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?"