Shadow of Time

by Jamie Hawke

  “No, not that.” She held her stomach and it rumbled. “Not sure if it’s the popcorn or what, but…”

  Her face scrunched up and she bent over, holding her stomach and looking around.

  “Oh, shit, bathroom.” He scanned the area and found one in the back, quickly guiding her over. Esmerelda went in with her, leaving Temra and Frank to stand in the hall, waiting.

  “You’re doing fine?” she asked.

  He grinned. “After that meal? You bet your ass.”

  She blinked, apparently confused by that expression. “We have popcorn in my world, but no movie theaters. It was a nice touch to this place.”

  “And ice cream?” he asked, glancing around the corner to the main room, to ensure they were safe.

  She shook her head. “Steam, though. We have steamed cream.”

  “Really?”

  Her chuckle gave her away, but she added, “No, I’m fucking you.”

  “Fucking with you,” he corrected her, trying not to pay attention to the way she was blushing, or imagine fucking her as his mind tried to do. As nature would have it though, the moment he tried not to think about something, that’s where his mind went. And in this case, it was more than his mind thinking about it, it was a memory. Him on a pile of furs, her pressing down on him, lowering herself so that his cock slid into her. Her back arching, breasts in his face, a moan escaping her lips.

  He shook his head, bringing himself back to the moment.

  “I have, you know,” she said.

  “What?”

  She looked hesitant, then turned to him, determined. “Fucked you. Many times. I mean, I know you know, but—to be clear, I see you as him. Meaning, to me you’re the same person.”

  “I—okay.”

  “Whatever. Maybe it’s weird, but… At first I didn’t, but you act the same. Except… except to me it’s like you’re sleeping with those other two, when you should be fucking me. And that’s bothersome, but I know you… this version of you was with them first. So, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

  “If you could, would you?”

  She shook her head. “That’s not even what I’m trying to say. But it’s getting to me, watching you, not being able to touch you. Kiss you.” She lowered her voice as she added, “Fuck you.”

  He gulped. “And you’ve spoken to them? I mean, have you?”

  “We need to talk more. I see it in Keisha’s eyes. She’s not ready.”

  “She’s shared me a lot.” He wasn’t sure if the statement meant she should be more or less open to sharing him further, he realized as soon as it’d escaped his lips. “And Esmerelda’s on board, so…”

  “You already asked them?” She looked somewhere between stunned and flattered.

  “Oh, shit. No? Not really—I mean, they saw me looking.”

  An arched eyebrow. “You were looking?”

  He clenched his jaw, not wanting to say anything more and dig that hole deeper than it needed to be.

  “You know…” She turned to the bathroom door, hesitant, then continued. “When we first met, I wondered if you were gay.”

  “What?”

  “Just… sorry. You were so caring, thoughtful. Guys where I’m from aren’t like that—but I saw the way you looked at me, the way you walked when we went to grab a scone and tea. It was like you’d do anything for me, stand up to anyone who’d try to give me trouble. That’s when I understood you. And you know, we would’ve been best friends if you were gay. No questions. But… the way you,” her voice lowered, almost a whisper, “made love to me…” She took a deep breath, then blew it out. “I wouldn’t ever change a moment we had together. Not for anything.”

  “Even to be rid of this… I mean, everything you’ve been through?” He blurted it out, trying to get the question in the air before there’d be a chance for the awkwardness of what she’d just said sink in.

  Sure, it wasn’t really him who she had made love to. But still, he found himself blushing at the semi-compliment.

  “I’m with you now, aren’t I?” She smiled, although it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Mostly, anyway. In time, all wounds heal. Or… get kinda better, at any rate.”

  He turned back to the bathroom as he nodded, wondering what was taking so long. At a short intake of air from Temra, he glanced over to her. Following her line of sight, he looked at the entrance to the restaurant, where the woman they’d seen outside was entering, eyes on them.

