I still do not own.
Holiday awoke to crying in the middle of the night. She felt Six shift next to her. She knew he was awake too, but this was something only she could do. Blurry-eyed, she stumbled out of bed and moved to the bassinet.
"Hey little guy," she cooed softly. "You hungry?"
She carefully lifted him out, marveling at the lightness. Sitting in her rocking chair, she lifted her top so he could have access to food. Once he was latched on, she leaned back and slowly rocked back and forth. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep. The next thing she knew, Six was lifting Kenji from her arms and laying him in the bassinet.
"Oh, I didn't burp him yet." She fretted but Six led her back to bed.
"If he wakes up again I'll take care of it." He said stoically.
Holiday thought she was still protesting when she fell back asleep. Six tucked her in. Before returning to bed he looked at Kenji.
Although he was swaddled tight he still managed to work his right arm out.
Six smiled. Daddy's escape artist. He thought. Then he sobered. He was a dad. He, a cold-blooded mercenary with a questionable past and unknown future, was the father of a little baby boy. What kind of father would he be? He touched his son's hand. Eyes still closed, Kenji immediately gripped his finger. Six's smile returned as he carefully extracted his finger. Kenji frowned but his eyes remained closed. Six passed his hand over his son's forehead, smoothing over the crease.
"Watashi wa anata o mamoru koto o yakusoku shimasu. " He said softly before returning to bed. As he settled in, he stared at the ceiling. Holiday rolled over and dropped her arm over his chest. He glanced at her tenderly. Lifting her hand to his lips, he then held it over his heart before going back to sleep.
0o0
"Over there." Jade pointed suddenly at the screen hitting Kenji on the side of the head.
"Yeah, we see it. We're not blind." Kenji snapped at her.
"Well, I don't know about you." Jade retorted.
"Guys, come on. Focus." Jasmine urged.
"Did you guys hear something?" Rafael turned his head to the back of the plane.
"What's up hermano?" Violeta asked.
"I thought I heard something." Rafael unbuckled from his seat and moved to the rear of the plane. Everyone stayed still. Sure enough there was a rhythmic banging sound.
Violeta formed her Smack Hands. "Open the door." She said.
Kenji slipped his hanbo from inside his shirt. Jade pulled out her katana. Jasmine loaded her blaster.
"Okay. Ready." Kenji said as Rafael's hand hovered over the control. When Kenji gave him the signal he pressed the button. The door lowered and everyone made ready. A robot was hanging upside down from the tail. It was swinging his legs.
"Who are you?" Violeta demanded. The robot turned around. Then jet boosters from its feet blasted him into the plane.
Everyone jumped back. Jade rushed forth with her blade aloft.
The faceplate on the helmet flipped up.
"Hi." It was Angel. He grinned at everyone.
"Holy... What are you doing here?" Kenji lowered his weapon as everyone relaxed.
"I wanted to come too!" He pressed something on his wrist and his armor retracted like scales until all that was left was a gauntlet on his arm.
"We could have killed you." Jade snapped.
"Nah, nothing can get through dad's armor." He tapped a finger on the gauntlet.
"It's too late to turn back." Kenji sighed. "I guess you're going to have to come with us."
"We'll duh." Angel planted himself into a seat.
"I can throw him off." Jade whispered.
Kenji shook his head as he took his seat. Just as he sat down the ship lurched forward. "Something's got us." Jasmine cried. "Tractor beam."
"Well, pull us out." Jade said.
"Can't. We'd pull ourselves apart." Jasmine said.
"Where's it coming from?" Jade peered into the screen.
"There." Jasmine showed her.
"I got it." Violeta placed her hand on the door and jumped out before anyone could protest. As she free fell, her Boogie Pack sprouted from her back. Flying down she was about to put her hand on the device when something grabbed her.
"Violeta!" Rafael saw from the ship. Kenji jumped out. He pulled out a hover board and coasted.
