CANNONFIRE 2: A Final Farewell to Days of Old

     Dante hurried down the center aisle of the passenger car, ignoring the confused glances of the other passengers as he followed Reath. Even when Nightmare called out to him, Dante didn't hesitate. All he was focused on right now was finding Flick and setting things straight.
    Just then, Dante saw Reath dart upward into one of the cubbyholes above the seats intended for luggage. Craning to see what was going on, Dante was able to spot Flick huddled toward the back of the small space. Reath was doing the best he could to try to comfort him, slowly inching closer until the older Time Agent was comfortable with the younger's presence. Reath then managed to coax Flick out and the two emerged. Flick's expression was solemn and he stared down at the ground instead of meeting anyone's gaze.
    “I'm sorry, Dante,” Flick apologized, “I didn't mean to say those kinds of things to you. I'm just a bit scared right now.”
    “It's all right,” Dante answered, “I think we're all a bit flustered right now. It's just a product of the situation at hand.”
    Flick nodded slowly, still not looking up. He then began to glide back toward the engine room. Dante and Reath followed. Once the door had been shut once more, Flick took a deep breath, exhaling deeply.
    “Do you want to know why I take this job so seriously?”
    Flick's question took Dante by surprise. Even Reath seemed shocked, as the younger Time Agent's eyes widened significantly.
    “Why is that?” Dante finally replied.
    “Well,” Flick began, “To tell you the truth, I really meant it when I said this job was the only thing I had. In fact, it's the only thing that keeps me sane.”
    Flick paused. For a second, Dante wondered whether or not he'd continue, but he eventually did.
    “I have a lot of regrets. This job is really the only thing that helps me forget about them. I can be somebody here that's completely different than who I was living the timestream. You see, I wasn't really the best person while I was living in the timestream.”
    Flick paused, contemplating something. Reath seemed to be anticipating something.
    “It's not important what I did, though,” Flick went on with a sigh, “What's important is that I really want to forget about it. I even changed my name to make sure I never have to think about what I did again. Lately, though, with all the paranoia sprouting up after the, um, incident, I've been starting to think more and more about all the mistakes I've made...and it's not all that pleasant for me.”
    Dante bit his lip, his gaze shifting away from Flick.
    “It's not your fault, Dante,” Flick said, trying to assuage Dante's guilt, “I'm sorry I lashed out at you. I'm just so scared. Every day, I'm terrified that I'll have to face my own guilt again. It eats me up from the inside out and I've been living with it for the past 349 years. Now, though, it all kind of seems hopeless, doesn't it?”
    “Nothing's hopeless if you try to make the most of it,” Reath muttered. Flick perked up.
    “What did you say?” Flick asked confusedly.
    “You have to believe me when I say that I've been in plenty of seemingly hopeless situations,” Reath said, “but, even when I was about ready to give up, there was someone there to tell me not to. Out of all those people, there was one who taught me outright that there's no use moping over a hopeless situation. You just have to find a way to make the most of it, no matter what the circumstances. That person is the one who kept me going, no matter what.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” Flick scoffed, “We all know about Jake and how he was such a great and inspirational person.”
    “I'm not talking about Jake,” Reath pointed out. Flick's brow furrowed in confusion.
    “Seriously?” Flick asked bewilderedly.
    “I'm talking about you, Flick,” Reath continued, “When I became an anomaly, I was ready to give up on everything, but you pulled me through it by telling me that there was no use in moping. That's the reason why I'm here. It's the reason why I'm a Time Agent. Where's that Flick?”
    Flick tensed up, staring at Reath in shock. After a moment of silence, he began to tear up, darting toward Reath and pulling the younger Time Agent into a hug. Dante smiled warmly. That was when he remembered the situation at hand.
    “So,” Dante said after a moment, “Are we going to tell the other passengers what's going on?”
Flick hesitated, staring at Dante contemplatively. He then closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly.
    “All right,” Flick finally replied, albeit still hesitantly, “We can tell them.”

