Gary looked at the notebook in his hand and crossed off one more location on his list. "Iron Heights – check," he said aloud to no one else. "Now onto…" He looked up at the sign a few feet ahead of him. "…Saints and Sinners." He tucked the notebook into his briefcase, took a breath to prepare himself, then said, "Here we go," and walked toward the entrance.
Inside, the lights were low, and it was slightly crowded, though not overwhelmingly so. A jukebox was playing music just quietly enough to remain part of the background. While he could not see any illicit dealings going on, Gary got the feeling that they weren't uncommon at this place. From the looks the patrons around the prominently placed pool table gave him, he could tell that they knew he wasn't a regular. He felt a little uneasy and tried to sneak over to the bar without drawing too much attention to himself. "Oh, bartender?" he called out in his best attempt at fitting in. "I'll have a beer, please. Uh…whichever kind you recommend most. I'm not picky." He felt more eyes on him and pulled the briefcase into his lap as he sat down on a stool beside the bar.
The bartender, a woman with dark hair and several tattoos on her arms, looked him over, then said, "You're new here, aren't you?"
"Just visiting the area," he said with an innocent smile. "I saw this place and thought I'd stop in for a drink."
"I figured," the bartender replied. "Most people here are regulars, but I haven't seen you around. One beer coming up." She turned around and walked to the other side of the bar to prepare Gary's drink.
Gary peered over his shoulder at the rest of the area, relieved that the attention on him was starting to fade away. There was a general vibe of seediness, but otherwise not much else he could discern. According to Snart's records, he had been known to visit this place occasionally, but that wasn't much to go on. There was also no way to tell if any of the people currently patronizing the club had been regulars three years earlier. The bartender is my best shot, Gary decided. I can ask her how long she's been here without looking suspicious and, if it's longer than three years, I can go from there.
"Here you go," the bartender said, handing Gary a tall glass of beer.
"Thank you," Gary said. He took a sip, then asked, "What's your name, by the way?"
"Hannah," she answered.
"Nice to meet you, Hannah," Gary said. "You seem to know everyone around here. Have you been working here a long time?"
"You could say that," Hannah answered. "I've been here about five years, so, yeah, I pretty much know all the regulars by now."
Perfect, Gary thought. "Wow," he said. "Five years, huh? Have you met any interesting people here in that time?"
She nodded. "Sure. Lots."
"Like who?"
"Oh, you know. This is Central City. Crazy stuff happens all the time. People with superpowers are always walking around. One time, I saw a guy with a snake for an eyeball. At least, I think that's what it was."
"Okay…" That wasn't the most helpful answer. He tried to be a little more direct. "…so you've seen a lot of metas. I've heard some stories about metas fighting the Flash. Did you ever run into any of his enemies?"
She gave him a wary look. "Look, we don't ask what our customers do when they're not here. If their money's good, they're welcome, no other information needed."
"Of course," he said. "But I can't help being curious. I've heard a lot of stories about the Flash, and Central City, and metas, and also some non-metas like…oh, what's his name? Captain Cold?"
Hannah stared at Gary for a few moments, then shrugged. "Then you're hearing some old stories. Captain Cold died years ago."
"Maybe so," Gary said, once again not disputing Snart's alleged death, "but I do appreciate the stories anyway. You seem familiar with him. Was he a regular here, too?"
"Kind of," Hannah answered. "He didn't come in as often as most regulars do. Just once in a while. But like I said, the only questions I ever asked him were about his order. I mean, I knew who he was, but it wasn't any of my business." Another patron at the opposite end of the bar called her over. "Coming," she said as she hurried to help them.
Gary frowned. Hannah didn't seem like she was trying to hide anything. Whether that was true or not, she didn't seem like she was eager to share details about any customers, let alone Snart. As Gary pondered what to try next, he felt a finger lightly tap his shoulder.
He turned his head quickly and saw a beautiful woman with long, blonde hair standing beside him. She was wearing all black, from her leather jacket to her boots. The only contrasting color was in her earrings and nail polish, both of which were a shiny gold. "Hey, stranger," she said sweetly. "I couldn't help overhearing you asking about Captain Cold."
