Far Back In Time

Disclaimer: See chapter 1

The front door of the house opened and Edmund walked in. In the living room, Samael lifted his head and saw Robin and then Slade enter. He got up and walked a few paces in their direction. Seeing him, Robin crouched as he reached him.

"Hey Sam." The baby Apatosaurus rubbed his head into his chest. Robin rubbed his back with both hands. "I had a slight scare this morning, but I'm okay."

Robin drummed on his back a few times before standing up and turning around. He saw Slade and Travis in the kitchen. Walking over, he stood next to Slade.

"Now tell us what we want to know," Slade said. "First, tell Robin what you told me in the car about the Tyrannosaurus Rex."

"Tell me what?" Robin asked.

Edmund took a moment to look at Robin and respond. "The Tyrannosaurus Rex that was chasing you is the only one in this region. There are no others, and believe me, I've checked thoroughly. Slade seems to be angry about this information, but he has yet to explain why."

Robin looked at Slade. "What-?"

Suddenly, in Robin's mind, he saw a T-Rex with spikes on its head attacking a mother Apatosaurus. It landed on her side, its mouth open wide.

"STELLA!"

"GRAAAAAAAH!"

Snapping out of his memories, Robin slowly looked over his shoulder and saw Samael staring at him in such a way that made him look like he knew what was going on. Robin slowly looked back at Edmund, looking upset.

"That monster killed Samael's mother and tore his siblings in half. And today, it tried to kill me."

"Not only that," Slade said, "but Stella, the mother, broke its lower jaw clean off, knocking it out or killing it. But, somehow, its jaw is working perfectly normal, as if nothing happened to it in the first place. So I must ask you, doctor, what have you done to it?"

Edmund's face was blank and calm, like he wasn't aware that Slade was accusing him of foul play. In most cases such as this, the one being accused would smirk and be snide in their response. But Edmund made no such reaction. Instead, he spoke normally, like he had nothing to hide. He looked directly at Slade.

"You already know the answer to that, don't you, Slade?" Slade didn't answer, but his eyes narrowed slightly. Robin looked at him in confusion. Seeing the look, Edmund glanced at them back and forth a few times before looking at both equally. "Funny, I thought given your interesting relationship, Robin would know all about you."

"Shut up Edmund," Slade said defensively.

"I would know about what?" Robin inquired.

Edmund raised his hand. "It is not my place to say. If you really wish to know, then ask Slade."

Robin looked at him. "Slade, what is he talking about?"

Slade was glaring at Edmund, who looked impassive. "Tell him, Slade. You asked me a question that is not in my place to answer. If Robin is to know what I have done to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, then you will tell him. He has the right to know the answer from the man he's been sleeping with. And for the record, I am trying to help you."

Robin glared at Slade when he stayed silent. "Slade, what's he talking about?" Slade still wouldn't answer, angering Robin more. Grabbing his arm, he shoved him around so that they faced each other. "Don't fuck with me Slade! Tell me what he's talking about!" Slade stared at him with soft, narrowed eyes. He soon looked off to the side, seeing Samael staring at them out of the corner of his eye. Robin growled. "If you don't tell me this instant, I'll-!"

Slade suddenly turned on his heel. "Come with me."

Robin was rooted to the spot. "I'm not going anywhere until you answer the damn question!"

Slade headed for the living room. "I'll tell you upstairs. Now come."

Slade walked past Samael and up the stairs. Snorting in annoyance, Robin stormed after him. Once they were out of sight, Edmund walked over to Samael and crouched before him, his knees popping. Sensing him there, the baby turned his head around to him. Slowly moving his hand, he placed it on the top of his head and ran it down his neck. He smiled weakly down at him.

"I'm sorry that you lost your mother."

Samael didn't react in any way. Probably because he didn't understand a single word he said. Meanwhile, upstairs, Robin stood in front of Slade in Edmund's bedroom, glaring and waiting for his answer. The room was quiet for a long time before Slade sighed quietly.

