p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"strongspan style="text-decoration: underline;"Chapter 14: Pocket watch/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"A career I spent in the wolves. Three created them. I'll make sure those same three same people correct it. Two are already here. The last one is coming./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"()/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Fen Kuro/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"Well then. That was an eventful day. I got attacked by thieves. Discovered my father was a legendary thief. Then discovered I had a brother, who turned out to be…/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Rowen? You're a time traveller, emand/em my brother?" I stared at him, then at Dad, who nodded./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""AWESOME!" I high fived him and initiated a group hug, which Iris and Eden joined in to. It ended after about a minute./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""So, Dad…" Rowen began/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Don't ask for a car…" he muttered under his breath/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""What were you saying about altering time?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Oh, yeah. You have a time semblance right? You can reverse time for limited periods per day"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""How long?" Rowen asked, Bright eyed/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""1 minute" Dad said. Everyone went quiet/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""That kinda sucks, why only 1 minute?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You passed out the first time you did it right? With a headache?" Rowen nodded "Imagine the pain of that headache getting worse with every minute, until you can't stop turning back time. And the pain lasting forever" Rowen turned pale once again. He took an old fashioned pocket watch out of his pocket "You can use this to determine how long you can use your power"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Well then, that was cheerful. Hey kids! Don't time travel too much or you'll end up in eternal torture!" I said, trying to lighten the mood "Why're you here anyway?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Well, I was asked by Crypt to help you beat The Forsaken wolves" He said, sitting down next to me./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Not to be rude, but how can you help?" Eden asked. Dad scowled at her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""I have my ways…" He opened his jacket to reveal an army's worth of blades, from knives, to small machetes, I think I spotted a few of Eugene's spikes in there too. "There's more on the other side" His eyes sparkled menacingly. The girl's jaws dropped./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Those spikes… are they…" I began/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Your hedgehog friend is very… pointy" He said, closing his jacket "Anyway, I'm here to teach you some stealth techniques. Fen, you obviously don't need them, but the rest of you…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Ah, good, the band's back together…" Hood had appeared at the door with Fade and The Mister/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Vaughn, Crypt, how you doing?" The Mister's face twitched as Dad said his name, but he didn't respond to it as he did to others/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Connor, good to see you" the Mister held out his hand/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Don't call me that" He replied, smiling anyway. Hey! I do that too!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""How's the eyes Vaughn?" He asked/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Still blind" Fade replied, smiling and tilting his glasses before the pair started laughing/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Good to see you" Dad said, finally ceasing his laughter. His face went suddenly serious "What's the plan then?" Everyone looked at The Mister, who smiled/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Glad you asked" He "I'll need all of us to walk together, including that other team of yours, they should be here soon"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Connie Kuro/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Alright, listen up. We'll be split into several teams. Each team will have a job, and if they don't succeed, we will all die" Crypt said, my plans sprawled over a table "Firstly, we'll need a team to take out the assassins, that will be team FIRE and Connor. You need to sneak into the assassins' lair and silence Fenrir before he sees you. To make sure that runs smoothly, we'll need a team to distract the thugs, which will be Vaughn and Team CUBE. You have to get outside their base and cause as much trouble as possible, for as long as possible, find us all a good window. I'll go with Hood, John, Scar and Don to try and take down Romulus. And the last team will help us take out the final squad, Hyde and his hunting pack."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""The last team? There's not enough of us here, we need five more people!" Tucker yelled "There's not enough of our boys to help!