This chapter will take a small detour from the main plot, it will focus on Lynn and Ryan, where some old problems from their original timeline will return to them full force.

"What a view!" Lynn marveled as she and Ryan parked their bikes near the edge of the gorge, with a panting Charles catching up with them. Below them flew a calm river, its banks covered in small patches of deciduous forest.

At the very end of the gorge, there was a bridge with plenty of cars speeding across it. On the other side, there were miles of flat prairie with only a sparse amount of buildings, namely a gas station and a few small houses lined near the road. Down at the river, there were a few groups of kids playing in the water.

"Definitely a sweet view." Ryan grinned sleazily as he lifted his shades.

Lynn turned and saw that he was eyeing a group of high school girls in bikinis coming up the trail and heading towards their car.

Feeling her blood boil, Lynn smacked him in the head.

He yelped and rubbed his head. "What? Can't I admire a pretty sight too?"

"Drop the act, Casanova." Lynn snarked irritably as she jumped off her bike. "And let's go. Come on Charles!" she called for her dog who was sniffing some shrubs.

Ryan wondered if he had struck a nerve with her. He hoped so. With them finally alone he was hoping to get his chance to talk about certain things. Deep down he felt immensely nervous.

Lynn took another view down the gorge.

"Oh look, isn't that the old cabin?" she pointed out. They saw the rundown cabin at the river's edge with a wooden pier next to it.

"Yes, it is. I heard it might be haunted?" Ryan joked.

Lynn rolled her eyes before noticing that Charles had wandered off further and was searching through the shrubs. Lynn called for him to come back, but he didn't.

"You think he saw something?" she asked her friend.

"Probably a squirrel or a chipmunk." Ryan shrugged. "What else could there be at a tourist trap like this?"

Suddenly, they heard a faint rustling and Charles yelped and came bolting towards them with something chasing him.

"Marceline!" they both blurted.

Charles hid behind Lynn`s leg and she picked up Marceline in her arms.

"Well, I`ll be!" Lynn laughed in disbelief. "I think someone got jealous that her master ran off with a dog."

After getting over the surprise, Ryan snorted exasperatedly. "You know, if you wanted to come you should have just asked." he addressed his pet who purred in response.


Once they settled on the bank, Lynn put Charles on a leash and tied it to a tree. She didn't want to risk him wandering off, even more so now that Marceline had joined the party.

The cat in question sat down only a foot away from the dog, calmly licking her paw as the bull terrier was whimpering, barking and jumping around excitedly, almost choking himself. She seemed aware that the canine had been restrained and seemed to be passively taunting him that he couldn't get her.

Casting her sneakers aside, Lynn untied her hair and undressed down to her red, one-piece swimsuit before joining Ryan at the end of the pier. Wearing his black shorts, Ryan had his feet dipped in the water and Lynn joined him.

For today at least, she was willing to cast away the worries that were weighing heavily on her and Lincoln and just enjoy herself. The view of the surrounding forest and the gentle, flowing river was a very beautiful and relaxing sight.

Ryan exhaled pleasurably. "This is the life. No school, no distractions. Just peace and quiet."

"Yeah..." Lynn agreed. After the last few days, she appreciated having some down time away from her family and her ever-active lifestyle as an athlete.

Ryan was one of the few people, besides Lincoln, with whom she could just chill out and felt comfortable talking openly. Though, it wasn't long before her competitive mind started brewing up some ideas.

For Ryan, Lynn was pretty much the only person with whom he liked to hang out with. He still couldn't believe that they were actually alone, away from anyone who might bother them, sitting at the pier surrounded by nature. He started feeling fuzzy on the inside.

Perhaps this was the right moment to ask her. He doubted there would be a better one.

"Hey, Lynn, you know...i was wondering..." he started nervously.

"Get a grip, you idiot! Play it cool!" he scolded himself.

"Hold that thought, right now this water`s looking pretty inviting..." Lynn proclaimed as she stood up and jumped off the pier, spinning in the air before disappearing below the surface.

