(A/N: I do not own Paw Patrol, enjoy!)
Deja Vu?
Help please.
The thought thrust its way into Marshall's unconscious mind and immediately woke the Dalmatian. Belatedly, he realized it was more of a "come lend a paw" thought than an "I'm in trouble" type of thought.
One moment, Marshall though back with a mental yawn. He lifted his head and analyzed his current state of entanglement.
It wasn't really that bad. Skye was sandwiched between him and Everest, her muzzle buried in Everest's scruff. The Husky's paws were wrapped around Marshall, pinning him against both of them.
Slowly, delicately, Marshall slipped his hind quarters from their encapsulation. Then, he lifted Everest's forepaw just long enough to remove himself before tucking both of her paws snugly around the Cockapoo. Marshall froze as both pups shifted subconsciously before snuggling back together. Marshall delayed a moment longer to give Everest a kiss on her cheek and Skye a gentle nuzzle before slipping outside, quiet as a mouse.
Light from the sun was just starting to be visible above the horizon as Marshall trotted across the driveway to his own pup house. Marshall longed to stop and just watch the sunrise, but he figured he would have time after helping his twin so he slipped into his own pup house without any delay. A grin spread across his face as he realized what the problem was. You need help? he teasingly laughed.
Laugh it up, Fuzzball, Cinder thought back. Yes, I need help. Augie was laying on his side. Cinder, also laying on her side, had her back pressed against the Belgian Shepherd's chest. And all four of his jet-black paws were wrapped around the lithe white and black Dalmatian like a furry straight jacket.
May I remind you that you wanted this? Marshall continued to tease.
You may not Cinder replied, just get me free without waking him.
You are going to have to learn to do this on your own Marshall reminded her.
Not today I don't Cinder noted, now chop-chop!
Marshall just snickered as he got to work. Like a puzzle, or a tangled ball of yarn, Marshall slowly unwound each of Augie's paws. Semi-predictably, as soon as he released an unwound paw, it would slowly start to curl back around Cinder.
Ok, now Marshall directed. Quick as a flash, the lithe female Dalmatian rolled out from between Augie's paws. As she stood next to her twin, she watched as Augie's paws curled up against his body.
We are going to have to talk about that later Cinder thought seriously as she walked out of the pup house.
When did you become the anti-cuddle bug? Marshall teased as he followed her.
I love cuddling, that was smothering Cinder mentally corrected.
Fine line between the two Marshall noted as he scooped Cinder onto his back.
You know I can walk, right? Cinder mentally admonished.
Yeah, but I just had to rescue you, so now you have to deal with being carried Marshall said with a mental laugh.
Fine Cinder mentally acquiesced, but I am going to do yoga this morning.
As long as you don't hurt yourself Marshall mentally agreed as he set his twin down and then sat next to her. Both pups were quiet for a few minutes as more sunlight crept above the horizon.
You had a bad dream, didn't you? Marshall gently inquired.
Cinder nodded. It is like a continuation of the dream I had in the hospital, where Augie died. It is almost as if I'm seeing an alternate reality where that actually happened.
It's just a dream Marshall said comfortingly, rubbing his side against hers. He is alive; you just felt his paws around you.
I know, Cinder replied, but like I said, it feels like an alternate reality. Some of the things align exactly with what is happening right now. But other parts are vastly different. Like the fire yesterday started out exactly the same but ended differently.
In your dream, did Gasket not pop out of the back of Rocky's truck? Marshall asked.
Cinder turned to lock eyes with Marshall. Correct, we wrapped up the fire with no fuss and then drove back to the Lookout. But you know that because you had the same dream, didn't you?
Marshall nodded. The twins had shared dreams before, that wasn't new. But something was bothering them about this time. It does seem a little odd that some things are identical to reality, but others are vastly different.
We should pay attention; in case all this means something, Cinder asserted.
Or, maybe you've been watching too many supernatural shows Marshall teased.
We have a neural link between us, we are a living supernatural show Cinder laughed as she reminded him.
The sun finally crested the horizon, illuminating the patch of grass where the twin lay. I understand why you enjoy watching this every morning Cinder thought. It really is beautiful, and soothing. It almost embodies the freshness of a new day.
Marshall turned to look back towards the Lookout. Chase should be up by now he thought with a modicum of concern.
