Universe Archives: Hero #3

 Astral Kings #1

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Dante! We must use the fail-safe or the Infernus meteor will destroy the Earth!” A black jaguar yelled as it radiated a reddish aura.

“I know that! But I can’t lose you and the others. It must be another way.” Dante said.

“There’s no other way! Now, do as I say and activate the failsafe.”

Dante screams loudly and yells “Comix! Panthera! Tigera! Fenris! Anadosus!” Instantly, loud echoes filled the skies. Immediately, those echoes were replaced with loud banging noises and a young girl yelling.

“Dante! You good for nothing brother! Get out of bed!”

Slowly getting out of bed, Dante walks to his door and opens it. “Sarah! How many times do I have to tell you? You don’t have to yell. The door isn’t that thick.” He said before slamming the door. He then walked over to his closet and grabbed his school uniform. “That was a strange dream.” He thought to himself as he took off his T-shirt and walked into his bathroom. Walking pass his bathroom mirror, a black jaguar replaced his image in the mirror. However, he didn’t notice. After he got out of the shower, Dante noticed a change in his physique. His slight chubby stomach became a lean, muscular one. Also, his senses increased so much that he could smell his mother’s cooking from the kitchen. Happy about his changes, he jumped up and did a backflip. “Woah, I couldn’t do that before.” He thought to himself. Suddenly, someone knocks on his door.

“Dante, you’re going to be late for school if you don’t hurry.” His mother says.

“Alright, I’ll be right out, mom.” He replied.

Minutes later, Dante rushes down the stairs and out of the house to catch his bus. As he arrived at his bus stop, he saw his crush, which made him fall hard onto the ground. Looking at him on the ground, his crush and her friends laughed at him before walking away.

“Oh, poor guy, she laughed at you.” A boy said as he walked behind Dante. He wore a letterman jacket and held a football. Walking up beside him, a girl wearing a black jacket and stockings.

“Jeez, I don’t see what you like in Cassie. She’s nothing but a stuck-up, brat who relies on daddy’s or some poor bast… my bad. I didn’t mean to talk about your girlfriend like that.” The girl said.

“Come on, Gwen, why not give her a chance? You might have a lot in common if you do.” Dante said.

“That’s never going to happen.” She said.

The boy lifted Dante up with ease. “There you go, D,” the boy said.

“Thanks, Eric. But did you have to lift me like that?” Dante said embarrassed.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you like it when I pick you up?” Eric said, teasingly.

“You know I don’t!” Dante said.

Suddenly, Eric and Gwen noticed the differences in Dante’s physique. “Woah, D, when did you start working out? You’re ripped!” Eric said as he felt Dante up.

“Dude! Stop, you’re being weird.” Dante said.

“Yeah, he’s being weird, but can you blame him.” Gwen said as she began to feel on his arm. “Wow, it’s like you had a growth spurt overnight.” She said as she moved her hand from his arm to his chest and abs. Immediately, she removed her hand and blushed. She looked back at Dante and seen he was blushing too. The bus pulled up.

“Alright, lovebirds. Let’s get on the bus.” Eric said.

“We’re not lovebirds!” Dante and Gwen yelled as they followed him on the bus.

As the bus took off, a portal opened and swallowed the bus. On the other side of the portal, the bus slams into a futuristic car as it came out. Getting out the car, an alien shouted angrily at the bus. Scared and confused, the bus driver immediately closed and locked the door.

“Okay, everyone, don’t panic. Everything’s going to be alright. I’ll just call the police and … A lean, black alien tap on the door and waves. “Hey, can you open the door?” It said.

“No, I will not. You freaks can stay out there.” The bus driver said.

“Freaks? Oh, right. Power down!” It said before transforming into an adult human man. “See, I’m human like you and completely harmless.” He said.

“Yeah, right. How do I know that you’re not trying to trick me?” The driver said.

“Really, dude, you’re too paranoid.” The man said, annoyed. He held up his gauntlet and pressed a button on it. “Hey, Tower, I need some backup. There’s another Astra hater here and won’t open his door.” He said.

