Back in Time

Ms. Justice:

Using her telekinesis power once more, QuickShot quickly moves aside all the broken stone that made the archway. Clearing a path for us, QuickShot, SpeedBlade, JumpStart, and I all run over to Fast-Forward.

"Is he...okay," I ask, being the last one to reach him. When I do, I see a very elderly man on the floor.

"You...cannot...beat me," the elderly man says, pointing a shaking finger at us. "I...I am...from...I am from the future...the future..."

While in mid-sentence, Fast-Forward slowly falls back down. He closes his eyes and starts to snore.

"Yeah," QuickShot says. "He's fine. I hope IronWall had a senior section."

As we all stand around the snoring Fast-Forward, the vortex he tried to escape through starts to shake. It flashes and screams before shrinking.

"What's going on," SpeedBlade says. He spreads out his arms and pushes all of us back.

"The portal is closing," JumpStart says.

"The portal is closing," I repeat. I turn toward QuickShot. She turns toward me and together, we nod our heads.

"We have to do something," QuickShot says. "We need to send Justice back 15 years back! Just after she jumped in the first time!"

"What," SpeedBlade says.

"Why," JumpStart asks.

"Because this isn't her future," QuickShot answers. "Ms. Justice had her own future to live, and she needs our help to do so."

SpeedBlade and JumpStart look at each other when they hear this. They then look at me.

All of us stay quiet for a while. I can't be sure what the others are thinking but I'm thinking about my own future.

"Wait," I say, putting up my hands. "QuickShot. Maybe I could stay here. I mean, if this is going to be our future. What's the point of me going back?"

"This isn't going to be your future," QuickShot says. She looks me in the eyes as she grabs my arms. "Ms. Justice, this is our future. This is my future. This is SpeedBlade. This is JumpStart, and thanks to you, we have each other again, but this isn't your future. Your future is with our younger self."

I gasp for air as I feel the weight of QuickShot's words. They feel like they're pulling me down from a dark cloudy sky. With my feet back on solid ground, I can see better.

"Here," QuickShot says, taking my hand. Reaching down, QuickShot takes from the sleeping Fast-Forward and places the Clock of Eternity in my palm. "Let's not forget the reason you came here in the first place."

I smile as I look at QuickShot and then at the clock.

"Uhh," JumpStart says, waving his hand in between us. "I really hate to ruin this moment, but the portal is closing!"

"What?"

QuickShot and I turn to see the vortex no bigger than my hand. Shaking and sparking, the vortex continues to shrink.

"We need to do something," QuickShot says.

"What," SpeedBlade asks. "What can we do?"

"I have an idea," JumpStart says. All of us turn to him, JumpStart drops to his knees and grabs Fast-Forward. He brings up Fast-Forward's wrist.

"Every time Fast-Forward opens a portal, he does something with his wrist, right? Well, maybe I can too."

Looking at the remote control on Fast-Forward's wrist, JumpStart starts to push random buttons. Whatever JumpStart is doing, it seems to be affecting the portal.

"Watch out," I say, rushing forward. I push through SpeedBlade and QuickShot and raise my shield as a bolt of lightning shoots out from the vortex. Almost falling off my feet, SpeedBlade catches me in time.

"What was that," QuickShot yells, yelling JumpStart on the back of the head.

"Hey," JumpStart yells back. "It's not completely my fault! I don't know what these buttons do! Besides, I'm not the one that hit it with an arrow."

"JumpStart," I say, standing back up. "No! Keep going! The vortex! It's growing!"

"Ha," JumpStart cheers, clapping his hands together as the vortex grows little by little. "I knew it! Well, I knew part of it!"

"Keep going," I yell again. "Whatever you pushed before, push it again!"

"Uhh, sure. Totally. I remember what I pushed."

JumpStart looking at the control again, pushes some more buttons. Despite the shaking and all the extra lightning bolts, the vortex grows back to its original size.

"Justice," JumpStart says. "I think I got it! Set to the moment just after you left! Go! Go now!"

I swallow a lump in my throat as I look between the vortex and my friends.

"Go," JumpStart says again.

"Justice," SpeedBlade says, "Go! Before it closes!"

The vortex is already shrinking.

"Go," QuickShot says.

Facing the vortex, I turn back and look at the three.

"We will see each other again," I say before jumping through and finding myself back in a black void.

QuickShot:

"It was worth the time," Fast-Forward says as he turns. However, with his back to her, Ms. Justice screams as she pushes herself up and charges toward Fast-Forward.

"Justice," I shout, pushing myself up as well. "Wait! Don't!"

I try to stop Ms. Justice but it's too late. Before I could do anything, Ms. Justice tackles Fast-Forward from behind and the two of them fall into the black vortex.

It flashes and then disappears, leaving nothing behind.

"Ms. Justice," I say, looking around. "Ms. Justice!"

"Justice," SpeedBlade says, getting up himself.