"The Tyrannosaurus Rex that killed Stella, Entei, and Serena survived because-" Slade stopped. Robin folded his arms impatiently over his chest, waiting for him to finish. Slade quickly ran his hand through his hair vigorously. "It didn't die because Edmund made it immortal."

An awkward silence filled the room. Robin's body involuntarily flinched from the sudden pause. "Are you being serious?"

"Yes."

Robin barked out a laugh. "That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard!"

Slade would have face-palmed himself if he was someone else. "It's the truth."

Robin snorted derisively. "That whole concept of immortals is a myth. The only thing close to making someone immortal is the Lazarus Pits."

"Believe me, there is another way to become immortal," Slade said.

Robin wasn't convinced. "Well I don't believe you." Slade didn't reply. He knew this would sink in soon enough. The only problem was, he didn't expect Robin to laugh. "Wait, wait, wait… When Edmund said you knew the answer, he implied that you were immortal?"

"I wouldn't say 'implying'," Slade said, as a matter-of-fact.

"HA! Yeah right," Robin said, seriously amused. "And I'm actually God, trying to show you the errors of your ways."

"This isn't a joke, Robin," Slade said tersely. "I'm speaking the truth."

"Then prove it," Robin demanded. Slade's brow furrowed slightly. "Well, are you going to prove me wrong? It wouldn't be the first time you've tried and failed at it."

Slade sighed. "Then hand me a weapon." He held his hand out to him. Robin hesitated, but pulled a bird-a-rang out of his belt and placed it in the palm of his hand. He then stepped back, watching Slade extend the blades and lift his sleeve, exposing his left wrist. Robin's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open when he slit a giant gash into the main artery of his wrist. "What the hell are you doing? You'll bleed to death!" Blood spilled heavily to the floor between their feet. "Oi, now I have to clean up your mess and bury your—get your hand away from me!"

Slade was trying to show Robin his wrist, seemingly fine. "Look," he said firmly. Swallowing, Robin forced himself to look at the deep cut. For a few seconds, nothing else seemed to happen. Then, suddenly, brand new muscle, tissue, and skin started to form over it. The blood had stopped and, after only ten seconds, the wound was gone, as if it was never there. His skin was only slightly pale in comparison to the rest of his arm. "There, you see? I could be caught in an explosion and still live to tell about it. But, if you still don't believe me, I could slit my-"

"NO!" Robin had snatched the bird-a-rang away from him. The blood on it didn't seem to bother him. "I-I believe you, i-its just…I don't believe it. I mean, I do believe that you're immortal, but-"

Slade placed his pointer finger to Robin's lips to shut him up. "I get it." He lowered his hand. Robin blinked. "Now you know my secret. How Edmund knew, I don't know. I became immortal during the Vietnam War, but no one knew about it except for the government and my sect. As far as I know, Edmund hadn't even been born yet. He had to have discovered the serum that made me immortal and recreated it to inject the Tyrannosaurus Rex, but I don't know why."

"Any theories?" Robin asked.

Slade shook his head. "No, but we're going to find out."

Slade headed for the door.

"What about your blood on the floor?"

"I'll clean it up later."

Nodding, Robin stepped over the puddle and followed after him. They headed downstairs. "Hey, what did Edmund mean when he said he was trying to help you by telling me your secret?"

They made it downstairs and saw Edmund still by the kitchen, waiting. They approached him.

"I'll tell you later," Slade muttered to him. They stopped in front of Edmund. No one spoke for a few seconds. "We know you made the Tyrannosaurus Rex immortal."

"And we'd like to know why," Robin added.

Edmund stared at them both. "Ask me something else for now."

"How did you electrocute the beast?" Slade asked.

Edmund thought his answer through for a moment. "Before coming to this time, I wanted something only I could control, without anyone knowing about it. Since there are no humans in this era, I decided this would be the best place for my plans. I also prefer solitude, so-"

"Get to the point."

