"Argh!" Wilbur is now back in the time machine, slapping the wrench against the floor in frustration.

He flopped on his front and folded his arms to cover his face. He thought about going to Anderson Observatory- the house the Robinson Mansion was used to be- but the location would take miles for him to walk to. His phone couldn't reach anyone in this world. He got no other options to reach his family.

The orphanage his dad used to live is now abandoned. He's just stuck here forever.

He didn't even care if he received a painful pinch on his ear when his parents found him with this busted car. He just wants them to find him even if he's grounded for life.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't find out because as days, weeks, months and even forever have passed in this world it's only five minutes in his world and age.

Wilbur glanced at the blue print before going back to the face cave of his arms. Who was he kidding? He's not some genius inventor, he's a thirteen year old kid who only plays sports and gets 'B' and 'C's in his grades in school.

He may have knowledge about programing and coding but that's just him scratching the hard surface of his father's substantial knowledge. Heck, even him just trying to find the right wires to connect is just the surface of his twelve year old best-friend's knowledge about technology.

XXXXX

Wilbur strolled again. This world awfully feels dark. Is it really going to stay this boring? He gripped on the straps of his bag as a bell ringed.

"Lewis! You're late!"

Hearing the name, Wilbur turned to the fast food restaurant. Feeling his hear pound and his jaw slowly drops, he watched at the said man glanced behind him (probably to a clock) in disbelief which gave Wilbur a glimpse of his face.

"What? I'm fifteen minutes early!" complained the man with blond hair. Wilbur's hands dropped to his sides as he shifted his full attention to him.

The man by the cashier rolled his eyes, "well, I don't care. There are customers waiting here."

Wilbur, from behind him, could see him shake his head in progressing anger. The blond still grabbed a tray of food and continued his job. Despite being confused, Wilbur is still too glad he found him.

XXXXX

As the sun slowly settles, Lewis walked up the stairs until he reached the porch. He saw a paper sticked on the door. He adjusted his glasses a read it before ripping it off and went inside."Goob! I told you to pay the water bill!"

"Lewis, the line there takes forever!" Mike replied from the second floor.

Lewis reached the second flood then eyes the fourteen year old who distractedly played with his baseball glove and ball while laying on bed. "You have to pay it or we'll don't have water tomorrow."

"Then skip bath tomorrow," Goob says dismissively.

Lewis shot him a disgusted look, "well, unlike you I have a job to go to."

Michael just mouthed his words mockingly.

Lewis rolled his eyes and turned to the report card on the table.

The blond examined the card and furor filled his expression, "Goob…"

He just raised his eyebrow immune to the blond's sizzling anger.

"How did you manage to fail every damn subject?" Lewis said through his gritted teeth.

Goob shrugged, "pretty easy actually."

"Argh! You're so annoying!" Lewis growled before throwing the card at his roommate in frustration.

"Hey!-" Goob complained as the card hits his fave and turned to Lewis but he already ran to the roof. "Dumb nerd."

When he heard a knock downstairs, he begrudgingly sat up. "Lewis! There's someone on the door!"

No reply but the knocking repeated.

"Lewis!" still no reply. Goob groaned and went downstairs, his glove and baseball still in his hands.

The knocking repeated again.

"Just wait! I'm coming!" Goob opened the door and on the porch is a dark haired boy with Captain Time-travel t-shirt, dark pants and a backpack.

"Corne- I mean, Lewis. Where's Lewis?" The boy asked.

Goob sighed and walked to the stairs, letting the boy in. "Oh, Lewis, my stupid roommate. He's on the roof being dumb."

The boy nodded. "Thank you."

XXXXX

On the roof, Lewis is sitting on a box wiping his seeping tears. He crumbled the water bill and turned around to throw it just before the door opened and it hit the dark haired boy on the face. The newcomer face turned gobsmacked as the paper plopped from his face to the ground. Lewis expression instantly flashed from mad to shocked.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to throw that at you." Lewis quickly wiped his eyes and placed his glasses back on his face.

"It's fine." The boy smiled reassuringly. "I'm Wilbur Robinson from the future and I need your help."

Quietly sniffing, Lewis frowned. "Uh, okay…"

"I need your help to fix a time machine."