“Rodger, sending someone to your location. Hang tight,” Someone replied. Within ten minutes, a woman arrived on top of a hoverboard. She wore a red and black outfit with a red scarf. The man sighed.

“They had to send you. What happened to your leave?” he said.

“Good to see you too, dear. I missed you too.” The woman said as she got off the board. The man remained silent. “Seriously, are you really still mad?... Oh, come on. You know Avery and Alex needed help dealing with the Roxian invaders on Seraphimis. And, you know how they feel about men.” She said.

The man sighed. “You’re right. I haven’t earned their trust to even land on their planet.” He said.

“Exactly, so stop pouting already.”

“Fine, come here.” he said as he pulled her in close.

“No, we can’t. Not in front of a school bus full of kids.”

“Oh, come on, they’re teenagers. They already know about kissing. Probably more.” He said as he kissed her.

“Speaking of which, doesn’t this bus look familiar?” She said as they stopped.

“Now that I think about it, isn’t this our old bus we took to school?” Suddenly, they remembered something about today.

“Uh oh,” they said simultaneously.

 “Tower, does this bus radiate any kind of temporal energy?” The woman asked into her watch.

“Let me check.” A person answered. Accessing their satellites, he scanned their location for any abnormalities. “Okay, good and bad news.  Which one do you want first?”

“Good news, I need something to go good for once.” The man said. The woman looked at him. He smiled and mouths “I’m joking,”.

“Well, the bus is radiating a temporal energy signature, and it doesn’t look like it’s too much. So, no damage to the time stream.”

“Yeah, so what’s the bad news?”

“It says the energy signature belongs to Radix. But that’s impossible, right.”

“Yes, he’s…

“Novex!” The man said before transforming into a strange, flaming, blue being. “We need to get this bus back to the past. The headquarters should be a good place to keep them for now. Get in.” he said.

The woman knocked on the bus door.

“Like I told your friend, I’m not letting you on this bus.” the driver said.

“Neepo (Open),” The woman chanted. Instantly, the door flung open, and she walked on. “I was trying to be nice, but this is important.” She said as she signaled the man. He then held out his hand, telekinetically lifted the bus and flying away.

“Let’s see around seventeen passengers. So, that means we’re on here. Our past selves. Luckily that won’t change the time-stream.” She thought to herself. “Okay, where’s Gwen Thompson and Dante Moore?”

“Uh, right here,” Eric said. The woman walks to the seat where Eric and Dante were sitting. Across from them, was Gwen, who was sitting by herself. She sat down next to her.

“Don’t worry everything is going to be fine.” the woman said.

“Who are you? Where did you get that sick board? What’s happening? And, what’s that guy you lip locking with?” Cassie and the other students asked as they crowded around.

“Calm down, I’ll explain everything once we get back but for now, I need to relax after a long trip through dimensions.” The woman answered.

“Dimensions?” They all thought together.

“Right, they’re from the past.” She thought to herself.

After five minutes of flying, they all reached a tall, futuristic skyscraper that lay in the middle of the city. As the man slowly put the bus down, the woman got up and told everyone to come off the bus. Getting off the bus, they all seen a lot of beings of different shapes and sizes.

“Welcome to Nexis Tower, the home of the greatest hero of our dimension, Astra. But, you know him as Dante Moore.” The woman said as the man transform back into his original form, and lands beside her. Everyone looks back at Dante with shock.

“Let’s not forget the dimension’s most powerful sorceress, Gwen Thompson.” The man said.

“I wouldn’t say best.”

“Well, in my opinion, you are.” Adult Dante said.

“Aw, that’s sweet of you. But you’re not getting what you want.” Adult Gwen said.

          Teenage Dante and teenage Gwen looked at their older selves and blushed.

“So, my two best friends became the world’s greatest heroes. What did I become?” Eric said.

“Sorry, can’t tell you that? In matter of fact, we’re going to erase everyone’s memories of this even happening before sending you back to your time.” Adult Gwen explained.

“What! That’s unfair.” One of Cassie’s friends said.

“Hey, so why not just tell us since you’re going to erase our memories.” Cassie said.

