Dominion (Futuristic Four)

"I'll Put You Back Together."

Hiro paced back and forth in the ruins of his lab.  He had put out the flames with ease.  Now all that lingered was a charred smell and sense of betrayal.

He crossed the room and activated the robot he had built earlier to follow commands.  It shook itself to life and tilted its head.  Hiro patted it.

"I thought they were my friends," he said.  The dog bowed its head.  "Come with me.  We're going to find Wilbur."

The dog followed Hiro as he poured the remaining Dominion into a ziplock bag and put it in his pocket.  They left the room and began the long trip towards Wilbur's wing.

Wilbur's wing was a simple one.  It looked like a home, one Hiro recognized from his healed set of memories.  He'd designed it to look like his home back in the future.  If I was Wilbur, where would I be?

In the garage with the time machine so Hiro didn't get it.

Hiro crossed the hall to the door which led to the garage. He threw open the door.

The garage was brightly lit, but there was no time machine. They'd already escaped.

"I can't believe that Penny would do that!" Hiro growled. "No, wait. I can."

The dog nuzzled Hiro's hand as if sensing his distress. Its metal was cold against his skin.

"If you know why," a voice asked, "then why was it necessary?"

Hiro glanced up. A robot with a gleaming yellow body was advancing across the empty floor.

"Carl, what are you doing here?"

"Wilbur was feeling homesick, so I let his dad copy my mind and memories into a new body. I'm Carl Two."

"Where did they go?"

Carl countered Hiro's question with a question of his own. "What changed? You were such a good kid when we met. You were a hero."

"I still am a hero! That's all I ever really wanted! Why doesn't anyone understand that?"

"Probably because you made a machine to control people's minds."

Hiro fingered the ziplock bag in his pocket, but Carl only shook his head. "You know they won't work on me, Hiro. I'm a robot."

"I don't want to hurt you, Carl. You're my friend. I trust you. Just tell me where they went."

"No can do."

"I just want to help them."

"I want to believe you. I really do. But I can't."

"Then I'll find them myself."

Hiro turned to leave only to find himself bound by metal arms. Nothing he did could even slow Carl down as he was lifted in the air.

"You're grounded until you come to your senses," Carl announced.

"Put me down! Put me down right now!"

"I'm sorry, Hiro. This is for your own good."

Hiro's mind raced. He couldn't fight Carl. Not as he was. He didn't even have any weapons on him. But he wasn't completely defenseless.

"Wolf! Attack Carl!"

The dog hummed as he received his new commands. He spun and pounced on Carl. Both robots ended up on the ground as screeching metal filled the air. Carl held Hiro high in the air, but with his arms occupied he couldn't fend off Wolf's digging teeth.

One of Carl's robotic arms was torn from it's socket. Hiro tumbled to the ground as his cocoon unraveled.

"Wolf, stop attacking Carl!"

The robot completely ignored Hiro's orders. It crouched over Carl in its biting and clawing frenzy.

"Wolf, I said stop!"

The dog finally backed down. Hiro slowly approached the destruction.

Carl's outer shell had been torn open. Bits of metal littered the ground around it. It looked like a yellow trashcan had been overturned and ripped open by ravenous raccoons.

Hiro turned back to his robot. A piece of hardware was clenched in Wolf's jaw. Hiro held out a hand. "Give it here."

The hardware was deposited in Hiro's hand. He turned it over a couple times. It was a little scratched up, but not too terribly damaged.

"I'm sorry, Carl," Hiro told the hardware. "I didn't think he'd take it so far. I'll keep this safe, I promise. And when this is all over I can build you a new and better body. I'll put you back together. You just have to be patient. Since I have no idea where Wilbur or the others are, I'll have fix things some other way. I'll go back in time and find myself. I'll warn myself not to trust them."

He glanced around the garage. If Hiro showed up as he was, he might blow up the universe when his past self saw himself. He needed a disguise.

Hiro's eyes fell on a workbench in the corner. Among the wrenches and notebooks was a hat and sunglasses. Something about them seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Instead he put them on and returned to his room to get a coat.

It was time to go.