Professor Pikalus
Moving across what once was a battlefield, I stayed silent. In the dead of night, it was best that I didn't wake anybody, or draw attention.

A week after proposing the plan, we were still working on the building stage. Lots of trial and error went into it, mainly because there wasn't any blueprints into doing this. However, I possibly had the best chance out of everyone who tried it before because not only am I one of the lead scientists and possibly the best, I had something that others did: knowledge of magic.

Most scientists don't know it's real and those who do don't know how to make it mix with our line of work, but I do.

I can save everyone. Scratch that, I will save everyone!

Even if it kills me.

It took a long caffeine filled week and full of sleepless nights, but the Time Machine was so close to being done. Only a couple more things were needed and I was retrieving the last one. My partners in crime were getting the rest.

However, my job was a little more dangerous. You see, I needed a power source for it and chose the Nexus but to properly put it in, I needed an item to help it along as well as stabilize it. Crystals were my best bet, and guess where those were?

Near the Conch Command were I might run into a raging Tide Changer if I was lucky. If not, I could face the wrath of Baby Blooper which is something I would really not like to do.

In my week of trying to save our world, the child was trying to destroy it and admittedly doing a fantastic job of that. Everyday Rasmus tried to find and apprehend the kraken, and he just kept failing. Blooper was off the map. His hit and run strategy was confusing Atlantis.

Cody always defended Atlantis, but now it was my job to do it. For him and the memory he left behind. It was difficult to say the least and always made me wonder how he managed to do it.

Shaking off the memories, the towering blue crystals were now a couple feet away. Sighing, I began to mine some up. Though it might have been a tough material, in the end it was mine.

"Pikalus!" Whipping around, I was met with one of the people I didn't want to see. With a shotgun aimed at my chest, I sighed and figured I'd have to talk my way out of this one. There still was one part that shocked me.

"CannibalCrab? I thought you died!"

The crab rolled his eyes, almost playfully. "You should really check if someone's dead before assuming. And," He cocked the gun, taking steps forward. "That's exactly what I'll do for you. This is all of your faults! Atlantis killed him!" Something flickered in his eyes.

"What? What are you- oh." Soon I realized it. "KrakenKid."

Just at the sound of the name, his claw tightened around the weapon. "Yeah, you know, my boss who YOU KILLED!"

"I didn't kill him!"

"You might as well have! It doesn't matter anyways. The Tide Changers are gone. All of us are either dead like you know who, scattered like me or part of Blooper's gang. It's because of you and your stupid Atlanteans!" A tear rolled down his face, but his aim didn't waver. "I have nothing left! My original cause is gone and so is my best friend. I can't go home! Do you know what it's like to try to go back into an empty home? It's worse than death. Plus everytime I go home I just see-" A sob broke him off. "... His grave." He choked out.

A wave of sympathy passed through me. "Cannibal, I understand. I felt the same when Cody died. I still do. I can barely even look at the palace, much less go into it! Listen-"

"No! You listen! I have nothing left," His gaze hardened. "Which means I have nothing to lose. Which means I will kill you and every Atlantean responsible for this!" The former general screeched the words, which meant I had only seconds before he fired. "WAIT!"

With four words, I stopped him.

"I CAN SAVE KRAKENKID!"

He froze in place, searching my eyes for signs of a lie.

"... What?"

I took in a deep breath. "I can save KrakenKid. I can save everyone, stop this all from happening. You just have to let me live to do it."

CannibalCrab didn't say anything for the longest time, just looking down. Eventually, his voice came out, but was a lot softer than normal. "How?"

"Time Machine." He scoffed at the word, rolling his eyes. "Time Machine? Really? You expect me to believe that?"

I shook my head. "It's true! I just need to get these crystals there and finish it up. It will only take a day or two now." The Tide Changer didn't respond. "Please. Just let me go." Then a better idea came to me. "Or join me." His eyes met mine again, perplexed. I continued the thought. "I mean I already have help from Sam and Tanith but an extra pair of hands would speed it up. All the other scientists are gone or extremely busy. Think about it, we can stop all of this from ever happening!"

"... I don't suppose you'd go back, let us win the war and keep Cody dead?" I stared him down. "Heh. Thought so. Okay fine, you win." He held up his hand. "I'll join you." Grinning, I shook it.

When we arrived at the lab, the two females were surprised by the new member to our group of survivors, but went with it. After all, none of us wanted more death.

