Life of a Nobody

As Kite Cooper my day was sadly filled with some school work and such. All this stuff I already knew so for once I could be the cool smart kid of the class.

“God I’m bored…” I muttered while having already finished all the work in record time, my mind trailing off onto many things that are going to happen in the future...sadly one of them involved another thought of when I accidentally saw Matilda naked in the shower. ”Can I please not think of her naked while at school?” I thought to myself nervously.

Needless to say it wasn hard getting that image out of my head. After the school work was done I did obstacle course training with the others in the family vault. Mom's skills are all reaching and quickly surpassing ours. She spent a lot of time in Dad's section of the vault. Along with all the gold and such just about every Cooper family member had a space for personal treasures. In Dad's case, a copy of mom and his wedding album, baby photos of Sly and I, even the ultrasounds of us before we were born. And of course, photos of himself, Jim and M from their prime on jobs and such.

We all spent some time there every now and again, but mom did so daily. Whatever Clockwerk did to him, he will pay.

I spent my free time thinking about the happy times, and wishing I could have done something to prevent this all. I needed to talk to someone, so I talked to my Time Walker.

“Is mom safe?” I asked. “Like...is she actually under her own control? Or is there something else?”

"Yeah, she is. The spell Mz. Ruby used while Voodoo was not evil in itself. There will be no negative side effects." The Time Walker said.

“Okay thank god.” I sighed out thankfully. “So, when does Nexus get involved in all this?” I asked curiously. “Cause I know Nexus is funding the Klaww Gang and Clockwerk.”

"Shortly after you were born."

“Well I mean, when will they start attacking me and my family?” I asked. “Also did the whole Core thing happen in my time or was that just a ‘oops’ kind of thing?”

"The first thing is classified. The later thing is meant to happen. But only because you chose to be born as Kite Cooper."

"Oh...so how screwed is myself or others because of this?" I asked nervously.

"Can't say."

"Of course…" I sighed out. "Uh...cause I forgot to check, is having multiple wives illegal?" I asked nervously. "Cause...my track record with women.", are harems a thing?” I asked sheepishly. “Cause I’ve been busy with other things.”

“Depends on things such as race, culture and region, yes.”

“Makes sense.” I nodded. “Oh, quickie question. Can I use Nothingness if I was given the powers or am I not allowed to use it at all?”

“If you can somehow get them in this form, yes but it’s not likely. The only ways you can obtain that power is if you were labeled the King’s heir, which would then not label, well, yet to arrive here you gain replicas of the weapons or make them which is also extremely hard, or becoming a Nobody.”

“Sounds about right, and I’d like not to become a Nobody thank you very much.” I said honestly.

“Well, those are your options. In any case, anything else to ask?”

“Um...how long has Matilda’s family been the Guardian of this world?” I asked curiously.

“Two Hundred and four generations.”

“Hot damn.” I said honestly. “Didn’t expect it to go that far back.”

“All the way back to the days of the Keyblade war, when her ancestor left with the Dandelions.”

“Huh, didn’t think she originated from a Dandelion.” I said honestly.

“Many of the current Keyblade wielders who keep the blades and culture alive do. 70% actually. The other 30% are Keyblade war survivors or descendants of.”

“Interesting.” I said honestly. “Can’t wait to hear about that...as well as figure out way, way more about the Cooper line cause good lord there are a lot more the games never talked about.”

“A lot yeah.”

“God only knows what other weird crap the Cooper line has done, either scientific or magical.”

"True. Now then, is that all or is there anything of request?"

“Um…” I thought, wondering if there was anything I should ask or request of my Time Walker.

“Could you see about buying maybe?”

“Well what do you have to sell?” I asked curiously.

"Within reason, some raw materials, blueprints to some buildings, and ect. Lots of meds and some restock for your gear."

“Well...do Ethers work in this world?” I asked curiously.

"Yeah but they call them Elixirs here. Same thing overall. I can sell you five at a time."

“Sweet, that’ll help a lot.” I nodded. “How much are they?”

"Ten coins each."

“Sure.” I nodded while handing him thirty coins.

He gave me the three Elixers and I pocketed them. With that being all I sent him off as I went to relax on the beach.

“Just a nice relaxing day on the beach…” I muttered while just relaxing, or at least trying to consider all things..

As I stayed relaxed on the sand I read through this world's take on Harry Potter. Largely the same. Harry is apparently a Labrador in these books.

“Even if these books are fine...this book series has a lot of problems…” I muttered to myself.

"Hey Kite." Murray said, walking over and taking a seat next to me.

“Hey Murray, how are you doing?” I asked curiously.

"Pretty good. Uncle Jim was teaching me on how to make fast repairs to the van and what to use for what issue, so we have a small kit of supplies for that in there now."

“Cool.” I nodded. “How are you and Lana doing?” I teased with a little grin.

"Heh. Well we can't make anything official until I'm eighteen at least, but for now we stick to simple stuff."

“That’s good.” I nodded. “Glad you two are enjoying being a couple.”

"Yeah. I am too. Hopefully things go well."

“I’m sure things will go well.” I nodded. “I’ll make sure of it.”

"Gonna be a wingman or something?" Murray asked with a laugh.

"I had to for big bro so why not?" I shrugged.

"Heh. True enough. So, how are you holding up?"

“Holding up the best I can given everything that’s been going on.” I said honestly. “Especially when Matilda and I have...come to a bit of an understanding.”

"Oh? What happened there?"

“Well...after when me and big bro kind of...learned what Clockwerk’s been doing to our family for god knows how long and that whole ‘me and Matilda in the same bed’ incident...I decided to ask her for just a quick little trip to get somethings off her chest.” I shrugged. “Honestly...getting past all the ‘sexy thief’ persona...she’s just alone.”

"Makes sense given how she was with your dad and her job and all that. Finding someone has to be pretty much impossible."

“So I’m deciding to give her a chance...just make sure not to tell my mom cause I’m pretty sure she’ll rip her own arm off and beat one of us with it…” I said nervously.

"But isn't Matilda like Way older than you? I mean, she is as old as your mom."

“Now listen...there’s nothing with being into older women.” I said with a small blush.

"Dude, there's being into older women and then there is being into women old enough to have raised you as her own… wait a minute, Kite… are you into MILFs and cougars?"

"Now listen…" I started. "Shut up…" I said while hiding my beat red face with my tail.

Murray didn't tell anyone but damn was that embarrassing. Regardless as the days went on life became more normal and all that. Matilda gave me magic and Keyblade lessons. While I knew most to all of the Keyblade stuff there was a few cool tricks she taught me I didn't know before. This age thing was a massive bitch and I hated it… age… age is all about time… I wonder…

"I wonder…" I muttered while pulling out my pocket watch. "Let's hope he knows…"

Summoning the Time Walker, I asked them if they could age me up or Matilda down. "Normally it would be a no on that request, but…"

"But?" I asked. "I know it's weird but...well my tastes into MILFs is betraying me."

"Not that. As you know Cript is going to break time in your future my one hour from now. As such we have been authorized to be more lenient on certain things. While you won't even notice it, once it does happen what kinda is set up to replace time itself will allow us much more freedom, and therefore you, as well as allow us to repair "damage" much faster."

"Well...didn't expect that to happen so soon." I said nervously.

"Well, soon for us still a whiles away for you." The Time Walker shrugged. "So, how you wanna go about this then?"

