Blue Nexus #44 - The Future, Man

            Kyle tried to grasp hold of the situation. Two strange looking alien-dudes just jumped out at them after leaving a forest full of magic people…and then all of a sudden this other guy arrives on a glider wielding two scimitars and asking how the he got here from three thousand years in the future. His eye twitched.

            Superheroes.

            Brenda braced next to him. Her hands started to glow red. Kyle twirled the lance around so he had it held perfectly balanced in his right hand.

            “I’m not here to fight you two unless you’re working with them,” the sword boy said. “My name is Yusero, and I just want some answers. I think these two can give them to me. I was tracking them on my own, away from the guild, and the next thing I know I’m in the middle of nowhere on some new planet in a new time.”

            “Sounds like one hell of a weekend,” Kyle said.

            “I’d say,” Yusero said. “Let me handle them for now.”

            “Oh, you really think you can fight us now, Yusero?” asked the big alien with the glowing rifle. “I don’t think so.”

            Kyle saw the gun light up and a bullet propelled out. Brenda almost had a shield up, but Yusero blocked the bullet with impeccable speed. Brenda’s barrier shot up just as the bullet bounced away, redirecting it back into the dirt.

            “Let me handle them,” Yusero said. “I can do this.”

            “They’ll poke you full of holes,” Kyle said. “We can protect you.”

            “I’m sure you could,” Yusero said. “But I can take care of myself. These guys are no big deal, trust me.”

            Brenda looked over to Kyle. He grimaced and shrugged, but kept his lance level should he also need to make an attack. Yusero nodded as the shield dropped.

            “You’re a fool, Yusero,” the alien with the rifle said. “I’ll turn you to ash and happily return you back to your guild. I’m sure it’ll make the other guilds happy to know you’re dead.”

            “I’m happy to see you try,” Yusero said.

            The alien grunted and shot again, though this time the light was dimmer. Yusero blocked and leapt forward. The gun’s light faded, the charge going out.

            “Damn planet, I can’t siphon any decent power from this place!” shouted the alien. He threw down the weapon and threw up his arms. Energy blades appeared around them and hummed loudly to fill the silence.

            Yusero’s swords hit the blades—hands?—with a strange electrical noise. Yusero bounced back, but landed light on his feet and sprinted back in. The other bounty hunter had twin pistols out and blasted at Yusero. They were also laser, or energy…or whatever, weapons, but Yusero dodged them with ease. He bounced off of the bounty hunter’s shoulder and flipped over. While in the air, Yusero cast his sword at the other bounty hunter. It spun on its x-axis and almost landed in the ribs of the second bounty hunter with a thud.

            Yusero landed and twirled around to deliver an elbow to the face that Kyle almost felt from where he was. The bounty hunter grunted, but Yusero used his free hand to slam him on the ground, contorting his arm violently. The second bounty hunter raised his pistols to the incoming boot from Yusero, which found a home right in the second bounty hunter’s face.

            The swordsman touched back down on the ground. He yanked his blade out of the second bounty hunter’s padded ribs, and pointed his sword down at him. Somehow the second bounty hunter was still conscious, though he had green blood running from his contorted face.

            “First you’ll tell me how you two buffoons got here, then you’ll tell me how I wound up here, too,” Yusero said.

            “And if we don’t?” asked the alien. “What will you do? Torture is against your code.”

            “You’re right,” Yusero said. “And I won’t just murder you here.”

            “I won’t say the same for you!” exclaimed the first bounty hunter, who leapt up at Yusero. The second did the same.

            “Brenda!” shouted Kyle, but she already saw the move coming.

            A thick red barrier surrounded Yusero. Kyle cast two energy balls at the two bounty hunters, hitting them in their sides before they could make contact. The bombs on them exploded nonetheless, but the force was pushed back and hardly did anything to the barriers around them. Yusero still ducked down, but was surprised to see the barrier around him.

            Brenda sighed and lowered the barrier. Kyle looked beyond Yusero to see two black spots on the otherwise perfect green grass. Yusero turned to face the superheroes, replacing his swords into their scabbards on his back.

