCK IN THE UNIVERSE AND POLARIS COULDN'T GET TO HER BUT YOU WERE WRONG!"

She continues to hit him. Eventually, Starcaster gets in the way of the two and stops them from fighting further.

"YOU WERE WRONG AND WE BOTH PAID THE PRICE! HER AND I! I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WORSE! THE FACT YOU WERE WRONG OR THE FACT I HAD TO KILL HER!"

Speedfreak nurses his injuries, Flux helping him recover. Flux stood up and faced Othergirl.

"We cannot afford to fight each other right now. This is what Polaris wants! He wants us to fight so he can continue his bombardment of Earth!"

Othergirl starts to calm down. She sits on the ground next to Visionarie's body. Sarah steps forward.

"I can contact her, if you'd like. You and I could go to the Veil together..."

"No. We need to focus on Polaris. When we win, that I can see her again".

Leviathan, saddened also, looks up.

"What if we can't win?"

Everyone looks at him angrily.

"We don't need that kind of negativity, Levi...", Miss Invincible declared.

"Nymph died yesterday, Visionarie today, Digiman is lost in Polaris' virus software, it's a fair comment! Polaris is the worst thing we have faced. The most powerful being in the universe from what Marion says. He broke out of a fucking star! I mean, come on. This is some seriously powerful shit. More powerful than Adele in front of 100 Marshall Amps! What if we cannot win this time?"

There's a pause before Reaper stepped forward.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Black Dragon stepped forward also.

"Just die I suppose?"

Speedfreak sighed.

"There is something we can do..."

They all looked at him in puzzlement.

"What?"

Speedfreak looked terrified as he answered.

"We could go Infinity..."

Flux stepped forward and stared at him angrily.

"NO! Under no circumstances are we doing that!"

Starcaster intervened again.

"You want to complete the Infinity Paradox?"

"Yes. I see no other way out. At least that way the universe doesn't have to suffer under Polaris!"

"We would end the universe...Just like Regan foretold..."

"If you've got a better way I'm all ears!"

They all thought for a moment. Nothing. Sarah stepped forward to break the silence.

"So...how does this work then?"

"We need to create a number of time paradoxes at once so that the universe cannot correct them. Then we correct them all at once, causing one massive paradox, at which point the universe becomes so damaged that in order to save itself, it destroys itself".

"So we're ending the universe? How do we do that?"

Miss Invincible steps forward.

"We all pick a moment in our lives and we go and prevent it. Then we come back to this moment and prevent whatever enabled us to travel through time from doing it. Creating one super-paradox, causing the Infinity".

"Correct".

"So we all pick. But the question then is...how do we get there?"

Flux steps forward.

"I'm the daughter of the Goddess of Time. I'm a conduit for the time continuum. It'll have to be me, won't it!"

Speedfreak shakes his head.

"No. You'll die. There has to be another way!"

"We're all going to die, Jody, that's the whole point of this!"

"I'M NOT PUTTING YOU IN HARM'S WAY, JESSICA!"

"I'M VOLUNTEERING!"

They look at each other for a moment before Flux continues.

"Jody, Marion, Elsie and Anne all have ways in which they can access time alone. But for everyone else they need a conduit. I'm that conduit. It's the only way".

Othergirl gets up and steps forward.

"I know where I'm going. So take me!"

"Where will you go?"

"I'm saving her..."

Flux nods as she holds Othergirl's hand. A blue light surrounds them both and Othergirl vanishes. She's gone back in time. Speedfreak steps forward. 

"I'm going to save Roberta. Prevent the Eternal Feud from happening. Or at least slow it down".

As he finished, he ran into a time portal and vanished. One by one, they all went to do their work.

Othergirl manages to save Visionarie. But only so she's not alone at the end.

Speedfreak saves Roberta from Tragedy. Roberta continues to be Caretaker, and stops many of Speedfreak's former foes.

Starcaster went back and prevented her mother from dying. 

Karma went back and prevented BodyBuilder from ever becoming so powerful.

Sarah went back and prevented her accident.