"No idea…" I sighed out. "Cause right now, it's still a 'no' on either aging me up or aging Matilda down."

"Well, aging down is actually easier, but I'm asking do you wanna make it flashy or just have it happen with no reason you can see? Or they can see rather."

"Well...it would be weird if everyone saw Matilda suddenly saw her my age out of nowhere." I shrugged.

"Cool. So now I have an idea, you just get everyone on the beach for, I dunno, a cookout or something. I'll handle the rest."

"Oh boy, can't wait." I said nervously, wondering what shenanigans will happen.

Once Time started again I left to gather everyone. They all liked the idea of a cookout, even Matilda. We all went to the main beach, cooking fish and other foods. An hour or so passed and then it happened. "The hell?" Sly said. We all looked and I nearly choked on my food. The Time Walker was just there, standing on the water like a Kingdom Hearts secret boss.

"The fuck?" I panicked while getting up and readying myself for whatever the hell this person was about to do.

"Who, why is that?" Uncle M asked.

The Time Took a few steps, walking atop the water till he reached the beach. He then summoned his Keyblade. Needless to say Matilda was surprised.

“God...what the hell…” I muttered to myself nervously while preparing myself for whatever the hell he’s going to do. “I don’t know Uncle M...all I know is that he’s very powerful.” I said, being magical I could easily lie about ‘sensing someone’s magical energy’ even if I could actually do such a thing.

"Which of you is Matilda?" The Time Walker asked.

Grunting, Matilda stepped forward. "I am. Now who are you?" She said, about ready to summon her Keyblade.

"No one of importance." They said, there was a flash and they slashed Matilda, sending her flying into the woods. Mom, the Uncle's and everyone tried jumping him, but he was faster, knocking out Mom, the uncle's, and Carmalita and Lana. He then cast Stop on Sly, Bentley and Murray. He then walked over to me. "Well that was fun."

"Dude, not cool." I growled while shooting a Fireball at him for attacking my family.

He deflected it easily. "Relax. They aren't injured. They'll be sore, but not hurt. Besides, physical contact is the only way to apply the age reverse spell."

"Alright but still." I huffed. "Could have been at least gentle instead of knocking them out like that."

"Well, I made it flashy. Need me, know how to call me." They said, vanishing.

"Ugh… my head." Mom said, walking back from her crater… what the hell? Mom looks… young. Like early twenties young… oh… oh he… Wait… he did, didn't he?

The next few hours were filled with a mix of panic and worry. Matilda, Lana and Carmalita we're now all our age. Mom and the uncle's and Lana's dad even were all now early to mid twenties… well then.

"So…that happened." I said sheepishly.

"How though?!" Carmalita yelled.

"Must be some kind of magic. I'll contact Mrz. Ruby. She might know something." M said. His young self looked great.

"Doubt it…" Matilda mumbled.

“I doubt Mz. Ruby knows something about Time Magic given that’s kind of what happened.” I said honestly.

As the days went on Mrz Ruby didn't know how they got changed or if it was temporary or not. It's not, cause I know it's not. Regardless the others adjusted to their younger ages quite fast. Murray and Lana now we're an official couple, Sly and Carmalita didn't mind at all. All but Matilda seemed to be well adjusted. She kept working like nothing happened, only reminded when not busy or occupied, so she was burying herself in work to stay distracted.

"Okay Matilda, you can stop working for five seconds." I said to her, finding her still stuck in work.

"No." Matilda replied. She looked like hell. No sleep, barely eats, no shower, for three days of this..

"You've been at this for three days." I snapped. "Boo fucking hoo if your younger, doesn't mean you need to damn near kill yourself because of it."

She snapped, looking me dead in the eye. "Maybe you don't care but I have responsibilities, I have armies on both sides of the world fighting and by the skins of their teeth keeping those lines, and maybe you had good parents, but to be honest, I'd rather have watched them die like you did rather than living through their hell!" She yelled, summoning her Keyblade but also throwing it out the window.

"That's what happens when you take such a responsibility. Just know your not alone anymore, so stop pushing people away when they are literally right here to help." I frowned. "Mom can help, Uncle M and Jim can help. They may not be able to help with Keyblades specifically, but you're not alone anymore…" I said softly.

"You don't get it." She sighed, dropping back on the chair. "My childhood was hell. Dad was the Keyblade Wielder, mom was a drunk. So dad raised me like a warrior. Normal five year olds got dolls, dad gave me a machete and four months of hand to hand combat. When I received his Keyblade when I was fourteen, I thought the hell was over. It wasn't, just got worse. Took me to the worst worlds, two years moving between nine if the darkest worlds in our Stars and about died sixty five times. When he died, I finally felt free. Being a child again rushed all that crap back. Everytime I look at myself, I remember the girl my dad would bloody and bruise the tears and cries out of just because I wasn't strong enough."

"And want to know what I see?" I asked. "I see a pretty girl that just needs a hug and good things told about her." I said bluntly.

"I don't… I just need to sort some things out." She said, calling back her Keyblade but dropping it once it returned to her. "I can't afford to be a kid with all I have on my plate with the world still falling apart."

"You have me." I said, moving over and putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You're not alone anymore Matilda…"

"How?"

“How are you not alone?” I asked honestly. “What? Did all this time you thought you were still alone when you had us? Or did you forget that we were...slowly gaining something special?”

Matilda chuckled. "Special? Kite, I like you, really, but you forget, you are fourteen, and I'm a forty seven year old woman stuck in her fourteen years old body by some cloak wielding Keyblade Wielder. Even if physically we are the same age I'm not mentally… wait, are you? I know you said some stuff about being reborn and some other stuff that honestly went a bit over my head."

“I mean...that is true.” I said while thinking a bit. “Honestly, I don’t remember how old I am cause I was like...in my mid forties or something? Maybe early fifties before I got ‘reborn’ as you put it.” I said honestly.

"Did you die or something?"

“That might be getting a little too close to things I’m not allowed to say.” I said nervously.. “But either way, I’m mentally about as old as you.”

"Huh. Even so, you're still Violet and Conner's son. The only thing that could even possibly change my mind is if your mom would be okay with it and I think we both can agree she will never agree to us."

“Well how about she answers it herself.” I said. “Cause I have a feeling she’s been watching us this entire time.”

“I have.” Mom said, jumping in from the window. “And I’m with Matilda. No.”

“And I don’t care.” I said while picking Matilda up and wrapping an arm around her. “She needs help mom, she’s alone and anyone that was her age either didn’t give a crap about her, or treated her less than who she is.” I frowned.

“Kite, you have a good heart, and I know you mean well… but even so, this JUST happened to us a few days ago. Carmelita and Lana adapted faster because they are younger, now here Matilda is blasted back thirty years in her past as a kid, she is still an adult legally, even if she is a teen physically.”

“Thank you.” Matilda said.

“Listen, I’m also sad that Matilda went from…” I took a deep breath and stopping myself before saying something dumb. “But you're missing the obvious point here. Carmalita and Lana have Sly and Murray...Matilda doesn’t have anyone.” I frowned. “Can both of you stop ignoring that for like, five seconds?” I asked. “Cause who here actually cares about Matilda? Not you cause you would rather rip her head off for trying to steal dad, Uncle M and Jim hate her cause she did stupid stuff to them before...everyone else just finds her nice but don’t really care like how Sly and Carmalita care about each other. Am I wrong?” I asked.