            “I don’t know why I didn’t see that coming,” Yusero said. “Bounty hunters like them have pulled different tricks. I guess they were hiding those explosives differently than normal, probably something from this time period.”

            “Yeah, still not clear on the whole ‘out of time’ thing,” Kyle said.

            “That makes two of us,” Yusero said.

            “Three,” Brenda said. “You honestly have no memory of being sent here? No inclination, even?”
            “Not really. I wasn’t even going after these guys,” Yusero said. “I’ve seen them before but I haven’t fought with them, and I don’t think I was near them when my memory stops.”

            “Then I think our real answers lie with how they got here,” Kyle said. “I don’t think a, uh, temporal distortion would go unnoticed nowadays, either.”

            Kyle mentally patted himself on the back for the terminology, but neither Brenda nor Yusero paid him any dues for it. He kept it to himself. Yusero looked around the area.

            “I guess I can start with the basic questions of where I am right now?” asked Yusero.

            “Planet Earth in the year 2016,” she said.

            Yusero glanced at her strangely. “Oh, oh, so just that regular 2016 CE, then?”

            “Is there another 2016 we’re unaware of, besides BCE?” asked Kyle.

            “Like I said, I’m three thousand years ahead. Our calendars have been a bit redone. Around fifteen hundred years ago, to be exact, so that we didn’t so much rely on specific years but more like relative positions. Some planets do operate under the years, but only for indigenous and people who tend to not travel between galaxies,” Yusero said. “So, right now, I guess on the Jupiter you could say it’s the year 1487? I’m not sure, it’s been a while since I’ve been to this galaxy.”

            “You haven’t even been here in a while?” asked Kyle.

            “Earth?” asked Yusero. He opened his mouth, then shut it back up. “I’m just going to assume that my presence here is already going to be catastrophic on the time-stream of this universe, so I’ll avoid telling you the fate of this world.”

            “And the fate of other worlds as well,” Brenda said. “We’re a part of an intergalactic justice force. Our friend here has been to galaxies several lightyears away already.”

            “On my way here I noticed basic-level technology, how can you do that?” asked Yusero.

            “Super powers,” Kyle said. “Kinda like yours.”

            “Super? Hmm, I suppose you could say I’m superhuman. Most of humanity didn’t undergo the training I did so that I could fight against some of the bigger hulks in the universe. But I don’t have, um, powers.”

            “Does anyone?”

            “None that don’t come from some sort of catalyst,” Yusero said. “Like a gemstone or a talisman. But those are in the outside planets.”

            “Do you think it’s possible one of those tools may have had a hand in bringing you here?” asked Brenda.

            “Perhaps, but the people who use them wouldn’t pull something like this. No, time-travel to this degree would come from someone that might work close with the governments, a scientist no doubt.”

            “Well like I said, it’s probably best if we check and see if anyone else noticed some freaky time stuff,” Kyle said. “Maybe even see if we can find anyone that can bring you home.”

            “I can think of someone who might help,” Brenda said.

            Boomer.

            “Same here,” Kyle said. “I’m going to see if Phoenix knows anything before headed that way. Brenda, we should uh…”

            Kyle trailed off, pursing his lips. What should they do with Yusero? They couldn’t just leave him hanging around on his own. Sure he was more than capable of keeping himself safe, but what if someone else came looking for him that would outsmart or just be too much of a hassle for him?

            “I’ll bring him to the Moon base and see what we can do,” Brenda said. She held out her hand, projecting a red square barrier. She gestured for Yusero to hop on.

            He whistled and flicked his wrist. The glider began to fold up until it became a perfect square that planted itself on Yusero’s back, the lights fading on it when it touched him. Yusero stepped onto the platform.

            “Let me know when you’re done and I can send him back this way,” Brenda said.

            “Good luck,” Kyle said.

            Brenda nodded and blasted off into the sky with Yusero trailing just behind her. The blast buffeted Kyle but he remained where he was. He tapped his ear chip three times to contact Phoenix. He stood waiting in the open plain for about a minute before something clicked on the other side.

            “I didn’t even get a call when you decided to come back, or were you just saving telling me for last?” asked Phoenix. There was static in their connection, so he was either off-planet or really deep underground.

            “Time-travel,” Kyle said.