Yesterday was a bit crazy Cinder reminded him.
Agreed, but I have a feeling that Chase is not going to be in an agreeable mood today either Marshall thought with a sigh. He was not looking forward to his next task.
Go on then, you best be about it, Cinder reminded him. Marshall turned to give his twin a lick on the cheek before standing up and trotting towards the Lookout. He walked straight into Chase's pup house.
"Are they still here?" a grumpy growl came from Chase's bed.
"What do you think?" Marshall replied gently.
"Then I'm not coming out," Chase replied, turning and shoving his head under his pillow.
"Oh yes you are," Marshall said firmly as he walked over to his brother.
"And why is that?" Chase sarcastically asked back.
"Because you have a job to do," Marshall gently reminded him.
"I am not required to tolerate lawbreakers squatting at the Lookout," Chase huffed.
"Why is it so hard to believe that Gasket and Dwayne have given up their troublesome ways?" Marshall asked with a curious tilt of his head.
"Once a criminal, always a criminal," Chase replied derisively.
"So, none of them can be redeemed? None of them can change?" Marshall challenged the absolute.
"Not the Ruff Ruff Pack," Chase insisted.
"How long do you think they have been planning this?" Marshall shifted the topic slightly.
"Who?" Chase asked. "Gasket and the Traitor?"
"First, you know Rocky better than that," Marshall said, narrowing his eyes. "But yes, Rocky and Gasket."
"A few days," Chase said with a shrug indicating he thought this entire discussion was beneath him.
"Try a few months," Marshall revealed. "Try a deep undercover plot to destroy the Ruff Ruff Pack."
"What?" Despite his antagonistic attitude, Chase couldn't help himself from being interested by the spy thematic.
"Oh yeah, it's a pretty cool story," Marshall said. "But you are going to need to have Rocky and Gasket tell it to you."
Chase half groaned; half growled in frustration. He needed to hear the story, but he couldn't stand Gasket or Rocky at the moment.
"In the meantime, we have to get everyone up for Yoga," Marshall continued, well aware of the dilemma he had created for his brother.
"Fine," Chase conceded, finally getting out of bed and putting on his pup pack. The two pups walked out of the blue pup house.
"I'm going to go get Augie," Marshall said, turned towards his pup house.
"I'm not waiting," Chase told him.
"I didn't ask you to," Marshall laughed as he slipped though the doorway.
"Ruff, megaphone!" Chase barked. "Rise and shine pups, time to stretch those lazy muscles!"
Augie yelped in surprise at the sudden loud noise that startled him awake. "What was that?" he asked the Dalmatian whom he had been cuddling.
"Just Chase waking everyone up," Cinder softly replied soothingly as she helped him to stand up. "Come on, we are going to be late."
"Late for what?" Augie asked.
"Morning exercise," Cinder softly replied.
"Don't we have to wait for Marshall and Everest to come get us?" Augie asked.
"Not today," Cinder softly said. Without further ado, she scooped the startled Belgian Shepherd into her back and trotted out of the pup house.
The sunrise immediately blinded Augie, and he blinked rapidly to try and regain his vision. He was still blinking when Cinder set him down.
"Good morning," Cinder softly whispered in his ear before giving him a lick on the cheek.
"Isn't it a little late for that?" Augie asked in surprise, "I mean, you just carried me out of Marshall's pup house. You know, I didn't think you were ready for that but you proved me wrong."
"Not funny Marshall!" Cinder softly barked at her twin who had walked away to stand next to Everest.
"It's definitely funny," Marshall snickered, along with Skye and Everest.
"You are going to have to do better than that at telling them apart, Augie," Everest added.
"Huh?" Augie gasped in confusion.
"Marshall and I can perfectly imitate each other," Cinder softly sighed. "We do it to play planks on others, sometimes. Though, it never crossed my mind that Marshall would target you so soon." Cinder paused to glare at her twin who continued smiling as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Apparently, messing with boyfriends and girlfriends is on the table."
"It's too late, Cin" Everest cat-called. "First, I can tell the two of you apart even when you are imitating each other. Second, don't tease me with a good time."
"Are we going to talk or work out?" Chase interrupted grumpily.
"Right," Skye yipped as she got into her spot in front to lead.
Chase's mood does not disappoint Cinder thought sarcastically to her twin as they started yoga.
