I – 2231, Lower Zephyron…

They fell into what Hogarth saw was a jagged gorge. The Giant wrapped his hand around his friend, who had tucked the ironstone into his camouflage backpack, and thrust himself at the wall. With all his strength the robot jammed his fingers into the stone before finally, miraculously, coming to a back cracking halt on an enormous ledge center. Hogarth tried to grasp onto the Giant's curved fingers but his missing hand caused him to lose his grip.

"Hogarth." Like a snake strike, the robot snagged him back up just as he fell.

All of this effort was too much. The Giant placed Hogarth on his chest and dropped his head. They laid there for a minute or two, it was such a far cry from when they both had first gone to the future some thirty years earlier. Hogarth peered up at the Giant, he was just as over the hill as himself. The man was then burdened with their unknown mission.

"Are my nephews all right here? Is Pygmy going to be able to take care of them?"

The Giant regained just enough strength to raise his head. "They'll be fine, Hogarth. This is Rockwell and it's the same wormhole I entered through when I…" he could not finish.

Hogarth knew the Giant had underlying issues.

"It's okay, pal. We'll get a fresh start soon."

Both collapsed back. That fresh start was going to have to wait. Not long after the friends had settled, Hogarth peered back up, saw his pal was as still as a statue and pulled his shirt out of the suspenders he had thrown on before 'leaving town'. As his gut bulged out like a balloon, Hogarth placed his hands behind his head. The Giant did this also but on his chest with a sigh. They lounged back for a while before Hogarth asked if they should get going.

"Yes."

"Do you want to go?"

"Nope."

The Giant had a smile in his eyes as he tried to raise his head again. "Do you?"

"Nope."

Now they both tried getting up but ended up flopping back.

"Hogarth…" The left side of the Giant became stiff. "I can't move."

"Hold on." He shifted his girth and readjusted himself. Now that he was without shielding Hogarth was forced to look at his body. It was unsettling. "Okay pal, here's the deal." He pulled out the funnel and oil canister stuck on the side loops of his suspenders. "You can't stay still for very long or we're going to be fully encumbered." He sensed there was more.

"Hogarth…" The Giant met his eyes sadly. "None of my powers work. My feet boosters are dead, my repair signal is jammed, I can't produce force fields…" He stopped talking then and lifted his friend up to oil his mandible, then his shoulder and under his rib cage.

"Better?" Hogarth reached wide to place his hands on his hips. The Giant turned from grateful to confused. "You're gettin' old, pal." He smiled grimly. "Gotta keep movin' ."

"The Giant?"

They both turned to look up at a man in a green suit with gray and white hair.

"Um…" Hogarth messed with his comb over. "Can we help you?"

"I-I don't believe this! The original of the 7000 Giant clones is back with-with?"

"Garth Hughes."

"GARTH HUGHES! The one who was incriminated! The arch foe of the Iron Giant!"

Hogarth slipped the Giant a devious smile to which he was given a stern look in response.

The man groaned. "You never let me have any fun, even thirty years later."

"We need two of my clones." Hogarth was surprised by his request. "I hope that the Iron Rails are finished now." The stricken man nodded. "We'll need a southbound one please."

"Some of your clones survived?"

Just as two robots completely identical to Hogarth jetted down by their rocket feet, there was an odd purple ray that hit the two friends. [Memory imprints.] Came the same voice from thirty years earlier out of the memory box as the clones helped the Giant out of the gorge. Both he and Hogarth were scanned. [Imprints… seeking. Scanning… Retrieving.]

With the sight of the glowing stone and memory box, the green-suited man fainted.

"Hogarth."

"Yeah?"

"I think your nephews and Pygmy may be trying to find Abba, or at least Pygmy is."

[Imprint five...]

"Well, ignoring whatever the hell this shit is doing, what is this Iron train going to be for?"

"The shit." He indicated the memory box and ironstone with his white eyes.

"Oh. You're putting them on the Iron Rails thing to protect them. Got it."

[Scanning…]

…

It was the second night after Robocity Japan had been restored to breathable air, both being as exhausted as they were the two landed backwards against two gray rocks of appropriate height. The Giant noticed Hogarth was nearly passed out and let the teen

fall sideways into his hand. He then placed him on top of the large stone he had made

his bed on and started to lay down. " 'It'll be like bunk beds, but I get the top one.' "

Hogarth then had gone on to mention that the only reason he hadn't ever gotten one was because he'd never had a brother. Remembering this, the Giant examined his stony hide.

He was so used to being able to pick up small things with his iron fingers, now the Giant could barely even pick up his best friend without fear of crushing him into a grainy pulp.

He still hadn't moved when Hogarth peered over at him.