            “Oh. Oh. Where’re you going? Old West? Pre-biblical? Make sure to take pictures and let me see,” Phoenix said.

            “I met someone from three thousand years in the future that has no idea how he got here, and probably doesn’t know how to get home, either,” Kyle said. “Are you aware of any strange time things that happened in the last day or so?”

            “There was a strange energy spike yesterday but I figured that was someone else,” Phoenix said. “We’ve been seeing more of them, but when Lalay tried to compare it to other signatures, it came out pretty normal.”

            “Multiple time-travelers, then?” asked Kyle.

            “No, I mean that we’ve seen these things before all of this, like it isn’t anything out of the ordinary. People screwing around with space and time is normal. Anytime you go off planet, with your super-blue-speed thing, you’re doing the same thing.”

            Kyle groaned. “So it’s basically impossible for us to tell if someone is time-travelling or not?”

            “Well none of us are exactly scientists,” Phoenix said. “If you want my advice, I would go have a chat with Boomer to see what he knows. Or, at least, if he knows someone that can help you out.”

            “I was planning on it,” Kyle said. “Thanks anyway. Shindari’s bringing our new friend up to you guys right now, though I’m not sure what’ll happen after.”

            “He’s welcome to stay up here where nobody can get to him,” Phoenix said. “Although, like I said, we’re a bit limited on technical support.”

            “Then for now we just play it by ear,” Kyle said. “And hope for the best. I’ll go see Boomer now, you just make sure to help Yusero feel like he’s not three thousand years in the past.”

            “It’s what I do,” Phoenix said.

            Boomer’s large containment room was just as clean as the last time Kyle saw it. There were some drawings around the room, though none of them were particularly good. The room was, if anything, just a tad bit smaller as the Zanderia made room for more villains above.

            There were four projectors up on the wall. Three of them were just a pale blue while the fourth, the one facing Boomer, had several squares of camera angles around the Cube. Boomer had been employed by Phoenix and Riko to keep tabs on everyone in the Cube to make sure that nothing was going awry. They figured that they may as well given him a little something to do while he repented for his dealings with Alucard.

            Boomer looked better than when Kyle last saw him. His hair was cut much shorter and he was clean shaven. He also looked a little more muscular for a man his age. He had all the time in the world here, and it seemed that exercise was just another thing to keep him occupied.

            As Kyle walked further into the room he noticed that the drawings were actually equations. A tinge of fear splashed in Kyle’s mind before he let it pass. He had to trust that Boomer was calculating some new weapon to terrorize the world, but that he could just be building a second suit for himself. Yeah. Totally that.

            Boomer spun around and smiled at Kyle as he approached. Kyle stopped halfway in the room, resting his hands on his hips.

            “I didn’t know that they were giving you crayons down here to play with,” Kyle said. “I could’ve brought a few coloring books if you’d asked.”

            “I just wanted to dirty the place up,” Boomer said. His voice was firm now, too. “I got a quick message that you were coming. Either something is urgent or you’re just bored.”

            “Definitely not bored,” Kyle said. “Especially not in the current situation I’m in.”

            “More evil demonic people?”

            “No, just people travelling back from three-thousand years in the future,” Kyle said.

            “Oh, interesting. Are they related to you somehow, do you know?”

            “I don’t think so, and I really didn’t bother asking. The fact that he came back here in general means that the time stream has been seriously screwed over, or that we’ve just averted some major disaster and our universe will be saved instead.”

            Boomer chuckled. “We do live in a multiverse, Blue Nexus. Our worlds must have intersected somehow and your friend wound up here. Was he alone?”

            “Two bounty hunters came looking for Shindari and I,” Kyle said. “What’s odd is that they said they were here to kill the two of us, even though we’d never seen them before.”

            Boomer crossed his legs and straightened up his back. It cracked and the sound reverberated off the walls. It was awkward for a moment before Boomer sighed.

            “That means there was someone here, on our end, that had to, for lack of a better word, summon them here,” Boomer said. “Though why they reached out to that time period specifically is curious.”
            “Lucky shot, I guess,” Kyle said.

            Boomer bowed his head. “I assume you came here asking if I knew anything about it.”