Adult Dante and Gwen sighed. “Alright, who’s first?”

“Me!” Eric said.

“Eric, you married Cassie and became a quarterback for the New England Patriots. But you got injured and became one of the worst villains in history. He is currently dead.”

“What!” Eric yelled.

“You wanted to know. Now you know.” Adult Dante said.

“As for Cassie, she became a prostitute on Casino, planet of Games, after she left Eric with all his money. It’s amazing what karma does.” Adult Gwen said.

“What!” Cassie yells, upset at Gwen.

“So, how did you two become the world’s greatest heroes.” The bus driver asked.

“Well, it all started when we went to a museum and a mystical gauntlet attached itself to me. Since then, I traveled the world and universe helping where I’m needed.” Adult Dante said.

“And I awakened to my powers in mi… in high school.” Adult Gwen said.

“Anyway, most of you either have amazing jobs on other planets or join the intergalactic military secret army formed by Earth’s government to destroy all alien life.” Adult Dante said.

“What?” They said.

“He’s kidding. We don’t know about what happened to most of you. We usually don’t have the time to keep up with our classmates.” Adult Gwen said.

“So, why are we here?” Dante asked.

“Well, we honestly don’t know. We didn’t bri… An alarm goes off. “Danger! Danger! Break in at Maiju Temple!” a computerized voice said.

“Panthera!” Adult Dante said. He, then, transformed into the black, lean alien form earlier. “I’m going ahead. I can’t let anyone get their hands on those Souls and DNA samples. Find some place to put them and meet me there.” he said before running off at supersonic speeds.

“What’s the Maiju temple?” Dante asked.

“Maiju temple is the most sacred place in this dimension. It’s where all the Souls and DNA of every living being in the dimension is stored. I can only imagine what anyone could do with them.”

“Shouldn’t you be helping him, then? I mean aren’t you supposed to be some great heroine. Are you really going to leave him to handle it by himself?” Cassie asked.

“What’s with you?”

“Nothing,” Cassie said as she looked away. However, she was slightly glancing at Dante.

“Oh,” Adult Gwen thought to herself. “You can try, but don’t treat him like you did Eric. Or I’ll come for you. And I do mean me. Not younger me.” She whispered to Cassie.

“What do you mean?” Cassie said.

“You’ll see.” Adult Gwen said as she summoned a magic portal. Out of it, an armored warrior walked out and knelt in front of her. “I need you to lead these people to the living room. Make sure they don’t see too much.”  She ordered him. He got up, bowed, and walked over to the group of students. “Follow him. He’ll lead you to the most secure part of our headquarters. I’m going to the temple.” She said to the students. “Try not to see too much of your future.” She said to herself and Dante, winking. She, then, flew away in the same direction as the adult Dante. The students followed the armored warrior.

          “I can’t believe you two ends up being the greatest heroes of our world, and I’m dead. How cruel can the world get?” Eric said, disappointedly. “Not to mention, I lose the woman I love to my best friend.” He thought to himself as he made a depressed expression.

“Hey, don’t worry about what we said. The future isn’t set in stone” Dante said.

“Easy for you to say. You’re a superhero and dating Gwen. Your life is great compared to mine.”

“Says the person who married the girl I’ve been crushing on since third grade,”

“You mean the same girl who became a prostitute after leaving me with all my money. You have some serious problems, dude.” Eric said as he walked away. Dante noticed that Eric was upset. As he tried to catch up with him, Cassie grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the group. In another hall away from prying eyes, Cassie pushed Dante against the wall and kissed him passionately.

“What are you doing, Cassie?” He asked, shocked and confused.

“I don’t know myself, but after seeing and hearing all this. I just feel…

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. I was just surprised.”

“Oh really. Was that perhaps your first time kissing a girl?” Cassie asked.

“Uh, no… I kissed a bunch of girls.” Dante said, nervously.

Cassie smiles at Dante. “You know I never noticed. But you’re actually cute up close.” Cassie says while looking into Dante’s eyes.

“What? Really? I think you’re cute too. I mean… Ugh, I messed up.” Dante said nervously.

