The Next Generation

Rose flinched, scowling at the both of them. "Do you really think I'd be a fit mother after this? After what I became? Would you rather our daughter have followed the same path as me? I left her because she didn't deserve that! Don't think that I didn't care for her, because that was the hardest decision I'd ever had to make!" Bringing a hand up to her head, she let out a frustrated groan. "It doesn't matter whether or not you didn't mean for any of this to happen, Neal, because it did! You weren't there for me, you couldn't... stop it... You couldn't stop what I was meant to be any longer. I... I killed again, Neal. I killed, just like I was always meant to. Couldn't escape from that... couldn't stop it... was only a matter of time."

She groaned again, tightening her grip on her forehead. "That's why I went back to him! I couldn't go back to the Titans! I couldn't go back to my friends, my family, any of them! I became a killer again, you think they would have accepted me back again after that? It just would have proved them all right about me! And I couldn't raise our daughter in that kind of life... she deserved a better chance at life than I did. She just... would have ended up a killer like me."

"That's crap!" Blade shouted back. "That's all crap, every word! No one is born a killer, it's a choice that we make! You didn't need to fall into that again, you could have just sucked it up and gone on as a good person. Instead you chose to be a cold blooded bitch! These are different times than back then, and I've already killed my fair share of people today. So how exactly did your abandoning me save me from that life? I ended up a killer anyway!"

"You never should have left the Titans Rose! God damn it you think that everyone fucking hates you, you're wrong!" Neal shouted right at her. "Any of those guys would have died to save you just as you would have for them. They were there for you, they were sorry that they couldn't have saved me. Did you really drop Blade off with the Titans because you thought they would do it just for me? NO! They did it for US Rose, because they were our family," Neal said as tears were starting to come to his face.

Neal listened more carefully to Rose's story. After Neal died she went to go get Slade, ended up killing several people that pushed her away from the Titans. Neal had an idea, but it was risk. "Rose! It doesn't have to be this way. That's the entire reason that we're here. I need to use the treadmill to go back in time and stop Slade. I can find you, we can be together again," he said before reaching down and taking Blade's hand in to his own. "We can be a family again Rose.............please for the love of God just help us to get there. I can find you, I can make everything better, I can be there for you like I swore I would"

Rose clenched her hands to fists as Neal spoke. She didn't want anything he said to make sense, she didn't want any of it to affect her. So, then why could she feel his words ripping into her like a knife through tissue paper? It went against everything she'd believed up until this point! But she forced herself not to let it sway her. It would mean that everything over these past twenty years had been fake, had been a lie, and she would not allow herself to have lived another lie in her life. Not again.

Swallowing a hard lump in her throat, she slowly shook her head. "No, Neal... it's too late for that."

At this answer, Blade let out an angry shout, lunging at her mother with swords drawn. But Zoom was in front of her to intercept the attack before she even got halfway there. He could easily block her swords, push her back, and vibrate his arm through her skull, but he never got the chance. The Flash intercepted the attempted interception, knocking him back through the air with a supersonic punch and then getting out of the way. The whole act had transpired in the blink of an eye, allowing Blade's attack to continue uninterrupted. But Rose drew her own swords, blocked the assault. Within moments, the two were engaged in combat.

"Nrut S'mooz doolb ot erif!" Zatanna exclaimed suddenly. In an instant, Zoom's blood erupted and turned to flames, spreading inside his body and incinerating him from the inside out. However, before she could do much else to assist, Wotan used his arguably more powerful magic to bind and mute her, leaving her a sitting duck for Black Adam to fly over and send her head flying clean off her shoulders with a powerful backhand.

The battle had begun.

Neal just stared at Rose as she seemed to be thinking about his request. He needed her to be on his side, he wanted her to agree that they could work things out. It was what made her answer all the harder to truly here. "Than you've made your choice. God help me........when I go back I don't even know if I'll be able to look at you the same," Neal said in a whisper to himself. How could something like this not affect him after all? He died and his wife went insane and ended up taking the world down Armageddon, how was Neal supposed to handle that knowledge?!

"No Blade wait!" Neal shouted before she began to fight with Rose. Neal thought that he had seen some movement, but he didn't realize that the two speedsters had already engaged in combat. Blade quickly went on to attack Rose, and after that everyone began to get in to the fight. The battle for the future had now begun, and Neal had to make sure that he got out of there safely.

The enemy had lost one and they had lost Zatanna. It was hard for Neal to watch.