"Heh…yeah," Gary said, straightening his glasses. "I was doing that."
"You know he's dead, don't you?" the woman asked, inching a little closer to him. "It's a little late to become a fan."
"I was just curious," Gary said.
"And why's that?"
"I just have a few questions about him. Some things I want to know."
She rolled her eyes and smirked teasingly. "What are you, his biographer? I bet he would've loved that. People writing about him after he's gone. He always thought he was so cool."
"No, I'm just…hey, wait a second." Gary turned sideways to fully face her. "You really knew him, didn't you?"
"Guilty as charged," she said. She leaned sideways against the bar, bringing herself even closer to Gary. He could tell she was being flirtatious and tried to remind himself that he was on a mission. "You know," she said, "if you want to get out of here…I could tell you everything you want to know."
Gary looked at her skeptically. "Everything?"
She smirked again. "Everything."
You are a Time Bureau agent, Gary reminded himself. This place is probably full of criminals. Don't fall for this without thinking it through. "How do I know you're not lying?" he asked her.
"Well, that hurts," she said, "but I promise you, I knew Leonard Snart better than anybody else did when he was alive."
"Prove it," Gary said. "Tell me something only somebody close to him would know."
She looked him straight in the eyes and, without even a moment's hesitation, stated, "Born June 2, 1972 at Central City Hospital, his best friend was Mick Rory, his favorite color was blue, he liked baseball better than football, he aced every math class he ever took, he watched Shark Week religiously, he had a massive sweet tooth, he always wanted a dog growing up but never got one…and that's as much as you're getting from me in here."
Gary thought for a second, then said, "Okay. I'm convinced."
She smiled sweetly. "I thought so." She nodded toward the backdoor. "Meet you outside." She strolled slowly out through the back exit, glancing back at him as she slipped through the door.
Gary paid his bill, then hurried after her. He reached the backdoor, stepped through it, and let it close behind him. He spotted her standing against the wall and said, "All right, we're outside. Now, what did you want to say about Snart?"
"That he wasn't as gullible as you are, apparently," she said, suddenly sounding much less sweet. She pulled off the blonde wig on her head, exposing wavy, dark brown hair.
"Wait a minute," Gary said, taking a step back, "you're not blonde? Who are – oof!"
She pulled a black gun-like weapon from behind her back and hit him in the head with its handle, knocking him out. She looked down at him, then rolled her eyes in disgust. "No offense, but this was far from my most difficult kidnapping. You could've at least made it a challenge." She dragged him to a nearby van and shoved him in the back, then climbed into the driver's seat and drove away.
Nannerl stared wide-eyed, her mouth gaping as she took in the sights surrounding her inside the mall's video game arcade. Kids and teens gathered around brightly lit games, and the whole area was full of colorful images, flashing lights, and strange sounds coming from both the effects of the games themselves and the upbeat 80s pop music playing in the background. "Whoa," she breathed. She looked up at Snart, who was standing beside her. "I've never seen anything like it."
"And what do you think?" Snart asked her.
She looked around the room, then back up at him. "It looks like magic."
"You could say that again," Nate commented, standing on the other side of her, with Charlie following slightly behind him. "I haven't seen so many classic games in one place in…well, at least since I was super little."
She pointed at a game near the entrance. "What's that?"
"That," Nate answered with a grin, "is a little game called Donkey Kong. It's pretty iconic."
Nannerl pointed to another game a little bit farther away. "And that?"
"Frogger," Nate answered.
"And that?" she asked, running forward a few paces to point to another game.
"Q*bert." He let out a low whistle. "Man, this is like a whole room of pure nostalgia. Don't you guys just love it?"
Charlie rolled her eyes. "Eh, nostalgia gets pretty pointless when you're immortal. Every decade's a bit overrated from what I've seen."
