Two hours after the games began, no one had found the flag on either side. Wino did manage to fall into a hole, but he was okay. Also, Jordan got stuck in a net but Vegas cut him free. Another twenty minutes went by and I could tell people were getting frustrated. I guess, typically, the flags were found much faster but there were also less advanced people playing today and some new people.
As I was reassuring Vegas over the walkie that we would find the flag, wouldn’t you know it, I did. The flag was pinned to an old tree that had fallen over and if I hadn’t been paying attention, I would have missed it. As it was, this area had been checked by Symphony earlier so he must have just walked by it.
After radioing my team with the flag’s location, I began testing the area for any hidden traps as I could see none with the naked eye. The stick I had picked up over two hours prior came in handy for locating the hole in the ground. When I was a mere few feet away, the rest of the team arrived. Since they were here, I decided to just make a run the rest of the way to the flag and before I knew it, I held it in my hands. The only problem was, I ended up somehow cutting my hand when I grabbed the flag and got blood over it.
When I heard Jordan fire the flare gun a few seconds later, I forgot about my cut as it was practically healed. As I made my way to my team, I was greeted with victory hugs and cheers. We ended up making it back to the Security Safe House before Broderick’s team as we were closer. We were still celebrating out front when Broderick trudged up, looking rather disappointed.
I don’t think the little party that Agent Bernard arranged for the winning teamed helped Broderick’s mood, but every else seemed to enjoy it win or lose. After about ten minutes, I saw Broderick slink off back to his room with a bottle of whiskey in hand.
Tersina: “Can’t believe we kicked his ass.”
Riley: “Where’s the other Broderick?”
I don’t know why I had the sudden urge to ask that question.
Tersina: “What do you mean? There is only one.”
Riley: “Don’t you think he is a bit old?”
Tersina: “No, why?”
Riley: “Who did I travel back in time with?”
Tersina: “To my knowledge, just Jordan.”
Riley: “Correct, but will you please excuse me? I need to use the bathroom.”
Had Broderick seen his past self and not mentioned it? If he’d seen his past self, would he have powers while in this realm? The two other versions of Broderick that I had come across, we couldn’t exactly test out this theory. As a matter of a fact, I hadn’t even thought about this possible scenario when I had initially agreed to change the past. Well, it must not be the case because if Broderick had powers, I didn’t think he would want to stay here.
While going to the bathroom, I decided that I was being paranoid. The rest of the evening, I tried to just have a good time. I drank some fruity drinks and talked to some heroes and future villains. Jordan even got me on the dance floor; he was the only person who could get me to dance as it really wasn’t my thing. When I retired for the evening, Jordan came with me to bed. A part of me almost wished this reality was real, minus Broderick existing.
As life goes, all good things must come to an end. The next morning, Broderick woke me and Jordan up particularly early. It was suddenly urgent that the three of us head back to present day or close to it. So, after showering and eating breakfast, I packed a small bag with a change of clothing, toothbrush, and deodorant. I even threw in a water bottle and granola bars as I had made the mistake previously not packing anything. Then I placed the shackles I had been concealing for quite some time into the bag. As for the photo of Arcadia, Mac, and me, that got tucked into my bra as the pockets in the pants I wore were kind of shallow.
Time came to say goodbye and almost everyone at the Security Safe House was there to send Jordan, Broderick, and me off except Mac. I was a little disappointed that he hadn’t bothered to make an appearance. For some reason I’d thought the note would have gotten him out of the funk he was in. Then again, maybe Mac never read the note or thought it was a cruel joke.
Regardless of why Mr. Moss wasn’t here to say goodbye, I had to remind myself that this was not my friend. The real Mac was eight years in the future and a parallel universe away, mad at me, though not as angry as Arcadia, but they both would get over it as I planned on taking care of Broderick real soon. As soon as he said enough of the future reality, is when I would put an end to Broderick Boucher and the man I loved.
October 11th, 11:11 a.m.
Riley: “Oh wow, the Security Safe House looks exactly the same as it did eight years ago. What a trip. I wonder where everyone is. Eh, that doesn’t matter. I’m going to go check out my old room. Be right back.”
I ran off to the room I had been calling my home for the past few nights. While I knew it really wasn’t my bedroom, I had felt more comfortable here than any other place I had been in years. Oddly enough, it looked like nothing had changed too drastically. The sheets were different, along with the wall color, but the room was more or less the same.
Just as I felt myself beginning to relax and even feeling a bit of smile, I heard a scream from the hallway. I dashed out of the room to see Jordan on the ground with a giant gaping wound in his chest. There was absolutely no way for Jordan to recover from this injury; superpowered or not, there was simply no recovery. I dropped to my knees, cradled Jordan’s lifeless body in my arms, and kissed his forehead.
Who or what monster had done this? It couldn’t have been Broderick as why would he kill someone he could basically control like a slave? But if it wasn’t Broderick, then who would have committed such a horrific crime? There wasn’t much time to debate as I suddenly heard someone approaching. I jumped to my feet, ready to fight, but no one was there.