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Maybe we could help?" Four people walked in. The first was tall, with a bowler hat and cane, the second was slightly shorter, with grey hair. The third was dark skinned and green haired. The fourth had black hair and eyes that glowed like fire./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You owe us kid, those missing weapons won't pay for themselves will they?" I recognised the tall one from the news, Roman Torchwick./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Cinder? Why are you guys here?" Rowen asked, excitedly/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You're friend here said you needed help, so we came" Cinder said, gesturing to Crypt/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""That explains why you're here, why's Mercury and Emerald here?" Fen asked/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""He said there was money involved" Mercury pointed out/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""And dust, which we need at the moment" Emerald explained/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""As I was saying, the final team, that's you, will help with Hyde's men, and give us an exit strategy" Crypt finished/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Exit strategy?" Benny asked "I don't see an exit strategy" As if an answer to his question, a girl with pink and brown hair popped into the room in a white flash and bowed. Benny's eyes went wide "Well then. Found it. Umbrella travel it is."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Hey Neo" Rowen said, laughing at Benny. She smiled back at him./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Good, good, get some rest, we'll need it" Crypt walked to the door. "Goodnight" he smiled as his face twitched a little./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Fen Kuro/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"Everyone was asleep. I wasn't. I couldn't. How could I? An angry pack of trained killers wanted to kill us, just because of me and a stupid sword. It was technically Fade's fault, but I had a feeling it was deeper than that, the blame couldn't be passed to anyone, since I still didn't know the full story. So, I just sat there, blaming myself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Hey" I turned around/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""What are you doing up?" I asked Iris/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Couldn't sleep, there's too much to think about" She sat down next to me/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Me too" I muttered, staring out of the window, into the darkness. Iris turned to look at me./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""It's not your fault you know" she said quietly/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Huh?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""All this, the Wolves, it's not your fault" she put her hand on my shoulder/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Yeah, it is!" I stood up "I was stupid, you wouldn't be in this mess, no-one would, not Rowen, Eden or any of CUBE, if I hadn't of gone into Vale today!" I sat back down, put my head in my hands./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You didn't know that, we could've been attacked by them to get to you! If you hadn't been there, if you'd stayed in Beacon, there's no telling what would have happened to us all" She leaned against my shoulder and leant close to my ear, then whispered "I thought it was brave" she stood up, and began to walk away "Get some sleep OK? We're going to need you tomorrow"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You don't need me, you're brilliant on your own" I muttered/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"A career I spent in the wolves. Three created them. I'll make sure those same three same people correct it. Two are already here. The last one is coming./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"()/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Fen Kuro/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"Well then. That was an eventful day. I got attacked by thieves. Discovered my father was a legendary thief. Then discovered I had a brother, who turned out to be…/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Rowen? You're a time traveller, emand/em my brother?" I stared at him, then at Dad, who nodded./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""AWESOME!" I high fived him and initiated a group hug, which Iris and Eden joined in to. It ended after about a minute./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""So, Dad…" Rowen began/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Don't ask for a car…" he muttered under his breath/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""What were you saying about altering time?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Oh, yeah. You have a time semblance right? You can reverse time for limited periods per day"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""How long?" Rowen asked, Bright eyed/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""1 minute" Dad said. Everyone went quiet/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""That kinda sucks, why only 1 minute?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You passed out the first time you did it right? With a headache?" Rowen nodded "Imagine the pain of that headache getting worse with every minute, until you can't stop turning back time. And the pain lasting forever" Rowen turned pale once again. He took an old fashioned pocket watch out of his pocket "You can use this to determine how long you can use your power"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Well then, that was cheerful. Hey kids! Don't time travel too much or you'll end up in eternal torture!" I said, trying to lighten the mood "Why're you here anyway?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Well, I was asked by Crypt to help you beat The Forsaken wolves" He said, sitting down next to me./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Not to be rude, but how can you help?" Eden asked. Dad scowled at her./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""I have my ways…" He opened his jacket to reveal an army's worth of blades, from knives, to small machetes, I think I spotted a few of Eugene's spikes in there too. "There's more on the other side" His eyes sparkled menacingly. The girl's jaws dropped./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Those spikes… are they…" I began/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Your hedgehog friend is very… pointy" He said, closing his jacket "Anyway, I'm here to teach you some stealth techniques. Fen, you obviously don't need them, but the rest of you…"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Ah, good, the band's back together…" Hood had appeared at the door with Fade and The Mister/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Vaughn, Crypt, how you doing?" The Mister's face twitched as Dad said his name, but he didn't respond to it as he did to others/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Connor, good to see you" the Mister held out his hand/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Don't call me that" He replied, smiling anyway. Hey! I do that too!