Long story short I had a 5 hour plane flight and ended up with this in my phone notes. So there you go.
Spoilered to save the wall of text
[spoiler]
Finnegan looked around nervously, eyes straining against the darkness. Behind him the large pale form of Aegisdragon growled quietly, sensing movement. As they peered out from the bushes the moonlight illuminated the forest, and he caught a flash of orange hair. Gilgam strode out of the woods, shaking his hair into place. In his hands was a cardboard box, clearly heavy and filled to the brim with… Finnegan couldn’t make out what exactly. With a quick look around Gilgam disappeared into the night.
“For the last time I don’t know” Celsus muttered in annoyance. “That device uses a non-tethered temporal shift, I can’t track it unless it tethers somewhere.”
“Well how do I tether it?” Finnegan asked impatiently.
“It’s not that simple. Gilgam’s trips are like hops, he doesn’t fully enter the timeline so much as put one foot in it. At those points he exists in two timeliness simultaneously, and can interact with both so long as he does not tether to either. The machine acts as a temporal anchor that stabilises the rift between-”
“So you’re saying I have to follow him in.”
Celsus frowned. “Yes and no. I can send you into the timeline but your trip will be tethered. Chronozeros here can act as the anchor.” Celsus gestured to the sleeping dragon behind him, which opened an eye lazily to regard Finnegan before settling down again. “You’ll have to find the equivalent anchor in that timeline in order to return.”
“And if there isn’t one?”
“Then your only other option is following Gilgam back.” Finnegan groaned.
“So in other words I’m stuck there.”
“Well no, your trip is tethered so you’ll be sucked back here once you destabilise the timeline enough. It just won’t be at the same time. Depending on the level of disparity you could return 4000 years away from your starting point.” Celsus noted Finnegan’s slightly open jaw. " Nobody said time travel was without risks. You want to find out what he’s up to, this is how." Finnegan was silent for a moment, weighing up the options. Then he sighed with resignation.
“No other option I guess. But I’m taking Aegis with me.” At Finnegan’s words Chronozeros got up, stretched and walked over to stare at him. Aegisdragon had been forced to wait outside, the lab not big enough for two dragons, and Finnegan felt a slight tremble of nervousness as he stared into the fiercely amber eye of the time dragon. It felt like he was being sized up somehow, as if the dragon had more intelligence than it portrayed. But then the moment was over and it walked to the side of the lab, suddenly very interested in some of the equipment laid out there. Celsus sighed, ushering Finnegan to the door. He could hear the elderly professor as the door closed.
“I’ll talk to you later Finnegan. Chrono, we’ve been over this, you can’t generate tachyon fields in a closed rift…”
Finnegan was in a bush again. It felt like he had spent the last part of this week in bushes, watching Gilgam’s frequent nightly trips, always returning with something. Behind him he heard low growling noises as Chrono and Aegis squabbled quietly, and sighed. He often envied how Beritus could make dragons get along, any longer than two minutes in each other’s company and they inevitably fought each other. Something to do with pride according to Celsus. Whatever the reason the pair quietened down on his gesture as Gilgam once again strode into the clearing, fiddling with his device. He reached the middle of the space, and after a moment’s more twiddling, he disappeared into thin air. Finnegan quickly stood up and walked towards the spot where he had vanished. Chronozeros extended a claw, and after a moment’s feeling around, hooked it into something invisible. As the dragon clawed the rift open Finnegan could feel the air getting stuffy around them. Finnegan couldn’t see the rift itself but Chronozeros abruptly stopped and nodded at him. Finnegan started towards the rift, then stopped as he realised Chrono wasn’t following him. “You’re not coming with me?” He asked, unsure whether it even understood him. It simply stared at him. Finnegan got the impression it would raised an eyebrow if it could. Evidently it needed to stay here to anchor properly. Finnegan shrugged and stepped forward -
onto pavement. He looked around to see the forest gone, replaced by dark concrete. The air was warm and oily. A few people noticed his arrival but carried on as normal, though many gave Aegis a wide berth. The dragon had not liked the trip and it showed by its expression. A dot of orange hair in the distance reminded Finnegan of his purpose, and he set off after Gilgam.
Gilgam had stopped outside a building. Instead of going into it however he went into the side alley beside it. Finnegan followed to see him staring at what looked like a wall. He was so engrossed he didn’t notice the purple flash until it was too late. With a colossal bang Aegis was instantly pinned against the wall by steel claws, the metal teeth of Chromera around it’s neck. It was too quick for the dragon to even growl. It was at this point that Gilgam turned around.
“So kind of you to join me. I thought my midnight trips would go unnoticed for at least a little longer.”
“Borrowed a couple of monsters from Lector I see.” Finnegan said contemptuously.
“On the contrary” the voice came from behind him, and Finnegan turned to see Count Lector walking calmly up, coat buttoned and a light chuckle crossing his face. “Gilgam requested my services.”