Her head soon popped back up, with her cheeks puffed. She quickly squirted Ryan in the face with water and started laughing.

"C`mon, slowpoke! The water`s great!"

"Okey-dokey, but you might wanna duck!" Ryan warned her before cannonballing into the water.

He didn't resurface and grabbed Lynn by the foot and pulled her under. She quickly resurfaced with an angry look and moved her hair out of her eyes.

"Now we`re even." Ryan quipped, floating next to her.

"Not for long." she smirked. "Race you to the other shore!"

"Okay." he accepted and swam off.

"Hey! I didn't say "go"!" Lynn growled and swam to catch up with him.


Meanwhile, Charles had worn himself out and was lying down and panting heavily with his tongue out, with Marceline napping on a towel near him. Something quickly caught the dog`s eye, a chipmunk nibbling an acorn. Charles immediately jumped to his feet, barking exuberantly and yanking his leash. The noise woke Marceline up.

Yawning, the sharp-eyed cat looked around and quickly spotted the stripe-backed rodents. Her pupils dilating, she rose up in a prowling position, flicking her tail, before bolting and clearing the gap between her and the chipmunk within seconds.

The chipmunk fleed into the first hiding place it could find, a small crevice within a boulder. Marceline stuck her face down the narrow crevice, before shoving her paw in to catch the trapped rodent.

Whimpering louder and jumping wildly, Charles finally started bitting down on his leash.


Lynn and Ryan gasped for air as they both simultaneously placed a hand on a rock at the bottom of a rocky slope.

"Huh, I win!"

"Hey, I touched it at the same time, how about a tie?" an out of breath Ryan suggested.

"No way! I only go for the win!" Lynn rebutted boastfully.

"Alright." Ryan smirked. "New challenge! Who can keep their breath up the longest-"

"You're on!" Lynn took a big gulp and dove down. Ryan quickly followed.

They swam towards the bottom, cheeks puffed and glaring at each other for nearly two minutes.

But Ryan noticed something else, an opening in the rock, and he could see light reflecting on the sandy floor at the end of the cavern. Lynn was slowly turning red and swam up.

She gasped for air and Ryan resurfaced next to her, smirking triumphantly.

"Weak lungs, huh?"

"That was just a warm-up." an embarrassed Lynn snarled. "Let's do it again!"

"Forget the petty contests. I have a more fun idea." Ryan suggested while spotting a crack in the cliff wall.

"I think I found an underwater entrance to a cave. Wanna see if we can get in?" he asked cheekily.

"And no racing." he quickly added. "Let's do it together."

Intrigued by the proposition, Lynn`s face softened. "Alright, no racing."

Ryan offered her his hand. She raised an eyebrow.

"Cave exploring requires the buddy system. Just in case." he explained.

Lynn smirked and took it. "Whatever you say, buddy."


Marceline was trying to snag the chipmunk when something slammed into her and knocked her off her feet. Charles started sniffing into the crevice and barking at the chipmunk, his barks bouncing back at him. He started digging his way in when Marceline pushed him away and tried to reach her prey. Charles pushed her away and the cat hissed and clawed at him.

As they started quarreling, the chipmunk seized its chance to escape right under their noses. The two, however, spotted it running away and promptly chased after it, Marceline quickly gaining a headstart over the short-legged Charles.


Holding hands, they swam back down. Giving each other affirmative looks, they swam into the cavern, barely avoiding smacking into the rock ceiling above and feeling the intense water pressure. Luckily they soon found the brightly lit sandy floor and looked up to see clear water revealing the cave ceiling above.

Swimming up, they soon gasped for air and found themselves facing the relatively confined, spherical interior of the cave with lots of stalagmites just above their heads and the one crack in the wall that lit the cavern up.

The two laughed.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"That`s a lot of pointy rocks." Lynn observed.

"That`s nothing, I`ve seen far bigger, spikier and spookier cavern in my day." Ryan proclaimed proudly.