"Shh," Nate hushed her. "Don't ruin this for me." He spotted Nannerl and Snart walking over to a nearby game. "Ooh, is that the original Mario Bros.?" he asked as he and Charlie followed them. "Awesome!"
Nannerl looked up at the blinking, pixelated screen, then at the controls. "How does it work?" she asked.
"Well," Nate started to explain, "first, you need to get some coins to pay for the game. Usually quarters. Let me see if I have any…" He started fumbling through his pockets.
"Forget it, Nathaniel," Leonard said, producing a brown wallet from his jacket. He took out a small stack of quarters and handed them to Nannerl. "This should get you through a few games."
Nate looked at the wallet suspiciously. "Um…did you just steal that?"
Leonard shrugged. "It won't be missed. There was barely anything in it."
"Okay, but when?" Nate asked confusedly. "We walked here in, like, five minutes. Maybe less. I didn't even see you brush up against anybody." He looked back at Charlie and gestured toward Snart. "Did you see him take it?"
"Nope," she replied, shaking her head.
"That's kind of the point, isn't it?" Snart said. "Anyway…" He turned to Nannerl. "…you want to try this one out? Put one of those coins in that slot and see what happens."
Nannerl did as he said. The screen brightened and pixelated characters appeared on the screen. She gasped, then turned to Leonard while pointing at the screen, "Look! Look at that!"
He nodded, amusement all over his face. "I see. Why don't you push that button right there and try playing the game?" He pointed to the start button.
She stared at the screen for a second, then tentatively pressed the button, starting the game. It wasn't long before she was fully immersed in it, though her first attempt was a short one. When the "Game Over" signal flashed across the screen, she frowned until a determined look took over her small face. "I bet I can win if I play again," she said. She looked to Leonard for approval. "Can I play again?"
"You can play as many times as you want, kid," he assured her.
She smiled and inserted another quarter, restarting the game.
"What now, you bloody genius?" John asked Mona as the tiny musician grinned at them.
"Hey, I thought using magic to save kids was, like, your thing," Mona said defensively.
"From demons, love. Not in frivolous ways like this."
Wolfgang pointed at John, interrupting their argument. "You're a magician! That was real magic!"
John forced a smile. "Quite an eye you've got there." He muttered to Mona quietly, "Call the Legends. Now."
Before she had a chance to respond, Wolfgang ran to John and tugged on his coat, surprising him. "Do it again! I want to see the magic again!"
"Uh…I don't think so," John said, attempting to gently remove the boy's hands from his clothes.
"Please!" Wolfgang begged. "Just one more time?" He pouted and clasped his fingers together pleadingly. "Please, please, please, please…"
"Well," Mona pointed out, "at least he's being polite about it."
John sighed exasperatedly. "Still a no, Mona. I've never kept my abilities a secret, nor do I think I should have to, but magic can have serious consequences and shouldn't be used carelessly. Besides, exposing him to more magic than necessary will only further complicate things at this point. The only thing that's going to help him now is getting his sister back. We need to go."
"No!" Wolfgang exclaimed, running behind them to block the door with his small frame. "Don't go yet. I really want to see the magic."
"You already saw it," John reminded him. "I think that was enough for one day, don't you?"
"Please," the boy begged again. "Just a little bit more. I'll do anything. I'll practice all my pieces and play them all perfectly. Please show me more magic!"
Mona shot John a glance. "You'll practice all your pieces, you say?" she asked Wolfgang, though she still looked at John.
"Yes," the boy answered. "Every single one. Just show me more magic. Please!"
John squinted warily at her. "Mona…"
"Look," Mona argued, "it's perfect. You show him a few harmless tricks. He goes back to playing music like he's supposed to until the Legends show up with his sister. Problem solved. History is saved."
"It's not that simple, love."
"But it could be." She bent over as far as she could in her gown to look Wolfgang in the eyes. "If he shows you more magic, do you promise to practice for tonight and perform all your pieces like you're supposed to?"
"Yes," Wolfgang nodded eagerly. "I do. I promise."
John rolled his eyes. "You're buying this? He's a six-year-old who just discovered that magic is real. He'll say anything right now."