  Behind her, four men followed in what he could only think of as modern Viking mafia clothing. They wore thick hides with war paint and some had the sides of their heads shaved. One man had a rifle slung over his shoulder, a fucking axe in his other hand. You wouldn’t have seen men with axes back in Frank’s version of Seattle.

  What a strange fucking world.

  “Ladies, we have company,” Temra said, cracking the door to the bathroom open. “Almost done in here?”

  “Another couple of minutes,” Esmerelda replied. “Sorry…”

  Shit. Apparently, they would have no choice but to fight. Luckily, Frank had his alt-self upgrades from the various memories and other-self training, along with his leveling up, and the training with Shadow. Plus, he had a bit of a sugar high going from that root beer float, so he felt as though he could take on the world. Yes, even this strange one.

  12

  The Viking mafia—as Frank had decided to think of them—were moving across the restaurant with purpose. Guests noticed them and moved out of the way, a couple making for the door. One waiter stepped forward to say something, and promptly received a fist to the throat.

  Frank glanced back, noting that the hallway led to another door, but Temra shook her head.

  “We can’t leave them.”

  “Of course not.” Frank pounded on the bathroom door. “Any day now.”

  “One fucking minute!” Esmerelda countered.

  He frowned, kicked the door, and turned to the Viking mafia—now only a few paces away. One drew a pistol. The others had their axes and short swords ready. Another step, and the woman lifted two pistols.

  Fuck.

  Without hesitation, Frank rolled and drew his katana as he went. He’d cleared the distance and slashed up as he rose, cutting right through the closest man’s gut. It was only meant to give them time, and it worked. Behind him, Temra was kicking off of a wall and slamming her gloved hand into one of them.

  A shot went off and customers screamed, now running in panic. Before Frank could get another slash in, one of the Vikings had managed to turn on him with axe ready, only to be hit by a blast of steam in the face. The man stumbled to his side with a growl, giving Frank the time he needed to slash at the hand with the axe. He’d expected to cut it off, but apparently that was a movie trick, or something he simply hadn’t mastered yet. Either way, his katana stuck in the guy’s flesh, hitting bone and getting wedged there as the man roared in pain and anger.

  The axe had fallen to the ground. Since Frank had given his sword two pulls and it didn’t come free, he lunged for the axe instead. Too bad they’d left the cutlasses and pistols back at the hideout. He came up with the flat side of the axe to the man’s head, with just enough force to knock him unconscious.

  The lady turned her pistols on Frank with a shout, but Temra lunged and caught her with a punch to the face with her metal glove, dropping her instantly. Out cold. Frank placed a foot on the arm next to his sword, then yanked. He pulled the katana free, ready for more action.

  “Like the good old days, huh?” Temra asked with a wide grin, but then her eyes went blank. Moist.

  “I think so,” he said, and she offered him her best smile, although it was forced. Hey, at least they were both trying.

  Suddenly the lady sat up with a gasp, blinked, and tried to aim one of her pistols at Temra with her left hand. This time when Frank swung, it was clean—the fucking hand actually came off. The lady screamed, rolling over to stand. Blood was gushing from her stump, her other hand up and trigger fi
nger moving as if she still held a pistol and was firing. It was a strange sight to behold, especially considering the pistol in her other hand, which the lady simply didn’t seem to have considered yet.

  “The hell is…?” Keisha started, storming out of the bathroom and nearly stumbling on the first Viking at her feet. She frowned, looked up to see Frank and Temra squared off against the lady, and said, “Huh.”

  A shot went off and Keisha cursed, hand to her ear, shouting at Esmerelda for being inconsiderate.

  Esmerelda stepped forward, another shot going off and dropping the lady, two more for the other Viking mafia as they made their moves. Good timing, too, because Frank watched her fall and noticed her remaining hand on a third, hidden pistol under her coat. The woman’s eyes went blank, and Frank relieved her of the gun.

  He stood, smiling, only to lose that smile two seconds later as five more Viking mafia sons of bitches appeared as silhouettes in the doorway to the place.