“What for?”
“Backup.” Lector said simply.
Gilgam approached Finnegan. “I’m going to trust you, not because I want to but because if you’re here you might as well help. And if you don’t, well you can always stay here.” He gestured to Lector, and with a hand gesture the shining chimera released Aegis. The dragon immediately started towards Lector with a murderous expression. It pressed it’s face right up to his and growled, having to lean down to do so. Lector didn’t flinch.
“So very full of fire. And yet not so very scary my dear dragon.” he said, grinning into the angry eyes in front of him. For a moment Finnegan really thought Aegis would attack Lector; rarely had he seen the dragon so angry. But after a tense few moments Aegis pulled back, leaving little indents in the concrete as it stomped away. Gilgam pulled himself up.
“Now then. Onwards.”
“Krei will see you now.” The trio had been waiting in a dark room for about 5 minutes, the building itself squat and ugly. The attendant led them through a dark hallway into what looked like an abandoned supermarket. At the back, raised above the shelves, was a man on a golden throne. “So that’s Krei?” Finnegan whispered.
“Yes. He’s one of my contacts here. He gets me what I need.”
“Which is?”
“Shh” As they approached the man they could see his clothes were studded with jewels. He was short haired, with dark skin and a long black cape. Finnegan half expected him to have a crown, but instead he noticed the jewelled knuckledusters on both hands, and the rather conspicuous pistol in his wasteband. This was no king. Gilgam approached him.
“Krei, my friend, you got my items?”
“General Krei. And we are not friends.” Krei’s voice was smooth and rich, like thick honey. “I have what you asked for. Who is this?” Krei gestured to Finnegan.
“A friend of mine. He just tagged along for the ride.”
“A well armed friend I see” Krei gestured to Aegis, ever present in the background. Finnegan noticed Lector shuffling slightly, little razors flicking out on Chromera’s back ever so subtly. Aegis too, sensitive to movement, was looking cautious. Gilgam spread his hands.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It think it does. Show me what you brought with you.” Gilgam hesitated, then whistled. A black dragon detached itself from the ceiling and slinked towards him. The very shadows seemed to follow it. “The first ones don’t do time travel, so I brought tenebris for the ride.” Krei nodded, thinking.
“You came prepared for a fight. You have no intention of paying, do you?” Gilgam swore under his breath.
“It’s been a hard week. Look, I need these parts, you need a quiet transaction. A fight suits nobody.”
Gilgam picked up the transistor he had come for and immediately everyone in the room reached for their weapons. Krei got up from the throne, and Finnegan did a double take as the throne shuffled, an eye opening on it. As it uncurled he realised it was a golden dragon, twice the size of aegis and covered in glittering gems. Gilgam stared up at it.
“I was wondering where Midas had gotten to.” The golden dragon looked down at him and snorted. “Yeah well good to see you too” Gilgam muttered. Finnegan could see claws in the shadows, various glittering eyes watching them. The room was on a knife edge. Lector twisted his cane in anticipation. For a moment nobody moved. Finnegan didn’t see where the first attack came from, but the wide wing of Aegis swung over to block it, and mayhem broke loose. “Meet me outside!” Gilgam shouted as Tenebris wrapped around him and melted into the shadows. Chromera was a purple blur, metal razors slicing into hidden bodies: Lector wasn’t taking any prisoners. Midas had immediately gone for Aegis, blasting the smaller dragon into the wall with a beam of pure light. The pair were locked claw in claw, Midas using it’s height to press down on Aegis. Finnegan shouted for Aegis to follow and ran over to Lector, various attacks whizzing through the air over his head. The older man was crouched behind an aisle, clutching his shoulder. The material of his coat was burnt, and he was grimacing in pain. “Finnegan, we need to get out of here. Can you cover us?” And almighty bang marked Midas hitting the opposite wall at some speed. Gems trickled from its skin as it staggered out from the large gouge in the wall the impact had created.
“I think so” Finnegan grinned as Aegis dashed towards them, white wings covering them both. The pair dashed towards the exit, a blast of dark energy coming from the door as Gilgam took out some unseen enemy behind them. Aegis grimaced as it bore the brunt of the attacks on its back, but kept shielding them as they reached the exit. As soon as they exited the building they were back in the forest: Gilgam had placed the portal right in front of the exit. Chronozeros started a little at having all 3 of them come through, but on Gilgam’s insistence closed the portal. Finnegan flopped on to the cold grass, panting. “Why the hell do you work with him? He almost killed us!”
