Chapter 12: Cooldown
Omni and Soron sat silently in Soron's office, alone. Omni was sitting quietly behind Soron's desk, his hands resting on the surface of the table, while Soron sat across from him, looking rather confused and annoyed.
"Tell me again, why do you get to sit at MY desk?" Soron asked.
"Because I'm the one asking the questions here and… It's a nice desk," Omni said, a little embarrassed at the last bit.
"Okay," Soron said as he stood up, "Since I have no choice but to answer your goddamn questions let's go somewhere a little neutral. As Director of Vortex… the mere thought of having to be interrogated by a KID that is sitting at MY desk is insulting."
"I'm 19 dude," Omni said.
"Don't fucking care," Soron said, "Anyway, why should I answer any of your questions? As the adult I should've just-"
"Soron, can you just get off your high horse and stop acting like you're better than me?!" Omni snapped, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
"Soron, I don't care how old you are compared to me," Omni said calmly, "I'm a superhero. My job is to protect people, and today, I saw you get turned into a supervillain by a gas that was only supposed to make people neurotic. And I know you've got a lot of dirty laundry, who doesn't? But whether I'm 19 or 10, I need to be sure that I can trust you. Does that make sense for you?"
"There are certain things in your universe that I'm vulnerable to Omni," Soron said quietly as he plopped back down in the uncomfortable chair, "I suspect that's why I was adversely affected."
"But it had a root somewhere, correct?" Omni said, leaning forward, "Darkness like that doesn't just come from nothing."
"Omni," Soron said as he narrowed his eyes at him, "I suspect you and Tonto had some time to talk about all the things that went on in Clark's world, right?"
"Actually, we haven't," Omni said, "Between this place, Switch, and the good Captain, we haven't had a moment of calm since we got back."
"Son of a bitch," groaned Soron, "I CAN'T tell you about some of the stuff that happened two years ago, because it involves talking about a memory that's too painful to speak about. If you want to know where that serial killer personality came from, talk to Tonto."
"I'll be sure to," Omni said, "Well, then we'll change subjects. When I first learned you had super-speed, nobody would tell me how you got it. As far as I can tell, before you got hurled through time, you didn't have that power. So, if you would be so kind, how did you get your speed?"
"That's the million dollar question, isn't it," Soron snorted, "I honestly don't remember. The last thing I remember before I got it was being at some sort of assembly by a renowned scientist or something. I can't remember his name, but I can remember why I went there. I just had a gut feeling. My instincts told me that something bad was going to happen there, and since I couldn't bring any of my agents along, I went to see if I could prevent it if possible. Unfortunately, that's it. The memory ends at that assembly thing."
"So… You went to an assembly, blacked out, and then woke up with super speed?" Omni summarized, looking confused, "Aside from a few details, that sounds like the beginning to the first episode of 'The Flash'."
"I never actually saw that show," Soron said, "And honestly… I don't want to. It would probably give me a few bad ideas concerning technology. I already got that idea for the speedster suit that now belongs to my evil twin. Don't ask why I made it look like a version of Eobard Thawne's though, cause I honestly don't know. It just seemed right I guess."
"Okay… This is something I'm gonna have to look into," Omni muttered, before saying out loud, "Speaking of your evil twin, where did you throw him anyway?"
"Nowhere yet," Soron said, "Between getting a scan of my system by Church and Martin, getting back into my old clothes, and now this, I haven't had time to think on where to put him."
"Then who's in charge of him right now?" Omni asked, a little worried.
"Oh don't you worry about him," Soron snorted, "While I had never anticipated that I would go dark in the way I apparently did, I had anticipated that Vortex would have to fight a speedster. I currently have him trapped in a virtual reality till I can decide what to do with him."
"But since he's you, wouldn't he be able to think around that?" Omni said, still worried.
"Nah," Soron said dismissively, "He's having too much fun. I programmed a world where he can kill as much as he wants. That's what he thrives on. As long as he kills in there, he'll never notice that the reality was hastily created."
"Okay," Omni said, calming down but still looking confused, "Well, as long as that's taken care of, let's shift gears again. From your perspective, you didn't see us for two years, correct?"
"Yes," Soron said.
"So, here's what I want to know," Omni said, "What did you do for the last two years? Besides… Building this place?"
"I was a wreck," Soron said grimly, "I had sworn to never drink, smoke, or do drugs… but after a few months I did exactly that. Another month later, I stole a ship from some random alien, but that alien was apparently some sort of royal one. Tetrax found me a while later, but instead of taking me in and collecting his bounty, we made a deal. We create some sort of way for him to retire and for me to redeem myself for the crimes I had committed while I was out there in the universe. I had to use all of my Vreshnayen crystals in order to convince the alien royals to give it a shot. Those crystals would've been able to give me all the money I needed to buy everything on Earth and then some."
"Yeah, quick side note, why didn't you?" Omni asked, "I mean, if you had these valuable, rare items that are worth a fortune, couldn't you have used just one to buy a ship or something?"
"I couldn't risk it," Soron said shaking his hands, "In the wrong hands those crystals would be dangerous. The Vreshnayens not only used them as currency, but as items to make explosives. Those explosives are… what is the most dangerous and biggest explosive known to the universe?"
"Sub energy," Omni said, "But I have heard rumors of something called the 'Anihilaarg.'"
"Odd name," Soron remarked.
"Tell me about it," Omni said.
"Any way, the explosives are infinitely bigger than your sub energy stuff," Soron continued, "Like end of the universe bad. They would be able to destroy all sub-dimensions and alternate sub-dimensions. Thankfully, the Vreshnayens weren't that bloodthirsty."
"And you used this stuff as emergency currency," Omni clarified.
"Yes," Soron said, "But only to those I believe would never use them for nefarious purposes. But we're getting off-topic. Once I looked the king of the alien race in the eyes… I believed I could trust him, so I handed him the crystals. I didn't trust him too much though, because Tetrax and I informed the Plumbers. They're still watching him, and letting me know of anything they see. That's one thing the Plumbers and agree on, and will willingly ally with each other for."
"That's another thing, how do you know the Plumbers?" Omni asked.
"It's an embarrassing story," Soron said as he looked away while shifting uncomfortably.
"Well now I've gotta hear it," Omni said, smirking slightly.
"You really are a jerk," Soron said.
"I try," Omni said, shrugging his shoulders, "Now make with the story."
"May as well get it over with," Soron grumbled, "Church. Bring up the file on Plumber Officer Verbeda Florg."
A second later a holographic file of a female Plumber Officer appeared from a panel on Soron's desk.
"Now you know," Soron said as he tried to keep a blank expression.
"Um," Omni said, confused, "You're gonna need to clarify. Did you have an affair with this girl or something?"
"That Plumber was actually me," Soron said with a strange expression, "I uh… I'd rather not get into it."
Omni was silent as his expression went blank and the hologram vanished. Then, he took a deep breath and stood up.
"'Scuse me for a sec," Omni said before walking past Soron and stepping out of the office. Soron sat quietly for a couple seconds, a little confused. Then, the silence was broken when he suddenly heard gales of laughter from the hall, causing him to blush and scowl.
"It's not funny!" Soron yelled.
The laughter began to die down, slowly being replaced by deep breathing. Then, the door to Soron's office opened, with Omni walking back in with tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.
"I'm sorry," Omni said, wiping a tear away, "I'm so sorry. But… I needed that. I REALLY needed that."
"Oh shut up," Soron muttered as Omni walked back to the desk.
"Alright. So... With that out of the way," Omni said as he sat down and attempted to regain his senses, "Here's my next question. Where did you develop interdimensional travel? Because as far as I can tell, your TARDIS is still in my warehouse."
"Oh that's easy," Soron said, "Before returning me to Earth Tetrax took me to Gallifrey. Once there, I spent hours being examined by Gallifreyan doctors and scientists. Eventually, they confirmed that I did indeed have Gallifreyan blood in me. They were confused as to how it was done, and disgusted that it was done. Several of them called me abominations, and a lot of them threw food at me. Only two of them were merciful. One called himself the Doctor and the other called herself Romana. The Doctor… strangely enough, looked like my 8th incarnation around the time I had regenerated into… a version of me I'd rather forget. After that, I looked into the untempered schism. It hurt my head for quite a while, but I got better. After that I learned how to create several things, but they didn't give me a TARDIS. They said I hadn't earned the right to have one yet, but I didn't mind. I already have mine. Oh, and before I forget, a while back Vortex found a sort of ring with markings on it similar to hieroglyphics. We haven't made heads or tails of it though, but according to it's dimensional signature… it's from another reality."