            “Well for a while you kinda were the ‘mad scientist’ of villainy,” Kyle said, shrugging. “If anyone would know, you would be the best bet, right?”

            “You’re not wrong, though I’m disappointed that’s the reason you came to me first,” Boomer said. “Rather than my superior intellect. But you’re in luck, Blue Nexus. Back when I was first selecting my field there was a new secret government agency opening up, looking for people with my kind of potential. Luna almost joined up with them right before we met and I convinced her to work with me instead, on biology.”

            “Are they still around now?” Kyle asked.

            “Unfortunately not,” Boomer said. “In the mid-2000s they tanked mysteriously. They were Delta, though I don’t remember what it stood for or why it was called that. Most of their people were shady anyway.”

            “Have there been any remnants of them?”

            “Scarce, but nothing significant. They’d always been about inter-dimensional travel and there were some whispers of them around the scientific community, though always in different forms. Every time someone came up with a new theory, it was plain to see for those of us in-the-know that Delta was involved. Their big initiative was to try and move through time, to prove what sort of reality we’re in. Want to take a guess who figured out the truth behind multiverse theory?”
            “One of their people.”

            “And I’m willing to bet Delta played a hand in the mechanisms of this time travel. They’re an incredible group, Blue Nexus, and not to be underestimated. Their members are few and they have the sharpest minds in the world. Why do you think they tanked? Nobody with that amount of intelligence can be trusted. Funding was reduced to rubble and none of them wanted to be seen funding their own projects. As I said, they were a shady bunch. Even I didn’t trust what they were doing.”

            “And even with Cata’s knowledge swimming around in your head you have no idea how they could have pulled this off?”

            “Cata has existed for several thousand years, Blue Nexus, and has conquered worlds far beyond the limitations of Earth. But even she isn’t all-wise. Even a monkey can have all the information in the world in front of them and not know what to do with it. I have no idea how Delta might have pulled this off, so I suggest you go speaking with them first to get your answers.”

            “Because they sound so trustworthy,” Kyle said. He turned for the door. “Thanks Boomer. Any requests for stuff before I head out?”

            “A few more visits,” Boomer said. “And keeping me posted on how this goes. I’d rather like to know more about time-travel myself.”

            Kyle stopped and turned around. “Why?”

            Boomer smiled. “So I can go back and slap my younger self in the face for listening to a strange voice in my head.”

            Brenda brought Yusero back to Kyle’s house after he contacted her. Apparently it was a rather unproductive time up on the Moon base. Any testing they did would involve some time of waiting for the results to come back. Phoenix, apparently, mentioned Delta to Brenda. Kyle all but confirmed, then, that they were behind this.

            Sadly, Brenda had to fly off and go on a mission across the Pacific. Yusero met Kyle’s grandparents warmly. Their story was that this was one of Kyle’s friends from school whose parents were just hospitalized and he needed a place to stay in between visits. His grandparents bought it and Yusero was moved in, despite the lack of clothing.

            He was Kyle’s exact size, though, so Kyle was able to give him some clothes to borrow. Normally Kip was in Kyle’s clothes, so it was a little jarring to see someone else in Kyle’s clothing. Yusero, claiming that this mid-fifties weather was warm, picked out tank-tops and shorts to wear most of the time.

            Kyle noticed many of the markings around him. He had a brand on his back shoulder blade and a blue tattoo of a snake running across the upper part of his back and down both of his triceps. There were other scars along his arms, and his hands were thick. Yusero stuck to wearing flip-flops Kyle had, though Kyle tried to warn him that he would be far less mobile in those.

            Yusero surprised Kyle with what he did with his swords. He was able to fold them up and place them as a pin on his shirt. With a touch, the swords would fold out into their scabbards along his back like normal and would be ready for us. The glider, which they were keeping out back, could double as a backpack.

            They still had all day ahead of them. Kyle was tempted to go back to school and bring along Yusero somehow, but figured that at this point, one more day of missing school wasn’t going to kill him. Instead, he brought Yusero out for a walk.

