Chapter 4- Doomed (Timelines Part 1)

Professor Pikalus
Strolling up the marble stairs, the palace became bigger by the second. It wasn't long before I reached the entrance. As I did, an approaching figure stopped in their tracks and smiled.

"Oh hey Professor! Whatcha doing here?" The penguin questioned, tilting his head a bit. I just shrugged in response. "Going to the library. I need a book on a couple of things. You?"

"I was just heading to the market. We ran out of eggs so I figured might as well get them. See you around." I nodded as Cody passed me and we went our separate ways.

I would have no idea that after that moment, so many things would go wrong.


Around an hour later, I finally checked out the ones I wanted and headed for the throne room. Going up the stairs, I picked out a group of voices, all talking about a threat in rising tones. Peeking out, the council was all assembled together, Rasmus leading the conversation. The only person I couldn't find was PebbleTeen, something I would soon find out why.

"-of a threat to ignore! We must act and we must act soon! Lives are at stake! His life is at stake! Get everyone! All the generals, any scientists, all medics, I don't care! Get everyone down there and stop that mad woman!"

As many scattered to do as he said, I emerged from my hiding spot. Rasmus noticed me immediately. "Pikalus. Good thing you're here, we have a situation on our hands."

"So I heard. What's going on? Why are you calling everybody?" The rooster sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly.

"We have a shooter down at the market. Normally, it wouldn't be enough to summon the whole council as well as everyone else but-"

A horrifying realization came to my mind.
"-But Cody's down there..."




The whole area was not only barricaded with various things such as boxes, chairs and even wagons, but surrounded by guards. The amount there was shocking. Medics were there too, so of course the hybrid herself was included. She paced around, but immediately rushed at the sight of me, searching my face for answers.

"You wouldn't happen to know what the plan is would you?" My head shook. Tanith huffed. "Figured..." She opened her mouth to say more,  but then paused, staring at something from behind and bolting towards it. Whipping around, Rasmus was moving as fast as he could.

"Rasmus! What is-"
"Where is he? Where's my Nephew?"

He cut her off. Gulping, Tanith led him to the barricades and peered in. "See for yourself."

When the councilor peered in, I did the same.

There was a whole crowd of people in the middle, in the middle a black device with a green flickering number. One woman holding gun circled them, glancing around and always checking behind her. Among the many was a certain black and white figure whose eyes never left her.

"CSI was able to identify her. She's called Amelia Site. Works at the laboratory in the chemical department. We have no idea why she's doing this but it might have something to do with her Schizophrenia."

I blinked in surprise. "Schizophrenia?" The half snake nodded.

"Yes. Amelia has had it for a very long time but was receiving treatment for it. All of her doctors say that she was doing pretty well and that she has a very low account of it. Amelia was brilliant so she never let her mental state get in the way of her dreams. That is, until a couple days ago. Her therapist said the voices in her head started to worsen and that she stopped coming all together. They were going to get her when all this happened. We're worried for her and what she'll do."

As I took it all in, my phone buzzed. My heart stopped at the person. "It's Cody!" People gather around to see it.

Cody: A little help here!
Me: Don't worry! We'll get you out of there! Coming up with a plan now!
Cody: Any idea on the motive?
Me: Amelia has Schizophrenia. Might not be in the right mind or have full control of her actions

There was a long pause before he texted back.

Cody: I'm going to talk to her then. I'll be a distraction while you find a way to get rid of that bomb and calm her down
Me: CODY NO WAIT

Though I sent it, it went unnoticed. Then, a familiar voice came from beyond the barricades. "You don't have to do this! Amelia, you have so much potential, don't throw it away by blowing up the market."

"No, no, no! What is he doing?" Rasmus hissed. "I'm going to gather the troops."

As he strolled away, Tanith and I peeked in to watch Cody. Now standing, the penguin started to walk towards the female. Holding the pistol out, her hand shook as she aimed. "D-don't come closer!"

He stopped, but continued to speak. "Amelia, don't do this..."

The women shook her head. "You don't understand, I can't stop it. Th- the voices won't stop whispering! T-the things they tell me! Always murder always bloodshed... IT DOESN'T STOP!" They clutched their head tightly. "THERAPY DOESN'T MAKE IT STOP! NOTHING DOES!"

Cody stepped forward. "We can get help for you! I'm the king, I'll see to it personally! Just don't do this."

For a second, her gun lowered and Cody made his way towards her. "... Nothing can help me now." Her voice became low but her gun aimed higher up, right at Cody's chest. My heart began to beat out of my chest.

"I'm sorry, I can't handle this anymore."