Cassie laughed. “So, how about it? Should we start dating?” She said.

“What!”

“I mean why not. I like you. And you like me, right?” Dante nods. “Then, it’s settled we’re dating as of now. Shall we make it official?” Cassie said.

“What you had in mind?”

“Maybe, a tour around this amazing place.” Cassie said as she got closer to him.

“Sure, let’s go?” Dante said. They kissed each other. However, they didn’t notice there was someone following them.

“Dante, you idiot?”  Teenage Gwen said as she appeared.

Meanwhile, at the Maiju temple, the adult Dante arrives to see a group of unconscious people. Checking their pulse, Dante moved them quickly without disturbing them too much. Luckily, none of them were dead.  He then made his way to the antechamber as fast as he could. Arriving there, he saw a big gorilla holding a child with a massive head.

“Didn’t you learn your lesson last time, AniMal? This place doesn’t have the technology to fix your ugly mug.” Dante said.

“Always with the jokes. Eh… Dante, but we both know that’s not the real you.” An adult Eric said as the gorilla moved out the way.

“Radix, you’re looking good for a dead man. What’s your secret?”

“Oh, you know, a good night’s sleep. Eating healthy. Exercise. Oh…and your powers that you gracefully so donated.” He answered.

“Really, donated? You mean stole? You aren’t worthy of these powers. But don’t worry.” Dante transforms into a tall, muscular man with flaming hair he calls Hades. “I’ll be taking those back.” He said as he slammed his fist into his palm. AniMal and Dante charged at each other, causing a shockwave as they collided with one punch after another.  Then, the child with the massive head climbed up on the gorilla shoulders and touched his head, activating his telepathic powers.

“Sorry, this one is just as strong mentally as much as he is physically. You’re going to have to come up with something better, Malcolm” Dante said as he pushed back the gorilla.

“That is not my NAME!” The child shouted, angrily, causing him to lose control and knocking AniMal unconscious with a mental blast.

“Thanks, kid,” Dante said as he plucks the child on his forehead knocking him into a wall. “Ok, that takes care of them. Where’s Radix?” He said. Sneaking in the shadows, Radix snuck behind Dante and jumped on his back, laughing maniacally while absorbing Dante’s powers.

“Oh… you got some new ones over the years. Can’t wait to see and try… them… Out!” Radix said as he transformed into a giant fire wolf. Dante sighed. “Seriously! He can do that now! That’s so unfair.” He said.

Radix pounced on top of Dante, knocking him onto the floor. Dante, doing his best to keep Radix’ teeth from his neck, transforms into a being wearing a rubberized suit, he calls Storm-surge. Then, he gathered electricity in his hands and shocked him off.

“Look at you, nothing but a snarling beast.” Dante said.

“I’ll show you a beast!” Radix said as he grew bigger.

“Well, that’s not fair.” Dante said before Radix stepped on him. Luckily, Dante was able to transform into a black alien he calls Titan. Growing as big as Radix, Dante taunts him by saying, “Is that all you got? Cause I hate cheap knockoffs.” while cracking his neck. Making him angry enough to blindly charge at him, Dante swiftly and smoothly flipped Radix to his back. He, then, punched Radix’ throat, forcing him to transform back into his human form.

“See, Radix, size really doesn’t matter. It’s about the damage you can dish out.” Dante said.

“Ah, poor hero, your wife must tell you that to make you feel better.” Radix said, struggling to catch his breath.

“Wives. And, no. Dante has no problems satisfying us like you had with Cassie. If anything, I’m worried about him being satisfied.” Gwen said as she flies into the room. She looks at Radix with a disgusted expression. “Dnib (Bind)” she said.  Glowing chains wrapped tightly around Radix. “What should we do with him?” She asked.

“For once, I don’t know. There’s no place on earth that can contain him. And, we have no way of dampening his powers since they’re so like mine.” Dante replied.

“Ok, how about we keep him inside one of your helix cubes. You said it yourself. They’re virtually unbreakable and can exist even after you revert.”

