The Father, the Fool, and the Cocky

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After a long grueling day of driving around the city aimlessly, the three men sat inside an old car underneath a flickering streetlight. With their morale low, they sat silently in the car. Alan had his holographic display open with numerous cameras open. While his original job was to be watching the footage, looking for clues, he zoned out with no sense of urgency, chatting with Alice. Maverick had a large map displayed on this holographic display. The map showed the entire city with critical points marked with a red X. Tony did nothing except sit in the driver's seat, tapping his foot in irritation with rhythmic motion. They grew tired after coming up short with every area they had checked, looking for Renne and Arthur.

"ALRIGHT," Tony shouted, startling both Alan and Maverick. "This fucking awkward silence needs to stop." Alan flashed an annoyed glare while Alice chuckled softly.

"Then think of something." Both Alan and Maverick said in unison.

"But in all honesty," Maverick continued, "There isn't much to talk about, and the boy is busy searching the traffic cams for the whereabouts of the two."

"And I'm not much of a talker," Alan added, hiding that he wasn't doing his job. "Not to mention that this city has way too many cameras, a lot in interesting locations too."

Tony did not seem to like the responses he had just received from the two of them. "Fine, whatever."

Their car sat just outside an old warehouse within the Southern District. Of the four, the Southern District is the least touched district, as most buildings only suffered minor damage from the quake that destroyed the city. While the Southern District is home to soulless machines created to aid the city, many rumors float around that the Southern District is also home to some deadly robots tasked to euthanize those living there. As late night air grew chilly by the second, Alan stepped out of the car to get some fresh air. Tony and Maverick did the same, but they traveled behind the vehicle. Alan found an old service ladder that led to the roof of a warehouse and climbed it. Once he reached the top, the synchronized flashing of aviation obstruction lights danced from the top of the warehouses in the area. The air was chilly and filled with the sounds of heavy machinery and drones fighting for noise superiority.

"…" Alan stared at the lights with an empty look. The sight brought back memories he once cherished, but recent events tainted those happy memories. On top of the building where Alan stood was the first time he met the closest friend he had before the quake. He stood shyly next to his father as his mother shook the hand of another businessman. While he was too young to reminder the details, he remembered that this was one of the happiest days of his youth as after the meeting ended, Alan's father took him and the girl he had just met on a joyride through the city on a private helicopter. "To think it was all a lie…." Alan leaned on the rusty rails of the building.

"Alan…" Alice said in a worrisome tone. "You really don't believe what he said, do you?" Alan said nothing. He just stared off into the distance with lonely eyes. "Look, I know my input will just be shrugged off, but I want you to consider this carefully. If your father wanted you dead, he would have done so."

"He had already tried in previous loops. He probably only kept me alive till this point because he wants me to go back in time and undo this. If I did, that would allow a different him to kill me again." Alan looked at the pendant around his neck. The soft aqua glow danced with the crimson mixed within. "All for this stupid pendant." Alan tried to yank the pendant off, to no avail.

"If that was the case, then why are you still alive now?" Alice's tone shifted. "Though I wouldn't let you die, you saw how he fought Apollo. You saw the aftermath of what happened in the girl's room. Arthur fought all of them without holding back, yet he let you live. He let you escape, knowing that you would go back in time to stop him. He didn't do so just so that you could undo everything; Arthur did so that you could get strong enough to kill him. After all, his criminal record was all the proof that I needed to conclude that. Arthur was testing you, ensuring you were up to the task. And if you don't believe that, then you are a lost cause. I've seen a similar situation before in my time. A man I once knew, a man I once loved, tested my resolve every day until I could fully rely only on my own decisions as a princess." A crimson mist materialized next to Alan, and a woman with silver hair appeared with black markings covering her body. She reached out her hand to Alan. "I will do the same as he did to me. Show you the light that you have lost. And while I'm at it, I'll make you fall for me." She smiled lovingly at Alan. Alan took her hand and smiled back.

"Thank you. However, I will not be falling for ya. I've still got my heart fixed on someone from my past. Once I know she is safe; then I'll move on." Alice gave Alan an adorable pout before vanishing. Alan once again turned towards the distant view of the city. "Only an hour since the sun had set. Hey Chronos, I've got a question." Alan waited patiently for no response in return. "Fine then." Alan smiled. I'll solve this quickly so I will not have to rely on your power. With the cool breeze uplifting him, Alan sat down on the roof, opened his holographic display, and worked earnestly. Alan slipped on a headset and listened to music as he analyzed the footage.

