The Omega Timeline

Chapter 34: Unrepentant - by Ben

“So. Basically what you’re saying is that all of us here were transported to this strange land…” Snake said, scratching her chin with a talon, “And a bunch of creatures and humans alike are banding together to try to take over the… what is it called? ‘City’, we’re in. Seems kind of silly me to me~”

“I know it does, but we’re kind of in a sticky situation. We ourselves don’t know how to get out of this place, and if we can’t get out, then those bad guys are probably gonna kill us,” Ruby replied.

“So you brought- brought US in to help you?!” Tago stammered.

“I mean… Not really. That obelisk did it on its own accord,” Aragorn said gruffly, nodding his head at the white obelisk. The abstracted creatures turned around in awe at the thing.

“If we really have to fight some creatures to get home, then so be it,” Rage said, barring her fangs, “Although how do we know you’re not trying to trick us, human? You somehow can communicate with us.”

Rage began to walk up to Syl, and she stood her ground and clenched her fists.

“Now’s not the time to think about it. If you really want to see you can go out of this cave and see for yourselves. There’s some crazy fire wyvern out there named Jethezzar who’s teamed up with a desmodus and a terror bird and are bringing in their own army to conquer this city.”

Tago flinched at the name of the wyvern, and turned away, tucking her tail in. Rage licked his lips and turned away, swishing his tail back and forth and through the humans.

“Fine. We’ll work together, I suppose.”

The two shadowmanes, Moonbeam and Orbit, were at the corner of the cave, staring off at Emerald and Darkhide carefully. Darkhide took a quick glance at the two, and scurried away. They seemed unusually close.

“Hey, you two over there! Something the matter? Or are you just enjoying each other’s comfort- Tee hee-” Snake giggled. Nova took her claw and whacked Snake upside the head.

“Hey!”

“Don’t bother them. Some of us have died in our past lives. They may have suffered the same fate,” Nova scolded her.

“Oh.”

Dr. Yang was sitting on the floor with Steve, who was on his shoulder. He looked on at the incoming creatures, and then scratched his wrist.

“I’m not sure about you, but I don’t think sitting around is a good idea. They could come at any moment. We need a game plan to drive them out.”

Steve suddenly scurried off Dr. Yang’s shoulder, and pointed his finger in the air.

“Leave it to me then!”

“What?”

Andrew stepped forward, and all eyes immediately turned to him. The original plan maker, everyone had confided their trust in him, but it didn’t exactly turn out so well.

“I have an idea.”

“Does it involve splitting up? Because I don’t want to split up again,” Buddy muttered, nodding his head at the fellow creatures, “It was a nightmare going with these knuckleheads.”

“Hey, I’m not a knucklehead!” Steve protested.

“Splitting up last time was a bad idea,” Andrew suggested, “Well, it seemed good at the time. We had no ways to trust each other. But our lives are on the line right now. We really need to work together and come up with a plan we can stick through or else they’ll tear us apart.”

“So. What are we going to do then?” Aurora asked softly. Star was sitting next to her. After Samuel’s betrayal, she had seemed oddly more quiet than usual.

“We need to take a defensive approach,” Andrew said, “Last time we all went on the offense… Each and every one of us that went there were defeated. So we have to take a defense.”

“But if we all go at the same time there’s no way we could be defeated,” Sheeri said, “We have two wyverns, a bunch of creatures, and…”

“They might have brought in even more forces though. We can’t know for sure who, but they’ve gotta be strong,” Andrew rebutted.

“So… why don’t WE just bring in strong creatures?” Rage asked, flicking her tongue.

“It’s not that simple. It takes time to abstract people. When I went there, there was a countdown for one of the bad guys being abstracted,” Syl explained, “I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure it takes a while to abstract strong creatures.”

“So that’s how we can count on the fact they don’t just bring in more creatures,” Freya realized.

“If all of us stay here, who’s gonna defend the city? Neddy, Ruby, and Sylas were almost killed when all four of us fought the humans. We can’t have accidents like that happening again,” Erica argued. She seemed to be very keen on leaving some behind in the safety of the mansion’s walls.

