Dominion (Futuristic Four)

"What Kind of Villain Names Himself That?"

Hiro left Wolf behind with strict orders to stay put and alert him if Wilbur or the others showed up.  He took with him his spray bottle, time-slowing mechanism, and Dominion bag.

Where should I go first? Hiro wondered.  The best place to catch himself would be before Wilbur or the others found him, but he had no idea where in the timeline that would be.  Especially now that they had repaired time so that technically Wilbur and Penny had never come to get Hiro in the first place . . .

It hurt Hiro's head to think about it.  No, he would have to pick some other time to find himself.  The second best time, and most reliable, would be finding himself when they had been trying to fix time.

"Before the presentation it is," Hiro muttered.  He climbed into the time machine and took off. The swirls of light from the timestream surrounded the ship, reflecting off of its hull. Hiro hardly felt the controls beneath his hands as he adjusted them.

What am I going to tell myself? Hey, those friends you trusted are actually going to do everything in their power to make sure Tadashi ends up dead? He shook his head and frowned out the window.

A sudden streak of red caught his eye. Hiro turned to see another time machine below him. Two time machines in the same place? Is that even possible when traveling through time?

A split second later Hiro recognized it. It was Wilbur's time machine. He was probably on his way to stop Hiro. Oh no you don't . . .

Hiro pressed a button on the console which armed the laser cannons. He took careful aim. He didn't want to kill Wilbur or the others, only make it so they couldn't interfere. He fired.

Bright beams launched through the air and ripped through the metal of the wing. The other time machine shuddered heavily as Hiro circled around again.

Abruptly his opponent vanished.  Hiro was left alone in the time stream.  That should take care of them, at least for a little bit.  He resumed his journey.

It was only a couple more moments before the time machine emerged into the past.  It was a dark night but Hiro wasn't sure exactly what time it was.

He landed the time machine and climbed out. The sunglasses made it hard to see but he needed them for the disguise, so he left them on.

It took him a moment to reorient himself.  He was at the corner where Aunt Cass's shop was.  The windows were dark and grim.

Hiro turned at the sound of approaching footsteps.  He saw his past self hurrying down the street.  He didn't even glance up as he passed Hiro and started fiddling with the door.

Be careful but honest. Don't scare him. Remember, he knows nothing about you.

"What are you doing out so late, kid?" Hiro asked. The younger Hiro spun around in surprise.

"Just getting home," young Hiro said, pointing over his shoulder at the door. "Late projects and stuff."

Wow. If only homework was still my biggest worry in life.

"Keep working at it," Hiro said. Here goes nothing. Either he believes me or he doesn't. "People will tell you some things are impossible. Even your friends. But you just have to believe in yourself. You're going to save lives some day."

"Right," Piro said. "I need to go. My Aunt's waiting for me."

Young Hiro pulled open the door and slipped inside. Hiro stood for a moment staring at the door. Was that too subtle? he wondered. I didn't want to throw it all on him at once, but maybe he didn't get it at all.

Too late to do anything about that now. He turned and began the short walk back to the time machine before a thought stopped him in his tracks. Maybe he could use this opportunity to talk to Tadashi. He could change his mind now, with the Dominion. He turned back around.

Young Hiro was back out again, staring up at the dark cafe. Hiro frowned. I was such a weird kid.

"Back out so soon?" he called.

Young Hiro jumped and spun around. He offered an odd grin.

"Just dropped something on the sidewalk," he said. "I just needed to grab it. I'll be going back inside now."

Hiro chuckled. The sound slowly died away as he took a closer look at his younger self. He was wearing different clothes. Did he change that fast?

"Bye," young Hiro said, moving to the Cafe door and pulling it open. He vanished inside. The lock clicked behind him as Hiro cursed silently. That second Hiro hadn't been from this time period. It was the Other Hiro, the one Wilbur and the others had brought to fix time.

"How could I forget?" Hiro muttered. He stormed back to the time machine. "I'll have to deal with that later. Or . . ."

Hiro leaned against the time machine. "Maybe I'd have more luck with Other Hiro than Young Hiro. I just need to catch him alone."

He sorted through his sets of memories. There was only one time he could think of when he was alone, and that was right before he got his memories back.

"I've just got to avoid Kyuubi," he murmured. "Shouldn't be that hard. And even if I do find him, I'll blow him to Kingdom Come."

Without a better option in mind, Hiro climbed into the time machine and set the new coordinates. He chuckled.

"Kyuubi. What a stupid name. What kind of villain names himself that?"