            Yusero walked much faster than Kyle anticipated, forcing Kyle to sort of speed-walk just to keep up with the guy. As they passed a few people, they got strange looks. Kyle wasn’t sure why, though figured it was probably the speed-walking. At first he wondered if it were because of Yusero himself. He looked human. His hair was a little longer than most people in town and a lot of normal people didn’t have scars on their arms and legs. Yusero only seemed to notice people given what they were wearing.

            “This cloth is much thinner than what I usually see,” Yusero said. “Or, at least, whenever I do see cloth. Most of what I have now is other materials from off-base.”

            “Base?”

            “The guild base is where I, and my comrades, get most of our clothing. A lot of it is basically a thin sheet of armor that’s almost impossible to pierce without the right weapon. It really hurts to punch.”

            A thought crossed Kyle’s mind. “So is this like your natural language or did you hear us talking earlier and have to adapt to it or something?”

            “This is the regular language, yeah,” Yusero said. “Or, at least, on base and within the guild it is. Obviously other planets are going to have different languages. It wasn’t my first language but it’s the one I prefer.”

            “Is the other one just really complicated?”

            “No, you have to use your toes.”

            “Oh. Well nowadays a lot of people speak using faces.” He flinched when he realized what he said.

            “Don’t most people?” asked Yusero.

            “Emojis, the Internet, all that stuff.”

            Yusero paused. Kyle slowly turned toward him, disbelief rising in him. Did Yusero just forget what the Internet was?

            “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

            Kyle smiled just a little bit. There could be hope for a better tomorrow.

            Yusero marveled at all the small things, and not the Internet. Kyle didn’t even want to bring that up. His phone vibrated and Kyle just told him it was their method of communication, avoiding the dozens of apps he no doubt had open on there and the various social media feeds filling up with information.

            He didn’t tell Kyle that much about what life was like for him, just that he only saw buildings like this on a smaller scale and only on the lower-tier planets. Still, though, Kyle wondered what it would be like for him to step back three thousand years and see how things were for the Earth. What was the big thing for a small-area society? What was the thing that everyone was aware of and had access to that seemed immortal, but would be gone and forgotten about in three thousand years?

            Yusero’s childlike wonder was almost contagious. If Kyle didn’t know each store in and out like the back of his hand then he would also be having a great time walking around. He was still enjoying himself as Yusero asked questions about buildings and names of places, but was disappointed he didn’t that same wonderment.

            It was also strange to see someone get so excited for a small town like this, as if Yusero were a tourist. Really he was a prisoner, but he wasn’t handling this situation like that at all. He wasn’t too worried about getting back, but was making the most of his time here. Kyle did smile at that. He was jealous of that much.

            Phoenix and Riko landed outside the small shack near the farm. The farm itself was updated with today’s technology that it required, but the shack was a little more worn down. If a major storm were to come through, it would appear as if that would be the end of it. The wood was corroded and broken away, unlike the pristine condition of the farm.

            “Wyoming,” Phoenix muttered. “Perfect hiding spot.”

            “Not much of a hiding spot if they tell us where it is,” Riko said.

            “We asked nicely,” Phoenix said. “That’s why please and thank you are so important on Earth, buddy.”

            “On Mars please and thank you get you a laugh and a pat on the back,” Riko said.

            “Aren’t you glad you’re here?” asked Phoenix.

            Phoenix led them toward the shack. He knew the farm was empty and was there just for show. It was near a small college town, but so far off the main road that one would purposefully have to go out of their way to find it. The two of them only found it after circling around twice. The agent they’d spoken with only told them the general location, and clearly didn’t trust the two with this sort of information.

            Phoenix opened the shack. He heard four regular locks and an airlock unseal before the metallic door eased open. Riko went in first, followed by Phoenix. The lights came on as they descended and the door sealed back up behind them. The hallway was metallic except for the stairs, which were wooden for some reason. They creaked beneath their combined footsteps.

            “I suppose this is how they can tell how close someone is,” Riko said.

            “It’s better to be prepared,” Phoenix said.

            The two landed and walked forward down the lone corridor. Phoenix noticed the various lasers and hidden cameras around the hallway. Riko nudged him on the shoulder.

            “I see them,” Phoenix said. “But they’re all in safe mode. We’re fine. If anything they’re just scanning us to make sure we aren’t a doppelganger or something.”