"And it's through that ring that you managed to find the secret to interdimensional travel?" Omni asked.
"No, of course not," Soron said, "Weren't you listening? The Time Lords taught me. They are the ones that make sure that interdimensional travel doesn't destroy reality, so they taught me everything there is to know about it. Especially since I'm from another reality. Before going to alternate realities, I have to be sure it doesn't create a crack. I also have to fix any cracks I come across, cause they can't do it themselves all the time. Right now that ring is nothing but a wall decoration."
"And yet they haven't stopped this place from being invaded/attacked by other universes before," Omni whispered.
"What?" Soron said.
"Nothing, personal annoyances," Omni said, "Alright, so now that we've gotten current events out of the way, I have one more question I need to ask you. One that's been on my mind for a while."
"Before you ask it," Soron said, "Why did you say 'current events' especially since NONE of it is current?"
"Because that's the stuff you've been doing in this universe," Omni said, "There's something I want to know. You know that when we went to Apoplexia, I glanced at your journal, correct?"
"That was a breach of privacy," Soron said with an irritated tone, "Do I go looking through your shit? No."
"That's correct, and rest assured, I won't be making it a habit," Omni said, "But when I looked through it, I found something on a war. Something I wasn't able to read fully. So, my final question is, what is this war you were a part of?"
"I was REALLY hoping you weren't going to ask that," Soron said through gritted teeth as he clenched the armrests tightly, "Now that you have, there is something you must know. I will NEVER talk about that hell, ever. So don't ask that again or I will punch you hard enough to put you in a coma."
"And that's why I asked," Omni said calmly, "Soron, your reaction is why I'm curious. I understand that war comes with trauma, but it's like you completely change whenever it's brought up. Which means you're either bipolar, or something VERY traumatic happened."
Soron was silent as he clenched his fists and turned away from Omni.
"Soron, just answer me this," Omni said, "Did you do something bad?"
"Ahriman," Soron replied as he got up and stormed out of the room.
Omni just sat there, releasing a sigh before getting up himself.
"Hey Church, you listening?" Omni said.
"How could I not?" Church said as he flickered online, "I had to be sure you wouldn't say anything that would send him off the rails again. From what I could tell, he's holding himself back. You've probably antagonized yourself now. The last person who asked about this thing was sent to the Zilch void."
"Smooth," Omni said, "Well, it doesn't matter. I don't intend to stay anyway. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else he was hiding."
"So now what are you gonna do?" Church asked not really caring.
"For starters, find Tonto," Omni said, "Is he still in Dr. Stein's office?"
"Hmmm," Church said as he looked through the security cameras, "No. He's… uh oh."
"What did he do?" Omni said, sounding annoyed.
"He's talking to Soron's evil twin," Church said.
"What?!" Omni yelled.
"How the heck did the speedster wake up?" Church asked himself in confusion, "Nobody has ever woken up from such a mind prison before."
"Put this place on red alert," Omni said, running to the door, "We can't let him escape!"
"What's going on?" Soron asked with a calmer tone and expression as he saw Omni running out of the office and down a walkway.
"Evil you got out!" Omni yelled as he turned a corner.
"Oh you've got to be shitting me!" Soron shouted in annoyance, "Wait up! There's no way we can fight a speedster this time. We're going to need some help!"
Several minutes ago, with Tonto…
"Ah, that's better," Tonto said as he walked out of Martin Stein's office, "No more voices, no more criticisms. Just me and my thoughts."
'And me too!'
"Shut it Brain," Tonto said, stretching his arms and walking down the hall, "Now… I just need to find Omni. Wherever he is."
"He's currently interrogating the Director," Snart said, coming up behind Tonto, back in his normal black attire, "I advise that you let them be for a while."
"Oh, Captain Cold," Tonto said, "How're you doing?"
"Oh please," Snart said tossing a medallion to Tonto, "Captain Cold is my old life. I'm called Agent Cold now, but I'm off duty, so I'm just plain old Leonard Snart."
"But Captain Cold is cooler," Tonto said, "It has alliteration."
"Suit yourself," Snart shrugged, "Now aren't you going to take a look at the thing I tossed at you?"
"Hmm? Oh," Tonto said, looking down to the medallion in his hands, "Right. So… What is this anyway?"
"According to the Director it's some sort of protective medallion," Snart said, "Apparently it protects from all attacks. Church reckons it's a million years old. Doesn't look Egyptian to me though."
"Sounds like something Acropolis would have," Tonto muttered.
"Who?" Snart asked.
"Nobody," Tonto said, "Just one of our baddies. Not important right now. Why are you giving me this anyway?"
"It's to help you survive what's coming," Snart replied, "None of Vortex or your friend may survive, but at least you will. We only have one of those, and now its bound to you. Don't think you being in the same vicinity as anyone will ensure they're protected. It only works for one person."
Tonto was silent when he heard that. He then looked the medallion over, grimaced, and threw it back to Snart.
"Thanks, but I'm good," Tonto said, "After all, no use living if there's no one left, right?"
"I didn't say there'd be nobody left," Snart said tossing the medallion back, "Besides, it's kind of like that medallion from Trollhunters. It'll always return to you. You're stuck with it now."
"Well, I don't want it," Tonto said, throwing it back, "How is it fair that I get to live while everyone else dies?"
"Someday you're going to have to grow up," Snart said, "While I agree that it isn't fair, I have to point out that life sometimes gives you a stick of shit right into your body."
"I know that," Tonto said, "But I don't care. Even if the world tells me to roll over, I won't listen. That's not my style, you know?"
"No, I don't," Snart said tossing the medallion over the edge of a railing, "But since you have a death wish, who am I to stop you? At least I can say I tried to save your stupid ass. Have fun in the realm of the dead you runt."
Snart then turned around and headed down the walkway leaving Tonto alone.
"He's nice underneath," Tonto said before turning around and walking the other way, "So… What to do. I wonder if they have a cafe around here."
"Mr. Snart rarely ever looks furious," said the voice of Martin Stein from behind him, "What did you do young man? And don't give me that 'I'm 17' bull either."
"I… Wasn't going to," Tonto said, "Young man can also be used to identify teenagers- Nevermind. Captain Cold wanted to give me a medallion that would protect me and no one else. I didn't think that was fair for anyone, so I gave it back, and he threw it over the railing."
Martin Stein stared at him for a few seconds before striking Tonto's right cheek once.
"OW!" Tonto said, "What did I do?"
"Snart was forbidden from telling you the whole reason behind the medallion," Martin said as he narrowed his eyes at Tonto in annoyance, "He was not only trying to save your naive self, but the whole world. Do you know why Vortex knows that something is coming?"
"No," Tonto said, a little freaked out.
"It's because the people involved in it or rather will be involved, received a vision from the future in our dreams," Martin continued, "Not long after that, Verdona suddenly glowed orange and spoke in a strange voice and gave us a prophecy. The final line of said prophecy was 'Once all is gone, only the naive guardian can restore what once was.'"
Tonto was silent for a minute as the color drained from his face. Then, he slowly turned around and began to walk away.
"I'm gonna go now," Tonto said before picking up his pace and running off.
"You have doomed us all," Martin frowned as he stared after Tonto before heading to his personal quarters.
"Shit shit shit shit shit shit SHIT!" Tonto said, running down a staircase, "Okay, just remain calm Tonto. I mean, it's not like the fate of the world will eventually rest on your shoulders or something. He he he. Oh crap, I need to find that medallion!"
Tonto reached the bottom of the stairs and ran by the street, pushing several Vortex personal out the way as he scanned the ground, looking for the Medallion.
"Come on, come on, it has to be here somewhere," Tonto said frantically, "It can't have gotten far. It's just a bauble. Unless of course it rolled when it landed and somehow wound up further away, meaning that it's gone now, meaning I'll probably NEVER FIND IT, WHICH MEANS THE WORLD ITSELF WILL BE DOOMED-"
"HEY!" said a voice loudly from a chair at a table nearby, "Unless you want the whole bloody city to know you screwed the pooch, pipe down will ya?"
Tonto stopped freaking out and looked over to the man, who was sipping tea. He was a rather handsome man with brown hair, a slim physique, and a small face. His attire consisted of brown trench coat which he left open, a blue suit and pants, and white sandshoes on his feet.