"Duly noted, gramps." Lynn joked.

But then she saw something brown, serpentine and extremely slimy brush past her chest. Lynn screeched and the creature swam down.

"Something touched me!" she grabbed Ryan and started kicking the water.

"Wow! Wow! You're drowning me!" Ryan shouted and pushed her away. As Lynn calmed down and stopped trashing, she swam towards Ryan and gently hugged him, while trembling.

They then saw the slimy, cat-sized salamander haul itself onto a rock and slip through a small crack.

"What was that?" Lynn asked in a shaky voice.

"Oh, that was hellbender, nothing dangerous." he replied in a chill tone.

"Oh."

"Don't worry, Lynn. You know I`ll protect you if we run into any danger." Ryan smirked at her.

Lynn deflated before scowling and splashing him in the face.

After leaving the cave, the two continued to fool around the river, splashing each other, finding high platforms to make daring dives, doing about a dozen more races from shore to shore, losing track of time until they were exhausted enough to return to the pier.

Once on it, they lied on their backs next to each other, both panting from exhaustion and laughing with exuberance.

"What...a..blast!" Lynn panted.

"We probably gave a cramp to every single muscle in our bodies..." Ryan snarked.

"Just how I...pew... like it." Lynn replied before sitting up. She looked over her shoulder only to see Charles` leash hanging off the tree.

"Where did Charles go? And Marceline?" Lynn grew worried.

As if on cue, the savannah and the bull terrier appeared, chasing something between the trees.

The chipmunk eventually found itself cornered by the cat. Marceline pounced on it but missed by an inch. The chipmunk ran beneath her legs but soon had its escape route blocked by Charles. It ran through a maze of trees with the canine`s snapping jaws and excited barking tailing it. Soon, it had to dodge the attacking cat as well.

The chipmunk ran through a hollow, narrow log. Charles and Marceline rushed in at the same time only to get stuck together at the opening.

As they squirmed, yapping and hissing at each other, the chipmunk managed to run out on the other side. Marceline managed to squeeze herself forward, while Charles jerked back and landed on his butt.

As he looked up, he saw Marceline pursuing the bushy-tailed rodent. Barking loudly he followed.

Ryan chuckled. "Well, looks like my cat is teaching ol`Charlie to embrace the call of the wild."

"Something tells me not to interrupt their little chase game." Lynn laughed.

"I couldn't even if I wanted to, I`m pooped." Ryan quipped as they turned around to admire the view from the pier.

Judging from the sky it was already late afternoon. They saw that all the other kids had left the river, they assumed they all just went home.

"Some day, huh?" the boy quipped idly.

"Yeah...it was fun." Lynn smiled before remembering something. "Say, didn`t you have to tell me something?"

Ryan gulped. This was it. It had kind of slipped his mind, but now he was back where he had started. He had planned to ask her something today.

He bit his lip as Lynn awaited his response.

"C`mon, don't be a puss. Just ask her straightforward. Be a man, you can't weasel yourself out of this. You`ve waited too long."

"Oh, yeah, I did..." he laughed uneasily, bracing himself.

He gulped again. "Lynn, I...I was wondering...AGHH!"

Lynn jolted as Ryan jerked forward in surprise and pain. She heard the sound of a small rock bouncing on the pier before plopping into the water. Somebody had thrown it at him.

Mocking, obnoxious laughter echoed behind them.

Ryan rubbed his back while an infuriated Lynn turned to see who did it.

And she saw him, a boy around the same age as them. He had a unibrow, acne all over his face and brown, messy hair trimmed on both sides of his head, giving him a sort of mohawk.

He sneered at them reveling teeth as crooked as Ryan`s. He was flanked by three other boys, all were wearing their swim trunks.

Ryan recognized them all. They used to be his lackey and volunteer group of freelance goons. But Lynn was fixed on the leader. It was Lyle.

She had only met him once, but she would never forget him. Not only for beating up Lincoln, but also for attacking Luan and Lana with a baseball bat out of petty vengeance against her after she had kicked his ass.