“Then let’s not bring them. Some will stay behind to protect the mansion, some will be out in the city, ready to defend against whoever comes here,” Andrew decided.

“That sounds like a good plan. If you don’t mind, I’ll be, uh, staying here,” Ruby said, “I’m not sure I want to have a run in with them again. Plus I need to watch over Neddy.”

Neddy gave a sly smile.

“Yeah… True.”

“I’ll be staying behind as well. Perhaps I can figure out more with this obelisk,” Erica decided. Freya stepped forward.

“I’ll be going out there. We can kick those things’ butts so hard they’ll end up back where they belong.”

“I’ll go,” Aurora silently said. A bead of sweat dripped down her face, “I think… I’d do good. I’ve charted a map of this city already. I know every crevice and hiding hole.”

Aragorn silently shuffled where he was.

“I suppose I should go then too.”

“If you’re going then I’m going,” Jack said, grabbing onto his father’s arm. Aragorn gently pulled away.

“I’m afraid not. You’re staying here with mom,” Aragorn said. Arianna smiled sweetly.

“I think it’d make sense if all of us go,” Nova said. Sheeri nodded, although she seemed like she wasn’t so sure of it herself. The Rock Drakes also nodded along in agreement.

“Personally, I don’t see who within my group could go. We’re not exactly warriors,” Dr. Yang said. Steve glared at Dr. Yang.

“I am a warrior! What are you talking about?”

Andrew pondered as he stared at Dr. Yang’s group for a moment. Then, he pointed at Joe Kong.

“Hey, you look pretty strong. You should come.”

Joe Kong, who was busy munching on berries, looked up in surprise.

“What? But-”

“Alright. Awesome. And… Buddy. How about you go with Joe. You’re a purlovia. You can burrow through anything. I think that’d be great out there.”

“Do I really have to,” Buddy groaned. Joe Kong put a hand on Buddy’s shoulder.

“Let’s not argue against it. Let’s just go and get this over with…”

Buddy sighed.

“I’m not too sure why I have to come. I’m not exactly great in battle. I pass out every few seconds for crying out loud.”

“Well you haven’t passed out once since we’ve gotten here. You’ll do fine,” Dr. Yang comforted him.

Syl stepped forward.

“I guess I should go then, with Skyocean and Drake. The children can stay behind with the others.”

Moonhigh opened her mouth to protest, but Sunhigh tugged on her shirt.

“Let’s not argue. They can handle it and I’m scared… What if Milo is out there?”

“Milo isn’t out there, don’t worry,” Syl sweetly said to him. A bead of sweat dripped down her face, “Just stay here with the adults and I’ll take care of everything with our friends, kay?”

“K,” Sunhigh replied.

“And I guess all of you creatures will go,” Andrew said, looking at the recently abstracted creatures. None of them had any objections. Not even Orbit or Moonbeam, who seemed fine with this predicament.

“Hey, you two shadowmanes… I have a feeling that you don’t really want to do this. You can stay back if you want to. I know what you’ve been through,” Darkhide said. Emerald raised her eyebrow at Darkhide’s words. Moonbeam turned to Darkhide with a smile.

“Thank you, rock drake, but, as long as we have each other we’ll do what’s necessary. I’ll be honored to go into battle with you.”

“And what about you, Andrew?” Aurora asked. Andrew looked back, unhooked his TEK bow, and powered it up.

“I’ll be going out there too.”

With the crew decided, they concocted a battle strategy.

The two rock drakes, Emerald and Darkhide, would be scouts. With Ruby and Erica’s help, they’d set up alarm traps at two points of the city, one near the south building at the bar, and another near the north building at the school. If any of the bad guys are spotted approaching, they’ll sound the alarm and everyone will ready themselves. They will stay invisible and won’t be joining the battle to act as the element of surprise.