Better than he was Marshall replied with a mental shrug. This won't be fixed in one night.
And what embarrassing thing did you do or say to Augie Cinder interrogated.
Nothing, I just carried him out Marshall protested.
Show me Cinder insisted. Marshall dutifully replayed the interaction for her. Fine, but step carefully, brother of mine Cinder warned.
That was pretty vanilla as far as pranks go Marshall noted with a mental laugh. Don't worry, I've got more ready to go.
Of course you do Cinder mentally sighed. But she also smiled as it was an amusing prank, and not over the top.
The pups spent their usual 30 minutes doing yoga. By the end, Cinder was a little sore, in a little pain, but overall feeling much better. Augie, on the other paw, was definitely feeling the effects of his injury. Not enough to be worried, but very acutely aware of his physical limitations.
"Ok, so we are done, right?" Gasket said, slowly edging her way away.
"Hardly," Skye replied with an amused snort. "We are going to go for a pack run."
"What is a pack run?" Dwayne asked curiously.
"It is where we run as a group," Rocky explained. "We all line up behind each other and start running together. The pup at the back has to sprint up to the front. When they get there, they set the pace for the group. Then, the next pup runs up to the front."
"I don't like the sounds of this," Gasket murmured to him.
"Marshall will start in the lead," Skye informed them with an amused smile. Her smile got bigger at the chorus of groans.
"That is bad," Zuma whined as the pups all started to line up.
"Why is that?" Dwayne asked, cocking his head to the side.
"It means that the end will be a spwint," Zuma explained.
"Can we veto that idea?" Gasket motioned.
"Not today," Skye laughed. "Come on, the sooner we start, the sooner it is over."
"Can't argue with that," Chase begrudgingly answered.
"What about us?" Cinder softly asked.
"Ryder will be down in a moment to go through some of your exercises from Dr. Basil" Marshall explained. Cinder and Augie nodded in acknowledgement.
"Ok, take us away, Marshall," Skye said from her place in the line behind the Dalmatian. Marshall started off at a trot that quickly accelerated into a decent running pace. Rubble, being the last pup, started attempting to sprint to the front as they reached the bottom of the hill.
"They'll be back soon," Ryder said with a smile as he joined Cinder and Augie on the lawn.
"How strenuous will this be, Ryder?" Augie asked nervously.
"Not very," Ryder replied with a knowing smile. "Remember, staying within your limits is more important than speed of recovery."
"If you say so," Cinder softly replied with a shrug. And with that, the trio started. Ryder had them take turns, each doing an exercise, particular stretch or activity until they started to feel the pain. Augie's tended to be shorter than Cinder's, but by the end, the Belgian Shepherd was feeling better overall.
Cinder was feeling great, luxuriating in one last stretch as she heard the telltale sounds approaching.
"Come on, you can run faster than that!"
"No, I can't, I'm built for brawn, not speed!"
"Come on Rubble, almost home…"
"Where breakfast is waiting…"
"Well, why didn't you say so?"
The panting pups finally crested the hill and Marshall trotted to a stop. "See, that wasn't so bad," he lightly panted.
"That…depends…on youw…definition," Zuma panted much heavier.
"I thought it was a nice pace," Dwayne said with a wag of his tail.
"I think I'm dying," Gasket whined as she flopped over onto the grass.
"You'll get over it," Rocky panted with a smile on his face as he walked over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.
Growl*
Everyone turned to look at Chase. The German shepherd looked like he was ready to fight them.
Rocky raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. "Dude, even you and Skye have been documented to do more than that in public."
"That's not the point," Chase growled. "It is that you are doing it with her!"
Rocky rolled his eyes. "If it bothers you, don't watch."
"How can I not when you shove my nose in it," Chase spat back.
"Come on pups, breakfast!" Ryder called from the doorway of the lookout.
Chase gave Rocky and Gasket one last glare before stalking inside.
"Not saying you need to be discreet, but you pwobably should twy to avoid antagonizing him, dude," Zuma said.
"He has to get used to it one way or another," Rocky replied firmly. "We aren't going to change who we are to avoid offending him."
"Not a chance," Gasket affirmed.
Marshall, Everest, and Skye all shared a look with each other. "Come on, let's get breakfast," Marshall said before scooping Augie onto his back.
"I'm good to walk," Cinder softly said as she waved off Everest.
