#BROvert Ops Timeline

[annashadowstar]

I always want to do this so I'm doing this now! How Lay and Toppat!Chris doing after all the CtM. Why Toppat!Chris? Because OG!Chris is alive through all the CtM endings, and so is Kai, heck, she might never notice anything changes. Enough chatting and let's begin...

First, let's do Lay... (Remember, Lay remembers all the resets Henry did.)

Valiant Hero: Lay is dead... I don't think they will survive so... They will definitely try to save as many Toppats as possible but their leg was crashed. So they didn't survive. Did they Reset? They kind of need to wait to catch up on what just happened first then Reset, since everything happens so fast.

Special BROvert Ops: Most likely captured and brought in prison. They will try to escape with their reset. Did they Reset? Yes, all the way back to the ItA or will use it, trying to escape the prison.

Triple Threat: They were captured, and ended up in the Wall, which is where Reginald and RHM are in my Au. They will try to escape with as many Toppat members as they can. And they hate this ending... Did they Reset? Yes, since they hate this ending, they reset all the way back to ItA.

Revenged: They died but were revived by turning into a cyborg. They become the leader of the Toppat Clan, making them the youngest leader. A lot of people don't believe that Lay is the leader and Lay has to prove themself EVERY, SINGLE, TIME. Since Lay becomes a cyborg, they lose their power to see ghosts and Reset... Did they Reset? They can't so they have to wait for Henry to do the resets... which causes them to wait for THREE TO FOUR YEARS!!!

Stickmin Space Resort: There could be two things happening, Lay gets to stay with Reginald and RHM or be on the Space station. If Lay is with Reginald and RHM, they will escape with their father and the rest of the Toppat who couldn't get into the station. If they are on the Space Station, then they begin to help to show where the customers will be staying, kind of like how they used to do. Did they Reset? Well... Yes and no... Yes for being with Reginald and RHM, and no for staying in the Space Station. Even though they hate Henry for the preview timelines, they kind of enjoy this... it will make it better if their dads and Chris is here...

Jewel Baron: Yeah, no... I don't think they will survive this... This poor kid was caught in the laser beam and died! And Henry did all of this just for an Emerald?! They are PISSED!! Did they Reset? DEFINITELY!!!

Toppat 4 Life: Lay is alive in this ending but is having a hard time trusting Henry because of all the preview Timelines. Henry might gain their dad's respect, but he never gains Lay's respect. But they did end up trusting him after... But they are grateful that he saved the Toppat Clan... but not too much... Did they Reset? No, since their family is alive and well, they didn't reset.

Toppat King: Same as Toppat 4 Life but get to trust Henry a bit more easily since they never really knew Ellie. Did they Reset? Nope, they did not.

Free man: They ARE alive but were trapped in space... They could magic borrow but who knows how long that will take... Magic borrows need a lot of energy and being trapped in space wasn't the best place to gain energy. Plus, where could they open a portal anyway? Did they Reset? Yes, they did, since being trapped in space wasn't the best thing they could as for...

Little Nest Egg: They don't really mind that the cash was stolen since the Toppat Clan can just still more money, but what bothers them is that Mr. Macbeth DIED! He doesn't deserve to die... Did they Reset? They think about it a lot but after talking to RHM about it, they didn't reset. (They didn't tell RHM about their power of resetting, only tell him how they feel about Mr. Macbeth's death.)

Pardoned Pals: Lay... again, didn't survive... I mean, come on! They were in the Space Station before it crashed since Reginald tells them it will be safer. Did they Reset? Yes, they did...

Toppat Recruits: This is probably their favorite ending so far. Lay didn't really care much that Henry and Ellie joined the Toppat Clan, but as long their fathers were still the leader, they were ok. They... didn't really talk to Henry that much, but did talk with Ellie! Did they Reset? Of course not! This might be their favorite ending.

Cleaned'em Out: Lay was just surprised that everything that was stolen was gone, just for one night. They will try to find out who stole it but most likely, they will guess in Henry. Did they Reset? There's really no need to reset since the Toppat Clan can just steal more...

Toppat Civil War: Are they allowed to take everything they say about Ellie back? Lay was surprised Ellie wanted to become the Toppat leader but wouldn't allow her since their dad is the leader now. They are not gonna let Ellie take their dad's place just because they over throw Henry! The only thing the both of them can agree on is they all hate Henry... And after what they heard about their fathers, they wish Henry could just die... Did they Reset? They want to, they REALLY want to, but want to see Henry suffer first.

Capital Gains: Lay hates this timeline of Ellie for ONE, stealing the money, and TWO, for killing RHM before they can rescue Reginald. And THREE, It was HER idea to steal! Oh HO Henry and Ellie are NOT getting what they want. Did they Reset? Yes because kind of out of rage and they are NOT losing RHM the second time.

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Now it's Toppat!Chris's turn. Since Chris can't reset, he doesn't remember anything from any timeline

Valiant Hero: I want to say he did survive with some Toppat members, thanks to his power, but he couldn't save Lay, which make him blame himself for failing to protect their sibling.

Special BROvert Ops: I have a feeling that he will end up in jail but escape easily thanks to his power of opening portals...

Triple Threat: Let's just say is the same as Special BROvert Ops...

Revenged: Chris did NOT survive this! He was too busy saving everyone else and searching for Lay then trying to save himself out of the mess. So Chris did not survive.

Stickmin Space Resort: At first, Chris did NOT agree to work with nor FOR Henry Stickmin. He stole the Space Station, stole his fathers' hard work, and just to make a freaking HOTEL OUT OF IT?! Chris only agrees to work with Henry because of his siblings and his lover.