“What about Bently? He’s single.” Matilda pointed out.

“Then you haven’t seen him quickly closing his laptop from Thief Net Forums.” I said.

“I thought that was just porn?” Mom said.

“Nope, while they are keeping things anonymous through very secure private channels and screen names, I can already tell those two are sweet on each other.” I said honestly, having seen ‘Techy Girl’ on Bentley’s Laptop every now and then when he doesn’t know I’m looking and all the message patterns lead straight to Penelope. “So honestly, it’s me that’s single...and honestly I just want to see her smile a real smile...not that fake smile to hide away all the pain in her eyes when she looks at us…”

“Hmmm…” Mom hummed, looking between Matilda and I. “I’ll only allow it if you answer me honestly about something. I mean you Kite.”

“Wait what?” Matilda asked.

Mom walked up to me, getting on her knees to look me in the eyes. “I overheard a lot… so what, or how much about this other life do you remember? And about those Keyblades.” Matilda went stiff as a board, clearly panicked.

I was about to say ‘I can’t’, but then I remembered how the rules are now a bit loose. “Okay so yes, I was reincarnated, but I can’t tell you certain major things because of how I was reincarnated.” I started, giving a good enough buffer to be able to not explain a lot of shit. “So...which do you want to know first, how much I remember or how long and outlandishly convoluted and stupid Keyblade history is?”

“All of it. M always said you were too smart for a baby, so I guess you never forgot your old life, and I guess I can understand why you never talked about it, I mean, who would believe it? So, start from the beginning I guess.”

“Okay so I still can’t tell you that stuff, cause again that’s a whole other thing.” I rolled my eyes. “But...what I can probably tell you is how...is how Multiverse Theory exists, and not just ‘oh hey, worlds we thought were just fantasy land are real’, but ‘each version of our reality has a reflection of it with minor to major changes’.” I said simply. “So there’s that as just a start...then I have sadly witnessed the memories of a war that caused this massive reality fracturing, and then a whole lot more crap that would go way over your heads if it hasn’t already.” I shrugged.

“The Keyblade war?” Matilda asked.

“Trust me, whatever your father told you about Keyblades...is both correct and horribly wrong.” I said nervously. “And also...whatever things he said about the Keyblade war...Clockwerk’s shenanigans is like a sunday walk through the park.” I shivered.

“And what are Keyblades exactly?” Mom asked.

“Well, if we’re breaking rules.” Matilda said with a sigh, summoning hers. “This is a Keyblade. They are weapons forged from light, darkness, crafted to combat things normal weapons can’t defeat or even hurt.”

“And then there’s also Nothingness and Void.” I said. “That’s kind of why I said your father sucked, because he only gave you such a super coddled explanation of the world of Keyblades it’s not even funny.” I said while bringing out my Cane. “Also he sucked as a father and a teacher. But my Cane right here has been reforged as a Keyblade cause that is a legitimate thing that can happen."

"And how did you two do it? Reforge it I mean?"

"A slightly complicated process that I don't want to get into cause of...past occurrences." I said sheepishly.

"Is there anything else you know about?"

"I mean, I know a lot." I said simply. "Like...way too much and a good amount of it I can't say." I shrugged. "So what do you want to know?"

"Well, what can you say?"

“Well I can explain stuff about Keyblades.” I said while heading outside real quick before tossing my Cane up in the air and summoning a Keyblade Glider, but this one being the HoverBoard variant. “I can talk on and on about the actual fundamentals of the world Matilda has been living in that her father didn’t know about, and teach you a lot of things about this mom.” I said simply. “But one thing that I must make clear…” I trailed off as I walked over and hugged mom. “Is that just because I remember my past life...doesn’t mean I stopped caring about the one I’m living right now mom…”

"I'm glad to hear you say that Kite." Mom said, hugging me back.

I smiled warmly, so glad to have mom back. “I’m glad you're here mom…”

"Now then." Mom said, looking me in the eyes. "I still don't approve, or like the idea you want to date Matilda, but as your mother there is only so much I can't keep you from doing. But In the end it is Matilda's choice to date you, even with context that's weird to say. But for a while, let her process Kite."

"Alright alright." I said gently. "I'll wait for Matilda."

A few months passed by, and Christmas time arrived. Enough of Mexico and some of the USA, Mainly Texas, California, and New Mexico we're now liberated from Mugshot. Africa and the parts of Europe that are in conflict with Clockwerk's army were still in a draw, and China, completely under Panda King's rule, remained in isolation still.

We set up bases to travel to and between in all the liberated areas. And we were all spending Christmas in Texas USA. Matilda seemed to be better, but she often acted like a kid, catching herself and all that. Her teenage body and adult mind seemed to still be at conflict, despite her having accepted her new reality long ago. I told Mom and Matilda what I was allowed, mom took the Keyblade oath but it hasn't yet appeared.

“From what I remember it normally takes a bit before a Keyblade chooses you.” I said honestly. “But uh...should I mention any of this to the others?” I asked. “Sooner or later...I have to tell them…”

"For now, let's enjoy the holiday." Mom said, Matilda and I at a dinner table while the others all ran around the arcade/pizza buffet we were in. "We can tell them at New Year's, assuming nothing happens."

"Don't jinx it." Matilda sighed. She did not like having to wear age appropriate clothing. In this case, a pink top, blue jeans, and black sneakers. She was more a suit and heels woman.

“Let’s hope it wasn’t jinxed…” I said while taking a sip of my drink.

"You two should go out and play. There's lots to do, and frankly I was eyeing that candy crane machine from when we walked in."

“Well, haven’t played a crane game in a while.” I said honestly.

"Aren't those normally rigged?" Matilda asked.

“They might, but when you're both magical, and learning to be a master thief, then it’s about fair.” I said with a shrug.

"Fair enough. I wanna see this then." Matilda said, she and I getting up and over to the crane game with the expensive prizes.

“Alright, let’s see how cheating this machine is.” I said while cracking my knuckles and pulling out a coin and putting it in, wondering how this thing will try and cheat me.

It was like any other, the claw was too weak on the grip. Loose screws it seemed. So, using some light magic, I tightened them. Next go I grabbed a rather heavy looking pair of headphones, and it picked them up without issue, dropping them in the prize drop.

"Impressive… you know, machines rigged or tampered with like this are technically stealing money from people. Shall we claim the prizes and return the money?" Matilda asked.

“Of course.” I said. “While you play the claw machine, I’ll pick the locks on it.”

Matilda nodded, placing in another coin while I worked the locks.

“Jeez, who made these locks?” I said in disappointment as I picked the locks with ease.

Once it was open I took the coins out and rewired it to be free and auto return coins. I then began sneaking the coins to others. Putting ten to twenty per pocket.

“Nothing like being a good samaritan…” I muttered to myself with a smile.

Once all those coins were returned Matilda and I checked in on the other games. Only the claw machines were sketchy, the rest were fine. Though we did take a look behind the machines. This area is a walkway to unplug machines or just pass through. "Wonder where they keep the spare prizes?" Matilda asked.

“No idea, but they're probably somewhere.” I shrugged.

"Hope they have more electronic stuff." Matilda said. Eventually we managed to find both the spare prizes room and the lost and found.

“Alright, so time to start looting the place and distributing it to the masses.” I said.