After Black Adam showed up Neal turned to face him. Neal had gotten much stronger since he had faced Black Adam, and he wasn't afraid to fight him this time. "I am so sick of you fighting us," Neal said in a low whisper before concentrating straight on Black Adam. It was a powerful illusion and Neal used his entire mind to focus on the man and force him to feel the pain in his veins as if they were on on fire. Along with that his bones would begin sticking out of his arms, his own guys would start to pool out of his stomach as if they were just slipping away.

"All I wanted my whole life were parents to love me!" Blade shouted, swinging her swords wildly. "A father, a mother! I got a father late, but better than never! But what did i get for a mother? You? You're nothing but a self centered, delusional, psychotic bitch!"

Rose growled, pushing her daughter back and countering with a boot to the face. "Don't make me do this, Lilly! I don't want to fight you! I shouldn't have to fight you!"

"You should have thought about that before you abandoned me!" Blade countered, swinging her swords again. This time, she cut through her mother's armor and opened a wound on her side. "Your actions led to this moment! This is all on you!"

Black Adam stumbled to his knees as the illusions took hold. He was highly durable to damage, but when he felt pain, it affected him the same as everyone else. The most notable instance had been when T.O. Morrow defeated him by using a device that caused a whole dimension to start growing inside his brain. That had crippled him and led to his capture. This was something similar, with blood turned to fire, bones being removed from his body, and intestines spilling out onto the floor. He tried to fight through it, but everything started to spin. When Superboy and Cassie went on to tag team him with a double strike to the face, he went unconscious in no time.

On the other hand, Bizarro was busy running amok on half the others. He'd already taken out Hawkman, and it was taking the combined efforts of Raven, Wylde, and Lori just to keep him occupied, let alone stop his onslaught. The addition of Blockbuster to the mix didn't help, either. With a blindsiding super strength punch, he sent Raven flying. The sound of her back snapping reverberated throughout the entire room.

"No!" Wylde screamed, turning his sights on Blockbuster. His soul-self began ripping him apart piece by piece. One thing rather noticeable about him was the fact that he currently had four glowing red eyes.

Unfortunately, Wotan had already prepared his magic to stop the weaker youngster. With a snap of his fingers, Wylde's chest exploded outward in a bloody mess. Lori shrieked in horror at the sight of her friend being so violently brought down, and couldn't even bring herself to retaliate, she was so paralyzed with shock. In another instant, Wotan did the same to Superboy, eliciting the same reaction from Cassie. But Wotan didn't last much longer; Jericho found his way over to Bizarro, and with one look in the eyes, he had control. Wotan never even knew what hit him, as the beam of heat vision sliced right through his head.

This wasn't just a fight. It was a bloodbath.

Neal watched as his illusion took hold, allowing Conner and Cassie to beat Black Adam in to submission. He had killed Zatanna, and Neal wasn't going to allow him to kill anyone else. Not while he was there. Far too many had died as it was. Once the man was downed Neal tried to move to help anyone else. It was far too late though, the battles had already taken place or Neal had no time to react. He could only watch as so many of his friends and family were killed.

Neal wanted to throw up at the sight of it. "You will pay for this Slade, I will find a way to kill you for this," Neal muttered. If he went back in time none of this would have happened, but obviously Slade was going to pull it off if he ever got the chance.

After almost everyone had been taken care of Neal realized that there was still one battle going on. Blade and Rose were still locked in a sword fight. Neal slowly drew his own sword and began to walk over. "Enough Rose! You've lost! You're outnumbered and outmatched! Just leave this place. Do not make us kill you"

"No!" Rose shouted, half in tears as she continued to fight her daughter. "No, it's not over! It can't be over! It'll never be over!"

Blade whirled around and tripped up her mother's legs, forcing her to her back. She was on top of her in a second, both swords rapped around her neck in a scissor formation. "I should kill you!"

Rose just blinked upwards in surprise. How had that happened? Was she getting slow? Did she make a mistake? Or, deep down, did she really just not want to harm her daughter? "Go ahead..." she stated, turning her head to the side. She couldn't even look her daughter in the eyes. "Kill me... I deserve nothing less."

Neal watched as Rose ended up being defeated by Blade, something that Neal didn't expect. He believed that Rose was still better, but perhaps there was something more to this deep down. He wasn't sure, but that wasn't important right now. Rose was defeated and Blade had the opportunity to end her.

