"Y/n, this isn't a good idea, you know that!"

Your hands moved around frantically as you tried to ignore the chimpanzee. "Pogo! For years, I have been working on this-"

"And nothing has worked," he cut in.

Running one hand through your hair, you used the other to search for a certain folder in the stacks of papers you had everywhere. Once it was in your hand, you shoved it into Pogo's grip.

He looked through the folder, scanning over the thousands of words on each paper, all marked up in bright red ink.

"What is all of this," he asked.

You pulled out a large machine and a matching array of buttons before replying. "It's the answer! It's how I find Five." You smiled, hands sliding over the buttons and meticulously pushing them.

Pogo dropped the papers in disbelief, a scoff falling from his lips. "You can't be serious!"

You did a final sweep over the machine and hovered your hands over a large lever. Turning to Pogo, your lips pulled into a small smile. Your eyes held this seriousness that contrasted the curve of your mouth.

"Look, for fifteen years, I hypothesized and ran experiments; all to find him. A-And I've found him, well," you reached to scratch the back of your neck. "I know where he is... relatively."

Pogo scrunched his face up and slammed his cane down. "Relatively? That's not good enough, number eight!"

You pulled your hand from the back of your neck and used it to search through another pile of papers, hiding the pained expression the numeral name gave you.

Seconds later, hands were on your shoulders as Pogo pulled you down to his height. His eyes were twitching in anger, a snarl playing on his nose.

"The rules of time are forever changing. He could be anywhere; you don't know how far he traveled. You don't know him, Y/n."

You pushed yourself away from him, his hands slipping from your shoulders. "I do know!" You turned your back to him and placed both hands on the lever.

"I-I know him, his powers, h-his limits; I know it all," you spoke shakily, hands tightening into fists around the piece of metal.

The lever was pulled down.

Clouds of blue and white that sparked with electricity appeared before you and Pogo, it swirled to create a large standing oval.

The chimpanzee stepped back with a choked gasp, mutters words that failed to stop your advances.

"I have to try," you said, stepping into the time vortex before you.

It was only seconds before you fell back through.

Pogo jumped to reach your limp figure as it returned sooner than expected. The portal dissipated after you hit the ground, shooting up with a loud gasp for air.

You didn't see Pogo's face when his eyes widened and he hesitated to help you. He watched you sit up, body shaking as you reached for your throat.

Despite the desperate look you gave him as you gasped for breath, you eyes were distant... you looked dazed.

"What did you find, Y/n?"

What did you find?

It was a blur of blue and white, bursts of electricity zapped past your face when you melted into the portal.

It happened so quick, but for a split second, you felt a pull all around you. It was... refreshing. It was as if this... pull was giving you life, making you feel young.

But again, what did you find?

The colors were mixed together: brown, black, red, and orange —there wasn't much you could see. The most you could make out was a broken building..?

You gave Pogo a blank stare, head shaking side to side and shoulders shrugging.

He sighed and helped you to your feet. Beyond your disoriented gaze, his face looked scrunched up. Almost, surprised? Scared?
You couldn't put your finger on it.

"I think you need to see something," he said, standing you up and your full height. 

How long were you gone for?
Did he get taller?
His head reached closer to your shoulders than ever before.

"Look," he said, hands still holding one of yours.
Was he cold? His hands were shaking.
You followed his eyes and he stepped away.

It was you, but younger.
Maybe, around fourteen.

Your previously dyed hair was now its natural color, falling slightly past your shoulders; a haircut Grace always gave you.

Your body was shorter, slimmer and slightly muscular; a stature Reginald took careful steps in creating.

You furrowed your eyebrows as you looked at the background of the picture.

Something was off...

The picture held an expression of the emotions you were feeling all too much.

You stepped back in shock as a wave of realization washed over you.

This wasn't a picture.
This was you.

Your mouth opened and closed multiple times, but no words fell from your lips.

You messed up, again. But, you couldn't fix this, could you? There's no way you can reverse the effects, patch it back to perfection.

You made a mistake, you pressed a wrong button, answered with an incorrect number.
You mixed up time and took back years of your life.

"You failed," Pogo said, "Again"