Lewis blinked, "a what machine?"

"A time machine. I accidentally crashed it and I need your help to fix it."

He just stared at him in great confusion. "So, you want me," he pointed to himself, "a waiter in a fast food chain to fix a time machine."

Wilbur opened his mouth but he was interrupted.

"And you broke it. Why do I have to fix it?"

"Because… Because, you're the only one who could."

He blinked again before heading towards the door. "Alright, bah-bye."

Wilbur blocked his trail with a bored look making him stumble back. "Alright, I'll prove it to you. Meet me tomorrow outside the place where you work, deal?"

Lewis' eyes shot to the left then to Wilbur, "uh no. How do I know you're not lying and you're not some creepy stalker who decided to stalk random people?"

Wilbur's eyebrow raised. "How about let me use your Memory Scanner to prove I'm from the future?"

"That thing never-wait. How do you know about my dumb scanner?-"

"I told you! The future!"

"-lame excuse for stalking."

"I can prove it to you!"

Lewis just stared at him with an eyebrow lifted above his glasses, "go ahead."

Wilbur opened his mouth before clasping it again. Oh right, it's broken. His face showed a slight panic.

Lewis then glared at him. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Lewis bumped into him to make him move from the way and Wilbur finally remembered that now, Lewis is taller and older than him.

"You're supposed to build the future and invent cool future stuff."

"Yeah, right… I'll tell you how that's going for a high school dropout and a fast food waiter, Captain Time-travel."

Wilbur huffed. It's the hard way then…

XXXXX

"You're supposed to be adopted and named 'Cornelius Robinson'," Wilbur distractedly explains and sat on a newly wiped table much to Lewis' irritation. "And I got to tell you, that's a lot of syllables."

The blond kept his eyebrows lowered, trying his best to ignore him. He wiped another table clean and Wilbur sat on it, keeping him in near radius. It seems after that conversation on the roof, Wilbur made it his life commitment to pester him.

"But what are you even doing here? Why are you wearing that stupid uniform?" That made him glance at the boy but continued ignoring him. "You're supposed to be at InventCo and a lab coat suits you better."

Lewis caught some customers cast a weird look at them which he all ignored. He would be lying if he said, he didn't -sort of- listened to the boy's story, he didn't believe it because it's too good to be true.

"Have you met Francesca Framagucci?"

He didn't answer but yes, he did meet her before he dropped out of school for work.

Suddenly, he could feel Wilbur's sharp glare at the silence.

"Okay, I don't want to say this but you forced me to."

He raised a brow at him, unaffected by the threat.

"You used to build cool inventions and even cracked hippocampus at twelve."

He continued working. He found it creepy that someone know this much about him. Despite that, he wasn't threatened because one: this kid looks too young to kill someone and two: if he's planning something hideous, what else do Lewis have to lose?

"And you make inventions for potential adoptive parents. Like Pb and J gun, all in one beverage maker but it all went kaboom-"

Now, he turned to him with a glare. "Okay, I get that you know everything about me but you don't have to tell everyone my pity sad life story."

"I think they're lame and shallow. All two hundred and twenty-four." Wilbur shrugged.

While averting his eyes, Lewis was baffled at how there's no hint of doubt in Wilbur's voice. Honestly, he never thought about it like that. He used to blame himself as to why couples gave up on him. It's all him and his chase after the wind for a dream that he could never reach. He never saw it as couples being shallow and the so called parents that Wilbur said in his future, are special and made just for him.

"-and you made the memory scanner to find your real mother-"

"Which too went kaboom," Lewis added and then walked to the counter with a tray.

Wilbur faced him, a flicker in his eyes. "How?"

Lewis frowned as he neared.

"It was supposed to work. It has to." Wilbur shook his head. This world doesn't make any sense.

"How about this?" Lewis challenged and Wilbur stared at him. "If I were supposed to be 'Cornelius Robinson' then why am I a high-school drop-out and a kid who never got adopted? Hm?"

Wilbur sighed. "I don't know."

"That's the point. Time machine or nah. From the future or not. I can't help you even if you chant my life story from birth to present age. I am not Cornelius Robinson."

