Dominion (Futuristic Four)

"What Kind of Deal?"

Doctor Callaghan paced the dim confines of his home.  His mood had been growing darker with the passing days.  The only bright spot in his life, even if it was a faint one, was the upcoming science presentation.  Tadashi's younger brother Hiro would be unveiling something there.  Something astonishing, hopefully.

The kid has promise, Doctor Callaghan mused.  Possibly even more than his brother.

A thump downstairs startled him out of his thoughts.  He narrowed his eyes and grabbed an emergency flashlight from his desk.

He worked his way slowly through the house, peering carefully into every room and turning on the lights as he did so.  The burglar alarm should have activated if anyone got inside.  But the thump sounded too large to not be human . . .

"Doctor Callaghan," a voice said.  It seemed to come from everywhere at once.  "It's been a while."

"Who's there?  Show yourself!"

"No need to panic.  I just want to make a deal with you."

A figure stepped into view.  He was wearing a shimmering black cloak, almost iridescent.  His face was hidden by his hood.

"What kind of deal?" Doctor Callaghan asked.

"Skip the science presentation."

Doctor Callaghan almost laughed.  "Skip the presentation?  Are you nuts?"

"Skip the presentation," the man repeated.  "And in return I'll give you what you want most."

He hesitated, almost as if he wanted to create a dramatic pause before his big reveal.  "If you skip the presentation, then I'll bring you back your daughter safe and sound."

———

"Is saving the world always this boring?" Hiro moaned.  He lay on his stomach, face buried in the couch cushions.  They had rented a pair of joined hotel rooms, although Hiro had no idea where Wilbur had gotten the money for it.  Hiro and Violet were in the boy's room at the moment, while Penny and Wilbur were nowhere to be seen.

It had been three days since he traveled to the past with the others, leaving one more day until the science presentation.  Only one more day until he could fix everything and get his memories back.  He still didn't want to think about what he would have to do to accomplish that.

"It's either this or running for our lives," Violet responded as she turned the pages of a newspaper.  How anyone could find a newspaper interesting, Hiro would never know.

"But I'm not even doing anything to help!"  He sat up.  "I'm just sitting here.  Waiting."

"Gathering your strength and staying away from your past self."

"Wouldn't I remember seeing myself in the future if I get caught when I go out?"

"And since you don't, that means you don't go out.  See?  You make the smart choice."

Hiro groaned and flopped over again.  "But doing nothing is killing me!  If you guys just let me leave, I know I could get the stuff to fix the time machine!  I could fix it faster than Wilbur's doing."

"Then why don't you just ask him to get the supplies for you?"

"Why doesn't he just ask me to do it?"

Violet rolled her eyes and closed the newspaper.  "Boys.  I'll never understand why you guys can't just ask for help."

"Where's Mister I'm-in-Charge anyway?" Hiro asked.  Violet shrugged.

"I think he went to get something."

"Nice.  Real vague, as always."

"I didn't want to pry."  Violet's face started to turn crimson.  "I don't think he really wanted to tell me what he was up to."

Penny walked into the room.  "Hey, have you guys seen Wilbur?"

"Violet seems to have all the answers when it comes to him," Hiro mumbled.  Penny turned her eyes on Violet, who looked away.

"I don't know," she said.  "He just said he was going to run errands or something."

"Huh," was Penny's only response.

Hiro glared at the ceiling.  His resentment only grew deeper at Penny's questions.  Why was Wilbur so important?  Why did he get to make all the decisions?  Just because he owned the time machine?

I could make a time machine too.  A better one than Wilbur's.  A cooler one, with rocket launchers and laser cannons so we could fight back against Kyuubi.  And then Penny and Violet would look up to me instead of egomaniac over there.

As if summoned by the very thought the door opened and Wilbur himself walked into the room, arms full of groceries.  Both girls looked at him expectantly.  Oh yeah, like he has all the answers, Hiro thought.  But he kept it to himself.

"We were wondering where you were," Penny said.  Wilbur shrugged.

"I had to go get some stuff.  Would you mind helping out?  I couldn't carry it all in."

"How did you even carry it all in the first place?" Hiro asked.  Wilbur ignored him.

"Sure thing," Penny replied.  She left the room quickly as Wilbur put down the plastic bags he had been carrying.

"I'll grab some, too," Hiro offered, standing up.  At least there was something he could do to help out.  But Wilbur shook his head.

"No, too dangerous.  We can't risk your past self seeing you."

"I'll help Penny," Violet offered.  She left the room as well, leaving only the two boys eyeing each other warily.

"Not going to join them?" Hiro accused.  Wilbur grimaced.

"No.  We need to talk, Hiro."