Haley sat near the lake, looking over it, the others were helping with building up the wedding. Haley soon needed to pick a dress, but something important came up. After a while, a portal opened up. A woman sat down and leaned against Haley’s back. “Thank you for coming, Haley, sorry that we have to do this cloak and dagger. You can call me Brown Mamba for now, I have come here to discuss a certain incident that happened over two years ago. For me, it happened yesterday.”
Haley chuckled, “Time travel, how funny.”
Brown Mamba nodded, “Yeah, you know about the Agency, and our tactics, and what our goal is. It is good you have you on our side.”
Haley nodded, “What is this incident about?”
“I have sent you the recording, have you studied and deleted it?”
“Yes, I did not even share it with my wife to be.”
“Good, what do you think, was that Melin’s voice?”
“Yes, I am sure.”
“Alright, and this man named Eric, does his voice sound familiar?”
“No, I never met an Eric. Nor did I recognize the voice of the other person.”
“We feared as much, and what about the woman? That insanely strong woman, who I fear could be stronger than Micheal. She also knows that Steve knows where Micheal is hiding, even if Steve does not remember that, and she knew about the Dark Lord.”
Haley seemed to be thinking, “Ut could have been me. But, from what year did this me come? And from what timeline?”
“We are unsure, she came from farther in the future than we can check.”
“What does that mean?”
“I am not sure, she comes from a place, we and our associates like to call, the Rebirth Era.”
“Huh, what do you mean by rebirth?”
“I am sorry, that information is classified, even for the Inner Circle. All I can tell you, is the name of that era.”
“Do you have a plan to take out Alice?”
“Yes, first, I need to finish my obligatory task, which is to take out the beast that will come in a few months, and then I need to see if it comes back. After that, I am going to Purgatory to find my lost family, give them a safe haven. Once that is done, I am going to confront her with Stevie’s help. That way, we can make sure Alice is not going to help Steve remember where Micheal is hiding.”
Brown Mamba let out a sigh, “This is all going to be very troublesome, do you think your dad can help with taking Alice down, he is coming with you to Purgatory, right?”
“Yes, Steve is coming with me to Purgatory. And what about your mom?” Haley remained silent. Brown Mamba nodded, “Oh, I see. I don’t think she is going to tag along? Is there someone else who we can count on?”
“Yes, I was thinking, Funk, The Chosen One.”
Brown Mamba chuckled, “That is a wise decision. Now, I have another thing to address. The technology this woman used, have you ever seen it?”
“No, but she had some kind of sleeve on her right arm. It seemed as if it boosted her power.”
“I think, you are right. This woman could have crossed over and killed everyone without blinking once.”
Haley nodded, “They also mentioned, this is a one in a time shot, meaning they won’t come back.”
Brown Mamba nodded, “That is better, at least they did not damage the timeline. We have confiscated an item from the scene, a laptop.”
Brown Mamba slid it over the ground without turning her head. Haley picked it up, “Can I open it?”
“Yes.”
Haley did so, all it had, was one video file. Haley watched the video after plugging in her headphones. It was a message from her future self, knowledge she was not supposed to know. Actions she needs to undertake to ensure that she will survive. She closed the laptop after watching the video. She slid it back, “Destroy it. Did anyone else look at it?”
“No, since we thought it was you, it seemed best if you watched it first.”
“How bad is it?”
“Horrible, destroy it immediately. Don’t even glance at it. Thanks to the gods that you confiscated it. If Steve had seen that, he would have gone insane, and probably he would have remembered where Micheal was and shouted it from the rooftops. I don’t want Micheal to find my dad, or the other way around because Micheal is going to finish him off.”
Brown Mamba nodded, “I am fairly sure that you are correct. We’ll throw this thing into a tiny black hole. Count on us to dispose of it properly. Do you have any questions, Purple Hero?”
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“No Brown Mamba, I promised Stevie he would meet Leon, how is that going?”
“Give us a little bit more time to monitor Stevie, then we can arrange a meeting.” Brown Mamba got up, “Thank you for aiding us, we know you are busy.”
Haley got up without turning around, “No worries at all.”
A portal opened up and Brown Mamba left. Haley let out a deep sigh. She walked towards the forest and hid behind a tree and sat down against it. She rubbed her hands over her face a few times. Tears started rolling down her cheeks. “That video, oh my fucking god.” That was me, alright, how the fuck did she know it would end up in my hands? Well, she is me. “Oh, fucking time travel.” What am I supposed to do with this information? Thank god no one else gets to see it.
Haley spawned a katana, it is huge, bigger than her. She lost her balance a bit, since she made it that big. Haley let it rest on her shoulder, it felt, comfortable. She shrugged, she got a point a with the sword. Haley looked at her left arm, but if that is me? When will I lose my left arm? And why did I not take a different form, like my, like Steve?
Haley got up and started walking through the forest. Eventually, she came to the end, an open, barren plain. There is no life at all, just a barren ground. Haley walked over it for a while, then she started swinging her katana repeatedly. She trained her stance, her form. This is one big fucking sword. She infused herself with void energy and kept on slashing. Haley closed her eyes and kept going on for hours. Trying to take her mind off what she had seen.
The thought had already dawned upon her, but this video made it real. Haley remembered what others said, her body can handle more energy than she thinks. She started imbuing herself with red energy first, followed by the elements she knows. It put a massive strain on her, making her body heavier, and more muscled and ripped. She ignored it, and kept going. Slashing at the air, practicing moves. Eventually, she got the hang of her bigger sword. She got hungry, thirsty, and even tired. Haley did not mind and kept on going.
She practiced backflips and front flips after that, she cut herself a few times before getting it right. Having to put the katana in just the right way. As she landed with all this elemental energy, loud thuds echoed throughout the barren plains. Haley released the katana with her left hand, using only her right hand. The katana is immensely heavy, Haley pushed through the pain and practiced swinging it. She had no clue, how long she had been training already. Occasionally, she heard someone singing. She is close to the river, it must be the ferryman.
Haley eventually stopped and panted as she put the katana on her shoulder. She looked around her, there were some cracks in the ground, in the distance she saw the ferryman. She heard rustling in the forest, Haley immediately pointed her katana towards the sound. Melin came out of the forest. Haley let out a deep sigh. Melin looked around, “Is this where you have been hiding?”
“Hiding? I have barely been gone for an hour, I think.”
Melin shook her head, “I have been looking for you for the past three days. I have some dresses at home for you to try. Unless you got cold feet and tried to hide from me.”
Haley put the katana on her shoulder and walked over to Melin, “I don’t have cold feet, and I want to marry you. Apparently, I lost track of time.”
Melin looked at her katana, “Damn, are you compensating?”
Haley giggled, “No, it just needed to be bigger, my sword.”
Melin frowned her eyebrow, “You wield it deftly.”
Haley walked closer, leaning in for a kiss, Melin kissed her. “Three days of training, you must be fucking hungry.”
“Damn now that you mention it, I am hungry, I am sorry Melin. I just, something bad happened, something I cannot talk about, and I needed to put my mind somewhere else. Thus, I trained.”
Melin looked at the energy flowing over Haley, “Are you seriously holding all your elements at once, without even trying?”
Haley nodded, “It is awesome, check this out.” She turned around and started running at an insane fast speed, she started slashing around while making front flip after front flip. She jumped high into the air, spreading her wings, and using her tail for balance, she crashed down while infusing herself with a huge energy boost. The whole fucking ground shook, dust and smoke covered the barren landscape.
Melin gasped, she looked at a fucking gigantic crater. Haley walked over towards Melin, “Did you like it?”
She slowly nodded, “That, was spectacular. I like your big fucking sword.”