The spare prizes ranged from stuffed animals to some electronics. Once Matilda and I had a fair sized amount collected, we used the various cables and wires along the ceiling to drop them to everyone. By the time employees and such noticed, The family was all heading out the door and back to our base here in Texas. It was a simple house, but rebuilt on the inside. First floor looked normal, but had four hidden subfloors where gear and other such supplies were all kept and hidden.

“Well that was fun.” I said warmly.

"It was. So, does your family do any traditions? From before I mean."

“Uh…” I thought for a moment...and then blushed brightly. “No, we don’t do anything, nothing that involves sexy women, nope, nothing.” I said quickly.

"... I meant before Clockwerk…"

“You could have been a bit more specific than ‘from before’.” I frowned. “But nothing much really.”

"Huh. Surprising."

“I mean, when you’re the son of a Master Thief and a Police officer, sometimes normal things take a back seat.” I chuckled.

"I guess. So, get something for everyone?"

“Yes, yes I did.” I nodded. “Why wouldn’t I have something for everyone?”

"Just wondering. Normal kids can't afford to buy gifts, then again you are in no way or form of the definition, normal."

“You make it sound like I was going to buy their gifts.” I chuckled. “There’s tons of stuff I thought of getting them that’s in the possession of Mugshot or other thieves.”

"True enough." Matilda said with a nod.

“Yeah…” I nodded. “But did you have fun?” I asked curiously.

"I did. Always wondered what a Cooper clan job was like."

“I mean, really wasn’t a Cooper Job, that was just some light fun.” I chuckled.

"Potato patato." Matilda said with a wave of the hand.

“Eh.” I shrugged. “But did you get anyone anything?”

“I managed to pull a few items from old agency safehouses that I figured everyone would find useful.”

“That’s good.” I nodded. “Let’s hope things go well on Christmas morning…”

“Hopefully. Lines here in America are expecting to reach Mesa City soon, likely by mid january. We can then take out Mugshot and really work towards freeing America and Canada. Without the head the big bad gang will dissolve into lesser crime groups. More manageable and for a while in the chaos.”

“Sounds about right.” I nodded.

“According to MZ. Ruby, Mugshot will put up a fight for Clockwerk, so expect that.”

“Well he needs to keep up the facade so he doesn’t get targeted by Clockwerk, same with Panda King who’s been...weirdly silent all things considered.”

“It has been.”

“Well...let’s hope Panda King hasn’t been doing anything weird there.” I said nervously.

“Hopefully. Not even satellites can tell us, all we can see are hundreds of new warehouses where people are working. Roughly eight hours of the day. Not sure what they are all doing. Knowing Panda King we suspect high grade illegal fireworks and artilleries. If he has been making and mass producing this many on this level, well, it’s not good.”

"Or he's been given a shit ton of people new jobs." I shrugged. "Panda King is too honorable to just mass produce illegal fireworks when his entire reason for becoming a criminal was to prove a point.""

"Maybe. Whatever the case, after Mugshot we will be heading there. Have to travel by land though."

"Good thing we got the Van." I said honestly. ”It’s durable enough to go from England to wherever Panda King is based.”

"You are still fourteen."

“And that stops me how?” I asked curiously.

"Heh. Well, either way, I just hope things go smoothly with Mugshot."

“I’m sure it will.” I said honestly. “Let’s just hope whoever’s been supporting Clockwork isn’t around…” I said nervously.

"Intel has still been scarce on them. All we do know now is they are still having the same relationship with Clockwerk as before."

“Alright.” I nodded. “Let’s hope they don’t do anything else…”

As Christmas came we all got gifts. Carmalita got me my own shock pistol, in case my cane is unavailable. Not a possibility but it was nice. Murray got me boxing gloves. Bentley got me a special hacking tool. It was a simple USB, but once inserted it would break through most firewalls and copy all data to a secure thief net cloud system that Bentley could access immediately or later. Sly got me my own blue hat, like his/dad's. Mom got me an encrypted cell phone. Basically unlimited everything on data and such by hack linking to any and all cell towers. Uncle Jim and M gave me some spells they managed to find from their net Hex Casters. Nothing bad but useful. And Matilda got me a thermal upgrade to the Binocu-Com, so I can see people who are warm blooded behind walls and such.

“Alright, and now onto my gifts.” I said with a smile as I tapped my cane on the ground as smoke puffed out in front of everyone as their presents appeared. “I made sure to get something everyone would be able to use, or just something for...sentimental reasons.” I explained. “

“For Sly and Carmalita.” I started while the two opened their gifts, showing matching silver bracelets fitted with gems and in the center was a small sphere that held a strand of their fur, Carmalita’s fur in Sly’s bracelet, and vice versa. “With the help of Matilda, Mz Ruby and...certain parties that would rather be left anonymous, I made you two bracelets that act as a sort of...protection. It’s heavily enchanted, and only you two can use their magic. The common stuff is basic defense magic, a heavy durability enchantment so it doesn’t break under most circumstances, and a special enchantment both of you will notice when you put it on.” I said with a warm smile.

"This is cool." Carmalita said while putting her bracelet on.

"How did you… do I wanna know?" Sly asked while putting his on.

As the two had their bracelets on, they felt a soft little tingle in their arms that raced through their bodies, the two of them feeling like no matter how far away they were, they would always be with one another. “I’m sorry if I’m going overboard with the presents here, but that tingling feeling you probably just felt is a special spell I developed...think of it like a two way beacon that only you two can feel.” I said simply.

"Useful." Sly and Carmalita said.

“I’ll figure out how to add other enchantments later like telepathy, that’s a little out of my range right now.” I shrugged. “Now, onto Murray and Lana.” I said while seeing the Hippo and Russain Wolf opening their gifts, both showing a knuckle duster for the both of them fitted for their dominant hand and fitted with small markings in a weird language as Murray’s had a strand of Lana’s fur and Lana had a tooth chip from Murray given he neither has hair nor fur.

"Sweet! This will knock out a lot of bad guys." Murray said.

"This will indeed make many people lose teeth." Lana said happily.

“So I have the same enchantment that Sly and Carmalita have on their bracelets onto yours, as well as a few other nifty things.” I explained. “Put them on, but be ready cause I heard it’s a bit of a rush.” Nodding, the two did just that, feeling the rush of magic flow into them. “So this special enchantment shares your physical strength, sadly I could only manage whatever you punch through the knuckle duster based on my own magical abilities and my knowledge on Rune words, but considering you two are the power houses, might as well have it be like their getting hit by two instead of one.” I chuckled.

"You really know your stuff, Kite." Murray said, impressed.

"You have the wisdom of man three times your age." Lana said, earning a smirk from Mom and Matilda.

“Just well read.” I said honestly. “Even if Bentley might sass me on this, reading fantasy books helps a lot, especially Dungeons and Dragons.” I chuckled, which was honestly the truth both in this scenario and even back home. “So now onto Bentley.” I said while Bentley had two boxs in front of him. “You can guess as to why there’s a second box, and who it belongs to.” I said with a knowing and teasing grin.

"Kite…" Bentley groaned, face turning red.

“It’s not my fault that I couldn’t get ‘Techy Girl’ here before Christmas.” I teased. “But I can explain what your gift does or you can wait until we find her and you give it to her.” I said. “But for that I would need a piece of your shell and a strand of hair from her."

"Given your trend I have an idea." Bentley said.