            “They’re very well prepared, especially for an organization that no longer exists,” Riko said.

            “That’s why they’re so good,” Phoenix said.

            The door in front of them opened up, this time with only two locks, revealing a room of scientists and a few aliens stumbling around and mumbling to each other. A metal table was in the middle of a room that had walls lined with monitors and scanners. Another spiral stairwell was off in the far left corner of the room. An alien scientist rose from it. He had green scaly skin but wore a tuxedo.

            “He’s from Planet Zera,” Riko muttered. “A lizard-like race, very cunning.”

            “Rumor even has it that our greatest champions visited Earth and spawned the legends of dragons,” the Zeran said. “Welcome, Riko and Phoenix. My name is Ygon, and I am indeed of Planet Zera. I am one of the leading researchers of Delta.”

            The door shut behind the two superheroes. Phoenix approached the metal table. Ygon sat down across from him. One of the humans in the room set down a clipboard in front of him before sauntering away.

            “It would seem that has been a temporal disturbance in the world recently,” Ygon said. “I’ve been told you’ve made contact with them?”
            “A boy,” Phoenix said. “Human, I think. There were two others with him.”

            “I see,” Ygon said. He flipped the page on the clipboard. “Deceased, too.”

            “How’d you know that?” asked Phoenix.

            “That which doesn’t exist doesn’t have boundaries,” Ygon said. “Delta must always have its best foot forward when covering these matters and that means knowing all that we have to. Two of the beings not of this time are dead and the other is with one of your people, one of the Zanderia?”

            “Being acclimated to this time period,” Riko said. “We hoped that you would have a way of bringing him back. From what we understand the two others here were pursuing him and now that they’re gone we should send him back to avoid any further damage to the time stream. I’m sure Delta understands.”

            “Delta does understand, and we may have a method of bringing him back to his own time,” Ygon said. “We’ve not fully developed the technology but I think with your help we may be able to make the impossible a very true reality.”

            “You want our tech?” asked Phoenix.

            “Not existing comes with many benefits but at the same time comes with the price of living outside of the world,” Ygon said. “What we have here is what which we can build without making ourselves noticeable. Everything done to help this boy can be done through you by us. You would be the mask that we wear.”

            “Sounds a bit deceptive,” Phoenix said. “But how can we trust that you won’t just end up stealing all of our technology for some other gain?”

            “You shouldn’t,” Ygon said. “But you shouldn’t trust time itself, either. Who is to say when a force comes through the walls of time and eradicates the past? Who is to say that someone from the past may come to eradicate the future? We live in a fragile time, no thanks to the Zanderia and Delta. We have no reason to cause ill-will to the time stream, only to study it and prepare for any disaster that we may encounter. Isn’t that what the Zanderia stands for?”

            “The Zanderia stands for galactic justice,” Riko said. “And we aren’t just a mask to be worn by an organization that had to go under for trying to tamper with the time stream it seems keen on protecting.”

            “That was the past.”

            “Then it’s like you said,” Phoenix said. “We can’t trust time. We need to come to a better solution than you ‘borrowing’ all of our material.”

            Ygon leaned back in his chair. “Is it possible to arrange a meeting between this future boy and myself? I need to know as much as possible before sending him back. Time is one thing, but transportation is an entirely different monster.”

            “We’ll check in with him soon,” Riko said.

            “Soon may not be good enough,” Ygon said. “If his enemies could get here, what’s stopping more from coming here as well?”

            “Us,” Phoenix said.

            Ygon grimaced with scaly lips. “You Zanderia truly are noble.”

            “We just want a yes or no for now,” Riko said. “Will you help us or not?”

            Ygon paused. Some of the scientists around the room looked over their shoulders back at Ygon, who folded webbed hands in front of his face. When he dropped them, he was smiling.

            “It is Delta’s duty to protect the timeline,” Ygon said. “We’ve failed in this regard, but we will rectify this situation to the best of our ability, gentlemen. Of that you have my word.” 

Next time: Kyle and Yusero continue to bond as they head toward East City, where Yusero shows off a few more of his skills. But, are they alone on their journey? Find out in "Blue Nexus #45 - A Long Time Ahead"!