Violeta struggled with the sentinel that had her in its grip. She tried to slash at it with her BFS. But she couldn't get a good angle. Kenji landed and smashed the robots head in with his hanbo. Sparks flew out its head as it dropped Violeta. She spun around and cut it in half.
"Forget that! Get the tractor beam!" Kenji yelled.
Violeta put her hand on the machine and the beam disappeared. The ship flew towards the Niagara Falls. Violeta grinned but it faded when she realized that she and Kenji were now surrounded by more sentinels.
"Um, Kenji?" She said as they stood back to back.
"Yeah, I see them." Kenji growled. "You take the ones on that side and I'll take the ones on this side."
"That a plan?" Violeta wrinkled her nose. "Angel could have come up with that plan."
"You have a better one?" Kenji asked.
"How about this?" Violeta formed her Smack Hands. They began spinning. She swung them around so fast that Kenji had to duck to avoid her Combat Drill mode. The drones disintegrated in a spray of metal pieces. When Kenji looked up they were surrounded by debris. "Easy, peasy." She said with a smirk.
"Don't get cockey, squirt." Kenji said grimly.
"Don't get cockey." Violeta made a face but then realized what Kenji was talking about. In her haste she did not notice the Providence ship that lay near-by totally crushed.
"That's beta team." Kenji said in a low whisper.
"Are there… are there any survivors?" Violeta swallowed hard.
Kenji quickly scanned the wreckage. "No." He said flatly.
Violeta blinked back tears.
"Come on, squirt. We can't help them anymore but we might still be able to help your parents.
Violeta nodded wordlessly. Putting on a brave face she formed her Rex Ride. He jumped on before they rushed off toward the Falls.
0o0
The jet landed on the dam. With her katana drawn, Jade disembarked first. Light flickered from the windows of the electric plant.
"There!" Jade rushed to the door of the plant, which she easily opened. The little group rushed in. They gasped.
"Mom! Dad!" Rafael cried. Rex was suspended in the air in an electric net. Circe was lying on the floor unmoving. Rafael tried to get to them, but sentinels got in his way. In anger he blasted them with his voice. The drones fell apart. Rafael leapt past the fallen machines. Before he could reach his mother, he was stopped by another sentinel.
"Mom!" He screamed as the sentinel yanked him away. Jade sliced off the robot's arm. Rafael reached his mother.
"Mommy?" Rafael softly shook her.
"Raffy?" She looked up. "Where's Rex?"
"I got it!" Angel cried enthusiastically.
While Jade and Jasmine kept the remaining drones busy, Angel activated his gauntlet. Armor covered him. He flew up at the electric net.
"Uncle Rex!" He called. Rex still didn't move. Angel hovered in the air and held up his arm. He blasted the net. The energy dissipated and Rex began falling. Angel scooped him up.
"Angel?" Rex sounded hoarse. "Have to stop Zag… in power station control room."
"Guys!" Angel caught their attention. "Zag's in the power station control room."
"We're here!" A voice came into their ear pieces.
"Kenji, Zag's in the power station control room. Get over there!" Jasmine answered.
"Got it." Kenji acknowledged. He looked over the outside of the building and noticed that the windows of one side was brighter than the others. "Over there." He pointed to Violeta.
Violeta's Rex Ride formed a battering ram. She smashed through the wall of the electric plant. When the dust cleared they saw a swirling vortex.
"You are too late." Zag-RS's voice echoed in the room. "I have already sent my emissary through the time portal."
The rest of the group came just as one of the sentinels crushed the portal machine.
"No!" Kenji cried lunging at the sentinel. He managed to knock it out of commission, but it was too late; there was no more time machine.
"Now how are we going to get back?" Jade demanded.
"I don't know about that, but I know one thing we can do." Jasmine said angrily. She walked to the computer and stuck in a data rod.
Zag-RS let out a screech, then… "I am Zag-RS. How can I be of assistance?"
"Fat lot of good that does us." Jade snorted.
"One less copy of her." Jasmine answered.
"Guys? I feel funny." Violeta said.