Jewel Baron: I don't see Chris survive this... I think he will just caught in the beam while training some Toppats member or making up a plan for the next robbery.

Toppat 4 Life: Unlike Lay, Chris sees Henry as a rightful leader. The Space Station was launched successfully because of Henry Stickmin. Chris is alive and well.

Toppat King: Same as Toppat 4 Life. He thinks Ellie is cool.

Free man: Chris is alive and can get every member off the Space Station with his portal magic.

Little Nest Egg: He didn't really mind that the cash was stolen since the Toppat Clan can just still more money, but what bothers them is that Mr. Macbeth DIED! He doesn't deserve to die... (Same as Lay, as you can see...)

Pardoned Pals: I think Chris might survive this but might get hurt from this. He escaped the crash but his right arm was replaced by a cyborg arm...

Toppat Recruits: Chris doesn't seem to care about Henry and Ellie that much since he mostly cares about his family and his lover. If Chris gets to go on a mission with them, Chris will definitely think they are really good teammates. They might get alone when they get to talk more.

Cleaned'em Out: At first, Chris was surprised, but then that surprise became anger. Whoever stoles their stuff makes all the Toppat's hard work into nothing!

Toppat Civil War: Chris is PISSED that Ellie wants to become the leader of the Toppat Clan. Who does she think she is?! Just because she overthrew Henry didn't mean she got to become a leader! For Chris, she is just some stranger, some freak who came out of nowhere and wants to take his dad's place.

Capital Gains: Chris wants to get REVENGE on both Henry and Ellie. Henry is the one who captured his dad, and now his father is dead?! The one who allows him to become one of the Toppat Clan?! After the Space Station is in space, Chris is NOT letting them slide this easily.

------------------------------------

That's all! If you're wondering what Kai is doing, she's just doing her own thing, not realizing all of this is happening... So yeah!

[the-markus-stickmin-collection]

Aaaaand the blog is up and runnin folks! How ya doin?

Just a recap for returning people who have seen this blog before this is a reboot of the Markus Stickmin Collection. Join Markus as he ventures in a quest to find his dear old dad.

Before things begin however, I would like to ask the anons, which timeline does this take place? Your choice will affect the outcome of the blog.

Valiant Hero

Toppat King

Toppat Civil Warfare

Revenged

Free Man

Master Bounty Hunter

Stickmin Space Resort

Toppat Recruits

Toppat 4 Life

Jewel Baron

Cleaned ‘Em Out

Little Nest Egg

Special Brovert Ops

Capital Gains

Pardoned Pals

Triple Threat.

[androidcharles]

I'll prob answer some more asks tomorrow (unless I get caught up in a project I'll be receiving in the mail), but in the meantime, because no one asked this, I'm going to give you guys a peek at the fate of Amelia in all the other timelines that aren't Triple Threat. So we all know that because Amelia was accidentally left behind in the Triple Threat timeline, she was able to bring the Toppat Clan back and (kinda) make friends with Charles. What about the other timelines though, hmmmm?

Cleaned 'em Out: Nothing much changes from this ending, except that she literally helps with the man hunt to find whoever might have stolen their treasures. Relationship w/ Henry: BAD Relationship w Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: Charles ends up getting captured as a bargaining chip for Henry, but after he makes it very clear that he's not too fond of Henry after what he pulled w/ Ellie, he's more than willing to help the Toppats corner him w/ some help from the gov't forces on the agreement that they don't cause trouble while this is happening AND they get to procure half of the treasures.

Valiant Hero: In a heroic sacrifice, she ends up, like Charles, perishing in the explosion of the space station Relationship w/ Henry: N/A Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: They say AIs don't go to heaven... but what about androids who want nothing more than to see each other again?

Special BROvert OPs: She ends up hiding away during the mass government arrest and ends up 'joining' the government in order to infiltrate them, find weaknesses and eventually free the Clan BUUUTTT... Relationship w/ Henry: Kind of sees him as an annoying older brother, but still tolerates him nonetheless Relationship w/ Ellie: Talks to her on occasion because she promised her a high status in the clan if she did, BUUUUTTTTT!!!! Relationship w/ Charles: Once she finds out that Charles is a part of the government forces, she begins to have second thoughts about betraying the government's trust. She does grow close to him, only this time it's not as bad as it should have been.

Jewel Baron: Her body gets cut in half when Henry deflects Supreme Dominance with the oversized emerald, damaging her horribly and ending her life Relationship w/ Henry: N/A Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: N/A

Pardoned Pals: She was off rocket helping defend when the rocket exploded, so she swears revenge on the people who dared to hurt her family... Relationship w/ Henry: BAD Relationship w/ Ellie: VERY BAD Relationship w/ Charles: At this point, she doesn't care that he's her father reborn. He's literally going to die because of what he condoned...

Toppat Recruits: She ends up accidentally getting left behind, however she accidentally rescues Charles and haves him held prisoner until she can convince him to join the Toppats. They treat him well under orders from Reginald, but they're having a hard time budging him. Relationship w/ Henry: Sees him as a nuisance, but also a useful asset to get Charles to join the Toppats (considering you know what) Relationship w/ Ellie: Doesn't really see her much as a big sister, but like her dad and papa but... a girl XD Relationship w/ Charles: While he's pretty nasty towards other Toppats, he's pretty nice to her all things considered. While he might not have thoughts of joining, he's grateful there's at least one Toppat that doesn't seem to treat him like garbage.

