Chapter Forty Four: The Space-Time Dimension
When Wilbur opened his eyes, he was floating in a dark mass of space and memories.
The space-time dimension.
It was like he'd flown out into space, but his body still had mass. Instead of floating aimlessly, it felt more like falling, tumbling head over heels into his own head.
As the colors and memories whipped by, he could hear snippets of different conversations. His dad's voice stuck out, but he sounded way younger than he remembered.
"Mildred, nobody's ever going to want to adopt me!" The younger Cornelius yelled. "Nobody wants a screwup!"
"Mommy, is Daddy still working?" Was that Penny? "He said he'd come take Bolt to the park with me!"
"Jackson, I know you've been through a lot, but so has Merida. You two need to get along,"
"I'm sorry Lucy, but it's for the best," A mysterious voice whispered. "Especially if she turns out like me,"
"Everyone is special Dash,"
"My caterpillar never turned into a butterfly!"
"It's okay Hiro, 'Dashi's here,"
"Riley honey, we're moving…"
"That's just another way of saying nobody is,"
"Does this mean we have to move again?"
"Dad, Vex is going to love Aunt Evelyn, its me you should be worried about,"
Wilbur scowled. That left a bad taste in his mouth, realizing now that Aunt Evelyn was a supervillain.
"We need to cut the power!"
That was when Dr Moone's machine exploded and gave him his powers.
Recognizing the memory, Wilbur shook his head and focused. He had to get back to Violet and save her. He needed to go forward, this was too far back.
Wilbur pushed forward, rolling around until it felt like he was sort of standing. He focused on the space-time dimension, taking a few hesitant steps forwards.
He wasn't sure if they were stars, or portals, or memories, but everytime one of those passed him, he saw the time inside. There were several versions of himself - at his dad's office, training with the others, training at night, - but they were all too early.
Closing his eyes, Wilbur focused on what had just happened.
Violet. Fire. Save her. Violet. Fire. Save her. Violet. Fire. Save her.
With a pop, he appeared in front of the convention center. The inside of the building suddenly flared with light, then Cornelius, Callaghan, Hiro and Rapunzel came stumbling out. He could hear the rest of the team - including himself - coming down the street to meet them.
"Too late," Dimension muttered, then pushed back into space-time.
The next time, he landed inside the convention center. The fight with Pitch was just beginning, and flashes of golden light lit his way as Wilbur found the bomb in the darkness.
He spent almost too long trying to pry the panel on the floor up before moving it, then looked at the bomb. It had a few dim lights, and the connected wires were twisted up and intertwined so tightly it was almost impossible to sever them.
It took him three more time trips to figure out the right combination, but Wilbur managed to cut through the right one and disable the others. He even got rid of the backup explosives, teleporting them out into the desert where they'd corrode before anyone ever found them again.
And to make sure, he crouched down and hid just in case.
He watched Hiro and Rapunzel finish the fight and send Pitch running, then as Penny warned them about the bombs. Wilbur made sure Hiro didn't see him, then called the others in. They then left the convention center, and a few more minutes passed before he watched himself teleport Violet and Riley inside.
As he and Violet's conversation happened, Wilbur was startled when Riley turned and stared straight at him. The past him was too distracted to notice, but Riley took a few steps forward and held out a hand.
He felt the pull at the back of his mind and let her inside. Riley felt around, picking out the emotions before looking back at him. Her eyes pricked with tears and she quickly glanced back at the team leader.
"She… doesn't make it?"
Wilbur shook his head.
"Get her back," Riley whispered. "Please,"
The past Wilbur grabbed Riley and teleported away. The bomb went off, and Violet captured it in her force field.
For a while, it looked like the plan had worked. The fire was contained, and Violet's extra boost of energy from Riley was sustaining her. Then, she cringed and grabbed at her side, and Wilbur watched as her hand came away dark with blood.
"No-" Wilbur cried, realizing what was about to happen. She'd been injured in the fight with Screenslaver, and it was coming back to bite her.
The force field faltered, and Violet stumbled. And while she tried to fix her mistake, the fire escaped, spreading around the building. Before Wilbur could grab her and escape, she's already disappeared into the flames.
"NO!" Wilbur screamed, and traveled back further.
This time, he landed outside the hypnotism room as Screenslaver and his past self fought inside.
Wilbur's brain was starting to get a little scrambled, the different timelines introducing multiple memories that mixed up and made everything confusing. All he could remember for sure was his mission.
He crammed the stolen goggles over his eyes to protect him from the mind-bendingness and teleported inside, tackling the hypnotist just as she was about to hit Violet.
Violet yanked the power cord just as he and the villain landed, and Wilbur teleported away and back to the convention center. He landed right behind Phantom, who was putting up a field about the bomb.
This time, Violet's stance was stronger. She held the force field as the explosion grew, then pulled her hands close to her chest. The shield compacted, the purple color growing thicker as it got stronger.
"Ahhh!" Violet yelled, throwing her arms up and throwing the explosive force field up. It smashed through the ceiling and roof, letting in a stream of bright sunlight that illuminated her like some sort of battle-worn angel.
Once the force field had cleared the roof and was still hurtling into the sky, she dropped it, letting the fire dissipate into the air. Some of the explosion still hit the roof, starting the fire anyways, but it moved decidedly slower last time.
Swaying from the effort, Violet stumbled and passed out on the ground. Wilbur smiled and sighed in relief, then scooped her up and teleported out of the building.
The rest of the team let out cheers and surprised yells, alerting the senior supers who came running.
"What did you do?!" Cornelius yelled, shoving past the Gru's to get to his son, Mr Incredible and Elastigirl close behind.
"That," Wilbur smiled, swaying himself as all the timeline jumping caught up to him. "Is an excellent question,"
Wilbur promptly passed out on the ground next to Violet, which meant he never heard what his dad said next.
Authors note: Just one more chapter (the epilogue) to go! Then I think I'll have to take a small break while I work on other stories. I've been busy with school and other projects, and I just haven't figured out what story to start next. Don't worry, I have some short stuff to post still, but you might have to wait for a bigger story.