Anger and hatred seethed through her as she remembered her sisters beaten and bruised, especially Luan`s swollen face and Lana`s broken arm.

They both stood up as Lyle casually strolled closer. "Well, what do we have here, some fresh meat!" he sneered mockingly.

"Uhhhh...I hope I didn't interrupt you two sitting in a tree and K.I.S.S.I.N.G!" he laughed.

"Actually, they were sitting on a pier." one of the boys corrected him helpfully. Lyle glared at him viciously.

Ryan almost chuckled, remembering how abysmal his old lackey was at trash talking. Lynn, meanwhile, stood still with tranquil fury.

"Well, look at you. Lyle Owen, is it?" Ryan greeted him in a friendly manner, confusing the bully. Why wasn't he scared or angry?

"I heard about you. Word on the street is you`re tough." Ryan stated before checking him out. "I don't see it." he added dryly.

Still confused, Lyle forced a chortle and walked closer to the pair. "Oh? And I heard about you! New kid in town?"

He snorted gleefully. "When they said you had a face only your momma could love, they weren't kidding!" Lyle laughed.

Ryan felt amused. That was the exact same line Lyle had told him when they originally met before he whopped Lyle`s ass.

Ryan shrugged. "What can I say? I`m my own kind of beautiful." he said in a flattered tone.

Lyle`s face dropped, feeling befuddled.

"You have some nerve to show yourself!" Lynn spoke up through clenched teeth.

Lyle diverted his gaze at her. He snorted. "I can go wherever I want, freckle-face. Some sissy girl ain't ordering me around."

He and his gang laughed at her. Lynn tensed up with subdued fury.

"Now, guys, let's not get hostile." Ryan spoke up to Lyle.

"Me and Lynn were enjoying ourselves, why did you throw pebbles at us?" he asked in a faux-hurt tone.

His obvious sarcasm was lost on Lyle who laughed cruelly.

"Because throwing rocks is what we do to freakshows!" he stated before Lynn lunged at him.

Ryan pulled her back but not before she pushed Lyle away. Nearly falling over, he regained his footing.

He was surprised, before smirking. "Uhhh...you got yourself a feisty one." he snickered at Ryan.

"Let me go!" Lynn snapped and tore her arm free before glaring at Lyle.

"You!" she growled hatefully. "You hurt my brother and my sisters!"

Lyle blinked and looked at his posse before they all hollered with laughter. Lynn felt her blood boil.

"You`ll have to be a bit more specific, girly. I beat up a lot of brothers and sisters." he replied snidely.

In a millisecond Lynn`s fist connected with his face. Neither Ryan or the other boys saw it, they only saw Lyle flying back and the latter caught him in their arms.

Shaking himself out of a daze and with blood dripping down his nose, Lyle glowered at Lynn with unhinged furry and gritted his teeth.

"She did it." Ryan facepalmed.

"Oh, did the wittle boy get a boo-boo." Lynn mocked him while raising her fists to signal him to come and fight.

Growling like an animal, Lyle stood up, clenched his fists and swung one at Lynn.

But Ryan grabbed it and twisted his hand. Before he could react, Lyle was decked in the face again and this time he hit the wooden platform.

"Congratulations, Lynn. He`s pissed now." Ryan snarked to his friend.

Lyle sat up, almost foaming at the mouth. "Don't just stand there! GET THEM!"

Obediently, the three charged at Lynn and Ryan.

"You can play with those punks, but Lyle`s mine!" Lynn told Ryan only to be tackled by two of the boys.

"Lynn!" But he couldn't help her as he had to deal with his own opponent.

Dodging a punch, he punched the last bully in the gut. He flew back but Ryan grabbed his arm.

"Watch your valuables!" Ryan quipped as he kicked him in the groin. His face contorting in pain, the stunned boy cried as Ryan pushed him into the river.