"Oh! I'm… I'm sorry sir," Tonto said approaching the man, "I was just looking for…"
Tonto trailed off as he got closer, and suddenly, he felt like he recognized the man. It took a little while, but as Tonto looked him over, his expression changed from one of confusion to one of surprise.
"Wait… You're David Tennant!" Tonto said, "Oh my God, I love your stuff Mr. Tennant! You were amazing as Kilgrave in Jessica Jones!"
"David Tennant" just stared at Tonto before he began laughing his ass off, accidentally spilling his drink onto the ground, causing him to swear like a sailor.
"Oh now look what you've done," the man said crossly, "Now you've gone and made me spill my drink."
"Um… I'm sorry?" Tonto said, a little confused, "It's just… It's an honor to meet you in real life, sir."
"Let me get something straight," the man said as he pulled out a towel from one of his pockets, which should be impossible, "I'm NOT David Tennant. I do admit that I look like him, but I'm NOT him. Same goes for your friend, Soron MacLeod. He looks like Christopher Eccleston, but isn't."
"Christopher Eccleston?" Tonto asked, "You mean the main villain from the second Thor movie?"
"That's the one," the man said as he finished wiping the table dry.
"Huh," Tonto said, rubbing his chin, "I never realized he looked like him. The more you know."
"And yet you thought I was David Tennant," the man said with irritation, "I mean come on. There's no bloody way Soron would hire an actor to be in a this organization. Actors are practically useless in almost anything that isn't in the entertainment sector of the world."
"Hey, actors can have double lives," Tonto said, "Maybe there are a few who use their acting careers as covers."
"Nope," the man said dismissively, "I've met them all. From Ronald Reagan to Hugh Jackman. None of them use acting as covers. Unless they're John Wilkes-Booth the assassin. That was the only exception."
"You know, you're very cynical, and I already know two other cynical people," Tonto said, "So… I'm afraid I'm gonna have to step away. I'm looking for something anyway."
"Why don't you check your pockets?" the man asked as he put the towel back into his pocket.
Tonto looked a little confused, but decided to comply. He slowly reached his hand into his pants pocket and, after a few seconds of searching through candy wrappers, he felt something cold, metal, and round. A little surprised, Tonto grabbed the object, slowly raised it out of his pocket, and saw that it was the medallion.
"Whoa," Tonto said, "How… How did you know this was here?"
"Spoilers," the man smirked, "I'm from the future."
"Wait, as in 'The future' the future?" Tonto said, pocketing the medallion, "Then… Do you know about… The cataclysm?"
"No…" the man said slowly, "But thanks for bringing that to my attention. Someday, I'm going to have to stop it… if it's bad. Won't be with this face though."
"'This face'?" Tonto repeated, "Wait, are you a-"
"Shh," the man said, putting his index finger to Tonto's mouth, "Gallifreyans and Time Lords aren't exactly allowed in Vortex. The Director thinks we'll look down on him then assume control."
"But if this is his place, then how would you-"
"I said shush," the man commanded, "Anyway, I need you to tell me where they're holding Dark Speed."
"Who?" Tonto said.
"Oh right," the man said facepalming, "He hasn't given himself a name yet. He's Soron's evil twin."
"Oh," Tonto said, "I don't know. Me and Omni had to go see a doctor about a gas."
"Martin Stein," the man said with a grin, "Brilliant man. I haven't seen him in a LONG time. Of course he hasn't really met me yet."
"Um, sorry to cut you off, but why do you want to find… 'Dark Speed'?" Tonto asked.
"I have some unanswered questions that I need to ask, and unfortunately today is the only time he's still long enough for me to do so," the man said with a serious expression.
"What questions?" Tonto asked, his right hand slowly going to his watch.
"They're personal, and you really don't need to use your Omnitrix against me," the man replied, "I'm not your enemy. In fact, I'm practically the only one you can truly trust in Vortex. Especially since these questions may help the survival of the universe. Besides, my song is ending soon. I'd like to get these questions answered now before I go."
Tonto was silent upon hearing that, but his hand still hovered over his Omnitrix.
"Look… Sir," Tonto said, "I don't know what you need to ask him, and I'm sorry if it's important, but I can't risk letting a supervillain run free."
"Don't worry about that," the man said, "I have a device that paralyzes speedsters. Consider it the anti-adrenaline in the form of E.M waves. The only thing he will be able to do is speak. I will also know if he's lying."
Tonto said nothing as he kept standing there, his hand still at his watch.
"Oh, this is wasting time," the man said before he reached into his coat pocket, pulled out what looked like a Sonic Screwdriver, pointed it at Tonto, and suddenly his Omnitrix began to spark.
"GAAH!" Tonto yelled, jumping back.
"Sorry 'bout that," the man said before running off, "Truly."
"Warning. System tampered with," the Omnitrix said, "Omnitrix must shut down to reboot."
"Dang it!" Tonto yelled, before seeing the man running off, "Hey, come back!"
Tonto began chasing the man through the streets of Vortex, doing his best to keep up with him. However, every time Tonto looked like he was gaining on him, the man would take a sudden turn, or duck into an area out of Tonto's vision, and Tonto would lose sight of him for a few seconds. Than, when he finally found him again, he'd somehow be even further away than before.
It eventually got to the point where Tonto was starting to get annoyed. The man eventually ducked into what looked like a cafe, but when Tonto ran into the building, all he saw were several Vortex personal sitting at tables and eating.
"God dangit," Tonto muttered, "Well, at least I found the cafe. Where did he go?"
However, unknown to Tonto, his Omnitrix began flashing. Then, after it did this for a few seconds, the markings on the watch began flashing blue and gold, before settling back on green.
Okay, retrace your steps, Tonto thought to himself as he exited the cafe, Whoever that guy is, he said he was looking for… Evil Soron. Whatever he called him. As such, maybe he went looking for him.
"Meaning that if I find Evil Soron, I might find him," Tonto said, "Nice work Brain."
'Thank you.'
"But then, where's Evil Soron?" Tonto said, rubbing his chin.
As Tonto walked off in a certain direction the man stepped out of the shadows and looked at Tonto's back as he thought, Sorry about that Tonto. You weren't going to have a chat with Dark Speed without getting prompted to do so. You talking with him is a fixed point in time. Besides, you're safe since you have the Amulet of Boraydoru which happens to be an object that depowers speedsters that are nearby.
The man then headed into the alley and kept walking till he came up to a blue box.
"Well girl," the man said as he pulled out his key, "Shall we go visit one of the Marvel realities one last time before allowing my song to end? Four time he knocks, what a very horrid warning. Puts me on edge all the time."
Suddenly, he heard the sound of something banging. After the third bang the man quickly ran into his blue box as he thought, Nope! Not yet! I'm not going to die just yet! A second later the blue box began dematerializing, generating a wheezing groaning sound as it did.
Tonto, however, was too far to hear it, as he wandered the streets of Vortex, wondering where "Dark Speed", as the man called him, was.
"Okay, so if I was a supervillain being held in a secure facility, where would I be?" Tonto thought out loud. He began pacing around, trying to think as hard as he could, 'till his Omnitrix suddenly beeped.
"Omnitrix systems rebooted," the watch said, "All systems fully operational."
"Oh, that's good- wait a minute!" Tonto said, a lightbulb going off in his head, "Evil Soron is a speedster… Meaning he generates a lot of energy… So Maybe..."
Tonto's eyes slowly drifted down to his Omnitrix and he quickly began inputting various codes 'till it began glowing.
"Omnitrix, activate tracking software," Tonto commanded, "Locate any life forms who emit any type of foreign energy," Tonto said.
"Tracking software online," the Omnitrix said. The faceplate then glowed, and the hourglass symbol was suddenly replaced with a black and green map of Vortex, with one single glowing dot on the edge.
"Match found," the Omnitrix said.
"Booya," Tonto said, before running off.
A couple minutes later…
It took Tonto awhile, but he managed to find where Dark Speed was. For some reason, the Omnitrix told Tonto Dark Speed was inside, what looked like, a very standard building. Its exterior was sleek and white, like much of Vortex, but beyond that, it was like a large cube, with only one door and a keypad on the front.
"So this is where he is," Tonto said, turning off the tracking software, "It doesn't look like a prison, but hey, I'm not an architect."
Tonto then began looking around the area, wondering if the guy from earlier was here. Unfortunately, or fortunately perhaps, he wasn't there. This caused Tonto to groan a little, but if he was on his way, Tonto was just glad he got here first.