Aurora, Andrew, Freya, and Skyocean would be patrolling the streets with their weapons together. Together with their might, and lead by Aurora, if they spot a villain they’d run and use hit and run tactics to slow them down and defeat them, and the twisting streets and strange buildings to their advantage with Aurora’s implant attribute. Skyocean would also use his power to potentially trick any of the humans that’d come to the city.

Aragorn, Sylveevee, and Drake would be the main force atop the buildings. Once the wyvern known as Jethezzar is spotted flying toward them, then Sylveevee will transform into a wyvern of her own and engage in a battle with him. Since none of the bad guys knew there was another shapeshifter like Syl or Milo… Drake would be backup and wouldn’t use his power yet until the last second. Aragorn would use traditional weaponry to chip away at Jethezzar and serve as a distraction.

On the other hand, Buddy and Tago would be surveillance. As the battle rages on, Tago will fly Buddy back and forth between all the different groups to let the others know about the others’ statuses and if they should regroup or not.

The rest of the recently abstracted creatures would patrol the border of the cities together. The Raptors, Snake and Rage, would act as the mobility, using their agility and the buildings to pounce on potential enemies, while the Shadowmanes, Orbit and Moonbeam would go invisible for ambush methods.

Finally, Joe Kong would go around the city and try to round up as many animals and humans as possible for the incoming fight. All the more manpower, the better…

“I love the plan,” Rage said with a sly smile, “You humans aren’t so stupid after all.”

“Right. Now let’s get a move on. We don’t have much time,” Andrew said.

Everyone walked out of the cave and into the cities, ready to fight for their lives and for their futures.

I guess you could say this truly would be the battle of The Omega Timeline: Story Intersection…

~

OH yeah the chapter isn’t over yet.

“All this land for the taking? That sounds splendid,” Fjordur’s Dragon growled.

“Yes. But these pesky little gnats are trying to get in the way. They’re stationed at a city up north. If we wipe them out, no one can stop us,” Drain said. Apex, the largest one of the crew, seemed very reluctant about this.

“None of you are father. How should I trust you? Why should I work with you?”

“Because ‘father’ isn’t here right now,” Jethezzar muttered. Jethezzar’s eyes darted around. A few humans, but a lot of dragons had been abstracted. His power was being challenged just by their presence. He wasn’t sure he liked it.

“I think I’ll be fine letting them run rampant, and killing them once they get tired out. But how do I do that?” Jethezzar thought. Then, a cruel smile grew on his face.

“I have a proposition. All the creatures should head to the city to wipe it off the map. All the humans should stay behind, just in case they send out a group to capture it.”

“That sounds fine to me,” the reaper queen, Sig, said. She swished her tail around, a weird sap secreting from the tip, “I can’t wait to find some delicious prey-”

Fjordur’s dragon took a glance at Jethezzar, and rolled his eyes.

“Fine.”

Drain, Ember, and Lieutenant Felswand (who had just been recently abstracted as Ember requested), also agreed. They didn’t exactly want to mess with the dragons.

Apex still seemed hesitant.

“What will we do when we get there though?”

“Hmm, I suppose you could go in first. You should be enough to kill them,” Jethezzar said.

“But why should I listen to that?” Apex asked, smoke pouring from his mouth.

“Because… If you don’t, we’ll all gang up on you. And that goes for you humans too. Now let’s just work together for a bit. Once we get rid of those heroes, we can carve up the land for ourselves and we’ll all be happy. That’s that. Now, let’s get a move on.”

With that, all the creatures began to fly off into the north, leaving the humans to their own devices. Captain Shortstacks stomped off to the edge of the podium, a hand on his sword. Lil Jack followed closely behind.

“We should listen to those dragons’ directions, and be wary. If any pitiful losers come here, we’ll get info out of them and then hold them hostage.”

“Y-yes Captain,” Lil Jack replied. Professor Rockwell seemed to be inspecting the hologram that the black obelisk was displaying. He scrolled down the list of characters, scratching his beard carefully.

“How absolutely wondrous. I didn’t know the obelisks were capable of such power… This is absolutely beautiful!” he exclaimed, “It was even able to transform me back into this ugly, mortal form. However, once I get my hands on some element, I can ascend back to godhood.”