After everything that happened, no one was doing very well.

Sam was very helpful, sure, but I worry for her health. She refuses to sleep, always drinking coffee or energy drinks to avoid it in any way possible. I tried to get her to take a rest, but Sam has this death glare that gives me nightmares. I learned to leave her alone quick.

There were often days were Sam didn't talk, only using simple gestures to communicate. I did the next thing I could think of and had Tanith go and try to talk to her. Though I didn't hear it, Sam just had to whisper one sentence into her ear and she backed off. Tanith still hasn't told me what Sam said, but gets all misty eyed when I bring it up. Sam lost herself in her work. The mermaid wasn't joking anymore, a smile was a rare sight to see.
Hopefully, we can fix this soon.

Speaking of the hybrid snake, she was doing a tiny bit better than the mermaid.

Tanith worked until she dropped and would take naps, but kept having nightmares when she did. Eventually, she joined Sam and just avoided sleep all together. At least she was still eating. That was something Sam kept avoiding or forgetting to do. The only way I got her to eat was when I associated it with her sister, even then it was difficult.

Also, often during work Tanith would suddenly blank out. Sometimes ending just by snapping out of it, others in tears. Neither Sam nor Tanith had gone home in weeks since we started building our Time Machine. They could have easily, but Tanith kept making excuses and Sam just outright refused.

CannibalCrab? He was alright for the most part. Sure, he avoided sleeping as much as possible but still did it once necessary. Plus, he was still eating crab, so that was good.

If we weren't so close to finishing, I'd be pretty concerned over whether he'd last the week.

"Great! The crystals are filed down and fitting in. Now I just need to power it up with the Nexus and save everyone! Piece of cake!"

The Time Machine was large, having metal all around, as well as tubes and wires. There was an area inside of it with a button and sealed with a bulletproof glass door. There was one tube hooking up to it, around three feet by three feet where I would place the small sample of power from the Nexus.

Putting it in, I began to set it up. The others all stuck around, waiting.

"So, if this works correctly, it'll suck every bit of power needed from the energy source which might take a few minutes, then we go inside, press the button and our bodies will disappear from in here and into the past! Hopefully..."

Each of them raised an eyebrow at the last word, but kept their mouths shut.

A sudden beeping and a red flash made my heart sink. "Oh no..." The rest all gathered around. "What?"

"It's the Nexus! It's not compatible."

"Not compatible? What do you mean?"

"The Nexus is a pretty destructive source. Sure it does good things like let us live and speak the same language here in Atlantis, but it's also used for weaponry. There's a reason why Cody's Spear is special and that's because the Nexus is powerful. When we get sent back in time, some of that power will come with us into the Timeline! It could rip time into pieces with that sort of power."

Everyone stayed silent, until Tanith brought up an idea. "What about me?" I gave her a strange look. "My energy is based around healing and helping, basically it's good energy. Releasing that into the Timeline actually might help it!"

"Hmm..." I pondered. "That would work but... It's really dangerous using a living thing as a source. The effects it could have on you could be devastating, plus-"

"Professor," Tanith put her hands on my shoulders and smiled warmly. "It'll be fine."

I thought for a moment, but gave in. "Fine, let me get you all set up."

Thirty minutes later, Tanith was in the tube with a couple wires attached. Letting it check through, sure enough, it was compatible. Huffing, I called out to her. "Okay! I'm going to boot it up so it's going to start in a second. Are you ready?"

She nodded and I started it up.

Rumbling started to sound from outside. Each of us glanced around before facing the entrance. "I'm going to check that." Sam sped over to the door and began to open it.

But then an explosion caused the door and several other things to go flying. The door was now gone, now rumble.

The mermaid's body flew across the room, hit a wall and flopped onto the floor, now lifeless. The three of us, now the only remaining started in horror at her and slowly inched to where the door once was. Entering was none other than Baby Blooper and some others, mainly Illithids.

"Pikalus." CannibalCrab said in a low voice. "Keep going no matter what you do. I've got this... Blooper! What are you doing here?" The former general approached the child, causing his yellow eyes to lock onto him.

Seconds later, Tanith flinched but forced herself to relax, The extraction of her energy had started. Hopefully, Cannibal could hold them long enough.

"CannibalCrab? Where have you been? Why are you here with them? With him?" Blooper directed his hate towards me.

"I've been... Around. I'm here because I don't really have anywhere else to go."

