𝚃𝚘: 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙴𝚁𝚂
𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖: 𝙿𝟻𝟷𝟹𝟾𝟸𝟻𝙷
𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝟶𝟿𝟸𝟺𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟷

𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚁𝚃𝚈-𝚂𝙴𝚅𝙴𝙽: 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝚂𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙲𝙷𝙱𝙾𝙰𝚁𝙳

━━━━━━

Diego sneaked out from the orientation he was supposed to be and looked for the Infinite Switchboard. He found the room and entered it without anyone noticing. He looked around and found multiple small screens, buttons, cords, and switches. "Bingo, the Infinite Switchboard."

He sat down in one chair and looked around. "Alright." He breathed as he popped his knuckles. "How hard can this be?"

Diego turned to his left and grabbed a cord, inserting it into a random hole. He plugged another one until the last one zapped him causing him to shout in pain. Although he didn't know what to do, the Infinite Switchboard activated.

He winced in pain until he felt a hand on his shoulder causing him to quickly turn around and threatened the person with his knife. Herb yelled in fear. "Oh! Please don't hurt me."

"Who the hell are you?" Diego asked.

"I'm Herb. I'm an analyst."

"I'm Diego. I have a knife."

Herb's breathing trembled. "Yes, I can see." He gulped as he looked down at the sharp knife. "It's very shiny."

Diego stared at him for a while before pulling his knife away from the man. Herb inhaled sharply and sighed in relief. Diego nodded at him. "Breathe."

Herb grinned. "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Hargreeves."

"You know me?"

"Everybody knows you. I mean, you're Number Two. You're a legend!"

Diego held his head high proudly and slightly smirked. "Really?"

"Mr. Hargreeves, you can't be here."

"Herb, is that any way to talk to a legend?"

Herb shut his mouth close and shook his head. Diego glanced at the Infinite Switchboard. "You know how to work this puppy?" Herb nodded. "I'm certified to operate the ISB, yes."

"Good. I need you to look up the date: November 22, 1963, the assassination of John F. Kennedy."

Herb immediately shook his head. "Unauthorized use of the Infinite Switchboard is a clear violation of company protocol 67D—"

Diego shook his head. "Don't be such a tight-ass."

Herb huffed. "You don't understand." He replied. "There's been a coup ďétat."

"What's that? Cadillac?"

"No." Herb stared at Diego in disbelief before sighing. "The Handler has taken over the Commission. The whole place has gone to heck in a handbasket, and people are disappearing. She even got Red and controlled her—"

"Wait, Red?" Diego asked. "You mean, (Y/n)?"

Herb nodded. "Ms. Red was brought into a lab and the Handler ordered the employees to make a chip so she'll be able to control her."

Diego's eyes widened in realization as he stared at the ground. "So she was brought here. She wasn't a traitor nor did she betrayed... Five." He whispered.

"They would kill us both if they caught us in here."

Diego looked back at Herb. "Well, you better get started before they come to get us."

Herb stared at him for a while and hesitated until nodding. "One quick look, and then you gotta go."

"My man," Diego smirked before moving to the side so Herb could do his work. Herb stared at what Diego has done. "Oh, no. Why would you... No, no. Bad." Herb started removing the cords that Diego have plugged in. "Don't hurt the timeline. That's a rule... that I intend to follow."

After Herb fixed the cords and turned some knobs, the small screen finally showed what Diego wanted to see. "Dallas. November 22, 1963."

"This is it," Diego whispered. "This is right before the assassination."

"Assassination?" Herb asked.

"Pay attention. The president is about to turn into Dealey Plaza. One more turn into Elm and they're gonna start shooting." Diego paused when a building just a few meters away from the president's car suddenly exploded. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the hell is that?"

"That's the FBI building."

"Yeah, but why the hell did it just blow up?"

"That's not supposed to happen?"

"No, that's not sup—" Diego watched the president still alive. "He's driving away. They didn't kill him? Holy shit."

Herb softly gasped. "Oh... oy, that's no bueno."

Diego narrowed his eyes. "It wasn't a gunshot, it was an explosion we heard on the Frankel footage." Diego and Herb watched as news reports started playing and multiple pictures and videos of nukes and soldiers started showing up. "That's what Hazel was trying to tell us."

"Hazel?" Herb questioned.

"I mean, this is what causes doomsday. Do you have another angle on the FBI building?"

Herb nodded. "Watch this." Herb started turning knobs and flicking switches. "And..."

