by Wyatt Kane
“Sex is just one part of it,” Shell continued, answering June’s question before it was fully articulated. “A necessary part. But consider, if Caleb is always the protector, the relationship between the three of you will always be unbalanced. It will be akin to that of a parent protecting her offspring, rather than the love that can grow between equals.”
The AI paused for a moment, allowing her words to sink in. I felt my cheeks start to grow pink at the implications. Yet Shell hadn’t said anything I could disagree with.
April’s expression slowly softened. Finally, she quirked a grin. “You told us that the entire multiverse might snuff out of existence because you love us?” she said.
I’d known the girls for such a short time, but we’d been through a lot. I felt like I knew them. And, yes, Shell’s words were true, as were April’s.
I loved them both.
I didn’t answer out loud, but instead looked away. It was all the answer April needed.
“How about that. He loves us,” she said, her voice full of wonder.
“Well, that’s just great,” June said. “And how does that help us, exactly?” Yet even as she said it, she projected waves of gentle amusement mixed with a deep affection that made me feel comfortably warm and content inside.
XXXVII
“It boosts your talents,” Shell responded. “And that is the most important thing of all.”
June wasn’t satisfied. “You keep saying that,” the dark-haired twin said. “But the bug-demon is still out there, still kicking our asses. How is Caleb’s ability to stop everything except the bug in their tracks actually helping?”
It was a question I’d asked myself several times before. But this time, Shell provided an answer—and it wasn’t one I expected.
“Caleb’s ability to stop time is only one aspect of his talent,” Shell said. “I have mentioned before that I tap into his power to conjure items from different times into our present. Transitioning the van into a Greek villa or Caleb’s apartment is also dependent on his power. As is traveling through time itself. The van is not a time machine as such, but rather a prosthetic, a device designed to let Caleb use his power more freely. He is the time machine. Without Caleb’s talent, none of it would be possible at all.”
I didn’t know what to say to all this. It was true, Shell had mentioned most of it before, but I just hadn’t understood what it all meant.
She hadn’t finished. “Nor is that the limit of it. Remember, I was unable to conjure April and June’s home, because it no longer exists in this timeline. I was able to conjure Caleb’s apartment, even though it also doesn’t exist in this timeline either, because of his link to that apartment.”
All at once, the penny dropped. I understood everything. Or at least, thought I did, and the implications were staggering.
“This timeline we’re in now,” I breathed, scarcely believing what I’d only just grasped. “It’s one of the new ones, isn’t it?” I said. “It didn’t exist before the bug-demon’s arrival.”
“Correct,” said Shell.
“But our original timeline still exists in the multiverse. Just like all the others.”
“Again, you are correct.”
“And, with your help, I have the ability to travel not just forward or back within a single timeline, but between different timelines. Am I right?”
“Very well done, Caleb. Top marks. Yes, exactly, but only if you are powerful enough to do so.”
I looked at April and June, but neither of them seemed to have figured it out yet.
“So, if I am powerful enough, we can go back to where this all began, even though it doesn’t exist anymore in this timeline,” I said.
Shell was incapable of forming facial expressions, yet it felt like she was grinning. “Yes.”
Now the girls were starting to get it. “You can stop all this before it happens?” April said, at the same time June projected a wave of hope.
“If I’m strong enough. Shell?”
Once more, the AI displayed my character sheet. My Time Bending skill still showed a two, but it was now augmented to the tune of x3.5. Which meant I was now seven times stronger than I was at my starting point.
All because I’d felt it was right to tell the girls what I knew.
“Is it enough?” I asked.
“Yes.”
<<<>>>
We were in agreement. The girls understood how pressed for time we were, and not even June felt the need to argue against immediately trying to cross timelines. All we needed to do was get dressed, and we were ready.
It worked.
From my perspective, it wasn’t much different from traveling through time, except it seemed to take longer.
We arrived at night on the day it all started, a couple of hours before the time rift appeared. The van came to rest in an empty lot down from the Club where I knew our past selves wouldn’t accidentally see it. Learning from past mistakes, we tried to plan for every contingency. At midnight, we walked toward the Club and positioned ourselves across the road, waiting for the final call. Each of us was armed as before, the girls with their spear and shield, and me with my assault rifle slung over my shoulder and additional magazines, conjured by Shell, in my pockets.
After an hour of waiting, we saw Eddie stumble out of the club with his buddies and a bloody nose. His friends tried to load him into a car, but he wouldn’t have it. Finally, they abandoned him and left with tires squealing. Eddie leaned against the dumpsters and tried to light a cigarette. He was still drunk and ended up burning his fingers.
It would have been funny if I didn’t still have the image of his severed head rolling around in my brain.
At the thought, I wondered if it had to happen like that. Could we save Eddie’s life? If we did, would that result in an entirely new timeline?