A shot rang out and the world slowed.

I watched as a red blossomed on the King of Atlantis's chest. His body met the ground with a thud, and that's when the world sped back up.

Screaming, I scrambled closer to the king, the war medic by my side. As I neared, a cylinder with a button on it in Amelia's hand was pressed. A force field formed over me, protecting me from the blast but not the civilians near it.

The world was engulfed in a bright white light.






Five days later, I found myself visiting the graveyard. Trying to go back to work was next to impossible. I couldn't focus. Lucky for me, Jerold understood and let me be. Even though I had the week off, everyday I tried to come in and do what I could.
Everyday I failed.

The explosion killed all of the hostages, Amelia and injured a couple guards. I would be among the dead if not for the hybrid's magic.

Speaking of her and just others in general, no one was taking the penguins death well. We all lost more than just Cody that day. I lost my motivation, Tanith lost her positivity and Rasmus lost his reason. Rasmus also had to take the throne and he was upping security. The man was losing his mind. We all were.

At his funeral, both of the Sneaky Sisters were there. Though they tried to make others smile any way they could by telling good stories about Cody, I could see past their mask. They were devastated as much as us.

On the topic of funeral, Cody was buried in the royal graveyard which basically was a giant and amazing looking building that looked like it could be part of the palace. At the very top was his coffin.

Getting up there took a while, mainly because my legs refused to move any faster than a turtle on land. Reaching the top, I found I wasn't the first with the idea of visiting him.

"Tanith?"

Glancing back, she nodded. "Hey." She said softly. Tanith sat a little ways away from the coffin, just staring at it blankly.

"Want to sit with me? I think maybe it's best that we aren't alone when we visit him."

I took up her offer and sat down besides her. "How many times have you been here since the funeral?"

"8 or 9. You?"
"11. I win."

She stifled a laugh but sadness never left. I could see it in her blue eyes. "You holding up?" I asked.

"Me? What about you? After all, you knew him longer than I did."

"I asked first."

Silence joined us for a while until the hybrid finally spoke. "Not very well. It's been a long time since this has happened to me so I'm still in shock."

"This has happened before?"

"Sorry, I phrased that weirdly. I mean, in war I was never around long enough after it ended so I didn't bond very much with people. That was on purpose too, I didn't want to make friends with people who I could lose easily, which was hard. I have quite the habit of getting attached. However, I knew that because of this, I'd get affected by it so I did my best not to. 'Course, there was always somebody who became an exception. Sometimes they'd live, other times... This would happen."

Her head shook. "I didn't think that I'd loose Cody or anyone in Atlantis so I let my guard down... How wrong I was. Anyways," She broke off and turned to me. "Your turn."

"Well... It's been unbearable. I knew Cody more than he remembers. When Cody came back to Atlantis, he didn't remember any of his past. Cody actually helped make the lab with me and helped with my little rage issue. Without him... I'd be in a worse state. When he came back, I was ecstatic to say the least, but then he didn't remember me... I thought when I gave him back his weapon that something would spark in his mind again. That we'd go back to the way things were but then it didn't happen. It never happened. Cody was practically my best friend and now..." I sniffed, tears threatened to spill from my eyes. "There were so many things I wanted to do with him. I wanted to ascend to the overworld, to build more on Atlantis, to improve it all, to impress him more...Now," Somehow I chuckled. "All I want is to talk to him one more time."

Arms wrapped around my waist and I was pulled into Tanith's embrace. Tears stung my eyes but I shut them tightly and hugged back. I never wanted to let go, but then the sound of two different ring tones went off.

Checking our phones, my eyes widened.

"I just go a text from PebbleTeen saying-"
"-We're being attacked? I got the same one."



Our worst nightmare had come true. Due to the absence of Cody, the Tide Changers saw it as a way to invade and now were taking their armies and dominating. They already reached the factory where guards were cloned. Our armies were depleting without it making Rasmus pull his final card out: drafting.

Anyone who could fight was drafted into the war with some exceptions. At the edges of the heart of Atlantis, two opposite sides faced off.

I stood next to the twin mermaids, getting ready to Hulk up when the battle started.

"So even you two got drafted?" I glanced over. They nodded at the same time.

"Yep. Technically, we are Atlanteans." Then Selena shrugged. "At least we're good fighters. Half of these people look like if one Tide Changer says "Boo!" They'll die of a heart attack!"

I laughed, but stopped and turned more serious. "Hey so in the fight, I'm going full hulk mode. Honestly, I'm a little worried about losing myself badly because of my mental state so I made these for you." I handed them each a dart. "Stick this in me and I'll go take a nap for a while. Only use it if I go rogue, got it?"