Everyone seemed to keep their distance from the crazy guy. He seemed off his rocker, and nobody really felt like talking to him. Pat, Milo, and Doctor Bubba were off to the side discussing something.

“Doctor Bubba, you said that you have a serum capable of giving people the power to transform into any creature they desire?” Pat asked with curiosity.

“Yes, yes I did. That’s how Milo’s able to transform… and that dastardly Sylveevee. It wasn’t supposed to work like that. Originally, it was meant to act as a way to trap someone in the body of a different animal. However, that seems not to be the case anymore. It was an error on my part.”

“Hmm, if that’s the case, why don’t you make more of that?” Pat whispered, “Both of us can take it, and now there’s three shapeshifting humans. We could just wipe out the others and have everything to ourselves. Or better yet, go home, now that that Syl is out of the equation no one can stop us.”

“As much as I’d love to, I need to find the resources. And a lab. We’d have to do some exploring, but I’m not too sure I want to abandon post here. Those dragons are too dangerous. We need to follow their lead for now, until there’s an opportunity to split off.”

At the moment, these three seemed to be the most dangerous out of the humans. They didn’t worry about the other humans. To them, they were pawns. They didn’t have powers, after all.

“But what about her?” Milo asked, glancing at one of the women who were recently abstracted. They called her Willow. She had long black curls, green eyes, metal armor, and an implant in her wrist just like Pat and Milo. She seemed the quiet time, staying away from everyone else and watching cautiously. She was sitting on a rock and throwing up and down a dagger.

“She’s fishy… But I wouldn’t worry. There’s three of us. What harm could she do?” Pat reasoned.

“And her?”

There was another woman who had also been abstracted alongside the other big ones. She was referred to as Queen June, and she had metal armor on too and a bored look on her face. She was impatiently tapping her foot on the ground, crossing her arms, and looking around. Her orange-brown hair flowed in the wind (even though there was no wind). Suddenly, she got up from the ground and began to walk away.

“Alright, that’s enough for me. I’m out. Later, losers.”

As June walked past Captain Shortstacks, she bumped into his shoulder. Lil Jack flinched, but Captain Shortstacks took offense to this and unsheathed his sword, pointing it at June’s throat.

“How DARE you!” Captain Shortstacks snarled. June smirked at the sight. She snatched the sword with tremendous speed and yanked it out of his hand, tossing it onto the path up to the obelisk podium.

“Just stay out of the way. This doesn’t concern you. I have no care for taking over anything. I only want to… eh, why should I tell you.”

June rolled her eyes and walked off toward the city. Everyone watched her cautiously, until eventually the glitches covered her tracks and hid her away from sight.

“That damn wretch. Who does she think she is?”

“W-Well she was a queen, according to the obelisk,” Lil Jack pointed out, “Don’t you British have that?”

“Don’t talk back to me!” Captain Shortstacks snarled. Lil Jack shrieked in fear. Captain Shortstacks grumbled and rubbed his forehead. He walked off to recover his sword.

“She was probably pretty weak,” Milo muttered, “She wouldn’t have been very useful.”

There was a gasp, suddenly, and Captain Shortstacks stormed back onto the podium, as red as a tomato and his fists on his hips.

“WHERE IS MY SWORD, AND WHY HAS IT DISAPPEARED?!” Captain Shortstacks screamed, steam pouring out of his ears. Pat shrugged.

“Dude, I dunno. It probably glitched out and disappeared. Chill out.”

Captain Shortstacks walked up to Pat, getting up right in his face.

“You really need to learn how to respect your superiors, boy. You probably stole it, huh? Now give it back or I’ll be forced to-”

“Jeez louise it wasn’t me! It’s not like I’d want to steal it anyway, I’ve already got my own,” Pat said, flashing his sword. Captain Shortstacks turned to Milo.

“Then it was YOU!”

“Dude you really need to quiet down-”

CLANK, CLANK!

