"Move it! Move! Move! Move!"
The Commander hustled his remaining troops down the hallway. One man stumbled over the rocky floor, another hesitating to get him back to his feet. A rumbling echoed after them. Explosions from their allies outside shook the cave.
"We'll never outrun them!" One trooper wailed.
"We might not have to." The Commander turned to the only non-combatant with them. "Doctor, is it far?"
The man referred to as The Doctor slid an instrument out of his white lab coat. He pressed a button and held it to his good eye. "We're close! These caves magnify the signal and make the time waves easy to trace."
Distracted by The Doctor, The Commander never saw the silver tentacle until it had wrapped around his chest. The man was yanked off his feet and thrown into a pile of machinery. Pain blossomed throughout his back. His vision blurred for a moment. When it cleared, the familiar shape of a Starman loomed above him. It clicked and whirred like a machine but moved with an organic fluidity. The creature was just like the entire cave, a perfect balance of inorganic and organic.
"*Whir*... And so we meet Commander...*buzz*... Time to finish you off for Master Giygas." From deep within the black eyes came a glow that could only mean one thing: death was close.
A huge form slammed into the Starman. It slammed the creature into the hard rock of the walls. With one massive hand it gripped the Starman's entire head and drove it into the wall. The head cracked apart to reveal circuits, blood and oil.
"Buzz buzz," groaned The Commander as he took the proffered hand. "Good timing."
Buzz buzz was the most senior man in The Resistance. He had been by the side of The Commander since the man had taken the rank just a few years ago, shortly after turning twenty-one. The hulking man was easily the strongest of their fighters, both physically and psychic-ly.
"Commander!" Came the shriek of The Doctor.
The Commander and Buzz buzz raced down the hall. The bulk of the remaining force was now engaged with a trio of mechanical octobots. Only The Doctor and one helmeted trooper were not currently not engaged in combat.
"Go!" One yelled. "We can handle them!"
The Commander knew it was a lie. So did the trooper.
They ran.
As they ran, The Commander thought back to what had led to this mission that would undoubtedly kill them all.
-Two days prior-
A commotion was audible through the door of the command chamber. Most things were though given that the door was a flimsy piece of tin bolted onto the outside of a wooden shack. It was the only thing that distinguished it from any other poorly assembled structure in the rebel village.
The Commander looked at The Doctor. It was no easy task to do so. Half the man's face was covered in horrible burn scars, a memento from the boarding school of his youth was attacked by Giygas' forces. The Doctor had lost the use of one of his eyes but had retained his astounding intellect which he had found much more valuable in the war against Giygas. Now the man offered a stiff shrug. "Not one of my people. We have no current patients. All experiments are currently on hold due to increased surveillance. We've gathered as much data on time travel as possible at the moment."
"It may our most recent excursion," said another. It was the man in charge of intelligence gathering, most commonly referred to as Pickles. He scratched at his green beard. "Apple Kid and Buzz buzz were leading an espionage team deep into-"
He was cut off as the metal sheet of a door was yanked away. A large insect floated in, flying in a drunken weave. The air around the bug shimmered and distorted. A huge man collapsed to his knees. Blood ran down the side of his face.
"Apple Kid is dead," Buzz buzz bit out. "The Apple of Enlightenment is a fraud."
The three men at the command table exchanged startled looks. The Apple of Enlightenment had always been considered one of the most potent weapons in the arsenal of Giygas with its ability to see into the future. It had foiled more than one of their plans.
"The Apple doesn't predict the future," Buzz buzz continued as he climbed to his feet. "It steals the predictions of others. When another receives a prophesy, the Apple will eventually receive it as well."
He relayed what Giygas had ,learned about the Chosen Four prophecy before the Apple had been destroyed.
"So what the Oracle told us..." The Doctor trailed off.
"Our enemies already know," said a new voice, a soft voice.
A figure stepped through the doorway. A gray cloak brushed the ground to hide the newcomer's steps. A hood was lowered to reveal long blonde hair, slightly curled.
"Giygas already shares in our knowledge of uniting the Chosen Four," said the Oracle.
"He's known for some time," Buzz buzz added, shoeing The Doctor away from his wounds. "He's further along than us. His phase distorter is almost complete."
The Commander pales and ran a hand through his messy black hair. He looked to The Doctor. "Can we complete ours in time? Can we beat them to it?"
The other man didn't even consult his notes. "No. They have more resources than I do. I may have the majority of my father's papers but our enemy has more than enough information to complete the phase distorter."
The Commander took this in with a nod. He heaved a great sign. "It seems we have little choice left. We will have to use the one Giygas is building before his army does."
He waited to see if there were any objections before continuing. All he got was a nod from The Oracle.
"We need to get ahold of the Dalaam Liberation Front. The King of Kings is well aware of the Chosen Four prophesy. We have not gotten along with their leaders in the past but I think they will assist us in this endeavor."
-The Present-
The Doctor felt for the scrap of paper in his pocket. Before they had departed, The Oracle had slipped it to him and bade him not to look. On it she had given him the exact date to open the time portal to. Also were the precise coordinates for the portal to open at. How she had known these facts, let alone that Giygas had modified the design to create a portal was beyond him. The doctor simply knew that he could trust the woman completely.
The remaining trooper with The Doctor grabbed his arm and returned his thoughts to the present. The two of them wound their way through the twisting cave, The Commander and Buzz buzz now on their heels.
"Turn here!" The Doctor ordered.
