Amy and Emma were standing in the middle of the pathway that ran through Central Park. In the near distance. The cars honked their horns—loud chatter from people walking to and from wherever they headed. The City was still very much alive, even as the sun was beginning to set behind the tall skyscrapers and brick buildings that surrounded the park.
"You okay, hon?" Emma asked as she reached into her red leather purse.
Amy looked over at Emma and nodded her head. She raised her hand and began massaging her head. She began looking around, getting a good look at her surroundings.
"Where am I again?" Amy asked.
"Why you're in New York City darling," Emma said as she noticed that Amy was dressed differently than her. It bewildered her considerably. She was wearing white gloves on her hands. She held her finger over her lips. "Say, you're not from around here are you, sweetheart?"
"Wait. What? Huh?" Amy responded as she was still processing everything that happened.
The last thing she remembered was being up in the attic, holding the very camera that had belonged to her grandmother. The next thing she could recall was waking up on the paved pathway. Was this something Emma needed to know? Did Amy want to tell her that she was from the future? Sure Amy understood the logic of time travel and how if she made one wrong move or said the wrong thing, that would have a ripple effect on the future. Proceed with caution, right?
"Tell ya what darling," Emma said, "come back to our hideout. There'll be food there. Clean clothing. Anything you need, we'll have it."
"Wait a minute. Are you--," Amy began to ask. She held her hand up next to her mouth and whispered the rest of her question to Emma, "one of them? A Tinkerer?"
Emma reached back into her purse. Amy took a step back from her, frightened and scared at what she might pull out of her purse.
"Don't worry," Emma said, "I'm not the bad guy. I was going to show you this."
She pulled her hand out of her purse. Her hand was folded. She was holding something in her hand. Now that Amy knew she wasn't grabbing what she had thought Emma was grabbing, she became intrigued. Emma unfolded her hand, revealing to Amy what she was holding.
"Now about that question you were asking," Emma said, "yes. I am one of them."
Amy took a few steps closer to her, getting a better look at the ring. The ring Amy was wearing on her necklace began to faintly glow green. Emma's ring was glowing green too. It's almost as if the rings were communicating with one another. Beautiful. Remarkable.
"Side note," Amy said, "do you happen to know a woman named Suzanne Miller?"
Emma gasped. She smiled and nodded her head.
"Oh, you mean Susie?" Emma asked, "Who would I be if I didn't? We've known each other for quite some time now."
Amy so desperately wanted to see her grandmother again. Sure, she would be younger. But who cared. For a moment, she didn't consider the consequences that could potentially have on the future. Would it impact the bond they shared when she was younger? Amy couldn't imagine what consequences would unfold because she was in 1942. She wasn't too worried about it right now at least.
"Can I see her?" Amy asked.
"Do you know Susie?" Emma responded.
Amy nodded her head slowly as she took a step back away from Emma. When she did so, the two rings stopped glowing. Strange? Sure. Weird? Yes!
"Well let's go then," Emma said as she put her ring back into her purse. "Follow me."
Emma and Amy began walking down the gravel path together. As they left the area, they hadn't noticed that they were being watched. Sitting on a bench under an oak tree, was a woman. Lying down in the grass was her beagle dog. Around it's neck was a black collar. A single dogtag dangled on the dog's collar.
"Uh-oh," she mumbled, "That's not good. Not good at all. We need to warn the others before it's too late. Wherever Emma is taking that woman, it mustn't be anywhere good."
As the woman stood up, so did her dog. She was holding his leash in her right hand. She quickly glanced down at her dog.
"We need to hurry," she told her dog, "come on Ruffis."
As the woman and her dog fled the park in a hurry, things back in the future weren't going very well either. Standing outside on the front porch was Frank and two officers. The patrol vehicle was parked next to the curb on the right side of the street. The street lamps lit up the road. One officer was jotting down some notes in his pocket-sized notebook, while the other one was listening to Frank explain what had happened.
"One moment she's up in the attic digging around in some boxes, and the next moment she's gone," Frank stated. "I had heard a loud thud sound as I putting my boys to bed."
"Well that's weird," Joe Madison, Frank's longtime friend since the second grade, said, "what I'm not understanding is where she could've disappeared to. What was she looking for?"
Frank knew the answer to that question as Joe was asking it. He walked back inside the house, and grabbed something off of the table behind the front door. He then stepped back outside onto the porch to show Joe what Amy was looking for. Frank handed him the camera.
"Is this it?" Joe asked, "is this what she was looking for?"
"Yes," Frank responded, "it belonged to her late grandmother."
Joe and Frank were longtime friends. It was calming to have Joe here to help him figure out what had happened. Joe was examining the camera, managing to find the small metal lever. He gently pulled on the lever, causing the camera to open up. When it did, it suddenly began glowing a bright green. That spooked Joe, causing him to drop the camera onto the porch. Frank looked down at the glowing camera and tilted his head.
