Chapters 4 and 4.5

Chapter 4: Here We Go Again! Time Travel's Unintended Consequences!

Image description: A panel showing Renegade Liberty starting to revert back to her normal form; her weapon is in front of her and about to revert to its normal form first
Image description: Two panels showing Renegade Liberty reverting back to her normal form; the first panel shows her hairstyle returning to her normal form and the second shows her as a silhouette

Pistol Star Supercharge started to return to its normal form before Renegade Liberty started to return to her normal form as Susana. After a few moments, Susana was back to her normal form, and Pistol Star was in its pocketwatch form again, which she held in one of her hands.

After all was over, the queen stepped out from behind the door. She had a pale complexion with short blonde hair that had two wavy purple streaks in it, and she had bright green eyes.

She was wearing a light purple dress with white buttons, white gloves and a light yellow bow, and she wore her royal cape which was red with white trim over it.


Image description: The queen, Etheldreda, stepped out from behind the door and is curious to see who was there

"Excuse me, but did you see that mysterious mage? We wished to thank her for her heroism and invite her to a celebratory banquet!"


Image description: A back view of Renegade Midnight Conductor as her hair blows in the wind

Renegade Midnight Conductor and Susana were standing near the door. "She left as quickly as she appeared." Midnight Conductor said.

"That's a pity. We will throw it in her honor!" The queen said. "As witnesses to her showdown against them, you're both invited!"

"Thank you, your majesty!" Susana and Midnight Conductor said in unison. Their eyes widened in excitement at the celebration and the wonderful food they'd find at a banquet!


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Image description: An establishing shot of the front of the palace at sunset

The next evening, the banquet was ready! The staff planned and worked around the clock to coordinate everything on short notice without skimping out on quality!

"Yesterday morning, our country almost fell to the demons and their followers. Their faction would've assassinated us and taken over, plunging these lands into years of death, destruction and despair, but we give our thanks to a time traveler and a mysterious mage who drove them away." The king said in his opening speech to the banquet.


Image description: The king and queen are seated next to each other at the celebratory banquet

He was seated next to the queen; he had a pale complexion and was wearing military-style uniform that was white with a green collar and front with gold buttons, gold and purple epaulettes with a purple sash that had a large cut diamond on it. He wore his crown.

"This a shame some of our honored guests could not attend, but two of the Magical Renegades are here. They proved they are on our side for the people and use their powers for good! They are deserving of great respect!" The queen said.

"This is a royal decree! We regret supporting our predecessors' actions and beliefs! And you should too!" The king declared.

Their declaration was bold and controversial. As among the most powerful and elite of the classical mages of the country, their words carried tremendous weight.

Their say was absolute, but they still could've feared backlash and a revolution from classical mages they lost the loyalty of, but all of the guests applauded the declaration.

"I knew when they'd attack and told Liberty about this." Midnight Conductor explained. She was wearing a black rococo-inspired gown that had green and blue frills around the collar and sleeves.

Liberty was wearing a blue gown that bore some resemblance to her mage outfit.

"I wouldn't have known this without you. You deserve credit too!" Liberty told her. "She told me I could become a mage powerful enough to stop them. I took up her offer for that fight to save us all. She had proof of what would've happened- or originally happened." She continued.

Her speech was inspiring and continued with a confident boast!

"They're blowhards! When they saw my might, they ran away afeared! They declared revenge, but we'll be there to stop them when they show up!"

The party at the table erupted into applause!


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Image description: A retro anime-style panel showing Renegade Midnight Conductor and Renegade Liberty posing against a backdrop that has the Magical Renegades insignia, and the team's flower symbol, a clematis behind them

As part of the Magical Renegades, Liberty and Midnight Conductor were vigilantes who fought the Minions of Nemesis when they were spotted and when they were reported.

As their regular selves, they were two of the community organizers, helping to maintain order and cooperation among the people. The king and queen abdicated but many in the former royal family volunteered as community organizers. An era of peace and prosperity was ushered!

It lasted for 3 years though. One day in 1887, it fell apart.

Susana and Aurora were on the run through a city square. They hid behind a nearby barn.

"Why are they so ungrateful?! Why did they turn against us now?!" Aurora complained.

"They reckon we have too much power and that we're not sharing it with them!" Susana explained. "Why haven't we initiated anyone after me? Is there a limit?"