The small screen showed a woman coming out of the exploded building with her chest glowing. Diego leaned in closer to recognize who the woman was. His eyes widened when the woman was revealed to be Vanya and transformed her clothes into the white suit she previously wore back in 2019. "Vanya."

Herb's mouth hung open while Diego sat back in his chair in shock.

"Vanya is the bomb."

"Vanya is the bomb," Diego muttered. "She will always be the bomb." He looked on the ground. "I need to get back to Dallas. Now."

Herb turned to Diego and stood just beside him. "We need La Résistance."

°•○●○•°

Five was intensely glaring at his older safe who was just in front of him. Luther was between them, grinning awkwardly. "Well... this is nice, isn't it? The three of us, together like this."

"No." The two Fives replied. Luther's smile dropped while the Older Five started to talk. "Somebody explain to me how it is I'm having a pint of Guinness with my younger self."

"Older, actually." Five replied. "I'm you, just 14 days older."

"I have pubic hair smarter than you. How's that possible?"

"I can explain. You see, one hour from now, on the grassy knoll, before the president is killed, you break your contract with the Commission." Five explained. "I already know you're thinking about it. All those years in the apocalypse, we never stopped worrying about our family."

Luther's eyes widened as Five continued his talk. "Well, today, you are going to do something about it. Today, you are going to attempt to time travel forward to 2019. However, you are going to screw up the jump and end up in this twip of a body." Five aimed his thumbs to himself. "Trapped forever, small, pubescent. He threatened.

"Okay." Older Five looked down and muttered as he silently farted. "Even if I was to believe you, what am I supposed to do about it, not jump?"

"No, no. I need you to jump." Five showed his finger at his older-looking self. "If you don't jump, I cease to exist. What I need from you is to jump correctly."

"I'm listening."

"The first time through, I got the calculation wrong. That's how I ended up in this body. But now, I know the correct calculation."

Older Five narrowed his eyes in eagerness. "What is it?"

Five smiled. "I'll be glad to tell you in exchange for that briefcase you're holding under the table."

The older-looking Five slightly closed his legs to secure the briefcase while Luther nodded. "Yeah, yeah, so you go back to 2019, as planned, but this time with the right math, so you remain a full-grown man. In exchange, we get that briefcase that you no longer need."

Luther glanced at Five and leaned in towards him. "Although, if I'm being honest, I think (Y/n) would prefer this twip of a body of yours—"

Five immediately kicked Luther's leg and gave him a glance of death. Luther slightly winced while the Older Five cocked an eyebrow. "(Y/n)?"

Five shook his head. "That's not your woman to trouble for now because she's mine to prioritize." He glared at his older self. "Timeline restored, paradox resolved. Everyone goes on existing happily ever after."

The Older Five took a deep breath. "That's quite a bit to take in."

"What do you think?"

Older Five slowly nodded as Luther and Five waited for his answer. "I think... I need to piss."

Five furrowed his eyebrows as he watched his older-looking self bring his two briefcases and went to the restroom. The boy eyes the older-looking man suspiciously.

Luther noticed his brother was sweating so he grabbed a tissue and wiped the sweat off from Five's forehead. "Well, besides the flop sweat, I think that went pretty well, am I right?"

Five shook his head, setting Luther's hand down. "No, no, there's something... something doesn't feel right about this."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't trust him."

Luther stared at Five and blinked in confusion. "But he's you."

Five glanced at his brother, nodding. "Exactly."

Luther decided to follow Old Five while Five stayed for a while, looking down at the table. Five grabbed his glass and stared down at his drink. 'Where could you be?' He thought to himself as he tried to know where you are.

"Because knowing someone you love has someone else in their heart is pretty hard."

He remembered your words.

"Sounds like you know so much about it."

"Because I do know how it feels like. And that's another reason why I don't want to love again."

Soon, Older Five and Luther came out of the bathroom causing Five to look up from his drink instantly and stood up. "We good?"

Luther nodded. "We're good."

Older Five shakily took a deep breath. "You got a deal. We gotta hurry. Kennedy's en route. Less than an hour until showtime."

Five looked suspiciously about his older-looking self. "Why are you so anxious to get going all of a sudden?"

"Relax. You're getting paranoid."

Five scoffed. "Oh, am I?"

The two Fives started scratching themselves for a bit and then farting almost in unison. Luther cleared his throat. "Okay, let's roll," Luther announced before walking out of the pub first while the older Five followed. Five stared at the two before walking out of the place too.

-•-°-•-°-☆

Chapters will be released every Monday and Friday at 6 PM (Philippine Time).