"Blade..........don't do it," Neal said as he looked down at Rose. "No child should ever kill their parent, even if something is wrong with them," Neal said as he just kept gazing down at Rose. "Let her live alone in this world, don't spill her blood. You don't need the satisfaction anymore. We're........we're going to a better world soon"

Blade stared down at her mother, every fiber in her being telling her to close those swords together and end this horrible woman. But, whether it was Neal's words or something else, she couldn't do it. Instead, she stood up again and sheathed her weapons, turning from her mother and staring around at the carnage. It made her stomach turn. "Let's just get out of here."

As her daughter moved away, Rose remained on the ground, though she reached into her pouch and pulled out a small device with a button. She clicked it, causing the doors at the other end of the room to open. "The Treadmill... it's through there," she uttered, still unable to bring herself to look at any of them. "But... are you sure you want to go back? How... how will you ever look at me the same again?"

Neal watched as Blade stood up and walked away from the battle, down towards the doors that Rose soon opened. It would lead to the Treadmill. Neal watched as the others walked down there before turning to Rose who began to speak. As she spoke Neal wasn't sure how to answer her. "In all honesty.........I don't know," Neal said rather bluntly. "But I can't live in this world and look at you like this. I love you Rose.........so I'll figure it out," Neal said before turning away. He walked several steps before stopping and glancing back one last time. "Goodbye Rose"

With that said he took off at a jog. The villains may have been defeated, but some reinforcements were surely on the way. Someone had to have triggered an alarm or something. They had to use the treadmill and escape.

Rose slowly sat up as the others started to leave, heading to the room with the treadmill in it. She bowed her head in shame, just staring at the floor, unable to watch them any longer. "I'm sorry..." she whimpered, a lump forming in her throat. A split second later, however, a shot fired. Not a gunshot, but rather a shot from some sort of advanced weaponry, more like a laser. The hot beam pierced the back of her neck and dropped her instantly.

Two more shots. One hit Cassie from behind, dropping her as well. The next hit Lori in the shoulder. She fell to the ground and screamed, but at least she wasn't dead. And then, another shot. This one ripped through the Flash's calf muscle. By the time everyone began to realize that they were under attack, another shot. This one killed Bizarro's body, though Jericho popped out safely a moment later.

"Lori!" Blade yelled, running to the young Tamaranean's side. The poor girl was quivering in pain.

"Do I have your attention?" a sinister voice spoke. Turning around, the'd see none other than Slade himself standing there, a strange gun in his hands. Flanking him were about fifty other high tech looking soldiers. One of them threw Green Lantern's body forward, who had opted to remain behind to hold off any reinforcements... that hadn't worked out so well. "Did you really think I'd allow you all to make it to the Treadmill?"

Neal just continued walking away from Rose. He didn't have the strength to look back. He thought that he heard something, but he wasn't sure and he didn't want to look back. They needed to leave, they needed to go back and make things right. Neal really didn't know what to do. When he got back Rose would embrace him, but how could he love her the same way after knowing what she willingly did?

Neal didn't hear the first shot, but as Cassie, Flash, and Lori were hit as well Neal had to turn around in order to see what was going on. The fight wasn't over? But how was that possible, everyone was dead! What Neal saw as he turned around nearly made his heart break. "Oh......great, just what we needed," Neal muttered as he saw who was on the other side.

Neal wanted to come up with some snappy comment, but he couldn't think of anything right now. Their situation looked pretty bad after all. Everyone was dead or hurt with the exception of himself and Blade. Not only that but Flash's calf muscle was hurt, how was he supposed to activate the treadmill.

"Shouldn't you be installing a dictatorship or overthrowing a democracy somewhere? That's all you've ever been good at anyway"

"Sharp a wit as ever, I see," Slade said, curling his mouth into a twisted smile. "I have to say, I am surprised to see you still alive. I heard you died... that is why my dear daughter decided to take her rightful place at my side, once again." His eyes then moved down to look at the now deceased Rose. "But even she decided to betray me in the end. Not that it matters; in a short few moments, it will all be over."

Blade held Lori's hand tightly. "It'll be okay, Lori, just hold on. Everything will be fine."

"It...hurts..." Lori uttered, shaking in pain.

Swallowing, Blade glanced up at Slade and stood up. The hate in her eyes was something of epic proportions. "You're going to pay for that, you bastard," she growled, glaring at him and holding her hands to her temples. "I hope you enjoy your brains scrambled!"