The sisters nodded and we all faced PebbleTeen as she flew by saying we would attack soon. Moments passed as she gave the count down, screeching it loud enough for all of the troops to hear.

"3!"
I thought about Cody dying.

"2!"
I remembered how I felt when I saw him die in front of my own eyes. How seeing the red on his chest killed me inside

"1!"
Those feelings of rage of how he didn't deserve it boiled up, spilling over and pulsing through me.

"CHARGE!"
And I let it all go.



A little over a day had passed and I was still in a hospital bed. I wasn't in the worse state, not even close in fact, but Tanith, or should I say "Dr. Kennedy" deemed I wasn't allowed to move yet after all the damage I took.

Like expected, I went rogue and smashed everything in my path, sometimes people from our side would get hurt. However, I hesitated at just the right moment for Selena to stick the dart in me. I was out for five hours but immediately jumped back in when I came to. I didn't go hulk mode again, but my gun, Surgical Precision was the way I fought.

By the end of it, injuries from it all earned me where I was now. But we won.

As the white walls became sickening, the half snake walked in, a tiny smile forming on her face.

"How are you doing?" I shrugged in response. "Figured it was that way. This wasn't exactly something you walk away from easily. Let me."

On the other side of the bed, she stood and extended her hands to my chest and soon, a golden healing stream exited the tips and flowed around my form. A soothing wave overcame me, scrapes and bruises faded away and I wanted to just melt into the dream because in that moment, I wasn't in any type of pain.However, a thought formed in my mind and since she was here, I had to ask.

"How are you dealing with his death?"

Suddenly, the stream stopped and golden sparks replaced it. It was like she was trying to force it out but the magic wasn't coming. The white hands shook. When I looked to her face for answers, she refused to meet my eyes, tears brimming at the ends of her blue orbs.

"P-Professor... It's hard to heal people in this state so I'd rather not right now..." Her voice mirrored her hand's actions.

"Haven't you been healing people all day? That means not only you've been physically exhausted, but emotional too. You've had to keep your feelings in this whole time. I'll be fine! Just let it out."

At those words, tears poured down her face, sobs breaking out. Tanith struggled to grab a chair but managed to pull it up to the bed. Plopping down, she covered her face and just kept crying for a while there.

I let her, repeating the words, "Its okay. Just let it out." Over and over again. Eventually, she began to slow down. From exhaustion or the fact that she got it out, it was hard to tell.

"You really cared about him didn't you?" She nodded. "Y-yeah. A lot actually."

"First Cody and now him... I'm so sorry."

At the mention of Cody, more tears came but she had used too many today. Her tear ducts were drying.

"I-I saw his body. Stabbed right through the gut. Everyone retreated after that so... I guess we win but... If this was the way to win then I didn't want to win at all. Not if it meant so many losses. Not if it meant I'd loose my heart again... Why did I have to get attached?" She sniffed.

"I could have avoided it. It would have been so easily to avoid it all. I could have just not gone to the crystals, or spilled all my feelings when I did. I could have not taken up the offer to see his house or even just stopped myself. But I couldn't. He interested me. He made me smile. He made get attached again... I know I shouldn't make friends on both sides because odds are, it'll end badly but you know what the crazy part is?" She showed her face again and locked eyes with me.

"I don't regret it. Any of it because the reason I feel pain is because I felt joy."

I soaked that all in, blinking. "I didn't know you two were that close."

She laughed. "I cared about him. KK was everything to me."

We both paused for a long moment before I remembered other people.

"How are Selena and Sam? I never got to see them after the battle because you rushed me here." Her face went pale. I squinted at her. "What?"

"Oh no... You never found out did you?"

"Found out what?"

Tanith cleared her throat. "Well, physically, Sam will live. Her arm was broken but I sped that up a bit. However, that wasn't the only thing that broke on the battlefield... Professor..." Tanith sighed, another tear falling from her cheek.

"Selena is dead."

I sat up, pain shooting through me but I didn't care. "WHAT?"

The hybrid confirmed it. "Shot through the head. Reports say she hesitated on the killing blow on an Illithids and... You can guess what happened. Sam just might be more damaged than I am right now."

"... How is she?"

"I wish I could say stable. She cried for a while and I did my best to help but I barely know her. Sam cut herself off from everyone. She's helping with damage control."

"Shouldn't she be resting?"

"Believe me, I tried. But she begged me to give her a distraction so I had to comply because, well, I'd be pretty hypocritical of me to stop her from working just so she could think about what happened and deal with her problems. Sam's a little emotionless right now and it's kinda scaring me. I hope she'll be alright."