"Where did she go," JumpStart asks. As we all stand around looking at each other, a second vortex opens. Turning around with a bow and arrow ready in my hands, I lower it when I see Ms. Justice sitting there, with the clock in her hands.

"Justice," I say, running to her. "Justice, are you okay?"

For some reason, Ms. Justice is looking down. It takes a few seconds before she raises her head and looks at me.

"Am I...back," she asks. "Wait! QuickShot! SpeedBlade! JumpStart! You guys! You all look so young!"

"So young," I repeat.

"So young," JumpStart repeats. "Wait, what? Am I missing something?"

"I'll explain everything at the OutPost," Ms. Justice says, getting to her feet. "For now, I need to return this."

Giving back the Clock of Eternity, we then make our way back to the OutPost. There, in the OutPost's living room, Ms. Justice tells us everything that happened to her. She tells us about going 15 years into the future. About how she runs into JumpStart and me. About how we disbanded but then regroup in order to stop Fast-Forward. Her story ends with an elderly Fast-Forward and the three of us telling her to go back in time to us.

"Wow," I say, letting the whole story sinks in. "I--I can't believe it."

"You went through all of that," JumpStart asks. His head falls on his hand as he looks at our small coffee table. "That is something."

"Something," SpeedBlade repeats. "That is more than something! That is something else."

As SpeedBlade says this, he leans further back into his chair.

"But wait," I say, waving my hands. "Is that really our future? Do we really disband? The four of us?"

I look at JumpStart and SpeedBlade. Judging from how they look at me, I can imagine they're wondering the same thing.

"I don't want us to break apart," JumpStart says.

"Neither do I," SpeedBlade adds. "I mean, as much as I prefer to keep to myself, I much rather keep you all as my friends."

"Yeah," I say, nodding my head. "I mean, sure, there are moments when I don't want to see any of you, but there are more moments when I do want to see you guys."

"What do we do," JumpStart asks. "How can we change the future?"

"Hey, hey, hey," Ms. Justice yells, clapping her hands and grabbing all our focus. "Guys. Listen to me. According to Fast-Forward, in his future, where he comes from, we do disband. We do leave each other, but that is only in his future. In the future I went to, I disappeared for over ten years, but here I am. I am sitting right here."

To prove her point, Ms. Justice spreads out her arms.

"I changed the future," Ms. Justice goes on. "At least, our futures. I only hope for the next few years, we all do stay together. I won't blame any of you if you want to leave."

"Want to leave," SpeedBlade repeats. "Ms. Justice, why would I want to leave the OutCasts?"

"Same," JumpStart says, raising his hand high into the air. "Why would I want to leave the OutCasts? Why would I want to leave the OutPost? I like it here. According to you, when everyone else leaves, I stay right here."

JumpStart then crosses his arms.

"That's one thing that's not going to change. I'm staying right here."

As Ms. Justice, JumpStart, and SpeedBlade break into some laughter, I can't help but remember something very important.

"Hold on," I say, getting up from the couch. I run around for a bit, trying to find them. It takes a few minutes but finally, I return with presents in my arms. I drop them down onto the coffee table and spread them out. With the presents spread out, I pick them up one by one and read out the names on them.

"Here," I say, offering JumpStart his present. "And SpeedBlade, this is for you."

"Thank you," SpeedBlade says.

"Thank," JumpStart says.

"Wait guys," Ms. Justice says. "Really, you don't have to."

"Yes, we do," I say, looking right at Ms. Justice. "As older me said, birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays are important. They remind us to care about the people around us. Justice, the three of us care about you, and it's very clear you care about us."

I think I see a tear form in Ms. Justice's eye but I can't be sure since she turns away. While she is trying to hide, I open the present.

"Oh my god," I say, seeing the small wooden plane. "Justice. You made this for me."

Justice nods her head.

"I--I--I can't--"

I try to say something but I can't find the right words. It's like my head just empties itself out. I can only say the two things that haven't been empty yet.

"Thank you," I say.

"You're welcome," Ms. Justice says, wiping her eyes. "I, uh, I have to get a drink of water."

With that, Ms. Justice then gets up.

"JumpStart," she says, picking something up from the table. "What is this?"

From where I'm sitting, the thing in Ms. Justice's hand looks like a small yellow and black circle.

"Oh, that," JumpStart asks. "It's something I have been working on for a while now."

Getting up, JumpStart takes the thing from Justice's hand and shows it to us. The thing turns out to be a yellow and black radio. When JumpStart pushes a button on the side, the cover slides out and the antenna on top starts to beep.

"This is what I was working on before you took your screwdriver. My screwdriver is too big so I needed a smaller one. Anyway, I call this the--"

"OutCast's long-frequency communicator," Ms. Justice finishes. She takes the communicator back from JumpStart and stares at it. "You used it to talk with us from long distances."

"Yeah," JumpStart says, looking at Ms. Justice. "How did you know?"

"A lucky guess," Ms. Justice answers.

"Hmm," I say, getting up and taking the communicator from Ms. Justice. I examine it for a bit. "It looks like a walkie-talkie."