Mona pointed toward John's chest, roughly aiming for his heart. "But, if you think about it, isn't the real magic the love of music that was inside us all along?"
John stared blankly at her for a beat, then answered. "No. No, it quite literally isn't."
"Aw, but Constantine," Mona said, mimicking Wolfgang's puppy pout as she moved to stand supportively beside the boy. "Are you really going to say no to this face?"
Constantine found himself trapped by their dual pleading gazes. "Stop," he said grumpily. "That…that won't work. Stop it." Neither of them stopped. If anything, they pouted harder. "I said stop. You're not going to…I'm not falling for…"
"Please?" Wolfgang asked as sweetly and innocently as he could.
Constantine closed his eyes and muttered, "Bollocks. Why did you Legends have to make me go soft? You're bloody awful influences, the lot of you." He opened his eyes and stepped back toward the center of the room. "Just one trick. That's all you're getting. Just the one. And you'd better practice everything right after. No excuses."
Gary opened his eyes and sat up with a jolt. "Whoa!" He found himself tied to a chair, though otherwise unharmed. Studying his surroundings, he realized that he was inside what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. "How did I…"
"Get here?" a woman's voice finished for him.
He turned to look at the source of the voice and recognized the dark-haired woman from earlier. "You!" he exclaimed. "You kidnapped me."
"Glad you didn't suffer any memory loss," she replied calmly. "That would really suck for me."
"Listen," Gary warned, "I work for some important people, so if you know what's good for you, you'll let me go."
"Oh, you mean…" She pulled a wallet that Gary recognized as his out of her jacket pocket and thumbed through its contents. "…the FBI? The Department of Defense? A.R.G.U.S.?" She set the wallet down on the table behind her. "Quite a few connections you've got there. But something tells me with that many IDs, none of them are the whole truth. Isn't that right, Gary? If that is your real name." She looked him over for a second, then added, "Actually, I'd buy it. You look like a Gary."
Gary glared at her in an attempt to hide how anxious he really felt. "Well…I…I'm not hiding anything. But even if I were, I wouldn't tell you." He looked around the warehouse again, then back at her. "Why did you bring me here? What do you want with me?"
"Oh, calm down," she replied. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just have some questions."
Gary raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Wait…you have questions for me?"
"No, I just dragged you out here and tied you up for a hilarious prank," she answered sarcastically. She chuckled at her own joke, then added more earnestly, "Seriously, though. I need you to tell me a few things."
"I'm not telling you anything," Gary said. "I…I won't. I don't care what you do to me."
"I said I wasn't going to hurt you, dummy," she reminded. "I literally just want to talk. That's it." She leaned back against the table, crossed her arms, and asked him, "Who sent you to ask around about Leonard Snart?"
"That's classified," Gary answered immediately.
"Classified?" she repeated skeptically.
"Yes. Yes, it's…it's classified. None of your business."
"Actually, it's very much my business. But we can always get back to it. I've got plenty more questions than just that one." She shrugged, then continued, "Why the sudden interest in a dead man? Or is that 'classified,' too?"
"It is," Gary said, forcing himself to sound confident.
"Oh, great. This is getting interesting, then. Does this have something to do with the Legends and time travel?"
Gary froze in shock. "T…time travel?" he asked with exaggerated incredulity. "There's no such thing as time travel."
The woman rolled her eyes. "Gary, cut the crap. I know what the Waverider is, I know who the Legends are, and I know that time travel exists. I know all of that the same way I know that Leonard Snart died on a Legends mission to save the future from some immortal psycho." Her face clouded for a second as she mentioned Snart's death. "He sacrificed himself. Died in his best friend's place. I bet people were really shocked by that, but they shouldn't have been. He was never the monster everybody thought he was." She focused on Gary again. "And something tells me you wouldn't be snooping around his old whereabouts so much if you didn't know at least some of that story. So let's try this again. Who sent you here, and why do you want to know about Leonard Snart?"