"Fine, just a short distance," Everest conceded, walking beside the lithe female Dalmatian.
Breakfast was quiet. Chase finished first and went upstairs to the control room without a word. Rocky and Gasket were next, with the pair heading downstairs to the workshop to tinker with something or another.
Shall we take a drive? Marshall mentally posed the question to his twin.
Sure, Cinder replied. "We'll catch you pups later," she softly said out loud.
"Where are you going?" Everest asked in surprise.
"Out and about," Marshall softly replied.
Everest looked at both of them. "Ok," she said after a moment. The Dalmatians turned as one and walked out.
"Anyone else think that is wiewd?" Zuma said when they were out of earshot.
"Maybe they just want to hang out together," Rubble suggested. "You pups want to play a game?"
"No thanks, I'm going to walk around a bit," Skye said before she too walked out.
"That leaves us five," Dwayne noted. "What can we play with five pups?"
"I have an idea," Everest said with a smile.
Outside, the twins approached Marshall's pup house. You are going to jump up, aren't you?
Are you going to stop me? Cinder thought back.
No, just don't strain yourself Marshall thought. With a bark, he changed his pup house into his fire truck. Cinder gracefully jumped up, scooting over just in time for Marshall to jump up after her. Marshall started his truck and slowly rolled down the hill towards town.
Skye walked with a purpose as she trotted down the stairs and into the workshop. As she walked in, she found herself looking at two grey tails sticking up in the air. The heads they were attached to were buried in some sort of contraption with propellors on the sides.
"The damage is really bad, both from fire, the water, and the hand sanitizer."
"I'm sorry."
"How many times do I have to tell you, it's not your fault."
"Yes, it is, I was flying the drone."
"No, it's not. The controls were too sensitive, I could tell that from the moment it took off."
"You're just saying that."
Rocky looked up from the drone and looked straight into Gasket's eyes. "No, I'm not," he firmly said, putting a paw on her cheek. "It may have been your first time flying it, but I was watching you control it. You were fine. It was all over the place. It is not your fault." Rocky paused long enough to give Gasket a quick kiss. "And one more thing, you need to stop taking responsibility for everything. We are a team; we each take responsibility for our own mistakes. It doesn't work if you are constantly taking the blame because no one gets any better. The only one who gets to take all the responsibility is Ryder because he is overall in command."
"Rocky is right," Skye softly said, startling both get pups. "We all make mistakes. But I only get better if I admit my own mistakes and fix them."
"Fine," Gasket acquiesced with a sigh. "And now we have to fix it."
"That is the fun part," Rocky said with a grin. Gasket flashed a smile of her own back as they both turned back towards the remains of the drone.
"Umm, before you get too deep in that, I…I was hoping to talk to you," Skye said slightly hesitantly.
"Oh, sorry, what's up sis?" Rocky said as he turned back towards the Cockapoo. Gasket turned toward her as well.
"First, I want to say how happy I am you found each other," she started.
"That was more his doing than anything I did," Gasket admitted with a smile. "I would never have expected this to be a part of my future. To have someone who cared about me and valued me and believed in me."
"And I want to say I'm sorry for how Chase is acting," Skye continued, hanging her head.
"Chase's actions aren't your fault," Gasket pointed out. "I believe you both just got done telling me something similar."
"No, they aren't," Skye conceded with a sigh, "but he also my boyfriend. And I'm going to work on him, but it is going to take time." Skye paused as she hesitated once more. "I'm not asking you to hide anything, but it would be helpful if you didn't shove his nose in it either…" Skye dipped her head in shame. "I know you've waited to be able to show how you feel about each other in public, and I don't want to take that from you."
"But you don't want us to include Chase in the public writ large?" Rocky added. Skye looked up at him and nodded. Gasket didn't look happy, but she didn't look too angry either.
"I understand what you are asking, Skye," Rocky said gently. "We'll talk about it and do what we can." Gasket looked ready to say something, but shut her muzzle when Rocky put his paw on top of her paw.
"Thanks Rocky, Gasket," Skye said with a sigh. "I have to go try and talk some sense into him now…"
"Good luck," Rocky said kindly. Skye's paws were heavy as she walked out if the workshop and up the stairs.
"She has a lot of nerve," Gasket almost hissed.