Silver Spectre went back and made sure she and Karma never met. A key moment in her formation into the Freak team.

Elemental went back and prevented the accident that provided him with his abilities.

Reaper went back and destroyed the original designs for her suit and prevented her younger self from constructing another.

Miss Invincible went back and saved her father from going missing after his fight with Cosmos.

Black Dragon went back and made sure she never moved to the UK as a child.

Flux was alone. Making sure she could bring everyone back. But as she is a time conduit, all these changes hurt.

Everyone returned to the present and saw that Flux was suffering. Speedfreak runs over and catches her as she collapses.

"SHE'S WEAKENING!"

Flux starts to convulse. Starcaster looks concerned.

"What's happening to her!?"

"The Infinity is affecting her like it is the Akara. Except Jessica is a physical conduit while Akara is an energy conduit...its killing her. There's too many changes. If she continues to destabilise, the Infinity will never occur and the universe will die slowly...and horribly..."

"So what do we do?"

"We keep her stable. Something in her timeline perhaps? We change ours but keep something in hers intact?"

They think for a moment. But then Starcaster remembered.

"We'd met before..."

"What?"

"When we met, Flux and I, she said we'd met before. She said I was the reason she was in the ground in the first place!"

"So?"

"I haven't done that yet..."

They all smile. Speedfreak nods.

"Jessica, sweetheart, can you hear me?"

Flux nods weakly.

"I need you to open up a portal to 1561! We need to stabilise you..."

Flux shakes her head slowly.

"I can't...it's...too...much..."

"I believe in you, Jessica Wade..."

Speedfreak and Flux lock eyes. Speedfreak smiles and, eventually, Flux does too. With all her power, she opens up a portal. Starcaster stands in front of it and sees a younger version of Flux bringing the armies of the Edenic war down on Nuremburg. Starcaster stares at the younger Flux.

"JESSICA! JESSICA! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? I NEED YOU TO LISTEN TO ME!"

Young Flux looks confused. 

"YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS! IF YOU CONTINUE TO LET THEM THROUGH, THEY'LL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE RIP AND THE ARMIES OF EDEN AND OF EARTH WILL TEAR THIS WORLD APART. AND TIME WILL SELF-DESTRUCT! YOU'RE THE CHILD OF TIME...YOU SHOULD KNOW THE DANGERS OF THAT..."

Young Flux looks confused still.

"WHO ARE YOU!?"

The figure smiles.

"CONSIDER ME YOUR GUARDIAN ANGEL..."

Flux lets out an agonised scream. Speedfreak calls to Starcaster.

"STARCASTER! SHE CAN'T HOLD ON MUCH LONGER!"

Starcaster looks away for a moment and then back at Young Flux

"I KNOW YOU FEEL ANGRY, I KNOW THEY TRIED TO KILL YOU. I KNOW THEY SEE YOU AS SOMETHING THAT'S DEFECTIVE AND SOMETHING THAT NEEDS ERADICATING. TRUST ME, I KNOW THAT FEELING. BUT THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU. BUT YOU KNOW THIS IS WRONG AND YOU KNOW KILLING THEM IS WRONG TOO. SO SEND THEM BACK. YOU KNOW YOU CAN...JUST SEND THEM BACK...

Young Flux looks angry.

"THEY BEHEADED ME!"

Speedfreak calls out again.

"MARION! SHE CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE. END IT NOW!"

"THEN FOR GOD'S SAKE SEND ME THROUGH AND I'LL END IT!"

Starcaster walks into the portal and vanishes.

"MARION!"

She's gone but the portal is still open. After a few more moments, Starcaster comes back through.

"She's safe! Jessica, you can stop now!"

Speedfreak thinks for a moment.

"No, wait..."

"What?"

"This...you...I was in the Akara once and I saw you. You told me about Polaris, you told me how Speed-Demon allowed Polaris to get free...you warned me about it all...like you did for Jessica just then..."

Flux opens up another portal with the strength she has left. Starcaster stands in front of it once more.

"Jody! You need to listen to me!"

"What the hell!?"