Slade shifted his weight and yawned. "Please," he said, tapping a small metal device at his ear. "I know all about your telepathy, Lillian. It's been well documented. This protects me from it. You didn't think I wouldn't be prepared for you, did you? Your mother could never beat me, and you certainly never will either."

Blade clenched her jaw. "Yeah? Well I have something that my mother didn't have," she said, shaking her fists at her side. And indeed she did, something she'd never shown a single soul before, something she kept for emergencies, so that no one could prepare a plan against it. She also hated using it because of what it did to her head as a side effect, but now was as good a time as any to cut loose.

"And what's that?' Slade asked, raising the weapon's sights to his eye. He was aiming dead center at her forward. "A heart of gold?"

Slade fired. The laser zipped through the air on target, but before reaching Blade's head, it deflected off in another direction. Furrowing his brow, Slade lowered the sights and stared, confused.

"No," Blade said, holding her arms up. Her eyes started glowing bright white. Instantly, the soldier's at Slade's side began to hover in midair, flailing about in surprise. Then, Slade, too, started to rise up off the ground. With an angry shout, she cast her arms forward, causing the air to ripple like thunder, with a deafening boom. The entire group rocketed backwards, violently crashing into the wall behind them. "Telekinesis, you son of a bitch!"

"Thanks, I was waiting to use it at your funeral but I guess I had to spoil the surprise. Don't worry, I'll come up with something else for when you're dead," Neal said as he smiled at Slade. Despite his confident outlook, Neal really had no idea how he was going to get out of this situation. Deathstroke now greatly outnumbered them, and these weren't any normal soldiers. These guys were the real deal, and their equipment looked powerful. If they all fired, Neal doubted that any of them would be able to react in time.

"Damn it" Neal muttered as Slade showed that he had a device that would stop Blade from entering in to his mind. If it could block Blade than the same thing would probably happen to Neal. He wasn't certain, but it wasn't looking very likely either. Blade soon revealed that she had something that Rose didn't. Neal had zero idea what she was referring to at this point. He looked from her than back to Slade. As Neal realized that Slade was aiming right at Blade, Neal quickly tried to move to push Blade out of the way. They might fail, but Neal wasn't going to watch as both his wife and daughter were murdered in front of him.

He'd rather die than failing Blade.

Of course, what happened next only served to confuse Neal. He didn't get there in time, and yet it seemed like the laser had completely missed Blade. Neal stopped and watched in confusion before looking back at Deathstroke. He knew that Deathstroke wasn't as good of a shot as Deadshot, but Blade hadn't even tried to dodge. How did he miss?

It was then that Blade truly did reveal the secret weapon that she had been hiding from everyone. "Holy shit," Neal muttered as he saw how far Deathstroke and his men had been thrown. It was impressive, but they hadn't won yet. "You got a plan to finish this fight Blade?"

"I... hate doing that," Blade muttered, staggering down to one knee. Her nose was bleeding, a result of what using her telekinesis often did to her. It put too much strain on her mind. Wiping her nose clean, she glanced back at her dad, as the enemy was beginning to recover. "Yeah... I got a plan. You guys get going, get to the Treadmill. Take Lori with you... make sure she has a good life, alright? I'll hold these guys off as long as I can. You only need a few minutes, right?"

Flash hopped up to his feet, unable to put much pressure on his injured leg. "Just a few minutes, yeah. I'll just have to lend, well... all of my speed to you, Neal. You'll have to run on the treadmill, but it's still doable."

"Good..." Blade said, with a small smile, turning back to the recovering Slade and his soldiers. "Now what the hell are you guys waiting for? Get out of here."

Neal looked towards Blade as she spoke, seeing the blood coming from her nose. It was the same thing that happened to Neal whenever he pushed his mind too far. It was something that happened in the beginning of his Titan career, but he still recognized the signs. Blade was powerful, but it was taking a huge toll on her mind. She wouldn't be able to do that many more times, if at all.

As Blade said the plan, Neal could only stare at her for several moments. They were to leave her? Neal wanted to object, he wanted to say that it was a stupid plan and it wouldn't work. Yet, Neal knew that it was the only option. His eyes began to fill with tears as he glanced towards Flash. Without saying anything else Neal ran forward and embraced his daughter. "I'm so proud of you Blade, if you end up to be half the woman you are now you will always have a proud father," he whispered to her before leaning down and kissing her forehead. "I love you Blade, and I'll make things right. I'll make sure you grow up in a safe world" he whispered.

