"Let him & the others go!" Leopard X barked.

Victor was finding this delightful to the ears, "& on what grounds, Chen? You've lost. You are far too late to save any of your friends, including Richards!" he answered in his favourite annoyingly slow manner. If he wasn't dwelling with energy on his merits, he was expending the same energy choking words of frustration out of people he disliked.

Ozai was losing patience, "I say you let them go, because you have a conscience!" He sprang into the air, movements coloured by easy elegance but simultaneously with fierce speed. Then he initiated a pericycle blast across the room, making sure to keep it focused on its target. The high-pitched frequency of the laser ring stung, threatening to throw Doom off balance; the villain formed an X-block with his adamantium arm guards.

"Where'd you lock up Hotshot? & Ben & Sue?" Azula engulfed her left arm in blue flames. Her father had successfully stunned Victor, who had fallen onto his knees under the force of the attack. "You may well tell it to us straight since you're 'smart' enough to catch us on the way there," she added. Ozai joined her so they both could corner Doom tightly - though he wasn't close to surrendering. Outwardly he could mask the twisted nature that only manifested itself fully if you unearthed his innermost rage.

The next few moments were all combat & commotion - keeping the talk to a minimum. Victor fought lithely in a serpentine fashion, the extensions of his fingers sparkling in white light & posing deadly threats to anything they touched. Moreover, those same adamantium claws surged with electrical force. Appalled at the skill of her opponent, both the heroes slashed, kicked & punched, but could do no more than strike air.

"Well, 'smart' as I am, little girl, I am not sharing any secrets today," the baddie hissed at last. Then he eyed Azula maliciously, "Do you three want to play a little game?" "You think we would mull it over?" came her expostulation, eyes hardened in response. She wanted to talk scarcely, & fueled to fight to the finish.

"There's a pity about how you all misinterpret me…," he narrowed his gaze & lowered his head, as if on the ready to pounce. "I did not say you had a choice." Ozai's temper was bubbling; he managed to grab Victor by his robe & growled, "Drop it, & do something for once that makes sense."

He did not see the next threat coming. Doom waved his arm as swiftly as he could; his efforts weren't futile. The slashing move made a long scar diagonally across Ozai's helmet, which partially wrecked Leopard X's vision. Next, Doom almost went unnoticed as he proceeded to flip a large switch hidden behind a panel, located on the wall behind him. Beside the switch was a meter - it lit up all of a sudden, & seemed to display a number of bars that flashed & increased in number. The meter was measuring a magnitude, but a magnitude of what? Ozai fearfully gasped; this definitely had to do with time travel. His leopard ears detected a low hum reverberating in the room that (all too familiarly) matched the sound of ticking mechanisms only found in a time machine. The sequence of 'ticks' were precise; the rhythm, the manner in which each 'tick' became quicker & shorter than the previous one…

Azula performed a move like never before: revving up whatever energy gorged her veins. Only under the pressure of a situation as this would she muster her negative feelings, before channeling them in a positive way. She looked into Doom's eyes, growing angrier still as the seconds elapsed. Soon an azure 'fire tower' rose up from beneath Victor's feet.

"Dad! Help Reed up!" she instructed. "We're making our exit!" Scaling a wall on the way down to the ground below was less tiring than arguing with Doom.


The alleyway was teeming with large crows & noisy little mice, but at least not with guards. "It feels too easy…Doom allowed Reed's rescue to go smoothly enough," Ozai struck a thinking pose, crouching down against the cold concrete. He remembered Victor, simply standing there to watch them leave, an eerily permanent smile carved into his countenance.

"Well then, what do you propose we do, Dad? We're practically in a pursuit of time!" Azula was frantic, but cautious to keep her voice down. She wanted to groan for Johnny; she wanted to confirm he was safe. Guards patrolled every one of the surrounding streets in their intimidating uniforms. They could not afford to remain in one hiding place for too long.

"I don't know!" her father asserted. "Just give me…time." Now he was growing fearful at that very word. "I'll work something out somehow." He supported Reed by the shoulder, who hadn't yet stirred from unconsciousness, "Hang in there, Reed."

"What's happening?" Azula's next sentence sent a chill down his spine.

Something that could be compared with a huge white sheet wrapped around them so quickly, they were rendered speechless. Both of them had to shut their eyes lest their retinas would burn, hoping for an ending to the loud blaring noise that was shaking the ground. Not a minute passed before the world reappeared to them. However, they were incredibly perplexed.

"Nothing has changed. Why did it feel as though we were teleported?" asked Azula.

"We're in the exact same location as before…which could only mean…" Following a momentary lapse he went on, "…we were transported to a different timeline."

"Did we trigger it?" she enquired.

Leopard X replied, "If we didn't do that ourselves, Doom is obviously the culprit…."

There was a grunt coming from below them, "I…I think he has brought us into that game he spoke of…"

"Thank goodness, Reed!" said Ozai, a bit of a cheerful rise in his tone.

"Thank you," Reed responded as they helped him find his footing. "What happened?"

"We think we were warped from one timeline to another. While we tussled with Doom in order to save you & find the others -"

"He activated a switch…with a meter right beside it. & I'm seventy percent sure it was his time machine at work. Anything you can deduce?" The two looked to Reed expectantly for at least a response, if not a straight answer.

It didn't take Reed too much brainpower to reply, "I believe Doom has taken us a number of years into the future, where his control over the city & the world has grown much more powerful. He was telling me how he was going to drain the life out of us…once we were securely imprisoned. He even talked about destroying us "as slowly as he liked" - for wiping us out on the spot would have been far too easy."

"& less enjoyable or thrilling for a villain," Ozai completed the phrase. An era of threadbare morality, where you'd never hear of anyone who was regarded as a well-wisher. Perhaps this description fit the current timeline they were caught in.

Azula spoke above the rest, "Then drop all the chit chat - Doom could be spending his time torturing Hotshot & the others!"

"Precisely. Doom has probably sent us here to put us to a test," Reed filled in, "There is a good chance our friends may still be held captive in the Vault, but their lives could be hanging by a very thin thread." Ozai lay a hand on his daughter's shoulder, for she looked like she was growing pale, "I cannot be sure whether we're able to save Johnny, Susan & Ben, but we had better start searching for them."

The quietest nooks & crannies around the city were the safest. In any other places, you'd have to hold your breath to avoid being heard.

"It's as if I no longer recognize this place. If you compare it to a 'normal' day," Azula's words ran cold. A slight echo of trickling water interrupted their footsteps. Each building they beheld looked like they had suffered a vast deal.

All the overhead structures seemed to close in on them. "What kind of motive would drive Doom to be able to hold this whole city in his palm?" queried Leopard X.

"BEHIND YOU! WATCH OUT!" somebody warned. Just then, they were aware of the pitter-patter of heavy urgent boots from behind.