"No." Wilbur denied without a beat. "He's still you. I know it. No alternative universe could ever change that."

Lewis frowned deeper.

"Lewis always had my back. Cornelius always did and so could you. You're no exception." Especially his father. Wilbur watched as Lewis sighed through his nose.

"Fine…"

"Yes!"

Lewis rolled his eyes. "But don't annoy me while I work, I can only help you after my shift. Deal?"

Wilbur smiled. "Deal."

They shook hand to seal their agreement.

XXXXX

"Come on."

After admiring the sky and the stars, Lewis turned to the boy, feeling the breeze chill nerves through his skin. He subconsciously gripped the pocket knife in his hoodie pocket as he followed Wilbur through the dark alley. Yes, he may agreed to help Wilbur and may have nothing to lose but he is not up for the dumbest way to die if this is a threat. That's not how he wanted to go.

"Here it is." Wilbur points out as soon as he stopped.

Lewis looked around. There's nothing around unless the future him had the lamest taste on design to make the very first time machine to look like a garbage dumpster.

As if reading his thoughts, Wilbur pressed something on thin air and a red car with plane wings that even it's broken, it's astonishing to look at.

"Woah."

"Yeah, it's cool but we need a better place to fix it."

Lewis' face lit up. "I know a place."

XXXXX

"Woah, how did you find this place?" Wilbur helped Lewis to push the time machine to a garage. He didn't remember his dad visiting this place.

"Well, even after I took apart the basket ball hoop for my project and ruined the science fair with it, the teacher, Mr. Willerstein, in his good graces want me to use this to use this to continue inventing. Never used it until now."

"Oh…" Wilbur mulled over the story and then saw a certain scanner with its propeller detached. He neared it. "The memory scanner."

Lewis saw what he spotted and tilted his head. "He kept it?"

The raven haired smiled as he examined the machine. "Which means there's a chance…"

Lewis shrugged and opened the trunk of the hover car. "Yeah, now don't touch it."

"I'm not going to break it."

"It's already broken but still don't touch it."

Wilbur rolled his eyes half-heartedly. "Look who's talking. Sixteen years old and decades before I exist, you already sound like my dad. Not letting me touch anything."

Not surprised, Lewis glanced at the busted car and to him above the rim of his glasses. "I think he had a good reason."

"Ahahaha, very funny."

XXXXX

"Why did you use the time machine? What's so special about the past or future for you to visit?" Lewis asked while under the hover car.

"I just want to visit my best friend." Wilbur could sense Lewis raise a brow under the car. "He's a twelve year old version of you."

"And?"

"I thought he would understand me better after I got mad at my dad." Saying that, he now found it funny that when he's disappointed at his dad, he's still going to come to his dad for refuge.

"Why?"

He sighed and shrugged. "It's dumb. I thought- I thought that his work, Todayland is just more important than me especially in times of trouble but I really should remember he always had my back even as Lewis."

Lewis gave a curt shrug under the hover car. "Maybe you should talk to him, you know? I'm sure he isn't perfect- I know I'm flawed. Your emotions are valid, it had a good reason."

Wilbur's face warmed. "Yeah, you're right. I should."

"Yeah, instead of just bottling it up, it doesn't help both ways because your parents aren't telepathic and it's bad for you mentally. But let me ask you this…" Lewis switched with a soldering iron. "Do you think your relationship with your best friend weights more than the one you have with your father?"

Wilbur thought about his answer. Sure, he claimed that Lewis is the best friend he never knew he could have but Lewis is Cornelius, his dad. If anything, it just made the relationship he had with his father more…special. He could run to him for refuge and help in times of trouble. He'll always manage to find his way back to him. "No."

"Well, for me. All I know that I'm lucky to meet you and know that you're my future son.

"Even if I'm not…like you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know,…smart."

"Why? Do anyone expect you to? Or do I expect you to?"

"No no no. Of course not but society kind of does."

A pause. "Well, that's a problem…"

"I don't blame you like come on… but it's there."

Lewis sighed. "Just…be yourself if future me haven't already told you."

"Yeah, we talked about it. Issue fixed."

"Good."

