"Oh no…it's true…he's really gone!" Rip cried out as he approached his dead older brother and embraced him.
Lexi checked for any vital signs but could find none. "I can't believe this. Who would do such a thing? They were stabbed in the back!"
"I don't get it," Duck cried. "Why couldn't Tech just regenerate himself as he usually does?"
"It's quite simple Duck," I chimed in from the shadows. "His life force is necessary to drive his regeneration process. If the fatal blow is quick enough and the element of surprise is there, then there's no time for the regeneration process to even begin. I envy that about him actually. The only way he can die is quick. Can't say the same for my current state."
"But…but…I've seen the guy electrocute himself to a pile of ashes before," Duck protested. "You're telling me he can come back from that but not from being stabbed in the back?!"
"Don't really know how that's possible myself. My best working theory is that it's due to the electricity. If his core body systems were damaged beyond repair in the absent of electricity, then regeneration would not be successful. Still a lot to learn from my brother's power."
"Well that answers my question as well as…hey wait a minute…did you say brother?" Duck inquired.
"Duck…do you not know who this is?!" Lexi exclaimed. "This is Cobalt, Tech's older, albeit shorter, brother. He's often spoke of you Cobalt but he was so sure you were…"
"Dead right?" Cobalt asked as he emerged from the shadows with what appeared to be a detonator in hand. "It won't be much longer till that's a fact actually. I'm glad to have found out that he hasn't forgotten about me like all my closest friends who were affected by that damn meteor."
"Did you do this Cobalt," Ace asked as the rage began to build up inside of him.
"It wasn't my original intention when I arrived here. I was hoping Tech could help me somehow. Perhaps he could heal me of my cancer I thought. I was willing to try anything, no matter how untested or controversial it might be. He couldn't do it though. So now…I must execute plan B and that began with the slaying of these two. I wasn't expecting Rev to remain behind with Tech but since he stayed behind, he had to meet the same fate."
"How can you just stand there and justify murder like that?!" Ace shouted with a mixture of rage, shock, and horror in his voice.
"For normalcy Ace…that's why this was justified," I proclaimed with building anger. "For the next part of my plan, you will need to get in touch with Dr. Fidel Chroniker and bring him here immediately. If you do not comply with my wishes, I will detonate the various charges I have placed throughout your HQ as well as at the wormhole central hub. I would suggest not trying anything foolish. This is a dead man's switch. I drop it and the bombs go off. "
"At this point I could care less about HQ, the wormhole hub, or even my own life!" Rip yelled with such bitterness and hate as to surprise all present. "I want you dead you son of a bitch. You killed my only brother. He never harmed anyone in his life. Hell he went out of his way to avoid harming others. I can't let you live…"
Before Rip could do anything to rash, Zadavia entered the room, along with Dr. Chroniker.
"Try to control your temper Rip," She said softly. "We can't afford to have that central hub destroyed."
"Eh…Zadavia. You're not gonna defend this creeps action are ya?" Ace questioned. "Tech meant a lot to all of us…especially to you."
"I'm not defending his actions Ace," Zadavia replied. "I'm just giving him a chance to do the right thing here."
"The right thing!" I laugh as I respond to that last statement. "The only right and just thing is to put everything back to order. Restore my friends to their normal lives…Drake…Paula…Vivian…they all deserve that. With the help of Dr. Chroniker, that can be accomplished.
"And I'm prepared to assist you Mr. Coyote even at great risk to my occupation," Dr. Chroniker said. "You see, such timeline alterations that I'm sure you're wanting would result in my instant termination."
"Also going back that far in time to prevent your friends from being mutated will also keep the Loonatics from achieving their powers. Without them, I would never have ultimately been reconciled to my brother and General Deuce would certainly have thrown the universe into perpetual war. Tell me Cobalt…does this sound like normalcy to you?" Zadavia asked me just as my anger began to really boil to the surface.
"There's no way you can know that for sure!" I scream out in my frustration.
"Just as there's no way you can be sure it won't. You haven't thought this through Cobalt. You are letting your anger over your present situation cloud your normally sound judgment. I may not have ever gotten to know you personally Cobalt but I'm certain that you share your brother Tech's level head and his compassion."
I just break down and begin to cry then and there. Perhaps I've truly haven't thought this whole thing out. How could have let my desperation take such control over me.
"I…just wanted things to be the way they were. I never wanted to harm anyone, especially Tech. Why was this event so unfair? Why did some have to die, some had to go criminally insane, and others be spared. I thought that I could just go back and fix it all. Now…I would be just be happy to take back the gruesome act I committed here…if just to silence the guilt ringing in my head that their blood brings on."
"You can," Dr. Chroniker answered. "I can take you back to the time right before you murdered them. You can choose that or go with you're original plan. Choose wisely for it will be a decision that you will most likely answer for ultimately.
"Ok," I manage to speak after about a couple of minutes of deep contemplation. "I'll go with the second option…"
"Oh no you don't Cobalt," Duck interrupted. "You won't be choosing choice one. We'll give our lives and our HQ before we…hey wait…did he just say the second option?"
"Yes you big windbag," Lexi grumbled then smiled as she looked over at Cobalt and Zadavia. "He made the right choice."
"Before we proceed with that option, I need to ask a favor. Dr. Chroniker…return me to the moment before I breach their HQ on Acmetropolis and set Massive, Mastermind, and Weathervane free. I'm hoping that the journal transcriptions I've been keeping will make the trip with me back in time. If not, I would like you to figure out a way to preserve my memories of these events so I don't repeat this tragedy."
"I may have a way," Dr. Chroniker replies as he hands me what appears to be some space suit. "This suit should protect you as you walk through one of my time portals. It's usually not advised to have a subject go through a time portal conscious. There's always a concern that they might suffer irreversible brain damage or even disappear forever from this mortal plain. I'm confident that this suit will protect you should this truly be your course of action."
"It is doctor. Please let's begin as soon as possible," I say as I disarm the bombs and the detonator and give Lexi and Duck the location of all the explosives.
At this point, Dr. Chroniker has already used the control room to set up his time portal and as I'm putting on the protective suit, I bid farewell to the Loonatics and lean down to kiss my brother's snout once more. It will truly all be all right now bro I remember thinking.
"Just one thing I think we'd all like to know before you go Cobalt," Ace says as I get ready to enter the portal.
"Go right ahead," I say. "Just remember that we will be seeing each other again before too long if all goes well. I will come back here a little ways back in time to do what I've should've done much sooner in time."
"Yeah…yeah…I know it's just…you mentioned a Vivian. We recognize Drake as Sypher and Paula as Weathervane but we don't recall that one."
"I'll let you know in time. In fact I'll share with all of you the true lives of the people you've come to know as villains. It's only fair that I tell their stories. For now…I must get back and…make things right. Thanks for this chance at redemption Zadavia. I now see why you were such a good leader of this rag-tag group of heroes here," I laugh as I begin to step into the portal. "See you soon Loonatics."
Author's Note: Consider this an Inauguration Day bonus. It's rare indeed that I get two chapters posted in the course of one day. A lot of that has something to do with my new writing style. It's a bit more efficient than my older writing style. Still tweaking it a bit though so try to bear with me. So what will be accomplished with this second chance that Cobalt's been given. Stay tuned…oh and celebrate and dance in the streets Tech and Rev fans, for as you can see they will live and that horrible tragedy will be swept aside. You'll also get a little of my view of some of the key villains' past lives before the meteor strike. This next chapter I'm truly looking forward to finishing. I've had a blast coming up with some history on these foes as remembered by Cobalt. Have a good evening everyone. Later.