"Alright then. So, where should I start? This is a long story after all..." a female voice said; it was strangely glitching from time to time as if there were more people speaking.
"Maybe I should introduce myself first. I am what can be considered an anomaly; an error in the system. By all laws of nature... I should not exist, I should not be like this. And yet... I am here. I am... I am not sure what I really am.
I am a monster to both humans and my own kind.
An outcast...
A freak...
Something that should not exist...
My body is sentient.
A Gel Jark that managed to break the chains.
My name is Gelly.
Not even I can explain why I am this way.
I used to be like all of them, the same as all Gel Jarks, however, after my creators, Specter Space Pirates as they were known, brought in another species, your species... That is when my whole being began to glitch...
Mr. Seth noticed how much this error in my programming affects my actions. He promised to explain everything to me; I was decided to stick by his side.
At that time, I did not understand his actions, but I stayed as his assistant through it all because no one else would treat me...equally...as Mr. Seth said. I was a slave to my creators and an enemy to you. He was different...
He taught me more about my glitch despite his own lack of knowledge on the subject and I became his company that listened to all his words.
No matter what sacrifice he made to fix his mistake, you all saw him as nothing more than a villain. After traveling into this time era with you, we had to hide from you because we were still only villains.
We managed to hide for so long thanks to my transformation abilities.
For the last two years, Mr. Seth has been taking care of me while making a plan that would bring what he's lost back.
You might see him as a bad guy, but he is not different from you...
Hurting anyone has never been our intention since the defeat of my creators. We did hold Ms. Reese hostage, however, only because we needed her help and there was not any other way to make her even talk to us. Just because you see us as villains.
We cannot confront you peacefully because you treat him worse than he'd deserve. I had to take on the appearance of one of you to sneak into your headquarters and steal what we need.
Taking on Ms. Reese's appearance was fairly easy since her current body is the one I have had a chance to examine the most and I was aware of her schedule, but you humans are unpredictable."
"If it weren't for Zander and I coming into the same room, you would have succeeded," Reese interrupted her.
"Exactly," Gelly admitted, hanging her head down as much as she could. Her gel-like body was frozen up to her neck. As she was sneaking into the HQ, as Gelly mentioned, she was caught by Rod, Reese, and Zander; she started transforming into her human-like form when Rod turned on his machine, hitting the Gel Jark, freezing her body, leaving only her head movable.
The rest of the Alpha Gang and even the Ancients soon gathered in the room, trying to interrogate the intruder. No one had any luck as they all took an aggressive approach.
Ellie tried differently. She showed kindness and made Gelly tell the whole story.
"What do we do with her then?" Zander wondered, "there isn't much time left until the machine's effect stops working, is there?"
"The worst we can of course," Ursula immediately replied.
"What...?" Gelly glanced at those words in a way that could only be described as being terrified.
"That's right! Let's salt her!" Dr. Z snapped.
"Grandpa!"
"You know that would kill her!" Rod and Laura glared at him.
"No!" Ellie gasped, stepping in front of the Gel Jark woman. "How can you be so cruel...?!"
"Ellie, do you even know what you're protecting?" Ed asked her with a bit of venom in his voice.
"Who... not what..." the blonde corrected him, "she is not a thing. She is not different from Helga or Jonathan, why should you treat her as an unequal?"
"She's with Seth!" her boyfriend objected, "he tried to change history and get us all killed at least twice."
"So? Gelly said she had no idea about the consequences." Ellie shook her head softly. "She didn't understand..."
"Inexperience of an android can be possibly forgiven," Trias said, "but-"
"But we can't trust Seth!" his wife finished for him, getting in an offensive position, "how do we know you aren't just wasting our time?" She swiped her arm quickly, changing her position.
"...you are all going to judge me no matter what I say," Gelly exclaimed disappointedly.
"And you wonder?!" Dr. Z snapped at her, "your boyfriend betrayed us so many times."
"Does the fact that he has rescued all of time and space, that he sacrificed both himself and me just to prevent the destruction he started... mean nothing to you?" Gelly's voice glitched more, turning aggressive and sounding similar to all the voices that have spoken to her just now. "All of you had become villains at one point as well, but your deeds seem to erase all that. And yet you judge others differently than you judge yourselves, just like Mr. Seth said. You humans sure are strange..."