"She is trying to keep the peace," Rocky said gently. "Fixing broken relationships; the same way we fix things."
Gasket paused; it was a point of view she hadn't considered before. "I see what you are saying, and it makes sense. I just wish we didn't have to censor ourselves."
"It's not that bad," Rocky said, pressing his head against hers. "It is only one pup we have to watch ourselves around. And you want to know the best part?"
"What's that?" Gasket asked, turning to look at Rocky quizzically.
"He never comes down here. Down here, we can do whatever we want…" Rocky said with a suggestive smile. He leaned in and kissed Gasket fiercely, with her marching his ferocity.
"What are you thinking, Marshy?" Cinder softly asked as the two Dalmatians drove over the bridge.
"That seems like such an odd question from someone who can read my thoughts," Marshall noted with a chuckle.
"You know what I mean," Cinder softly laughed.
"Yes, I do," Marshall replied, "quite literally in fact."
Cinder gave Marshall a playful shove. "So, start talking."
"Why talk when we can think?" Marshall inquired with an amused smile.
"Because you want to hear my voice," Cinder softly asserted.
"I can't argue with that," Marshall softly admitted with a laugh.
"Marshall!"
Both pups looked to see a panicking Mayor Goodway waving her arms frantically to flag them down.
"What's up Mayor Goodway?" Marshall asked as he pulled his fire truck up next to her.
"It's Chickaletta," Mayor Goodway explained. "She flew up on top of the bell and won't come down."
"Don't worry, Mayor Goodway, we'll get her down," Cinder softly assured her before gingerly climbing into the back of the truck and onto the ladder.
"Should you be doing that?" Mayor Goodway asked hesitantly. "I really don't want you to get hurt again."
"I'll be fine," Cinder softly asserted as she wrapped her paws around the end of the ladder. "Marshall will ensure that." Marshall nodded in agreement before backing his truck into position. "Arf, ladder!" Cinder softly barked.
Obediently, the ladder extended up into position, with Cinder riding the end. As the ladder smoothly stopped, Cinder could see the chicken perched on top of the bell without a care in the world.
"Come here, Chickaletta," Cinder softly cooed. "Come to auntie Cinder."
"Bock?" Chickaletta clucked questioningly.
I don't think she understands Marshall mentally laughed.
No, but it keeps her still long enough for this Cinder thought while reaching her paws out to tenderly scoop up Chickaletta. Holding the surprised chicken to her chest, Cinder looped one paw around the top rung of the ladder. "Arf, Ladder down!" Cinder softly barked.
The ladder retracted back into position on Marshall's truck. Cinder released the ladder before offering the unhurt chicken. "Here you go Mayor Goodway."
"Thank you, both of you," Mayor Goodway replied as she took the slightly squirmy chicken and placed her in her purse.
"You're welcome, Mayor Goodway," Marshall said cheerily as he helped Cinder climb back into the cab. The two pups resumed their drive.
See, nothing to it Cinder smugly informed her twin.
I knew you could do it Marshall teased back. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let you.
Sure, like you can control me Cinder challenged.
I know just what buttons to push when needed Marshall said playfully.
Cinder gave her twin a light, playful shove. So, what did you want to talk about?
The same thing you want to talk about Marshall thought back with a smile.
Hopes and dreams….
*Ding!*
Skye stepped out of the elevator quietly. Chase was standing at the edge of the balcony, his forepaws and head resting on the railing, watching the activity below.
As Skye approached, she saw Everest, Zuma, Rubble, Augie and Dwayne playing a game she didn't recognize. Augie, wearing a helmet, was laying on his tummy on a skateboard, legs out to the side propelling himself around the driveway. As Skye walked up, she saw Augie tag Zuma. The Chocolate Lab fell in line behind the skateboarding Belgian Shepherd.
"What are they playing?" Skye asked quietly.
"A modified version of snake," Chase replied. "They can only go around in the circle of the driveway; they cannot turn to the side or stop or go the other way. It is actually harder than you would think."
Skye could hear the hint of wistfulness in his voice. In response, she lightly pressed up against Chase's side and leaned her head against him.
Chase stiffened at her touch and Skye repressed the urge to giggle. It still amused the Cockapoo that Chase would still get nervous when she touched him, just like when they first started dating. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Slowly, deeply, focusing each breath on relaxing against her German shepherd.