  “Back,” Frank hissed, and started running as he shot at the enemy. “Out the back!”

  The ladies were sprinting, Esmerelda shooting, too, while Temra threw two pellets that exploded into smoke, leaving the enemy unable to see their retreat.

  A rush of fresh air hit Frank as he charged outside, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the light. Esmerelda turned back, shoving him and the others aside and over a small ledge. He let out a yelp, air rushing past him as he fell backwards and landed right in a dumpster full of trash. The barrage of bullets and explosion above that followed a second later told him why she’d done it. A small consolation for the fact that he was touching something slimy and had a sharp pain in his right side.

  “Keep moving,” Keisha hissed, already up and reaching back to give him a hand. When she saw the guck on his hand, she hesitated.

  “I got it,” he growled, pulling himself over.

  Shouts sounded and he knew they didn’t have long. He helped Temra down, taking her by the hand next and running with the other two down the side street and turning up an alley. They came to an old parking lot with a giant billboard over it of the ocean, the blue water calling to him, reminiscent of where he’d met the pirates.

  “Blue, you said,” he turned to Temra, “helps you track weapon parts and ammo? Think you can find any around here? Might be nice to be at an advantage.”

  “Here?” Esmerelda frowned. “Why would that stuff be here?”

  “Because we are,” Frank replied.

  Temra switched to blue, and chuckled. “Hot dog, Jack. You’re right.”

  “Hot… dog.” Esmerelda grinned, but shrugged.

  Temra took a few steps, adjusted her eyepiece, and said, “Up that way, about fifty yards.”

  They snaked their way past the parking lot and up and around the next building over, to the point that they were almost directly behind the billboard. Frank felt like laughing—of course this would be the place.

  Moving up behind the billboard, he scanned the area for weapons stashed, then turned to Temra to see if she knew where it would be.

  “It just shows the general area,” Temra said, blue lens down on her monocle. Yeah, Frank was used to how that worked.

  Maybe there would be a test, as well? A puzzle of sorts?

  “I got this one,” Esmerelda said, and laughed. She stepped up to the back of the billboard, where the sun shining through showed that it was the ocean on the other side. “Where’s treasure always located when you need it?”

  Keisha grinned, apparently sharing this moment with her. “At the bottom of the sea, lost to Davy Jones’ locker.”

  “Aye.” Esmerelda grinned, looked over, and dropped.

  Frank started, but then saw her head come back into sight. Apparently, there was a ledge to stand on. “Here it is, as predicted.”

  She started pulling out several small containers that he recognized as holding the pellets used as smoke bombs for escaping, along with throwing stars—which he was nowhere close to mastering—a couple of swords, and a pistol.

  Fuck yeah.

  Frank quickly went about doing his best to assemble what he could, being a tinkerer and all, but with Temra’s help. She knew a thing or two about working with the equipment and her monocle allowed her to see where the issues were in what they were making. Soon, they had a series of steam-powered grenades, blow darts, grappling hooks, a couple swords, and more weapons that had been in the crate.

  Now they were ready.

  13

  With their new equipment handy, the team began their move to reconnect with Frank’s grandparents. The only problem was, now those Viking mafia bastards were all over the streets, some visible now, others as red dots in the surrounding areas thanks to his awareness skill.

  Frank and his team moved along the rooftops, staying low when they saw a sentry on another roof who was luckily looking away from them at first and searching below. When he started to scan their way, they moved like the ninjas they were training to be, keeping out of sight, taking him down with a blow dart from Temra. She had trained the most, after all.

  They had just made it to the edge, where they could see the farmer’s market and movie theater, when a whistle sounded. No sooner had they turned toward the noise when a round of gunshots went off. A fucking drone was coming in on them!

  So much for this place being less technologically advanced than Frank’s own time, as he’d hoped. The fact that they were using weapons like this on home soil was bothersome, but not exactly a surprise considering everything else going on.

