After Alex Ambrose became a god, everything changed. He abandoned his old life in order to enter a new timeline in the multiverse. Why would he give up ultimate power, infinite knowledge, and the memories of the life he knew before? To save Debbie Clifton and Yvonne Wheeler.
That is why he traveled into a different timeline. He risked everything to go back and save the two women he always admired and cared for.
However, things weren't going according to plan. Someone captured Debbie. Again.
It was eerily quiet at the Enrichment office. Todrick could hear every thump and thud he made as he carted the unconscious bodies to the top floor, straight to Lincoln's office.
A single light flickered above two office chairs that sat in the center of the room. He propped Debbie on one, then Mark on the other.
Although the two were unconscious, Dangles spoke to them as if they were awake. "I hope you find it comfortable here at Enrichment. You're spending a lot of time in this office."
Dangles peered around the room. Riley had told him he'd have everything he needed once he got there. Dangles clocked a bag with a few rolls of duct tape, rope, and a baseball bat inside. He drummed the tips of his fingers together. "Come to papa."
He picked up the baseball bat and threw it to the side. "I won't be needing this."
Then, he picked up the duct tape. "This seems a little too cruel." He looked over his shoulder at his captives. "Are do you think?"
Debbie's head lolled to the side, and Dangles sighed. I'll take that as a no."
He pulled the rope out of a duffle bag on the floor. "This should do the trick."
Then, he strutted across the room and repositioned Debbie's head. "Poor thing. You have to face forward. Don't look over there. There's nothing to see."
He loosely tossed the rope over her body. "I hope I don't bruise that perfect skin of yours when I tie you up, Debbie."
He played with the other end of the rope, shoving it in Mark's face. "Oh, no! The spy's afraid. He doesn't want to be stuck in Enrichment forever! Too bad."
He smiled maniacally at the two unconscious victims. "Looks like it's time to tighten your restraints."
Carefully, he tied each person to their respective chair. He triple-knotted the rope, just to ensure that the two wouldn't have a chance to escape.
Once he was done, Dangles took a step back to admire his handiwork. "You aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Lincoln's going to love this."
Then, Dangles' phone rang. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket. It was Riley. "Hello, sir."
Todrick put his phone on speaker. Riley's voice echoed throughout the room. "Dangles, did you secure the spy and Debbie?"
He beamed with pride. "I certainly did. Surprisingly, the two fools didn't give me any trouble. It was actually quite eas–"
Riley cut him off before he could say anything else. "Whatever. Listen, Lincoln got a call from someone. Let's just say a certain ally of ours showed up entirely out of the blue. Alex doesn't stand a chance this time, Dangles. At long last, we're finally going to destroy him."
Todrick adjusted his eyepatch. "Who called Lincoln?"
Although he couldn't see him, Todrick could picture his menacing smile as Riley said the words, "Justin Ambrose."
***
As the day turned to evening, Alex, Christopher, and Tom Sawyer gathered in the living room.
Contented, Christopher sat on the couch and glanced around the room. "Where are your parents?"
Dead tired, Alex ran his hand through his hair. His parents were hard people to keep tabs on. "My dad's been obsessed with fishing, so who knows? He's probably off doing that, and my mother grabbed Yvonne. I hope she'll torture her for a little while and leave me alone."
Tom Sawyer settled into the recliner in the corner of the room. "And what about Justin?"
Alex shrugged indifferently. "Haven't seen him, and it's probably better that way. You know we never got along."
Christopher squinted as if he were trying to remember something. "I don't know, actually. Mind catching me up?"
Sighing, Alex didn't know where to begin. His relationship with his brother was complex, to say the least. "Justin is practically the opposite of me in every way, and I don't mean that as a compliment. Let's just put it this way, he's got too much of my grandfather in him."
That Christopher understood. "Ah, I see."
Tom shook his head. "I remember the first time I met Justin. He tried to run me over with his motorcycle."
Christopher's jaw slackened. "What?"
Tom nodded. "I was out with Alex, and he saw the two of us. The next thing I knew, there he was, barreling toward us."
Christopher leaned forward. "What did you do?"
Tom grabbed Alex's shoulder. "The Golden Boy of Baltimore pushed me out of the way and returned the both of us to safety."
Christopher swallowed hard. "Wow, that's crazy. I'm sorry, Alex. It must be hard to have a rocky relationship with your brother."
Alex didn't want to admit it, but it was hard. His parents always made excuses for Justn's bad behavior, and they could never see past the end of their own noses. Justin stirred up a lot of trouble in Alex's life.
He sighed. "Eh, Justin's Justin."
