Another Timeline, Another Universe, In The Future, Quite Sometime Later

Ace was on Altera when he got the news.

He had not seen Fenton in person for about a year. He had not spoken to him in two weeks. But it wasn’t uncommon for that to happen when Ace was in active combat. However, he was being sent home, because he lost his forearm, and would be allowed to return if he “fixed it with cybernetics”.

On one of the many space carriers headed back to Earth, Ace was in the room he shared with Levi. It was quite bland, grey, and cramped, but sharing a room with only one other person was a luxury.

Levi walked into the room, red in the face and shaken up. He had returned from the gym on the way there someone had given him the wonderful job of telling Ace that Fenton had died.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know how it happened. They thought he was some kind of bio-weapons expert or something,” Levi said. “They killed him.”

“No. No, you’re confused. He does research for diseases,” Ace replied.

“That’s why. They probably thought he was using his research to hurt instead of help people.”

Fenton was not a fighter.

He was not even a lover.

He was an intellectual.

And that is why they went for him.

The Empire wanted to cripple any chances of their enemy advancing scientifically so many of them were indiscriminately killed. It worked slowly, killing those who showed promise, and scaring those to turn sides or flee.

“He can’t be dead. The cats. The two cats. What’s gonna happen to them,” Ace asked.

“I don’t fucking know, man, who cares about the damn cats!”

“He did…”

Levi was scared because Ace cried without making a sound. He kept blinking, and his face never changed, but he was still crying. It was as if he were afraid of being sad, and it was the next best thing he could do.

“I am not alone. I can’t be alone. I was going to see him next week,” Ace replied. “You’re wrong.”

“He didn’t deserve this, I’m so sorry. I wish I could fix this.”

“You have money. You can do anything. Fix this.”

“Ace, the best I could do is clone him, and that is unethical, weird, and illegal. I don’t think either of us wants that.”

Levi sat on the bed next to him and hugged him, but Ace was still crying without making a sound.

“I don’t want to live without him, Levi.”

“I’m not leaving you alone because you said this.”

“You can’t stop me! I have a belt and I’m not afraid to use it on myself!”

Ace was joking but Levi wasn't taking the risk.

Ace’s return home was put back by another week because he was put on psych watch and it was another thing he felt was cruel in an unjust world. When he arrived on Earth he refused to return to the apartment he and Fenton shared. Instead, he stayed at a cheap, dingy motel. He slept the day away, waiting for the end, refusing to eat until Levi came to get him.

Levi jimmied open the lock with a thick credit card of his and entered the motel room with a bag of food. He was wearing a puffy green jacket and boots, and his face was red from the cold rain. Levi was not in the mood to argue with Ace about anything, and he was going to help him whether he liked it or not.

“You’re eating, showering, and shaving your face.”

“No.”

“Those cats are in my home. Please get them so my father can shut up about them.”

“…maybe…”

“You can get them if you get better.”

This was an appealing bargain.

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Once Ace no longer looked like a homeless man under a freeway and had eaten a sandwich, Levi decided he could finally suggest the unthinkable.

“I don’t want to see you like this for the rest of your life. I can’t tell you how to feel right now, but I don’t want you to die of a broken heart. I’m going to get him back for you.”

“How,” Ace asked. “Didn’t you say cloning him is illegal?”

“Illegal doesn’t mean impossible, and if I did, he’d come out as a baby, so no. I'm going to stop him from dying in the first place.”

Levi took Ace to the ruins of Slater Academy.

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After an evil witch who dressed provocatively, who could raise the dead and ate fingers destroyed most of Slater Academy and killed Tyreceus, it was shut down, and a new campus was built.

The old campus lay in ruins, now overgrown with lush trees, vines, and many animals that lived peacefully without the threat of human or undead predators. Ace and Levi had driven as deep as they could into the ruins, but most of the road was blocked on purpose, and many parts were overgrown after fourteen years of abandonment. They parked next to one of the landing strips for people who flew into the Academy and tried to prepare themselves.

“I told myself I would never return,” Ace said.

“We’re doing this for him. I think it’s okay to break this one promise, Acheus.”

“I’m worried if this will make everything worse like last time. I went back and all this happened. What happens if I go on purpose?”

“This time we’re prepared. You know what time we're returning to, right?”

“Yes. Two years ago. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“We're ready.”

