all my own stunts

it's time for time travel

James P. Chambers did not start life as a stoic, bitter old man. Of course, war has a way of changing optimistic young people like he used to be. And with the War with the witch clans barely behind them, it made sense that the world was not only still recovering, but also overly cautious. People who used even the slightest magical ability were persecuted in the streets by frightened people who had lost loved ones only too recently to witches. Few countries were safe places for even children to express their ability- some even killed children who showed any hint of magic.

Frankly, James couldn't blame them for that. How could he, when his wife and daughter were casualties of these same people? The witch clans needed to be wiped out completely and if the only way to ensure they were all gone was to start with the littlest ones, well. Sometimes, James reasoned, sacrifice needed to be made for the good of society as a whole.

And now- well this just proves him right. Doesn't it?

--

James takes them to a place he says will be safe for them to regroup and gather their thoughts- the basement of a small house several blocks away.

"Holy shit," Charlotte gasps, out of breath, as she finally collapse on the meager furniture in the basement of James' old safe house. Dust puffs up from the couch cushions as she sits on it. Asher makes a face and decides to stand, leaning against the wall by the doorway.

James sighs. "I honestly never expected to see this old place again," he says, drifting by the coffee table to run his fingers over an old wooden box before he drops into a musty armchair as well.

"So what now?" Asher asks.

"We have to kill that fucker," Charlotte answers. She owes Danica that much, at least, whatever her feelings on everything else she's found out.

"How?" Asher asks gloomily. "Didn't you see that guy? We can't do shit about that."

"We can't now," James agrees, "but if we got to them before they completed the ritual, we'd stand a chance."

"...Right, okay," Asher says slowly, "but... it's already done, right? We need to figure out what to do next, because we didn't do that."

James shakes his head. "We can go back," he says. "We can do it over again. We can take him down before any of this happens."

In the distance, a loud boom shakes the room like an earthquake. Charlotte drags her legs up onto the gross couch and tucks her face into her knees. "You're talking about time travel," she says, eyes squeezed shut and pressed against her knees so hard it turns the inside of her eyelids white.

Time travel is illegal- and frankly damn near impossible. The amount of raw power it takes would drain a small city, not to mention-

"We'd need a witch," Asher points out. He looks like he's actually considering this nonsense.

"We'd need a witch, a whole-ass electrical plant, and so much luck it's not even funny," Charlotte corrects. Almost no research has been done into time travel. The way science understands it, sending someone back in time creates an alternate universe, meaning that anyone sent back is gone from the version of the universe they came from. Once or twice people have appeared out of nowhere from the future to warn about natural disasters, but after so many of the witch clans banded together to declare war on humanity, the government shut down any further research into the subject.

"We can get a witch," James says darkly. Charlotte glanes at Asher, who's sporting a look that confirms he also thinks that's a creepy, ominous thing to say.

"Did someone say witch?" A voice from the stairway calls, and througb the door comes-

"You!" Charlotte shouts.