Ryan turned to see Lynn being held down, but before he could help her, he heard Lyle roaring furiously as he tackled him. Fighting, the two started rolling down the pier.

Grunting as she wrestled with her opponent, Lynn sank her teeth into his arm, breaking his skin. He cried in pain and she decked him in the cheek.

The other one kicked her in the flank. As she fell, he tried doing it again but Lynn swiftly grabbed his foot and twisted it. Losing his balance he tumbled over her and into the water, falling on top of the one who was trying to climb up.

Lynn saw Ryan struggling with Lyle down the pier.

She ran towards them, only to be tackled from behind.


Running out of steam, the exhausted chipmunk stopped beneath a rock ledge shadowing a small underground cave in the cliff wall. There were a few small bones scattered around it. The chipmunk grew alert as it smelled the presence of something that scared it more than a pair of house pets.

Charles and Marceline came charging at it from different sides, but Charles tripped on a gnawed bone and collided with Marceline. The chipmunk escaped as the two tumbled down, kicking up a dust cloud before landing in the dark.

As they got up they felt the cooler air and saw the dimly lit cavern which was sloping downward. Charles shook the dirt off him, but as he took one step forward he stepped on a broken bone. Yelping, he stumbled back only to bump into something soft.

Both of them grew alert as they heard a soft groan and something stirring. Marceline froze with fear as a large yellow eye opened behind Charles.

What alerted him was a threatening growl.

The bull terrier jolted and ran to the cat`s side as now a pair of eyes, reflected by the light, were staring at them.

Marceline emitted a soft growl with her hair raised while Charles was slowly and fearfully backing away.

The creature rose up, its` features barely distinguishable in the dark. Suddenly, it uttered a blood-curdling snarl, revealing a mouthful of large, white fangs.

Yelping and screeching in fright, the two bolted out of the cave as the creature lunged at them.

Before they knew it, they were running through the forest, with loud crashing and growling right behind them.

As they navigated between the trees they split up, and Marceline saw their pursuer going after her.

She quickly scaled up a tree, only narrowly missing huge jaws clamping down on her. Climbing onto the safety of a high branch the terrified cat looked down to see an enormous, black canine glaring up at her.

Sniffing, he turned his head sharply and saw Charles hiding behind a bush, his white fur making him stand out like a sore thumb.

The bull terrier knew he had been spotted as the beast charged right at him. Whimpering fearfully, he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. Marceline watched him being chased around her tree before both he and the beast disappeared from her sight.


Rolling onto the beach, Ryan kicked Lyle off him. He saw Lynn struggling with two of his goons when Lyle came charging back and punched him in the face. Wiping the blood from his mouth, Ryan gladly returned the favor.

While they were exchanging blows, Lynn was being restrained from behind by one boy and another one punched her in the face.

Raising her legs up, she kicked him in the gut and then planted her feet, squatted down and threw the other one over her.

The first one returned holding a piece of driftwood like a club, he aimed at Lynn but she ducked and he hit his friend instead, breaking the wood in half and knocking him down.

He bit his fingers in shock. "Sorry, Jared, it was an accident!" he yelped fearfully before receiving a tap on the shoulder.

He turned to see Lynn smirking at him before knocking his lights out.

"These dunderheads are taking themselves out now!" she laughed only to be attacked by the third goon.

Ryan landed a hit in Lyle`s gut and then gave him an uppercut to the jaw. Lyle recovered quickly and punched him in the chest.

Clutching his chest, Ryan backed away and smirked. "Just give up, mohawked moron. You're out of your league!" he mocked him smarmily.

Lyle growled. "And you'll soon be out of your teeth!" he charged, but Ryan once again grabbed his fist and hit him in the gut. He slammed his elbow into Lyle`s back and let him drop.

Ryan gave him two kicks in the flank for good measure before running towards Lynn.

Lynn was facing three against one. The boys dogpiled on her, punching and kicking her when Ryan came and grabbed one and threw him over his shoulder and head first into the old cabin.

