More Timekeeper and Roguefort sequels? Heck yes!
(Part 2 of Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Feta)
Swiftly escaping out of a time portal came a panting, exhausted scientist. Aloe, adorned in cybernetics and their usual future-made attire, made quick work of the rift behind them and closed it up. If anything else were to get out of that place... they wouldn't know what would happen to this timeline. The heated ground beneath them crackled from the cold environment that they had just left. "Ah... this place is... just as hot as I remember..." The scientist would speak between gasping breaths, the mechanical replacement of their eye manifesting holographic imagery as they analyzed the area around them. Lava flowing in the distance, craggy mountains, and volcanoes, dragons flying high above the ground and searching for gold of prey... Yes, most certainly, this was Dragon's Valley. Exactly where they wanted to be.
"Good, good, yes, this is the place..." Aloe would give themself one more moment of catching their breath before beginning a trek across the land they could feel faint seismic activity from. As familiar as this all was, there were no happy memories here to reminisce over. If anything, there was a disaster here. One that they were here to prevent. "They have to be around here somewhere... The tent should be nearby, shouldn't it?" Wiping away the sweat from the heat that their circuitry certainly wasn't accustomed to, they'd practically spin themself around as they continued in one direction, only pausing when they spotted a dark green tent set up a short distance away. There. That was where they had to go.
With renewed vigor, they'd have their legs carry them as fast as they could towards that tent. They had to make it. They had to save the one that was so near and dear to them. Research on seismic activity and researching hardy plants' abilities to grow in this environment be damned! A life was more important than some stupid research, even to them of the past! There was a small amount of reassurance that if this failed, they could just go back again, and yet... they did not wish for the Time Balance Department to catch up with them. The moment they were caught altering this timeline for the better, they were doomed.
The closer they drew to the fated location, they were able to recognize the two silhouettes- one being themself from the far past and the other... Cyborg. Well, not yet Cyborg. The name they held for this past bespoke the name 'Coconut', though Aloe had no knowledge if this was the same as their own. Their footsteps clanked against the cracked stone ground beneath them, knowing that so long as they could save at least one Aloe from this fate, it was worth it. No one, not even the most maniacal or antagonistic ones deserved such an experience.
Seeing Coconut- that sweet, leaf-haired soul- approach the cliffside that they knew would only lead to disaster... Aloe couldn't help but alter the timeline just a little more by shouting with as much air that was left in their lungs: "Step away from the ledge! Hurry!" And though those innocent eyes stared back at them with surprise, their past self more shocked than anything else, their future self took ahold of the other's wrist, swinging the victim away from the ledge and towards the tent. It was a swift and sudden motion, leaving them off-balance. Though before they could even begin to explain what was going on to the other two... They heard the familiar sound of a time rift opening behind them.
"W-wait..." The scientist looked to the cracking ground, then behind them. Staring back at the one that held a sudden fear within them were two that... clearly had a motif of time. The shorter one that was still far taller than Aloe, with long blonde hair and green streaks within it, grabbed their wrist and quickly started to drag them in. "Wait, I- No, wait, please-!!" The opening that they were brought through would close behind them regardless of their begging. Being released and stumbling down onto a checkered tile flooring... Aloe trembled as they looked up to the two before them and their surroundings. The cybernetic plant was in... the... The Time Balance Department.
And before them? Timekeeper and their current apprentice, the latter of which seeming quite conflicted over this exchange- yet held a smile all the same. Aloe could have sworn they saw the apprentice even mouth an apology as Timekeeper stared down at the other blonde. "You're such a silly scientist, you know that? Believing that changing a single timeline's fate is going to do anything useful?" The TBD's Director spoke with a wide smile as they leaned forward, spiraled eye spinning with delight. "You have gotten yourself into huge trouble, you know that, right? Of course. You do. You're smart enough to know plenty of things! Yet not enough to be aware of what would happen to you if you were caught." "I... I expected to be imprisoned for my crimes against the natural flow of time." Aloe would state with whatever bravery was left in their nerves. "Isn't that right, keeper of time?"
"Only partly." A moment of silence lingered between the two of them, though before the scientist could question them, Timekeeper would motion towards their apprentice. "Allow my dearest Roguefort to escort you to where you will be staying for the foreseeable future. Oh, and... We will have to remove those cybernetics, of course! I know that time travel is a built-in feature... and we do not need you doing anything more to whenever else in time you wish to go!"
When faced against the Director of this establishment, there was no resisting. A master manipulator of both time and mind stood before the researcher, and they knew this far too well. "Come with me, darling." The underling, Roguefort, would state with far less enthusiasm than would be expected for someone in such an extravagant outfit. And... Aloe would follow. Once out of the room with the checkered flooring, likely some sort of default location to push and pull things in and out of time... Roguefort would give a long sigh and turn around to the cybernetic one, nearly causing a small collision. The underling seemed... solemn, yet hopeful.
"Listen, I know you meant well with what you were doing. Saving another person's life is... a brave and selfless endeavor, I will give you that. I wish I could do the same as you, but... one cannot do everything that wishes to be done alone. I know that they may be listening in on us at this very moment, but there's never a moment where they aren't, so..." Roguefort would gently set a hand against Aloe's cheek, though their hand slid a bit higher to touch the metallic portions of the researcher's head. "...You. Aloe, was it?" The scientist nodded, bringing a twinkle of hope into the other's eyes. "Yes, yes, you... I have heard about your endeavors in time, and... I had waited for you to succeed once before you were taken. I require your aid."
"I... assume with my ability to manipulate time through futuristic technology...?" This was all a bit sudden, not to mention a bit too touchy for their taste. Was Roguefort going to be this touchy all the time? Though this discomfort was clear, Roguefort took a step back, releasing Aloe from their gentle touch. "Yes- a-and, ah, apologies... I seem to be picking up after that deity with the reassuring touches... Listen- I- I only wish to save my family. I let you save someone precious to you so, do you- do you think that we could work together to get past Timekeeper and have my proper future untainted by them and the moon herself?" "..." "...take your time. This will not be the last time we meet and speak on such things, after all... I have a feeling of such, anyways. In the meantime, I still have a job to do. Come along."
With a wave for Aloe to follow once more, they would obey. They'd consider the offer in their mind, even whilst being led beneath the Time Balance Department, even when the field of electricity and chrono-alteration neutralizing energy coated the only way out... That 'Roguefort' is quite the character, they admit... but if there was a chance to get out of here, perhaps save more lives, improve what would have happened to those poor souls of the past otherwise...
What was there to lose? Their life? There was nothing more to lose from their future except that. Even Cyborg was against them in the future, no matter what improvements they attempted to make. With Rogue's footsteps echoing and growing distant, Aloe still continued to ponder... Though through the holographic imagery of their optic substitution... They already knew their future answer.