All eyes turned to the middle of the podium, and there a smoke grenade lay. Everyone gasped, and suddenly it set off, causing smoke to spew all over the place. Screaming and shouting commenced, and everyone drew their weapons in a panic.

“Hey, what the- Where’s my sword?!” Pat gasped.

CLONK!

The sound of someone being whacked, and then collapsing to the ground rung in their ears.

“What’s… going on, is it one of the villains? Who did that?” Captain Shortstacks wondered to himself as he began to look around.

Alas, the smoke finally began to clear. A voice beeped out from the hologram.

“Story Intersection,” the familiar robotic voice announced, “One user detected: automatically opening ‘The Arks: Over Heaven’.”

The person who threw the smoke grenade was finally revealed. Standing on the podium was a man with a black graduation robe, and he had an unconscious Milo at swordpoint. In the man’s other hand was another sword, which was aimed at the side of Captain Shortstacks’ neck. A dagger lay in his mouth, and he gave a grin.

“You pathetic idiots…” he growled, “Look what you’ve gotten yourself into. Now I wouldn’t mind killing you two right now, but I need answers. WHAT DID YOU DO TO STAR?!”

“W-Who are you?” Captain Shortstacks asked. Lil Jack’s eyes widened, and collapsed onto his bottom. Tears began to form in his eyes.

“Y-you!” Lil Jack cried out. He pointed a finger at him, “Stay back! Don’t- Don’t even think about, about-”

Samuel smiled at the sight of Lil Jack.

“Oh. You. What was your name again? Lil John? Doesn’t matter. I’m Samuel.”

Samuel turned to Milo. His eyes glanced over the implant in his left wrist. He raised his boot and then smashed it right into it, causing it to crack. He slammed his foot into it again, and then it shattered.

SMASH!

Glass flew onto the ground, and Samuel pressed both swords harder onto Captain Shortstacks’ and Milo’s necks.

“Now, I’ll give you the count of three. If you don’t surrender to me, I’ll kill both of your strongest combatants.”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One…”

~

Joe Kong quickly ran through the city, huffing and puffing as his feet stomped on the cobblestone streets. He needed to act fast. The bad guys could come at any moment, and time was money.

“The faster I get this over with, the faster I can head back to the mansion and eat my berries,” Joe Kong thought, “Mmm, yummy.”

Joe Kong eventually came to a skidding stop at a bar. He had seen this exact one on the way to the mansion, when he had first been brought into the Omega Timeline. He peered inside and saw a bunch of creatures drinking and eating all types of food and having fun. Too bad he’d have to ruin it with the news.

Joe Kong barged inside and was greeted with the smell of fresh meat and berries. Joe took a sniff of the air, and his eyes began to wander. Perhaps he could just take a quick bite before warning them…

Joe Kong walked up to the counter, where a bartender was wiping down a glass that had just been recently used. He had a nametag on his shirt that said ‘Paul’.

“Hey there! Newcomer? Welcome to my bar! I’m Paul. I’m the greatest Paul there is. Actually, I’m the only Paul around these parts. How can I help ‘ya?” Paul asked. He was quite a tall fellow. He was wearing a weird red and white outfit, and blue shorts, but at the same time it seemed to have glitched in the fur of a Gigantopithecus, and a general’s outfit and a futuristic soldier’s.

“Paul…” Joe Kong said. He thought about his father. He shuddered at the thought of the news that Dr. Yang had brought him.

“I’ll make you two proud,” Joe Kong thought with a sniffle, “Right after I get some food, of course.”

“Um. Well, I think I’d like some berries.”

“Berries? Okie dokie, here ya go.”

Paul turned around and opened up a weird white box, and as soon as he did a burst of cold air came forth and onto Joe. Paul reached into the box, grasped the air, and then pulled out a glass container of berries. Joe blinked his eyes rapidly and began to rub them.

“What the-”

Paul turned around and poured the berries into a bowl, giving them to Joe. Joe grabbed them eagerly.

“Okay, that’s gonna be five Omega coins.”

“A what?” Joe asked.