Only two left, Lynn elbowed one boy in the throat and decked the other in the jaw. Ryan grabbed her hand and helped her stand.

"I had everything under control." she panted.

"I could see that." a deadpan Ryan replied.

"Look out!" Lynn shouted and swiftly kicked Lyle away from blindsiding Ryan.

"Thanks, Lynn!" he exclaimed before decking one of Lyle`s toadies.

They were soon cornered back to back, three against two.

"This is a fine mess you got us into." Ryan snarked while holding his fists up.

"It`s not like they would have talked things out either way." Lynn smirked looking over her shoulder.

They readied themselves and started fighting off Lyle and his cronies.

"Ryan! Catch!" Lynn threw a battered boy towards Ryan who promptly let him collide into his fist and knocked him down.

Lynn saw Lyle running at her, and clenching her fists together, she delivered a powerful blow to his face sending him flying into the wall of the cabin.

He landed on one of his cronies, who was badly bruised.

"That's it, I`m out of here!" the boy whimpered, pulling himself up and ran.

"Come back you scaredy cat!" Lyle yelled pathetically.

"Oh no, he was a smarty cat!" Lynn cracked her knuckles as Lyle glared at her.

"You! Me! We have a score to settle!" she growled as she advanced towards the recovering Lyle.

He had no idea what she was talking about, but he was too mad to care. No way was he gonna lose a fight to a girl!

Grabbing and pulling a loose board from the cabin, he furiously swung it at Lynn but maneuvering the large, flat plank was harder than he thought and he missed her completely. Lynn grabbed the board and struck Lyle in his throat.

Gasping, he let it go and Lynn tossed it aside and decked Lyle in the jaw, feeling an enormous amount of satisfaction doing it.

He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her in for a punch to the face. He struck her in the gut next and she collapsed.

Lyle tackled her, but Lynn slammed both her fists against his head.

Yelping, Lyle fell back and clutched his aching head.

"Don`t worry, it won't hurt for long since there's nothing in there!" Lynn quipped as she stood up.

The still dizzy Lyle tried attacking her, but Lynn easily dodged him a landed a hit on his cheek, then his flank, then his jaw, then his gut, and then one right in his temple. Lynn then crouched down and delivered a powerful kick to his crotch.

The look on his face was priceless as he unceremoniously dropped to the ground. Lynn tackled him and mercilessly pounded his face.

As he dropped, groaning dizzyingly, Lynn rose up proudly and narrowed her eyes. "That was for Lana."

Ryan threw one of Lyle`s goons into a tree. The other one jumped on his back trying to chokehold him but Ryan threw him over his shoulder, held him down and pounded his face before throwing him into his friend.

"Is that the best you got! Give me a real fight!" Ryan exclaimed exuberantly, in spite of his own aching bruises. He forgot how thrilling a good ol`brawl was.

Groaning miserably, the two noticed Lynn coming behind them.

"I see you took out the trash." Lynn joked as the two crawled away from the tree.

"No biggie." Ryan shrugged.

The two boys got up and started backing away. "Alright, you win. We won't bother you again. Let's just forget and shake hands." one of them pleaded with raised hands.

Ryan chortled. "Typical. Once you get your asses handed then you suddenly want to talk things out."

"Too late for that." Lynn growled dangerously.

But then they all heard a dog yelping in pain.

"Charles?!" Lynn realized much to her horror.

While she was distracted, the battered Lyle got up and cracked a gleeful smile. He pulled a lighter and a small stack of firecrackers from his pocket and lit them up.

He aimed them at Lynn when a white blur ran between his legs, yelping and whimpering.

"Charles!" Lynn blurted as the dog ran up to her, looking petrified. Lynn noticed that his right leg was smeared in red.

Suddenly, Lyle uttered an agonizing scream as he was slammed into the ground, his firecrackers flying into the air.

For a second the others saw a large, black animal on top of him before his firecrackers exploded in midair, except for one which landed on the animal`s head as it combusted causing it to yelp in pain and jump off Lyle, who was crying and screaming while clutching his neck as warm blood dripped down it.