“Right, I didn’t even think of him.”  He said as he transformed into a being with no definable look, wearing a white outfit with a double-helix spiral on his chest. He walked forward and summoned a cube around Radix and Animal. “Let’s get these fools back to headquarters. From there we can send them to our holding facility.” Dante said.

“Right, but hey. You think those kids found it yet?” Gwen said.

“Yeah, he found it, but you won’t like who he found it with.” Dante answered while pulling her closer to him.

“I already know.” Gwen whispered.

Back at headquarters,

Cassie and teenage Dante arrive at a door, that reads ‘Memory room’. This room kept everything that has happened to Dante and Gwen since they became heroes. It was like a personal museum for them both. Curious about what they did in their lives, Cassie wanted to enter the room. Unfortunately, Dante didn’t because he was afraid of what the future could hold. But he still entered because he wanted to make Cassie happy. As they entered, the lights turned on, revealing a single computer console.

“Woah, this is not what I was expecting.”  Cassie said as she walked closer to the console.

“Welcome, I’m the personal archive for all of Dante and Gwen Moore, aka Astra and Hex. What would you like to know.” A computerized voice said.

“Really, Astra?” Cassie said, teasingly.

“Hey, my older self-made it. Don’t blame me for his poor naming choices.” Dante said.

“Oh, and how do you know it wasn’t your future wife idea?”

“Gwen? She wouldn’t be so…

“So what? D” Eric said. They immediately turned around to see Eric and Gwen.

“Uh, guys, what are you doing here?” Dante said, nervously.

“Nothing much. Looking at you and Cassie enjoying a nice date around headquarters. Thought we could do the same seeing it’s her place too.” Eric said with a jealous tone.

          “Uh oh, are your friends jealous of us?” Cassie said as she snugged up on Dante.

“What! Really? What do you have that I need to be jealous of?” Gwen yelled.

“So, you followed us because you weren’t jealous? That’s strange. But what do I expect from a woman who believe in magic spells and charms when she’s older?” Cassie said before kissing Dante.

“Okay, that’s how you’ll play it. Then, try this. Serve your queen, summon Shadows Soldier, Amos!” Immediately, a soldier that looked like the warrior, her older counterpart summoned, appeared from her shadow.

“Woah, Gwen! What are you doing?” Dante yelled as he got in front of Cassie. The soldier charged and attacked Dante.  Fortunately, his innate ability to transform activated and transformed him into Panthera. He, then, attacked the shadow soldier with a flurry of punches. However, the shadow soldier was able to defend and counter against his punches with ease. One after another, they fought each other to a standstill.

“Woah, I thought he said a gauntlet gave him his powers.” Eric said.

“I guess he lied.” Gwen said

“Man, since when D started lying to his friends.” Eric said.

 “Maybe, since you started treating me differently.” Adult Dante said as he and Gwen appeared in the room.

“What!”

“No, time to explain. Dear, how about you handle your mess, and I’ll handle mine.” He said.

“Yeah, have fun. I’m going to have a nice talk with myself. Eric, try not to cause any more problems.” Gwen said as she flew and grabbed herself. Luckily, when Gwen took herself the Shadow soldier followed to help her.

“Now, it just you and me, Dante. Time for some fun. Panthera!” Adult Dante said before transforming. “Come and get me!” He said before running off. Not in control of his own body, teenage Dante followed him, leaving Cassie and Eric alone.

“So, hey, what’s your play? Why are you playing Dante like that? He actually loves you.” Eric said.

“I don’t know what you mean?”

“You deserve everything that’s going to happen to you.”

“Oh, that could mean everything that’s going to happen to you, too. I’m just trying to change my fate, like you should.” Cassie said before leaving the room.

Running out into the Nevada desert,

The Dantes were moving faster and faster. However, unlike the adult Dante, the teenage Dante didn’t have the control and stamina. As they arrived at the nearest city, teenage Dante transformed back into his human form, making him crash. Luckily, the adult Dante was able to catch him. “Oh, I did not miss those days. I still have some of those scars from road rashes.” Adult Dante thought to himself. He, then, transformed back, and pulled out his old gauntlet from thin air. He placed it on his younger self’s right arm. “This should help you store and control those pesky alien souls.” He thought to himself.