Stickmin Space Resort: At first, she resented Henry for ruining the Toppat rocket plan, but after finding out that the other Toppats up in space seem to be happier, she ends up dealing with it and joining the government against her father's wishes Relationship w/ Henry: She frequently talks to him every now and again over instant messenger. While she finds his overuse of memes annoying, she finds him tolerable Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: Because she ends up joining the government forces, she ends up reuniting w/ Charles and they end up becoming good friends.

Free Man: She sacrifices her ultra battery life, the one that's supposed to keep her alive for FIFTY YEARS to give the Toppat Space Station enough power for all the Toppats to escape. Right leaves w/o her, leaving her body in space... And putting her on a disposable hard drive until they can get her a new body... than they can get revenge on Henry Stickmin... Relationship w/ Henry: SHE WANTS HIM DEAD Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: N/A

Capital Gains: Of course, she's out for revenge against the two jerks who decided to kill her papa, why wouldn't she be? Relationship w/ Henry: BAD Relationship w/ Ellie: BAD Relationship w/ Charles: N/A

Little Nest Egg: While she's a bit upset that their money was stolen (and even more so that Mr. MacBeth died trying to protect them), she's willing to let it go, as they'll get more riches soon enough. Relationship w/ Henry: N/A Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: N/A

Master Bounty Hunter: Let's just say anger doesn't even begin to describe how she feels about Henry taking her father away from her... Relationship w/ Henry: KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: She doesn't care if she knew him in the past, he helped w/ her other fathers capture, therefore he's going to get GOT!

Toppat Civil Warfare: Ends up becoming Ellie's right hand after finding out that her fathers perished at the hands of the escape pod the former leader Henry escaped in Relationship w/ Henry: Since he basically mutilated her papa and killed both her fathers... I'd say very bad Relationship w/ Ellie: Trusts her enough to have her lead the clan and considers her a mother Relationship w/ Charles: Ends up enlisting his help from time to time to help locate Henry, despite her criminal background

Toppat King: It takes her a bit to get used to Henry being the leader than her dad, but she's willing to accept it if her father is, so while it takes a while for her to warm up to him, she's content nonetheless Relationship w/ Henry: Rocky at first, but slowly gets better overtime. Sometimes she accidentally calls him dad. He never lets her get over these little instances. Relationship w/ Ellie: Kind of the same as TCW, only Ellie isn't hell bent on killing Henry Relationship w/ Charles: N/A... maybe...

Toppat 4 Life: Same as Toppat King minus Ellie. Relationship w/ Henry: Same as Toppat King Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: N/A... once again maybe...

Revenged: Her memories were completely erased after she was recovered from the Toppat Airship debris and she was retrained to be government pilot like Charles. Relationship w/ Henry: N/A, but not good when he was alive Relationship w/ Ellie: N/A Relationship w/ Charles: Since they both have so much in common, they seem to good friends! Though Amelia can't help but feel she knows Charles from somewhere...

And that's it. Sorry for any sadness I might have caused by the way... it hurt me too to type out half of that shit...

[jaytoons7]

Inspired by a post made by androidcharles, I've created:

Jay's fates in all of the CTM endings!

Disclaimers: None of these are canon to Shifted Timeline due to its, Uniqueness. Also, Note that not all of these are happy...

Toppat King: Alive and well. He's beginning to adjust to Henry's leadership and thinks Ellie is really cool!

Cleaned 'em Out: Alive and well? I mean, They're certainly not happy about the stolen valuables, Especially since he planned some of the heists behind them. But he's certain that they'll either get new treasures or find a way to get the old ones back.

Stickmin Space Resort: Alive and well. He's pretty bummed that many of the Toppats on earth got arrested, But it's not like working at the hotel has been bad.

Little Nest Egg: Alive and well. In all honesty, Having one money cart stolen isn't really the worst thing that could happen. They continue life as normal. They do feel really bad about what happened to Macbeth though...

Special BROvert Ops: Arrested most likely. Although considering who his parents are, It's unlikely to be permanent. Their time at the clan would definitely be over though.

Master Bounty Hunter: Escaped during the chaos. Stays with Hazel and tries to put the clan life behind him.

Jewel Baron: Killed. Yeah, I don't see them surviving the blast that cut a rocket in half.

Valiant Hero: Survives. But he becomes too mentally distraught due to the deaths at the rocket to continue working for the clan.

Free Man: Stuck on the rocket. Jay can only hope RHM can find a way to fix the central core, Or else it'll be a while before he can see anybody on earth.

Revenged: Killed. Poor guy got caught up in a revenge plot that they had nothing to do with.

Toppat Civil Warfare: Alive and... I wouldn't say well. He sticks on Ellie's side, But misses when things weren't so messy...

Pardoned Pals: Escaped? The rocket got destroyed and he isn't exactly sure what to do now. Probably moves back in with their parents or something.

Toppat Recruits: Alive and well. Jay would be absolutely thrilled to show Henry and Ellie the ropes!

Capital Gains: Alive. He would not be happy to hear about RHM's death, So Henry and Ellie better watch out!

Toppat 4 Life: Alive and well. Pretty much the same as Toppat King, Minus Ellie.

Triple Threat: Escaped. The ending that's closest to stuff that happens in Shifted Timeline. So I won't say too much yet ;)

[candikin]

How Lexi is like in the timelines (in order of when they happened in LetterTale)

Toppat King

Relationship with Henry: no anger towards eachother, just plain friends

Relationship with Ellie: Friends, but Lexi secretly still has very slight feelings for her, but knows she has to move on

Relationship with Reginald: Dating <3

Relationship with Charles: She captured Charles again due to orders from Henry, currently have a very depressing relationship despite barely talking

Relationship with Sven: Basically just like siblings

Triple Threat

Relationship with Henry: Confusion, after all she trusted him... what went wrong?