“Alright, so I’ll explain it when we find your lucky lady friend.” I said before turning to Uncle M and Jim. “While I couldn’t really think of gifts to help you two on the field, I did find something special.” I said while seeing my Uncles opening their gifts. “I remember you two talking about one thing you wanted but never could find even if you were master thieves going around the world, so I found them for ya.” Uncle Jim held a Gameboy. A copy of Pokemon Ruby inserted. And Uncle M received a deck of Magic the Gathering. “Also I know you two are wanted criminals but...really?” I asked incredulously.

"I've always had a soft spot for video games." Jim said with a laugh, turning the Gameboy on.

"I've always thought of card games with strategy to be more fun than just chess." M said, looking through the deck.

“Then the three of us need to have a wonderful time gaming and card games.” I said simply. “And now onto you two...the more difficult of the bunch.” I said while looking at Matilda and mom. “Mom...open yours first. I’m sure you’ll like it.” I said while she opened the small box.

Inside made her tear up. From memory I recalled as best I could her wedding ring. And I found and had to steal this one. Apparently dad proposed to mom with a ring that was a set of five. Only two are purchased officially. The other three were stolen. This one ended up in the vault of goods from a warehouse of Mugshots gang here in Texas.

“It took me a while, and I had to go by memory but...I tried getting you your wedding ring.” I said gently.

"Where did you find this?" Mom asked, slipping the ring on, fitting perfectly.

“Found it in one of the vaults from a warehouse Mugshot owns.” I said honestly. “And I wanted to make sure it was the one you had so I checked with Uncle M and Jim, and thankfully they’re good at keeping secrets, especially when you looked a bit mad.” I said sheepishly.

"Heh. I always told Conner that if he was to give me something stolen, it would only be once. He made it count." Mom said, holding the ring on her finger, smiling as tears fell. "Thank you Kite."

“Your welcome mom.” I said while giving her a quick hug.

Now, onto Matilda's gift.

“Now for you...well it was a bit difficult.” I said simply. “I had to scour quite a bit but I think I finally got you something that’ll work out.” I explained, Matilda opening the box and showing a simple hard backed book with the Kingdom Hearts Symbol on it.

"What is it?" She asked, opening it. Once she skimmed it's contents, her eyes widened. "Oh. Thank you." She said.

"What is it?" Sly asked.

"J-just a book I remember from when, well, this age I am physically I guess. Can't believe Kite found it."

"Resourceful little racoon aren't you?" Carmalita said with a chuckle.

“What can I say? When it comes to those I care about, I’ll move the world.” I said with a kind smile.

The holidays came and went faster than I would have liked. It was officially January first, meaning Mom, Matilda and I were going to tell the others. As much as I was allowed anyway. This morning I woke up with a killer headache.

“Christ...what’s with the sudden headache?” I groaned in pain.

"That would be our bad. Sorry." I jumped. My Time Walker was standing there next to my bed. Good thing we all have individual rooms.

“Okay so what the hell are you doing here?” I asked while rubbing my head, trying to get rid of the headache.

"Like I said. Our doing. Side effect of breaking then replacing time with a new system. One that works without filling up the storage drive."

“I thought you said that wouldn’t happen until much much later?” I frowned.

"For you in the present time. Well… hmm. Hard to explain it really. It's like it both happened already and hasn't happened yet. Hard to explain, like I said, but this brings with it some good news, including your talk you are about to have with your family today."

“So I can tell everyone everything or something?” I asked curiously. “But what about the Admin Games?”

"Well… hmm… how to explain this new system." The time Walker thought. "Remember those books that hold worlds within them?"

“Yes I do.” I nodded. “Also right now the thing is a Schrodinger's Cat kind of thing?”

"No. You see, the Grim Reapers society and the Time Walkers both watch over time. Time Walkers watch over time as a whole. Grimm Reapers watch over for the end of someone's time, but time for everyone has to end, and with time broken, it can't. So, what's the solution? Simple. Books."

“So people’s stories end and when they do they go off outside the books?” I asked curiously.

"Not exactly. Hmm… The Grim Reapers already had books that contained the life of everyone, being written as their lives are happening. With the Help of us and Cript, we created three forms of special books. Biography, an individual person's life, Atlas, the world and it's population life all written in one book, and a Grand Destiny. A book containing all the names and stories of everything and everyone in existence, past and future. You can imagine the size of our library to hold this all."

“Alright.” I nodded. “So...what can I tell my family here now that this has all happened?’

"Well, anything really." The Time Walker said. "But, when it comes to your powers, there is a way to use them. Here, say 'Display Hud Menu."

“Display Hud Menu.” I said. “But aren’t the rules of the Admin Games still in effect or are they just no longer matter?”

A HUD appeared, it was my normal Skill tree, but there was a new branch. Identities. Taping it showed me Kite Cooper and even Diane. Taping Kite, there was Skills relating all I've learned now, and a new branch titled Parent Branch. Taping that showed all my normal Abilities, but according to this… I don't have spare Ability points. "When with a new Identity, Like Kite, they receive their own skill tree and earn their own point separate from you as King. And no, you can't give or spend some as King in Kite. You, like Diane, are different yet the same person all at once."

“Alrighty then.” I nodded. “So about the rules of the Admin Games, does that just not count anymore?”

"Not really. They're more guidelines now. Optional. Since this new system removed any and all possibly of Paradoxes, you can do whatever, it's up to you if you should though."

“Well...I’ll keep who I truly am hidden, but I’ll still talk about the whole reincarnation thing and a lot of other really important things.” I said honestly. “Gotta keep some surprises.” I said simply. “But now I need to see how I can get skill points.”

"Say, Open Quest Menu. We'll update this later. Most likely able to have your assistant but Invisible to others."

“Alright, so now to tell them damn near everything cause at this point it’s probably for the best...now should I even mention Nexus? Or do those fuckers already know?”

"Well, we can't tell you everything. Mainly cause it's no fun that way. We can make you work for it in exchange for the information and ability points though."

“Well looks like I’m going to have to do it myself.” I said honestly. “So is time stopped right now or is it just early in the morning before people woke up?”

"Well, it's not really time stopped anymore. More like… motion paused. This new system isn't exactly time, but a good replacement. Our meetings like this are, the bookmark getting placed."

“Alrighty then.” I nodded while getting out of bed and stretching.

"Well, til next time." The time Walker said, 'time' getting set back in motion.

“Alright, till next time.” I said with a yawn as I headed out to the kitchen to get some food and some pain killers.

I took some simple headache relief medicine with my bacon and eggs. Before I told everyone the news I figured I'd tell Matilda and Mom the update. Including the Time Walker. Reasonably they were surprised and even found some of it hard to believe, but thankfully I could at least summon a few Nothingness thorns as proof enough, even summoning the Time Walker.

“A lot more things have changed and...well it’ll mean quite a bit when I fully explain things.” I said sheepishly.

"That's… both insane and incredible all at once." Matilda said.

"So, you chose to be reborn then?" Mom asked.

“Well...it’s very complicated.” I said sheepishly. “And I’d best explain it when everyone else is here cause...it’s weird.”

"Does that mean you didn't die?" Matilda asked.

“I’ll explain it when the others get here, no need to do it twice when I’m going to probably have to anyways.” I shrugged.

"Fair enough. But, given there is time travel involved, when are you from?"