The door opened and a male nurse poked his head through the door. "Doctor? We need you to come to room 413 as soon as you're done."

"Got it. Be there soon, I'm almost done here." Nodding, they left. The female sighed.

"Well, duty calls. This really helped Pikalus. Thank you." I grinned. "No problem. I figured since you're the one starting all the 'Feels Jams' as you call it, that I'd give it a shot. Can I leave this room now?"

Hastily checking my vitals again, they agreed. "Fine but no running! Easy on the legs okay? When you get to the front desk, sign out and get some fresh air. Take a pair of crutches too! If your legs start to act up, use them. If you're feeling more pain than normal, do yourself a favor and come back, doctor's orders! We'll talk later." I nodded and she rushed out of the room.

I did what she said and after another nurse gave a final inspection, I was free to go. The day was ending so I figured that going home and sleeping was probably the best thing to do at this point.

When I woke up, not all was well.

One of the newspaper boys gave me today's paper and the top story shocked me.

'KrakenKid's son, Baby Blooper, is out for revenge!'

Skimming down, I began to read the article.

After KrakenKid died last night, we all thought that the Tide Changers were disbanded but last night, this was not the case. Baby Blooper, the kraken's only heir, has taken over and is now ruthlessly attacking us with bomb attacks in Sector One! What does this mean for us? Why has this string of terrible events keep happening?

Though my heart palpitated, I paused.

Wait a second... I thought to myself. Why do all of these events keep happening?

Then something I read a long time ago came back to me. Stuffing it in my pocket, I bolted to the one place with answers.


Sitting at the table with several books laid out and the article, I tapped on the wood even faster than before, making the people nearby shush me. I forced myself to stop, but then started to tap my foot. Before it could annoy everyone again, the two hybrid females walked it.

"Psst! Over here!" I got up and waved to them, getting their attention.

"Okay Professor Pikalus, what's this about? Why are we in the library?" Sam inquired. Tanith nodded along.

"Well I might have figured out a way to solve all of our problems."

"Really?" Sam glared. "Can you magically bring everyone back to life? Make this all never happen?"

A grin edged on my face. "Actually, if this works out, yes but it wouldn't be magical. Very scientific actually."

I watched as the two females eyes widened. "WHAT? HOW?" They screeched getting more people to shush them.

"Okay, this is going to be confusing but-"

"Just tell me how to get my sister back."

I gulped and nodded. "Straight to the point then. We're in a doomed timeline."

They both gave me strange looks. "A what now?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Doomed timeline... Isn't that theoretical?" Tanith asked.

"Technically yes but in this case, it could be very real."

"That would explain everything!"

"My thoughts exactly which is why-"

"Hey! Nerds! I'm pretty lost here!" Sam cut it getting us to stop.

"Sorry Sam, let me explain. So time is a extremely delicate thing and confusing as well. There's a lot of theories about how it works and even more importantly, what would happen if you built a time machine and went back in time. One theory suggests doomed timelines exist. You see, there is one main timeline that requires things to happen in a certain way. If something happens too soon, it goes off the main one and becomes doomed to fail. Murphy's law, everything that can go wrong, will go wrong literally applies to this. Think of it as driving. To get to where you need to go, you stay on the main road but make a wrong turn and you'll be lost unless you use something to get you back on track, like a map."

Sam nodded along. "So we need our own personal map to get us back to the main timeline... Okay, okay but what happens if you stay off the main road for too long?"

"Well, since its doomed, it will start to fall apart. Basically, eventually-"

"-Everyone will die." The half snake finished gravely. I nodded.

"That's why this is happening." I showed them the paper. Taking it, the pair quickly read through it. "I think when Cody died, it wasn't supposed to happen so it caused a chain reaction and soon KrakenKid, Selena and countless others fell victim next. This will keep happening unless we go fix it. This doomed timeline will keep happening."

"So, we're in a doomed timeline and need to make sure we get back on the main one... How do we do that? What's our map?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, I still need to figure out how do to it because it's not really-"

"Spit it out."

"We need to build a Time Machine."
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Part one of Timelines? More like part one of EXTREME FEELS
Holy crap man... What have I done?

Okay, part three of Christmas Theme will be coming and it will be Feels Free (Hopefully) but I was really in the mood to write this so I did! Enjoy it!

So, part two of this will become who knows when, probably soon so sit tight.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this emotional roller coaster of a chapter! Be sure to comment and tell me how I did! See you soon!

--JustAnAtlantisWriter

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Crap I stayed up really late writing this...

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