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Haven't seen eachother since his arrest, she wonders what his final letter meant and is planning to break out of the Wall and find/help him

Relationship with Charles: N/A

Relationship with Sven: Their cells are right next to eachother, so they talk to eachother through the walls, constantly get in trouble for this

Toppat 4 Life

Relationship with Henry: Skeptical, she is questioning why he resetted and Henry is questioning why Lexi is acting strange

Relationship with Ellie: Haven't seen eachother, but Lexi has a plan to break her out (and fails)

Relationship with Reginald: Dating, but Lexi starts to get concerned due to the recent reset

Relationship with Charles: Very hateful, Charles is confused with Lexi and Lexi feels like she eventually has to kill him

Relationship with Sven: N/A

Special BROvert Ops

Relationship with Henry: Extremely confused, but can't decide if he's just confused or is actually a bad person

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Haven't seen eachother since his arrest, and truly wants him back... but she's alone and knows she can't help him

Relationship with Charles: Despises him and Charles is confused of why Lexi joined the clan and feels betrayed

Relationship with Sven: Also wants to help Sven escape, but knows she can't

Stickmin Space Resort

Relationship with Henry: Hates him, but can't do anything about it because everybody else likes him

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Misses him, but doesn't know what happened to him

Relationship with Charles: Has seen him once or twice, but they haven't talked

Relationship with Sven: Best buds, always tries to get on the same shift as him despite working completely different jobs

Pardoned Pals

Relationship with Henry: Is extremely confused with him in her last moments

Relationship with Ellie: Despises her, and feels extremely betrayed by her

Relationship with Reginald: Dating but... they are both dead lol

Relationship with Charles: N/A

Relationship with Sven: N/A

Toppat Recruits

Relationship with Henry: Plans on killing him, which is why she's always in every mission he's in

Relationship with Ellie: Plans on killing her as well, luckily Ellie joins every mission Henry's in

Relationship with Reginald: Dating, but Reginald is confused as to why Lexi is acting very... off

Relationship with Charles: N/A

Relationship with Sven: Sven starts to worry about Lexi acting off, so he constantly tries to learn information from the other toppats as to why

Jewel Baron

Relationship with Henry: Hateful, very very hateful

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Uh... were dating but Lexi died and if Reg lived or not is unknown

Relationship with Charles: N/A

Relationship with Sven: N/A

Master Bounty Hunter

Relationship with Henry: Despises him and is planning to kill him

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Misses him dearly, but is too focused on Henry to help Reg escape

Relationship with Charles: Killed him after what happened to RHM

Relationship with Sven: Left the Toppat Clan after the incident, but still is on good terms with him

Cleaned 'Em Out

Relationship with Henry: Suspects Henry for stealing all their stuff, and is confused to why he did that

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Misses him dearly, but due to being busy can't help him, so she just wonders on over and over to what his last letter meant

Relationship with Charles: N/A

Relationship with Sven: Helps Sven by constantly stealing stuff without fail, and listens to Sven's worries and rants

Free Man

Relationship with Henry: Is planning to kill him, but doesn't know where he is

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Wants to help him, but currently busy finding Henry even if she took one of the last escape pods to earth

Relationship with Charles: N/A

Relationship with Sven: N/A

Little Nest Egg

Relationship with Henry: Despises him, but can't do anything about it

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: Given up all hope of helping him

Relationship with Charles: N/A

Relationship with Sven: Very damaged, and haven't talked since what Henry did. Sven misses Lexi

Valiant Hero

Relationship with Henry: N/A

Relationship with Ellie: N/A

Relationship with Reginald: N/A

Relationship with Charles: Misses him dearly, but can't show she cares about his death

Relationship with Sven: Constantly cries with Sven

Toppat Civil Warfare

Relationship with Henry: Despises Henry, but is actually "on" Henry's side so she can frame him for murder

Relationship with Ellie: Is slowly starting to hate her, and is planning to kill her and frame it so it looks like Henry and his friends killed her

Relationship with Reginald: Is worried to as where he went

Relationship with Charles: Charles found Lexi but doesn't want to kill her as Lexi was his childhood friend, Lexi doesn't know about this

Relationship with Sven: Extremely damaged, Sven just wants to know what happened but Lexi is extremely angry and biased that she barely talks to Sven anymore

Revenged

Relationship with Henry: glad Henry's dead, but misses the whole clan... was it worth it Lexi? You got what you wanted

Relationship with Ellie: N/A, but wants to talk to her eventually, glad she went missing because that means she has a chance of living

Relationship with Reginald: Heard his last words and though she knows he wasn't talking to her, felt like it also fit to what she was like in the routes. Absolutely devastated he's dead

Relationship with Charles: He found Lexi and she was the only one they could make into a cyborg, and made her work for the government. Lexi wishes he just left her to die

Relationship with Sven: N/A

[thesoulesscollection]

Do you think you could write something about trans pregnant Charles? Just like somethings nice like “I’m bringing life into this world like a boss!” Then something like the mood swings kick in and he starts sobbing.

Hi, thank you for the prompt request and I'm really sorry that this took me a while to post but here it is now. I wanted this to be written near perfectly and I had to redo it a few times. Hopefully you'll like it even when I took a slightly different take to this request. Ask box is always open to be flooded 

I know this may not be for everyone due to the understandable personal reasons. As someone trans themselves often feeling like a fraud I do get the discomfort. Simply put, I wanted to explore it as realistically and respectfully as possible with my own feelings towards it. So make sure to read the tags to check or ignore this if it makes you uncomfortable. Your comfort should be top priority here. 