Tom chuckled. "Yeah, that's what I'm going to tell you the next time you call me to complain about him. 'Well, remember what you said, Alex, Justin is Justin!'"
The three men laughed at Tom's quick-witted joke.
Not too keen on recounting his family history, Alex changed the subject. "So, Christopher, you said when you saw Tom, some of your memories came back. What do you remember?"
Christopher relaxed his posture, leaning back into the couch. "Let's see. I remember that we all spent a lot of time together." He pointed at Tom Sawyer. "And I know you used to be a party animal."
Tom threw his head back. "Ugh, of course, you remember that. I'll never live down my partying days."
After narrowing his eyes, Alex held up his hands. "Wait a second here, Christopher, you're not one to talk. You've done the craziest thing out of all of us."
Mortified, Christopher's mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?"
In a fit of laughter, Tom hunched over. "Oh, my god. Alex, I almost forgot about that."
Christopher leaned forward. "Forgot about what?"
He gestured toward Christopher. "You lost a bet to Louis. Alex threw a party for the super bowl. If Louis's team won, you had to streak across the street in front of General Hospital."
Christopher covered his mouth with his hand. "Please tell me Louis's team lost."
Alex slapped his knee. "Nope. They totally won. You tried to get out of it, but a bet's a bet."
Tom collapsed in a fit of laughter. "Oh, yeah. I had to practically rip your clothes off your body."
Christopher's eyes narrowed. "No."
Tom covered his mouth as he howled in hysterics. "Oh, yes I did. You tried to get away from us, but I ripped your pants in half."
Alex nodded. "I think you mooned half the city that night."
Embarrassed, Christopher put his head in his hands.
Alex chuckled. "Oh, it wasn't that bad. Gosh, I bet I have a photo of it somewhere."
Fortunately for Christopher, before any photographs resurfaced, Flora interrupted their conversation. "ALEX! WE NEED YOU IN HERE! I CAN'T FIND ANY CHARCUTERIE BOARDS!"
At the sound of his mother's piercing voice, Alex's happy-go-lucky demeanor disappeared. He reluctantly stood up. "Excuse me. I think I may have to cut down a tree and widdle a charcuterie board."
Tom's eyes widened. "Good luck, man." He turned back to Christopher. "So, Chris, anything else you want to know about?"
Still hung up on their prior conversation, Christopher scratched his head. "Yeah. Did I get arrested for public nudity?"
Tom laughed again. "Wow, you can take the memories from the man, but you can't take away his crippling anxiety. No! You didn't get arrested. You weren't really too bothered by it. Oh, except for when someone told you Yvonne saw you. You were so embarrassed after that."
Yvonne? He was embarrassed after Yvonne saw him? Christopher raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Tom shrugged as if it was obvious. "Oh, yeah. You totally had a crush on her, but it wasn't like you ever said anything. I always figured you didn't want to betray Alex, but, dude, you were so transparent. You always got nervous around her."
Christopher shot up in his chair. "Me? I was nervous around Yvonne?"
Tom shook his head. "Constantly."
An anxious feeling washed over Christopher, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why. He swallowed hard. "Huh, well, that's interesting."
It all made perfect sense. Christopher felt a connection with Yvonne because he always had a crush on her. More of his memories started seeping back in. All of the times he would see Yvonne and Alex go out, he would get so jealous that he could barely take it. When she and Alex broke up, he wanted so badly to tell her how he felt, but he couldn't do that to his best friend. He knew everything about Yvonne. Little things like her coffee order and her favorite band, which was, of course, Fleetwood Mac.
It all scared him a bit. For the first time, Yvonne noticed him too, and he had Alex's blessing. Could he actually pursue a relationship with her?
When Alex returned to the room, he had huge bags underneath his eyes. "Okay, Yvonne was able to steer my mom clear of charcuterie. Thank goodness. Mom is teaching Yvonne how to knit."
Tom glanced down at his plain, solid-colored t-shirt. "Think Yvonne will knit me a sweater?"
Alex rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up. I don't even think my mom could knit a sweater."
Tom chuckled to himself.
As Alex sat down next to Christopher, Tom Sawyer slowly stood up. "Okay, I have to use the bathroom. I will be right back."
He shuffled out of the living room. His whole body ached as he walked down the hall because he was still recovering. When he arrived at the end of the foyer, he opened the door to where he thought the bathroom was.
Much to his surprise, Tom found a coat closet. "Huh, this must be Ken Stokes' doing." He closed the door. "Alright, guess I'm searching for a bathroom now."
He turned the corner, and when he did, he saw someone rummaging through one of Alex's cabinets in the dining room. Tom moved forward but kept a decent distance between himself and the man.
He instantly recognized who it was.