“The future actually.” I said honestly. “Cause apparently the me that did this would be in reality when I was in my mid thirties.”

"I did not understand any of that."

"Me neither." Mom said.

“And you’ll continue to not understand even as I lay it out to you as simply as possible cause timey wimey bullshit.” I shrugged.

"Language." Mom said.

“Out of everything you’ve heard so far, language?” I asked.

"Yes." Mom said.

“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “So anyways, shouldn’t the others be awake by now?”

"They are. Let's head off." Matilda said.

“Alright.” I nodded while finishing my breakfast and heading out. “Can’t wait to see their reactions to all of this.”

Needless to say… it was quite the clusterfuck. The whole day spent answering questions, displaying powers and all that jazz. When it was finally over Everyone went to bed with their views on reality broken, rebuilt and half hazardly staying together.

"Well, that was more than expected." Matilda said, rubbing her head.

“You get used to it.” I said while twirling my Cane lazily between my fingers. “But it gets worse when...you know that certain events have to happen, even if you don’t want them to.” I sighed out.

"From what I get, you don't have to anymore, right?"

“Well thankfully yes.” I nodded. “So I can make damn well sure the Klaww Gang won’t steal Clockwerks parts, Bentley won’t be crippled, and other things...now the only problem is Nexus or whatever other weird crap will happen to take it’s place.” I said worriedly. “Cause it could either be something simple like a new gang rising up...or worse…”

"Little I do know about stuff like this is that often something will replace what is stopped. Hopefully it's nothing serious."

“Knowing my life...it’s going to get worse…” I sighed out. “But hey...at least I’ve been preparing what I can to help make it less bad, even if it’s just from the gifts.”

"In that case, can we learn or do anything you can?"

“Certain things, no.” I shook my head. “Like you, you can’t learn Nothingness like I can because of how I am before.” I said honestly. “But with the others...well they’ll need Keyblades for that.”

"Well then… best get to work."

“Yep, time for even more enchanting that took me literal god damn months to work on cause this body's magic reserves aren’t as readily handy as my old body.” I groaned. “Seriously, I needed to find each gem of a specific cut, get all the other pieces necessary to make things, figure out that rune magic is actually different in this world and it was a massive headache all around.” I complained.

"I might be able to help you with that. Anything magical my organization collected and hid in caches and warehouses all over the world. In the US here we have one per state. This includes anything I found relating to Keyblades. Even Moogle Holo Crystals."

“Oh god Moogles are here…” I chuckled. “That’s going to be help out a lot later on...but right now, I hope my explanation didn’t do anything too bad to everyone else’s mental health…”

"They'll just need to process. So, shall we head off to the Cache?"

“Sure.” I nodded. “Let’s go get some magic items.”

Matilda and I geared up and headed out. Running along rooftops and electrical wires thanks to the rubber coverings. Extra grip and friction plus electric shock proof. The Cache was under a slaughterhouse. Owned by a company owned by the government for basic meats for schools and such, used for hiding government stuff off the books. Once inside, switching the lights showed it was… empty. "Shit!" Matilda huffed. "No way Mugshot could have known about this place."

“Is there anyone that might know of this place?” I asked. “Anyone against you?” I asked while trying to find any clues as to who stole everything.

"Just me and a small handful of my own hand picked loyalist. Most of them are dead or off fighting with the other rebels in Africa."

“Then it would probably be a third party…” I sighed out, still trying to find something, anything that could link to who might have done this.

"This isn't good. There was Gummi Tech here. Last thing I need is Gummi Ships armed to the teeth flying around. Hopefully the important stuff is still hidden." She said, feeling along the walls.

“Damn it…” I growled, before helping Matilda search for the secret switch to the more hidden stuff.

She found it, pressing it showing a hand scanner. Once it scanned her hand a pannel opened up, showing a shelf with a single book… Is that… a Book of Prophecy? One of the ones The Master of Masters made. "Thank God it's still here." She said, taking it.

“And where the hell did you find that?” I asked nervously.

"It's been in my family since the Keyblade War. Master Ava's copy given to her trusted second hand to guard. This is one of those things that if it went into their hands would be beyond bad for everyone."

“Even though that book is nothing but a massive self fulfilling prophecy that he started?” I pointed out.

"That section yes, but that's not all it holds. Detailed information about all Heartless types, weakness, how to even summon them. But, it also contains the information on how to create a Keyblade forge and turning basic metals into magic materials and ores to make Keyblades and other such items."

“Well that’s interesting.” I said honestly.

"Well, there is one other place but it's just tech and weapons. No magic stuff. Wanna see if it was hit also?"

“Yeah, cause if it’s this clean a second time I think I know who might have done it…” I said, hoping it wasn’t Nexus jumping the gun here.

Heading to the other cache, under a college oddly enough, we got to the secret entrance, Matilda opening the passcode locked door. Inside was all the weapons, ammunition, tech, med supplies. Enough here for a small army. "This was untouched. Why?" Matilda asked.

“Because this seems less important than actual magical stuff…” I hummed.

"You got that right." Matilda and I readied our Keyblades. From behind the crates, emerged Mugshot. The big muscular pitbull was wearing a suit surprisingly. "l would put those fancy keys and sticks aways. I have been the president of this country for the last three years."

“Through racketeering and other bullshit?” I asked simply. “Yeah, what a wonderful president you’ve been.” I rolled my eyes. “And you don’t even know what either of us could do.”

"I knows. I knows plenty. But, I'm not here's for threats and whatnots. I come with peace offerings."

"What happened to the other Cache?" Matilda asked.

"Clockworks orders. Dunno how he knew about them, said he wanted all of what was in them and the rest was mines. Never touched what he left me's."

“You know Clockwerk is one hundred percent butt fuck insane right?” I asked Mugshot simply. “You know that old bastard getting magical artifacts is bad news for everyone right?”

"I knows I knows, but I had to hand them over. He's gots me in a corner. If I break outta line, I'll be his next meal."

I sighed out. “Alright, so what’s this peace offering you talked about? This entire compound or something else?”

"You can take whatever is here's. But my peace offering is information."

“And what’s the information?” I asked curiously.

Mugshot reached into his suit, pulling out a file folder and handing it to me. Inside were photos and documents of all kinds. "I wasn't Ables to a name of this group funding Clockwerk, but I was Ables to get names of some of the people, and they were the ones who tooks the magic stuff from those caches. Dunno much but I was also able to gets some information on his… robot Cooper's he's got running around slaughtering."

“Thank you.” I nodded while checking the file to see all the info Mugshot got for us.

Of all the photos three had names. A Hippo named Wilson, A human named Maxwell, and a Lion named Ruger. All seemed Nexus. Photos of them loading people and raw materials onto their ship were taken, and then the section about the Robots named only one as confirmed. One of them was Tennessee Kid Cooper, as well as a partel photo of the Blueprints used to build them. Tennessee was made different it seemed. Modified with many built in weapons and a replica of the family came when he had it. His robot body kit with orange and blue lines. Likely to better tell them apart. According to this he has a confirmed sixty five kills since going online.

“Christ…” I muttered. “Coopers aren’t meant to kill…”

"Sorry it couldn't be more good. I understands you're heading towards my main Headquarters in Mesa City. I'll be there's. Make it a good show, cause Clockwerk will be watching."

“And we’ll make sure not to beat you up too much.” I chuckled. “But how’s being president been?”