Tw/Tags: BROvert Ops Timeline, Trans Character - Charles Calvin, Trans Pregnancy, Body Dysmorphia, Implied Transphobia, Implied Sexism/Misogyny, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Supportive Henry, Ambiguous Relationships (StickVin; Can Be Seen As Platonic Or Romantic), & Happy/Hopeful Ending 

'Pregnancy. It should be such a joyous time for any young woman. Where you make another life inside yourself. What your body was meant to do. It's so easy, dearie. An absolute cake walk. You will love every second of it' 

Recoiling back, face scrunched up upon hearing the familiar nagging falsely kind voices rang in his head reminded him of his childhood, something he often hoped to forget like how they used to speak in such a patronizing tone. Even when he fought them at every turn, loudly protesting at them that he was meant to be his own person given his own choices to both mind and body yet they would shout over him about the creation of life, it was to be his duty as a woman, how he shouldn't be a defiant wayward child. Bitterly burying the memories, accepting how he was made to be disgustingly uncomfortable in his own skin. Worse, his body was doing what once he vehemently decided to never do in pure spite, to carry another life, one he never would've thought would happen - it was a startling shock to say the least - yet he didn't dare get rid of it. Finally free from the suffocating confines from his prior life he was meant to be living his best life as the man he desired though he was clearly struggling to keep it together. 

So here he stiffly stood in his room alone, arms glued to his side, back aching terribly while stuck in a body altering dilemma he never got the urge to partake in. As he sucked in a breath, Charles witnessed the clothes for today to wear strewn out on his bed, in his head they were mocking him, almost taking twisted enjoyment over his pain. 

His sharp mind was in a foggy haze. What he's experiencing wasn't right. Charles needed to be in control at all times, there were people heavily relying on him to be the best, so he should be positively happy when in truth he was miserable. This got to be the toughest period in his life, unable to wrap his mind around it. 

'Easy my ass... How in the world is this wonderful or beautiful? This is plain awful' In turmoil, Charles groused, red rimmed eyes close to watering yet stubbornly held the tears back, looking like total dog crap, worse knowing for him he was only a few months in. 

"Nothing is going right" Tossing his clothes on haphazardly Charles was smoothing his military jacket, staring at himself in the mirror, far from particularly enjoying what he saw in the reflection he drawled out his pent frustrations, "Everything is going against me here" 

What he saw wasn't nice, at least in his opinion. Years after he's built the desired appearance it was simply going down the drain. In a very weak, pitiful attempt to look smaller he ran his hands down his jacket trying to smooth down the tight, thin lines stretched across his stomach. The round bump kept growing at a decent pace in size over the weeks, unnaturally stubborn it remained no matter what he desperately did to hide his condition, sorely sticking out on his frame. Unable to keep appearances for much longer which left him terribly sickened at the image.

"Hey? Fine there?" Soon hearing the door to his bedroom open slowly, Henry's voice calls out, Charles abruptly turns around almost defensively covering his body, "You're done or…?" 

"I. Uh… Almost, I guess…" 

"You're sure? You've been in here for almost a half hour? We're both going to be late?" 

Deciding to further shield himself, nobody should see him like this even his closest friend so he shamefully wiggled a little to better fit into his bit too tight clothes struggling to zip up his jacket. 

"I… I.. Don't feel good"

"You don't? Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to call the General for you and say you can't come in today? That's totally fine and I can stay behind too to make sure you're alright"

"O-oh. Oh, no. No. I can't call out. Not today or any day, Henry" Charles quickly reacted, taking any time off, a mere single day even when it came to his job, horrified him to no end, "We can't do that… It's been so busy recently with the missions and all that it wouldn't be fair to you or anyone else" 

Raising a brow Henry appears skeptical, taking a cautious step closer scanning the pilot's disheveled appearance, "You're sure it's nothing?"  

Hesitancy grew though Charles just bit his tongue, simply nodding along as he waved off any possible worry. 

"Charles. You know me, right? If there's something wrong, you can tell me" In genuine concern Henry was hovering around Charles, careful to not cross the sensitive line, cool hands barely grazing across the man's stomach, the main target of the lacking confidence. "I know this has been tough for you. I've seen it stress you to the bone since we found out. So this is only a day off. I don't want you worrying yourself sick over this" 

"But I can't" 

"Char. Tell me what you're doing?"

Confused shock came on Charles' burning face, tilting his head until realization kicked in as Henry pointedly motioned towards his stomach, "Wha-Oh"

"Hm. C'mon you got this. There shouldn't be shame in this" 

"... I-I. I'm bringing life into this world…" 

"Like the amazing man you are like the boss you are, heh. You're doing something wonderful… Don't forget that. You're doing good even when you think otherwise" 

Sniffling when caught similarly to a startled little deer in the headlights Charles nibbled at his cheek, his body deciding to speak for itself no longer keeping the waterworks at bay, "... Stupid hormones… You're making me cry, Henry. I c-can't right now…" 

"Nothing wrong with crying. Let those pesky emotions free. It's true what I'm saying, you know? This is like one of your greatest plans. You'll get through this. You're so tough" 

As Charles wept, after wiping the falling tears freely flowing down his puffy cheeks with his balled up fists, he was relieved to express relief for once. 

[roseverdict]

Unreal Superhero Three

Alternate Title: Variant Hero Timeline

Well, the good news was that Henry's new implants were absolutely baller.