"What the hell?" Frank said.
"What's going on?" Joe said, "I thought you said it was just a camera?"
"It is!" Frank responded.
Three super bright orange lightning bolts struck the street. There were three burnt spots on the paved road. Once the lightning bolts disappeared, three people appeared. Frank, Joe, and the other officer all looked over to where the lightning bolts had struck. There was a man and two women walking towards them. They are all wearing black masks over their faces. If you focused your vision hard enough, you would be able to make out three red lines on their masks. The man pointed over at the house.
"It's here," the man said, "get it and bring it to me."
The two women nodded their heads, but didn't verbally respond to him.
"Frank?" Joe said as he quickly took his pistol out of it's holster on his belt, "who are they?"
Frank looked down at the camera on the porch, and then back over at the two women. He quickly connected the dots as to what was happening.
"I know what they want," Frank said as he leaned over to pick the camera back up.
Joe and the other officer both had their Glock's aimed at the people.
"Don't come any closer or else we'll shoot," Joe shouted. The two women didn't bother listen to him. So he released the safety on his Glock and pulled the trigger, firing his first shot. The sound of the gunshot being fired echoed throughout the neighborhood. The woman Joe had fired at vanished. Orange smoke slowly dissipated and disappeared. The bullet continued to fly through the air, making its way over towards the masked man. The man held his arm out straight, with his right hand curled up into a fist. He was wearing a silver ring with a bright orange gem on it. The gem began pulsing as he projected an orange, transparent forcefield in front of him. And just in the nick of time too. The bullet hit the forcefield, causing it to ripple and absorb the impact of the bullet.
"Uh-oh," Joe said as he quickly turned around. He lowered his pistol, but saw a woman standing behind Frank. Joe pointed at the woman, his had shaking. Frank turned around, still holding the camera in his hand.
"You have something that belongs to me," the woman said.
"You mean belongs to me, not you, right?" Frank questioned.
"Just give it to me and I'll leave your boys be," the woman threatened, "they look so cute sleeping. Do the right thing and give me the camera."
Frank hesitated to act. Should he give the camera to the woman? Or should he keep it for himself? Carl and James meant the world to him. More than you know. But he decided to take a risk, potentially putting his sons in danger.
"Ya know what?" Frank said, "I'm going to keep it."
"Don't be a fool," the woman said, "you're no match for us. Those guns won't do you any good. You've just seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we're capable of."
"I've fought worse and stopped worse than you," Frank mentioned as he took one step back from the woman, holding the camera behind his back.
"Don't do it!" The woman warned.
Frank then turned around and began running away, leaping over the wooden railing and onto the front lawn. Joe dropped his gun, and grabbed his baton. He swung it, to only miss hitting the woman entirely. Instead, the woman looked at him, tilting her head considerably. She pointed directly at Joe.
"You're starting to become a pain in the ass!" She said. "Move!"
Joe shook his head and held his baton out. The woman scoffed.
"Not happening," Joe said as his partner held the barrel of the gun up to her head. She froze, not daring to even move a single muscle. Joe faintly smiled. "I think you're outmatched, not us!"
"Am I?" She questioned.
She punched Joe's partner in the chest as hard as she could. He went flying backwards through the air, falling back down onto the street. He slammed right into the side of a small four door car. His head slumped to the right as blood began dripping out of his nose and onto his uniform. Joe looked over at him in terror. He looked back over at the woman. She spun around, extending her leg out straight. Joe was thrown off balance falling back onto the porch. He was still holding his baton. The woman stared down at him.
"Who even are you people?" Joe asked.
Instead of responding, she held the glock in her right hand. She held her arm out, pulling the safety trigger back on the gun. She rested her pointer finger on the trigger and began pressing it. But just before she could fire a single shot, a man came slamming down onto the ground in the front yard. He was wearing green pants, a yellow shirt, and was wearing a red cape. His cape flapped around as the wind blew. He looked over at the woman.
"You're trespassing in this timeline," the man said.
"Shockwave!" The woman said, "Hey buddy. How've you been? Good I hope." She quickly hid the gun behind her back. Joe got back up onto his feet and took a few steps away from the woman, holding his baton out in front of him.
"You know why I'm here," Shockwave responded, "before I do something I'll regret later, I'm gonna give you thirty-seconds to leave. The time's ticking."
Shockwave looked over to his right, and then to his left. Frank was seen standing on the porch at his neighbor's house, watching the scene playout. Suddenly, Shockwave could hear two young children crying and screaming. He traced those sounds to an upstairs window. He flew up to the window, smashing through it. He landed inside of James and Carl's bedroom.
"WOAH!" James shouted, "Who are you?"
Shockwave turned his head to look at the boys. Bits and shards of glass were scattered all over the floor of the bedroom. Shockwave smiled.
"A friend," he responded, "a good guy."
