~ Future – 2300 A.D. ~

The Factory was surprisingly still in function. Neither of them had an idea what was going to be produced, but when their new friend Ezio said it was worth having a look, they would go.
Of course it was dangerous and there were security robots they had to take apart with their weaponry.
Unfortunately, Ezio had no weapon.

"I am sure I can find something very useful in here.", Ezio smiled.
"A futuristic weapon?", Altair made big eyes.
"Something like that."
"So you know what you are looking for?", Malik narrowed his eyes. He didn't quite like this new guy.
"Hm... It is a suit. Like a suit of armor. But then again there is also technology in there. I will be stronger and I can shoot lasers.", Ezio explained proudly.

"Lazors?", Altair lifted his eyebrows.
"Lasers.", Leonardo corrected. "They are rays of bundled light capable of destruction ... and burning things?"
"Indeed, my friend. You seem to be quite gifted. You are all from a distant past, right?"
"Yes. The year 1000."
"Time travel? Impressive."
"Yea, you might wanna say, Leonardo started it all.", Altair told Ezio.
"You flatter me too much, Altair. I merely combined what was already there."

Conveyor belts with robots transported them further through the maze to the very core of the factory.
There, it was. Really a masterpiece. A white suit of armor with red accents and lines set on it as well as a cape on the side.

Ezio pressed some buttons and the armor opened up itself for him to step in which he did. The armor closed around him and he was no longer recognisable. But the mistake was to move away with it.
The sirens went off and the lights coated the room in red in alertness.
"What happened?", Altair tried to hold the sound from his ears as did the others.
"Emergency... We must escape immediately or else everything shuts down!", Ezio called. "Hurry!"

The four men ran out of the room and the emergency doors already closed. Apparently the suit had been more secure than assumed. The last door almost shut – but Ezio threw himself between. "Hurry! Go!"
"What about you?", Malik shouted against the noise of the sirens.
"Ugh..."
"Malik, Leonardo, grab on!", Altair didn't want to leave Ezio behind like this. The three grabbed Ezios hands and pulled him out.
The door closed with a loud 'Wham!' and crushed the suit of armor with ease.

Ezio however was fine. The trio had managed to pull him out in time. Now, all what was left of the suit were two gloves on each of Ezios hands. And they still seemed well functional.

Ezio sighed. "...That was a close one. Thank you so much. You saved my life. Again.", he forced a smile even though he was pretty groggy.
"It's a pity with the suit. But more important you lived.", Leonardo smiled back.
"Agreed.", Altair said. Malik nodded.

Apparently, the way was free now and our friends wanted to leave the factory and use the Portal in Firenze Dome.
But on the way out a different set of robots appeared. These robots looked exactly like the suit that Ezio had put on earlier, just in a different colour. Black where it would have been white but still red lines.
These robots were much stronger and attacked immediately.
Now Ezio could fight along with his gloves to help Leonardo, Malik and Altair.

But what they didn't know was... that these creatures were not robots. Not initially. They were steered by a higher intelligence, functioning like puppets. Yet, inside were humans. Humans of which Ezio had had good memory.
"These... these are my brothers! My father!", Ezio didn't even want to see the others. It was horrible.
The puppets smashed up Ezio and basically threw him into the trash with other scrap materials from the factory.

Seeing their friend being beaten up so badly gave them extra energy. The three combined their forces and smashed one puppet after the other.
There had been humans inside but on closer look their faces were halfway rotten. Unlike Ezio they must have ended in the Factory. Lord knows why.

Altair und Leonardo managed to pull Ezio out of the trash.
"He is in bad shape...", Leonardo mused as he looked over Ezio. "I can't really fix him but maybe there is something at the Dome."
"Ener...", Ezio murmured, still being in pain.
The friends looked at each other.
"Enertron... It is at the Dome...", Ezio said under pain.
"No worries, rest now. We will get you there.", Leonardo replied.

Together they carried Ezio back to the Dome where they found the Enertron. It was a device that looked like a tank, but broader than the 'coffins' where the humans had been kept frozen.
After sitting in there for like 5 minutes, Ezio was refreshed. Good as new.

"I feel bad that they used my family like that. But I guess this is... over now.", Ezio looked sad.

"Ezio, we are trying to change the past. Our future. The day of Eden as we saw it on the ... on the...", Altair had forgotten the word.
"Information center?", Leonardo helped.
"Yes, right. Alas, with this your brothers might return. And alongside this will be a better future. Not this barren wasteland."

Ezio didn't reply right away and looked at the gloves that Leonardo had been able to fix. Yes, he should help. He could do it...
He finally nodded. "Nothing is holding me inside this world anymore."
"Good. Then we should be going."

"Look ladies, I don't want to burst your bubble, but we missed to grab the password to fix this door.", Malik said sarcastically.
"Ladies?", Altair glared.
"You're wrong Malik. We got it.", Ezio smiled and tapped on the left glove after he had put it back on. There was a holo-display and it showed several Data. "The password is 'Pazzi'.

"Then let's go! The Gate is waiting for us!", Leonardo cheered. It was time to leave this unforsaken era.

The four walked up to the door, Ezio entered the code and they proceeded. There was indeed a portal.
With a twirl of Leonardos Gate Key it opened up. "Hang on to your shorts!"

The Gate closed this time with spectacular sparks and flashes, sending our group through time and space. Almost as if to applaud to this effort to save Ezio and the intention to save the world.

You could imagine how disappointed our heroes were when they found out that at the end of this time-tunnel was absolute darkness.
Absolute?
Well, maybe not entirely.