Letting her go was the hardest thing that Neal had ever done. And yet he knew that he couldn't waste any time. "Joey, get Lori and carry her with us," he said before moving over to the flash and aiding his injured side. "Come on I'll get you down there, let's go"

Blade hugged her father tightly as he embraced her. She didn't want to see him go, yet she knew that this was the only way. This was how it had to be, if they were going to make it to the past. She had to stay behind and hold the line, to give them enough time to get things working... today, she had to be the hero. "I'll miss you, Dad," she said, feeling the tears beginning to flow. "I only knew you a short time, but... but I'll always love you."

When they began to leave, she swallowed hard, then turned around to face the men converging on her. They open fired, but she cast up another psychic barrier, deflecting the shots and sending the telekinetic wave out at them again. "Come on!" she screamed. "Is that the best you got?!"

When they finally reached the room with the Cosmic Treadmill, Flash took a moment to look the device over. "Alright, it's unplugged, and a few pieces are loose. No problem, I can fix this... just give me a few minutes." If his leg wasn't injured, he could have it fixed in seconds, but they didn't have that luxury.

"Lilly... Lilly..." Lori uttered, groaning as she looked around aimlessly in Jericho's arms. "Where... where is she? We have to... go together..."

"I'll remember that when your sixteen and I don't buy you a car," Neal said with a very weak smile. Once again humor wasn't appropriate but it was one of the ways that Neal dealt with things. It gave him time to realize the gravity of the situation, to help him adjust and feel comfort. He was going to go home in pain, and the only two that would understand would be Lori and Jericho. As Neal moved away he placed one last illusion on Blade, allowing her to see an image of Neal appear next to her and hold her hand.

"I'm here Blade, until the end," the illusion said.

As they arrived at the treadmill Neal watched as Flash began to fix the machine. They needed to work quickly, Blade was only going to be able to hold them off for so long. Neal glanced over at Lori as she began to speak in Jericho's arms. "I'm sorry Lori............she's not coming," he said as the tears were still falling from his face. "It's just us now"

"No... Lilly... she has to come, too," Lori muttered, though she sounded quite delirious at the moment. She was sweating something fierce, and her fever was rising. Whatever that laser had been, it had more effect than just a simple zap to her shoulder.

"Alright, everything's fixed," the Flash said, taking a step back and turning the treadmill on. The device began to hum. "Everybody on; those of you not running, put your feet up on the sides. Neal, once you're on I'm going to give you all my speed. It'll only last about three minutes, but that's plenty of time. Just be sure to face backward, then set the time and location on the monitor. The only thing left to do after that will be to run. Think you can handle that?"

Neal watched as Lori appeared to be getting sick. How was that possible though? Lasers couldn't transfer disease, they were just meant to cut and tear through skin. They'd have to move fast, it looked like Lori was going to need some help. "I'm sorry Lori, it's hard for me too," he admitted quietly to her.

As the treadmill was fixed Neal listened to all of the instructions. "Yeah, too many have died for me to give up now," Neal said as he moved towards the treadmill. He got on backwards and began to set everything in place. Everyone else got up on the side, and Neal quickly adjusted the time and location before looking to Flash. Once the speed had been transferred, Neal took off running.

The Flash let out a small breath as he transferred over all of his speed to Neal. The guy wouldn't be used to it, but fortunately, he didn't need to be to run as fast as he could on a treadmill. "When you've reached your destination, the screen will blink. That's your cue to jump off. You'll be where you need to." Feeling drained, he sighed and leaned back against the wall. It would take a while for him to recover again... though he probably wouldn't get that chance.

Just as Neal took off running, though, a shadow emerged from around the corner of the exiting hallway. Jericho noticed this and let out a silent yell, pulling on Neal's shoulder and pointing. It had to be Slade, coming to stop them!

"Hey!" the voice called out, as the figure came into the light. "You guys got room for one more?" It was Blade, using her sword as a crutch and hobbling towards the treadmill. She was bleeding from one side, but overall she didn't look that bad. "Those bastards didn't know what hit them."