"So now what?" Tonto said to no one. He then looked to the keypad on the building and, oddly enough, he felt a compulsion to go in. Tonto tried to push that thought away, as even he was smart enough to avoid supervillains… But for some reason, no matter how much he tried, it wouldn't go away. For some reason… He needed to see Dark Speed… But why?
Before Tonto could contemplate the answer, he began slowly walking up to the building door. Then, once he reached it, he reached towards the keypad and began inputting a code. And then, surprising even himself, the keypad recognized the code, lit up and the door to the building opened. Tonto began shaking, afraid that Dark Speed would run out. But he didn't. In fact, when Tonto looked inside, he almost couldn't believe it; it looked like a ruined city inside. Buildings were crumbling, smoke rose up from cars, and scattered across the ground were the bodies of hundreds of people. Soldiers, police officers, Plumbers, even civilians. And standing in the middle of it all was Dark Speed, his back turned to Tonto.
Tonto's first thought was to just close the door and leave, but whatever force that gave him the access code to this place continued pushing him, and he slowly walked into the room, the door closing behind him and vanishing.
"Now I am free!" Dark Speed said with his modulated voice as he held Sara's throat in his left hand and her feet dangling a couple of inches from the ground. Without another word, Dark Speed plunged his vibrating hand into her chest killing her instantly.
Upon seeing this, Tonto cringed, but stood his ground. Whatever this place was, it was obviously some kind of simulation room, like the one he and Omni used for training. As such, odds were that what he saw wasn't Sara, but just a imitation. The real Sara was safe… And yet, Tonto still couldn't help but clench his fists.
"You bastard!" yelled a voice familiar to Tonto from on top of a pile of rubble. On the rubble stood a plant-like creature with a head that resembled a flame, and an Omnitrix on his chest.
"Omni, or should I call you Wildvine?" Dark Speed jeered, "You really should have killed me when you had the chance! Now you are the last of your race, much as I am the last of mine! Did you love how I forced you to watch as I killed your friends and family one by one? Starting with your boyfriend Tonto of course. Hehehe hahahaha HEHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"It's Swampfire," Omni snarled as he summoned two fireballs, "And I'm going to ROAST YOU ALIVE!" He then proceeded to hurl the fireballs at Dark Speed, but Dark Speed was too fast and the next second, he had his hand through Swampfire's chest. Then, before Omni could recover, Dark Speed vibrated his other hand and slammed it through the Omnitrix, and one green flash later, Omni was back in his human form, the Omnitrix shattered and falling off his wrist, and Dark Speed's hand through his chest.
"NO!" Tonto yelled, before covering his mouth.
"What was that?" Dark Speed asked himself after he pulled his hand from Omni's chest, allowing the corpse to fall down. He then looked for the source of the noise and saw Tonto standing there with a horrified expression on his face.
"You," Dark Speed said as he slowly walked his vibrating form towards Tonto, "You should be dead. I ripped your heart out with my bare hands. So, tell me. HOW ARE YOU STILL BREATHING!?"
Tonto didn't bother to respond as he brought up the Omnitrix, slapped down the dial, and one green flash later, in place of Tonto was Big Chill.
"How about another time?" Big Chill said as he opened his wings and flew away.
"You will not get away!" Dark Speed roared as he ran at Big Chill, however to his surprise, he suddenly rejoined the normal flow of time as he collided into Big Chill sending them toppling onto the ground below.
"Hey, get off me," Big Chill said, pushing Dark Speed off of him and getting up, "What was that?"
"You…" Dark Speed snarled back in his normal voice, "You took my powers away somehow! Give them back!"
"I what?" Big Chill said, "I don't know what you're-"
However, before Big Chill could finish his sentence, his Omnitrix began flashing a mix of red and blue, before forcing Tonto back into his human form. Tonto then noticed that his pocket was glowing and he slowly reached in and found the medallion, glowing a blue and red light.
"What the heck?" Tonto said. However, Tonto saw that once he brought the medallion out, Dark Speed seemed to cringe a little more. Beginning to put two and two together, Tonto began moving the medallion closer to Dark Speed, and saw that the closer it got, the more Dark Speed cringed.
"Okay, crisis averted," Tonto said, pocketing the medallion.
"What reality are you from?" Dark Speed growled as he stood up, "You can't be from this one because I killed you here. Tell me!"
"I wouldn't be making threats if I were you," Tonto said, his hand hovering over the Omnitrix, "As long as I have that medallion, you're powerless buddy. Meaning I could go alien right now, kick your butt and you wouldn't be able to stop me… I mean I won't, because I'm nice like that, but… I'm just saying, you have no leverage."
"Maybe I should just take that horrid metal from you," Dark Speed said as he took a step towards Tonto, and raised a fist, "But first, let me do th-"
Dark Speed stopped talking as the instant, he punched Tonto in the nose, he lurched back and clenched his nose.
"Gaaah!" Dark Speed cried out with a muffled tone, "Son of a whore! What the fuck just happened? How did my nose break instead of yours?"
Tonto was a little surprised too, 'till he remembered what Snart told him and he couldn't help but smirk.
"The medallion has another bonus," Tonto gloated, "It protects me from all harm. I admit, it's cheap, and it does get on my nerves that it only affects me, but it's useful for situations like this."
"Ah what the hell do you want coming here anyway?" Dark Speed grunted as he fixed his own nose; which was quite painful.
"I… Honestly don't know myself," Tonto answered, "I originally came here to try and stop someone else from seeing you, but when I got here, he wasn't there, and… Well, the next thing I knew, I needed to see you."
"Hahahahaha!" Dark Speed cackled, "Oh that's rich. You were sent to me on purpose. There's no way you'd be able to find this reality without help. Whoever sent you here has a shit sense of humor, because sending someone who is invulnerable to me is a cruel joke. Especially since I have a need to kill. Killing makes me orgasm at night when I dream of the kills I've committed."
"Ew," Tonto said, making a face.
"Ha!" Dark Speed barked, "I knew that would disgust you, you prude."
"Dude, even if I wanted to hear about your sex life, I don't wanna know that killing gets you off," Tonto said.
"Everyone has their kink," Dark Speed said dismissively, "This is mine. Now, if you're done and since I can't kill you because of some bullshit, why don't you-"
Suddenly, a rectangle of white light appeared out of nowhere and two people barged in.
"Tonto!" one yelled. Tonto and Dark Speed looked to see who talked and saw the forms of Omni and Soron standing there.
"Omni?" Tonto said.
"What?!" Dark Speed yelled, "I just killed you! In fact I killed all 3 of you today! At least I get to kill two of you a second time."
There was a sudden green flash from where Tonto, and just as Dark Speed turned to see what it was, he was suddenly punched hard in the face, sending him flying into a building. Omni and Soron looked over to see what hit him, and saw the form of Tonto as Diamondhead.
"No one's hurting my friends," Diamondhead said.
"I'm glad he's on my side," Soron said slightly unnerved at Tonto's ferocity and rubbing the spot where Tonto hit Dark Speed; Dark Speed shared his face and body after all.
"Tonto, what are you doing in here?" Omni said, running up to his transformed assistant.
"Some guy said he wanted to talk to Evil Soron, and I came here to try and head him off," Diamondhead said.
"That doesn't explain how you got in," Soron said, walking up.
"Well… I don't know that actually," Diamondhead said, "I just… Felt like I needed to come in here. Kinda wish I didn't though."
"What did this stranger look like?" Soron asked with his Director voice.
"Um… He looked like David Tennant," Diamondhead said.
"Huh?" Soron said in confusion, "I don't remember ever hiring David Tennant. I did hire Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson once, but that was… Gah!"
Suddenly, Soron felt a splitting headache as he remembered something that shouldn't have ever happened.
"Soron?" Diamondhead said, leaning down, "What's wrong?"
"Did this stranger have sandshoes on his feet?" Soron asked as the headache started subsiding.
"Um, yeah," Diamondhead said.
"Who wears sandshoes anymore?" Omni muttered.
"Apparently, I do or rather I will," Soron replied as he massaged his temples.
"What?" Diamondhead said.
"I'm guessing it's time travel stuff," Omni said.
"I completely forgot about it at the time, but after I left you guys on Applelexia, I had this strange teleportation experience," Soron said, "Now that I know more about Time Lord stuff, I do believe that the guy Tonto saw is the same guy that I saw. He gave me some blank card that he called seismic paper or something like that. He also said to never give up, or something along those lines. Anyway, he was the reason I went back for you two."