XXXXX

After five days of being stuck in this alternative universe, three failed attempts to fix the time machine have passed. Wilbur can't lose hope and not ever. He understood that this version of his father slacked in inventing. After having Lewis' pay got decreased due to being late to work lately and slowness, Wilbur insisted to make him rest. Then Lewis did realize that he's tired when the second his head hits the pillow, he's out like a light.

When he heard a person enter, Wilbur turned to the newcomer. "Michael Yagoobian."

Mike simply raised a brow as he dropped his bag on the table, "yay, someone knows me."

Seeing Mike in a school uniform, it didn't take long for Wilbur to find out the story behind it. He found Michael's report card while he's busy playing a game of catch by himself. Seeing it, he already knew what kind of student Mike is.

It was another piece that connected this Lewis to his best friend. After everything his old roommate has done, Lewis still offered to give Goob a better life. He wondered if the DOR-15 apocalypse never happened and Cornelius found out about Michael, he figured he'll do exactly the same.

XXXXX

"Have you met Francesca Framagucci?"

"Yeah, I did." Finally, Lewis answered the repeated question. "Why? What about her?"

Wilbur tried his best not to grin as he made a humming sound at the back of his throat. "Nothing. Just curious."

Lewis furrowed his eyebrows suspiciously before shacking his head and proceeds on fixing. He then screwed the cover and declared, "it's testing time."

Wilbur grinned and hopped inside the time machine. "Nice wor-"

"Not yet. We don't know if it'll work."

Wilbur snorts, plugging the seatbelt. "A for effort."

After starting it, the time machine glowed and hummed…

…But it groaned an unpleasant sound followed by the glow disappearing and a hard crash against the ground. A cloud of smoke instantly enveloped the hover car.

Coughing in unison, Lewis and Wilbur escaped the car. As soon as they hopped off, the blond ran to the blueprint.

"It's alright, we have all the time in the world," Wilbur reassured.

Lewis bit the inside of his lip and nods. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

"Wil, I just want to tell you- let you know that never ever give up."

The younger boy tilted his head.

A heavy inhale and exhale as Lewis rested his weight on the table with his hands. "I really regret giving up that day. All those possibilities. My dream. It's everything… I hope it isn't too late…"

"It isn't, I know it." Wilbur affirmed, determined as he walked to the blond's side.

Lewis softly beamed before staring down at the blue print. He frowned at the computer codes written on the side. "What does this mean? Like what does this had something to do with the printed circuit board."

"That code is for the system to be in a function once the P.C.B. is fixed and soldered with the chip." Wilbur answered almost effortlessly.

Lewis froze. Okay, he didn't expect that. "Woah."

"I-I mean. I don't know?" Wilbur stuttered. "No no. Don't get any ideas!"

"I have an idea…"

Wilbur groaned.

XXXXX

It actually wasn't bad.

Teamwork to work on the time machine is comforting and his self esteem is blooming. Wilbur would be lying if he said he never thought about of wanting to do this with his dad. His brain wasn't bad… It seems watching his dad work and helping him on simple stuff could give him brain power.

After Wilbur screwed the cover and Lewis drilled the last bolt, they finished with a high-five then entered the hover car.

"I had a good feeling about this…" Wilbur points out and Lewis agreed.

The lights glowed and the time machine hovered. The duo braced themselves.

But the crash never came. They gaped before letting out a breath of relief.

"Yes!" Wilbur cheered before swiftly unbuckling his seatbelt and tackled Lewis in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Hugging him back, Lewis smiled. "Thank yourself too, Wil."

They then packed the stuff like Wilbur's backpack, blueprints and tools in the time machine.

"So, this is goodbye?"

Wilbur froze. That…is true. Not only for now but for forever. Due to this Lewis' universe is alternative, Wilbur couldn't come back to it because it'll restart all over again to the 'wrong' code he used. Everything would be forgotten by Lewis. "Y-yeah."

"Anything more you want to tell me about the future?"

"DOR-15? The helping hat…"

The blond tilted his head at that.

"Don't make her. Don't give up. Keep moving forward…"

Lewis softly smiled. "Noted."

Wilbur pulled him in a hug. "Bye, dad. Thanks."

"Bye, Wil. Thank you."