Kenji looked at her and his eyes widened. "You're fading… I mean like a ghost."
Violeta looked at her hands in horror.
"Hey, Me too!" Rafael also started wavering. "What does this mean?"
"It means that Zag-RS is messing with the past." Rex limped in with Circe.
"What are we going to do?" Violeta and Rafael rushed to their parents frightened. Circe and Rex embraced them in a family hug.
"First of all…" Rex said seriously, "Breach! We need your help! Breach! I know you can hear me! This is a matter of life and death!"
Everyone held their breaths and waited.
"Uncle Rex? I don't…" Kenji stopped when Rex held up his hand. A shudder went through his uncle. A red slit appeared in the room. A woman's head popped out along with one grotesquely large misshapen arm. Her salt and pepper hair hung over her eyes like a curtain.
"Breach, can you still do time travel? Zag-RS sent something back in time to kill us." Rex explained.
Breach didn't say anything. Kenji shuddered inwardly. Breach had always made him uneasy. Suddenly, a different portal opened. It wasn't red but rather had a golden hue to it.
"Alright guys, it's up to you now." Rex told them.
"You can't send our babies!" Circe held her children tight against her.
"Circe, we're in no condition to go." Rex said reasonably. "They're older now. They've been trained by the best. And they are the only ones who have any powers. Besides, Kenji and the others will be with them."
Circe didn't look convinced.
"I'll keep an eye on both of them." Kenji promised.
Tears ran from Circe's eyes as she held her children in a tight hug. She saw them waver and made up her mind.
"Be careful. Take care of each other." She said as she looked into each of her child's faces.
"Violeta, I want to give you something. Hold out your hand." Rex told his daughter.
Violeta did as her father asked. Rex pulled off his glove and touched his daughter's open palm. A blue light filtered from between their hands. A second later Rex staggered back. Circe grabbed him before he fell. Violeta also stumbled but was caught by Rafael.
"What happened?" She looked at her hand and then at her father.
"I've given you my Omega-1 nanite. It does a lot of things and you're going to need it." He pulled off his goggles and handed it to Rafael. "These are for you buddy. Take care of them for me."
Rafael nodded. He grabbed his dad in a hug joined by Circe and Violeta. Letting go quickly, Rex held them at arms length.
"Thrill me." He said with a smirk.
His children returned it.
"Let's go." Kenji jumped through the portal followed by his sisters. Violeta and Rafael went through next. Lastly, a small robot waved at them before flying through the portal which promptly closed. "Bye, Uncle and Auntie."
"Was that Angel?" Circe asked startled.
"I believe it was." Rex frowned.
"Beverly's not going to be happy." She sighed.
0o0
The kids tumbled through a tunnel filled with psychedelic lights and a cacophony of sounds. A hole ripped at the end and they fell into a heap on the desert floor.
A chorus of owws, oophs, and mild curses came as the group tried to extract themselves.
"Where are we?" Jade looked around.
Jasmine pulled out her mini computer and swept it over the area. "Well, it is Earth."
"Why wouldn't it be Earth?" Violeta asked.
"With Breach, you never know." Jasmine answered. "But year are we in?"
Rafael tapped on her shoulder. "Um, you should look at this." Jasmine faced where he was pointing.
A large metallic building perched on a crevice stood proudly in the desert.
"That's old Providence." She murmured. "It doesn't even have the new additions."
"This is Providence 30 years ago." Kenji said. "Look at the tanks and jump jets."
"Yes, very primitive. Those are the A-3450 models." Jasmine agreed.
"Okay, so we're in the right time and place." Rafael looked around. "Now what?"
"That's the million dollar question." Kenji replied.
"So what's the million dollar answer?" Jade retorted.
"I'm working on it." Kenji snapped.
"How about we start by talking to them." Angel motioned to some figures in the distance.
"Dad?" Violeta squinted.
Sure enough in the distance Rex in his Rex Ride was kicking up dust as he rode toward Providence. He popped a wheelie as he entered the base.
