Chapter Twenty-Six: 9,650 Years Later - Code of the Samurai

1675 AD - Timeline B

Takeru and his comrades landed in a village outside of Japan. He looked to Ryu. "What way do you think we should go?"

"We have to go where the most screams are, obviously!" Chiaki said, butting in.

Ryu sighed. "Normally I'd complain with your goofiness, but you're actually right, buddy. The more chaos there is, the more there should be of these Nighlok."

Suddenly, Alpha 4 teleported before them. "Ay-yi-yi! I forgot to give you these!"

Mako furrowed her brow as Alpha 4 placed a brush in her hand, as he did with the others. "A painter's brush?"

"Yes. It was Zordon's idea! He said it would help you with creating your symbols!" Alpha 4 replied.

"Symbols? What symbols?" Asked Kotoha, staring at what seemed to be a normal brush in her hand.

Takeru opened the scroll Zordon had given him, feeling prompted to do so. What he did not know was that it was a prompting from the power of the Order of Meledon. Once he and the others had agreed to follow Zordon's precepts, they had been officially "adopted" into Zordon's tutelage and were covered under the jurisdiction of the Order of Meledon.

"It says here that the ceremony Zordon was talking about is linked to something called 'symbol power'." Takeru said as he read. "But this looks very complicated. I don't think I can do this. Not without a lot of training."

Ryu looked at the parchment as well. "Yes, this seems to require a lot of inner discipline."

"Ryu! This is right down your alley!" Chiaki cried out, laughing. "You're, like, the epitome of discipline!"

Alpha 4 shook his head. "This is just a trial run. We need to test whether or not these powers will work. If they are successful, then we'll go onto perfecting the sealing spell!"

Mako looked at the paper. "The process Zordon has mapped out here to morph doesn't seem too complicated actually... but it says on the parchment we need 'power regulators'?"

"Yes, your morphers!" Alpha 4 declared. "The brushes. They will allow you to seamlessly draw your symbols in the air, and they have had tech programmed into them by me based on some other Power Morphers we're working on. It took all of five minutes to stitch together. It wasn't difficult at all!"

"Well, then... let's go!" Chiaki said.

Takeru nodded. "Thank you, Alpha 4. Let's head out, everyone."

As the five heroes ran through the city, they heard a man screaming. Approaching a bridge, they began to cross it. As they arrived at the halfway point, they looked at the end of the bridge to see the man had fallen onto his back and was about to be assaulted by a group of Moogers.

"Stop right there!" Takeru demanded. "Ready, everyone!?"

"Ready!" They replied in unison.

"Samurai Brushes!" He yelled, placing his out before his face as his teammates followed him. "Go, go Samurai!"

As he drew the Kanji Symbol for Fire before his face, he looked out the corner of his eyes to see what his friends were prompted to write: Ryu - Water; Mako - Wind; Chiaki - Forest; Kotoha - Rock. Instinctively, he used his brush to flip the Symbol before him. As it spun in the air, it rotated and landed on him. He could feel his connection to the Morphing Grid stronger than before as the Symbol Power emanated within him.

"Power of Fire! Red Samurai Ranger!"

"Power of Water! Blue Samurai Ranger!"

"Power of Rock! Yellow Samurai Ranger!"

"Power of the Forest! Green Samurai Ranger!"

"Power of Wind! Pink Samurai Ranger!"

"Power Rangers: Samurai!" The new Power Ranger team cried out together.

In the Command Center back in the continent that would in one hundred years time become the United States of America, Alpha 4 jumped up and down in celebration. "They did it! They did it!"

Zordon nodded. "Good. Then that means our morphers for the Dino Coins are on track. Those Power Coins seem to be a pure conduit to the Morphing Grid, though, so we must make sure those morphers are as strong as they can be."

Back in Japan, Sasamatage roared in anger as he saw the Samurai Rangers cut down the last of the Moogers. "What in the world do you think you guys are in those colored outfits!? Clowns!?"

