Too quickly the morning came and Justice woke with a start. His first sleep after five years of possession and slavery of course was haunted by nightmares of being right back under the thumb of the Prophet. “Son of a bitch.” It took a moment for Justice to get caught back up to his current situation.

In a cave. Check. Beloved bear who he was, somehow, leaning against and wrapped around by, check. Sudden wondering about how hard it is to bathe a Grizzly; check. Standing up unsteadily, legs very aware that they’d been pressed into stone all night, Justice finally found his feet. Right. Weird old man with a creepy relationship to a young teen with a terrible home life. Justice might feel bad if it weren’t for the brat shooting his bear.

“Glenny. Glenny, buddy.” Justice tousled the fuzz on top of the bear’s massive head. Glen gradually roused. Hate to ask you but where’s a good place to get some vittles? Figure my pistol can get us a deer if you can sniff one out.” Glen sniffed at the air as if to demonstrate. “Right, like that.”

Glen grumbled, rising to a sitting position and yawning noisily, which disturbed everybody else in the cave. “No worries, boys. Glen and me’re just gonna try to sniff out some game. I’m a damn good shot so I figure one in the brainpan, we got us a hell of a lot of venison.” Then, surprisingly, Glen started to growl. “Glen, they’re friendlies, remem…ber?” Glen wasn’t looking at Doc and Matty.

There, in the darkness, they saw it; a pair of glowing red eyes. “Hrm. Worst time for you all to wake up. I thought I’d be gone and you’d be blown up none the wiser that I’d ever been here.” Stepping out of the darkness came a long, strong, impeccably dressed man who was clearly in control of his full faculties. “I’m not sure who you people are but you’re clearly not from around here. My name is Emerson, servant of the Prophet Kragon, officer of the Nameless Council.”

“My name’s Justice Haymaker you son of a–” but Justice was cut off.

“Oh, we’re well aware of you, Justice. Did you really think you could exorcise your Servitor and not be noticed by the Prophet?”

This surprised Justice. “Wellsir, I had a notion that maybe the glowin’ red eyes might mean somebody could see whatever I was doin’. On the other hand there’s not enough people left in the world now to fill the audience in a baseball park! So, y’know, I thought maybe I could slip by.”

This didn’t amuse Emerson. “Stupid, brutish creature. You think yourself so capable? You’ve lost the benefit of the Servitor spirit without gaining The Communion.”

“Wuzzat?” barked Justice.

“Pardon me?”

“What’s a communion? Ain’t that some Cathollic thing with eatin’ bad crackers and drinkin’ weak wine?”

“No. That is where your consciousness is joined with the Prophet and your individual will is snuffed out. You become greater through this.”

“So you’re like a soldier ant?” asked the Doc from the cheap seats?

“Hey, Doc’s awake!” exclaimed Justice.

“What? No!” shouted Emerson. “We are as far above you as you are above those ants.”

“But you have a queen?” asked Matty, his first good contribution since Justice met the kid.

Turning towards Doc Black and Matty in frustration Emerson began to shout. “The Prophet is no queen! He comes from beyond space and time to unite this world in destruction and rebirth! And he has decided that you’re too dangerous to be a part of his plans. You must die!”

With a loud “crack” Justice waylaid Emerson, boulder-like fist sending the possessed man end over end and into the wall. “Grab my shit! We’re buggin’ out! I’m’a drown this sumbitch!”

Snout low Glen followed close behind as Justice dragged Emerson outside at a jogging pace. The infiltrator grunted and squirmed as he slid along the dirt. The others followed, bags in tow. “How in!? You’re strong as a Servitor’possessed worker!”

“Yeah, like, maybe your boss should’ve thought about keepin’ the strongman thing for the guys that like him, eh? I mean, just makin’ stronger slaves? Seems pretty stupid.” With a splash Emerson was under the water of the pool.

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It was a terrific struggle. In his panic Emerson managed to sweep Justice’s legs, almost escaping the pool before Glen, waiting for just such an opportunity, jumped on him and began mauling. Bubbling screams rang out over the countryside.

“Let ‘im up for a second, Glen!” Justice shouted as he started wrestling with a rock.

Instead, Glen bit Emerson’s head and picked him up. Gagging on water the possessed man raged. “Idiot! This changes nothing!” Dangling and screaming Emerson scarcely acknowledged the pain he must feel from the bear’s jaws. The Prophet will have this world!”