"Dude," Nate said, elbowing Charlie, "isn't wholesome Snart the best?"
Charlie smiled and nodded. "He certainly is more fun than usual."
"Remember, whatever happens, we have to encourage the wholesomeness," Nate said. "It's going way too well to stop now. I mean, come on, just look at them."
The two of them watched Leonard escort Nannerl to the next game that caught her eye. "Ooh, what's this one?" she asked, studying the words on the screen. "Star Wars? What does that mean?"
"It means you get to fly a spaceship and shoot lasers," Leonard answered.
Nannerl's eyes widened. "Like your ship?"
"Not exactly, but close enough."
She smiled. "Then I definitely want to try it." She inserted one of her few remaining quarters and activated the game.
As she focused on the screen, Leonard positioned himself strategically against the wall the machine stood closest to. From there, he could see almost every angle that someone could approach from. Measuring with his eyes, he figured out exactly how many seconds it would take for them to leave in any direction case something went wrong. He kept a watchful eye on the open area in front of him, occasionally glancing sideways at Nannerl to make sure she was still safe and in place.
Nate and Charlie moved closer to join him near the wall. "So," Nate said, trying to start a conversation, "this is fun. Isn't this fun?"
Leonard raised his eyebrows, but gave no verbal response.
Charlie jumped in. "Oh, yeah. Super fun. Loads of fun."
"What a great idea," Nate continued. "We should have fun like this together more often. Right, Snart?"
Leonard eyed each of them suspiciously, then waited a moment before answering, "You two are acting very weird right now."
"Psh!" Nate denied. "No, we're not."
"Eh," Charlie said with a shrug. "No more than usual. The Legends aren't exactly known for being normal."
Leonard's face broke into a slight smirk at her remark. "You could say that again." He looked past them to continue watching the area cautiously.
"Seriously, though," Nate said, "this is awesome." He grinned and leaned slightly forward toward Leonard, "Want to go a couple rounds with me on Pacman? It's been a while since I played with someone other than Zari."
"Wouldn't want to make your girlfriend jealous, would I?" Leonard drawled dryly.
Nate tried to clarify, "What? No, I didn't mean…"
"Relax, I'm kidding. But I already told you, I'm not that into video games. I wasn't one of those kids."
"And what kind of kid were you, then?" Charlie asked.
"The kind that pickpocketed the video game kids," Leonard replied. "You wouldn't believe how easy it is to go through someone's backpack when their eyes are glued to one of these things." He pointed his thumb at the game Nannerl was playing.
Nate stared at him for a second. He hadn't expected that answer. "Um…okay, then."
Leonard noted his reaction and said calmly, "Nathaniel, the sooner you realize that I'm not one of your goody-two-shoes superhero friends, the better off we're all going to be. Got it?"
"Uh…yeah. Yeah, I got it," Nate said reluctantly.
While the adults were talking amongst themselves, Nannerl finished one round of her game and prepared to start another. "Wow," a voice behind her said. "That's a good score."
She turned around quickly in surprise and saw a boy around her own age. "It is?" she asked.
The boy nodded. "How long have you been playing this one?" he asked.
"Just today."
"Really? You just started? You're a natural." He took a step closer to her. "I'm Jake, by the way. What's your name?"
"Uh…Maria Anna. But everyone calls me Nannerl."
"Huh. Interesting name." He held out the box of candy in his hand. "Gummy worm?"
"Gummy…worm?" she repeated, trying to make sense of the question.
"Yeah, you can have some if you want." He pulled a worm out of the box and put it in his mouth. "Try one," he suggested as he chewed.
Nannerl glanced back at Snart for just a second, then took a gummy worm out of the box and ate it. "Mm…they're good," she said.
Jake nodded, looked up at the game's title, then asked, "You like Star Wars, huh?"
"Oh. Um…I think so."
"Nice." He nodded backward toward a group of boys and girls on the other side of the room. "My friends and I are trying to catch Return of the Jedi in a little bit. Next show's at four-thirty. Want to come with us?"
