The Controller

Chapter 5: The Runaway Rebel

Davis stared at the person standing in front of him in utter disbelief. No doubt, he was his grandfather. For a moment, Davis was speechless. He tried to say something but his breath caught up in his throat.

"Y...you are d...dead!" He stammered.

"I am." His grandfather replied.

"B...but...." Davis stammered.

"I am a spirit, Dave." He said.

"I'm glad you came here." His grandfather said. "I wanted to warn you about something. Something dreadful is approaching."

"W...what?" Davis asked sounding a little bit troubled.

The spirit of his grandfather vanished.

"Grandpa!" Davis called. "Grandpa, come back! Tell me about that dreadful thing!"

No answer. Just silence.

"Grandpa!" He cried.

He slowly drifted off from there. Evening had rolled around and the sky had grown noticeably darker when he reached the pizzeria, or in other words, his home.

"Where were you, Davis? You were gone for so long." Kyle said as he entered in.

Davis didn't respond. He proceeded towards the room Parker had shown them and lied on the stone floor.

"You seem really tired." Parker appeared in the doorway.

"We are tired too." Artie said. "Can't we learn tomorrow?"

"Fine, but I'm afraid you'd have to sleep without dinner." Parker said.

"Why?" The four victims said together.

"Because we didn't have any customers today." Parker said.

"It's fine with me. I'm not feeling really hungry." DeWayne said.

"Same with me." Kyle said.

"By the way, sir, where will you sleep?" Davis said, for there wasn't enough space in that room.

"Don't worry about me, Davis." Parker said. "I shall move the tables a little, and there would be enough room for me to lie down."

And soon, the four friends were lying on the uncomfortable floor.

"So, do you think the Helpers will be able to locate Matt?" Artie asked.

"Who's Matt?" Davis asked, feeling surprised.

"He's the controller's son who has ran away." DeWayne explained.

"Why did he run away?" Davis asked.

"He didn't approve of what his father was doing. So he ran away and left a note saying that he won't come back until things got his way." Kyle said. "Parker showed us an ad about him. The controller is offering huge rewards to whoever finds him. His family would never be caught by the controller, he will get huge cash rewards and also a few robots."

"Well, nobody's gonna find Matt." DeWayne said. "That's because he has moved back in time. He took a few gadgets when he ran away which included a Mini TTM (Time Travelling Machine). The controller had fitted a tracker in his body, but it won't work if he's not in the same time."

"The controller has a machine which can locate where and in which time he has gone, but it works really slow and takes a day." DeWayne said.

Just then, a really bright flash filled the whole room. Everybody shut their eyes, nearly blinded by that glow. In a few seconds, that light disappeared and a figure came in view.

"Matt!" DeWayne, Kyle and Artie shouted in surprise.

"Silence! Will you please tell me the year?" Matt whispered.

"We were taken in 2057, so it must be 2067 now." Davis said.

"What? 2067? My TTM doesn't work sometimes." He said pointing to the little gadget in his hand. "Wait...you said you were taken?"

"By the controller, I mean." Davis said.

"You must join me then!" Matt yelled. "There's not enough time. Hold me!"

Davis didn't know what to do. Should he really trust the son of the person he hated the most? Who had ruined his life? Who killed his family? What if this was some kind of trap? And, after all, who rebels against their own father? His friends were already holding Matt's arms. Davis decided that he should go along. He grasped Matt's arm. Matt pressed a few buttons on his TTM and again, a bright light filled the room. Just then the door of the room flew open, and Parker's German Shepherd pounced on them. The bright light vanished and the four friends along with Parker's dog, were in the middle of a forest.

"Where are we?" The victims asked.

"I'm not sure, but we've gone too much back in time. I doubt if we may find any humans here." Matt said.

Year 2067

Control Tower:

"Sir, according to the tracker, Matt came in our time to a place called Parker's Pizzeria, but he was only there for a minute and has travelled to another time." A Helper said.

"Then, what are you waiting for? Go to that pizzeria at once!" The controller ordered.