Shockave walked over to them and picked both of them up at the same time. He flew back over to the windowsill and out of their bedroom. He slowly flew back down onto the front lawn. He set the boys down, rubbing their heads and making their hair messy.
"Go to your father," Shockwave instructed the boys to do, "don't come back over here until it's safe."
"Be careful," James said, "these people are powerful people."
"No one is more powerful than I," Shockwave responded as he turned around. But when he did, he could see the two woman running back over to the man. Once they were close enough to the man, he raised his hand up into the air. Three bright orange lightning bolts struck the ground. They were gone.
"Fools!" Shockwave said.
Frank came running back over to Carl and James. He ran up to them, and got down onto his knees. The boys ran over to him, holding their arms out. Frank began to get emotional. They all hugged for a moment or two.
Joe ran over to his partner, getting down onto his knees. Joe grabbed his arm and began feeling around for a pulse. When he couldn't find one, he began to panic. He pressed the button down on his radio.
"Officer down," Joe said, "we have an officer down. Again, we have an officer down. Requesting emergency services immediately. We're located on BridgeWater Ave."
After he announced that his partner, a female voice began talking back. Joe went back to keep trying to find a pulse. Still nothing. The entire neighborhood witnessed the fight unfold. Almost everyone was standing outside on their front porches, or standing in their front yard. Some people were even recording everything that had happened.
"Is he okay?" Shockwave asked Joe, "does he have a pulse?"
Joe turned his head and looked up at Shockwave. He shook his head. Shockwave noticed Joe was trying to hide his true emotions. He feels sorry for Joe. But then, an idea came to mind.
"I may be able to help him," he told Joe, "may I?"
Joe looked away from him and then looked over at his partner. He clenched his hand tight as he held his partners hand. Joe gently set his arm back down and got back up onto his feet and took a few steps back. Shockwave approached Joe's partner and kneeled down. He rubbed his hands together a few times and then closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, his hands glowing a dark blue. Shockwave's eyes were blue as well.
He gently set his hands down on the man's chest. Immediately loud snapping sounds were heard. It was an unpleasant sound to hear. It were the sounds of his ribs snapping back into place. The scratches on his arms quickly healed. The cuts on his face healed too. Everybody was relieved that the snappings sounds stopped. Before Shockwave took his hands off of this man's chest, he made sure all of the wounds were healed, and the scratches were treated.
Then the big reveal came along. As everyone stood in silence, they all began to hear faint beating sounds coming from the man. On the man's uniform, pinned onto the shirt, was his nametag. It read Officer Stevenson. Not a moment later, he woke up again and began coughing and sniffling his nose.
"What happened?" He asked Joe, "where'd they go? They didn't get the camera did they?"
Joe and Shockwave both nodded their heads.
"Are we safe now?" He asked.
"Yes," Shockwave responded, "for now at least."
As Shockwave and Joe waited for emergency servies to arrive, Amy and Emma were walking down Sunset Avenue. They continued to talk as they were walking.
"Our HQ is just up ahead," Emma mentioned as she saw the building and pointed at it. "It's that brick building over there. The one that looks like an abandoned warehouse."
Amy found it odd that this building was where the Tinkerer's resided. She had pictured their HQ to be more lively. This building was the complete opposite. They both quickly crossed the busy and crowded street. Once they were on the other side, they all began walking up to the building. When they came upon the front doors, Emma knocked as loudly as she could on the door three times.
"It's Emma," she said, "let me in. Open up."
"Prove it!" The faint male voice said.
Emma rolled her eyes dramatically and shook her head. She sighed.
"Your mother's name is Lucy," Emma said, "now let us in!"
The locks were being unlocked one by one. Once all of the were unlocked, the doors opened. Emma and Amy walked into the building. The doors were closed behind them and locked once more. They both suddenly stopped walking.
"Welcome to the Tinkerers HQ," Emma said, "don't worry, you're safe here."
Amy notice that something had seemed a bit strange about this place. First off, where is everyone? Amy knew that there were more Tinkerers than this. There has to be.
"Where are the others?" Amy asked, "aren't there more of you guys?"
"There is," Emma said, "but they're busy at the moment. Don't worry. They should be back soon."
Speaking of which, Emma's friends have returned from whatever they were doing.
"Emma," the masked man said, "we need to talk. It's really important."
Looking back at Amy, Emma faintly smiled.
"Feel free to make yourself at home," Emma said, "what's ours is also yours. Barbara and Ruth will help you settle in. I'll be back shortly."
Emma then looked away from Amy and began following the masked man.
"You're a Tinkerer too, aren't you?" Ruth questioned.
"I guess?" Amy responded as she took the necklace off. She then took the ring off of the necklace.
She put her necklace in her front pants pocket. Amy slowly slid the ring onto her middle finger. It's a perfect fit. Not too loose, not too tight.
"How do I look with this on?" Amy asked.
"Like a real hero," Ruth answered with a faint smile on her face.