Reese traced her eyes quickly away.
"Says the android from gel!" Ursula yelled.
"Gelly has a point!" Ellie countered.
"Ellie..." Ed took her hand.
"Why should you treat her or Seth any differently than you treat yourselves? I might be naive, but...Gelly is right. Maybe if you didn't treat them as criminals, they wouldn't have to turn to such ways. You don't even listen to what she has to say... You don't care!"
"Ellie...love, you need to calm down..." Ed tried to soothe her by gently rubbing her hand with his thumb. He felt how much she's trembling with anger, panting. "You shouldn't stress yourself."
"Why is it so hard to understand that everyone has some good in them? That...you guys are no better than Seth for treating Gelly like this..." They were gazing at each other in silence. He tried to understand her view on the situation. She was so naively kind.
Gelly could only watch—her scans could not provide her a proper explanation of what happening between the two.
She suddenly felt like she can move a part of her body, but she was more intrigued by the couple in front of her.
Ed nodded and Ellie smiled at him softly.
"Just get a room," Dr. Z growled at them, "we need to figure out what to do with this pudding!"
"PUDDING?!" Gelly pouted angrily.
"I am not pleased with how you call and treat my assistant, doctor," a calm, cold voice sounded behind them.
Everyone jerked back, spotting none other than Seth in the doorway, holding a lightning rod in case he needs to fight. "Seth?!"
She could finally move! Taking advantage of the distraction, Gelly quickly transformed into her Gel Jark form, separated parts of her gel, and threw it at the others. The gel stuck their feet to the floor. She made her way to Seth.
"I knew we can't trust you," Trias said, glaring at Seth and his partner.
Seth returned the glare, walking closer to him. "I am not the bad guy here as you might think, not this time."
"Good guys don't just disable someone from moving like that!" Cretacia yelled at him, throwing her arms around with each word.
Seth could only smirk at first. "Funny coming from the ones that did the same to my assistant. It feels uncontrollable, doesn't it?" He stepped back, turning to the rest. "You claim to be good and yet you've destroyed each and every single one of Ms. Jark's species apart from her. Your actions are somehow forgiven."
"And your point is?" Ursula asked him annoyedly, rolling her eyes.
"Your actions don't make you any better than me. All I want is to talk to you as an equal and present our project to you. Is it that difficult to understand? We need..." He took a deep, desperate breath. "...your help."
"That's just called hitting a rock bottom," Zander pointed out.
"I am aware." Seth walked over to Reese. "I only need you to cooperate."
The blonde researcher frowned at him. "Give one good reason."
"Each of us can profit from this. The Alpha Gang can make their lives better; Ms. Jark can go back to her species; you and the Ancients can be with your families again and I-"
"We are not messing with the timeline!" Trias snapped.
Seth let out a small chuckle, shaking his head slowly. "The more any of you speaks, the more you contradict yourselves. I am just trying to give all of you a chance. If everything works out perfectly, the timeline doesn't have to be damaged at all; we can have all of the time under our control. We could use the Dark Pterosaur."
"You are still crazy, Seth! Haven't you learned not to mess with such power?" Cretacia questioned, "besides, she is dead! There is no power left to use!"
The blue-haired shook his head again. "Oh, how wrong you are..." He suddenly pointed at Reese. "There is some of that power left. The Dark Pterosaur is still alive. Isn't that right, Creator?"
All eyes were locked on Reese.
Her fists were shaking as Seth's eyes stabbed her with an eery glare. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"There is no reason for you to lie." He looked around at everyone else. "Unless you're afraid of the reaction of others to the truth of course."
She...did not answer. She didn't even react.
"They don't know anything, do they?" He slowly walked around her.
"There is nothing they should know." She watched him with the same hateful expression.
"They might believe that, but don't forget what the truth is."
"The truth is that the Dark Pterosaur is gone. She and her sister are dead."