"Good. Good. Turns out running a country and running a gang ain't so different. Word of advice though, don't worry non abouts Panda King. When you meet, you'll know why."

“Alright.” I nodded. “But is Panda King treating his people well or what? Cause all we know is that he’s making factories and giving people jobs for maybe illegal stuff.”

"He runs his country no different than mines. Maybe less brute Force but he does goods by the people as best he can."

“That’s good.” I nodded. “Glad to know Panda King is doing good for the people.”

"As am I. I tooks it over by sheer brute Force, yet I bets you didn't notice the quality of life isn't so bads. Turns out old uncle Sam had more money than they wanted to admits. How is Mexico doin?"

“Better now that Wily Coyote is out of commission.” I said honestly.

"Heard about that. Hear I has you to thanks for that thorn in my side getting pulled. Thanks for that. I best be off now, Clockwerk's satellite will be passing over in a bit so now's my openings to leave."

“Alright, stay safe.” I nodded. “We’ll be after ya in a while, just need to make sure everything goes right here.”

When Mugshot left Matilda and I left and she sent word to collect the arms and supplies. After that we went to bed, and waking up the next morning we got everyone ready for Keyblades while Matilda and I switched between studying over the book and helping the others train for when they appeared.

“Come on, the training is not that hard.” I said honestly, even though I didn’t have to do it and the training for Keyblades was actually a little harder than the other training they’ve done.

"How are any of these even possible?" Sly asked, heaving and drenched in sweat.

“Because they are, and are the simple parts of Keyblade training.” I said honestly. “I mean, Keyblade training is a lot more basic in terms of what you need to know, but the raw physical and magical power they can hold...well you’ll need to be prepared.”

"I guess that makes sense. Still, damn this sucks." Carmalita said/agreed.

“Eh.” I shrugged, while falling down from my perch above them, grabbing onto a hook with my cane, flipping in mid air and swirling down on my Keyblade Glider hoverboard. “Now I know this will never replace the van, but Keyblade’s can turn into Gliders which are very handy if you need to fly around or forgot a parachute.”

"Useful." Sly said.

"Kite! Bentley and Uncle M passed out again!" Murray said. Yeah those two are gonna have a lot of work ahead of them...

“Alright, take them to the infirmary and make sure they didn’t overwork themselves.” I said to Murray. “I know they are not physically active as the rest of us and more thinkers but christ…” I muttered while scratching my head, wondering if I should tone back the training.

A month passed. While Uncle M managed to work up more muscle Bentley was still on the weak side, going from toothpick to at least average in terms of physical fitness. Murray and Lana blossomed, as well as Uncle Jim. Mom, Matilda and Sly were able to well keep up with the training and such.

Thankfully Mom got her Keyblade. Oathkeeper. Just Oathkeeper.

“Cool, you got your keyblade.” I said with a smile. “And Oathkeeper at that, sounds about right.”

"It's beautiful." Mom said, looking it over.

“Yeah, she is pretty.” I said honestly.

"She?" Mom asked. "Keyblades have genders?"

“I mean, kind of yeah.” I said honestly. “Oathkeeper and her brother, Oblivion, are two of a kind, while Oath here is a bit of a stickler for the rules, Oblivion is kind of a butt as she would say.” I chuckled. “Isn’t that right Oath?” I asked, given that Time didn’t exist anymore and Keyblades had one mind between all of them I was half expecting Oath to do a little something to agree.

No answer. Huh, guess Kite Cooper isn't a Keyblade master yet. Only human X-blades or Keyblade Masters can normally hear their voices.

“Well I suppose I’m just not good enough yet.” I shrugged. “So anyways, now that you got your keyblade, let’s test it out shall we.”

"Okay." Mom said as we began testing her skills with it. Spells wise she knows Blizzard and Fire, and all in all it was basic stuff. Which was good.

“Well so far so good. You’re getting the basics down well.” I nodded.

"Basics are at least a start." Mom said.

Later that night I went out, calling my Time Walker to earn skill points to access my normal powers.

“Alright, now onto skill point farming cause that’s gonna take forever.” I sighed out.

"I got a few missions." The Time Walker stated.

“Alright, so what are those missions?” I asked curiously. “Oh also...how bad are my ancestors in their machine bodies?”

"Bad. Suffering horribly." They said casually. "So, first one is worth fifty SP. A simple steal."

“What’s to steal and is there anything I can do to save them besides...well bashing their brains in?” I asked.

"Later. For now the item in question is this." They handed me a photo. On it was a soft glowing white gem about the size of a quarter. "It's a Time Gem. While time itself isn't a concept like it used to be, these gems are still out and around. Same abilities too. Makes for instantaneous recovery on things like MO, drive gage, anything that takes time to reload or recover, ready to use just by keeping it on your person or within range. When ground up and eaten can reverse ageing and keeps the Grim Reapers off your back for a while."

“Sounds about right.” I shrugged. “Good to know, so where is the Time Gem?”

"Texas Art History museum. Was embedded as part of a statue from two hundred years ago. Just pick it off and replace it with this replica." They handed me an identical version of the gem. "I'll meet you on top of the museum roof."

“Sounds easy enough.” I nodded while heading off to the art museum, knowing this will be a quick and easy job all things considered.

The security was basic. Laser alarms I was able to walk along, security I hacked easy with the tool Bentley gave me and with a little magic I grabbed it easy then put in the fake. As I made my way to the roof the gem started blinking.

“Hmm?” I hummed curiously. “Wonder why it’s blinking...maybe a signal?”

"Yo." The Time Walker said, walking over to me as I got on the roof.

“Howdy, got you the thing.” I said while holding up the gem.

"Thank you." He said, taking the gem as the fifty SP we're given to me. I put them to letting me summon my weapons, but they are like when I first got them. Seems about right.

“Cool.” I said warmly as I switched between my weapons. “It feels great to have my old weapons back.”

"Good to hear. Ready for another or job?"

“Sure.” I nodded. “What’s the next job?”

"We'll have to head elsewhere for that." He said, opening a portal. "You'll be back in time. Heh."

“So many time puns.” I rolled my eyes. “Well let’s get going.”

We went through the portal and we're in Paris. Nowhere near where home was but over what looked like a bank. "As you can guess these job's we'll have for you all revolve around Time Gems. This one is in a safety deposit box. Part of a ring. Here's the replica." He then tossed me the ring. This gem was smaller than the last, but embedded in a gold ring. "Deposit box is number 873. Lucky you this back has a single air vent leading in there. Just small enough for you to get in and out."

“Convenient.” I said while I headed inside, wanting to make this quick before anyone noticed. “Actually…” I muttered. “Haste…” I muttered, casting a haste spell on myself and feeling faster already.

I quickly, and quietly, rushed through the vent, Seeing a single camera and used the hacking tool to loop the feed. I found the safety deposit box and opened it. Inside was the ring. I grabbed the original and left the replica. Back on the roof I gave it to the Time Walker and got my fifty SP. "Good job." The Time Walker said.

“Two simple jobs.” I said simply. “And a lot of profit from it.” I said while looking through what I could get from the fifty SP.

I ended up grabbing Valor form, which took all the SP. "Got one more job. Will not be as easy as the other two."

“Well I got Valor Form and can now stretch what magical abilities I know.” I said honestly. “What’s the job?”