The Green Ranger laughed and leaned on the Blue Ranger's shoulder with his elbow. "Oh, us? No big deal. Just a little team known as the Power Rangers. Maybe you've heard of us?"

"Power Rangers!? Sounds like a story for kids!" Sasamatage cried out, chucking eggs at the two best friends. "Here's an eggsplosive gift!"

"Ugh! Yuck!" Green Ranger cried out.

Blue Ranger, suddenly filled with Red Emotional Energy, turned and kicked the Green Ranger in the chest, sending him flying back. "This is all your fault! We wouldn't have been attacked if you had been serious for once!"

Clenching his fist, the Green Ranger leapt up and tackled the Blue Ranger. "You're too serious all the time! If I don't joke around, we'd all die of boredom!"

"And you two!" Sasamatage yelled as Red Ranger was cornered by some Moogers. "I don't want you two to miss out on the eggsitement!"

As the eggs hit them, the Pink Ranger leapt into the air and performed a dive bomb punch to the Yellow Ranger. "You don't deserve to be here! You were right back at the Command Center! If you had better technique, we would have destroyed that Nighlok by now!"

"Aaaah!" Yellow Ranger cried out, pulling out her Symbol Brush and causing a boulder to fly out and slam into Pink Ranger. "You'll pay for that!"

As the last of the new batch of Moogers had been disposed of, Red Ranger stepped forward calmly. He observed the scene and looked at Sasamatage. "One chance: Let them go or suffer my wrath."

"Ha! I'm going to put you under my spell, too! With eggstra oomph! Haha!"

As three eggs sailed toward him, the Red Ranger quickly drew a Fire Symbol before him. A wall of fire burned the projectile eggs to a crisp.

"Oh, no!" Sasamatage cried out. "You blocked those like an eggspert!"

Red Ranger shook his head as he groaned. "Oh, sheesh. What is up with the constant puns? Are all you Nighloks so obsessed with talking all the time? Just shut up for once and fight."

Rushing at Red Ranger, Sasamatage laughed as he kicked at the Samurai. "Well aren't you a bit hardboiled. Perhaps you'll be a little kinder toward me if I scramble you a bit!"

Blocking the kick with his arms, Red Samurai jumped up and swung his fist across the Nighlok's face. "Shut. Up!"

Flying back, Sasamatage landed on his back. "Ouch! You cracked my shell!"

"Takeru!" Zordon said to the Red Ranger over his helmet. "Alpha has just finished programming some weapons into your morphers. They are being downmorphed to you right now."

Sticking out his hand, a Samurai Sword appeared in Red Ranger's hand. Looking up, he saw his teammates standing in between him and Sasamatage.

"You think you're better than us, so you get a sword!? Destroy him!" Blue Ranger cried out.

As the four Samurai Ranger rushed at him, Red Ranger let out a deep sigh. "You are using Rage as a weapon. Although Fire is my Spirit, I am calm and collected. Your anger will be your downfall."

Like a fluid dance, Red Ranger slipped past Blue Ranger and spun around, slashing him in the back while simultaneously donkey kicking the Yellow Ranger in the gut. Performing a pirouette as soon as his feet touched ground again, his blade made contact with the Green Ranger, sending him to his back. He then paused as the Pink Ranger began striking at him. He had feelings for her, deep ones, and he was hesitant about hurting her.

"Wind Power!" Pink Ranger cried out, drawing a Symbol before her and shooting it at Red Ranger.

"Fire Power!" Red Ranger retorted. He watched as the fire mixed with the tornado aiming toward him. Clenching his jaw, he flung the fiery tornado's trajectory away from him and let it slam into Sasamatage.

"Ahh!" Sasamatage cried out. He then looked down and saw his skin cracking. "Oh, no! I must use a Gap to return and bathe in the Sanzu River!"

Red Ranger watched as the Nighlok disappeared into a Gap. "Gap, huh?"

As Pink Ranger leapt at Red Ranger, he spun around and slashed her with his sword. "Sorry."