Edmond ignored Slade's demanding tone. "Alright, I created a controlling chip. I pursued the T-Rex, trapped him in a circle of fire, and, when he couldn't escape and ran out of oxygen, he collapsed. So I was able to cut his head open and inserted the chip to his brain. The serum to become immortal was also in the chip, so, the first time I electrocuted him, it was released. It spread rapidly through his body, fusing with his cells and DNA. He has no idea what I did to it since dinosaurs are unintelligent. I can monitor his movements with my scanner that you saw me use earlier. If he does something I don't want him to do, I electrocute him to make him stop. Last night, the scanner beeped at me, so I checked it. Three Stegosauruses were trying to fend against the T-Rex, but one lost its life. So I electrocuted him so that the other two could escape.

"When Stella and her children were being attacked, I was asleep, so I didn't get to monitor my scanner," Edmund continued. "If I had been there and saw what was happening and saw you, I would have electrocuted him to save all of you. Sadly, not every dinosaur has been able to escape my T-Rex, so with my car, I would go to the site where he killed and ate his prey and buried the bones that were left."

"I fell into one of those graves," Robin suddenly said. "Just last week."

"Yes, there are quite a few of them. I never bothered putting the dirt back in the holes."

"You could have broken Robin's neck," Slade pointed out.

Robin glared lightly at him. "That doesn't matter." He looked back at Edmund. "The only answer I want now is from our first question. Why did you want to make the T-Rex immortal? And does that tie in with what you told me the first morning? About hoping people would land here eventually?"

Edmund regarded him for a moment. "When I used the time machine, I left it behind by releasing the machine right before I was zapped to this time. So it stayed in the laboratory I gave it to. If someone happened to use it, they wouldn't know to let go before they vanished, along with the machine. When that happened and they found me, I was going to use it to return to the future with the T-Rex."

"Say what?" Robin asked, like he didn't hear him right.

"I want to take Teddy into the future," Edmund repeated, using the T-Rex's name. "You know how much money one could make to own a controllable dinosaur? Once I was back in your time, I was going to make eggs with his DNA and sell them for thousands, maybe even millions of dollars. Kids would have their own Tyrannosaurus Rex as pets. Then they could reproduce and sell them for thousands of dollars. The science community would call me a genius and I could have my own company. It'll be just like Jurassic Park, but the entire world would be the playground, not just a remote place. People will know me as the man who tamed the most feared, misunderstood dinosaur in all existence and I'll be worshipped for it. That's why I came to this time. That's why I'm glad you are here. Not to mention you two, and Samael of course, will be the first witnesses to this amazing phenomenon. You'll also become famous and everyone will know who we are. Teddy will be the greatest discovery in the entire universe!"

Okay, Robin had had enough of this. The more he listened to Edmund, the more he realized he was a complete wacko. The Tyrannosaurus Rex wasn't even tame, as he liked to put it. It was still a killing machine and no amount of electrical shocks was going to make it tame. The second it landed in Jump City, it would be rampaging through and destroying and killing things that got in its way. It would be like a real Godzilla. Robin wasn't going to let this happen. The T-Rex had to stay here, where it belonged.

"You can't let your untamed pet be in our time!" Robin yelled, gesturing wildly with his arms and hands. "It's stupid and dangerous! That monster would kill everything in Jump City before you could stop it! They're not cuddle bunnies, their vicious, killing monsters! That damned thing belongs here, where it should be! Stay here or go back for all I care, but don't bring Teddy with you!"

Edmund suddenly didn't look very nice anymore. His face seemed to contort in anger or rage. "Need I remind you, boy, that Teddy is my property and it is my decision on what I do with him. If I want to take him into the future, then I will. And if I want to leave you in this time for all eternity, then so be it. I am following through with my plan whether you like it or not and you can't stop me. If you wish to return home by tomorrow night, then shut up and let me finish my work."

Turning on his heel, Edmund stormed towards the basement. Robin stepped after him in anger. "Don't you walk away from me! I don't care how nice you've been, you can't do this! I won't allow it! I-!"

Edmund swiftly spun around, hitting Robin in the chest with his arm so hard that he fell back and crashed into the floor at Slade's feet. He helped Robin to his feet.

