It's Time to Choose, Soldier (BxB)

Chapter 43

Third-person POV

It was time. Victor had run through the calculations thousands of times over. All of his hard work would finally be worth it. He walked into the open lab where dozens of workers scurried all over the place as they prepared for the final phase of their project. To his side stood Elise as she watched the scientist move around. "This is it, Ellie," Victor mumbled softly in awe. The female rolled her eyes as she looked over at the man next to her.

"I hope so. I never understood what your obsession with this was until you explained the power and riches we'd have from it. I gotta be honest with you, I guess that what I find most interesting is your wickedness, Victor. To kill your own son for fame? That's next level wicked," she teases and the scientist scoffs.

"Son? That boy is a literal alien, a product of the creature that betrayed my trust. Luckily the process won't kill the other one. He could still serve as useful as a normal human," he mumbles as he begins walking towards the clear sphere in the center of the room. "The moment Alphonse steps inside the chamber, his body will be weakened by our specially made ray. Since he can't use his powers to deflect it, it will slowly start to burn away at his skin and since his body will be deteriorating, he can't stop us from taking his powers right out of him. It's truly brilliant if I say so myself," he says as he places a hand on the chamber.

"That is... wow," Elise mumbled, unaware of what she could say after hearing the man speak his plan out loud with no emotion. After a moment of silence, the girl speaks up again. "What I don't get is why did you marry the boys' mother if you were just going to end up killing her and your sons only a few years later?" she questioned with a brow raised. She watches the man hesitate slightly before sighing and turning around to face her. She was surprised to see this newfound seriousness in his eyes. 

"Well, at one point in time, I did love her. She was practically perfect in every way. Then the boys were born and she confessed what she was and why she was here. She apologized to me and told me that one of our sons would probably not be completely human and I found it amusing. When Alphonse first threw a chair across the house in a tantrum, I realized that power like that couldn't be trusted in him. When I confronted her on it, she wouldn't allow me to take the powers away. You know what happened after that so there's no need to explain," Victor told her simply and walked past her and towards the door.

"So you did love her but then didn't because she told you that she was an alien and so was your son?" she inquired and Victor shook his head and turned to her once more.

"How can I trust my legacy to be carried on by those that don't deserve it? Alphonse's existence will destroy the importance of everything I've ever done once people find out what he is. Maximus is just the same, they share blood, Elise. You, however, are the perfect child. Smart, resourceful, but most importantly, You don't allow yourself to become swayed from the true goal," He admits, gently caressing her face. "You are the beginning of a successful legacy to the Hathaway name," he mumbles. Elise's eyes become slightly teary as she hears the words that exit the man's lips. As quickly as the spur of emotion came, it was gone. Her face became serious and she nods.

"I won't let you down Victor," she swears and he smiles.

"I hope so,"

Xander's POV

It was funny that we all trained since we were kids to go on missions like this. Now that the fate of the world depended on it, I couldn't tell you if I was actually ready for it. Even still, I met up with Dr. Hathaway, Vanessa, Hunter, and Andrew at the vehicle hanger.

In one hand I held a duffle bag filled with my own tech but in the other, I held another. This one was filled with things I thought Al and Max could need after being trapped wherever their father had taken them to. I was leaning against the wall in the hallway and to my left was Hunter. He didn't take much. All he seemed to have was weapons or ammo. He was honestly armed to the teeth. Clearly ready for war.

Everyone else was pretty much the same. Well, all except for Dr. Hathaway. The only person with medical training was ready to aid us in the fight. So he carried as much medical gear with him as was possible. But even then, I could clearly make out the fearful aura that surrounded him and the rest of the group as we all prepared for what could be the most important fight we will ever take part in.  Vanessa stood next to him, carrying a small bag. Before I could ask her what it was she had beat me to it.

"It's just a bunch of food. Who knows what kind of culinary monstrosities they fed them," she jokes and I gave her a light smile. As we waited for Andrew to get the authorization needed so we could take a vehicle, another person arrives. It was Al's Future self. I tried and knew that I was miserably failing at not trying to display how shocked I was to see him. He approached us, and that alone caught everyone's attention.

"Wow, you guys really thought I wouldn't show up to say goodbye?" he asked and Hunter raised a brow.

"You aren't coming with?"

"He can't. Messing with the past could screw up Al's future. So he has to go back to his own time and we have to handle this ourselves," Dr. Hathaway explained. His eyes trained on the ground.

"So this is it? Well, your stay here was utterly boring. You had nothing juicy or funny to say!" Vanessa complained and he laughed. The vibrations echoed off the walls, in a good way.

"Sorry, can't reveal the future either. That's against the rules of time travel,"

"There are rules?" I ask and he nods. When Vanessa looks away, he motions for me to follow him. I excuse myself and quickly jog after him as he reaches the end of the hall. I go to ask him a question but he beats me to it.

"There's something you have to know before you and your friends rush into battle"

"That's the worse way to start a conversation with someone who is already dreading the death of someone close to them," I comment. There's a pause in the conversation. As if he's trying to come up with the right words to say to me.

"You have a choice on how anything and everything can end. You just have to be willing to make it at the right moment," he says. I stare at him with the blankest stare that's ever existed.

"What does that even mean?" I ask and he groans.

"If something is gonna happen and you don't want it to, don't let it happen," He explained. I opened my mouth to ask for a clearer explanation but I stopped myself. My eyes slowly widened as I processed what he meant. He wants me to change the end of the fight. To change how it all goes down. I notice that his tattoos begin to glow and that he had been trying to say goodbye to me during my little 'aha' moment.

"Wait! If I change the outcome of the fight, doesn't that mean that your life and all of the stuff that's supposed to happen will be erased?" I hurriedly asked. The man smiled and shook his head.

"The life you know about is merely a possibility, Xander. It's up to you and a very oblivious young me to make it happen," he revealed and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.