Broderick: “Behind you!”
I didn’t spin around quick enough and someone, or should I say something, hit me in the back of my head. There was a sharp and intense pain as the world started to spin. The last thing I saw was Jordan’s bloodied body before everything, and I do mean everything, went black.
When I came to, I was in a cell and wearing the wrist shackles that Seth had given me. The irony of the situation was that something I had on me for protection was now being used against me. My powers were extremely limited now as all I seemed able to do was spark, so why hadn’t my captor killed me?
Broderick: “It’s good to see that you are awake. And before you ask, we are in Washington, D.C., or as I like to call it, Boundaryville.”
Broderick was sitting across the cell from me. He wasn’t wearing his normal clothing. The outfit that Broderick was dressed in looked designer, along with his fresh haircut.
Riley: “You should not be allowed to name things.”
Broderick: “I am going to ignore that comment as I had a nice little massage this morning by my personal masseuse. I am in such a good mood that I am actually going to give you a compliment.”
Riley: “What compliment is that?”
Broderick: “I was going to say how impressed I am by your resilience to live. Even with the wrist shackles, you still managed to heal. I ripped out your heart, but the doctor said it grew back, and here we are.”
Riley: “How is it possible you have your powers?”
Broderick: “Is this the part where the villain tells his secrets?”
Riley: “You have me at an extreme disadvantage and I know that you like to brag.”
Broderick: “Oh, how well you know me. So where should I begin? The beginning? That would probably make the most sense. So, without further ado and once upon a time, I asked to travel back to get a letter my dad wrote, which was total bullshit. Instead, I left a letter for my past self and explained all the future events that were to transpire. It took me some time to write the letter, thus why I used the cover of Capture the Flag to stay where we were. Agent Bernard even made it more realistic by throwing you that party. I thought the whiskey pout deserved me an acting award as I know
it totally had you fooled. In truth, I didn’t give a shit about winning the game. My goal was to get your blood. I needed to figure out what made you tick and the bloody flag was for that.”
Riley: “So you are saying you used my blood to get power?”
Broderick: “Oh, I wish, but unfortunately, Agent Bernard was unable to do anything with your blood as it’s nothing that has ever been seen before. Eight years of testing and no one can figure out what is bonded to your DNA. And do you want to know why?”
Riley: “Enlighten me.”
Broderick: “Whatever is fighting the shackles on your wrist and keeping you alive right now, it’s not human. You aren’t human.”
Riley: “I told you, I am time.”
Broderick: “Is that so?”
Riley: “How did you get your powers back then?”
Broderick: “If you must know, the me from this reality, as that is what this is, killed Jordan and knocked you out. Then we looked at each other and the greater of the two survived, meaning he and I disappeared. It was at that point that I was greeted by Agent Bernard, who, if you haven’t figured it out, has always been on my payroll. Why do you think he showed up at the hospital? I called him, and I am honestly surprised you didn’t figure that one out. Seriously, do you think the government would allow any superhumans’ DNA to show up in any regular database?”
Riley: “I knew something was off.”
Broderick: “Yet you spilled your guts to Agent Bernard, which only made things that much easier for me. Anyway, fast forward eight years, Bernard gives me the serum that I injected you with back in Trenton. I had written down the formula and he and the other ones on my staff perfected it over the years and, dare I say, made it better than the original. It turns out, instead of having my men make me an army of goons, I should have had them smuggle a syringe and a serum into prison. Oh, you want to hear something funny? I didn’t even have any nasty side effects that the rest of you pathetic creatures had that were injected. All that happened to me was I got sleepy, took a nap, and when I woke up—bam, I was me again! I have my powers back and I feel stronger than ever.”
Riley: “So now what?”
Broderick: “I’m going to kill you, of course. I’m just not sure how yet. Now that my team has a lot more blood of yours, they might actually be able to make some magic happen.”
Riley: “You do realize that if I die, this timeline collapses. When that happens, you will cease to be, just like everyone else here.”
Broderick: “You’re lying.”
Riley: “Nope. Since my powers are now limited, I should probably point out that there is nothing sustaining this reality, not really. What that means is that within days, the energy that was holding this reality together will finally cease. And when that happens it will look like that famous melting clock picture from the twentieth century. Everything will melt away. Kind of cool and trippy, right?”
Broderick punched the wall and left a nice big dent.
Broderick: “You will return me to the present reality.”
Riley: “That is a big fat no as you killed the man I loved.”
Broderick: “I will have you tortured.”
Riley: “If that is what you must do. But all I have to do is live through it for a week and you will be gone.”
Broderick: “No. No. No. You don’t get to beat me. Not a bitch like you. I will find a way to end your life and also find a way to make this the permanent timeline.”
Riley: “Tick tock. Tick tock.”
Probably not the right thing to say as Broderick knocked me out again. At least it got him out of having to talk to him. If I was unconscious for most of my stay here, then so be. I wasn’t lying when I told Broderick that everything would melt away or that some kind of apocalyptic destruction would occur. The thing is I didn’t know if it would be two days or seven. It could also be a month, but I didn’t think any longer than that without my energy constantly feeding into the reality.