"Could I… stay a while?"

He received a welcoming smile in return. "Su rock es me rock."

Happily the Giant folded his enormous arms on the space between the edge of what was essentially the same material that covered him, and Hogarth. The night extended

out in it's starscape as they both settled in under it. Hogarth had one last thing to say:

"You'll always be my buddy, Giant." He patted his arm. "No matter how big you get."

II. – The outer limits of lower Zephyron…

"I believe we're drawing nearer, the markings on my body are tingling."

Pygmy had flied them in her transmuted saucer form for nearly an hour before they reached the end of the sprawling piles of scrap metal. From his spot on the lavender

seats that span nearly all around the insides, Ivan watched as the brothers slept in a

heap on the other side of Pygmy. The youngest had cried himself to sleep while the

oldest had held and consoled him. Ivan Grant shook his head and turned to Pygmy.

"Are we almost there?" He asked her strobe figure.

"Can I rest?" She answered in a small voice.

"We need to locate my sister and save my mother, don't you know that!.?"

Pygmy receded back into her programming, away from his angered face and voice.

"Who's yelling?" Taylor asked groggily as he reached his arms up and stretched.

"Can we go home now?" Jean was past the whole future trip. "We got school Ivan."

"Public education can wait." He raised his shining cane, it caught a gleam from the sun sparkling on the ocean in early morning, and thrust it into Pygmy's outlined image. The boys' predictably hollered and argued as he turned the cane and her red and blue inside wiring became entangled along the marks of the cane. "As of now I am taking control."

Pygmy tried to fight his hold but couldn't. He wouldn't stop even as she pled.

It was just like before, when she had been younger.

A purple light that was darker then her color hit them from behind.

[Scanning all droid 7000 clones [for] memory setting [for] project Android Marketers…]

…

It was 1968.

"You can't go…" Pygmy cried.

Taylor reached out for her and held onto her mandible. "I'm sorry, sweetie. We have to get Ivan help and you can't come with us… We won't be long." she stroked her metal.

The woman backed away as her boyfriend walked up to take her hands.

"This will be the first time you're away from me," He smiled cheekily. "Jane Smith."

Her smile was just as sly. "Is that a fact, John?"

"Tis. Tis." They kissed.

Two men from the tinted car Hogarth didn't recognize stepped out on opposite sides.

"I don't think those are the usual goons your uncle hires to drive us to the airport."

A cry from the backseat alerted Taylor to action.

"Hogarth, take Pygmy and go." He was horrified. The black-suited men with wires along their neck and shades held up guns at once. "PYGMY, RUN!" Taylor screamed. "NOW!"

The robot didn't fight back against the barrage of bullets but instead grabbed Hogarth and obeyed. The shots rang out as she ducked for the woods. Once a still shrieking Taylor was slammed shut into the back of the car, two more doors did the same thing and the wheels of the vindictive vehicle sped away. Pygmy moved to transmute as Hogarth protested for her to stay put. Defiantly she changed into a motorcycle in a flash of yellow and rushed onto the dirt road to follow after the men. But they were gone. There was no one there.

Hogarth, who had managed to jump onto her, slid off to stand beside his goddaughter.

Even as she changed back and cried Taylor's name in a harsh, hoarse voice, he stalled.

He could not find it in himself to move. He could not find it in himself to give chase.

III. In the future, near the outer limits of Lower Zephyron…

"WHOA!" A much older Hogarth hollered excitedly.

He and the Giant were traveling by air to find the boys and Pygmy, all three they hoped would be with Abba. The two clones carried their father's arms in each of their hands as they traversed the beautiful skies. Below them patches of grass grew around the piles of what the Giant told Hogarth were considered antiques. The man only laughed out loud.

"Well you know what they say, antiques are like old friends!"

They both shared a knowing look at this before examining the Giant's metal.

"I haven't flown in years, Hogarth. This is wonderful." He was so happy.

The man couldn't blame him. "I'm glad pal. Truthfully, I haven't flown in years either."

Pygmy loved staying in her cat mode too much.

Another pulse of purple made the two look down at Hogarth's pocket.

"Oh for God's sake, can't we just get rid of this thing? It's flashed like nine times now."

As the Giant was about to answer they hit a blast of turbulence in the air.

"The memory box?" Hogarth had to speak up.

"No," his friend didn't have to speak up. "A time blip. It happened once when I returned from sending you back to Rockwell and once more when Gold and I went there in 1969."

"A time blip…?"

"It's going to skip to sundown." The Giant was worried. Hogarth was aghast.

"We've gotta find the boys and-,"

The memory box engulfed them in one last gulf of purple.