They took the left fork and quickly found themselves in a giant cavern. Creatures of all shapes and sizes tended to the massive machine that encompassed most of the space. Buzz buzz raised a psychic shield over The Doctor before barreling into the closest adversaries. Having lost his weapon earlier, The Commander snatched up a piece of rebar. Gripping it like a baseball bat he waded into the masses, swinging for the fences. Despite himself, a small grin formed on The Commander's face.
With the forces of Giygas fully engaged at the moment, The Doctor and his trooper guardian slipped around the fray. The trooper quickly dispatched the creature tending to the phase distorter and The Doctor stepped up to the control panel. He plunged his hand into his pocket and removed the paper with the date and coordinates.
He stared at it with disbelief. "I know this date. I remember it clearly. It was the day the meteorite hit in the Scarabian desert. Why this day?"
Refocusing on the controls he saw that the current date was set for almost ten years prior in the late nineteen-eighties. Two forms appeared over his shoulder. He flinched back only to realize it was The Commander and Buzz buzz. The creatures in the room had stood little chance, being scientists and mechanics instead of warriors.
"Well, Doctor?" The Commander asked. "Can you reset it?"
The one good eye roved the controls and the readouts displayed on the screens. "Yes. But it will be unstable."
"Do it."
The Commander and Buzz buzz left the Doctor to it and began attempting to barricade the entrance to their cavern with whatever they could find. The one remaining trooper was crouched down in front of the distorter, mumbling to himself. Assuming him to be in shock they let him be.
The Doctor screamed.
The Commander and Buzz buzz whirled around. A massive round portal had appeared in the center of the room. Instead of showing Earth before Giygas had decimated it, they were staring at an oncoming meteor.
The Doctor was frantic. "I don't know what went wrong! These are the exact coordinates The Oracle gave me!
From within the portal there came a white light. Whether it hit the meteor or came from it, The Commander didn't know. Either way, it knocked the space object off course. It missed the portal. By some form of physicals, magic or something else The Commander didn't understand, the meteor turned the vantage point of the portal as it passed. Now they had a clear window to see the meteor falling to Earth.
There was a horrible split second of pain and everything went white for a moment.
"What was that?" The Commander gasped. All his companions had felt it. Only the trooper hadn't reacted.
It was right then that The Commander understood. He stomped over to the trooper as the man was rising. With a swift motion The Commander snatched the helmet off the man's head.
The Oracle's blonde curls fell down to frame her face.
"Giygas didn't get the whole prophecy," she said with complete calm. "The Apple of Enlightenment was destroyed before it could pass it on in its entirety."
"So you thought you'd come along for the ride?"
She offered a small smile. "Someone had to redirect the meteor."
Another flash of white pain rippled through them.
"Time ripples," The Doctor announced. "What did you change?"
"That's Onett," Buzz buzz muttered as he watched the meteor burn through the atmosphere. "A meteor never landed there..."
Behind them came an angry roar and the blockade that had been assembled began to be shredded. Ahead of them the portal flickered.
"It's unstable," The Doctor said. "If we're going through, it's got to be now. The more mass that goes through, the more unstable it's going to get!"
"Buzz buzz, transform and go through!" The Commander ordered over the racket. "You're our best shot. Find the Chosen Four and tell them of the prophecy!"
"Find the Chosen Boy and deliver this to him." The Oracle slipped a stone from her pocket and passed it to Buzz buzz. "Tell him to seek out the sanctuaries."
The others looked at her. This was a part of the prophecy none of them had heard before.
Buzz buzz gaped at them for a moment before finding his voice. "I will never leave you."
"You must," said The Oracle as The Commander charged the first enemies now bypassing the blockade. "Only you can make it through the portal. It will beam you directly to the landing site of the meteorite. However, I fear you will be stuck in your insect form."
Buzz buzz looked to The Commander who was unloading a classic uppercut home run swing. His words were swallowed by another time distortion ripple.
"Go!" shouted The Doctor as he produced a gun from his coat pocket. "We can hold them here!" He turned and began firing at the ever increasing horde.
"The King of Kings is almost here as well," The Oracle soothed. She lifted a hand to show Buzz buzz a small flame burning in it. "I'm not exactly useless either."
Knowing he truly had no other option, Buzz buzz wrapped himself in psychic energies and transformed into his insect form. His wings pulled him closer to the portal. As he hovered just on the edge, he turned back. Another time ripple passed but this one was different. For a second, his companions were normal people instead of their war-ravaged selves.
"Goodbye..." Buzz buzz said as he floated through the portal. A yellow light surrounded him. He could see it stretch out to the Earth.
Another ripple so strong passed that even Buzz buzz could feel it despite technically being in the past already. Back through the portal he could see The Commander. The man's head tilted back and his eyes went completely white. Buzz buzz scrambled to get back through the time portal until he realized this was a time ripple happening only to The Commander.
The Commander let out a roar and a psychic wave slammed a wave of oncoming attackers into the wall.
A glowing white crack appeared in the cave. It began to pull apart only to reveal more white. Time itself was unraveling. The past was already changing.
Buzz buzz spared The Commander one last glance as he rode the yellow beam down to Earth. He had a pretty good idea of who the Chosen Boy was and he was pretty sure The Oracle knew it to.
"Commander... Ness." It was the first time he had uttered the man's true name in many years.
A white light erupted out of the portal as time ripped asunder. Through covered eyes, Buzz buzz caught a glimpse of a shadow as something else slipped through the portal. He recognized the shadow easily. He was going to have to hurry now.
"Ness... I'm coming son."