October 16th, 8:39 a.m.
Guard: Wake up, cockroach. You have visitors.”
After a drawn-out yawn, I sat up on the questionable cot that I had been lying on and rubbed my eyes. I quietly murmured to myself that, “I am getting to old for this shit” as I cracked my back and waited for my “guest” to grace me with his presence. The unwanted company was most likely Broderick Baron Boucher, come to gloat about my “impending” execution. Broderick had sworn yesterday that he had discovered a way to finally end my life and also keep this reality running status quo; as to how, I did not know. If, in the slim realm of possibility, Broderick was telling the truth then I, Riley Roman, had fucked up all of time and was most definitely not a hero. Would accidentally allowing a bad guy to alter time in fact make me a supervillain?
When the doors finally opened, I was a bit taken back that it was Arcadia and Mac walking into my cell. I did not think that Broderick would let them anywhere near me as they were probably the only ones who could aid me in escape. However, this Arcadia and Mac would probably never break me out as they were completely loyal to Broderick in this reality. The events over the last few years had shaped them into strangers to me. I didn’t think I could even appeal to their sense of morale or good intention as they were only servants of Broderick in this realm.
It’s amazing what a lonely guard will tell a girl at night if she is nice to him. Guard Cole was stuck doing the 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. shift, which left him with little interaction with human beings. The man was practically falling over himself for a little bit of conversation and I’d willingly listened. When I’d told Cole that I would play cards with him, I seriously thought I became his new best friend and he’d told me everything and anything I wanted.
I’d discovered that, in this reality, Broderick followed a list of instructions left my douchebag Broderick and, if that isn’t confusing enough, it was actually quite genius. Over the last eight years, every misstep that Broderick had taken was now undone. He’d realized that it was better to have Arcadia as an ally than enemy, so he had pretended to love her unconditionally. Instead of him being the bad guy, Broderick had made Calypso the main villain; so when she’d practically wiped out all of Congress and Broderick had saved the day, it was assumed that he was the hero.
If the bloody end to the government wasn’t enough, shortly thereafter, chaos erupted throughout the country, almost simultaneously. There were a multitude of attacks of varying types and level. These attacks overwhelmed the police, military, and even the heroes. You name it and that shit happened on that bloody day. Guard Cole said it was like the apocalypse, but somehow, out of the blue, Broderick swooped in and saved the day. He’d then issued martial law and made himself ruler, but unlike before, it was a welcome reprieve.
Once things died down, people assumed that Broderick, or should I say Boundary, would step down, but that was not the case. He ended up taking more and power until he was once again the ruler of the fucking planet with his puppet government and spies. Unlike before, many heroes joined Broderick’s side because they thought he was one of the good guys.
Now, this brings me to present day, where I realized that Broderick had always been three steps ahead of me. As soon as Alyssa was saved, I should have ended Broderick’s life, but I had been selfish and for that reason I was shackled and potentially, had doomed Earth.
I had explained the whole situation to Guard Cole but he wasn’t going to let me out. The only positive was that Guard Cole was going to talk to a few people about my predicament. Maybe that was why Mac and Arcadia were walking into my cell now.
Mac: “It looks like the prisoner was trying to break her shackles. Look at the burn marks around the wrist, Arcadia.”
I got off the cot and put my hands on my hips.
Riley: “If I must endure a bit of electrocution to stop Broderick, so be it.”
Arcadia: “My husband is indestructible. He cannot be defeated.”
Riley: “That is what he wants you to believe, but I have the abili
ty to stop Broderick.”
Arcadia: “Who are you, exactly?”
Riley: “My name is Riley Roman and I control time.”
Mac: “Impossible. If there was such a powerful being in existence, my machine would have picked up on it.”
Riley: “The machine probably didn’t have a chance to register my abilities. As soon as Boundary and I arrived here, he murdered the man I loved and put me in these power inhibiting shackles. But we can change all that if someone just breaks my shackles.”
Mac: “And why would we do that?”
Riley: “Broderick forced me to bring him back in time and he altered things without me knowing. Even though this is not the main timeline, it is imperative that I get out of here. If Broderick has truly found a way to kill me and keep this reality, then only dark things are in store. Yes, I am aware that this sounds like I am crazy but I am telling the truth.”
Mac: “What exactly did Broderick do in the past?”
Riley: “Besides pretending to be a hero, he has purposely kept you two apart.”
Arcadia: “We are standing right next to each one another, so—”
Riley: “In the correct timeline, the two of you are happily married with a baby on the way. It’s a little girl and she is going to be named Arianna. I assure you that this world can still exist if you help me escape.”
Arcadia: “You’re mad. The only man I’ve ever loved is Broderick.”
Riley: “Arcadia, he is a murderer and needs to be in defeated one way or another. I know you may not believe me, but I can see that Mac just might.”
Then There Was New York Page 14