Chase felt Skye relaxing against him, her calming presence spreading to him. He knew she wanted to talk, but she was willing to wait until he was ready. Chase wasn't ready to talk; not even close. But if there was one pup as stubborn as he was, it was Skye. Not stubborn Chase mentally corrected himself, she is dedicated. No, that's not the right word either. Some combination of unwavering dedication coupled with passion, not taking "no" for an answer, intrusive leadership, and love. Love for this team, love for me…
Chase let his mind trail off on that thought. He often wondered how he got so lucky with her. She was perfect as far as Chase was concerned. More importantly, she loved him for who he was, which was far from perfect. But her love wasn't what he needed right now.
"I'm not ready to talk," Chase said quietly.
"Would you like me to go?" Skye asked, with just a hint of sadness in her voice.
"I don't know; I don't know what I want," Chase admitted with a sigh.
"When you don't know what you want or what to do, go back to your roots," Skye said softly, running a paw lightly down Chase's back. "Ask yourself, what would young, daring, Chase do?"
Skye leaned up to give Chase a peck on the cheek before dropping back down on all fours. "You know where to find me when you are ready to talk, babe." With that, Skye turned and started walking away.
Chase turned to look at her as she walked away. Part of him wanted to call out to her, to have her come back and not leave his side. Another part of his brain was craving the opportunity to think by himself. To ponder one word that was now stuck in his head. As Skye started down the stairs, Chase turned back to watching the other pups play. Why does she want me to be daring? Chase pondered that thought as he noticed Marshall's fire truck crossing the Adventure Bay Bridge back towards the Lookout.
Once she knew she was out of range of Chase's sensitive hearing, Skye finally let out the heavy sigh she had been holding in. As much as she wanted to hash everything out with Chase right now, to yell and cry and scream and fight until they were both spent, she knew it would be wasted effort if she wanted a permanent change. He wouldn't change overnight, but she knew he could change if he wanted to. He just needed a different perspective. Skye put all of those thoughts carefully away as she walked out the doors to join the other pups in playing.
"Project Outreach: Travel Log update 112. April 23rd, 2023. 11:47 AM EST."
"Universe: FoxFireverse"
"Thankfully the universe started stabilizing this morning. Over the past six hours, the accuracy of the simulations climbed to about three percent above random chance. Unfortunately, thanks to a stunt that some pups decided to pull after being inspired by Cinder's display of public affection, I was unable to meet Marshall and Cinder at the correct time. I'm planning to move the meeting to the next day at noon, but at this point I don't even know whether that'll work. By now I'm certain that neither of the twins remember that the alternate timeline was real, and I'm not sure it'll be the best idea to tell them about it yet, so I'm going to wait and see what happens. I'll be departing in about thirty minutes to meet up with them."
"Thirty minutes? Can't you just go now?" Auburn asked from behind Gizmo.
"No. I can't," Gizmo replied as he turned away from the computer terminal to direct his attention towards her.
"Why not?" the female Dalmatian innocently asked.
"Oh no…" Rocky groaned as he sensed the inevitable forthcoming explanation.
"Well," Gizmo began, "in order to tell you why, I've got to explain the flow of time, alternate timeline branches, and how multiversal analysis works."
"Oh no…" Marshall and Auburn echoed as they, too, realized the lecture they were about to receive.
A/N: Only awesome nerds read the next section. If you want to skip, you can skip to the next break.
"Our universe is composed of four dimensions. Actually, technically eleven, but for simplicity's sake we'll say it's four: three spatial dimensions and one temporal dimension. Length, width, height, and time. When monitoring a universe, we obviously can't show all of that, so every moment in time is represented by a single point, and the three spatial dimensions are ignored. This leaves a singular dimension: a line going up and down. Up is towards the future, and down is towards the past. But because of the Many-Worlds Theory of quantum mechanics, supporting our capacity of free will, every second we create alternate timelines. These alternate realities are displayed on a universe graph in the horizontal two-dimensional plane. If I pull up a different universe as an example, you'll see it looks like a tree. If you look at the center, there's a large timeline branch that looks like a trunk. It splits into smaller branches, which themselves split into smaller branches of the timeline. The reason why some are larger than others is because of probability. The trunk, for example, is the most likely of these universes, which is why it's the thickest. The timeline extends downwards to the beginning of the universe and upwards to the end of the universe. This universe is stable; none of the branches are moving or changing. But now if I pull up this live schematic of FoxFireverse, what do you see?"