Seth stopped with a deep sigh. "Our scans say otherwise. Ms. Jark, would you be that kind?"
Gelly transformed from her Gel Jark form into her human-like form. She brushed her silver hair from her left eye, revealing a hexagon-shaped black eye with a pink light in the middle surrounded by metallic hexagon plates. The eye projected an analysis screen of Reese's body in front of her.
"Ms. Reese's body radiates a huge amount of energy comparable to the one shown by scans of the cosmos stones," Gelly stated as the image of the body on the glitchy screen became highlighted and a scale beside it skyrocketed, "it is incredible that a human body can even store such energy." More info filled the screen. "...and her system is overwhelmed by hormones...?" she whispered to herself confusedly; she's seen the same results when she quickly analyzed Ellie, but no one other had them so high as them.
"We cannot know if your scans are not false," Jonathan spoke up, "I have scanned Reese several times, there is no energy like that."
"There is a big difference between your and Ms. Jark's technology," Seth said, "what kind of results did other scans have?"
Other scans...? Wait a minute... There was a certain scan when Reese's state was at its worst a few months ago. "...There were no results," Trias remembered, "the scanner crashed for an unknown reason."
"I might know that reason." Seth glanced at Reese. "Are you still going to deny the truth?"
She closed her eyes. "I guess there is no point in keeping it a secret anymore. The Dark Pterosaur...is still alive." She could feel the looks of everyone in the room but blocked all their voices. She bit her lip and continued. "I brought her back. I ran a few tests on the remains of her power and unintentionally created a new source of her power. Needless to say, it caused so much pain to everyone... I gave up my own body to her to find out her weakness..." She shook slightly. "It worked. Although...after her defeat, only the new source of her power was left; I said I was going to destroy it, but..." She opened her eyes, looking at the floor. "I didn't do it. The last bits of her soul are stored inside of me."
"What?!"
"Why would you keep her alive?"
"We did so much to defeat her!" All those voices mixed into one.
"I know!" She raised her voice. "It was stupid... but I had to..." She glared up at Seth. "Are you happy now?! What do you even gain from my confession?"
"I've never forced you to say all that, I only needed to know if it really is alive."
"You're nothing but a dirty manipulator. You've messed with her power just as much as I have. You and I are no different."
"And that's what scares you. You're delusional, blinded by your emotional trauma. I have no interest in your personal issues. There is no profit for me in you revealing yourself as a villain." He shrugged casually while looking around. "You've brought this hate onto yourself."
Reese's eyes traveled from one person to another—her vision was getting blurry and her head ached.
"Reese?" Zander whispered, reaching his hand to her, but couldn't touch her because of the gel that was still holding them in one place, "...it's back, isn't it?"
"Back?" Gelly wondered.
The researcher seemed like she's going to collapse; she was holding her head, shaking.
"The level of adrenaline in her body suddenly increased!" Jonathan said urgently.
"What?!" Zander gasped.
Gelly watched Reese struggle, her gel shredding at the scene.
Suddenly, she rushed to Reese, catching her as she collapsed. All of her gel came back to her body, setting everyone free. "Ms. Reese!"
"Angel-!" Zander wanted to run to his fiancée immediately, but since almost everyone was already with her, he decided to listen to his anger, not fear, and head to Seth instead. He grabbed the traitor by the collar. "How could you do this to her?!"
Reese was taken care of by Helga—sitting her down, putting a wet cloth on her forehead. "She must rest now."
She was starting to get back to her senses, seeing others surrounding her. They were... worried? After what she said, they still cared; they didn't hate her..."I had another one of those states, huh...?"
A few awkward smiles of relief were the reply.
"Those states?" Gelly repeated confusedly.
"Reese has post-traumatic stress disorder," Jonathan told her.
The Gel Jark woman gasped softly. "...we had no idea..."
"You're a bastard, Seth!" Zander growled.
"Tell me something new," Seth replied calmly, "how could you blame me for your girlfriend's mental instability? I've never forced her into confessing, I've never forced her into remembering. All I wanted from her was a simple answer."
"I don't care! You still hurt my angel."
"I have no interest in hurting her. I only need that power."