"I will teleport them back to the Command Center, Takeru," Zordon said. "I have my sensors saying there is something coming up from that Gap, as the Nighlok called it. Stay there and take care of it!"

While the other four rangers were teleported away, Red Ranger nodded. As he did, a blast of power erupted from the Gap. Suddenly, standing before Red Ranger was Master Xandred himself.

"How dare you try and stop my invasion!" Master Xandred cried out. "You will pay for your insolence!"

Red Ranger tightened his grip on his Samurai Sword and rushed forward at Master Xandred. He swung his sword only for Xandred to catch the blade with his palm. Closing his palm into a fist, he shattered the blade before kicking Red Ranger several feet away from him.

"Ungh!" Red Ranger cried out as he slammed into a building nearby.

"You will fail now!" Xandred stated to his prey. As he was about to shoot Red Ranger with a powerful blast of Anti-Lifestream, though, a whirlwind of leaves hit him hard and caused him to stagger back.

"You're messing with the wrong team!" Green Ranger said, folding his arms as he was flanked on both sides by his teammates.

"Huh?" Red Ranger asked as Yellow Ranger helped him up.

"Zordon found a way to reverse the spell!" She told him. "This guy has some insane power according to Zordon, too. We have to work together!"

Red Ranger stepped forward, nodding as Samurai Swords appeared in his teammates' hands. "Yes... Rangers together, Samurai forever! Ahhh!"

The five converged on Master Xandred, expertly swinging their blades. Leaping back, Green Ranger focused: "Power of the Panther Animal Spirit! Aaah!"

Sparks erupted from his suit as he was flung back and demorphed. "Wait, huh? Go, go Samurai!"

Remorphing into the Green Ranger and rushing back into the fight, he and the rest of the team heard Zordon in their heads: "As Samurai Rangers, you need to focus on Symbol Power. Anything else will sever your connection to the power. Being a Samurai requires great discipline."

As they continued to fight, Zordon looked to Saba. "I'm no martial artist, Saba. I can't guide them. Not like Trinity could..."

Saba walked over and reached up, placing a paw on Zordon's shoulder. "Yes, Trinity was amazing, but... Don't sell yourself short. You are extremely important, Zordon. You've been doing a great job so far at defending not only Earth, but helping organize the universe in case Dark Specter attacks."

"Not in case, Saba," Zordon said darkly. "When. I can feel it. The words are continually in my mind... three daunting words: countdown to destruction..."

Meanwhile, back in Japan, the only standing Samurai Ranger was the Red Ranger. He was breathing deeply, exhausted. Xandred himself was weak, skin crackling due to not having Sanzu Waters on him. With his lack of experience, though, he knew no better. He knew not he needed to retreat immediately.

"For Earth! Samurai Symbol Power: Seal!" The Red Samurai Ranger roared. For the last bit, he had been dueling against Xandred one handed. Unbeknownst to Master Xandred, it was because he had been secretly drawing the powerful seal spell with his other hand behind his back from memory (aided by Zordon's Nathadian Magic).

"What!?" Xandred cried out as he was blasted back into a Gap.

"Good job, Takeru," Zordon said. "I regret to inform you that you weren't powerful enough to complete the spell. Due to Xandred's weakened state, though, you greatly injured him. Alpha is picking up that he is trying to get through the Gap in the Tengen Valley back here on this continent."

Pulling himself up as the others did so as well, Blue Ranger nodded. "Take us there. We'll try and stop him..."

Within moments, the Samurai Rangers were before the Gap in the Tengen Valley. Before them, they could see hundreds of Nighlok trying to all push through the Gap at once. Leading the way was Master Xandred. The Samurai Power Rangers could see that the only thing keeping them at bay was none other than Alpha 4, blasting the Gap with massive amounts of Morphing Energy he had rerouted through himself from the Command Center.

"You cannot stop us!" Xandred said, still weak. "We will push through this gate and take your world!"