The bad news was that he had no idea if Ellie had managed to get away.

Even if she had, it was likely she thought he was dead.

He would probably never see her again.

He probably couldn't go back to find Charles without his condition and overall health sparking an international incident, and knowing how touchy people in power could be with their weapons of mass destruction…it wasn't worth it.

One man's happiness wasn't worth the world. Not when it was Henry Stickmin's.

(or: oops i tripped and spilled my sticks everywhere! guess i'll throw a bunch of timelines in a blender!)

~

He sat at the bar, tapping his fingers along the wood.

The bartender, used to him after the weeks of his constant presence, simply slid him a plate of his usual order as she puffed on a cigar.

He nodded to her- he'd pay her back like he usually did, with a shift in the kitchen later tonight- and started eating.

The door opened, and a voice he hadn't heard in weeks spoke. His Russian was still a bit sloppy, but he could still make out most of it. "Excuse me, miss. Have you seen this man?"

He turned to the voice and looked at the poster in the newcomer's hands.

His own face looked back at him in the form of a mugshot, with the Russian words for "Henry Stickmin: Reward for Location of Body" visible underneath it and the actual reward amount obscured by the Wall officer's lower hand.

Luckily, Henry had found himself a purple scarf and face mask within a few days of his initial escape, and nobody here had seen his face underneath it.

Of course, he wasn't exactly completely recognizable under it, anyway.

"Still nothing, much like every other time you come in, Grigori," the bartender scoffed. "When will you learn? That man is gone to the bottom of the sea!"

Grigori scoffed and rolled his poster back up. "Rule number one of my job: never underestimate a criminal. Stickmin is capable of a great many things. He could be right under my nose this very second!"

Henry kept from flinching back with the ease of practice.

Grigori turned to him. "Have you seen Stickmin?"

Henry shook his head and said one of the few Russian words he trusted himself not to screw up: "No."

Grigori sighed at the sound of Henry's voice, the digitized overtones to it rendering it unrecognizable to the man who'd only heard Henry's grunts of pain. "Well, if you see him, make sure to report his whereabouts, yes?"

"Yes," said Henry, exhausting both his ability to easily speak aloud for the day and his Russian vocabulary.

"Good." Grigori turned on his heel and stormed out, muttering under his breath about something or another.

Henry couldn't help the way his shoulders relaxed slightly as he went back to his food. The longer he stayed put, the more likely it was that he would be discovered.

But where could he go? His arrest had to have been done with the assistance of someone in the US military, otherwise there was no possible way for him to have been going to bed one day and waking up in the Wall the next.

Still, living life on the run was still better than being trapped in the complex for the rest of his days.

Henry wondered if Ellie had gotten away.

When he finished eating, he stood up to head back to the kitchen, but the bartender held up her hand.

Henry stopped in his tracks. Though she couldn't see it, he blinked owlishly at her.

"You cannot stay here, Henry," said the bartender in accented English. Then, before Henry could bolt because she knew his NAME, "Not everyone here agrees with Wall's way of doing things, but not everyone disagrees, either. You should start finding your way out of here."

Henry almost signed at her before remembering that ASL likely wouldn't work outside of America. Instead, he picked up a napkin and one of the pens in the bartender's little mug and wrote in Russian.

How do you know my name?

The bartender looked at it for a moment, then used the lit end of her cigar to set the napkin ablaze. "Drifter comes through here right after prisoner escapes Wall for first time in over 50 years? I notice things, Henry."

Okay, that was fair.

"I watch news, you know. Two prisoners fled that night," continued the bartender. "What happened to her?"

Henry sighed and managed to force out a quiet, "Escaped, hopefully."

"What, did she leave you?" asked the bartender in dismay.

Henry shook his head quickly. "Not her fault."

The bartender hmm-ed to herself, but thankfully dropped it. "Well, whatever case may be, I recommend you leave as soon as you can, да?"

Henry nodded.

"Good. Now go," said the bartender. "It is on house tonight."

Henry nodded again, this time shooting her a thumbs-up and a hidden grin, then headed for the door.

~

3 weeks earlier

"Ooh, see that there?" hissed Ellie, pointing out at the docks. "If we grab that dinghy, we can be out of here before they even realize we're gone!"

Henry nodded with a smirk. They just needed to sneak over and nab it, and they'd be home free!

He dug through his pockets and found a few brown leaves. These, however, were no ordinary leaves.

He grinned and passed one to Ellie.

"Ooh, tanuki flight! Sick!" she said in that special tone of voice reserved for Excitement When One Had To Be Quiet. "Let's go!"

The pair of them quickly crushed their leaves in their fists, and with the tails that appeared on each of their bodies, they floated silently over the top of the two guards posted on the docks.

When they landed, however, things went wrong.

Henry landed face-first, as his luck tended to dictate. Ellie landed on her feet, because she was just that cool.

Ellie just so happened to land on her feet on Henry's back.

Henry squeaked and threw his hands over his mouth.

Ellie tried to apologize quietly, pulling him to his feet.

The guards looked up at the commotion.

"Hey, you!"

Henry and Ellie shared a single panicked glance and bolted for the dinghy.

"Nicolai, radio the others!" ordered one of the guards. Then, at the fleeing prisoners, "GET BACK HERE, INMATES!"

Henry just shoved Ellie into the dinghy before leaping in after her and yanking the engine cord once, twice, thrice-!

The engine roared to life, and they shot away from the dock at top speed!