Maybe it would, if the change proved significant. But wasn’t it just as likely that Eddie’s life was essentially meaningless, able to be reabsorbed in the current timeline without creating a new one?
And, really, what would it matter if a single new timeline existed? Better than the thousands the bug-demon would produce if we didn’t stop it.
I made up my mind. “Stay here,” I said.
“Caleb,” April said, her voice alarmed. “Where are you going?”
“I’ll be right back. Promise.”
I headed for Eddie, making sure my rifle was hidden from view.
He saw me and started. “Who are you?”
That surprised me. I would have thought he would recognize me, but then, I hadn’t been wearing my jacket last time we met, and maybe my beard and his drunkenness made it more difficult than it should have been.
All the better.
“Hey,” I said. “It’s dangerous out here. I need you to come with me.”
Eddie backed away and raised his fists. “I already got into a fight with one fucker tonight,” he slurred. “If you want, I can do it again. Scram.”
“Charming as ever. Look,” I pointed back across the road. “There are two girls over there who would like to meet you.”
No way was I letting him get close to the twins, but it was the only thing I could think of to get him out of harm’s way.
Eddie lowered his fists. “Yeah?” he said.
“Yeah.” I resisted the urge to grin at his gullibility. He really was an idiot. “Come on.”
“Girls?” Eddie said. Then he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “You first.”
“Alright.” I led the way, keeping him in my peripheral vision. He stumbled along behind me.
On our way, I thought to April, Eddie thinks I’ve found him some girls.
Pretty stupid, but he doesn’t deserve to die.
“Hey!” Eddie called. He had caught sight of April and June and was pointing to them. “Those the girls? Here, girlie!�
�
I think you could take him, I said, teasing a little.
Damn, you’re sexy when you talk like that. Also, remind me never to piss you off.
We reached the twins, and Eddie ogled them openly, completely failing to recognize them from the Club. I guess he hadn’t been looking at their faces at the time. For a number of reasons, that thought made me angry, and I struggled to resist the urge to knock him off his feet.
Eddie reached for June, who promptly grabbed his hand, bent it back, twisted his arm, and pushed him to his knees.
“Ouch!” he whined. Then, his temper returned. “You little bitch—”
April and I moved to hit him at the same time. She got there first. With a swift kick to the groin, Eddie, already inebriated and suffering from a broken nose, let out a cry of pure agony and keeled over onto the ground.
“You know,” I said, wincing despite myself, “when I had the idea to save his life, I hadn’t planned on beating him up to do it.”
“He deserves it,” April spat.
I didn’t disagree. Eddie was writhing on the ground and whimpering. It would have been entertaining to simply watch for a while, but there was no more time to waste on him. With a loud tearing sound, the rift suddenly appeared in the parking lot. It was a ripple of energy, a distortion in the night, and, just like before, the high-pitched keening noise it produced made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.
A bright light accompanied it, and the three of us gaped anew as the rift grew wider. There were a couple of people in the parking lot. As one, they gasped and stared, spellbound.
Then the back door of the Club opened, and there was me standing there with April and June. A few seconds later, the old wizard appeared and began chanting.
This was my chance. All by himself, the old man hadn’t been able to close the time rift, and everything that had happened since had been as a result of that.
But what would happen if I joined him and added my power to his? I hadn’t known what the crazy old man had been trying to do the first time I witnessed it, but now I did. I could help.
And if that still wasn’t enough, I had my grenade launcher as well.
I’d taken only a single step toward the rift when April grabbed my arm and June called out a warning. “Caleb!” she hissed, projecting a wave of fear.
One of the minor bug-demons had already escaped through the rift, and it was heading our way.
XXXVIII
All thoughts of helping the old man became secondary. With long wings like a dragonfly and pincers like a beetle, the demon in the shadows was as big as a small car. It charged toward us, buzzing along a few feet off the ground.
I raised my rifle, squeezed off a few rounds, and charged back, throwing a time lock on the monster to slow it down. The bullets seemed to bounce off its thick carapace, so I cursed out loud and did something completely crazy. I swung my rifle out of the way and jumped for the beast, grabbing a hold of one of its delicate wings.
If I hadn’t managed to slow it down somewhat, it wouldn’t have worked. But I was stronger than I’d ever been before, and this bug wasn’t as immune to my talent as the big one seemed to be. I managed to hold onto its wing for long enough to tear it.
The monster shrieked and fell to the ground. I landed heavily enough that my hold on time slipped, and only just managing to roll away from the monster as it tried to stomp me flat.
Climbing to my feet, I raised my rifle as the minor demon charged at me again. It paused, however, and veered off course.
It had spotted Eddie, who was no longer moaning on the ground. He had managed to get to his feet and stagger away from the girls. It just wasn’t his night. The bug-demon, for reasons of its own, decided the drunk man was as good a target as any.