They got out of Levi’s fancy red car, weirdly out of place in the ruins, took out a pair of shovels, and made their way towards their old school. They knew where they were using old landmarks, like Lake Sarai, the old church, and a few remaining signs that were still legible.

When they finally arrived at their destination, it was in the square of Slater Academy. It was littered with skeletons, moss, logs, and trees, but they knew it was the place. The giant clock on the front of the building was there, broken, frozen in time. The statue of Levi’s grandfather was at the same spot too, toppled over, into the mud-filled fountain.

“We’re gonna be digging quite a while. It was near the statue, right,” Ace asked.

“I think it was underneath the statue,” Levi replied.

“WAIT, I GOT IT!”

Ace tried to snap his fingers but dropped the shovel forgetting he had one hand. Levi laughed and the situation was a lot less serious suddenly.

“It’s inside the statue,” Ace said.

“How would we get in there?”

Ace shrugged.

“Your memory is ass, Ace. We should start digging.”

Ace was not very good at digging with one arm, but he tried his hardest. Levi put in as much effort as possible, but there was only so far the original hole they dug could have gone.

“Levi, it’s inside the statue,” Ace insisted.

“Fine, I’ll humor you. Nothing left to lose anyway,” Levi sighed.

He shuddered in disgust when he entered the fountain and could smell the filthy, tepid water. The head of the statue was broken off but not hollow. He inspected the statue even more and then realized that the statue’s left arm was backward.

“Did we remove the left arm and put it back,” Levi asked. “I barely remember, I just know we did something here. Bring the shovel.”

Ace brought over a shovel, and with a few whacks the left arm cracked open, and out came the watch. They grinned, one step closer to their goal, but Infiniti wasn’t going to let them be happy.

“Hello Born Liar. Nice to see you again. I thought you said you didn’t want me anymore?”

“Changed my mind,” Ace said.

“You look different. Did you change your hair?”

“Lost an arm.”

“Don’t worry. Maybe we can fix that. Tell me what you want.”

Levi grabbed Ace’s arm, pulled him aside, and whispered to him privately.

“Why the fuck is that thing so nice? Wasn’t he a pervy, mean, ass the last time we were here,” Levi asked.

“Being stuck in the woods must have humbled him,” Ace said hopefully.

“Monsters don’t change. They adapt. He’s planning something.”

“Let’s deal with it once we get there,” Ace pleaded. “We’re so close!”

They whispered among each other for a few moments, and they concluded that nothing could be worse than what happened fourteen years ago. They could outsmart the maleficent watch. They were older and wiser.

“May I pick you up,” Levi asked.

“I would love to be with you until the end of time,” Infiniti replied.

Levi raised his eyes at the weirdly devotional declaration but didn’t say anything so he wouldn’t get angry. It seemed the only contract Infiniti needed was explicit consent and politeness, an odd requirement compared to the other horrid objects.

Ace teleported them back to Levi’s car, and Levi was so grateful for the invention of hand sanitizer to get whatever gunk was in the fountain off his hands and the watch.

He got some water bottles out of the trunk and poured it over the watch to clean it. When he was done, he thanked Levi. Levi still did not trust him and kept him in his pocket for the next week until they were ready to leave.

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Levi and Ace met in front of Ace’s house. After much coaxing Ace returned to his home. It was easier to convince him because Levi reasoned if they went back in time two years, then maybe they would end up in the same spot they left.

Ace made sure his key was in his right pocket, Levi tied the end of his left sleeve so it wouldn’t go flying everywhere, and he even packed lunch. Ace felt more like he was off on a day trip than to save someone he loved.

Levi had a gun, he opted to wear his glasses that day, and didn’t want to bring food in case “there is such a thing as time travel sickness.” He wore the watch instead of Ace, because he didn’t want Ace losing his remaining hand. Levi was afraid someone might try chopping it off in an attempt to get the watch.

“Are you ready,” Levi asked.

“Yes. If we get separated, I promise to find you,” Ace replied.

“We’ll be fine. Don’t jinx it.”

“If you meet the other you, you might die,” Ace cautioned him.

“I’m okay with dying for him. I know you two would do the same for me.”

“..thanks..”

Ace put his right hand in Levi’s left and he mentally prepared himself for more harassment from Infiniti before they left. But there was none. None, whatsoever. They went back in time without any argument from Infiniti.

They went quite far back.

They went so far back that there wasn’t anything to go back to.