Chapter 22:
Wren POV-
I was ecstatic! Quite honestly, I'm not sure I've ever felt this kind of anxious excitement before, which is most definitely saying something considering that I come from a world in a warzone.
But, at the same time, I felt a little worried and nervous, not only because we a joining a war when we have not been properly trained, but, even more, because I'm afraid that my dad will send us home. I am sick and tired of waiting on the sidelines for something to happen, I only hope that my past parents will be able to convince my parents that Jackson and my involvement is important.
This sense of waiting, combined with my lack of sleep at such an early hour in the morning, made me remember our first vacation to Disney world, right before the war started. I had been young, but I still remember being so excited that I stayed up most of the night before. Then, early the next morning we all drove to the airport. It had been my first time on a plane too, and the airport security and crowds fascinated me. I remember when we took off, seeing the ground below get smaller and smaller, and wondering what it would have been like to fly outside the plane, never knowing, of course, that I actually had the ability to do so all along.
"Are we there yet?" Jackson asked his favorite question, which has always been designed to annoy my parents. They huffed, apparently, it still works. Yep, just like our trip to Disney.
"What do you think?" Danny asked sarcastically.
Jackson smirked, recognizing this classic response. But I knew he wasn't just trying to get under their skin, we both wanted to have a sense of normalcy with everything in our lives changing so drastically, this was just his way of obtaining that.
I have never been in the ghost zone before, my dad always considered it too dangerous (how it's more dangerous than a world taken over by ghosts, I didn't know), so it was all kind of strange to me. The sky swirled with neon green and doors floated past in a blur, however, even with this dimension being so alien, at the same time, it was familiar…at least to our world after the war started. But, for whatever reason, we met no ghosts (and maybe it was because Aunt Dani had rounded up some who had already gone ahead into the future to contact their future selves) but to me, it almost seemed…too quiet.
In the distance, a tower, made to look like a grandfather clock, with various screws and parts sticking out at every angle, loomed over the otherwise plain, door-filled landscape. That, I guessed, is where we were going. With the speed we were going in the Specter Speeder, the tower rapidly approached, until we were really close, to the top floor, and going really fast.
I cringed, waiting for the impact that seemed inevitable at the speed we were going with space between us and the ghostly brick wall getting smaller by the second, but it never came.
I opened my eyes to see that we were in…a living room?
The eight of us climbed out of the Specter Speeder, and I yelped in surprise when I began to sink through the floor. I held onto the ship, to keep myself from going all the way through, however my ankles still dipped through the floor.
My dad and Aunt Dani quickly transformed just as Clockwork appeared. He regarded me with a quick, knowing look, the same one he had given me when we had first arrived in the past Amity Park, before turning to my dad.
"You know, I don't really appreciate you two sending a horde of ghosts to my house at this time of night, or driving a ship into my living room for that matter," he said.
"Oh come on, you knew I was going to do that," my dad remarked.
"Still, it's just common courtesy. Anyway, I guess I will open up the portal to the future for you to drive through," Clockwork sighed, bored.
"Do you want to come into the future and fight with us?" my dad asked; although he seemed to already know the answer.
"I'm too busy straightening out the new wrinkles in the time stream," he glanced at me, "Maybe next time," Clockwork smirked.
"Hopefully, there won't need to be a next time," Dani quipped.
"Hmm…" was all Clockwork said, still smirking, as he studied each member of our party, "The portal will stay open for thirty seconds and you will arrive with enough time to discuss your plan with your future selves. Which, you will need to do. He is not going to let his children into the war so easily," Clockwork told us.
My dad nodded, "I know. Thanks, Clockwork."
Clockwork waved a hand, brushing off the gratitude and opening a portal in the center of his living room.
The rest of us quickly piled back into the Specter Speeder, before my dad plunged us through the open portal.
There is nothing quite like the feeling of time travel. It takes your insides and turns them to jelly, and stretches you through the different time periods like a rubber band, and then, all at once, it's over, and you are in another time.