Omni and Tonto were surprised to hear that. However, before anything else could be said, the group suddenly heard groaning from Dark Speed. The group then looked over to the building Tonto punched him into and saw that he was getting back up, albeit very clumsily.
"We can talk about this later," Omni said, "I vote we leave before he regains his center of gravity. Everyone with me?"
"Sure," Soron said hesitantly, "But I think I have decided what needs to be done with him. So we'll have that conversation later… And after I talk with Sara. I need to renew our friendship, since I suspect I may have made her hate me a bit."
"Worry about it when we're out," Omni said as he grabbed Soron's arm and began running, "Tonto, give us cover."
"On it," Diamondhead said as he slammed his hands to the ground and created a wall of diamond between Dark Speed and the trio.
"Oh I hope this little escapade of Tonto's didn't make it so my evil half would be able to see the shoddy work of this VR," Soron muttered to himself, "If it did… I'm going to have to resist the urge to punch Tonto in the face."
"A slap usually does the job," Omni said as he and Soron ran out the door. Meanwhile, Tonto kept his eyes on the wall, making sure that Dark Speed wouldn't come through. Then, once he was sure it was good, he slapped the Omnitrix symbol on his belt, turned back to normal, and ran out the door, closing it behind him.
"Tonto," Soron said with a serious expression, "The next time you get an urge to go somewhere deadly, resist it and go the opposite direction."
"Hey, it's not like I wanted to go in there," Tonto said, "I just… I don't know how to describe it. I just… It just felt like I had to go in there."
"Tonto, as someone who's known you for 9 years, I have to say, that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say," Omni said.
"No," Soron said as he realized something, "Before that memory slips away again, tell me something. Before meeting my future self… would you have ever gone searching for my evil half?"
"Well… No, of course not," Tonto said, "In fact, once he said he wanted to talk to him, I was ready to go alien. If I needed to of course."
"Then he must have given you some sort of psychic command," Soron theorized, "Or… let me see your watch."
"Um… Sure," Tonto said, raising his Omnitrix to Soron.
"Don't worry Omni, I'm not going to tamper it," Soron said as Omni gave Soron the stink eye, "If I do anything I'm going to fix it… Should my theory be proven true."
Soron then began tinkering with the watch till he found a series of code he never saw in Omni's when he tinkered with it. Once he read the full code, he frowned and stood back up.
"Tonto," Soron said slowly, "Could the guy have done something to your watch without you knowing it?"
"Well, I don't think so," Tonto began before he suddenly remembered something, "Wait, when I talked to him, he pulled out a Sonic Screwdriver and fried my watch. I thought it was just to stop me from stopping him, but… Maybe that's when he uploaded the code."
"You may be slow almost all the time, but you get there in the end," Soron said with a little bit of surprise, "Anyway, that is what I had figured. Not only can Sonic Screwdrivers short things out but they can upload viruses that have short spans of life at the same time. He must've come back to this day to ensure that you confronted my evil half otherwise this conversation would never have happened… okay there has got to be a better way of mentioning him. This is getting tiresome."
"Well… the other you called him 'Dark Speed'," Tonto said.
"Huh," Soron said, "That's not bad. All I can think up is Warpspeed, but to each their own."
"But how could a code uploaded to Tonto's Omnitrix affect Tonto?" Omni said, "After all, it's just a code. At most, it should have just affected the Omnitrix."
"Well, since your watches are bound to your DNA, odds are it tapped into the human DNA and worked its way through Tonto's cells 'till it reached his nerve impulses. After that, it's just one quick ride to the brain, and there you go," Soron explained, "Instant subconscious thought. It also helps that Tonto talks to his brain almost all the time, so it wouldn't feel foreign to him."
"I do not," Tonto defended.
'You kind of do.'
"Shut up," Tonto said.
"Case in point," Soron said smugly with a smirk.
"Well, then why have Tonto come here?" Omni asked, "What's so important that it required Tonto talk with… Dark Speed?"
"This is going to take a while, so let's take this conversation to Martin Stein's lab. He'd be able to add things in that I might miss in the explanation," Soron said, "Besides, he's an expert on time travel compared to us."
The two Guardians looked to each other, and both nodded in agreement before they and Soron began walking away from the building. However, inside the building, Dark Speed stood, the wall of diamond shattered, and his body vibrating.
"You can't fool me anymore, my weaker half," Dark Speed snarled as he ran at the door and tried to vibrate through it, but for some reason he only bounced backward.
Later at Stein's lab…
"So you say this man sent Mr. Abernathy here to… 'Dark Speed's' cell, in order to get them to meet?" Martin said.
"Yep," Tonto said, sitting in a chair.
"We were kind of hoping that you'd tell us why he'd want that," Omni stated.
"Well of course I would Mr… I'm sorry what was your name again?" Martin said.
"Just call me Omni," Omni answered.
"His name is Samuel Johnson," Soron smirked knowing that him knowing that info is like eating the apple of eden in Omni's opinion. Omni quickly turned towards Soron and glared at him.
"Where did you learn my name?" Omni said.
"Oh I learned it from a Plumber girl at a space bar," Soron said still smirking.
"That is a bold faced lie," Omni said, "The only people who know my name are the people I associate with in my civilian life and Tonto. You're protecting someone, aren't you?"
"Okay then," Soron said with his hands up, "You got me. I did lie, but only in an attempt to be funny. Actually I learned it when I received the deed to your Warehouse in order to better protect it and ensure nobody could trace it to you or your family. Before you ask, the Plumbers gave it to me because Vortex is beyond the government and outside the Plumbers. Technically I'm your superior, but knowing you… You don't take orders from anyone. Especially, someone as handsome as me."
"You son of a bitch!" Omni yelled, jumping to throttle Soron before Tonto held him back.
"Omni, he's not worth it!" Tonto said, struggling to keep his boss away from Soron.
"Let me go Tonto!" Omni yelled, "He needs to die! HE NEEDS TO DIE!"
"Hey!" yelled the voice of Jack Harkness from the door, "The hell is going on here?!"
Omni suddenly stopped struggling when he saw Jack standing there, and behind him he could see Sara looking in.
"Omni tried to kill Soron because he took the warehouse we've used as a base for 9 years," Tonto said.
"I didn't actually take it," Soron said rolling his eyes, "I just felt it was the best way to ensure that, should any of your enemies grab ahold of it, it doesn't lead back to you. That way they could never find your families. Besides, I'm going to be retiring from Vortex soon and as soon as I do, the Warehouse is back to being unofficially and officially yours."
Omni said nothing as he felt his anger fading away. Then, he shook Tonto off of him, looked away and groaned.
"Thank you," Omni muttered, intentionally avoiding eye contact.
"You're welcome," Soron said, "I never wanted that warehouse in the first place. Oh hey Sara. What brings you here… and with him?"
"Captain Jack thought it would be best if I had an 'escort' around this place," Sara said, "Since there might be something dangerous around."
"Sara," Soron said as he stood up from his chair, "Before you arrived in this reality, I had already made it clear that the entire population of Vortex were to protect you from anything dangerous. As far as they're concerned, you're Co-Director. Now Jack. I would say I'm sorry, but I'm not."
"For what?" Jack asked in confusion.
"This," said Soron as he swung hard with his right fist and broke Jack's nose.
"Whoa whoa!" Sara said, pushing Soron back, "Soron, I told you! I know who this is. I know what he was trying to do, and it wasn't going to work!"
"Sorry," Soron said to Sara, "I have a a bit of a jealous streak. Besides, I never liked his smug face. Especially because he called me the same thing the Cybermen did! Wait, why am I jealous?"
"I don't care!" Sara said, "You don't just punch a guy just because your jealous! And for the record, I can hang out with whoever I want."
"You may not be her," Soron said as he began to laugh, "But you really do sound like her. The latter bit sounded like my whore of a daughter… not calling you a whore. She just said things like that latter bit… I'm gonna shut up now."
"I think that's the right thing to do!" Sara said, still angry. All the while, Jack groaned as he began getting back up, rubbing his nose in pain.
"What the hell?!" Jack said, getting angry.
"Until I'm sure that you're not on the same side as the Cybermen, I will NEVER trust you," Soron said as he glared at Jack over Sara's shoulder.
"You self righteous son of a-" Jack started as he prepared to punch Soron out of irritation.