"Time for us to seal the Tengen Gate, Takeru." Pink Ranger said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Together."

"Samurai Symbol Power!" Red Ranger cried out. He could feel his Symbol Power rapidly decreasing. Suddenly, though, he felt hands on his shoulders. His team of friends were lending him their Symbol Power, as well. "Seal!"

With a blast of power, the Gap closed while inflicting massive damage on Master Xandred. As that happened, Red Ranger fell to his knees and demorphed.

In the Netherworld, Xandred limped to the Sanzu River. "Mark my... ungh... words Samurai Rangers. You haven't heard the last of Master Xandred!"

Takeru looked at the Gap and nodded. "Samurai Rangers... Victory is ours."

. . .

"How are you, Alpha?" Takeru asked as he sat in the Command Center, being scanned by the sentient automaton.

"Eh... I've been better," Alpha 4 said quietly. "Some of my processing circuits were fried. The man who created me, though, said he created another body for me with some upgrades. I'll probably switch into that suit once this one fully breaks down. You should be more worried about yourself, though! Too much Symbol Power is dangerous!"

"Alpha is right," Zordon said. "You were not prepared for so much Symbol Power. It will take many years of dedicated practice to master the Sealing Technique."

"Then I will train. And if I can't learn it, then my child will. My family will not rest until Earth is safe from the Nighlok threat," Takeru said with determination.

"The Samurai Legacy will stay in my family, as well!" Ryu said.

"As will it be in mine," Mako added.

Chaiki stood tall. "Same here."

"I will be a Samurai and so will my bloodline." Kotoha said, looking to her team.

"Thank you," Zordon said. He was secretly glad they were volunteering to be his contingency plan against the Nighlok, instead of him needing to ask like he had done with so many others for his other plans. "We will need to form societies of people who will help you. A mentor, groups of people to guard certain important Gaps, and I will need to develop some tech to help you know when a Gap is crossed."

"Gap Sensors?" Chaiki offered.

"But those things will come in time. For now, I am just glad to know that when the Nighlok rear their heads again that we will have dedicated people ready to defend the Earth," Zordon said. "And to help you in that endeavor, I will give you two important tools: the Bullzord and the Tigerzord."

"What!?" Saba cried out. "But I thought we were saving those!" Saba thought about how Bullzord was the first zord technically from Earth, having been transformed into a zord from a non-sentient Earth bull using a Transdagger. The next was the Tigerzord.

"For what?" Zordon asked as the Samurai Rangers looked to each other in excitement. "They need them."

Turning back to the Rangers, Zordon said, "They will be your companions if and probably when the Nighlok show the capability to grow."

"We will do all we can to help you," Takeru said.

"And I to you," Zordon continued. "There are a great many powers you are able to unlock, according to the author of that parchment, Ninjor. I will do what I can to help you unlock those powers. One of my projects will be creating an instrument to act as a secondary power regulator for an upgrade to your powers, when you are ready. It will make your powers...super. It will be called simply the Black Box, and will help you incorporate all of your powers together."

Ryu looked up and nodded. "Thank you, Zordon. As the first Red Ranger to exist, you truly exemplify what it means to be a leader. Even after being trapped in a Time Warp, you still fight back. Thank you."

"From here on out," Zordon said, accepting the compliment in his mind. "You five will be the beginning. Until the end of the Nighlok, long live the Power Rangers: Samurai!"

. . .

Damaras stood before Dark Specter. "I plead with you! Do not do this!"

Dark Specter laughed. "You dare plead with me to spare you!? You are nothing but a traitor to the United Alliance of Evil!"

Divatox, Elgar, General Havoc, and Mama D stood beside Dark Specter on one side as Master Vile and Rito Revolto stood on Dark Specter's other side. It was an awful day for the Space Confederation of Pirates: their king had been discovered helping Emperor Mavro and his Armada on the other side of the universe. It had been known for a few years that Mavro had been scouring the universe attempting to hit systems Dark Specter had not already conquered. In the race to gain absolute power, Dark Specter reigned supreme while others like Mavro and Scorpius did all they could to play "catch up". Knowing Damaras was in league with Mavro not only led to Dark Specter labeling him a traitor and arresting him, but it also led to the Space Confederation of Pirates taking a big hit and losing nearly all of its credentials.