Neal once again listened to the Flash's instructions. "Alright, I'll make sure to jump off at the right time," Neal said before turning to look directly at the Flash. There was little chance that he was going to survive, especially after giving Neal his speed. "Hey......thanks," Neal finally said. He wasn't really sure what else to say. "I'll make sure to thank you again once we reach our destination. Take care of yourself Bart, for as long as you can,"

Neal was just starting to run again when Neal felt something tugging on his shoulder. "What Jericho?" Neal asked before seeing that Jericho was looking in a different direction. Someone was coming. "Ah damn it," Neal said as he quickly tried to find something that he could use. None of his gadgets would bring Slade down!

Thankfully, he wouldn't need to. The voice that came forward was extremely familiar and Neal looked up in surprise. It was Blade, a bit injured but overall victorious. "Of course we have room" Neal said as he motioned for a spot next to him. "Come on Blade, let's go home", he said as he extended a hand to help her on.

Blade smiled, taking her father's hand and hoisting herself up onto the treadmill. "Yeah, I'm just about ready to get the hell out of here." She allowed herself to slump against the side of the device, letting out a relieved breath. Everything really was going to be okay.

However, as she sat there relaxing, she didn't see the figure that had been following her. Neither did the others; they didn't think they had anything to worry about, now that Blade was there with them. They learned soon enough, though, when Slade jumped into the growing time bubble that Neal's running had created.

"You're not going anywhere!" he growled, reaching for Blade.

"Shit!" she shouted, with a start. She grabbed his wrist, trying to pry it off her throat. "Dad, keep running! Damn it... get off of me!"

Jericho, too, tried to force his father away, but since he was holding up Lori, the matter proved difficult. Slade held harder, trying to yank his granddaughter away from the treadmill and prevent her from leaving... but someone else had another idea.

"Leave her alone!" Lori shouted, using every ounce of her strength to jump onto Slade's back. He started clawing at her with his free hand, trying to get her off, but she held form. Charging up her hand with a starbolt, she drove her fist into his stomach, releasing the burst of energy. His grip was instantly ripped away Blade, as the two were sent hurtling back out of the treadmill's bubble.

"Lori!" Blade screamed, jumping after her. The second before she did, however, the treadmill began beeping. When she hit he ground, she was no longer in the compound they'd been in moments before. She, along with the others, were twenty years in the past. "Lori? Lor... LORI!"

Neal was so happy to see Blade and have her take his hand. She rested up on the side of the treadmill and got herself situated. Everything was in place and everyone was there. The mission had turned out well, despite all of the death. If Neal was successful, none of that would ever happen. After one more nod of a farewell to Flash, Neal quickly began to run.

None of them saw Slade approaching, and so to suddenly hear his voice really freaked Neal out as he ran. HE turned his gaze partially to see that Slade really was on the machine with them. Damn it! Why couldn't that bastard ever just die and stay down!?

"Get your hands off of my daughter you bastard or I'll take us all back to the dinosaur age!" Neal threatened. He wanted to stop and help, but to do so would be to ruin everything that they had worked for. Neal wouldn't get the speed back from Flash, this was the one shot that they had.

It was only when Lori jumped right on top of Slade that results were obtained. Of course throwing Slade off of the Treadmill came at a price. Lori sacrificed herself and knocked Slade off, but it came at her own balance. None of the others were able to reach for her and she fellt out of the bubble. "NO!" Neal shouted in anger.

It was at that moment that the treadmill began to beep. Neal's head shot back to the front. That was the signal. Neal jumped in order to end the Treadmill's work. They all fell to the ground, landing on the ground just in front of Titan's tower. They were alive it seemed, and everything looked like it wasn't destroyed. They still had a chance! They could make things right! However, there was something else that needed to be done first.

Blade was in pain, not physical but much more emotional pain this time around. Hearing her crying out in despair only caused Neal to hand his head. Blade would now have to life a lifetime without the woman that she loved, and that was something that no one should have to go through. Neal needed to get to the tower, but he needed to take a moment for his daughter. He walked over and crouched to her side, wrapping an arm around her. "I'm sorry Blade........I'm so sorry" he uttered.

Blade felt her father's arm wrapping around him, but her mind didn't even register it. Her hands gripped the dirt below her, just staring at where Lori had been a mere moment before. Just one more second... if they had just been able to hold one for one more second, then Lori would still be with them. They could have found a way to beat Slade when they got back to his time period, but instead Lori had done the noble thing and kept both of them back in the future.

"We... we were supposed to... to come back together," she uttered, her voice quivering between whimpered cries. "Now she's... she's stuck there... what if nothing changed? What if the future stayed the same and she's stuck there all alone? Or... or what if he kills her? What if he kills her!"