…

Whether it was 1965 or 2201, Hogarth had never been more relieved in his life. Sure, they were going to stop Kina but having Taylor pressed against him – even with Pygmy bound in her tie-dye bandana – there was nothing that felt better then having both of them in his arms. The Giant lowered his hand for them both to get on and be with him. Unexpectedly, Tress ran up to the pair and offered to take the purple iron ball from them for a moment.

He winked and went to rejoin his brother Ven.

Hogarth held Taylor at arm's length as they both traveled up together. The Giant looked upon them fondly before holding the teens close against his new red-blue armor. In that very instant Hogarth could feel his heart beating. His best friends were right where they belonged; with him. Taylor was right. He did need them. But how could they need him?

How was he important enough to be needed?

"Hogarth," Taylor touched his cheek. Tears streaked his face and he wiped them away.

"Are you all right?" The Giant asked concernedly.

"Yeah," he laughed it off. He hid his doubts as always. "I was just thinking about how much I missed you guys. I want you to know how much I love you, if I could ever…"

"Love has no size Hogarth." Taylor hugged him a final time.

The Giant gave them one more as well.

IV. – Middle Zephyron, after the time blip…

Abba was in a solemn mood. It was rare of course, but she was taking some time to reflect on what she planned on doing in the morning. At the present time twilight reigned and she was staying with some of her friends directly across the street from the back-up enterprise hidden under ground that her ancestors had left for her to active. She sighed thoughtfully.

"Abba," the nice Chinese lady Mita stepped through the automatic door. "Hungry?"

This woman and her husband had moved from the Eastern Hemisphere to retire. Their daughter Ling worked, however. She was co-owner of a tofu pastry shop in the dining quarter of Middle Zephyron. At forty-two, she had that free-spiritedness Abba valued.

"No thank you, Mrs. Kinton." She said politely from her place at the window. The rooms were different then most homes as they had cushioned floors in mahogany, black and blue.

"All right," Mita, in the green gowns most women wore to bed, said. She bid goodnight.

"I loved your cooking though!" Abba called as the door closed. "Very lovely."

The herbal tea Mita served was a little bland but most sugar went to tofu desserts so the woman could forgive her. Not everyone knew how important the Mistress of Time was, even though most thought it was just legend Abba knew she was royalty. Even if Trina never let her wear her robes out or make decisions for Zephyron, she was their princess.

"I can only hope my father comes soon," Abba said as she lay her auburn head down. "I hope he brings the ironstone and memory box, I do so need these items for my project."

A smile crossed her face as she recalled the last instance when a time blip had occurred.

…

He held her up on his giant feet brought close together as he balanced her little hands with only the tips of his iron fingers. The Giant delighted in bringing her up and down, the child also reveled in their time together. Sometimes he would tickle her, at other times he would play hide and seek with her or clasp his hands with her in it and spin her around really fast.

Abba didn't know how he did it but she loved her father.

There was something different today, however. He didn't do any of these things with her.

"Father, what's wrong?" The six-year-old asked him.

The Giant sat up with her in his hands. He wouldn't look her directly in the eye. "Do you remember when I said one day I might go find your real father, Hogarth?" she nodded. "I didn't think it was possible, but, the portal's reopened. I want to see him so badly Abba."

"We can go together, Father." She wrapped her arms around his fingers.

"No, no Lady Bug." He moved saddened eyes onto her. "You can't come. This is where you're safest. I made a promise to your father that I would be with him if I could. I'm not sure why I didn't return with him in the first place to the past but… I'm so glad I had the chance to be with you." The Giant gently pressed his face against hers. "I l-I'll miss you."

"You love me, Father, don't you?" Abba asked of him.

Her father did not respond to this.

"Father…" Abba was placed down on the ground. It looked as though he were struggling.

"I have to go, Abba, your mother and I. She promised she would go with me. I'm sorry."

"Father!" The girl ran after him from beside the gold-painted palace he had made for her.

It was so real, he was leaving her. He couldn't leave her, that wasn't real.

"If we don't leave now Giant the portal will close up." Gold appeared.

"Mother!" Abba cried, her cousin Trina held her back from chasing after them.

The Giant gave her one last look over his shoulder, "Goodbye Abba."

Time blipped by to the day's end as the portal to 1969 Rockwell closed.

[Memory scan incomplete. Taylor Evans [pending…] Rockwell Maine [pending…] Army soldiers [pending…] Ironstone needed… Memory box needed… Project is [ pending…] ].

To be continued…

~ Lavenderpaw ~

AN: No more memory box, I promise. Everything I've put your eyes through will make sense in the next chapters. Surprises, plot twists and such are also to come. More soon!