The time vehicle burst through the blue portal and promptly crashed into a tree, completely wrecking the car. As Vinnie Dakota opened the door and dropped out of the car, a large branch from the tree landed right next to him. He stared at it for a moment. "Was that because the car hit the tree, or was it…?"

"Hi, Mr Dakota!" came the cheery young voice.

"Yep, it's him." Dakota rolled into a sitting position, leaning back on the wreck of his car. "Hey, Milo. Murphy's Law still in full swing?"

"Yep, like always." Milo smiled cheerfully. "Is Mr Cavendish with you?"

Dakota shook his head, wincing as the movement sparked pain in his chest.

"Hey…are you okay?" Milo asked, sensing Dakota's pain.

"Ran into a bit of trouble on the way here," Dakota replied, his voice noticeably hoarser. "We got attacked."

"By what?" Milo gasped.

Dakota tried to shrug, but the pain in his chest prohibited it. "Dunno. Couldn't see 'em. But whatever they were, they dragged Cavendish outta the car and I haven't seen him since."

Milo's eyes widened. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know. I'm hoping so, but those monsters were vicious."

He jerked his thumb towards the back of the car, where Milo found a massive claw mark across the entire rear of the car. It looked four or five times as large as a normal lion or tiger's claw mark. He found himself wincing. If that was the damage these creatures could do to a metal car…

He turned back to Dakota, who had tipped his head back and closed his eyes. Milo was no medical professional, but even he could see that the adult's face was pale and he seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"Do you need a hospital?"

Dakota shook his head quickly. "I won't be able to explain what happened. Besides, I'm from the future, so how am I gonna explain the lack of a medical file?"

"I guess that's true." Milo hesitated. "Are you hurt?"

"Just my chest." Dakota winced. "Can you help me up?"

Milo nodded quickly. Looking round for any potential Murphy's Law-related dangers, he approached Dakota and helped lift the older man to his feet. Dakota winced again as the pain in his chest spread.

"I think I might have a couple of broken ribs," he theorised. "Kid, do you know of anywhere I can lie low for a while?"

"Um…" Milo thought hard for a moment. "There's a warehouse on the other side of town that's been abandoned for years. I go by there every weekend when I visit my dad at work, and I've never seen anyone go in or come out."

"Perfect. Let's get going."

The two of them walked out of the park and onto the sidewalk next to the main road. Thinking about his partner, Dakota's face creased in worry. "I hope Cavendish is okay…"

"He'll be fine, I know he will," Milo said optimistically. "He's a time traveller!"

"So am I," chuckled Dakota. "Milo…I'm sorry to be annoying, but do you have a phone I can borrow?"

"Sure!" Milo fished his mobile phone out of his pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to Dakota, who opened the call app and paused.

"Do you think this phone can reach the future?" he asked.

Milo shrugged. "Maybe. I've never tried."

Dakota's subsequent sigh quickly turned into yet another wince. "Time is running out. I gotta try."

Biting his lip nervously, he dialled the number and waited.

Please, please, please.

"Hello?" came a slightly crackly male voice.

Dakota almost fainted out of relief. "Marvin, thank God. It's Vinnie. Something's happened."

"What is it? Are you okay?" Marvin's worried voice asked.

"We were attacked in the timestream," Dakota explained. "Whatever the creatures were, they got Cavendish and hurt me. I'm stuck in 2017 and I'm gonna be recovering here for a while."

"Steph and I will come as soon as we can," Marvin promised. "Where are your injuries?"

"I think I got a couple of broken ribs," Dakota replied. "But I'll be fine; I'm with a friend. I'm just worried about Cavendish."

"I am too, Vin. Don't worry; help will be there soon. Have you contacted anyone else?"

"No-one TO contact. Helen's MIA and Aida's doing an assignment back in Ancient Rome, I think."

"Ancient Greece," Marvin corrected automatically. "And what about Savannah and Brick?"

"You kidding me?" Dakota snorted. "They hate us. They think we're a couple of incompetent losers. Even if they DID come, they wouldn't stop insulting us and trying to do things their way. And you know that "their way" is doing everything in a ridiculously convoluted way."

Though Dakota couldn't see it, Marvin was nodding. That was one of the most accurate descriptions of the two agents that he had ever heard. "You're right. It might be worth contacting them anyway, though."

"No." Dakota sighed. "Just please get here as soon as you can."

"Alright. Where will you be?"

"Just phone this number back when you get to 2017 and my friend or I will give you directions."

"Gotcha. See you soon." Marvin hesitated. "Vin?"

"Yeah?"

"…stay safe."

Dakota couldn't help smiling. "I will, buddy. See you soon."

He hung up the phone and gave it back to Milo, who had been trying not to eavesdrop. "Is help coming from the future?" he asked.

Dakota nodded. "Yeah, but it'll take a while for them to get here. Do you…need to be anywhere today?"

Milo shook his head. "Nah. I was just gonna go to the park, but I think you could use my help."

"Yeah…" Dakota sighed. He hated leaning so heavily on the kid, but Milo was stronger and more resilient than any other kid Dakota had met. "I could really use it. Thanks. Well, until Marvin and Steph get here."

"Friends of yours?" Milo inquired.

"Yeah," Dakota replied again. "Marvin's been my best friend for years. We went to time travel school together."

"There's a TIME TRAVEL SCHOOL?" gasped Milo. "That's AWESOME!"

Dakota laughed at the kid's reaction. "Yeah, I'll tell you about it sometime. But anyway, you only have to stay until my friends get here. Then I'll be fine."

"I think you should still have as much help as possible," insisted Milo. "I could go and get my friends, if you like."

"I'd rather involve as few kids as possible," Dakota said. "After last time."

"With King Pistachio?"

"Yeah, that's right. I know Cavendish regrets putting you kids in danger like that, and so do I."

"But we all survived," argued Milo. "Zach and Melissa are extremely adaptable, and Sara's been dealing with Murphy's Law her entire life. Whatever this is, we can handle it."

"No," snapped Dakota. "We got lucky last time, kid. Time travelling is extremely dangerous and neither Cavendish nor I can handle being responsible for one of you kids getting hurt. Or worse…" He shuddered, then continued in a pained croak, "I already lost one friend to time travel, Milo. I can't go through that again."

Milo hesitated. On one hand, he was almost burning up with curiosity over what happened to Dakota's friend. But on the other hand, he hated prying into people's pasts, especially when they felt pained by them.

Just as he opened his mouth—to say what, he didn't know—, Dakota suddenly doubled over in pain, clutching his chest. Milo placed Dakota's arm over his shoulders and helped the adult along. Luckily, they were close to the warehouse, and Milo got Dakota inside easily.

As he closed the door behind them, Milo couldn't help wondering if this was the start of a new adventure for him.