rUKAAAAAA TO HELL AND BACK BY THEJILLYFISH IS FUCKING AWESOMEYOU SHOULD READ IT WHEN YOU HAVE FREE TIME I ENDED UP SCREAMING SO MUCH OH MY GOD
OMGGGGGGGGGGGGG SO YOU’RE LIKE THE SECOND OR THIRD PERSON WHO TOLD ME THIS AND IT IS TOTALLY IN MY TO READ LIST ahahahaha XD I will get to it when i have time :3 I liked the other two fics that people recommended me, so I can’t wait to read everything else that the durarara fandom has 8DDDD
For anyone wanting to read the other 3 parts, just click 'the inventor's memories' tag below. It should redirect you to all the parts so you can experience the entire story.
They tumbled down into the dark room. A clang of metal rang in the air as Robert tried to push all of his spare invention parts around so he could get up. At least, Robert hoped they were spare invention parts. Truthfully, it was much too dark to see.
“Mr. Morrison?” Ivy whispered. Robert cleared his throat. “I’m here.”
“Would you get off the floor?” she replied worriedly. Robert looked down at his clearly standing legs. “Um, I did.”
There was a long period of silence. Then, Ivy started to stutter. “T-then who is that person t-there?”
Robert smashed his hand against the wall until his hand felt the light switches. He quickly flipped them on, and they both screamed.
Lying among a bed of twisted metal, Melissa was sprawled on the ground. Her mousy brown hair was sprayed over her face, her eyes closed peacefully. Robert rushed to her. “Still breathing,” he mumbled, his hand firmly on the base of her thumb. “Though it’s really uneven.”
Ivy started to hyperventilate. “How’d she get here?! She’s supposed to stay in her own time!”
Robert shook his head. “I don’t know. But I suspect it’s because of this-” He held up the tiny chain holding the watch that Melissa had given them. “Another weird, rare metal. Messes with time,” he muttered. “But it’s okay, we can just set the time machine to back then, and transport her back-”
“Uh, Mr. Morrison!” Ivy squealed as she nudged the time machine uncertainly- or at least what remained of it. For what Robert thought was the ‘scrap invention pieces’ was actually the invention he needed. The time machine.
It was clearly broken. Most of it was intact, but part of it were strewn over the floor. The display faintly glowed, half-alive, and the machine sparked randomly.
The door suddenly burst open as the secretary gasped. “Robert-Mr. Morrison! What- who-” She peered closer. “...is that Melissa?”
Robert wrung his hands frantically. “The machine malfunctioned, and now it’s broken.”
The woman looked pale. Robert grimaced and looked back at Melissa. “What to do, what to do...”
Eleanor laughed nervously. “Wait, I have an idea! Can’t you can just build a new one? As long as you transport her back to the exact time she left, we have unlimited time, right?”
He cast a look at Melissa’s heaving chest. Her hands had started to shake. “And I think the time machine messed with her body. She won’t last very long here,” he lamented.
“Wait!” Ivy cried out. She pointed at the machine. “I think it still works.” Her hands traced the glowing blue display. “The screen says it’s still ready to warp.”
Robert examined the display. “It does,” he said wondrously. Then, he peered closer. “Oh, no.” He mashed the buttons and ran a hand through his hair. “Oh no. Oh no.”
He glanced at Melissa, her eyes now squeezed shut. She groaned, her mind still somewhere else. He turned back to the machine. “It’s stuck.”
“Huh?” Ivy kneeled next to Robert as he pointed to the display. “The date won’t change,” he explained. “It’s stuck here forever.” He mashed more buttons for no effect.
“What date is it stuck at?” Eleanor asked cautiously. Ivy glued her eyes to the display, willing it to change, but...
“June 2, 2004,” Ivy finally said. Her eyes filled with fear. “Just a year before I was born,” she said, looking down at Melissa’s present. Robert’s eyes fogged as his mind tried to work at a million miles per hour. He had just made a connection, a realization that screwed his mind. He looked at Melissa. Perhaps she had not purposely disappeared from his life 25 years ago. Maybe, they, Robert and Ivy, had been the ones who had taken her...and dropped her off, many years later...
He grabbed the time machine and flipped the safety. Ivy looked at him incredulously. “What are you doing?” she cried.
He gently put Melissa’s hand on the machine, and pointed at the severed plug across the room, a few feet from the outlet. “Doing what has to be done,” he said grimly. “Ivy, plug the machine in.”
“Wait- but it’s 2004!” Ivy protested. “We’re sending her in over 10 years after she disappeared!” Robert shook his head. “It’s the only way we have to save her,” he said simply. “Now Ivy, plug the machine in. We don’t have a lot of time.”
