legends of tomorrow : Im a Legend Now

Chapter 22: The Paradox of Choice and a Familiar Face

The Waverider hummed with a renewed sense of urgency. The encounter with the Chronos Corps in Victorian England had been a stark reminder that even with Savage gone, their work was far from over. If anything, it had grown more complex.

Rip Hunter paced the bridge, a map of the timestream glowing before him. "The Time Masters, or what remains of them, are clearly still active. Their methods, as we witnessed, are uncompromising. They believe in a fixed timeline, a rigid set of events that must unfold precisely as dictated. Any deviation, any anomaly, must be corrected, no matter the cost."

"Which means us," Sara stated grimly. "We're the biggest aberrations they've ever seen. Especially after taking down Savage."

"Precisely," Rip confirmed. "They will see Savage's defeat not as a victory, but as a catastrophic disruption, an unforeseen ripple that requires immediate, brutal correction."

Adam leaned against a console, still feeling the lingering effects of the temporal net, his skin occasionally flickering at the edges. "So, it's a philosophical disagreement with lasers. Great. My favorite kind of argument."

'The Time Masters. Of course. How could I forget? The bureaucratic temporal fascists. And now that Savage is off the board, we're public enemy number one. This is where Rip's true test comes in. Does he stick to his old programming, or does he truly embrace the chaotic heroism of the Legends? And this is where my 'script' knowledge gets even blurrier. Because the show got cancelled, didn't it? So after this, it's all new improv. Exciting and terrifying.'

Their next anomaly was a seemingly minor one: a famous Renaissance scientist in 16th-century Venice, whose groundbreaking discovery suddenly vanished from history, threatening to derail scientific progress for centuries.

"Gideon indicates a subtle temporal disruption around the scientist's laboratory," Professor Stein explained. "Not an overt attack, more like… a selective erasure."

"Sounds like the Chronos Corps being surgical," Ray noted.

They infiltrated Venice, disguised as scholars and artists. The city was a labyrinth of canals and ancient buildings. Adam, using his enhanced senses, immediately felt the familiar, cold hum of Chronos Corps technology. He also felt a new presence, a more powerful, unsettling temporal signature.

They found the scientist's laboratory, heavily guarded by Chronos agents. This time, however, the lead agent was visible, unmasked. It was a woman, severe and imposing, her uniform sleek and menacing. And her face… it was hauntingly familiar to Rip.

"Eva Braun?" Rip whispered, his face draining of color. "No… it can't be."

The Chronos agent turned, her eyes cold. "It is Chronos Commander Eva Thawne, Hunter. And you, as always, are an anomaly. You always were."

Rip visibly flinched at the name. Adam, recalling the vague memories from the show's lore, felt a jolt. 'Thawne. Reverse-Flash. Eobard Thawne's ancestor? Or a distant relative? The Thawnes have a complicated history with the timeline. This is bad. This is very, very bad.'

"Eva… you chose to stay with them?" Rip asked, his voice filled with a mixture of sorrow and accusation.

"The Time Masters provided order," Eva stated, her voice devoid of emotion. "Something you continually disrupt. This anomaly, the erasure of Galileo's heliocentric model, was a necessary correction. His theories would have caused societal chaos prematurely."

"Societal chaos?" Sara scoffed. "You mean progress! You're erasing discovery because it doesn't fit your little fixed timeline?!"

"The timeline is immutable," Eva declared, aiming her temporal weapon at the laboratory's main console, which hummed with the scientist's erased data. "And those who interfere will be purged."

As Eva prepared to wipe the data completely, Adam acted. He knew from his flashes that the Time Masters believed in extreme measures, often causing more harm than good in their attempts at "correction." He also had a vague memory of a situation where direct confrontation only exacerbated the problem.

"Rip, wait!" Adam yelled, even as Firestorm prepared a blast and Mick readied his heat gun. "Don't attack the console directly! You'll just make it worse!"

"Mr. Stiels, what are you talking about?!" Rip demanded, confused.