“Yeah, we’re pesky. It’s not the people who abuses our powers.” A voice inside his head said. Then, a giant black panther formed around them. “Wow, it’s not every day I get to see the younger version of you. It’s quite the experience.” It said.

“Yeah, that’s right. You weren’t fully conscious of yourself when I was this age.”

 “Yep, and I was only able to communicate with you through your dreams, then.”

“Yeah, those sucked. Especially, the ones with a dire future.”

“Hey, you were able to stop many of those dire situations from getting too far. And many of those could’ve killed you.”

“Uh, one of those did kill me. Hell, I don’t even know how I’ve survived.”

“Yeah, and you can thank the Maiju gauntlet for that. The user preservation protocol really got you out of trouble at that time.”

“Yeah, now if it can only tell me how to send my younger self and the others back to their time.”

“Really, that’s simple. All you need to do is fuse your Chrononix’s powers with Gwen’s time spell to open a portal to that specific time period.” The panther said while circling around Dante.

“That could work. But, first I should teach him how to use the basics of the gauntlet. That way he’ll be ready for the events that day.”

“No, remember you can’t alter the timeline too much or you’ll mess up something you don’t want. Like that timeline where you and Gwen are getting divorced, and she dies because you were too depressed to help her. Resulting you becoming the world’s worst conqueror.”

“And, with that, our trip down memory lane is over. Let’s get back to headquarters to send them back to their time.” Adult Dante said as he transformed into a muscular, human-like being he called Hermix. Then, he picked up his younger self and generated a lightning aura around them and ran back to headquarters.

As they arrived, the Gwens stood there at the entrance. Seeing the younger Dante in his arms, the younger Gwen rushed to see him, worriedly.

“Is he going to be okay?” She asked as adult Dante lay him on the ground.

“Yeah, he’s just exhausted. Using his powers takes a lot out of him, especially like he did. Berserk mode drains us like a battery.” Adult Dante explained.

“Thank goodness,” she said as she hugged him tightly. Slowly waking, Dante rubs his head, which was beating like a drum.

“Ow, why do I have a massive headache?” he said, softly. Immediately, Gwen let go out of fear, dropping him to him on his back. “Why?” He says in a painful tone.

“Don’t worry kid. The massive headache you’re feeling now is a side effect of the gauntlet adapting to your body, mind, and spirit. It should pass in a couple of minutes give or take.”

“Gauntlet?” He said as he sat up. Then, he noticed something on his right hand and forearm. “Okay, I have a bunch of questions. But you already answered most of them earlier. So, how am I supposed to hide this from my … no, everyone?”

“Right, I forgot to put it in camouflage mode. That way only those aware of it will see it.” Adult Dante said as he grabbed his younger self’s arm. He then, pressed a button activating the screen and selected the gauntlet’s program function. Adult Dante, then, activated the gauntlet’s camouflage mode to make it look like there was nothing there. He also activated a few other functions that he knew he would need while also giving him two strong forms he might be able to use easily. “Alright, that should do it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got some memories to erase.”

“What! Not ours, right?” Gwen said.

“No, of course not. Yours and his memories are too important to be erased.” Adult Gwen said as she knocked Dante out with a sleep spell. And Adult Dante transformed back into Hermix.

“Really?”

“Oh, don’t worry, he’s just going to take the last thirty minutes. So, he won’t remember going around the headquarters with Cassie and you summoning an armored knight to attack them. I’m sure you don’t want him to remember that. Do you?”

 “Right, proceed,”

Adult Dante focused a small amount of electricity in his palm and placed it on Dante’s head. Instantly, the last thirty minutes of Dante’s memory was erased. Adult Gwen snapped and teenage Dante woke up instantly.

“Ugh, what happened?” Teenage Dante asked.

“Nothing, kid. You were having a negative reaction to being here. So, we’re getting you and the others back to your time period.”