He looked at Melissa, who looked like she was almost sleeping. But her chest went up so irregularly and jarringly Robert could tell she was in pain. Her eyes darted back and forth through her closed eyelids. It was almost like she was in a nightmare.
Ivy held her breath as she quickly jabbed the plug in. Stumbling back, she cried out as a blinding flash filled the room once again. This time, however, Robert didn’t feel the tug of his body transporting through space and time. He was clearly anchored to the ground. But Melissa...she glowed whiter than the light itself. It embodied her, shining through from inside her body and spreading through every inch of her skin. She was like a gas, now- nearly palpable but quickly whisking away. All Ivy and Robert could do was watch with wide eyes as she was vaporizing in thin air, going, going-
Gone. She was gone. Robert blinked, the vanished light still imprinted on his retina. His vision came into view, and he stared at the empty room. She was gone. Back...to 2004.
Ivy climbed out of a bookshelf corner and looked around. “It worked!” She helped Eleanor get up too. “I can’t believe what happened,” the woman said shakily as she pushed up her glasses. “Robert...”
“I’m okay,” he answered. He, too, got up, but slowly. His eyes still traced the spot where Melissa had lay, just seconds ago...
He could hear Ivy breathing heavily. She yanked the plug from the socket and turned to him. “It’s dark outside,” she commented.
Robert checked his watch. “It’s nearly 8,” he replied. He gazed outside the window, where crickets chirped serenely. “Wait...” He paused. “...aren’t you supposed to be picked up at 8?”
Ivy gasped. “Ooh, you’re right!”
There was a knock on the door and Ivy and Robert exchanged looks. Eleanor rubbed her arms as she bustled to the guest. “Who is it?”
The door opened slowly as a middle-aged woman stepped in. “Ivy?”
Ivy whipped her head around and almost fell over. “M-mom?”
Robert rubbed his eyes. But it was the impossible-Melissa, real and in the flesh...just around 10 years older. She was wearing a loose winter jacket and a wide-brimmed hat, but besides that, it was virtually the same. Her smiling eyes creased as she watched Robert, Ivy, and Eleanor stare at her in shock.
“I thought-you-you had-” Ivy gestured wordlessly to her body.
Melissa laughed. “Brain cancer? Yea, I did.” She removed her hat, revealing a wide bandage that wrapped around her cranium. “But I got an operation a couple days ago. I’m completely cured now-but I wanted to surprise you,” she said as she looked at Robert and Ivy, “Both of you. And I knew it was about time you had to go on a little trip.” She lifted her eyebrows and glanced at the busted time machine behind them.
Robert blinked at the mess. If just returning to his own period had messed the machine up badly, sending Melissa back was almost suicide for it. He never really considered the fragility of his invention, but it was definitely not sturdy; scraps of scorched metal lay everywhere. It looked like a bomb had exploded.
Ivy blushed as she stammered. “You mean- you mean you-”
“How could I not remember?” Melissa asked as she pointed at her head. “It already had some unwanted effects on my body.”
Ivy blinked obliviously as Robert did a double take. “The time machine! ...It caused your ca-”
“Op! Ivy, honey, we have to go.” Melissa interrupted, ushering Ivy under her arm. “And Robert, trust me, it’s all in the past, right?” She winked, leaving Robert feeling a little overwhelmed. Ivy looked up at her mother. “Mom, we’ll visit Mr. Morrison again, right?” Melissa nodded. “Of course.”
She glanced up at him. “Maybe we’ll even invite him to our place.” She wiggled her fingers at him. “Anyway, thanks so much for babysitting Ivy, Robert.”
“Don’t mention it,” Robert mumbled, so quiet even he doubted he had said it. He watched them turn and start walking out the door.
Ivy waved back at him as he watched the two figures make their way down the hallway. He exhaled slowly, watching the taller one put her hat back on, concealing the heavy bandages out of sight.
Melissa’s okay, I guess. He mused to himself, slowly picking up the twisted metal pieces of the time machine. But I suppose I always knew she would be.
Among the dull, smoking alloy, a piece of perfect, shining metal caught his eye. Melissa’s present had survived the arduous journey. He picked up the golden pocket watch, marveling at it’s luster and flawlessness.
I don’t think I’ve ever opened this up before, Robert thought as he pried the locket open. To his surprise, inside there was a little note.
Seeing as your social skills are moot, think of this as an excuse for you to find me. Give this to me, and perhaps then, we’ll have coffee after all.
Robert stared at the note for about 3 seconds before springing up. He raced across his apartment and burst into the hallway, a new hope blossoming from his heart.