~~M~~

"So, Tony, have you heard the rumors?" While Alan was sitting on the roof of a warehouse, Tony and Maverick took a leisure walk to a convenience store to pick up some food and drinks to last the night.

"You mean the rumors of how the city creates robots that break the laws of robotics and kill those within the Southern District? Get real, Maverick. No way that would even be allowed to happen in secrecy, as someone would have already reported it to us." Tony held the bags of food and gave Maverick a bored stare.

"But I mean, you saw what Arthur did with that cleaning robot the other day. It was as if he knew they designed the machines that way." Maverick looked around and noticed a large group of autonomous robots moving toward the heart of the city. "Despite that, to think that the technology could change so much in the span of a decade."

"I hate to ruin your fun, but this advancement came at the cost of human lives," Tony said.

"I'm aware; even so, it's just amazing." Maverick stopped. "But I wonder what would have happened if the Professor didn't pull this stupid stunt."

"Well, no use in thinking about it. Time travel doesn't exist, so what would have happened will never happen."

"Man, dream a little."

The two men returned to the car and called Alan over so that they could eat and prepare for the long night.

~~R~~

Several hours have passed, and the three men searching have yet to make progress in finding Arthur. While they may have failed to find them, another party had. With an army of machines behind him, a man in a lab coat stood just outside the enormous steel doors of an abandoned factory's unloading area. With a simple snap of the fingers, the doors blew open, and a blast of air riddled with icicles flew toward the man. In union, the machines threw themselves in front of the man and were destroyed by the icy winds. With no machines left, the man slowly clapped.

"Heh heh heh, so you found me, Professor," Arthur said in a dry, forced tone. Black markings had almost completely taken over his body. He stood in front of Renne, who was barely conscious within a pillar of ice. Only her head stuck out from the pillar—Frost from the ice covered her face and hair. With eyes yearning for death, she stared at Professor Omega, who was fixated on Arthur.

"Well, finding you wasn't so hard. After all, hiding out in an abandoned factory in the Southern District is a very cliche move." Professor Omega said while summoning silver mist and pulling out a silver mask. He put on the mask and pulled out his mechanical blade.

"You say it was easy, yet you wasted the entire day looking for me." Arthur then stared at Omega's mask, and his black markings expanded. "So you want to fight, I see." As an aqua mist devoured the room, icicles appeared from Arthur's black markings. While the mist was thin, it froze everything in the room.

"But of course, I told you I wanted her unharmed, no?"

"Oh, you did, but I enjoy seeing the despair on my victim's faces before slaughtering them." He licked his blood-stained blade before pointing it at Professor Omega.

"I'll send you to hell for destroying the perfect doll I could have used."

"Heh heh heh, that's all you care about? Wow, I would have thought you hated me for something else. Ah well, let's fight!"

The two charged at one another, causing sparks to fly as their blades collided. While the men fought, a familiar-looking spirit appeared next to Renne. The aqua-colored spirit stared Renne in her eyes with her weapon in his hands. The light returned to her eyes, and she tried to move. Chronos pointed the scythe at her throat, and the blade turned away. Confused, Renne stared at Chronos' disappointed face.

"Pandora… you know I am still your master. This girl is nothing but a pawn that yearns for death." As he said that, the blade tried to reach for his throat. Chronos sighed and moved the blade away from him. "Chronos, neither of our princesses response to us."

"Get used to it." Chronos' tone shifted. "Anyway, glad to see the light in your eyes has returned, Wrath."

Renne gave him an unamused look, as she could not respond because of a gag in her mouth.

"You are probably wondering what's going on, so I'll tell you. First, I'm here independently, so Alan has no clue where I am. Second, I'm here because of a duty of mine. And last, you have three men fighting over you, so consider yourself lucky." He chuckled.

Renne gave Chronos a menacing look.

"Ha, I would be afraid of that look if a certain someone did not encase you in ice or if you had legs."

*CRASH* A large chunk of the factory's roof fell onto the floor, causing two men to back up and reexamine the battlefield.

"You know, fighting you gives me the weird sense of déjà vu, just without the ice."

Arthur gave no response as he summoned an enormous cube of ice and flung it at the Professor.

Renne turned to look at Chronos with a confused look.

"Don't look at me like that. While I'm not bound to the same curse as Alan, I don't really pay attention to the situations he finds himself in."

Renne tilted her head even more. Chronos said nothing and smiled at Renne. Renne gave up on trying to communicate with the spirit and turned her attention to the fight.

