Outcasts Of The Midlands

Chapter 4, 2013 Aston

Chapter 4, 2013 Aston

"In 2028, the Artifical Intelligence returned for revenge, specifically against the French. Some say this was truly a miracle (especially the British). But many Americans disagreed, they launched 870 nuclear warheads which destroyed all bagguetes worldwide. All horses, short people, metal towers, romance, President Macron and the 2 year lower retirement age got destroyed in an instant. But this did have the small unintended side effect of killing over eight billion people and starting a nuclear winter."

They entered Aston with determination on their face, they had to find a worthy companion.

As they walked through the streets, they couldn't help but notice the rough and run-down buildings that surrounded them. This was Aston, a part of Birmingham that was known for its dangerous reputation. The streets were filled with graffiti, broken windows, and the occasional group of shady-looking individuals.

"This place looks like it's straight out of a gangster movie!"

"Yeah, and it doesn't help that we're from the future. They're probably wondering what kind of strange contraption we came in."

Nether the less, they continued to the destination
"Why does everyone hate us so much?"
"Well, we did just appear out of nowhere in a strange machine. And we're probably dressed in clothes that are way too futuristic for them,"
"How do we know we aren't in the future?"
"Er.. thought one.. I got an idea! I think at least."
"What is it?"
"GANGHAM STYLE!"
"That is like so last year!" Stated a stranger.

As they walked down a narrow alleyway, they suddenly heard a commotion up ahead. Curiosity getting the best of them, they cautiously made their way towards the source of the noise. As they turned the corner, they were met with a group of rough-looking men surrounding a smaller man, who was pleading with them.

"Please, I don't have any money. Just leave me alone!" the man begged, his voice trembling with fear.

"Looks like we stumbled upon some trouble,"

Without hesitation, Lewis stepped forward and spoke up, trying to diffuse the situation.
"Hey, what's going on here?"

The group of men turned to look at them, their expressions turning from fierce to confused as they took in the strange appearance of Ashley and Lewis.

"Who the hell are you two?" one of the men asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"We're just two travelers passing through. We mean no harm," Lewis replied, trying to keep his voice steady.

The men seemed to relax a bit, but the tension in the air was still palpable. Suddenly, they heard police sirens in the distance, and the men quickly scattered in different directions, leaving Ashley and Lewis alone with the trembling man.

"Thanks for helping me out, mates. Those blokes were gonna rough me up real good," the man said, his accent was heavy.
"You think we would leave ya alone?" Shouted the man.
But as soon as they said that, they looked up in fear. There she was, she lit the match and passed the fire onto the ball. They started running away hastily as she pulled out the compass.
"Bingo, this'll hit."
The ball of fire flew across the street which made a small branch fall down, the bush caught fire and larger branches trapped the criminals.
"Now, I want £100 with no fake money! I don't work for the cops, I do the work nobody else does."
Lewis stood there paralysed in shock, Ashley stood confused.

The criminals ran away hastily, she had an assured look on her face.
"Well well, watcha got here? Non-locals?"
"Well we are actually time traveler-"
"Shut up Ashley!"
"You can tell me! Just tell me!"
"Argh.. we gonna go back in time to hack a computer-"
"Can we get Szechuan sauce on the way?"
"It would be of course but.."
Ashley whispered "we do need a other person though"
"Yeah good point.. you can come with us!"
"Yay yay Szechuan sauce!"
But then they saw a huge explosion, it reverberated around the entire place.

"We gotta go there!"
"That seems er.. dangerous?"
"I caused the explosion!"
"WHAT-"
"No time to explain, let's go!"
They ran straight to the sight of the fire, they saw chaos at every turn. They reached it swiftly and decided to hide in a bush.
"Names Zoe, those punks refer to me as The Angle Of Justice."
"Er.. You mean Angel?"
"No, angle."
"Wait.. do you use trigonometry?"
"Yeah, I'm quite good at maths."
They crawled out the bush and crawled into the burning building
"How did you blow this place up?" Stated Ashley
"Quite simple actually, planted C4"
She threw a small bleeping object at a metal door. The door burst open allowing them to enter, inside there were gold bars galore.
"We aren't here for gold, we are here for the money."
"Why'd you need... that much money!"
"Stock up on that Szechuan."
Her ginger hair glided while her glasses showed a determined look. But then, as soon as they thought the action had lost all potential, another explosion reverberated from below.
"What was that!" Shouted Lewis
"Average C4 explosion, not too much."
"Where'd you buy that from?"
"USA, they sell everything and anything there."
They went down the stairs to see another vault, inside was a massive cardboard box.
"What's inside it?" Shouted Lewis
"Could it be a guitar?"
"No! It is money. Why would they have a vault for a guitar!"
But as soon as it opened, they saw something was worse. It was a 6 pack of apple juice with a bar of gold behind it.
"What! How do we take that!" Shouted Ashley
"It's too heavy!"
"Er.. yeah.. no chance we can carry that."

Meanwhile inside the matrix, Maisie was trying to escape when she found something scary. It was another computer, she hastily hacked the environment and managed to eject herself from the matrix. When she got out, she teleported to 2013 as planned. She walked around until she heard about an explosion that happened at the bank.
"That's gotta be em!"
She started running straight towards the bank where she saw them.
"What have you done Lewis!"
"We gonna get that Szechuan!" Shouted Zoe
"So.. er.. 1998?"
"Fine then, let's go Lewis."
He set the date to 1998 Kingstanding. From there they set off to find it and another member.
"Let's go!" Shouted Ashley
The blue sphere pulled them into the paradox-in-time. They were ready to pull some sick skateboard tricks because the 90s were on their way