CHAPTER THIRTEEN ⎯ BACK ON TRACK.

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I woke up to a sound

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I woke up to a sound. It was around 9 AM at the moment. The sunlight was blooming outside, glimmering through the window and resting on the face. I had a warm blanket laid over me (and I did not use it the night before)

On the floor, I saw Luther, sleeping. He was snoring very loudly. At first, I thought it was the snoring that woke me up, but I soon realized it was coming from the kitchen. 

I sighed, finally getting out of my warm state. I rolled out and walked to the kitchen. 

There stood Five. But he was chugging down water. 

Weird, right?

I watched him gulp down water before he stopped when he saw me looking weirdly at him. "Five, what. . . You okay?" I asked. Five smiled at me awkwardly. "Uh Yeah." He replied before starting to slurp down the water yet again. After he finished, he put the cup in the refrigerator and let out a heavy sigh. 

"I'm gonna need to be hydrated." He said. "Hydrated?" I asked confusedly. Ignoring my question, he walked over to a table. On the table was baby powder. He picked it up and started to dust it down his shirt. 

"What's with the baby powder?" I asked again. "It'll help with the itching." Five said. 

"What itching? There's itching?" I heard someone say behind me, making me jump. I looked back to see my brother, Luther. He must have awakened from my questioning of Five's actions. 

"What the hell is going on here?" Luther asked, also confused. "You do have a plan!" Luther said excitedly. "What? I'm still confused" I said, sending weird looks at both of my brothers. "So you've got a plan, huh?" 

"Well, it's a desperation move, but. . . Since our brain-dead siblings are incapable of meeting a simple deadline, I got no choice." Five said. And now it clicked. He was talking about what we talked about in the bathroom. 

Five grabbed his blazer and walked into the living room. "No choice about what?" Luther asked. "I have to find myself." Five said. He pulled out a watch from his pocket and shut it. "I just arrived in Dallas 15 minutes ago." He said after. 

"Should I be worried about you?" Luther randomly asked. "Luther, if you recall, he was sent to 1963 on a job by the Commission to make sure the president was assassinated." I reminded him. "Oh! So, wait, you're old self is out there." Luther replied excitedly. "Precisely."

"What, just walking around Dallas?" Luther continued to question. "Walking around Dallas with a brief case that can get us home." Five replied with a small smirk. "Oh, my God. Five, you're a genius!" Luther yelled. Five was about to reply when he saw my eye roll since technically, I was the one who told him about the plan. 

"well, Y/N did. You should thank her" Five told Luther with a gentle smile. Luther immediately leaned down and gave me a big bear him, crushing me. "However, there are two significant problems with this plan." Five said, making Luther snap his attention to him. "Problem number one: I am a trained assassin, arguably the most dangerous assassin in the space-time continuum."

"If I know me, I'm not going to react kindly to bumping into myself."

"Problem number two, and this is the real fly in the ointment here: you're not supposed to exist in close proximity to yourself in the same timeline." Five explained. "The side effects can be disastrous."

"Side effects? What sort of side effects?" Luther asked. 

"Well, according to Commission Handbook Chapter 27, subsection 3b, the seven stages

in paradox psychosis are. . .

Stage One: Denial

Two: Itching

Three: Extreme thirst and urination

Four: Excessive gas

Five: Acute paranoia,

Six: Uncontrolled perspiration,

And Seven:

homicidal rage. "

The last one made both me and Luther's eyes widden. "Homicidal rage?" Luther repated wjile gasping lightly. "Yeah."

"Jeez, I don't know. This maybe isn't such a good idea." Luther said hesitantly. "It's a Hail Mary." Five sighed. "But what choice do we got, Luther?" 

"I don't know, you already seem a bit squirrelly if I'm being honest." Luther said. "Look, Luther, I'm gonna need you to help me get through this one, all right? I. . .  I need a spotter." Five sighed. "A spotter?" Luther questioned. "What is that? Like, a wingman?" Luther continued to ask. 

"In case the paradox psychosis gets too severe, I need you to help me stay on task, all right? You too, Y/N." Five said while looking at me at the end. "So, whatever happens, whatever I say, we need to get that briefcase." Five said, sounding a little hesitant himself. "Okay?" "Okay."

"C'mon, let's go." Five said. We all nodded. 

Five grabbed onto me and Luther's shoulders' before spacial jumping away. 

-

"Well, there I am."

Luther, Five, and I had spcial jumped to a restaurant where we foudn out that older Five was at. We peaked through the window and saw him sitting on the bar table. He seemed to be writing something down on a piece of paper. He also had a brief case on him, and that was what we were mainly looking for. 

"Why don't we just grab the briefcase and run?" I asked childishly. "Y/N, I would never let that happen." Five said while rolling his eyes. "We're trained to guard these briefcases with our lives."

"Plus, it's the inherent paradox where this gets tricky." Five said. "I'm endangering my existence just being in the room with myself." Five said, making me mentally gasp. "Huh... What do you mean?" Luther asked confusedly. "Luther, try to keep up."

"If old me doesn't travel back to 2019 like he's supposed to, the whole thing unravels itself. I cease to exist. You got me?" Five continued to explain while keeping a close eye on his older self. "We get you."

"So our best chance is to talk with him, to reason with him." Five explained. "He'll understand. Trust me." Five continued, not taking his eyes of the man. "I know myself better than, uh. . . better than I know myself." Five said awkwardly, not knowing what he was saying. 

"You just itched your neck." I randomly pointed out. "That's stage two of paradox psychosis." I continued. "No, I didn't. I didn't itch my neck." Five said strictly. "Denial is stage one" I said while eyeing Five up and down. "I am fine, okay?" Five said while rolling his eyes. 

"Let's stay on task, shall we?" Five said sassily before starting to walk away. "Wait!" I yelled while pulling back Five. "What?" Five annoyingly asked. "Maybe I should go first." I said. "Why?" Five asked. "Well, you'll freak him out." I said. "Bumping into your own tiny doppelganger? He will lose his shit." I continued. 

"Just let me break the ice."

1228 words

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1228 words.


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