Timeline One: of Cats, Ghosts, and Peace Conferences (1/2)

Author's Note: There will likely be multiple timelines breaking off from Chapter two. This is the first timeline. Conrad dies, it doesn't take exactly.


Conrad didn't last long after X-20 returned him to the island. The Mysterons had put him through far too many dangerous and toxic situations, and gave him far too little respite and recovery time. He was initially apologetic to X-20, after all it seemed ungrateful to just start dying after all X-20 had done to rescue him. X-20 indignantly pointed out it was hardly Conrad's fault that both the Mysterons and the other humans were cruel and vindictive.

"I will make this up to you," Conrad promised, "somehow."

The last few months of Conrad's life were calm, comfortable, and peaceful, and when he did die, he was not alone, and not unmourned.

X-20, not entirely unversed in human funerary customs, cremated the body and scattered the ashes to the four winds, mindful that Conrad had not wanted his body to end up in some surface dweller laboratory an object of study to see if they could gleam any information regarding the Mysteron's retro-metabolic abilities from his corpse. He made a small memorial marker, just Conrad's name, date of birth, date of death, but not liking the idea of leaving it out in the elements, set it on the dresser in the bedroom Conrad had claimed for himself.

A few days later, coming back from a mission, not successful but not entirely unsuccessful (his first clash with Spectrum agents, and the one in red had ended up literally with egg on his face and his ass in a compost bin as X-20 had escaped) X-20 found a black cat sleeping on the piano. It woke up, stretched, and then leapt to land at X-20's feet. It was large but thin, and its coat a bit tattered and ragged. The Aquaphibian froze as it rubbed itself against X-20's robes while emitting a soft rumble. It sat down in front of him and looked beseechingly up at him, one paw reaching up to touch his robes.

Of all the facts to come to forefront that felis catus generally did not have eyes of that particular grey-brown was the first to cross X-20's mind.

He reached down and picked the cat up, not entirely certain how one held a cat, but the cat itself seemed to know how to arranged itself, and soon was cradled against X-20, its head and front paws on his shoulder, rumbling away happily.


18 months later

The Peace Conference between the surface world and Titanica was brought about by a series of very brief, very intense incidents that many in WASP privately thought were the result of Spectrum sticking their nose in a situation where it was not wanted, or needed. WASP also, while fully recognizing the seriousness of situations, found the clashes between Spectrum and Titanica strangely comedic; Spectrum's agents, regardless of whether they were victorious or not, usually ended up looking like buffoons. (Sam Shore privately wondered to his daughter if the rapidness of the attempt to secure peace came because Spectrum was out of uniform allowances.)

The Island of Lemoy was determined to be the ideal location as it was regarded as Titanica's territory, but not underwater and close to Marineville.

It was not as wise a choice as it seemed.