"Whoa whoa!" Tonto yelled, "It's all good! It's all good."
"But he just-"
"It's all good," Tonto said, leading Jack out of the room, "Just think of puppies. Lots of adorable puppies."
"But-"
"Think of the puppies," Tonto ordered as they walked down the hall, leaving the group, "Think of the puppies."
"Oh stop that," Jack said with annoyance, "That 'puppies' crap may work on your friend, but not me. As far I'm concerned, that man is insane."
"Oh, the Director is definitely insane," said a woman sitting on a nearby railing, "However, he saved me from the vacuum of space, and only a lunatic would go near a ship infested with necromorphs."
Jack suddenly stopped resisting Tonto when he saw the woman, and quickly walked over to her.
"Oh really?" Jack inquired.
"If you're going to try flirting with me let me just stop you now," the woman said as she pulled a cigarette from her jacket pocket, "I'm a lesbian."
"Well, that's disappointing," Jack said, "What exactly are Necromorphs anyway? I never heard of them before."
"They're the ugliest, scariest motherfuckers I've ever come across," the woman said with a visible shudder, "They killed so many of my friends and either turned them into what they were or some of them just went insane and killed some other humans. I have no desire to go back to that reality again."
"Well," Jack said with a smile, "Why don't you come back to my reality? I just recently lost my second in command. Though I guess only a few seconds have passed in my reality since she died and I came here. I hope that someone here will be able to save her life."
"What's it like there?" the woman asked curiously.
"Oh we have our downsides," Jack admits, "But we don't have any monsters like those Necromorphs you mentioned. There wouldn't be any space travel should you desire to work in Torchwood with me, but it's fun work. What's your name anyway?"
"I'm Alissa Vincent," said the ginger haired woman as she held out her hand, "And you are?"
"Captain Jack Harkness," said Jack as he grabbed her hand and shook, "You don't have to decide now. Think about it. I'm not going anywhere just yet, even though I could since the rip between this reality and mine is still open."
"I'll consider it," Alissa said. But, as the two talked, Tonto stood by, remaining silent, and then slowly but surely inched his way back to Stein's office.
Speaking of, after Tonto dragged Jack away, the group just looked confused.
"Why does he like puppies?" Sara asked.
"They're fuzzy and adorable, okay?!" Omni said, blushing a little.
"Okay," Soron spoke up, "Who's the girl and where's the macho man named Omni?"
"I like dogs, okay?" Omni defended, "Don't judge me."
"AHEM!" Martin said, getting everyone's attention, "I'm sorry to interrupt this riveting conversation, but didn't you come here so I could help explain the whole time travel thing that went on under our very noses?"
"Yes," Soron said, "Yes you did. Though, I think it'd be best if we wait till Tonto comes back. That way we wouldn't have to repeat everything we discussed to Tonto when he returns."
"Wait, what time travel thing?" Sara asked in confusion.
"For some reason, in the future, Soron goes back in time and gets Tonto to see Soron's evil half," Omni explained, "We don't know why, but we were hoping the good doctor here could explain it."
"The Time Lords and Rip Hunter already explained some of the major laws of time travel to me," Soron said, "But they never explained the consequences of certain things and that's why I suggested we come to Stein."
"Aloha!" Tonto announced from the door, causing Sara to jump, "What did I miss?"
"Nothing yet," Omni answered.
"I teased Omni by implying that he was replaced with a girl," Soron said with a snort, "Anyway, let's get down to business."
"Agreed Director," Martin nodded as he turned to a whiteboard. He then drew a line on it and labeled it with random years.
"Now, before we begin, is anyone in this room familiar with time travel?" Martin asked. Immediately, everyone in the room raised their hands, causing the good professor to sigh.
"Outside of fiction," he clarified. Immediately, Sara's hand went down.
"Very well then," Martin said as he looked at the Director, "Director, why don't you start this from what you know."
"I was gonna just go get myself a nice bowl of orange sherbert," Soron said as he walked up to the whiteboard, "But why not?"
"Is he being sarcastic?" Tonto whispered to Omni, "Because I thought we came here to ask about this stuff."
"Shush," Omni said.
"According to both Rip Hunter and the Timelords there are points in time that are in flux," Soron said, "And points in time that are fixed. Fixed points in time must always happen and can never be stopped. Points that are in flux can have anything happen to them. For example… I can't think of one for the points in time that are in flux right now."
"From what you said, it sounds like if I went back in time to say… I don't know, kill Hitler, depending on whether his reign is a fixed point or not will influence whether I succeed or not," Omni said.
"Not exactly," Soron said shaking his head, "Things that we know that have happened means it is a fixed point in time. There's no way to change it. There are certain points in history that nobody remembers because they weren't recorded which is why some of those particular points in time are in flux, and even if you do manage to alter events in a fixed point, you can only alter certain details surrounding it. Everything else has to happen."
"So if me punching the wall was a fixed point, you could alter why I did it and which wall I punch, but regardless, I would end up punching it," Omni said.
"If you were told that you punched a wall by someone who knows you in the future, then it will happen regardless, yes," Soron said, "That's the curse of knowing your future. You can't prevent it, only delay it."
Omni stiffened a little upon hearing that, but pushed his feelings aside.
"Okay, so what does this have to do with Tonto meeting Dark Speed?" Omni asked.
"Who?" Sara asked.
"It's what we're calling Evil Soron now," Tonto explained.
"This is just like my old job at the University on my Earth," Martin exclaimed exasperated, "People just get distracted and change the subject!"
"She just asked a question," Omni said.
"Moving onward," Martin said, "My working theory is Tonto confronting Dark Speed is a fixed point in time. Soron's future self must have decided that sending Tonto to confront Dark Speed while Dark Speed was contained was a much safer option that letting it happen in time. I don't know how it was safer though since Tonto decided to toss away the protective talisman."
"Huh? What protective talisman?" Omni asked, a little surprised.
"Um… Uh, about that…" Tonto said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the medallion.
"No way," said the voice of Jack from the doorway, surprising the group "I haven't seen that thing since I was a Time Agent."
"You've seen this thing before?" Tonto asked.
"It was during my first years in the Time Agency," Jack said as he walked into the room, "That medallion was found during WWII by the Nazi's and it was heading towards Hitler. If he had received it, the Nazis would've been victorious cause Hitler would've been invulnerable. He already had a god complex, but that would have secured it. I had to take it from the Nazis, which wasn't easy mind you, because I had to pretend to be a Nazi which is the complete opposite of-"
"Off topic," Omni said.
"Don't bite my head off," Jack said, "I'm getting there. Anyway, the Time Agency threw the medallion away after I had retrieved it. I thought it was scattered throughout the Time Vortex which would've just turned it into atoms. In the wrong hands, that thing is dangerous. Where'd you get it?"
"Captain Cold gave it to me," Tonto said, "He told me what it did, and Dr. Stein told me that it would help me save the world."
"Save the world from what?" Omni asked, looking a little worried.
"He said… Something big would happen in the future," Tonto said, "And that the medallion would help me save everyone."
"He did," Soron said as he narrowed his eyes at Martin, "Did he? What is the one rule we follow concerning anything involving the future?"
"Never speak of it to those who don't already know," Martin said, "I had no choice though. Tonto-"
"Don't give me any excuses Martin!" Soron roared, "That rule is one you never break! Not for any reason! You should know better than this! Not not only did you break that rule, you put the weight of the world on a kid's shoulders! I don't care how old they are, but they shouldn't have to bear this weight! I made that mistake once, and it nearly got the kid to commit suicide!"
"Excuse me Soron," Tonto said, "But don't patronize me."
"I'm not patronizing you Tonto!" Soron roared before calming down, "I know what this knowledge does to those younger than 50. It destroys them mentally. Eventually, the stress of the knowledge gets to strong and they kill themselves."
Tonto was silent, his face frozen in a neutral expression. Then, he slowly turned to the door and began to walk out.
"I think I need to go home," Tonto said, "My mom's probably worried about me."
"Good idea," Soron said, "Go home and get some normalcy back into your life. We'll let you know so you can be there when we send Dark Speed and Switch to their respective prisons."
"It was nice meeting you Sara," Tonto said from the door, "Thanks for being there for me."
And with that, Tonto walked out of the room.
"I'd better catch up with him," Omni said, making his way out, "I need to get home too. Take care of yourselves everyone."
"Omni wait," Soron said as he walked after him with a serious expression.