Eddie sobered up really fast. With wide eyes, he turned and ran—in the completely wrong direction.
He was heading straight toward the massive bug-monster, which had by then worked its way out of the time rift.
“Eddie!” I yelled. “Wait!”
The minor demon began to pursue, but April intervened. With a battle-cry the like of which any Valkyrie would have been proud of, she grabbed the torn wing as the monster passed her and threw all her weight against it. The creature let out a screech of anger and pain and bucked like a bronco, twisting left and right until it ended up facing June.
Eddie would have to look after himself for a moment, I thought. The girls were my priority. With desperate need, I reached out and slowed time down again. For a moment, the monster had its back toward me, and I didn’t even pause to think. I just lunged at it and clambered awkwardly onto its back, crawling up to its head.
With an angry shout, I jammed the barrel of my weapon against one of its multi-faceted eyes and pulled the trigger.
The eye literally exploded, spraying gobs of vile, green, pus-like fluid in all directions. The demon screamed, drowning out an all-too-human cry of fear.
I rammed by gun barrel against the other eye and squeezed off another few rounds at the same time as June, oozing courage along with her fear, thrust her spear into the monster’s body.
It was too much for the minor bug demon. It let out a cry that sounded almost forlorn, then collapsed in stages. April had already let go when I jumped clear, landing with most of my weight on my good leg. Even so, my bum leg let me down and I struggled to keep my balance.
There was nothing I could do for Eddie. He was already beneath the huge bug-demon’s claws, and the monster was about to severe his head once again. I realized then that Eddie had been running away from the minor monster we were facing, not toward the rift. And it was my fault entirely.
I felt sick.
With a terrible squelching sound, Eddie’s head popped off and rolled toward the Club. I couldn’t see my past self at the time, but figured he—I—was about to have an unpleasant time fighting one of the smaller demons only to be rescued by the old man.
I felt June’s revulsion tinged with horror at the same time as I heard April’s expression of disgust in my mind. The gigantic bug-monster munched Eddie’s body for a while, then turned to look for more victims. Thankfully, everybody had scattered.
Everybody except us, of course.
The monster was looking our way. I could sense its malignant intelligence, and knew what it was planning to do. We were to be its next targets.
“Stay behind me,” I said to the girls. This was the moment of truth. Our chance to end this once and for all. Perhaps it would have been easier if I’d been able to work with the old wizard, but he was off somewhere saving my life at the time. It was down to me and the girls.
Or at least me and my grenade launcher.
The gigantic bug-monster let out another of its hideous screams. It was still more than a hundred yards away, but even so, the volume was enough to make me wince. As calmly as I could with my heart pounding in my chest, I loaded an explosive round into the grenade launcher and sighted on the monster.
I was about to fire when the Bedford appeared out of nowhere and careened madly through the parking lot with one of the smaller demons behind it. I let out a curse as the van passed, then sighted again and fired.
The shot was good. It hit the monster high on one side, where one of the legs connected with its body, and exploded with a satisfying boom!
The monster roared, this time with pain. I felt June’s anticipation and excitement combined with my own sense of relief, and April spoke in my mind.
She was right. The enormous bug monster might have been immune to small arms fire, but it wasn’t immune to a grenade. Even from as far away as we were, I could clearly see the damage I’d done to its side.
“Get ready with your shield!” I replied, at the same time as I reloaded and took aim again. I f
ully expected the monster to charge at us, to do its best to wipe us out entirely. I expected it to loom large in my sights as I sent another grenade sailing toward it.
Instead, with a shriek that rattled the windows of the Club, it turned and launched itself back toward the rift.
For the briefest moment, I stood as frozen as if I’d used my talent on myself. I didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to stop it. Should I just fire at the monster’s back and hope to wound it enough? Or what?
Maybe June sensed my confusion. Whether she did or not, she gave me what I needed. “Fire at the rift!” she shouted, projecting a mixture of hope and certainty I couldn’t match.
I didn’t have time to second-guess. I just changed my focus and fired, and scarcely a moment before the monster reached the rippling distortion, my grenade exploded within it.
Instead of appearing like a pool of liquid suspended on its side, the rift solidified. For a single heartbeat, it was like a huge, circular mirror standing on its edge. Then, it fractured, a spider’s web of cracks covering it entirely.
It wasn’t silent. The keening sound was cut off as if it had never been, only to be replaced with the sounds of massive chunks of ice ripping themselves away from a glacier.
Then, the entire thing shivered itself into non-existence. Not even any dust remained of where it had been.
The monstrous bug-demon gave another shriek, this time sounding frustrated. I thought for sure it would turn to attack and reloaded again. Instead, the bug-monster launched itself into the sky and flew on gossamer wings away from us.
All three of us stared in surprise. This time, it was me who was first to recover. “We can’t let it get away!” I yelled. “Back to the van!”
XXXIX