As the animal charged blindly Lynn pulled Charles out of the way. The animal halted in front of Ryan and the other boys, scratching its head frantically with one paw.

"WOLF!" one of the boys screamed as they ran for their lives. But Ryan stood still as the large wolf looked up at him, now with only one functioning eye, and looking extremely pissed.

"One Eye?!" he blurted while backing off.

"Oh, c`mon!" he added exasperatedly. This couldn't be for real. This fight just went from bad to much, much worse.

Having just re-earned his name, One Eye barred his teeth before turning to look at Lynn and Charles.

Lynn went agape. "You!"

It was the same wolf that had attacked her and her family during their camping trip. But he was dead? No wait, they were back in time. But how did he find them again?

She and Charles had their backs against the wall of the cabin, as the wolf advanced at them. Charles barked at the top of his lungs.

Without hesitation, One Eye lunged at her, but Charles attacked him and bit into his neck, snarling ferociously. The wolf bit him on his hind leg and effortlessly threw him off like a ragdoll.

He hit the ground hard but picked himself up in time to evade the wolf who started chasing him.

Lyle rose up, still holding the back of his neck and seeing the wolf just a few away from him he screamed and blindly ran down the pier and jumped into the river.

"Lynn! We have to run!" Ryan grabbed her arm and urged her to go, but she saw Charles yelping and gasping as One Eye had him pinned to the ground, bitting down on his throat.

"NO!" Lynn screamed and grabbed the plank of wood. She rushed at the wolf and had to strike him three times before he released Charles.

He turned towards her and Lynn swung the board as much as she could to keep the beast at bay. He bit into it and tore it away from her.

Then a rock struck One Eye in the head. He snarled in its direction when another one hit him.

"Come here you overgrown son of a bitch!" Ryan shouted at him to divert his attention. It worked.

Lynn watched in horror as the wolf pounced on him. Ryan only had time to grab a bigger rock. As he was pinned down he bashed the wolf in the head with it. But One Eye bit the rock and tore it out of his hand.

"Leave him alone!" Lynn jumped on the wolf`s back and wrapped her arms around his neck. He growled and snapped his jaws but couldn't reach her.

Ryan pulled himself away and saw One Eye running around the beach with Lynn on his back. As the wolf made a sharp U-turn towards him Ryan grabbed the plank.

"Jump off!" he yelled as he swung the board at the incoming wolf. Lynn did so and Ryan struck the wolf in the head, breaking the plank in the process.

Disoriented, One Eye tripped over his own feet and crashed to the ground. Ryan rushed towards Lynn and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"Fine. My arm`s just scrapped." she reassured him. They heard a growl.

One Eye was back on his feet and prowled towards them.

They were both exhausted and didn't think they could go on much further. Ryan pulled Lynn into a protective hug and told her to keep calm.

He surveyed his surroundings and saw that their clothes and towels were just a few feet away. He had an idea.

"Stay back!" he shouted at the wolf as he was guiding Lynn closer to the towels. One Eye didn't even flinch.

"I said, down boy!" he yelled nervously. The wolf growled.

"Why don't you offer him a doggy treat!" Lynn snarked uneasily.

"When I say "go", you grab a towel." he told her. Lynn only had seconds to process that before One Eye lunged.

"GO!" They dodged him and dove to grab a towel. As they wolf attacked them they threw it over his head. He shook it off easily and pounced on Lynn.

"Oh no you don't!" Ryan had grabbed his shirt and jumped on the wolf`s back.

"It`s my turn for a ride!" he exclaimed as he pulled the shirt over the wolf`s head and tied it up in a knot.

Shaking his head, the wolf started running blindly with Ryan on his back.

"What are you doing!?" Lynn yelled.

"Improvising!" Ryan shouted when the wolf jumped up and threw him off. Ryan felt a sharp pain as he landed in the middle of a forked tree and hit his head against the bark.