"If you do this, Dark Specter, I will see to it personally that you pay!" Damaras threatened.

"Do it," Dark Specter ordered.

Mama D looked to Master Vile. Combining their powers, they yelled, "Portal to the Oblivion! Open the the Vortex of Eternal Doom and Sorrow!"

The vortex opened beneath Damaras. As he fell through, Divatox blew him kisses. "Okay, buh-bye now! Don't you ever come back!"

Havoc sighed. "Please show more respect. He was a good father to us."

"Ha!" Divatox laughed. "He ended up ruining our confederation. Pshh. Some dad."

Dark Specter grunted. "Master Vile? I fear there may be others in our ranks who may want to cause an uprising."

Vile, afraid Dark Specter knew of his intentions to grab the Zeo Crystal for himself, stiffened. "Yes, Dark Specter? I'm unaware of anything like this..."

"Of course you are. You're practically useless," Dark Specter replied. "Now, contact an agent of mine on Earth. He seems to like to go by the name of Ra's al Ghul. Tell him to begin his operations with the League of Assassins. Tell him I believe the countdown to destruction begins... now."

Meanwhile, in the universe from where all Monsters originated, Damaras landed. He looked around, aware of how dangerous the Oblivion was stated to be.

"Hmph." Damaras said as he pulled out his sword. "Let's see if the beasts from the Oblivion are enough to stand toe to toe with the mightiest warrior from my universe... me!"

. . .

Levira, one of the head scientists for Mavro's Armada, approached the throne of the leader of the ever growing empire. "It is done, unfortunately. Dark Specter has sent Damaras to the Oblivion."

"Well he should have been more careful!" Mavro stated. "It's a shame, though... He was extremely important for our plans. Dear? What should we do next?"

Turning over Mavro looked to the chair beside his at his wife, the true mastermind behind the Armada. The woman known as none other than the Alpha Nobody, Xelleb. She looked to her husband and smiled. "Next? Without Damaras, the first thing that comes to mind is this: we need to have kids."

. . .

"Utopian" Universe - Twenty Years After William Bell First Time Traveled - Uncategorized Timeline

Agent Olivia Dunham walked into the dimly lit room. The smell of hospital supplies lingered in the air. The soles of her shoes kept sticking to the linoleum, making an unpleasant sound with every step.

The joys of working for the FBI... She thought to herself. It had only been ten months since she had finally made the ranks of the FBI. She had made herself known for her brilliant deductive reasoning and tenacity in her career as a police detective in San Angeles. The test to be integrated into the Finest Branch of Investigation was strict, and had taken her many years of study and many, many attempts before she finally passed.

She was nervous as she stepped into the room. She knew not why she had been picked from among hundreds of capable agents for this particular assignment. To be meeting with the world's most renowned scientist, William Bell, for "confidential matters" was not only a large step for her career, but also a big deal for national security.

Sitting at one end of a metal table, Dr. Bell gestured to the empty chair opposite him. He gave her a warm smile. "Please, sit."

She sat down and offered her hand. "Dr. Bell, it's an honor. Agent Olivia Dunham."

He kept the smile on his face as he declined her hand. Of all of them, I thought that at leastshe would remember me... slightly.

"I'm sorry, Agent Dunham. I'm very sick and I don't wish to infect you with anything." William said, explaining why he refused her handshake.

"Now, Dr. Bell... What can I do for you?"

William sat up a little taller. Even though his chemical experiments allowed him to look and function as if he was sixty at the age of eighty plus, he was still old and he could feel it. "Have you ever heard of Walter Bishop?"

Olivia nodded. "Of course. One of the greatest minds of our times."

William nodded. "I need him. Desperately."