Aurora sighed. "I'm already in enough trouble." She pulled out a shiny black card from one of her belt pockets. "The authorities in the Academy for Time Travel don't know what I've done here as Renegade Midnight Conductor, but they know that my regular self has been here for 3 years straight changing the past by working with you.

Susana looked at the card. It showed the badge of the Academy for Time Travel, and Aurora's ranking insignia which indicated she was a 9th year student.

Image description: Susana and Aurora are behind a green wooden building. Susana steps away, closer to the camera

"For your safety, you need to get back to your present time." Susana dejectedly said. She took a few steps ahead.

"Why? What about you and the other Magical Renegades?" Aurora worried.

"We can defend ourselves and stop this from being a bloodbath. Before you showed up, I was involved in a power struggle that erupted on this very day." Susana said as she turned towards Aurora again.

It dawned on her what Susana was referring to.

"Is she referring to-- she is! It didn't happen the same way, but this conflict could be The Great Power Struggle all over again!" Aurora thought.

In the original timeline, The Great Power Struggle erupted shortly after the Minions of Nemesis leader was assassinated. It was a short but bloody civil war between Susana and her followers vs. the remaining Minions of Nemesis members vs. the royal family survivors and their supporters for how the country would be ruled.

Image description: A close-up of Susana who looks alarmed

"Ack! They're coming closer! You must cut and run now!" Susana warned, but she wanted to leave with some other parting words. "Before you go I want to say-- you helped me save so many lives, which I never thought I could do!" Her voice started to tremble. "Despite all the challenges, the past 3 years have been the best times of my life!"


Image description: Aurora begins to run away while she and Susana cry

Aurora began to run, following Susana's warning while silently crying. Those past 3 years were some of the best for Aurora too, but circumstances were forcing her to leave. She briefly looked back but had to keep running.


Image description: Aurora looks back while running, with a tear from one of her eyes
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Chapter 4.5: No Looking Back! Run Away, Run Away...

Not having enough power left to teleport away, let alone warp through time, Aurora could only keep running. Looking back would only slow her down.


Image description: A mid-level shot of Aurora running towards the camera

"How are you and the other Renegades doing without me? You're all plenty strong. You can handle this, but I worry..." She thought while she ran.

"I'll be going more than 100 years in the future. Will your powers let you live past the human lifespan? Will we meet again, or will you have successors that you can trust your powers to? These are great unknown. I can only leave this to fate, and your choices."

By the side of a desolate road, she found the perfect thing to help her, and her eyes widened in excitement.

She found a time machine that took the form of a carriage. Time travelers are specialized mages with the ability to manipulate time. The time machines also exist and can be used by anyone. They're very carefully regulated by the Academy for Time Travel. Except for the machine she found. It was conveniently all alone with no user in sight!


Image description: Close-up of the control panel

When she looked around at the control panel in front of the driver's seat, she activated it and searched for the module that'd load the user data, but the display read "Warning: No data module detected."

This was a great opportunity! "The module that records and sends data to the Academy has been removed. Was the owner of this machine going to decommission it? Heheheh... Leaving it out is bad for the owner and the Academy, but perfect for me!"


Image description: Aurora seated on the driver's seat of the carriage with a time machine

She climbed up onto the driver seat. "Flux capacitor operational! Controls configured and horse operational! I'm good to go--" She thought, but her thoughts were interrupted by a clamoring noise in the distance. "Oh no... What's that I hear?!..."

It sounded faint but was getting louder.


Image description: A close-up of Aurora yelling

"AAAAAUGH! Dang angry mob! They caught up?!" She shouted. She gook the reins and moved them forward. "Giddy up, horsey! I'm going to the futur-- The present-- Outta here!!"


Image description: The speedometer on the carriage

The carriage started to move. The dial on the speedometer increased. It went only up to 40, but that's all she needed. It approached 30... 32... 35... 37...

"Hey you! If all of you back here can hear this, when this reaches 38 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious s***!" She loudly taunted.


Image description: The back view of the carriage, which blazed a trail of fire and scorched the dirt trail behind it!

When the speedometer hit 38 miles per hour, a flame trail emerged behind the carriage and the carriage sped up more into a time portal that opened up ahead!

The portal was a deep blue with a rainbow spiral. Aurora drove the carriage into the portal where it closed.


Image description: A close-up of the time portal
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