“The currency of this place. We just found it lying around and distributed it equally, and then everyone just kind of uses it. You can find some… in the right places. What, you think this is free? Heh, that’s funny,” Paul chuckled. Joe scratched the back of his head.

“Well, ya see… I don’t really have that.”

“Then I’m afraid I’mma have to take it back. This isn’t cheap y’know. They aren’t from your typical island.”

“Nah, don’t worry,” a voice said, “I’ll pay for it.”

Joe and Paul turned to see a black bear sitting on the stool and gulping up a pot of honey. The black bear set the pot down and turned to the two.

“It’s on me. Here. I love the berries here too.”

The black bear scratched his butt, and then pulled out five silver coins with the Omega symbol implanted on them. Paul greedily grabbed the coins and put them in his mouth.

“Thank you sir. Here, have your berries. You’re lucky Bear over here paid for them…”

Paul went back to cleaning his glass without a care in the world, completely ignoring Joe and Bear. Joe turned to Bear with a raised eyebrow.

“Um. Thanks?” Joe said, grabbing a handful of berries and shoving them in his mouth.

“No problem. Anything for a fellow mammal. It’s hard finding those around here nowadays,” Bear said. He grabbed a cooked fish and chomped onto it, “So… what’s your story?”

“My story?”

“Yeah. Everyone has one. Including me,” Bear said.

“Well then what’s your story?”

“My story?” Bear said. He scratched his head, “Well, you see, I was wondering through the forest. And then… Uh. I forgot.”

Bear turned to Joe.

“What’s your name?”

“Joe Kong. My mother and father died in a war. I was with a few other animals and then…”

“Oh,” Bear muttered, turning away, “I’m so sorry for your loss. What’s your name again?”

“You’re so stupid,” Joe replied, rolling his eyes.

“Right, You’re So Stupid. Now, I have a feeling that you’re here for something… So what is it?”

“There’s a wyvern coming here right now. He’s going to destroy everything, and I need to get help. There’s a bunch of other people and creatures who are gonna help-”

Bear suddenly stood up from his seat.

“EVERYONE WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE THERE’S A WYVERN COMING AND HE’S GONNA FRY EVERYONE TO SMITHEREENS! SO WE ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO STOP IT!” Bear cried. All the creatures began to scream in panic, and they got up from their seats and began to hurry out of the bar and to who knew where. Paul opened the white box and jumped inside, closing it behind him. Joe groaned and facepalmed.

“Thanks a lot dude…”

“Hey, it’s no problem You’re So Stupid. Now I’ll be glad to help, because to be frank, I do not want to die,” Bear decided, “Anyway. I think we should go now! Let’s go find that wyvern and kill him! To death!”

Just then, the restroom door in the corner of the bar swung open. A hooded man wearing a golden heart locket exited, and as he spotted Joe Kong and Bear, he stood as still as a deer in headlights.

“OH. HEY THERE!” Bear said, waving his paw at the hooded figure, “You’re back from the restroom! Say, did you hear that THERE’S A WYVERN COMING-”

“Yeah. Yeah I did,” the hooded figure replied.

“Awesome! Wanna help us kill it?” Bear asked.

The hooded figure sighed, and rubbed his face, which seemed to be covered in shadows.

“Fine. I guess I have no choice, right?”

“Awesome! Dude, you’re gonna love this guy, You’re So Stupid! He’s CRAZY strong! Just you see, he has such a cool power!” Bear said with excitement. Joe Kong turned to the hooded figure.

“Well, I guess two is good. At least it wasn’t zero,” Joe Kong said.

“That’s the spirit You’re So Stupid! Now let’s go kick some wyvern butt!” Bear exclaimed, “Me, You’re So Stupid, and… What’s your name again?”

The hooded figure sighed, and pulled his hood down. He had long black hair that looked like it hadn’t been cut in ages, rolled up eyes, and finally, a distinct rope mark across his neck that looked like he had been hanged. He wore a wreath of flowers atop his head.

“Ben. My name is Ben.”