Main Beta hu : Stuck in Time Loop

Chapter - 8 The Battle: Part-1

The Battle of the First Rocky

Arjun stared at Rocky in disbelief. "He... accepted it? He just accepted that he was going to die?"

Rocky nodded, his voice heavy with emotion. "Yes. It shocked me too. I couldn't believe it. I asked him, just like you're asking me now: 'You're really okay with this? You've accepted that you're going to die?' And he looked me in the eye and said, 'Yes, I've lived my life to the fullest, and now it's your turn.'"

Arjun's heart raced as he tried to process this. "So, what happened? Did they... did the Temporal Guard come for him?"

Rocky took a deep breath. "They came. It wasn't long after he finished telling me his story. The Guard burst into the godown, armed with their futuristic weapons, their eyes set on him—on the First Rocky. He knew they would come, but he wasn't about to go down without a fight. He told me to stay back, to stay safe, and then he charged at them like the warrior he had become."

Arjun's chest tightened. "Did he... win?"

Rocky shook his head. "No. He fought valiantly, taking down several guards with him, but they were too many, too prepared. One of their lasers [referring to Emma] hit him square in the forehead. I still remember the moment it happened—the way he fell to the ground, lifeless. The man who had once been me, who had lived like a god, was gone in an instant."

A Second Chance

Arjun's voice trembled as he asked, "But... didn't they kill you too? I mean, wouldn't they think you were just as guilty?"

Rocky's expression softened. "No, they didn't. You see, at that time, I hadn't committed any crimes. I hadn't tampered with time, hadn't broken the laws of the continuum. They realized I was innocent—just a younger version of the man they were after. After they confirmed that, they decided to leave me alone. One of the guards even stayed behind to prepare a report and ensure the First Rocky's body was taken away properly. He told me I'd be escorted back home safely."

Arjun's brow furrowed. "Then... what happened? If they were going to let you go, how did you end up with the watch?"

A sly grin spread across Rocky's face. "That's where things got interesting. While the sole soldier was busy filing his report and preparing the body, I saw my chance. I reached for the First Rocky's wrist, slipped the Temporal Key—the watch—off his arm, and activated it. The soldier didn't even realize what was happening until it was too late. In a flash of light, I disappeared, traveling far into the future."

Arjun stared, speechless. "You... you just took it? You time-traveled? Just like that?"

Rocky shrugged, his grin widening. "What can I say? Desperate times call for desperate measures. And that, Arjun, is how I became the next Rocky. The rest, as they say, is history. Now, it's your turn to decide."

A Fork in the Road

Arjun's mind raced, his heart pounding in his chest. Everything he had just heard felt like a story ripped straight from a science fiction movie. But the man standing before him—the future version of himself—was proof that it was real.

Rocky placed a hand on Arjun's shoulder, his voice low and steady. "Arjun, this isn't just a story. This is your life now. The Temporal Guard will come for me soon, just like they came for the First Rocky. I have lived my life and am prepared to die because today I will die. And when they do come, you'll have a choice to make: to walk away, or to take the watch from my corpse and rewrite your destiny. I won't lie to you—it's a dangerous path, filled with risks and sacrifices. But it's also a chance to become something more. To break free of the life you've always felt trapped in."

Arjun swallowed hard, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. "What if I don't want to take it? What if I just want to live my ordinary life?"

Rocky smiled faintly. "Then you'll go back to your life, just as it is. And there's nothing wrong with that. But if you've ever felt like you were meant for something greater... now's your chance."

As Rocky's words hung in the air, a faint rumble echoed from above. The sound of heavy boots and mechanical hums grew louder, closer. The Temporal Guard was coming.

Rocky turned to Arjun, his expression resolute. "Time's almost up. What will you do, Arjun?"

Arjun, still overwhelmed by the chaos of the situation, had one last question burning in his mind. He hesitated for a moment, then asked, "You said the First Rocky told you he lived for 205 years, but you just said you've only lived for 185 years. Why is there a 20-year gap? What's the difference between his story and yours?"

Rocky's face shifted, his grin softening into a more reflective expression. He crossed his arms and sighed, as though grappling with the complexity of the answer. "Time travel isn't a game, Arjun. It's no joke. When you start breaking the rules of time, when you're constantly rewriting history, the timeline doesn't just sit there like a stone. It's fluid, chaotic. Every action, every small decision, ripples through the continuum. It might not seem like much at first, but over years—decades—those small changes add up."

Arjun frowned, still trying to wrap his head around it. "So, you're saying the timeline... changed? Because of what you did?"

Rocky nodded. "Exactly. Think of it like this: the First Rocky told me his story, and I tried to follow it as closely as I could. But I'm not him. I made different choices along the way—maybe not big ones, but small, discrete actions. A word here, a decision there. It's like walking down a forest path: even if you're trying to retrace someone's footsteps, your own steps will never fall in exactly the same places."

Arjun's eyes widened. "So those small changes... they shaved off 20 years of your life?"

Rocky smirked faintly. "Maybe. Or maybe I just burned out faster. I lived hard, Arjun—sometimes too hard. The point is, the timeline is never static. What I've done in the past 185 years has shifted things just enough that my story turned out differently than the First Rocky's. And if you take the watch and start your journey, your story will be different from mine. You might live longer than me. Or shorter. Who knows?"

Arjun's throat tightened. "Doesn't that scare you? Knowing you've lost 20 years, knowing I might lose even more?"

Rocky's grin returned, sharp and unapologetic. "Scare me? Arjun, I've lived 185 years as an Alpha. That's 185 years of adventures, victories, love, and excitement—far more than the ordinary life I left behind. If I died tomorrow, I'd still say it was worth it." He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a near whisper. "The real question is, how much are you willing to risk? How much are you willing to lose... for a chance to truly live?"

Arjun still worried to do this all alone if this version of Rocky dies. Then Arjun asks can't it be possible that we both fight together and both survive and you teach me the cool ways of being an Alpha. Can't we both try to get out of here alive. To this Rocky replied, "No. It cannot happen. One of us has to die today. It is written. This cannot change. Of all the faults and tricks which we can do to change time, somethings remain constant and one of us dying tonight is that constant. So, my time has come, I will die today and you live for next hundreds of years being an alpha and then similar to me, you pass the torch to next Arjun". Arjun was trying to soak all this information and was really scared of what will happen next.

Arjun's heart pounded as the sound of the Temporal Guard's approach grew louder. The future, wild and uncertain, loomed before him. One decision, one moment, could change everything—not just for himself, but for the timeline itself.

Rocky stood tall, watching Arjun intently. "So, Arjun," he said, his tone calm but resolute. "Let's see how long you manage to live."