Olivia gave him a look of confusion. "I don't understand. Why can't you just... get him, then? You're a man of renowned stature."

Bell looked at her sadly. "I am actually unable to get to Walter. One thing he did while his mind... deteriorated... was to make express demands that only his son, Peter Bishop, would be the one to check him out."

Olivia laughed as she sat back in her chair. "Sorry, Dr. Bell, but last time I checked... I'm alsonot Peter Bishop."

There's the Olive I know... William thought to himself.

"Yes, that's true," William said to Olivia. "But I've tried to contact Peter and he won't have anything to do with me. I have spoken with your superior, Special Agent Broyles, and he understands the importance Dr. Bishop has to my... work. He picked you to represent the law. To be an intimidation factor to Peter. Without him, we're all in trouble."

The last phrase seemed to carry a significant amount of gravitas as it seeped out of William's mouth. It left Olivia feeling uncomfortable. "Okay, then. Where can I find him?"

After giving Peter Bishop's location to Olivia, he he bid her farewell and conveyed to her how much this meant to him. As she left, he stared after her.

She's the one who can fix things. All I need is for her to grab Peter, and then hopefully Universal Equilibrium can kick in...

William Bell had spent the last twenty years or so studying the effects of dimension jumping and Time travel. He had even gone so far as to rename the two dimensions he used to travel between: due to Time Travel, the dimensions were no longer reminiscent of the dimensions he had first encountered. He simply named what was once the Utopian Dimension the "Alternate Universe" and his Dystopian Dimension the "Prime Universe", because from his perspective it was where everything started.

One of the points of research Bell had discovered was something he named "Universal Equilibrium". It was a basic concept: Even if things changed due to exogenous interference (in the case of the two dimensions, he was the interference due to not only jumping from reality to reality, but also due to reversing the clock on both realities), the universe would "remember" how things were supposed to happen to an extent and attempt to fix things. Set it back in equilibrium with its former state.

When the young version of the man he had killed in the future, Peter-Utopia (whom he had grown accustomed to simply calling "Peter"), had crossed over to the Prime Universe he had thrown the entire "equation" of both universes off balance. Since William had seen to it that his past self didn't survive boyhood to prevent him from ruining the timeline, the Prime Dimension had begun accepting Peter as a suitable replacement (as far as William could tell). The Alternate Universe could feel that it had been "robbed" of its Peter, though, and had begun to interact with the "barriers" around each universe in an unconscious effort to retrieve the boy who had been kidnapped nearly twenty years earlier.

Because William had found this concept, he decided there was only one thing left to do: cause Peter Bishop to return to the Alternate Universe. Although William himself was actually "a" Peter himself, his presence in the Alternate Universe was only delaying the interactions to a certain degree. The Alternate Universe wanted Peter back, and he deduced that the Prime Universe was also trying to "get him back".

What doesn't help is his interference... Walter thought bitterly. As he did, the hologram of himself flickered in and out as he turned it off. As the hologram disappeared, no one was left in the dimly lit room.

Bell sighed as he turned off his machine which projected his image from the Alternate Universe to the Prime Universe. He had been trapped for a number of years in the Alternate Universe and felt quite helpless. He could only hope that Olivia would be able to persuade Peter to help.

As he turned off the machine, the door to his secret lab exploded. He fell to the floor, splinters of wood hitting him in the arm and back as if they were shrapnel. Lifting himself up, he looked on as many agents stormed into his lab. From the rear of the group one man stepped forward: Walternate.

William sneered. "So... you've found me."

Nodding, Walternate made his way to William's makeshift Dimensional Hologram Projector. "You projected for far too long this time, Bell. We were able to track you quite easily. I hope it was worth it, because it is the last projection you'll ever do."

Smiling, William nodded. "Oh, it was, Walter. At least... I hope it was."

Walternate frowned. "Take him away. My brother wants him taken in alive and unharmed."