"Soron, can this wait?" Omni said, standing in the doorway.
"No," Soron said, "I'll walk you to the door while we talk. This is deadly serious."
"Soron, I'm afraid I won't do that," Omni said, turning to face Soron, "I need to talk to Tonto. If this is that important, than just say it now."
"I know how much Sara cares about him and I worried her enough with what I said," Soron said, "I won't say this here. You can talk to Tonto if you want, but first I need you to hear me out."
"Now or never," Omni said bluntly with a serious expression.
"Guess I'm going to have to do this the painful and quick way then," Soron grimaced, "I really hate doing this."
Suddenly, Soron grabbed Omni and headbutted him in the head; it wasn't a normal headbut though. It was more of a knowledge transference.
After that they backed away from each other massaging their heads to relieve the pain. Then, before Omni could say anything, he suddenly froze up as images and knowledge began flashing before his eyes. Then, once it was finished, Omni stood there, breathing heavily with a shocked expression on his face. Then, after looking up to Soron, he turned around and ran out of the room, following after Tonto.
"What did you just do?" Sara asked.
"I gave him the knowledge I needed to," Soron said, "Since he was not willing to walk alongside me while I tell him, I had to do it the painful way. I had to do that to everyone I recruited here otherwise they'd think me positively bonkers. Not a fantastic process by the way. I don't recommend it."
Meanwhile…
Tonto walked along through Vortex, his hands clenched into fists as he looked to his feet with a expression of anger.
"Hey Tonto, wait up," Omni yelled. Tonto's expression vanished as he looked back to see Omni running up behind him.
"Oh, Omni," Tonto said, "I'm sorry for walking out back there."
"It's fine," Omni said as he walked up next to Tonto, "So why did you?"
"It's… It's the way Soron talked about me," Tonto said as he and Omni continued walking, "It's like he thinks I'm not good enough. Like I'm just some kid who doesn't know any better."
"Don't let it get to you Tonto," Omni said, "I think that's what he thinks of everyone."
"But it's not just him," Tonto said, "Everyone here thinks that just because I'm 17, I don't know any better. Like my mind is 'fragile' or 'innocent'. It's insulting! I've seen some stuff, I've fought plenty of villains. Heck, I've fought Vilgax!"
"We fought Vilgax," Omni corrected.
"Sorry, it's just… It's like I'm just a bystander to these people," Tonto said.
Omni sighed upon hearing that and began to smirk.
"Tonto, you're not a bystander," Omni said, "You're not a kid, or some inexperienced loser. You're a hero, an Omnitrix Guardian. You and I have saved the world countless times. Heck, when we were kids, you were braver than I was. Remember, when we first met, when Vilgax sent that giant robot after us? I was gonna run home and forget the whole thing, but you insisted on fighting it."
"Yeah, that was a cool fight," Tonto said, smiling in nostalgia.
"So don't let these guys bring you down, okay?" Omni said, "Even if to them, we're just a couple of dumb kids, we'll keep doing our thing, right?"
"Yeah, right," Tonto said, smiling more in earnest.
"But while we're discussing Soron, I want to know, were you planning to tell me about that medallion?" Omni asked.
"Oh," Tonto said, his smile vanishing as he pulled the medallion from his pocket, "Honestly… I don't know."
"I see," Omni said.
There was silence between the two Guardians before Tonto pocketed the medallion and looked over to his boss.
"So now that you know, what are we gonna do?" Tonto asked.
"For now… We plan," Omni said, "If Stein told you that something big was going to happen in the future, then we need to prepare for it. We need to go over possible scenarios, causes and outcomes so we can properly plan, adapt, and, if possible, stop what's going to happen."
"And what if we can't?" Tonto said.
"Then it's just you and that medallion," Omni said, "But let's hope it doesn't come to that."
"You guys ready to get home?" asked a voice from the wall right next to them.
"Oh Church," Tonto said, "Um… Not yet. There's something I want to do first."
"Like what?" Church asked, "I doubt you're going to go to Vortex's BDSM club."
"It'll just be a minute," Tonto said before turning to Omni and pulling the medallion out of his pocket, "Omni, I want you to take this from me."
"What?" Omni said.
"I want you to rip this thing out of my hands and lock it away somewhere," Tonto said.
"Why?" Omni said.
"If this thing is the only way to save the universe, then I'll keep it. But I don't think it's fair that it only protects me and no one else," Tonto said, "So I want you to put it somewhere safe."
"Then why don't you lock it away?" Omni asked.
"Captain Cold told me that this thing is like the Medallion from Trollhunters, and if that's true, then the only way I can get rid of it is if someone steals it. And I'd prefer it if that person was you," Tonto said.
Omni said nothing as he looked down to the medallion in Tonto's hand and began thinking it over.
"Come on Omni," Tonto said, "What are you wa-"
Omni reacted fast as he grabbed the medallion from Tonto's hand and pushed him to the floor. Then, before Tonto could do something, Omni jumped back and pocketed the medallion.
"You think that counts?" Omni said.
"Hopefully," Tonto said, groaning on the floor, "Although… I would've liked it if you gave me some warning next time."
"It's a theft," Omni said, "No one prepares for that."
"You two are just…" Church said as he looked between the two, "Impossible. One of you is apparently all about fairness and would rather die than live and the other is all about being on control. I've never seen the Director submit to anyone's willpower and you're the only one that could do it Omni. Also, if he wants it to be taken away its not considered theft according the plaque we found with the medallion."
"Then I'll break into his house later," Omni said, "Now can we go home?"
"Sure," Church said, "He still wants it taken away so you'd have to steal it from him every day, every night, and every five minutes."
Before Omni could respond Church teleported them away to their homes.
With Omni…
Omni suddenly appeared in front of his house. It looked like a standard home with a red paint job, several windows with the curtain pulled, a sidewalk from the driveway to the front door, a grey step, a row of hedges between the front yard and the sidewalk, and a black screen door.
Omni looked at the windows and saw that no light was coming from the living room. He assumed it was because his parents were asleep and soon decided that he had better join them. He then opened up the screen door, pulled his house keys out of his pocket, unlocked the front door, and went inside.
Upon getting into the entryway, Omni slipped off his sneakers before closing the front door and locking it. His house was pretty nice with an open living room, an entertainment center with a regular sized HD TV in the center of it, two couches, an ottoman with trays on it, a brown recliner, and a side table next to it. In front of Omni was a staircase, leading to the upstairs area which consisted of a kitchen and a dining room which overlooked the living room. Like in the living room, the lights were off in there too, so Omni paid it no mind as he made his way up the stairs and reached a hallway that lead to the bedrooms. However, before he could go any further, someone spoke.
"You might not want to touch your bedroom's handle just yet Samuel," said a British voice from the kitchen.
Omni immediately turned around and got into a battle stance with his hand hovering over his Omnitrix. But instead, all he could see was the figure of a man sitting in the dining room, drinking something. Still cautious, Omni slowly went over to the dining room and quickly flipped a light switch. To his surprise, sitting there, drinking tea, was the man Tonto saw earlier. The future Soron.
"David Tennant?" Omni said.
"I really do wish that I didn't regenerate into a celebrity," Future Soron grimaced, "This is getting tiresome."
"What the hell are you doing in my house?" Omni said, "And… Are you drinking tea? Where did you get tea? We don't have tea."
"You do now," Future Soron said before taking a sip.
"Look, just what are you doing in my house?" Omni said, "And how did you get in in the first place?"
"The answer to question number one is quite obvious, don't you think?" Soron said, "I'm drinking tea in your dining kitchen."
"That's not what I- Okay fine," Omni said, trying to remain calmish, "We'll play your game. WHY did you come to my house?"
"That's the right question," Future Soron said as he placed the empty tea cup on the table, "I came here for two reasons. Reason number one, I came to talk to you. Reason two is… you'll find out soon enough. As for how I got in here, your mother let me in."
"Don't lie to me," Omni said, "Why would my Mom let a guy who… Looks like David Tennant into her home and then just go to bed? My mom isn't that dumb."
"Quite right Sammy," Future Soron said as he stood up to go to the teapot, "I told her I was a colleague of yours."
"What?" Omni said.
"You know," Future Soron said, pointing to the Omnitrix, "From work."
Omni suddenly froze up, an expression of shock on his face. Then, upon regaining his composure, he stood up straight and moved his hand over the Omnitrix, just in case.
"Alright, who are you?" Omni asked.