"Um… it looks more… bushy?" Auburn responded, unsure of her answer.
"Well, yes, but it's also moving. If you watch, you'll see the branches are changing and bending. It's like someone took the end of a rope and shook it, and the wave is still propagating. It hasn't reached the right time for them yet, so I have to wait for that to happen."
"You're literally a time traveler. Can't you just travel to the future when it'll already be at the right point?" Auburn pointed out.
"Nope. If I traveled a day into the future and looked at this graph, it would look exactly like it does right now. But if I wait twenty-four hours and look at it, it'll have progressed twenty-four hours. And at that point if I go back in time to right now, it will still have progressed by twenty-four hours. Do you understand that?"
"No. My head hurts," Auburn muttered.
"I'm confused," Marshall spoke up. "If time depends on the passage of… time… then is there another time dimension? Wouldn't that be five dimensions? I thought we only had four."
"No. We technically have eleven," Gizmo answered.
"ELEVEN?!" Auburn and Marshall gawked.
"Um… forget about that," Gizmo sighed. "It really doesn't matter because of curling, but- oh never mind… There's four dimensions. There aren't two time dimensions. Got that?"
"But then how is time changing?" Auburn asked.
"It's not time that's changing. Hmm… Well, think of the flow of time like a conveyor belt. It's constantly moving forward and carrying you with it. However, that's just your universe. The universe we're observing is a completely different conveyor belt. What we're doing here is we're watching that second conveyor belt while standing on the first conveyor belt. This ripple in the universe is like a bump or a seam on the conveyor belt. We're watching it move forward at the standard temporal rate. It might be moving faster or slower than our conveyor belt, but it's moving at the same rate that the second conveyor belt is moving at. If I were to time travel forward, that would be like taking a step forward on our conveyor belt. It would change absolutely nothing about their conveyor belt. Just moving around our timeline doesn't impact it at all. We have to wait until that bump makes it to the right point on their conveyor belt before I can go and talk with them, because if I go before that, it will be the FoxFireverse before the timeline change."
A/N: Safe to resume here
"So to summarize, time travel doesn't accelerate the propagation of the changes because they're completely different conveyor belts. Does that make sense?" Gizmo questioned as he wrapped up his explanation.
"Maybe… I'll never see conveyor belts the same again," Auburn groaned, holding a paw to her sore head.
"Gizmo, you've been explaining stuff for forever," Rocky pointed out. "Marshall looks like he's melted. And besides, it's been thirty minutes. You have to go. Can we call this meeting over?"
"What?! It's been half an hour already?" Gizmo exclaimed in shock.
The mixed breed nodded. "Yeah. Look at the length of the recording."
"Oh shoot! I never stopped the recording! I'll edit it out later. For now, I've got some Dalmatians to meet. End log."
Cinder was leaning on Marshall's shoulder as he drove up to park his truck. She noticed Everest, Augie, Rubble, Dwayne, Zuma, and Skye playing as they drove up. Marshall deftly parked his truck and it changed into his pup house, leaving both of them perched on the roof. Are you going to jump or would you like help? Marshall asked as he jumped down.
Cinder didn't respond and instead jumped down on top of Marshall. You make a great landing pad Cinder giggled in her mind.
So that's how it's going to be? Marshall said, interjecting an audible play growl as he stood and shrugged his twin off.
Cinder stuck her tongue out at Marshall before pouncing on him again and started wrestling with him. She knew she had the advantage because she was hurt, so he would take it easy on her. But taking it easy was not the same as letting her win. After tussling for a bit, Cinder finally was able to declare victory by pinning Marshall flat on his back.
"Pinned ya," she softly said with a smile as she leaned down and pressed her nose against her twin's
"I feel like you are taking advantage of your situation," Marshall teased.
"Ahem,"
Marshall and Cinder turned to look at the voice. Next to them sat a black Labrador retriever with pointed ears and a plain black collar. "Marshall, Cinder? Sorry to interrupt, but can we talk?" he asked confidently.
A/N: So, it appears we've come full circle, or have we? Stick around to find out! Special thanks to RodentRacer for bringing his OCs Gizmo and crew into this world and his help writing and proofing this chapter!