“But, first, try these on, Gwen. Qui pe Hto lc, rew op.” Adult Gwen said. Instantly, Teenage Gwen was engulfed in a bright light, transforming her clothes into the same outfit as her adult’s outfit.

“Woah, Gwen, you look…

“Amazing, right. I know myself better than anyone.” Adult Gwen said, happily.

“Really, I like the suit. And I love the scarf, but I don’t think I’m ready to be like you.”

“Don’t worry about living up to me. And this goes for you too. Just because you’ve seen the future, doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to that future. Your actions affect that said future. Trust me, we learned that… the worst way imaginable.” Adult Gwen said with an expression that only her teenage self could understand. The expression of losing the most important person in your life and being unable to save them.

“Okay, I’ll try, but no promises. Anyways, how are we supposed to get back to our time.” Teenage Gwen asked.

“I don’t know. I’m assuming Dante has a pla…where did he go?”

Everyone looked around and didn’t see Dante at all. “Sorry about that, I just went to pick up the bus driver and the other students. All their memories are erased and they’re ready for school. Speaking of which, Catch.” Adult Dante said as he teleported into the room with the bus.

“What is it?” Teenage Dante asked.

“It’s a Soul Essence Cartridge. It holds the soul of an alien creature that can be found in this universe. This one, in particular, is known as a Marvexian. They’re capable of manipulating gravity and starting fires. I call him Novex. Be careful when you use him.”

“Okay, I will. So, do I drink this or…

“No, of course not. Tell your gauntlet to absorb the Soul essence from it.”

“Really? Gauntlet, Absorb Soul essence.”

“Detecting soul essence, Marvexian soul, do you wish to bond with this soul?” The gauntlet said.

“Uh, yeah,”

“Confirmed, bonding the user soul and the Marvexian’s soul. Complete… user can now transform into Marvexian. Please give a designation.”

“Uh, Novex,” Dante said.

“Right, I did name him that because of me. Or future me? Or the me from…

“Dear, you’re confusing both me and you. Please stop.” Adult Gwen said, kindly.

“Confirmed, the Marvexian will receive Designation, Novex.”

“Wow, that simple. Novex!” Teenage Dante said. However, nothing happened. “Hey! Why am I not transforming like you?”

“Well, first of all, you’re too tired to transform. Your transformations are tied to your own stamina and endurance. And, secondly, yours only has the voice command, Scan. You have to discover the others by yourselves.”

“Really? Well, that sucks.” Teenage Dante said.

“Yeah, I know. But think of it as learning for yourself, your capabilities, and limits.” Adult Dante said.

“Huh, I grew up to be like my father. Speaking of which, where’s mo…

“Oh, look at that. The window to send you back is closing. Get on the bus while we prepare.” Adult Dante said as he pushes teenage Dante and Gwen to the bus. He sighed with relief. “Dodged that bullet,” he thought to himself.

“I know the consequences of them knowing too much about their futures. But, you could’ve told him. He deserves to know before it happens. Don’t you remember how you felt at that moment of time.” Adult Gwen said.

“Yeah, but we both know that experience is one of the major problems that I had to go through to become the me of today.” Dante explained as he transformed into a human like being with wings like an angel.

“Okay, what do I need to do?” Adult Gwen asked.

“Simple, we’re going to be fusing my time manipulation powers with your time spell to make a portal back to their time.”

“Seems complicated. Why are we fusing my magic with your time manipulation powers to do this? I feel like you can do it by yourself.”

“I could but I don’t have the precision and we need it to be accurate as possible. Hence your time portal.” Adult Dante explained.

“Make sense.” Adult Gwen said.

“Alright then, ready? On three… One,” Adult Dante said as he and Gwen gathered their energy to their hands.

“Two,” adult Gwen said.

“Three!” They said, simultaneously, as they fired off their gathered energy in front of the bus, creating a time portal. Thanks to the vortex being so strong, the bus was pulled into the vortex.

“Good luck, kid.” Adult Dante thought to himself before transforming back into his human form.

“Hey, do you really think Astra is a bad superhero name?” Adult Gwen said as she hugged Dante.

“Uh,” Dante said.