[center][IMG]http://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk396/Mercinus3/The%20Wanderer%20Title%20Banner.png[/IMG] In [b][u][h1]Ponder on the Past IV: A Man Out of Time[/h1][/u][/b] Time: What is supposed to be Midday, 200 years in the future Location: Settlement 149, what was once Pine Bluff, Arkansas[/center] The Wanderer worked on the machine over the course of the night. He had been familiar with the workings of the machine his father made for the purpose of going back in time, but to work on it was taking time. Sure, dismantling the part of the machine where the fuel was supposed to go was simple enough, but to get it all back together and to fit with the length of the fuel rod that he brought back from Arkansas Nuclear One, that was something that took some time. But he finished it, exhausted from the concentration needed to ‘tweak’ the machine. Sitting back down in the chair, he rewatched the message his father left behind, more importantly to the information about where everything started to spiral out of control in the past. [i]I’m… about to go to the past?[/i] was the only question that went through his mind. He didn’t know what to expect from the past, seeing as there were little texts from the local library that had survived these years. [i]I wonder what the past would be like? Is there actual tree life in the world? Is there less fighting in the world?[/i] These were all questions that ran through his mind. The more he thought about it, the more… excited he was. Sure, it’s a terrifying change from the life he has lived so far, but there was nothing left here for him to be anchored to. His rambling thoughts were changed when he heard movement in the main power room. Thinking the mutants were back to wipe out any of the people that weren’t there at the first attack, The Wanderer slowly got up from the chair, his revolver in his hand ready to shoot once he entered the room. Taking a deep breath, he burst through the door. On the other side was not a mutant. It was something much worse. “All this is your fault, Mutant!” The frame of The Officer stood in the doorway, with two of his personal entourage in the room, assault rifles trained on him. “That would have been what I would have said if I had been there. Alas, I can now say that one of our own betrayed us, killing all the civilians in here.” Throughout the settlement leader’s taunts The Wanderer was shaking with fury, the thoughts of the lone hand in the doorway prevalent in his mind. “You leaving a few days ago had been awfully convenient for my plans, makes the transition all the sweeter. However, I see that the loose end of this string is still around seeing as the men I sent to kill you are not here.” [color=4682b4]”All of this just to get back to me?”[/color] The Wanderer spat at The Officer, fury within his eyes. [color=4682b4]”You slaughtered all the men, women and children in this place just to get to me? You are more pathetic than I had anticipated.”[/color] “Of course I didn’t do all of this just for [u]you[/u]. Of course, you’d think that I’d do all of this because of you. But I have to admit… your abilities intrigued me.” That took the mutant by surprise. “You think you were so handy with the little amount of, now what was it called… psionics? Well, you were not the only being who has knowledge of them and it just so happened that I would have been capable of wielding them. However, my ‘benefactor’ told me the price. A hundred of people or so was a little cost. They even offered to throw in the Behemoth to help wipe out a particular problem for free, so much for a freebie. No matter, you will not live long enough to see this place become a mutant paradise!” As The Officer finished his spiel, the entourage began firing. The Wanderer didn’t take long for his own psionics to activate and was speeding towards the first one, landing a solid punch onto the man’s chest with enough force to crush the man’s ribs. However, the punch connected with a little thud. The entourage seemed to have been a part of whatever deal their leader was offered and had gained mutant abilities as well. This became apparent when a punch was thrown to his chest that caused him to stagger. It hadn’t been enough to overcome the enhanced strength his psionics gave him, but it was enough to leave a bruise in its place. [color=4682b4]”Well, seems you wanted your men to be modelled after me,”[/color] The Wanderer chuckled, his voice audible to The Officer. [color=4682b4]”Well, I do remember a book from the library having a nice quote: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”[/color] Finishing the quote, he sped up to the punching man and grabbed him by his garments. Using the full force of his strength, he threw the man at the other one, both of them hitting the wall with a loud clang. Without breaking stride, he raised his arm and fired a beam at them, incinerating them before they had the chance to get back up. The Officer gritted his teeth, taken aback by the relentlessness of his nemesis and, supposedly, a new ability. “Curse you, Mutant! I suppose I better finish you off.” Much like The Wanderer did moments ago, the man raised his hand and fired a beam at him, seemingly hitting the man at full force. The dust from the room flew up into the air, making the room seem turbid in air quality. Thinking that he had finally vanquished, The Officer trembled when the dust cleared and The Wanderer remained standing, his left hand creating a barrier between them. [color=4682b4]”Seems your benefactor hasn’t told you about the extent of psionics now, didn’t it?”[/color] The Officer, seeing how outmatched he now was, began to stumble out of the room, but a blast to his back slammed him against the wall opposite the power room entrance. Getting back up onto his feet, he didn’t know what hit him when he was whipped around and pain erupted in his right chest. Looking through now broken glasses, he saw The Wanderer had another ability showing – his psionic blade – piercing through the right side of his nearly-collapsed chest. [color=4682b4]”And one more thing, child killer. Mutant is such a derogatory term to me. Just call me by my other nickname, one that you’d be familiar with: The Psionic Warrior.”[/color] With his nemesis seemingly vanquished, The Wanderer deactivated his psionics, allowing the man to collapse into a heap, and walked back into the office. Moments to get everything ready, the mutant was ready, strapping himself into the machine. Beforehand, he attached a bracelet-like devise to his left arm. He remembered everything his father told him about the machine before learning about the possible fuel problem that he got sent out to do. [i]”This device is to help you confirm that you arrive at the correct time that is set to the machine. This should be fine after you teleport to the past, but metals like your revolver will be superheated and can burn through anything if it hasn’t melted on the other side.”