~~

    “You've probably noticed it yourself, haven't you, Miss Speed?”
    Jupiter perked up at Anora's statement. Thicket had just left to become acquainted with the city, so that just left Jupiter and Anora alone in Anora's office.
    “What do you mean by that?” Jupiter asked confusedly.
    “By this point, there are discrepancies in your brother's book that conflict with reality itself,” Anora responded, “Your mother's name, your father's affliction, so on and so forth.”
    “I've noticed,” Jupiter said, “I always found it kind of strange that I remembered things differently from the way Dante wrote them.”
    “That's because our timeline is always changing,” Anora explained, “He probably remembers them the same way that you do. That's why Cannonfire exists. That book, though, is one of the only records of what used to be.”
    “So, more things change than just people coming and going, then?” Jupiter asked.
    “Precisely,” Anora replied, “Cannonfire isn't for all of those changes, though. Some changes are much too minor, so things are altered and overwritten to achieve the desired result.”
    Things were silent between Jupiter and Anora for a moment. Jupiter stared at the clock tattoo on Anora's face. When she'd first seen him, the time displayed by the tattoo had been about 9:45. Now, it read about 10:40. It baffled Jupiter to think that Anora's tattoo was an actual functioning clock, but that's what seemed to be the case.
    “Are you aware that your father was once a psychopath?” Anora said.
    “What?!” Jupiter exclaimed in shock.
    “It's no lie,” Anora replied, “When your father first appeared in the timeline, he was wholly bent on causing pain and misery to everyone he came across. He wasn't even afraid to kill. In fact, he revelled in it. He was a much different man than he is now, hm?”
Jupiter couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her father may have been a criminal, but he had always vowed to never kill a person. It was the one thing that he said he'd never do, no matter what.
    “What about mom?” Jupiter asked. Anora tensed up, pushing his glasses up on his snout once more.
    “We actually don't know that much about your mother,” Anora finally answered, “She's actually from a completely different time zone. All we know about her is whatever she does in our time zone.”
    Jupiter stared bewilderedly at Anora, trying to take in what he'd just told her.
    “Another time zone?” Jupiter asked, “Do different dimensions have different time zones or something?”
    “No,” Anora replied bluntly, “It seems to be far more complicated than that. No one really knows too much about it, though.”
    “Do other time zones have their own Cannonfires?”
    “We're not sure.”
    Jupiter took a deep breath, cutting herself short of asking another question. It was clear that Anora knew next to nothing about how other time zones worked, so she figured she'd leave the issue alone.
    “So,” Jupiter asked, “What about me and Dante? Were we different once?”
    Anora tensed up further, looking noticeably uncomfortable with the question.
    “The two of you are a very strange topic,” Anora began hesitantly, “The two of you seem to be split between two different time zones: ours and your mother's. In fact, the two of you have been all over the place since you first appeared in the timelines. Your personalities have stayed relatively the same, but other things haven't. Most of those things have to do with your mother, but those things still affect our timeline too. In fact, we're not entirely sure if your spot in your mother's timeline will disappear with your spot in ours.”
    “What does that mean?” Jupiter asked, trying her hardest to follow what Anora was saying.
    “It means that, even though you won't exist in this timeline, there's a chance you might still exist in your mother's.”
    Jupiter's eyes widened, staring at Anora with a mixture of shock and bewilderment.
    “We're not entirely sure of the logistics of such a thing, but, as far as this timeline is concerned, you're to live in Cannonfire,” Anora continued, “I'd just warn you not to be surprised if you begin remembering things that never happened to you in this timeline, all right?”
    Jupiter stared blankly at Anora, still trying to process what he'd just told her. She had no idea what he meant, but maybe it was all beyond her anyway. For now, all she had to worry about was Dante.
    “Do you think the power will come back?”
    Anora looked taken aback by Jupiter's question.
    “Do I think the power will come back?” Anora mused, repeating Jupiter's query, “I'm not sure. I certainly hope it comes back, but I can't be sure whether it will or won't.”
    “Well, what do you think is causing this?” Jupiter asked. Anora had to think on the question for a moment, but eventually answered.
    “The power source seems to be dependent on the timeline itself. Seeing as that power source hasn't given out even with severe space-time tearing, as demonstrated by yours and your brother's little escapade a while ago, I'd say that the situation is something much more severe.”
    Anora was silent for a moment, silently contemplative.
    “Come to think of it,” he finally continued, “this may have something to do with the large amount of people being brought to Cannonfire. If that and the power outage are related, it may end up answering quite a few questions.”
    “Really?” Jupiter chimed in.
    “The way I see it,” Anora mused, “there's only one answer I can see: our timeline is undergoing a very major fundamental change. If that's true, then--”
    Before Anora could finish his statement, he was interrupted by the lights flickering back to life, flooding the room in such a blinding glow that it took both Jupiter and Anora a moment to adjust to.
    “The lights are back on!” Jupiter exclaimed, “The power's back!”
    “Well,” Anora said, adjusting his glasses, “It seems Dante will be coming in all right after all.”

~~

    Dante couldn't believe his eyes. One moment, he'd been about ready to tell an entire crowd of people about the possibility of their demise. The next moment, the lights had come on and the train began to move once again.
    “Holy cow!” Flick exclaimed, “Talk about timing, huh, kid?”
    Dante stared blankly over the rest of the passenger car, a wave of relief washing over him. The passengers were now in an uproar over the power outage and the lights coming back on. They had no idea how much of a miracle it really was, though. He then began laughing, his knees giving out and sending him to the floor in a laughing fit.
    “Looks like we really dodged a bullet there,” Reath pointed out with a nervous chuckle.
    “To think, we got all worked up over what turned out to be a tiny little power outage,” Flick said, grinning wider than Dante had ever seen him grin before. Dante grinned too. He now knew that, even if he was stuck in Cannonfire for the rest of his life, he'd be fine so long as he had friends like Flick and Reath to keep him going.