The yellow eyes narrowed. "Nowhere else to go? I thought I offered you a place with us! Join us now! Atlantis killed my father, so they will pay!"

The crab hesitated, but shook his head. "I can't do that. Blooper, you've gone insane with revenge! KrakenKid wouldn't have wanted you to do this! Remember what we were fighting for? Atlantis needs to be fixed! They need a new ruler!"

"Atlantis is far past broken!" The smaller kraken argued, pulling out a purple sword. "And if you don't agree, then you're a traitor! I have to treat all traitors the same Cannibal! No mercy." His eyes turned to slits.

CannibalCrab took out his own sword. "I wouldn't expect it any other way."

Both rushed forward and the clang of swords met.

As they fought, I looked away to see the progress of the Time Machine. It was at 78% and rising quickly, but at a cost I noticed only seconds later. "Tanith!"

The half human was slouched against the glass, eyes flickering. "Tanith! I have to shut this down. It's killing you!" But her head shook.

"No... Keep going."

"But-"

With what strength she had, her fist slammed against the glass, blue eyes deadly. "I said no! Listen Pikalus and listen closely. This machine needs power and I'm giving it that. Yes, I'll die but that doesn't matter anymore because once you go back, I won't be dead anymore. Just let this suck all of it out. Let me disappear."

I pondered her words for a moment. It was too well thought out for it to be something she just came up with. It made way too much sense.

"You knew." I whispered. "You knew this would work, and you knew it would kill you."

Tanith chuckled lightly. "Guilty."

I took a glance at how CannibalCrab was doing.

It was no longer one on one, but rather Blooper's entire squad vs. Cannibal. However, Cannibal was doing pretty good. He had taken out a third of the group, but everyone could see clearly he wasn't going to last. Too many bleeding injuries littered his body. If someone didn't kill him soon, he at least run out of blood.

Shaking my head, I returned to the hybrid, only to see her body fading away. Now I was able to see through her body. She wasn't going to last long.

"Professor! Save them all! Save Cody! Save KK! Just save th-"

Her words didn't finish. In one second, her body became pure energy, only to be absorbed by the Time Machine. Paralyzed, only the sound of a good beep broke me out of it. Bolting to the inside of the machine, the button was now lit up. I could leave. Smashing it, I closed the see through door just in time to see CannibalCrab sink to the ground. Too much blood escaped him. He was gone.

Blooper locked eyes with me, but I felt myself get teleported and everything just drained away...

Gasping, I bolted upright, the marble below me was freezing. Blinking, I processed it all.

Atlantis. I was nearby the palace. Just around the corner were the gates. It was in perfect condition. No panic anywhere. It must have worked. My mind scrambled, I still could remember why I was here. Almost as if it were planned, the past me made their way to the gates.

My eyes narrowed and I grabbed his shoulder, pulling him towards me.

"Whoa! What are you- wait... What?" The other me squinted at my form. "Are you real or am I still dreaming?"

I sighed. "I'm you. From the future. Listen to me carefully, you cannot let Cody go down to the market under any circumstances." I felt my body weaken as the words left my mouth.

"What? Why?"

"Trust me, it doesn't go well. He dies and starts the whole string of bad events. The point is, do NOT let him go there. Promise me!"

The fellow professor held his hands up in defense. "Fine, fine! I promise."

"Good... Thank you."

My body began to fall apart.

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Right in front of my eyes, the future me's body turned to dust. Flinching, I stood there for a second, but hesitantly moved forward and to the palace. The thoughts of watching myself die still on my mind.

As I reached the palace, the penguin crossed my path. "Oh hey Professor! Whatcha doing?"

"Cody," I said carefully. "I-I need your help with something down in the library." Cody gave me an odd stare. "What?"

"Just- please come with me."

Cody didn't make any response but finally shrugged. "Okay fine." Breathing a breath of relief, I led him down to the library.

A feeling that I just saved millions of lives passed through me. For a second, I thought I saw people smiling at me, but after I rubbed my eyes, they were gone.

Just a trick of the light probably.

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REALLY LATE CHRISTMAS UPDATE BUT HERE IT IS!

Hopefully the last part of the Christmas theme I have will go up soon? I have no idea... Sorry, I'm insanely tired.

I hope you like this chapter! Be sure to comment and tell me how I did on it! I know I kinda missed it but MERRY CHIRSTMAS!

Farewell from a very sleep deprived,

--JustAnAltantisWriter