"You can forget about that," Ursula snapped at him.
"There's no way we'd help you after your betrayal," Ed joined in.
"Just get out of here!" Dr. Z yelled, "Alpha Droid, throw this clown out!"
Some Alpha Droids were in the corridor just outside the room, they would have heard him for sure.
"Tch. Do you really think I came unprepared? I have disabled all nearby standing droids just in case." Seth remained calm despite Zander's tightening his grip on his collar.
"Zan..." Reese spoke up weakly, "stop. He's not worth it."
With shaky hands, her fiancé let got. "Just stay away from my angel."
"I told you that I don't care, Zander. I only. Need. That. Power-" Out of nowhere, one of Alpha Droids actually knocked the blue-haired down.
"What the-?!"
The droid got up, spinning confusedly from the impact—it was the one with the damaged head from a few months ago.
"Seems you didn't disable all," Ursula mocked Seth as he was standing up.
Gelly headed to him, helping him. "Are you okay?" she worried.
"I survived worse," Seth replied and then looked at Reese, "I'll ask you one more time-"
"Over my dead body!" Reese answered before he could continue.
"That can happen sooner than you think. Your body can't hold so much for too long; we can easily solve this situation. I need that power," he said more urgently, "and you all can profit from it as well. There must be an easy way how to extract that power from your body-"
"No," she replied more strictly, "extracting that power would result in an abortion!"
Her anger, loud voice, and especially her words made others freeze in shock and confusion.
It took her several deep breaths to continue. "...that's why... that's why I kept her alive! ...it was the only way to heal my womb. If the power that keeps me healed is taken out..." She shook her head. "I refuse to lose more...! I don't care what it costs...I am not killing my child for your crazy ideal, not even for a chance to see my family again or to change what I've done. ...not at that cost."
"So much just for that brat," Seth commented.
His words immediately caught Zander's attention; still full of anger due to how he hurt Reese, Zander was about to punch Seth for keeping this attitude towards their child as well.
But Gelly's Gel Jark form stopped him, absorbing the punch.
"You should learn how to control your emotions," Seth chuckled mockingly, "Reese, do you seriously think you're the only one who's ever lost someone important? You're protecting an infant while we can all profit. You're not the only one who lost their family!"
Silence filled the room.
What did he mean by that...? Was he referring to someone? Was he referring to himself?
"I'll ask you tomorrow for your final decision," Seth said and turned around, "Ms. Jark?"
The Gel Jark woman transformed back into her human form. "I would like to stay here a little longer."
"Okay. Be careful." He slowly left.
"Hold up! Who said you can stay here?!" Ursula complained.
"Don't be mean to her," Ellie told her, touching her shoulder.
Gelly ignored the hate she got and went to help the Alpha Droid. When it snapped out of its confusion it pushed her away. She frowned sadly.
Zander rushed to his fiancé, cupping her cheek. "How are you, angel?"
Reese glanced away. "Go ahead..."
"Huh?"
"Go ahead. Hate me..."
"What are you saying?" Cretacia gasped. "There's no reason for that!"
"I got you almost killed!"
"Maybe," Trias said, "but one mistake doesn't make you a villain. You've had your reason-"
"Reasons don't matter, do they? I am just as much of a villain as Seth..."
"Please, don't say that...my angel," Zande demanded, "how are you feeling?"
Reese took his hand. "...I'm alright."
"You scared me..."
She shook her head. "You're just too worried."
"She seems much better now, but she should rest," Helga told him.
He nodded, turning back to Reese. "It'll take you home."
"Alright..."
—
After arriving back home, Zander set Reese on the bed, making sure she's as comfortable as possible.
"Is this okay?"
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
"Yeah..."
"Don't you need anything?" Zander wondered.
Reese took his hand. "Don't worry about me."
"How can I not be worried when he's triggered you like that? You were doing so well; those states weren't happening that often, but he just... What he's said about you and our child-"
"That isn't important, Zan." She stroked his cheek. "Getting mad over this is not worth it; it doesn't help anything."
"Right... I'll let you rest; call me if you need something." Zander kissed her forehead and left.