“You think I can just go down to the local grocery store for spare time machine parts?” Gilgam snorted. " Yes he’s a money obsessed gangster, yes he’s insane, but he’s one of the few people that can get what I need. I knew this wasn’t going to end well, hence I brought Lector with me." He gestured towards the old man, who was busy poring over Chromera. The once shining beast was marked with cuts and scars, and was lying on the floor. Finnegan shuddered when he saw the razors on its back had been blunted: he wondered how many cuts they had made to become dull within three minutes. “And I got my parts, so we’re all in the clear.” Gilgam held up the transistor. Suddenly they heard Chronozeros growling in pain behind them. The elderly dragon shook it’s head as if trying to clear it. Then they heard the voice, amplified by megaphone.
“People of Verosia! My name is General Krei. You are currently harbouring a fugitive of my world, and you have five minutes to bring him to us. Failure to comply will result in the destruction of your city. Thank you for your cooperation.” Finnegan looked worriedly at Gilgam, who was chewing his lip, thinking. Finally he turned to Lector. “You’re of no help to us in this condition. Get some rest. I’ll deal with this.” Lector nodded, and with an arm around Chromera for support the pair hobbled off into the night. With a quick pat down of his hair, Gilgam ran towards the town.
“There’s no way he could destroy the city” Finnegan panted as they reached the docks. “He’d need something huge. Something like -” Finnegan stopped dead as he saw the water. Only a few miles out was an odd looking battleship, bristling with weapons. Gilgam frowned. “I didn’t think he’d go this far. This isn’t going to end well for anyone. Come on.” He whistled and Tenebris appeared, melting out of the shadows to grasp Gilgam. “I’ll meet you on there” he said as he disappeared into the shadows again. Finnegan sighed and climbed onto Aegis, the pair flying out towards the ship.
“Keep it down. There has to be a detonator on here somewhere, and my guess is that Krei has it on him. So we find him, get the detonator, save the city. Simple.” Gilgam crouched by the wall. Finnegan heard a choked gasp and saw a guard being dragged into the shadows by black claws. He didn’t even have time to shout. Finnegan shuddered to think what happened in the inky darkness. Something about Tenebris deeply disturbed him as the dragon slinked back to Gilgam. Even Aegis, usually confrontational towards other dragons, moved slowly away as though disgusted. They went through the door to find Krei waiting for them. Midas growled as they entered, towering over the guards in the corner. Behind Krei a large screen was counting down seconds, from 235…234…233…
“A bit melodramatic don’t you think?” Gilgam said testily.
“What’s the point of power if you can’t show off once in a while.”
“Turn it off. This is my city you’re destroying.” Finnegan made to interrupt but Gilgam waved him away with a hand. “Where’s the detonator?” Krei just laughed.
“You’re standing on it.” Finnegan’s eyes widened as he realised.
“This isn’t a ship, is it?” Krei just smiled.
“No, it isn’t. Meet Warca. Not even I can convince it not to fire once the cannons are charged. Once I’m done there won’t be anything left of Verosia but a smoking crater in the ground! Kill them!” At his order Midas fired a blast of light at the pair, which Aegis blocked. Tenebris weaved in and out of the shadows casted by Midas’ blinding beams of solar energy, entering into one and popping out of another, dragging enemies in as it did. Aegis blocked another solar blast, grimacing as Finnegan made his way over to Gilgam. The air was hissing with attacks, many hitting each other as they tried to hit Tenebris. Gilgam was busy trying to get to the console under the screen.
“I have a plan, but I need to get to the computer!” He shouted. A glancing stun pulse sent shivers of electricity through Finnegan’s body, and it was all he could do to stay standing. Aegis covered them both as Gilgam worked away at the computer. Midas went to grab them but was dragged away by Tenebris; the smaller dragon was not strong enough to drag Midas down though, and was thrown aside.
“Done! Get over here!” Gilgam said as he called Tenebris over. The black dragon dragged all of them into the shadows, Aegis included. For Finnegan it was like being dragged through cold treacle, and he had the uncomfortable feeling that should he be dropped he would be stuck here a long time. But he wasn’t, and they resurfaced on the dock again to watch the effects from afar. Warca seemed to be disappearing, falling into the rift that it had come from. It roared as it did so, a noise that Finnegan felt in his bones, and he saw the endless rows of teeth before it disappeared. Gilgam brushed his hands together. “And that solves that” he said as he walked off. Finnegan ran after him.
“Wait what did you do?”
“Sent it back where it came from. Had to be a rift generator on there somewhere to get that thing here. It won’t fire on it’s home after all.”
“But won’t he come back?”
“How should I know? I can’t tell the future.” Gilgam shrugged and made to walk off, but Finnegan held his shoulder.
“This doesn’t mean we’re allies.”
Gilgam smiled. “I would hope not. That would be boring after all.” He was still smiling as Tenebris rose up, and the pair sunk into the shadows. Finnegan sighed and looked around for Aegis. The dragon was busy being sick into the water: the shadow trip had evidently been just as uncomfortable for it as it had been for him.
“Guess I’m walking back then”[/spoiler]