  An explosion hit a moment later, but at the side of the building.

  “Over here!” Keisha shouted, having moved for a building slightly lower than their current one. She leaped for it, the others following while Frank pulled out a pistol, used his reticle enhancement, and shot the drone out of the sky.

  Impressive, he had to admit.

  He suddenly felt something yank on his ankle as he charged over to join them and fell forward, slamming his face against the rooftop. He turned to see three Vikings climbing over the edge of the roof, one of them holding the metal cord with two balls on the end which was wrapped around his foot. He steadied himself and took one of the Vikings out with a well-placed bullet between the eyes. He aimed again and… click. The chamber was pulled back and he hadn’t noticed. No more rounds.

  “I got him!” Temra shouted and was back at his side providing cover fire, as two more drones appeared overhead. She got his feet untangled between shots, then tossed him the gun to take out the drones.

  He aimed and got the one that had just shot at Keisha and Esmerelda, taking it out while the other ducked out of his line of sight. More shooting sounded, and then another explosion. Smoke rose from the other building. He ran over to look, but saw no sign of the other ladies.

  “Keisha, Esmerelda!” he shouted, turning back to see more Vikings coming their way, several charging up on the other roof, also searching for the other two.

  “Meet us at the root beer float place,” Esmerelda called out, and then another explosion sounded, three drones coming up in front of Frank.

  He cursed while stepping back toward Temra, and nodded. “They’re running for it.”

  “So should we,” she replied, so they did. His stamina upgrade was helping him, and apparently, she was in damn good shape. With blasts of smoke, they used their grappling hooks to rappel down the side of the building but stopped as more Vikings ran past below.

  Temra put her gloved hand to a window. A vibration ran through it and then the glass shattered.

  “This way,” she said, swinging out and going through the window.

  A muffled scream followed, and then he was in and following her. They passed an old man who looked horrified, apparently caught in the middle of a Risky Business-style dance with shades, undies, and dress shirt all looking the part.

  Frank had to laugh, not knowing what that was about, as he followed Temra out to the hall and down the first set of stairs.

  They reached
the basement and went out an alley where they could see garbage bins and a truck, but no sign of Vikings. Using this route, they made it three buildings over—they hoped in the right direction—before coming to a stop at the sound of gunfire.

  Temra pulled back from the corner of a red-brick building, eyes wide. “Shit.”

  “More of them?” Frank leaned around the corner to have a look, but Temra grabbed him, pulling him back to her. They were intimately close, but that didn’t matter at the moment. The worry in her eyes made sure of that.

  “It’s worse than that. It’s him… the one who killed Frank. I mean, my Frank.”

  “How…? I mean, he’s from your world, right? How’d he get here?”

  “It must be close.” She looked down, realized her hand was on Frank’s chest, and pulled it away. “If he’s here, his master must be, too—my world’s Rick.”

  “Which means they’re preparing to go into the fourth dimension.” Frank wanted so badly to lean over and have a glance, but instead nodded and pulled Temra with him, back the way they’d come. “Tell me what we’re dealing with here.”

  “You call me Steampunk, right?” She hesitated, looking back down the hall to ensure they weren’t followed, then pulled him out through an exit into a different alley. “Well, that’s part of how my world developed, sure. But then there are the Scourers—and he falls under that side. Basically, elite bounty hunter-types, the ones who get all the fancy tech and keep it for themselves. We’ve had a few good hits on him so he’s had to get an arm replaced, other augments here and there.”

  “You’re telling me we’re up against a fucking steampunk cyborg?”

  She frowned. “Not so much steampunk, because their type didn’t need the steam. They figured out new ways… but yeah.”

  He wasn’t sure whether he should be scared or excited. It sounded too cool, but in a horrifying way.

  “We need to tell Shadow,” Frank said, and she nodded in agreement. “The downside is, my training might be cut short.”

  Her frown vanished, replaced by a humored grin. “I think you can handle yourself already.”