"Bounty hunting. While time isn't like it was the books everything and everyone now resided in, future, past, present all in the books pages being written, has been written and can be changed. So In a sense time travel is still possible but not like before. Therefore this Time Runner can still do his job. Something we can't allow to happen. I will be helping you take her down. You know what a Time Runner is right?"

“Not really, I don’t know much about your organization or what they do.”

"Let's put it this way then. A Time Walker, like me, as of the new system, watches over time with controlled Paradoxes and minimal effect. While Paradox's are not possible that does not mean the pages can't be damaged by getting rewritten too many times. We repair them if this happens. Time Runners are Speedsters and other rogue elements who run and break the pages as they wish, in a sense while they can't do permanent damage they do risk a lot by repeatedly breaking the tearing of the pages of time of the worlds storybooks and the invaluable persons story books. A lot of maintenance and repair on that end. Worst case scenario we have to completely rewrite a world and/or person's storybook and we can't get every detail correct if this happens. Understand so far?"

“You could have just said ‘they run around causing damage to time’.” I said honestly.

"That would not have been as accurate given the current/yet to be state of time. In any case when they arrive I can match their speed. You can't. I can take it away and once that happens we confront them."

“Alright, let’s get onto finding this thing.” I said honestly.

"They'll be here soon." The Time Walker said, tossing up and catching the two time gems. "We have what they will be after."

“Using them as bait huh?” I asked. “Clever.”

"They'll be here right about…" They said, in the distance flashed a red streak of Lightning passing the roads some miles away. "Here."

“Did the Flash want to join the party or something?” I asked nervously.

"Time Runners are largely Nexus made Speeders. Utilizing a Negative Speed Force rather than the one the Admin of Time made."

“Sounds about right.” I said honestly. “Well, let’s get ready to kick this guys ass.”

"Girl." They said.

In a flash of red the Time Runner stood before us. Dressed in a black and blue jumpsuit with a mask that is largely a visor. "Well, a Time Walker, and a trash picking Raccoon. You guys are using temporal natives now?" The Runner mocked.

“Oi, I am a Trash Panda thank you very much.” I huffed. “And also your one to talk, that jumpsuit with that visor? What is Nexus letting you work the bargain bin or something christ.”

"It's old tech, admitably, but more advanced than anything this backwater world will ever make."

“For now.” I said while two balls of lightning lashed out towards the speedster.

She zoomed around them, throwing lighting at me. The electric shock hurt like a thousand needless shots into my bones… and I felt angry. Just an overwhelming anger. It faded once the pain did.

“Okay...that hurt.” I grumbled. “Alright, let’s try this again…” I muttered while bringing out Skysplitter and slamming it into the ground, causing the terrain to shake under her.

In a red flash she ran up and along the cracking ground, zipping passed me and hitting the Time Walker, sending them against a nearby building and then rushing back to me. In a swift motion they broke my wrist, making me yell and drop Skysplitter before vibrating her hand and phasing it into my chest. My blood ran cold. "Just give me the gems and the kid lives." She said, hand still phased into my chest.

"Okay okay!" The Time Walker yelled.

The Runner smirked, taking her hand out of me then punching my throat. Breathing was possible but hard as I heaved and coughed. "Smart mov-"

BANG.

SPLAT.

THUD.

To my and the Time Walkers surprise a bullet shot the Runner in the head, killing her. "Sometimes a simple gun is in order." Able to breath and stand now I saw as Matilda flew down.

"I mean, while that's true, she was faster than literal lightning." I frowned. "And last time I checked, lightning is faster than a bullet."

“Not when they are distracted.” Matilda said with a chuckle. “So, what and who was that?”

“A lead… was.” The Time Walker said, walking over and kicking the corpse.

“That’s where you're wrong kiddo.” I said simply. “Cause you know, it’s very easy to just tie her up so she can’t even phase through it and reverse the damage?”

“Three, two, one.” There was a puff of void energy and code… and the corpse was gone. “New measure on the Time Runners. They die, activating a code format that literally erases their code from reality. Guess who’s idea that was.”

“Cause of course…” I grumbled.

“This will piss you off even worse. She knew where Spoiled was located… and Spoiled knows where Vilgax is located, and you know the rest.” The time walker sighed. “Well, best hunt the next in line on their ranks…”

My right eye twitched. “Cause….you know...why the fuck not.” I said slowly. “Just...rub salt in the ever growing wound I have…”

“Who are Vilgax and Spoiled?” Matilda asked.

“Long story.” The Time Walker sighed.

“This time travel related?”

“Yeah kinda.”

“... Say, I didn’t get what you meant by broken time and all, yeah I heard that, but… won’t people from your time still be the same as they are in this time?”

“Well… yes and no. Yes they will be the same people but any major alterations to their past will alter their future and split the Vilgax we know now from the one here as a different timeline version.”

“So keep it minimal. Can’t you just put a tracer or something on him now, and it still be on him in your time?”

“While that is true, you have to remember that they would have to go through literally an infinite amount of Vilgax’s just to find the fucker at this point given Time isn’t really a thing.”

“... Then we tag the one we know for a fact is. Not Vilgax. Spoiled.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Alright, so what is that Spoiled doing specifically right now?” I asked, still outlandishly pissed at Matilda.

"Currently on her Equestria. Almost to term with Councilor Diamond Tiara." The Time Walker said.

“Alright, good to know.” I said. “I’m still pissed at you Matilda.” I frowned.

"Well next time loop people in." She snarked back.

“Since you’re the pinnacle of keeping people in the loop.” I rolled my eyes.

"Hi pot, I'm kettle."

I shook my head. “You will never understand…” I growled. “But the fuckers dead, the Time Gems are still safe, am I still getting that reward?” I asked the Time Walker, not wanting to stay pissed at someone who’s ignorant to everything I know.

"Yeah. Goal was to stop her. Dead or alive doesn't matter. It's one less Runner out there."

“Alright.” I nodded.

I got my hundred SP and got myself Heir Master form and the ability to summon Nobodies again.

“Okay cool.” I said while testing my summoning ability, wondering how tough it’ll be to summon something.

It felt like those early days. The stronger Nobodies took a toll, but Dusk's and Creeper Nobodies were easy.

“Alright, cool.” I said with a smile. “This’ll help a lot.”

"Creepy." Matilda said, looking at the Dusk move.

“They are the bodies of people that have lost their Hearts.” I said simply. “Something your father should have mentioned but well...he kind of sucked at his job training you.”

"Rumors yeah. But did they lose all their bones too?"

“Do Heartless lose their bones?” I asked honestly.

"That's different. It's just the heart in a body made of darkness. That is a former person who became a living jelly dressed in silver spandex."

“Again, you know literally nothing about Nothingness.” I said simply. “Which is why I’m disappointed at how a video game series explains things better than people who have actually lived through it.” I frowned.

"In any case, what now… cause Time Guy left and we are back in Paris."

“Well…” I started. “We’re in Paris so...why not a date?” I suggested.

"Thought you were mad at me?"

“I am, but it’s better we do something to stop being pissed at each other and get along.” I shrugged. “Better than having another person that wants to rip your head off.”

"We actually take this date, even if your mom says it's my choice she will be in the distance pissed as all hell."

“And she’s gonna have to get used to it.” I shrugged.

"Heh. Well, why not then. Hear this is your hometown, know anywhere good?"

“Oh so many.” I said while taking her hand and leading her to any nice place that comes to mind.

To be continued...