"Yup, that's dad." Rafael confirmed.
"Come on. Let's go then." Jade said impatiently.
"Wait." Jasmine held her sister back.
"What? Why?" Jade asked incredulously.
"Have you ever time traveled?" Jasmine asked. "If anything we need to be careful that we don't do anything that would adversely affect out future. Remember? Only Uncle White knew we were here. Our parents didn't."
"Hey, where're those papers Uncle White gave us?" Kenji said remembering suddenly.
"Right here…" Rafael pulled some crumpled pieces of paper from his back pocket.
"Dude, you gotta learn to fold." Kenji said as he smoothed out the sheets. He quickly skimmed through the papers. "This can't be right." He frowned.
"Let me see." Jasmine snatched the papers from his hands. Flipping through them, she too frowned. "It's changed… I think. This wasn't what it said before."
"So… it means what?" Violeta asked.
"I think it means things are shifting... time is fluid any changes will be reflected on this paper." Jasmine hypothesized.
"So we don't know what to do anymore?" Rafael asked worried.
"Well, we don't know what to exactly do. We do need to stop Zag-RS." Jasmine stated.
"Well, we have Breach. We can always go back and fix any mistakes… what? Why are you shaking your head?" Jade stared at her sister.
"No, we can't take the chance of breaking the space time continuum too many times. It can weaken the fabric causing more problems then it solves. You don't want the universe imploding, do you?" Jasmine explained.
"It probably won't implode more like melt into one another." Angel interjected.
Everyone stared at him. He shrugged. "Papi reads me the theories of quantum physics at night."
"Okay fine, what do we do then? Sit out here and bake in the sun?" Jade asked.
Kenji was about to answer when the alarms in Providence went off. The kids stuck their heads out and watched as a jump jet flew out from the crevice followed by a teen with large red turbines.
"Rafael, Angel and Jasmine, you guys go and see if you can find Uncle White and talk to him. The rest of us are going to follow dad and Uncle Rex to make sure the emissary doesn't get them." Kenji decided.
"Aww, I want to go with you!" Angel whined.
"Don't worry, mijo. You'll get plenty of action later." Rafael pushed him ahead. "And get out of that suit, you'll overheat."
"Nah, dad installed a cooler." But he folded the armor nonetheless.
"Keep in constant contact via this secure channel." Jasmine instructed.
"Got it." Kenji affirmed. They all were about to go their separate ways when Rafael stopped them.
"Wait, shouldn't we do some sort of team building cheer before we go?" He asked.
"Are you serious?" Jade groaned. "No."
"Oh," Rafael's face fell.
Kenji quickly interceded. "Sure we can." He put his hand out. Rafael's face brightened. He put his hand on top of Kenji's. Violeta put hers in, then Angel, then Jasmine. Jade was the only one with her arms folded over her chest, scowling. Kenji glared at her and motioned with his head to come join them. She shook her head. He looked at Rafael then back at her. Jade glanced at Rafael. He had his puppy dog look. Jade rolled her eyes.
"Fine, whatever." She placed her hand in.
"Um, okay what should we say?" Angel asked.
"How about this is so lame?" Jade muttered. Jasmine nudged her.
"How about Go Gen Next?" Rafael suggested.
"Sure." Kenji agreed.
"GO GEN NEXT!" Yelled everyone except Jade, who said under her breath "This is lame." Their hands went up.
"Can we go now?" Jade complained.
"Now we can GO!" Rafael rushed off.
"Rafael, wait! We can't just run up to the door! Rafael!" Jasmine chased her cousin. Angel slowly trailed after them.
"Yeah, we're in trouble." Jade mumbled.
"Nah, whatever comes we can handle it!" Violeta said confidently. She formed her Boogie Pack. Kenji and Jade each grabbed a wing. They took off after their fathers.
Watashi wa anata o mamoru koto o yakusoku shimasu. = I promise to protect you.
Thank you 00RaiserGundam for proofreading the chapters!