I looked up to the sky. Dark purple. I sighed, I hadn't expected anything else, but it would have been nice to know that something had been done to make a difference.
"We need to get this thing out of sight like now," I informed them. They may be my parents, but they do not know this time, so, for now at least, I'm in control.
"Got it," my dad acknowledged turning into a dark alley, "we'll leave it here. But that means we are going to have to go on foot. Where is your house?"
"I'll show you," I said, getting out of the speeder and ducking into the shadows. If there is anything that I know from having lived in a warzone for a many years as I have, it's how to stay under the radar.
The rest followed my lead, clinging to the grimy brick wall, weapons ready. My dad simply rolled his eyes, turning invisible, and taking the lead to make sure the coast was clear.
My family lives in a neighborhood that had not existed in the past, only a little outside of downtown, and approximately a five minute walk from Fenton Works. But, as it turned out, we did not need to go all the way to my house, because the Fenton Works Ops Center (AKA HQ) was full of busy people, so busy, in fact that we were not acknowledged until we made it all the way to the top where my entire family and my dad's top advisors were clustered around a table studying a map. My dad plotted strategies, but still had not noticed that we now stood in the room.
At this point, I was sweating. He was going to be mad. I mean, he was usually mad when we interrupted a meeting, but interrupting a meeting in a time period we were supposed to have been avoiding so that we could go into a war he did not want us in? That was practically a death wish.
"Mind if I help?" Danny asked my dad. Ten pairs of eyes snapped up. Almost everyone was gawking; especially his advisors, but my dad's eyes blazed green. I gulped, that meant that he was beyond furious.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Carrie embrace her mom, but my dad wasn't embracing us. Instead, he stepped away from the table, walking towards us.
"What the hell are you guys doing here!?" he shouted in anger, but I could also tell there was a relief and happiness at seeing us.
"We have a reason," Sam spoke up, but at that same moment, my mom broke away from the stoic advisors and other family members to embrace us.
"Thank God you're all okay! But what are you doing here?" she asked us, holding me by the shoulders and looking me dead in the eyes.
"It wasn't my idea," I muttered quietly.
"Hmm…I'll bet not, however, I'm sure you didn't protest too much," she smirked knowingly, and then she turned to Danny.
"What's the plan?" she asked, putting one arm around Jackson and one arm around me.
"Sam!" my dad exclaimed, "They're not supposed to be here! There is no plan. They're going back, now!"
My mom simply gave him one of her famous looks and he shut up immediately.
"Danny, you said it yourself, we need help. And when help suddenly appears out of nowhere you want to send it back?" she argued.
"Yes, we need help, but not from our untrained children and our past selves!" he replied.
"Um…just so you know, we're not alone," Dani added, and I noticed her future self smirk on the other side of the table.
"Oh?" my dad questioned, looking honestly perplexed.
"I recruited about forty ghosts from our time period, who were sent ahead to recruit their future selves," Dani announced.
He wanted to argue. He really, really, wanted to send us back, but Danny spoke up before he could.
"Listen," he said, "After we spoke, Sam made a good point. We think Vlad is pulling all of his resources, including his past self into this time period so he can launch a full-scale attack. And, after that, just knowing how he is, he will take you as prisoner, and make you watch as he kills everyone in my time period, including Wren, Jackson, Eli, and myself, before you ultimately disappear. So, we figured, rather than let that happen, we could change the game by bringing all of us here with some. And, yeah, maybe they're not trained exactly, but they at least know how to use the weapons. It at least gives us a fighting chance. Even if we fail, we're doomed anyway."
My dad was thoughtful for a minute, looking over my brother and me. I could almost see his heart breaking at the decision placed before him, but finally he closed his eyes, letting out a deep breath before once again opening his eyes.
"Okay," he said finally. I smiled, and Jackson and I went to hug him. He fully returned the hug, holding us tightly.
After a few minutes, he loosened the hug, but still kept an arm around each of our shoulders, before looking at Danny.
"What do you suggest?"