"Talk back to me again, and I swear to God I'll make sure you never see your family and friends again," he spat.

"You asshole, I dare you hit me again!" Robin shouted, thrusting his arm out and pointing his finger at him. Edmund turned his back on him and continued towards the basement door. "Edmund, come back here! I demand that you reconsider what you're doing! Your plan is fucking insane! You can't possibly think-!" Slade suddenly grabbed Robin and stepped back. "Hey! What're you doing? Let go of me! I'm not done with him yet!"

"Robin, I think you need to come upstairs and calm down," Slade said calmly. "You and I could use a shower after all that running this morning."

Robin struggled to get out of his grip and to knock some sense into Edmund, but Slade held firm. He tried making his way for the stairs. "I'm not going anywhere with you!" Robin shouted. Edmund was long gone. "Especially not in the damn shower!"

"Now, now, Robin, you don't need to shout anymore." Slade gripped Robin's arm tight as he made his way upstairs. Robin continued to struggle as they both made their way up. "You and I can discuss this while you cool off in the shower."

"Fuck you, Slade! We have to stop Edmund before he makes a huge mistake!" They finally made it to the landing, Robin throwing his tantrum all the while. Why wasn't Slade taking this news seriously? Why hadn't he stopped Edmund from hitting him? Did he actually like this idea? "Slade, no, stop it!" They made it down the hall and into Edmund's bedroom. "I'm not taking a shower with you! Let go!"

"Just give me a second," Slade said, entering the bathroom and yanking the shower door open. He turned the spray on with warm water and then shoved Robin inside, still clothed. After stepping in after him, Slade slammed the door shut and grabbed Robin's shoulders. He glared at him, completely pissed off at the older men's behavior. "Now that Edmund can't hear us, I will tell you my plan."

"Plan? What plan?" Robin asked, still angry. "I told you that if you had sex with me again, I'd-!"

"Jesus, Robin, that's not what I was talking about," Slade interrupted. "I have a plan on preventing Edmund from taking the Tyrannosaurus Rex with us when we return to our time."

Robin's face quickly lit up. "Really?" he asked excitedly.

Letting go of his shoulders, Slade stood up straight and nodded. "Yes, really. Tomorrow, Edmund will have to take the time machine outside when he's finished fixing it so that he can use it on the Tyrannosaurus Rex. So you and I are going to steal it from him and get away before he can take the machine back."

Robin abruptly felt relieved. "That's a great plan!" His grin quickly vanished. "Oh, erm, wait. How do we plan on escaping him if he has the T-Rex? We couldn't outrun them, could we? And what about Sam? I'm not leaving him with this psycho!"

Slade smirked. "That's the other part of my plan. Not only are we going to steal Edmund's time machine, but also his car. Remember, it can reach three hundred miles an hour. Once we have escaped and have time to activate the time machine, we'll be home before you know it."

Robin let out a relieved breath. "I'm so glad I have you around. I was so frantic that I didn't even think about that. Great plan! Now, can we get out of the shower? I'm completely soaked."

Slade patted Robin's wet head. "You take a shower while I dry our clothes in the dryer."

Turning to the door, Slade opened it and stepped out, not caring that the floor got wet. He closed the door behind him to stop more water from coming out. Deciding he did need a shower to calm himself, Robin stripped off his belt, shorts, boxers, and shoes and threw them out the crack in the door when he opened it. He adjusted the temperature of the shower while Slade grabbed his clothes and headed downstairs. When he heard the door snap shut, Robin turned and sat directly underneath the hot stream of water. He let it rain down on him. It massaged his aching muscles and helped relax him. Out of nowhere, the thought of taking a bath with Samael entered his mind. Robin had to laugh at that. What a random thing to think about.

Robin suddenly frowned softly. Listening through the door, he made sure Slade wasn't there before leaning back against the side of the shower. With the water pelting him from the stomach down, he lowered his hand and gripped his slowly erecting shaft and started to massage it with his hand. What a way to get a hard-on…