Ellie and Henry were quick to take up positions in the front and back of the boat, but for all their teamwork, for all the sick tricks they pulled off to avoid getting shot out of the water, they were just two escapees against an entire complex of jailers who wouldn't hesitate to end them.

It was almost like Henry forgot that last part until the very last second.

There were shouts and gunshots ringing across the water, and their stolen dinghy was racing along at the speed of freedom-

-but then Henry saw a glowing red dot appear on Ellie's back.

Henry's voice failed him.

It was too dark to see his hands.

He couldn't tackle Ellie out of the way without knocking one or both of them overboard.

So Henry shot to his feet.

Thunder rumbled.

Fire burst through his chest, and Ellie squawked a split second later, whirling around to gawk at him.

He managed to stay conscious just long enough to watch her eyes flick between Henry and something behind him, then grow wide.

He smiled and forced out a weak, "Keep goin' 'thout me."

Whatever Ellie did next, though, Henry didn't know.

There came another burst of fire in his skull.

The world toppled to one side before becoming cold, dark, and wet.

Someone's voice was screaming in the distance.

He hoped it wasn't Ellie.

~

In the Present

Henry carefully sipped at his tea, making sure to keep every possible inch of his face covered as he did.

"I thought I told you to get out of town," said the bartender in Russian with a fake lightheartedness that could barely contain her nerves.

"I will," Henry said quietly, the better to keep his voice from distorting. "Think I found something. Just wanted to say goodbye."

The bartender relaxed slightly at that. "Well, then, I hope you enjoy yourself, sir."

"Thanks," said Henry, using the word he'd just learned the other day.

Before anything else could happen, there came shouts from outside, and Henry poked his head out the door to have a look.

There were three Toppats and a safe, and there were two government agents of some kind facing off against them.

Henry whipped out his knife- the one someone had stuck in one of the tables in the bar and never reclaimed- and flung it at the nearest Toppat, pinning them to the wreckage of a probably-stolen truck by their shirt.

His intervention drew shocked glances from the Toppats (and probably the agents, though he wasn't looking their way right then), but then a freaking beam of light hit the two remaining thieves and their loot.

Henry gawked as the two Toppats he hadn't hit were whisked away with their stolen safe, but quickly recovered to take his knife back and tie the third Toppat's hands behind her back.

Only once that was done did he step away and actually look at the government agents.

Charles and Ellie stared back at him, shock clear on their faces.

For a moment, Henry let himself hope that they would realize who he was, and he reached up in preparation to remove his hood.

"Those were some slick moves there, stranger," remarked Charles sunnily, holstering his gun.

"I'll say!" Ellie agreed. "Dude, we've been trying to catch one of these guys for weeks! How'd you manage it on your first try?"

Henry froze up. On autopilot, he fed the TTS engine in his implants the phrase, "Beginner's luck."

No, no, why would he say that? That implies he's the stranger they think he is, not their long-lost friend-!

Henry bit his tongue. He just…needed to find the right moment to tell them. It'd be fine.

This totally wouldn't backfire on him.

"Really?" said Charles. "Well, if you're as good as you were just now, we might be able to give you a job. We kinda need all the help we can get with the Toppats, anyway. You interested?"

Henry weighed his options.

On the one hand, he should probably stay legally dead. He was shocked that tensions hadn't boiled over with Ellie's apparent team-up with the American military, but it was possible that she'd kept what she'd been through to herself.

On the other hand…being a part of a team with both Charles and Ellie was a dream come true. Surely it couldn't hurt to just…go for it, right?

Right.

Henry nodded silently.

"Good," Charles said.

"C'mon, let's get this gal back to base," said Ellie, hefting the Toppat over her shoulder like it barely even winded her.

Charles nodded. "Now there's a plan. C'mon, stranger. Hope you're good with heights."

Henry nodded right back and set off after them when they turned to head back to a waiting helicopter.

This…would be eventful.

~

"You got a name, Purple Guy?" asked Ellie once they were in the air.

The stranger shrugged and shook his head, and the automated voice replied, "Not anymore. I don't really have a preference, either, if you're wondering."

Charles glanced back at the two of them in mild surprise. "Really? Because if you leave it up to me, I'm calling you Hank. Y'know, like that one guy from Nevada me and Ellie here keep hearing about?"

The stranger snorted quietly, the sound as digitally distorted as the robotic voice he used, but he still said, "You can call me Hank if you want."

Ellie found herself snorting, too. "Hank. Yeah, okay. Great idea as ever, Charles."

"Why, thank you!"

Charles flew them home in relatively companionable silence. Usually she and Charles would be ribbing each other over little things all the way back, but with Hank in their midst, Ellie didn't really feel like doing that.

…at the same time, Hank's silent presence wasn't exactly unfriendly, either. Whenever Charles started humming to himself and tapping his fingers along the yoke in front of him, Hank pressed a hand to where his mouth was covered by his mask, almost as if stifling laughter.

The stranger was an enigma, to be sure, but by the time they landed back at base, the sun that had just been coming up in Russia was already more than halfway across the sky. If they were going to be rested up for the big mission the next day, they had to push past their jetlag fast, not worry about what the deal was with the stranger in purple.

And maybe they should actually get the OK from the General to bring Hank along.

That was probably important.

"Okay, I'm gonna go break the news to the General that we've got someone new to help out," Charles said, getting out of the pilot's seat. "Hank, you mind staying in here until getting the all-clear?"

Hank nodded and flashed them a thumbs-up, and Ellie helped Charles bring the Toppat down from the 'copter and into proper custody.

The General nodded proudly as the Toppat was led past, then smiled at them. "Nice work, you two. We were starting to think the Toppats were untouchable."

