Artwork by  alexjohnson93

Jumping into the middle of a different story...

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"This ends here, cat!"

Emmet drew his blade, but he kept his secret weapon—his phase distortion pistol—closely guarded. It only had one shot in it, at most, due to the unfortunate circumstances of his arrival in this time period. The less Victor knew about that the better.

It was beside the point anyway. The goal here wasn't to kill or paralyze Victor. Emmet had a Plan A he wanted to try first.

As for Victor, he merely flashed a big-toothed grin.

"I'm pleased to see you again, 'Professor,' but a bit surprised that you're out here. I don't expect there's much paleontology one can do on the open ocean."

Emmet hesitated, drawing back his cutlass for a moment.

He remembered me.

That... wasn't possible! The whole reason he'd decided to try nabbing him in a later time period first was because every single indicator was that the anomaly was not a "real" time traveler. He could only move forwards in time. That fact suggested a natural safety valve: if Emmet failed to achieve his aims with him, he could always try again in a prior time period where he hadn't encountered the duo yet.

But somehow he remembered their previous meeting. As if to shut down every avenue of doubt, he even affected the same western drawl he had in the Arizona Territory, although his grammar had been thoroughly corrected.

There was no mistaking it. This couldn't be a "variant" or a replication. This was the very same smilodon... and he knew.

Victor's smile grew ever so slightly wider as he waited for a reply. All the wombat could do was stutter, "how?"

The saber cat's grin morphed into a grimace. "'How?' You disappoint me, wombat. I was looking forward to meeting the one who bestowed my 'gift' on me. It's clear to me now, though. You're not worthy of it."

If he was trying to push his buttons, it was working, but he had to have patience. Victor liked to gloat. Good. Let him. Sully needed time to locate the real anomaly. Emmet had met the ferret as a thief and now it was time to put those skills to good use.

Emmet shook the confusion from his head. He would have time to decipher this mystery later—after it was neutralized.

"It doesn't matter." He jutted the sword tip against Victor's bare chest. "Your reign of terror is over. You're coming with me, or I'll do what's necessary."

The saber cat drew back a bit, but only instinctively. Not out of any real fear. His smile returned. "Careful, wombat. You'll draw more than blood if you try it."

"Don't make me try, then."

Victor let out a bellowing laugh, such that Emmet felt his breath on his face. "You're lucky, Professor! This is the right day for you! It so happens I've grown tired of this era and its petty conquests. I need a new game. So just this once, in the interests of educating you, I'm going to let you..." he leaned forward, "...try."

Victor was still staring into him when Emmet felt a gust of wind rush past. Sully had emerged from the bowels of the ship holding a small metallic cube with glowing paw prints on it.

And he was doing just what he was instructed to: casting it into the ocean where it wouldn't hurt anybody again.