As soon as the door closed behind him, she covered her face with a pillow and screamed into it.
Zander heard her, but did nothing; he knew that sometimes just venting like that is needed and that Reese wouldn't admit that any of that bothered her. He headed away.
Reese's frustrated screams were interrupted by her slight gasp as Amour jumped on the bed. She uncovered her face and glanced at the Saurolophus.
He simply walked over to her and licked her face in hopes that it might make her feel better.
She chuckled softly. "I know that no one wants to see me like this, Amour." She patted his back. "You're a good boy. Thank you..."
Meanwhile, Zander went into the main room, meeting with Minmi.
"How is she?" she wondered.
"She needs some time for herself," he told her tiredly. He sat down, holding his head. "I just wish I could have...done something for what he's done to my angel."
"He?"
"Seth...Seth Konton. He just appeared and said stuff that triggered Reese's PTSD. I know I shouldn't be worried; she's strong enough without me... But that bastard..."
Minmi didn't really know what to do. She rather backed away and turned on her tablet.
Zander sighed. He felt Sarah the Saurolophus nuzzling his leg. He looked down and stroked her back. "I know... I need to trust and support my angel."
"Oh my..." Minmi murmured in shock as she was researching on her tablet, "Zander, you have to see this..."
He turned to her.
—
Back at the HQ, Gelly was still being pressured by the rest. She tried her best to defend herself, but with their stubbornness, it was no easy task.
Suddenly, they received a call from the D-lab. Zander's face lit up on a hologram screen.
"G-guys... Th-there's something weird going on... Minmi found something... It's weird and-"
"Just get to the point!" Dr. Z interrupted him.
Zander gulped. "It's about Seth...he's... He's dead."
"What?!"
"We've just seen him!"
"Nonsense!" The others clearly didn't find this information plausible or even funny.
"No, no," Minmi stopped them, "it's true."
A profile with Seth's photo popped up on the screen. It was him, except for one detail, he didn't have red triangles on his cheeks.
"Seth Konton died six years ago. All information about this man ends in the year 2124."
"Does that mean that...that he's a ghost?!" Ed asked scaredly at the thought.
"Or maybe it was his twin who died and the Seth we know just took his name?" Cretacia suggested.
Gelly shook her head. "The man you know is Seth Konton. The man who died six years ago is also Seth Konton."
"Is it possible that he time-traveled?" Trias wondered.
"No," Gelly replied, "they are both Seth Konton, however, they are not the same Seth Konton."
"And that means...?"
"Seth you know is not from this reality."
She received confused glares from the others.
"He is from an alternative universe; a universe where he didn't come with you into the past, a universe where he had a family."
"There is a multiverse now? How? Is that even possible?" Rod questioned, "I mean, we've experienced a change in the timeline; it affected the present immediately. Theoretically speaking, if there is a multiverse, that change would not affect our future as it did; it would create a branched reality from that point onward instead because if the future was altered in that way there would be no one to make that change in the timeline, to begin with."
"Oh, I think I've watched an old superhero movie with something like that!" Ellie remembered.
"Your thoughts on the subject are understandably wrong," Gelly said, "what you have experienced was a collision of two separate universes. The change in one was identical to how the other already was. The two of them mixed into one until that anomaly was fixed again. This repeatedly occurs with each time travel; two realities collide, although, some changes are not as radical as the others. Collision does not erase a creature from existence, but instead, all of them start to share one reality that is seemingly untouched. According to my resources, some might remember certain events slightly differently which is called the Mandela effect since the early 21st century."
"So, all those time travel movies are...nonsense?" Ellie pouted.
"You all have simply messed up the logic and the way time travel actually works. On the other hand, such a mistake is highly understandable due to your lack of knowledge on the subject of alternative timelines."
"This is a fascinating discovery," Minmi awed. Neither she nor Zander noticed that Reese walked into the room. "A multiverse! A mix of two different universes! Mandela effect! And an actual human being from an alternative timeline... That's a bit too much to handle at once," Minmi admitted.
"And what about Seth's family?" Laura asked Gelly, "and his life in that timeline?"