[/i] He also remembered one thing about the machine that would deter any man. [i]”While we do have the coordinates and the machine should be able to get you back in time, there is a huge chance that with the power needed to send you back will be spent and you’d be unable to get back here. And we can’t get that much power from the power room here. In summary…”[/i] [color=4682b4]”Well… let’s see if this hunk of junk works.”[/color] Without another word, he pressed the button and closed the capsule. He hears the machine whir up in power and sees the display showing the machine building up energy. After a while, the machine suddenly stopped making any sound and everything seemed to be frozen in place. Thinking that the machine didn’t work and that there was nothing he could do to stop the nightmare he was in, sparks started flying everywhere in the power room as things started to explode. Shortly afterwards, a bright blue light stung his eyes as his conscious and subconscious simply melted away into nothing. ----------- [center][h3][b][i]Meanwhile…[/i][/b][/h3] [IMG]http://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk396/Mercinus3/The%20Psionic%20Nexus%20banner.png[/IMG] Time: Present day, time unknown. Location: On a planet somewhere in the galaxy.[/center] [i][color=6826F2]This galaxy has a lot of prospects.[/color][/i] On a planet where the sky was, unlike Earth, had red skies in the middle of the day and the folia was orange in leaves to absorb the light coming onto the planet, a wolf-like creature was standing on the edge on what was the equivalent of a forest, the trees being fungi in appearance. Unlike a lot of the creatures seen on this planet, this wolf seemed to be on fire, blue flames covering its entire body. It looked all around to observe the creatures that roamed the planet, the majority of them primitive in appearance. Even the more intelligent species were primitive, using crude weapons to try and chase others around the meadow. [i][color=6826F2]This planet doesn’t seem ready yet to have my gifts.[/color][/i] The wolf looked towards the sky, as if something got its attention. Without a trace, it disappeared from the edge of the forest. It reappeared later several thousand meters from the surface of the planet, its black eyes scanning the vast darkness in front of it. [i][color=6826F2]It seems that something is coming to this very time,[/color][/i] it thought to itself, eyes focusing on something in the darkness. [i][color=6826F2]There’s a planet that looks like it’s about to receive something big to it.[/color][/i] It paused for a moment. [i][color=6826F2]This planet… Earth. Seems that there are a group of beings on it that are capable of feats that transcends above the main population.[/color][/i] It paused again, concentrating on something. It suddenly chuckled. [i][color=6826F2]And it looks like these beings had fought back against Umbraxis. That’s something that it will never let down. This will require some observations. Now judging by the distance, it looks like it’ll be some time before I reach the planet’s vicinity. What this planet would call 2 weeks.... I suppose I could do with the travel time to get more information on this curious planet.[/color][/i] Not before long, it began to run, charging off into the unknown and leaving a blue and red trail in its wake. ----------- [center][IMG]http://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk396/Mercinus3/The%20Wanderer%20Title%20Banner.png[/IMG] Time: Present Day, Early Evening Location: Near the Esper Estate, Pacific Point [/center] The sun was waning towards the end of the day, though still high up in the sky to keep the sky blue. As the wind gently whistled through the leaves on what was once the Esper Family estate, a point in the nearby wood had shone a bright blue light. As the light faded, The Wanderer appeared, collapsing onto the ground. As it took a moment for him to get to his senses, the various tones of green was the first thing he noticed when he regained his vision. Then, as his sound returned, his hearing was filled with the chirping birds of the summer evening. As he got up, he touched the living grass that he was lying on, his eyes looking around in wonder. Being the first experience in the past, he was taking in what he thought was utopia, seeing living trees and flowers for the first time. While he did think about pinching himself to see whether he was dead or not, the intense heat from the revolver was enough. [color=4682b4]”I’ve made it back,”[/color] he croaked, his mouth seemingly dry from the journey. Before he got carried away, he looked at the device that was on his left arm. The time on the device seemed to match at least the position of the sun in the sky and judging by the warm air, it looked like he was also in the ball park of the day and month. However, he was not sure on the year. As he got up, ne notices a building through the trees, recognizing it from the former picture he had seen in the news article. [i]It looks like this is the Esper family estate,[/i] he thought. His mind steeled itself back to the reason why he was back here in the first place. He remembered reading that the Espers were powerful people that had psychokinetic abilities, so they might be aware of his sudden appearance on their estate. He made his way through the wood to get a closer look. However, as he drew closer, the sinking feeling started to fill his stomach. The building looked damaged from what seemed to be a battle, with plastic tape still surrounding the building. He left the wood and walked through the damaged door. Looking through the wreckage, his heart sank as he sees the outlines of where the family had perished. He looked up at the clock, though the cracked face didn’t help with his time dilemma. Walking through the building, untouched from the destruction, he looked and saw the date and time that was on one of the clocks. Apart from the few minutes he had been here, the time the teleporter was set too worked. But The Wanderer looked worried. The Esper Family was to be in peril next year, yet they were already dead. [i]Did something change in the timeline?[/i] was now the main question in his mind. He needed answers and he needed them soon. If the family’s death was the starting point of the chain of events that led to the apocalypse of his time, then something had triggered the events much sooner and he needed to find what caused this and fast. He walked out of the damaged doors and looked on at the city that was nearby. [color=4682b4]”Somewhere in this city, someone has the answers to what has happened here and who did this.”[/color] Without another word, he walked on the lawn of the estate and began to approach the city, the name Pacific Point unknown to him.