"Well," Future Soron said as he moved his hand to the front of his blue suit under the brown long coat, "Maybe this will tell you."
Then a gold flash later and Future Soron was no longer garbed in a nice suit, but he was now garbed in the attire Omni first saw Soron in after he transformed back from being the Blur. Omni began putting the pieces together, and while initially he didn't believe it, his eyes wandered to Future Soron's wrist, and glistening in the light, was the Megatrix.
"You're… Soron?" Omni said, his hand moving away from his Omnitrix.
"Yep," replied Soron in a scottish accent, "Though I go by John Smith now. There's a reason for that. You'll see in 3 or 4 months. Not a Scottish name I know, but I honestly don't really care."
"Okay," Omni said, sitting down at the table, "But I'm still gonna call you Soron."
"Whatever you want," Future Soron, or John, said as he took a sip of his tea, "Besides, you don't have a reason to need to call me something else right now anyway."
"So, why are you here?" Omni asked.
"I'm here to have a chat with you and because there's a Volgaid in your room," John said as he looked down at the tea in disgust, "Tea only tastes good when I'm in my Kronos form for some reason. Weird. Where was I? Oh right, it's currently trapped by an electric field. When its need to consume and convert gets too strong, it'll vaporize when it touches your bedroom door handle."
"What?!" Omni said, "That's impossible. No alien in the universe knows where I live. Benefit of having a duel identity."
"It didn't come here looking for you," John said, "Heck, it doesn't even know who you are. It's not even from this reality. It's from mine. Remember what I told you about the Volgaids when you were interrogating me the first time?"
"I remember you mentioning something along those lines," Omni said.
"You decided to delete it from memory cause you believed I was talking out of my arse, didn't you," John said narrowing his eyes.
"More of I suffered a head injury there and I'm just lucky I remembered the conversation," Omni said.
"Oh yeah, you pounded your head into the wall," John said, "That's bloody convenient. Well, in order to refresh your memory I brought a little serum here I found in Boldevega 5. Lovely planet with lovely people. Till it comes to the solstice. Then they go on a carnivorous frenzy. Barely got Sara and I out of there without a scratch.
"Lovely," Omni said, looking a little freaked out.
"Only half the time," John replied, "At least their frenzy happens after they put you into a coma and make it so you can't feel a thing. That's their version of humane. Back on topic. This little serum heals the memory, but more specifically reforms the neural pathways that get damaged during any head trauma. It's fairly painful, and it can give you visions of the past or the future for a day but it's worth it."
John then reached into his jacket, pulled out a vial of the serum and handed it to Omni. Omni briefly looked it over, and then looked back to John.
"Um, thanks but… I think I'm good," Omni said, "My memory's good anyway so… Maybe I'll save this for a rainy day. But, back to the main topic, why bring up the Volgoids. And quite frankly, why is there one in my room?"
"Aids," John corrected, "Not oids. As for why a Volgaid is in your room? It slipped through the crack of the multiverse a second before my universe vanished. It's not the only one either."
"What do you mean?" Omni said, leaning forward.
"I mean the Volgaids have worked themselves into the creation of your reality," John said, "They've evolved immensely since the last time I saw them, and they're hiding among the human race."
"What?" Omni said, "Then we need to tell the Plumbers. If there's an invasion like this going on, they need to know."
"That's an issue for Torchwood… or Vortex 3. Whichever they're calling themselves. I'm just here to deal with one of them. There's something else I have to tell you which is vital to the survival of the Universe."
"And what's that?" Omni said.
"My universe's Eon," John said, "He's the bastard that killed my wife and daughter. What he did caused a killer instinct to be born. My Eon looks a lot like Arrow's Slade Wilson, but with a more Darth Sidious look and a blade like Allanon's from The Shannara Chronicles. Oh Allanon was actually a great guy, I met him once. So will you. One day."
"Yes, lovely," Omni said, disregarding the last part, "What does your Eon have to do with the universe's survival?"
"We fought him side by side three times," John said slowly, "The first time I nearly went off the deep end and not even Sara could stop me. My killer instinct had almost been reborn. You were the one to stop me from killing him. Of course I was furious with you for a few days, especially since you had me locked up to keep me from killing, but later on I was grateful. The second time was worse in the danger level but nearly to the point of me wanting him dead. As for the final time… He did something so bad that I had to erase my wife's memories of me in order to save her life. Yes, I had married Sara by that point."
"I kind of assumed," Omni said, "But why are you telling me this? Why let me know about future events?"
"Because if you don't stop me from killing Eon, then I will become just as bad as him," John said, "If I kill him he will take over my mind and I'd be completely evil. Worse than Vilgax, your Eon, or even Dark Speed because I'd be able to fool you into thinking I was on your side. I would tell you about the event that my Eon does, but that'd be selfish because I'd no longer have to keep an eye on Sara from afar and it's a fixed point in time."
"I'm sorry… 'My Eon'?" Omni repeated.
"You'll meet him one day," John replied, "And trust me, it won't be pretty. But as for my Eon, talk to Tonto and have him tell you what he witnessed in my mind during the time we were in Clark's world. It'll help you understand."
"I… I will," Omni said, a little apprehensive.
"One more thing," John said as he looked down into his drink, "While you cannot prevent it, you can prepare for it. After the events of the Magic Malfunction, I will go dark again, but not any part of me wants it to happen. I will accidentally acquire Darkseid's DNA in this Megatrix before we leave another DC reality. Darkseid will take over my mind, and turn me into something as bad as my Eon, if not worse. Much like how your whatever kind of creature it was took you over while you were asleep."
"Then… Then I should tell someone! If we plan for this-"
"Don't tell anyone!" John said, "I mean… you can probably tell Tonto, but you can't tell me or anyone else. Me getting possessed is a fixed point. Too much relies on it. As much as it pains me to admit, especially after what I did that day, it needs to happen."
Omni was silent as he tried to comprehend what John said. He honestly didn't know what to do. It went against every fiber of his being to let something like that happen. But… It needed to happen. Right? But… At the same time, Omni couldn't just stand by and let someone be turned into a monster. It was a difficult decision, one Omni didn't want to do, but after thinking on it for a couple minutes, he sighed and looked to John.
"Alright," Omni said, "I'll tell no one but Tonto."
"Listen, the version of me you know won't admit it," John said, "But he knows you and Tonto are more than kids. Yes I said kids. Everyone is a kid to me. Even Jack. He knows you can handle yourselves in a fight. He's just afraid he'll screw up again and get another kid dead. Which today's events prove, even though Tonto believes everyone considers him as useless. Well, I don't, especially after what he did. He proved himself in ways not even you could. You may be the badass these days, but there's enough of that in the world. He's the hero in the business. Of course I become quite the hero myself but it's nothing compared to him. His heart is so full of good, that a sacrifice he makes brings light back to the world after total darkness consumes it. I can't say what I mean, but know that I do believe in him and eventually I will realize it."
"Will he be okay?" Omni asked.
"Spoilers," John said, "I've already said too much anyway."
"Great," Omni mumbled.
"I made a promise to you Omni," John said as he stood up, "I promised I'd protect your family as long as I can after Eon threatened their lives, but my song is ending. Four times he knocks is what the Ood told me after Sara and I freed them from their slavery. Now let's go see if that Volgaid has decided to try getting out of your room yet. If not, it's still there and I'll just have to let you disintegrate it since I don't even carry a stun gun on me these days. I made a promise to myself. Never give in, never give up. Never cruel nor cowardly. Well not willingly anyway."
"I would like my bed back," Omni said, getting up as well, "But Soron, a favor for the future. If you need to speak to me again, please do it at the warehouse. I like to keep my home as normal as possible."
"This was a once in a lifetime visit. Besides had no choice but to come here tonight. Won't have time tomorrow and I had to contain the Volgaid. Couldn't let your parents be consumed by it. Or you for that matter," John said before he stopped as an afterthought struck him, "I'd like you to have something. I promise you I'm not lying. I did go to your parents Wedding at some point. Sara came too."
Soron then reached into his jacket, pulled out a photo and handed it to Omni.
"Here's the unedited photo," John said, "I kind of had to remove me and Sara from it. They never even knew we were there."
Omni took the photo and within he saw the images of a young woman with long, blonde hair, and a slightly overweight man with a black beard standing at an alter, smiling, while the rest of reception stood around them. And right there, in the back row, smiling and posing for the camera, were John and Sara.