"From what Mr. Seth told me about that, I know that his parents were still alive, he had a younger sister, a wife, and a son... He's described it as 'the perfect life'. One day, it was all taken away from him and it was all your fault; in that timeline, your time-traveling resulted in the cosmos stones merging and the Dark Pterosaur annihilating most of his kind. He was apparently among a few survivors—he has not met any of them—which he still cannot understand."
"She let him live because she sees him as her perfect creation," Reese suddenly spoke up, walking over to Zander and Minmi.
"Angel! You're supposed to rest."
She ignored Zander's concerns and continued. "Seth and I are not that different from each other; it would make sense for her to choose him."
"He's tried to escape and manage to end in this reality where he's just died. In this reality, where his parents were already dead, where he did not have a wife or a son or even his sister," Gelly resumed her weak speech, strangely glitching into Seth's voice, "he decided to avenge his family on you and then even sacrifice this reality to recreate his. You all know how that went."
"That does not change anything he's done," Trias told her, "no matter how sad his story is..."
"He is aware of that, but he is still asking for your help to get what he has lost back."
Reese leaned on the desk. "I understand his pain and that he'd love to bring his family back to life, but there is too much at risk. Relying on that devil and her will to cooperate is like a reversed Russian roulette; one out of six chance of any of us even surviving."
"That's right," Laura agreed, "the Dark Pterosaur does not forgive. Since Seth is the one who defeated her the first time, he is on top of her hit list. Gelly, summoning the Dark Pterosaur would only result in Seth's death."
The Gel Jark lowered her head. "Understood. What Mr. Seth wanted was to control that huge power bending the rules of time and space without any consequences, which would allow even you to get what you desire."
"Without any consequences?" Ellie hummed thoughtfully, pouting. "So, I could prevent my younger self from gaining weight in high school, but none of my actions effected by my body type would be changed, the only difference would be my current body?"
"Indeed," Gelly confirmed.
"You're perfect just the way you are, darling," Ed told his girlfriend.
The freckled blonde blushed. "I'm not complaining," she reassured him, "I just wanna make sure I get it; I'm not actually the sharpest tool in a shed when it comes to brains."
Gelly titled her head. "What tool? And what shed? Are you able to transform too, but into inanimated objects? Do you live in a shed?"
"Huh?" Ellie grinned at her nervously, scratching her cheek. "That isn't actually-It is called a figure of speech..."
"A figure of speech?"
She took the Gel Jark's hands swiftly, smiling from ear to ear. "You have a lot to learn. I can give you a helping hand if you'd like."
"My body can transform however I please, so I suppose I can own this 'helping hand' you are talking about."
Ellie sighed, hanging her head. "This is gonna be harder than I thought..."
Gelly then glanced at the rest. "So, what should I tell Mr. Seth?"
"Tell him to come here tomorrow just like he planned," Reese replied.
"Alright."
—
When Seth came to the HQ the next day, he was immediately met with Reese. "Have you changed your mind?" he asked her.
"No. I am not providing you with all that power no matter what you want to use it for, despite that, we can try helping you. The Dark Pterosaur's power will not be extracted from my body and yet we can work with it, but only after 5 months; I am not putting my child in danger for anything."
"Alright. It is in your body after all."
"You seem to be too okay with this," Reese noticed.
"I had a talk with Ms. Jark. Is that all?"
"Not quite. You will not hurt my family."
"Of course, I will not betray you and if I do, I will not touch the Drakes."
"Not only Drakes."
"Okay, I won't touch anyone at least remotely close to the D-Team."
"Good, but I meant all of my family. No one involved in this will be harmed."
Seth chuckled mockingly. "Don't tell me you've grown to care for these imbeciles."
The blonde glanced away and smiled. "I have..."
—
Wow, long and interesting.
This chapter has a lot of explaining, so I hope it wasn't too boring.
The chapter is named after the first line in the song The Reason by Hoobastank, which is Seth's Chains of Love theme song.
As for Seth's backstory, I'm pretty sure that losing parent, sister, wife, and son should sound familiar ;)
Anyways, I don't think I have to add more since there's been a lot of info given already.
I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!