"SPEED-DEMON WAS MORE THAN ONE STEP AHEAD! HE'S BEEN MANIPULATING US ALL THIS WHOLE TIME! EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENED TO US SINCE WE WERE YOUNG, IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. HE CHANGED HISTORY TO FIT HIS OWN GOALS AND NOW THE UNIVERSE IS FIGHTING BACK!"

"WHO ARE YOU!?"

"YOU'LL MEET ME SOON. BUT YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT NONE OF THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN. POLARIS, DOCTOR EUREKA AND THE CHEMICAL BOMBS, THE WATCHERS, IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! YOU NEED TO FIND THE INITIAL PARADOX AND COUNTERACT IT. ALL OF OUR LIVES DEPEND ON IT!"

Flux's condition deteriorates. Speedfreak calls back.

"MARION, SHE'S DYING! YOU NEED TO HURRY UP!"

"YOU NEED TO GO BACK! YOU NEED TO GO BACK! FIND ME, FIND JESSICA, FIND EVERYONE TIME SENSITIVE AND STOP TAMARIND WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"JESSICA! SPEAK TO ME! JESSICA!"

Starcaster looks back.

"Is that my voice!?"

The portal closes and Flux goes limp. She looks up at Speedfreak.

"You should be stabilising..."

"Too...much...to handle..."

Speedfreak leans into Flux's body. Flux chuckles weakly.

"Hey...Speedy..."

Speedfreak looks at her, Flux is smiling.

"I...I...lo..."

Before she can finish, she slips away. Speedfreak looks at her and starts to cry. Everyone around him starts to cry too.

"First Alicia...and now..."

"Jody..."

"How are we supposed to prevent us from changing time now?"

Jody stands up and looks at Leviathan, who asked the previous question.

"We don't. We just condemned the universe to a slow painful death..."

Everyone looks at everyone else as they look to the sky. It starts to crack.

"Under Infinity physics, the universe should just end. No one would notice...but we weren't able to complete the paradox..."

The sky cracks more and starts to fall apart.

"We failed".

Othergirl holds Visionarie tightly. Karma and Silver Spectre embrace, Leviathan and Miss Invincible hug. Everyone grabs someone as Speedfreak sits back down and hugs Flux's body tightly. As everything starts to fall apart around them, a voice can be heard. But only to Speedfreak.

"You idiot..."

Speedfreak looks up and sees Flux. In spirit form. She smiles.

"We were all wrong. Infinity cannot occur. Because Infinity suggests the universe is alive and can feel pain. Only time can feel pain. Or those who are time sensitive..."

Speedfreak continues to hear.

"You guys created the biggest paradox the universe has ever seen. But a time conduit's death sends a shockwave across time. Wiping out every version of itself except the energy that powers them. Me!"

The others cry as Speedfreak observes.

"You haven't destroyed the universe. You've merely taken it back to start of the chain reaction. The domino effect. The most important moment in the universe..."

Speedfreak gulps.

"Which was...?"

Flux smiles.

"The moment Jody and Laura Kent first stepped foot in Trillingham School..."

She smiles as she fades away. Speedfreak realises and smiles too. He looks back at his friends who are crying in each other's arms. The universe cracks more...and more...until finally...nothing. The universe came to an end.

******

Trillingham. September 2005.

"Jody? Jody, honey, wake up! You can't be late for your first day at secondary school!"

Jody stirred as he awoke to the sound of his mother calling him. Laura walks into the room and jumps on his bed.

"So, big bro. You ready?"

"To what? Be laughed at?"

"Don't use your speed and you won't be laughed at will you!"

"I hate trying to be normal!"

"Please, Jody, you promised me you'd try!"

Jody sighs.

"Ok. But only because you're my sister and I love you!"

"Don't start with the love stuff. Most 11 year old twins don't say that!"

"They do on Eden!"

"We're not on Eden anymore. We're on Earth!"

Jody sits up.

"Fine. I'm just nervous about starting a new school!"

Laura smiles.

"Come on, Jody Kent, what's the worst that could happen?"