Nannerl had no idea what that meant. "Return of the Jedi?"
"Yeah. Star Wars. You know, the movies? Like the game you were just playing? Don't tell me you got a score that high and you don't know Star Wars."
Nannerl glanced back at the game. "Yeah. Yeah, I know Star Wars." She looked back at him. "And your friends wouldn't mind?"
He shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
She grinned. "Then I think I'd like that."
"Cool. We're going to head over about ten minutes before the movie starts. Meet you there!" He walked away to inform his friend group that they'd gained a new member.
Nannerl was practically bouncing up and down with excitement, though she also had many questions. She looked over at Snart and saw that he was still talking to Nate and Charlie. She decided to save her questions – specifically what a movie was, what it had to do with Star Wars, and whether she was allowed to go to one – for a moment longer. Meanwhile, she was going to see if she could get an even higher score.
"You guys really think the rift is here?" Ray asked as he followed the rest of the team through the school's mostly empty parking lot. "Judging by the lack of panicked teachers, it doesn't seem like anyone else has noticed it."
"It's also after hours," Sara pointed out. "Plus, the rift could have shown up in an unused room or something." As they approached the main classroom building, Sara held up a hand to signal them to stop. "First, everybody check comms. We need to know if we're on the right track."
All four of them activated their comms units.
"Testing," Ray said. "Nora, Mick, Sara, do you copy?"
Nora listened for a second. "Nope."
"I only hear your mouth," Mick answered.
"Same," Sara said. "That means we're close." She attempted to pull the doors of the main building open, but found they were locked. "Nora," she said, stepping aside, "will you do the honors?"
"My pleasure," Nora said. She stepped forward and whispered a few magic words. The doors swung open on their own.
"Thanks," Sara said, walking inside.
"Good job, babe," Ray said with a proud smile as he followed his captain.
Mick followed after Ray. "Should take you thieving sometime," he said.
"Uh…I'm going to pass on that one," Nora replied as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
They found themselves in an empty hallway lined with lockers. There were doors leading to classrooms interspersed along each wall, as well as bulletin boards featuring announcements, signup sheets, and flyers.
"Ah, middle school," Sara said as she looked around. "The most uncomfortable time of anyone's life."
"Speak for yourself," Ray replied cheerfully. "I loved it. I got so many science fair trophies. My eighth-grade chemistry teacher was one of my best friends ever. I hung out in his room every lunch period. I still don't understand why nobody else did that."
Mick opened his mouth to mock Ray, but he shut it after catching a warning glare from Nora. "Uh…the rift," he quickly said instead. "We need to find it. Where is it?"
"We're going to have to split up if we want to cover everything," Sara said, "but we can't wander off too far without comms. Ray, do you still have the temporal energy gun?"
Ray patted the pocket of his jacket, where the shrunken-down gun was located. "Got it right here, Captain."
"Perfect," Sara replied. "You and Nora take downstairs. Mick and I will take upstairs. If you two find the rift first, shut it down. If not, we'll rendezvous on that staircase," she said, pointing at the end of the hallway. "We'll let you know if we found it when we get there. If none of us saw it on either floor, we can check outside the building, like in the gym or by the lunch tables. Everyone okay with that?"
"Sounds like a plan," Ray said.
"Yep," Nora agreed. "You two go on upstairs. Ray and I have this floor covered."
"Great," Sara said. "Mick, come on." She led him toward the staircase and up to the second floor of the building.
Once Sara and Mick were upstairs, Nora and Ray began to walk through the various hallways of the first floor. The classroom doors each had small rectangular windows, allowing them to peek inside each one. Room after room, there was no sign of a rift.
"Ooh," Ray said as he looked into the window of a science classroom. "Nora, look at this. I think I found the geometry room." Nora joined him at the window, wondering what was so exciting about that. "There are still equations written on the chalkboard," Ray pointed out. "Man, I remember doing those. Really brings back memories."
"Good ones?" Nora asked.
"Oh, absolutely. Geometry was a close second after chemistry."
