Fragments Gallery
Time Shift
Watchfully I lurked in the shadows near the busy street corner, they would be coming soon; I was sure of it. Every face that passed that corner met my scrutiny but none of them bore the features I sought. Where were they? Had I come to the wrong place?
No… there they were. My gaze sharpened on them as they came around the corner. They didn't stand out of the crowd; they seemed ordinary in every sense of the word. To all appearances they were just another couple out on this Friday night. Him in his black suit with white shirt and red tie and her in her white summer dress adorned with pink flowers. They were an average couple. Why they had been targeted I had never understood.
My gaze flitted around, hunting for the man whom I also knew to be here. And there he was, the man who had murdered that couple and tore their family apart. He looked exactly as he had in the old archive footage of the trial that I had seen which makes sense since he had been captured by authorities the day of the murder and then tried shortly thereafter. He stepped clear of a bar down the street, pulled on his faded ball cap, locked his gaze on the couple and walked purposefully towards them.
I'd seen enough. I'd come here to stop him so stop him I would. Amber flashed in my eyes, blinding me as I stepped forwards. A hand appeared on my shoulder, holding me back as I tried to continue forwards. I shrugged to displace it but it held on, only tightening its grip. Already knowing who I would see I turned to confront him.
Archangel stood behind me in all of his radiant glory.
"I have to stop you from doing this," he said airily.
"You have to stop me from saving my friend's parents?"
"No, I have to stop you from changing the past. You know that, just as you know why somebody must stand where I stand. Make this easier on both of us and quit this fool’s errand."
I sighed. He was such a stuck up and self-righteous… person.
"Their deaths shape the future," he continued on, "Both his and our futures are shaped around what, or who, he grows to be."
"But he dies,” I retorted, “I’m here to save him. His current path will get him killed but if I do this, if I save his parents, he will live. He will never become the man that their deaths inspire him to be."
"Not necessarily brother. He may just die elsewhere. If you change this he will not become the hero he is meant to become," Archangel gave me a grieving look, he had lost a friend as well, "All the good he has done in our timeline he may not do in this new reality you seek to create. We don't know who he would become. You know him as well as I and I know he would not want this. He would never want to be coddled."
"Maybe, when I do this, he could grow to be someone better. Maybe someone else will step in and take his place. I must do this, I must save him."
"I will stop you," he stated, "Although it will grieve me to do so."
Meanwhile the man continued to approach his unsuspecting victims. In the past, or this present, he made his move here in the middle of the street; there was no sense to be found in his actions. I only had a few seconds in which I could still act before it grew to be too late.
"Fine, we will fight," I lied, "But I will win."
"All who stand in your place have said that, all have failed."
"They weren't me," I retorted.
As Archangel began to raise a shield around us, one that would protect the public from us and keep our struggle unnoticed, I flicked my wrist and sent a knife flying from it. It struck the would-be killer and he crumpled to the ground. Someone beside him screamed and chaos erupted as the crowd tried to escape the area. The couple, after a brief look back, continued on their way. They were completely unknowing of how close they had come to death.
Archangel, caught up in his summoning of the shield as he was, didn't notice a thing. As always he believed I would be straightforward and honest in my actions. He would likely win this fight, but I had already accomplished my goals.