“Uh-huh. Glen, I need his head down on the dirt, man.” Boulder on his shoulder, Justice shoved his hand into the spy’s mouth, hooking his fingers behind Emerson’s top row of teeth and swinging him by this grip onto a nearby bed of slate. Even Glen seemed confused by the motion and, maybe, where his new toy went.

“By the Prophet! You’re–” Emerson had a coughing fit as Justice raised the stone, a three-hundred-plus-pound boulder, overhead. “You’re a wild savage!”

“Yeah, well, that’s your opinion. And this is for my unit. And for Smitty!” With evil intent Justice dove onto Emerson, striking his head with the boulder and against the slate so violently that the boulder split in two, the slate cracked in a hundred ways and you’d never know that a human head had existed in that space unless someone told you. “Sumbitch…”

Justice went into the waterfall, rinsing what blood splashed back on him out of his clothing. Luckily he was already soaked so it came right out. Off to one side Glen sniffed the corpse, shaking his head at the unnatural smell. On the other side, however, were Doc and Matty.

“He … he just broke that man to bits, Doc. That’s not natural.”

The Doc shook his head in disbelief. “He’s the best chance we have of getting back home, Matty. Let’s just be glad he’s on our side.”

With a massive “doom” an explosion shook the hill they all stood aside and a cascade of stone spilling out of the opening let everyone know the cave had collapsed. Justice fell under the water and came up yelling. “Aw shit! Y’all got my stuff out, right!?”

Pause. Terror. Both of the men out of time stood paralyzed. Doc spoke first. “Please tell me you grabbed his bags on the way out.”

Matty held up both bags that Justice had found in the cave when they arrived.

“Good. Good. Then maybe, just maybe, we don’t die today…”

—

Burying Emerson’s remains in stones they began preparations with great haste. “No doubt they know you killed Emerson, Justice. We have to go now.” the Doc had said after they got their wits about them. Quietly, in case of any other interlopers that might be about, they hustled towards where the Chrono Car was stowed.

Reaching the patch of overgrowth that covered the car they were alarmed to find little red gremlin creatures covering it, about a dozen, pulling, poking and prodding, looking for a way in. “Well shit, Doc, now what? We smash these little fucks that’s another message to the Prophet whispered Justice, proving he was capable of being quiet.

“No need. Observe.” The Doc pulled out his car remote, an unusually large example thereof with far too many buttons, and tapped one. The car covered over in crackling lightning and the gremlins all locked up, falling to the ground as the current died. Another button pressed and flames bathed the creatures, quickly cooking them thoroughly. A third and a white spray did away with the flames.

As they approached Justice marvelled at what the newly uncovered Chrono Car could do. “Man, fire? See, I figured they was like devils but they wasn’t fireproof at all. Damn.” Sniffing, Justice grimaced, looking confused. “Smells like a pig on a spit, man. Glen!”

The bear had a gremlin in his mouth and choked it down quickly. Being thin and less than two feet tall the little critter slid down the big old bear’s throat Another was in his mouth immediately.

“I’m hungry too but damn!” shouted Justice.

Doc Brown piped up. “Ah, Justice? Perhaps this is how we, you know, hide the evidence of these creatures having been here?”

Arms dropping to his sides Justice chose to wait rather than admonish his pet. Yeah … alright. Good bear, Glen. Good bear…” Overjoyed, the hungry bear quickly finished his meal. It was disgusting to watch.

—

The wheels were of no use in the tall grass, stones and hillocks that made up the floor of The Valley, so the Chrono Car whizzed along inches above it all instead. Bear clinging to the roof Doc Black buzzed around the tower, low and slow, counting on landscape and vegetation to keep them hidden. Justice had only seen the thing fly previously but he now knew that the Chrono Car’s wheels were for more than show; the ride wasn’t nearly so pleasant when they were rolling. Hearing Glen whine above him he called out. “Hang in there, Glen! We’re about there!”

“Closer than you know, Justice. One guard on each wall outside and instruments indicate that there’s only one living being inside at the peak of the tower. That has to be Young.” Steering with one hand and fiddling with the “screen” in his “dash” (whatever those words meant here) the Doc continued. “Serious disruption in the Space-Time continuum. No doubt about it; deal with Young and we can reset the timeline.”

“That’s all I needed to hear, Doc. Just pick a wall and let’s go in, guns blazin’.”

“Maybe keep it quiet?” retorted the Doc. “Otherwise they may be able to raise the alarm and, instead of dealing with one guard the dozens left in the town may descend upon us all.”

“Uh … oh yeah. Well … I guess maybe I just follow your lead then.”