"Yes, President." One of the men, Freelancer Charlie Francis, answered as he saluted. He then ran forward and opened up a vortex using his wrist tech. Taking William Bell at gunpoint, he led him through to the other side.

. . .

Prime Universe

The car pulled up in front of the hotel. The driver, Olivia's supervising officer Agent Charlie Francis, put the vehicle in park and sighed. "It's weird that Broyles would want us to help Dr. Bell like this. To help him get in contact with Walter Bishop."

Olivia, sitting in the passenger seat, furrowed her brow. "Why is that weird? It's obviously got something to do with national security."

"Yeah, of course, but..." Charlie said as he and Olivia stepped out of the car. "It's weird because of how the government shut down the labs those two had ten years ago. They were doing weird experiments on kids, Olivia. Don't you remember that?"

Olivia pursed her lips. "No... I don't remember hearing anything about ? That's despicable. No wonder Dr. Bishop ended up in a mental ward. You'd have to be a mental job to do science experiments on kids."

"Amen to that, sister." Charlie said as they walked up the steps. "So, you sure this Peter Bishop will be here?"

Almost as if on cue, a young man in his twenties came bursting out the front lobby door. "Move! Move!"

Olivia smiled. "And there's our conman, Peter Bishop. My intel told me he is here trying to con some middle easterners into an oil investment of some kind."

Charlie dived and tackled Peter to the ground, rolling down the step with him. Looking up with a bloody lip as he pinned Peter down, Charlie smiled. "Looks like the con blew up in his face."

As he said this, several men with machine guns ran out, looking for Peter. They seemed very angry.

"Freeze!" Olivia screamed, pulling out her gun with one hand and her badge with the other. "FBI!"

"Run!" The leader yelled, rushing back into the hotel. On any other day she would have given chase to the criminals, known for embezzlement themselves, but she had to focus on Peter for the time being.

Charlie laughed as he pulled Peter to his feet. "If only they knew you are the worst shot in the universe! Haha!"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Hardy har har."

Peter looked at the two agents. "Um... thanks? I'm assuming because I'm not wearing handcuffs that I'm not under arrest?"

Olivia shook her head. "No. You're actually coming with us on government business to see your father."

"Crazy Walter!?" Peter asked. He then stuck out his wrists, palms up. "Arrest me, then. I'll confess to whatever cons you guys know about, just don't make me see him."

Charlie groaned. "Wish I could take you up on that offer, kid, but I'm under orders."

"How about you, pretty? Help a guy out?" Peter asked, sincere pleading emanating from his eyes..

Olivia stepped up to his face and stared him straight in his eyes. "My name is Olivia. Not 'pretty'. We aren't doing this as some sort of family reunion, understood? It's a matter of national security."

Peter's face suddenly grew serious. "This isn't a joke, is it?"

"No," Olivia answered curtly.

Peter groaned. "Fine. I have no idea why national security is in the hands of that whackjob, Walter, but... okay, fine."

"Good, because it really wasn't a choice anyway." Charlie said, opening the door to the car.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Peter, Charlie, and Olivia fell on top of the car as near them a long, egg shaped metal object erupted from the ground. The concrete cracked as the thing poked out into the air.

"I'm assuming this is not FBI?" Peter asked.

"I was going to ask if it is a part of one of your cons," Olivia replied.

"I wish..." Peter stated.

Suddenly, a large flare shot around the metal object, temporarily blinding the trio. When their eyes had re-adjusted, they saw a man in a black beanie standing before them. Both Charlie and Olivia pulled out their guns. "Freeze!"

The man laughed. "No."

As he stepped forward, Charlie looked to Olivia. Looking back at the man, he yelled, "Stand back or we shoot!"

The man smiled. "Oh, I'm so scared. So... all of this is because of you, Peter Bishop."

Peter furrowed his brow. "Who are you!? How do you know me!?"

As the man took another step, both Olivia and Charlie fired on him. They stared in shock as the man moved in a near blinding speed and caught each bullet.

Opening his hands, he dropped the bullets onto the ground. "My name is Prime."