/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""How's the eyes Vaughn?" He asked/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Still blind" Fade replied, smiling and tilting his glasses before the pair started laughing/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Good to see you" Dad said, finally ceasing his laughter. His face went suddenly serious "What's the plan then?" Everyone looked at The Mister, who smiled/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Glad you asked" He "I'll need all of us to walk together, including that other team of yours, they should be here soon"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Connie Kuro/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Alright, listen up. We'll be split into several teams. Each team will have a job, and if they don't succeed, we will all die" Crypt said, my plans sprawled over a table "Firstly, we'll need a team to take out the assassins, that will be team FIRE and Connor. You need to sneak into the assassins' lair and silence Fenrir before he sees you. To make sure that runs smoothly, we'll need a team to distract the thugs, which will be Vaughn and Team CUBE. You have to get outside their base and cause as much trouble as possible, for as long as possible, find us all a good window. I'll go with Hood, John, Scar and Don to try and take down Romulus. And the last team will help us take out the final squad, Hyde and his hunting pack."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""The last team? There's not enough of us here, we need five more people!" Tucker yelled "There's not enough of our boys to help!"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Maybe we could help?" Four people walked in. The first was tall, with a bowler hat and cane, the second was slightly shorter, with grey hair. The third was dark skinned and green haired. The fourth had black hair and eyes that glowed like fire./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You owe us kid, those missing weapons won't pay for themselves will they?" I recognised the tall one from the news, Roman Torchwick./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Cinder? Why are you guys here?" Rowen asked, excitedly/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You're friend here said you needed help, so we came" Cinder said, gesturing to Crypt/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""That explains why you're here, why's Mercury and Emerald here?" Fen asked/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""He said there was money involved" Mercury pointed out/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""And dust, which we need at the moment" Emerald explained/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""As I was saying, the final team, that's you, will help with Hyde's men, and give us an exit strategy" Crypt finished/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Exit strategy?" Benny asked "I don't see an exit strategy" As if an answer to his question, a girl with pink and brown hair popped into the room in a white flash and bowed. Benny's eyes went wide "Well then. Found it. Umbrella travel it is."/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Hey Neo" Rowen said, laughing at Benny. She smiled back at him./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Good, good, get some rest, we'll need it" Crypt walked to the door. "Goodnight" he smiled as his face twitched a little./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="text-decoration: underline;"Fen Kuro/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"Everyone was asleep. I wasn't. I couldn't. How could I? An angry pack of trained killers wanted to kill us, just because of me and a stupid sword. It was technically Fade's fault, but I had a feeling it was deeper than that, the blame couldn't be passed to anyone, since I still didn't know the full story. So, I just sat there, blaming myself./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Hey" I turned around/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""What are you doing up?" I asked Iris/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Couldn't sleep, there's too much to think about" She sat down next to me/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Me too" I muttered, staring out of the window, into the darkness. Iris turned to look at me./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""It's not your fault you know" she said quietly/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Huh?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""All this, the Wolves, it's not your fault" she put her hand on my shoulder/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""Yeah, it is!" I stood up "I was stupid, you wouldn't be in this mess, no-one would, not Rowen, Eden or any of CUBE, if I hadn't of gone into Vale today!" I sat back down, put my head in my hands./p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You didn't know that, we could've been attacked by them to get to you! If you hadn't been there, if you'd stayed in Beacon, there's no telling what would have happened to us all" She leaned against my shoulder and leant close to my ear, then whispered "I thought it was brave" she stood up, and began to walk away "Get some sleep OK? We're going to need you tomorrow"/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;""You don't need me, you're brilliant on your own" I muttered/p