"Uh-huh." Nora backed away from the door and began wandering farther down the hallway. "Well, I'm sure it was better than what I was doing at that age, at least." She noticed a windowless door with a sign indicating that it led to the teachers' lounge. "Want to check in this one?"
"Sure."
"Okay. One second." She used the same spell from before and the door handle turned on its own, slowly opening to reveal the inside of the teachers' lounge.
They stepped inside and began looking around the room. While Ray examined the tables and chairs in the center, Nora inspected the shelves of books and magazines along the wall. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her head. "Ow!" she exclaimed.
Ray froze and looked at her immediately. "Babe? You okay?"
"Yes. No. I don't know." She rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to soothe the pain. "It's going away, but I felt something. Something like Mallus and…" She gasped and she looked at Ray, eyes wide with concern. "…the dark dimension. It felt like when they opened the dark dimension."
"What?" Ray stepped closer to her. "What do you mean?"
Nora kept one hand on her head, still slightly feeling the pain. She closed her eyes. "It's…it's coming from this way." She opened her eyes and walked slowly and cautiously out the door.
"Nora? Nora, wait!" Ray said, jogging to catch up to her. "I don't want you getting hurt."
She took her hand off her head. "It doesn't hurt. Whatever happened went by fast. But we need to know what it was." She closed her eyes again, murmured a spell, then opened them and pointed across the hall. "There. It's coming from there."
She opened the door with her magic and revealed a music classroom that appeared to be used for band practice. The lights were off, and it appeared completely empty. She stepped inside and looked around while Ray remained in the doorway. "I sense something here, Ray," she said as she examined the area. "Something dark. I don't know what, but…"
"I do," said a man's voice from the shadows.
Nora spun around and found herself face-to-face with Paul Christian. "You!" She took a step back and prepared to run out of the small room. Paul threw a blast of green flames past her. It filled the doorway and threw Ray backward into the hallway. "Ray!" she exclaimed.
"Nora!" Ray said as he scrambled to his feet. Before he could get inside the room, Paul sent another blast of green fire at him, this time strong enough to fill the hallway and force him farther away. He then snapped his fingers and shut the door.
Nora glared at Paul. "How are you here?" she demanded. "You should be in the present or the dark dimension. Nowhere else."
Paul held up a familiar-looking stone with an ancient symbol carved into it. "Did you really think your father had the only time stone in the world?"
Nora didn't wait for any further explanation. She held up one hand and used her powers to lift him off the ground. "You're not getting away from me this time," she told him. "Tell me what you're doing here."
"Good question." Paul remained in the air for a moment, then broke free from her grasp with his own magic and sent another green blast at Nora. She tried to duck behind something, but was instead thrown backward, crashing into a large number of music stands. "I'm afraid I can't answer it, though. I've got to get going."
Nora jumped to her feet and threw one more blast of magic energy at Paul. He dodged it, then waved his arms, throwing her back with an invisible force into the far wall of the room. "Maybe we can have a better talk next time," he said just before disappearing in a cloud of green smoke.
Outside the classroom, Ray shielded his face as he wove through the magic green flames still burning along the ground. They began to disappear just as he reached the door. He forced the door open, spotted Nora, and ran to her. "Nora!" he shouted. He crouched down on the ground beside her. "Nora, are you okay? Did he hurt you? Where did he go?"
"I'm okay," Nora assured him as he put his arms around her comfortingly. "Just wasn't expecting him to be so powerful. It must be the state of the timeline." She paused, then continued, "He had a time stone. He came here for something important, I'm sure, but he wouldn't say what."
"Does it have to do with the rift?" Ray asked.
"Maybe." Her eyes widened as she had a realization. "Maybe, but it could be something much worse. I don't know what his plan is, but whatever it is, he needs the barrier between dimensions to remain weak in order to keep hopping back and forth like this and continue to draw power from the timeline's instability. That means it's in his interest to keep the timeline from being repaired." She looked Ray directly in the eyes. "And if that's the case, then Nannerl could be in serious danger."