~~0~~

"ACHOO!" Tony let out a loud sneeze.

"Dude, it's eleven o'clock. Why are you so loud?" Maverick unironically said.

"..." Tony looked at him, "I'm gonna punch you."

"Please don't."

The time was quickly running out for Alan to figure out where Arthur went. However, Alan was currently asleep in the back of the car due to overworking. The two men, unaware of his time limit, also used the time to sleep before being rudely awakened by Tony's sneeze. Alan slowly got up from his rest and noticed a strange chill in the air.

"Ummm…" Alan sleepily said, "Isn't it kinda chilly for this time of year?" Alan yawned.

"Yeah...you have a point," Maverick said in agreement. Maverick turned to the local weather station and noticed something very off. "That's strange. The weather reports are normally spot on, so why is this such a blatant lie.?"

"Because of that," Tony said while looking out the car's window. "Looks like we found Arthur." Tony and the others stared at a giant pillar of ice that stretched far into the sky. Because of its size, the air around has chilled drastically.

"Let's go then," Maverick said while turning the car on. As they drove closer, they noticed that visibility had drastically decreased and snow was being created near the center of the pillar.

"Hmmm… We need to go on foot. It's too dangerous to drive."

The three of them walked out of the car and continued to travel on foot. Alan, being slightly paranoid, pulled out his weapon, startling the other two officers before they did the same.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" A loud burst of laughter echoed throughout the area, "You see that Renne, Arthur's death, makes you mine." Professor Omega walked up to Renne. "Now, nothing will tear us apart. You will become my perfect doll." As the Professor went to stroke Renne's cheek, Chronos came behind her and whispered something.

"Tempus Resistere" Chronos then faded away from Renne's side.

Professor Omega walked up to Renne. "Hehe, you're quite a cute girl, I must say-"

"PROHIBERE TEMPUS!" The space around Renne froze, stopping all forms of movement except a familiar-looking boy. "Eat this!" As time unfroze, Alan's blade collided with the Professor, however. His reflexes were too fast for Alan to handle, and he blocked Alan's sword with his. "Tsk!"

"Well, well, well, look who arrived." Professor Omega said, "Another key to Project Alpha-"

"Alan," Alice called out to Alan, interrupting the Professor's monologue, "I'm sure you have noticed, but you have less than ten minutes before the reset. So stall him. Also, be careful with that mask!"

"-I hope you are ready to die." Professor Omega leaped at Alan. Alan was caught off guard, and he narrowly avoided his blade.

"Damn it, Alice, you interrupted me."

"Hehe, My bad."

Alan blocked all of his attacks, causing him to back off and reline himself. "Hey, Professor? You look pretty injured. Are you sure you want to fight?"

"Stalling for time won't work!"

*BANG BANG BANG*

"--ugh" The sound of three gunshots echoed throughout the room. While two missed, one hit the Professor right in the implant on his left arm.

"What about stalling doesn't work?" Tony said while rushing to Alan's side.

"Damn traitors"

"We aren't the traitors here. You are," Maverick said while grabbing a large piece of rumble and bashing against Renne's icy pillar.

As Professor Omega was reevaluating the battlefield, a clock ticking echoed through the minds of everyone in the room.

"What the hell?" The Professor looked around the room and noticed a bright shining pendant around Alan's neck. "No you don't, time traveler!" Professor Omega pulled out a gun and aimed directly at Alan's head.

*BANG*

Blood and bits of brain splatter onto Alan's face as a large hole appears in Tony's head, causing the bullet to ricochet in another direction.

"If what he says is true, then don't let his death affect you, boy," Maverick said while placing Renne onto his back. "Just do me a favor and try to prevent this next time, okay?"

Everything froze as the Chronos Pendant shined even brighter.

"So, this is how you let this loop end? Showing your slothfulness till the very end." Chronos said to him.

"Whatever you damn bastard. Just what are you planning?" Alice appeared next to Alan.

"Oh, the last time I checked, you aren't supposed to be here."

"Oh, last time I checked, that pendant has its own sentience, meaning 'it' controls this space." Chronos eyes stared daggers at Alice, and he pulled out Renne's scythe. Alice responded by pulling out her own blade. Doing so caused the black markings on her body to thicken.

"Look, can you two stop fighting?" Alan interjected. "Just send me back already."

"Heh heh, as you wish," Chronos said with a crooked grin. The area around the three faded to black, sending them back to the start of the day.