For in the middle of the nothingness was a bright lamppost shining down on a small table with a proper English tea time set up. Complete with Earl Grey, Scones and Marmalade.
"Ah, more guests...", said a cynical British voice.
Said voice belonged to a young man with glasses and short red hair. He was barely illuminated by the light from the lamppost.

"Where are we?", Ezio said. It was really a strange environment, even to him.
"What do you mean 'guests'?", Leonardo wanted to know.
"This is the End. The End of Time, of course. All lost travellers in time wind up here eventually. Now, where are you from?", the man took a sip of his tea, appearing somewhat amused.

The End of Time, that was an entirely black space. And in this black space were two platforms. One platform with pillars of light – three currently – from which our heroes had come. The platform connected to a second platform over a small bridge. The second platform was the one with the lamppost and the strange man.
"We are from Masyaf Kingdom, 1000 A.D.", Altair said.
"I come from 2300 A.D.", Ezio looked around, feeling a little lost.

"When four or more beings step into a time warp, the Conversation of Time theorem states that they will turn up...at the space-time coordinates of least resistance – which is mostly here. Disturbances in the space-time continuum have increased recently. Far too many folks are just waltzing in here...It can be quite annoying.", the man with the glasses said.
"It appears that something is having a powerful effect on the very fabric of time."

"This would mean one of us has to stay behind...", Malik frowned and sighed.
"Stay here? Alone?", Altair was not happy with that thought.
"Hey, I am also still there!", the man with the glasses said.
"What is even your name, random guy at the End of Time?", Altair talked back.
"...Shaun.", Shaun glared at Altair over the rim of his teacup.
"Okay, Shaun."

"So, which has to stay behind? Altair?", Leonardo looked at Altair.
"Why do I have to make the pick?"
"You said we were going to stop this day from happening, that makes you the leader.", Malik stared at him with his owl-like eyes.
"Whatever you chose, I'm fine with it."
"Actually, no one needs to stay behind. At least not for long? Leonardo, can't you make another Gate Key? With the second one, we could travel in groups greater than 3, just not more than that at a time.", Altair suggested.

But for now it was Ezio who was going to stay behind, since their next urgent objective was to get back to Leonardos lab, maybe get a second Gate Key.

"You can instantly bring any person here into your travelling group, should the need arise. So there you have it.", Shaun explained.
"And how does that work?"
"Dunno. Magic. Use that Gate Key you got."
"Ah right, the Gate Key.", Leonardo had almost forgotten to pass it on, since he had been the one carrying that thing. He gave it to Ezio and explained briefly how to use it. Shaun then explained how to transfer group members.

"This looks more and more like those video games I used to play as a kid.", Ezio remarked.
"A video game?", Altair asked.
"Yeah, a game in which you take upon a role and mostly battle through some world and solve puzzles. Any combination is possible."
"Sounds nifty. I think I should visit you once this is all over."
"I'm looking forward to it.", Ezio smiled brightly.

"Ah, before I forget it. Magic is indeed a thing here. Before you go, I should grace you with some of it. It might come in handy.", Shaun said.
The friends looked at each other and frowned.

"You see, long before any of you were born, there was a Kingdom where Magic flourished. Everyone there could use it. But in time, people began to abuse their powers. It got so bad that no one was allowed to use magic expect wizards. But you have it... determination, I mean.
Magic needs power of the heart. It needs inner strength.
Magic is divided into four types: Light, Fire, Water and Shadow."

"You with the hood, you are 'Light'.
The one with just one arm is 'Fire'.
The blond guy is 'Water'.
The one with the ponytail is 'Light', too.", Shaun explained it. Altair couldn't help himself but it always sounded a bit like Shaun was humouring them.
"Not just magic, but /everything/ is based on the balance of these four powers. Now, think 'Magic' and, starting from that bridge, walk clockwise along the walls of my room 3 times."

The friends looked at each other, some puzzled, others made faces. Was this for real? Walk in circles for a rotten Turkey's amusement?
"I mean... I don't force you. It's just a friendly advice.", Shaun shrugged and grinned to himself.

"... That man must be very lonely.", Malik commented dryly.
"Maybe, but I can see into all the times from here. All the time.", Shaun retorted.
Altair first attempted to walk those circles. Leonardo followed him, then followed by Ezio. Malik, the most stubborn one followed just when Altair had finished his rounds.

"Very good.", now Shaun got up and uttered some foreign words.
Altair felt himself engulfed in a cool breeze that suddenly twirled around him. He felt faster, lighter. More at ease.
When Leonardo had finished his rounds, he felt like he was under water but he could breath. Bubbles washed around him and he could swear to hear for a moment the sounds of waves crashing against the shore.
With Ezio, the same breeze wooshed around him.
But when Malik was done, he looked basically as if he was on fire.
"Malik, did you just spawn from hell?", Altair asked with a cheeky grin. Malik simply grunted and glared at Altair. Once again he found that he had literally bumped into adventure those several days ago.

"Do you want to try it out?", Shaun asked.
"No thanks. We got a world to save.", Altair decided.
"But I always thought time travellers can't be late?", Shaun frowned.
"But still, time passes as we speak.", Malik said. "It was not the same time when we returned to 1000 A.D. when coming back from 600 A.D."

Back to the upper room, where the pillars of light were waiting. So far four of those were unlocked.
One led to the Firenze Dome, where they had come from.
The other led to the day of Eden. ... no, it would not be good to go there. It was not yet the time.
Then there was 'Mystic Mountain' in 65,000,000 B.C.. Wow, that was far away in time.
The last pillar led to 'City Village' in 1000 A.D.. Maybe this was the best location to look for Information concerning the day of Eden and paying a visit to Leonardo's lab.