~~

    Dante finally stepped off the train and got his first glimpse of Cannonfire since the last time he'd been here. He held his duffel bag tightly as he continued forward, following the crowd of people as they made their way toward the city.
    “Hey, Dante!”
    Dante perked up. He knew it was Nightmare calling out to him and, as he turned around, he found his suspicions correct.
    “Hey, Nightmare!” Dante called, “How's Cannonfire looking to you?”
    “Nothing like the gremlin capitol, but still pretty nice, in its own way,” Nightmare answered with a chuckle, “Hopefully, they've got good hot chocolate here. I don't take that cheap instant powder stuff.”
Dante laughed with Nightmare. Just then, he noticed someone making their way toward him through the crowd.
    “Dante!”
    “Jupiter!” Dante exclaimed, racing through the crowd to get to his sister. When he finally reached her, he hugged her tightly, smiling when she quickly returned his embrace. He then noticed Anora standing nearby. Breaking from Jupiter, he approached Anora, who seemed to be staring curiously at the alien child.
    “Hello, Dante,” Anora greeted Dante, holding out his hand for Dante to shake. After a hesitant handshake on Dante's part, Anora spoke once more.
    “It's good to see you again, although I'd like to know if you share that sentiment.”
    Dante was about to reply, but decided to take a second to think. Even with all of the friends he'd made and reunited with, it still pained him to think about the ones he'd left behind, including his parents.
    “I know it's no consolation,” Anora continued, “but we here in Cannonfire welcome you back with open arms.”
    Dante smiled weakly. He knew that, even if it took some time, he could get used to Cannonfire again. Just as he was about to leave, though, Anora placed a hand on Dante's shoulder.
    “You're a strong one for your age, Dante,” Anora said, “In fact, you're probably stronger than anyone I've met. I've seen a lot of people, Dante, but none have inspired me quite so much as you have.”
    “Really?” Dante exclaimed surprisedly, “I inspire you?”
    “Indeed,” Anora answered, “It's true that you've made your mistakes, but you've learned from them and grown from them. Isn't that what anyone should strive for?”
    Dante nodded. He never expected to be hearing this kind of praise from the head of the Cannonfire Exchange himself.
    “I've managed to pull some strings for you,” Anora went on, “I've managed to get you two the same apartment you lived in before leaving Cannonfire the first time. Is that all right?”
    “Of course!” Dante answered excitedly, “Thank you so much!”
    “You're welcome,” Anora replied, beginning to leave, “Just remember: you're welcome to come talk to me if you ever have a    problem.”
    “I'll remember! Thank you!” Dante shouted, waving to Anora as he left. Today was the beginning of his and Jupiter's new life. He wasn't going to let it get bogged down by regrets.

~~

    Dante tapped the tip of his pencil against the paper lying on his desk, trying to brainstorm for a novel he'd been thinking about writing for a while. His attention turned to the window, which gave him a stunning view of the sprawling metropolis outside. Really, it was like Dante had never left Cannonfire at all. He slipped right back into the daily grind of Cannonfire like he'd never left it. Even now, he was trying to get back to the novel he was trying to write before he left.
    Jupiter then strode into the room, heading into the kitchen. Dante smiled. Jupiter was here with him, Thicket was living just a couple of floors down with Nightmare, and the four of them often went out on the town together. In fact, Dante's life seemed even more lively now than his first time in Cannonfire.
    Suddenly, Dante heard a loud knock from the glass door leading out to the balcony. He sighed playfully, rolling his eyes. Some things never seemed to change. As he slid open the door, Flick darted inside, closely followed by Reath.
    “Hey, Dante!” Flick greeted him with a wave of his tail. Dante waved back, cracking a grin.
    “The two of us haven't had a job in quite a while,” Reath began, “so we decided to pop in on the timestream and see what was going on.”
    “And?” Dante asked curiously, prompting Reath to continue.
    “Well,” Reath went on, “what we found actually turned out to be pretty incredible.”
    “Apparently, time's decided to fold back on itself,” Flick butted in, “It's creating a brand new series of events no one's ever seen before. Some of it plays out like the old stuff, but a lot of it is brand new.”
    “How's that possible?” Jupiter asked from across the room.
    “We're not entirely sure,” Reath answered, “All we know is that it's happening.”
    “We've basically nailed down that the power outage on the train was due to the timestream folding back on itself,” Flick explained,     “We're trying to create a contingency plan in case it ever happens again.”
    “Just provide an alternate power source for the trains besides the freaky time energy,” Jupiter pointed out, “That'll solve all your problems right there.”
    “That's what we were thinking of too,” Flick replied, “We've just got to find something suitable. It takes a lot of power to propel a train through the fabric of time, you know.”
    Dante nodded, barely listening. He was too busy thinking about what could possibly be going on in the timestream. What were his parents doing now? What were his friends doing now?
    Eventually, Dante decided to shake off those thoughts. By that time, though, it was already time for Flick and Reath to leave. Dante waved to them as they left, then returned to his writing desk, continuing to tap his pencil against the paper. He supposed that it didn't matter what everyone else was doing now. He knew that they couldn't remember him in the slightest anyway. Instead, he decided to focus on his friends and family in Cannonfire. After all, this was his home now and he might as well make the most of it.