As One Eye was thrashing around trying to get the shirt off his head, Lynn rushed towards Ryan. He was groaning and had one part of his body sticking out on one side and the other on the other side of the tree.

"Oh no." she knew she had little time. She started slapping him on the face.

"Ryan! Ryan! Wake up!"

His only response was groggy mumbling. Lynn cursed and tried to pull him free, but he seemed to be stuck.

She looked and saw One Eye trying to tear off the shirt. With her heart pounding, Lynn rushed around the tree and climbed up, trying to free Ryan from the forked trunk. She grabbed hold of his legs and tried to pull them up. She was sweating heavily and the growls coming from behind her only made her panic more.

With all her strength she lifted Ryan by the legs, but then she heard the tearing of cloth.

She felt her blood freeze and turned to see the wolf looking up at her. He charged at them, coming closer and closer.

Lynn threw her friend over and he hit the ground. She looked ahead and saw One Eye`s gaping jaw coming at her. Instinctively, Lynn jumped through the forked tree and collided head first with Ryan.

For a few moments, things went black.

Then both of them came to. Lynn woke up lying on top of Ryan, her face pressed against his, just inches away from touching lips. Realizing that Lynn pushed herself up and they both blushed as Lynn rolled to the side.

"W...What happened?" a drowsy Ryan asked. He got his answer as they heard growling and saw One Eye looming over them. They jolted, staggered to their feet holding each other until they realized what happened, and they both cracked a goofy smile and laughed with relief.

One Eye had his head stuck in the trunk of the tree, growling and biting at the air furiously as he tried to free himself.

"We made it!" Lynn exclaimed.

"Not so tough now, are you?" Ryan laughed in the face of the wolf who was growling threateningly at them.

"How does it feel to get a rematch and still lose?" Lynn mocked him, coming a little too close and jolting back as he tried to take a bite out of her.

Ryan gulped. "Maybe we gloated enough, that tree won't hold him forever."

He and Lynn ran around him, but Lynn stopped and gave One Eye a good kick to the rear.

"That`s for Lincoln!"

They grabbed their stuff and Lynn rushed to find Charles. She found him lying on the beach, panting and whimpering weakly, his white fur was smeared with blood.

"It`s alright, buddy. You were a good dog and you'll be okay. I promise." Lynn reassured him softly as she picked him up in her arms. She and Ryan rushed up the trail.


As they reached the top of the trail and found their bikes, they collapsed to their knees and had to sit down. They were sweating, out of breath and were finally starting to feel their many bruises, especially on their knuckles.

"You said...it was...safe down there..." Lynn panted while giving Ryan a glare.

"Well...I..." he grinned nervously before looking down ashamedly "...I... may have made an error in judgment." Then something hit him.

"Wait! Where's Marceline!" he blurted worriedly and stood up.

Ryan called for his cat several times, looking more and more desperate and sick with worry until they heard a rustling in the shrubs and the savannah came trotting to her master.

Ryan sighed with relief and sat back down to hug her. "Thank heavens you're alright." he said in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.

Luckily the cat was unharmed, but the same couldn't be said for Charles. He had been bitten on the leg and on the neck. He was standing, but was keeping his head down and appeared lethargic.

"You think he`ll pull through?" Lynn asked worriedly while petting his back.

"I think so. It's just a few bites." Ryan replied with uncertainty. "Nothing the vet can't handle."

Lynn sighed. Just when things were going nicely her past problems came back with a vengeance. Bruised and tired, and with her dog hurt, today had officially become a disaster.

"Come on then. Let's get him to the vet."


Not to worry, the next chapter will return to the "stop the bad future" story, but I felt it was necessary to reintroduce and give some closure to certain plot threads from the original continuity, especially Lynn`s beef with a certain bully. What's the point of traveling in back time if you don't take the opportunity to settle an old debt? XD

I thought about showing a bit of Lincoln and Clyde at the comic con, but this chapter already turned out ridiculously long. Two fight scenes and some animal hijinks take up time.