Adam ignored him, his eyes fixed on Eva. 'Okay, this is where my partial script knowledge has to pay off. The Time Masters are about control. About subtle, precise manipulation. If I can disrupt their control of the erasure, maybe I can save the data without destroying the timeline.'

He held out his hands, focusing his telekinesis, not on the console, but on Eva's temporal weapon itself. He visualized the complex energy frequencies, trying to find the one that controlled the erasure function. It was incredibly difficult, like trying to pick a specific string on a guitar in a hurricane, but he pushed, pouring every ounce of his concentration into it.

"I'm going to try to jam her signal!" Adam yelled. "Everyone, provide cover fire! Don't let her finish the erasure!"

Ray, understanding his intent, immediately shrunk down and zipped around Eva, creating sonic distractions. Sara engaged her in a desperate hand-to-hand combat, forcing Eva to focus on defense. Mick and Firestorm laid down suppressive fire on the other Chronos agents.

Eva, distracted by Sara and the others, growled in frustration. "Insolent aberrations!" She tried to complete the erasure, but her weapon sputtered, the temporal energy flickering erratically.

Adam was sweating, straining, his vision blurring at the edges. He could feel the energy of Eva's weapon, complex and resistant, but he was slowly, painstakingly, overriding its function, turning the erasure into a harmless temporal feedback loop.

"It's working!" Adam gasped, collapsing to one knee. "She can't complete the erasure! But the data's still phased! We need to bring it back!"

Rip, understanding, quickly assessed the situation. "Professor! Jax! Can you reverse the phasing using the Waverider's temporal systems, if we can get a clear signal?"

"It would be highly risky, Captain!" Stein warned. "We'd need a stable temporal conduit! And the Chronos Corps are blocking our signal!"

"I'll get you a signal!" Adam declared, pushing himself up, his eyes blazing with renewed determination. He knew what he had to do. He pointed his hands at the laboratory's temporal shielding, powered by multiple Chronos Corps devices. "Get ready to lock on to the console! I'm going to create an opening!"

He unleashed a massive, chaotic telekinetic pulse, aimed at the multiple temporal shields protecting the laboratory. He didn't try to destroy them; he aimed to overload them, to cause a temporary, violent systemwide malfunction, creating a brief window. The shields sparked, shimmered, and then erupted in a cacophony of temporal feedback, momentarily blinding the Chronos agents and disrupting their comms.

"Now, Professor!" Adam yelled, falling back, utterly spent.

Rip immediately locked on to the console, and Firestorm unleashed a focused temporal beam, reversing the phasing, bringing Galileo's erased data back into existence with a flash of light. The anomaly was corrected.

Eva Thawne, regaining her composure, saw her failure. Her eyes narrowed, focusing on Adam. "An unquantifiable variable. You interfere with precision, Anomaly. But you cannot comprehend the order we bring. This is not over, Hunter. We will reassert the timeline's sanctity. And you and your aberrations will be purged." With a final, chilling glare, she and her remaining agents vanished.

The Legends stood victorious, but tired. The anomaly was fixed, but at a cost. They had pushed their own powers, risked paradox, and made a powerful new enemy in the Chronos Corps, headed by a dangerous figure from Rip's past.

Rip looked at Adam, his expression a mix of awe and trepidation. "Mr. Stiels… your ability to manipulate their temporal technology… it's unprecedented. You took a monumental risk."

"Yeah, well, someone had to," Adam shrugged, still shaky. "I had a flash. Knew if we went in guns blazing, the data would be toast. Sometimes you gotta play the long game. And frankly, those Chronos turds give me the creeps. All that 'fixed timeline' garbage. Reminds me too much of… well, things that don't end well."

Sara put an arm around him. "You did good, Adam. You saved it. Without destroying everything else."

As they returned to the Waverider, Adam couldn't shake the feeling of the "script" diverging, becoming truly unpredictable. They weren't just fixing minor glitches; they were now actively fighting a war against the very concept of a fixed timeline. And with Eva Thawne on the board, things were about to get a whole lot more personal for Rip. And for him.

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