"Well, thanks, General, but we can't take all the credit," Charles said modestly. "We actually got some help at the last second."

"Oh, really? From whom?" asked the General.

Ellie and Charles nodded to each other, and as Charles headed back into the helicopter, Ellie explained, "He said he doesn't have a name 'anymore,' but we've been calling him Hank and he doesn't seem to mind."

The General's eyebrows rose, but that was the moment Hank followed Charles out into view.

"I swear, it's like my gut is telling me we can trust this guy," Charles told them.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, I feel the same way."

The last time she'd felt that gut instinct, she and Henry were fleeing the Wall together, and Henry had proven her right by taking not one, but two bullets for her.

She refused to let Hank meet the same fate as Henry.

Hank's hand slowly came up to his chest, then he ducked his head and looked away. If Ellie had to guess, it looked like he was probably beaming under that mask of his.

"Mind letting us see your face, young man?" prodded the General.

Hank's shoulders shot up to his ears, and in his robotic voice, he said, "If it's all the same to you, General, I'd rather not. Please."

Ellie's eyes widened. That was right, if he had some sort of cybernetic implant to use as a voice, then the odds that his face still looked like his face were…

The General seemed to come to the same conclusion, because he sighed and nodded. "Fair enough, I suppose."

"C'mon, Hank, we need to reset our sleep schedules before we head out to space!" declared Charles, grabbing Hank by the arm and dragging him off in the direction of his and Ellie's apartment.

Hank made a surprised laugh, this time in a voice that sounded like it had been organic before being digitized, but let Charles yank him along.

"You're sure you can trust him?" asked the General quietly.

"Positive." Ellie nodded. "When Charles and me were going after those Toppats in Russia, all three nearly got away. If Hank hadn't stepped in to help apprehend one of them, we'd have come home empty-handed like every other mission."

The General frowned thoughtfully. "…well, trust worked out well enough with Henry. If you believe we can afford to extend that same trust to Hank, then we will. He'd best not make us regret it."

"We'd make him regret it first," assured Ellie. "Thanks, General."

~

Henry sat on the cot Charles had set up for him and tried to keep from exploding inside.

He really should have told them who he was from the get-go.

Now they were treating him like a stranger. A friendly stranger, to be sure, but there was none of the rapport he'd gained with Charles over infiltrating the airship. There was none of the bond he and Ellie had forged on their escape from the Wall.

For all they knew, he would leave once the job was done.

Henry groaned quietly and buried his still-covered face in his hands.

If he tried to tell them who he was now, then they might get mad at him for hiding it to begin with, to boot!

Oh, he'd really screwed himself over now.

Way to go, Stickmin.

With his cybernetic ear, he could hear Charles and Ellie talking quietly in the kitchen. Maybe they were being too quiet for a normal human to hear them, but Henry's augmented hearing picked up their discussion with ease.

"I know it might just be me trying to read too much into things, but it's almost like Henry's still here," Charles was saying.

"Yeah," Ellie agreed. "…hey, he mentioned you when the two of us were getting out of the Wall, but he never got a chance to explain how he actually knew you. Could you give me your side of things?"

A sad chuckle from Charles. "Well, there's not much to say. We brought him in for a raid on the Toppat clan's airship division, and he actually listened to my plans when I suggested them. Only other person who does that is the General, really."

"And me," prodded Ellie.

"Heh, and you," Charles conceded. "What about you, huh? How'd you meet him? You never really went into detail."

There came a beat of silence, then, "We were put in the same holding cell."

"Woah, no joke?" Charles gasped. "So how'd he get to the Wall in the first place? We pardoned him, and I thought the rest of the world had, too. The enemy of the Toppats is my ally, y'know?"

"He never told me, but from what I overheard of the warden, the guy doesn't believe in pardons," Ellie bit out. "I'd say Henry more than earned his, though."

Another beat.

Charles swallowed. "When…when I first saw you, you were in prison clothes…with blood on them that wasn't yours."

"…and cranial fluid," Ellie mumbled. "The tests got back to me the other day."

Charles took a shaky breath.

"Jerks were aiming for me," Ellie muttered. "Henry stood up in the boat we were escaping in to block the shots. Fell out and disappeared into the sea. No body was ever found."

Charles made a choked noise, and there was the rustling of fabric.

Henry squeezed his eyes shut and forcibly shut himself down for the night.

He'd so screwed up this time.

~

2.5 weeks earlier

The next thing Henry saw was a blonde ponytail and pink glasses.

"Ah, you are awake," said she in a Russian accent. "Here, sit up, sit up- carefully."

Henry did so with a groan, only to freeze up.

The voice that had just come from him was not his voice.

"Easy, easy!" the woman said, carefully holding his arms at his sides. "Your voice is different now, да, but it was necessary in order to bring you back to life."

Back to-?

BACK TO LIFE?!

Henry shot her a panicked look.

"You were gone for short time there," confirmed the woman. "Luckily, I was able to repair what had been destroyed. Would you like mirror?"

Henry swallowed, then nodded.

The woman nodded back, then picked up a mirror from a nearby table and gave it to him.

Henry couldn't stop staring at the reflection that was allegedly his own. Metal covered the right side of his face, and the eye on that side was now a series of LEDs in white and blue. The metal continued down his neck and shoulders, encircling part of his torso and expanding over part of his left arm.

And yes, his throat was completely made of the stuff now, it seemed.

"-water inhalation, and there was frostbite damage to deal with, and you suffered serious gunshot wounds on top of that," the woman was saying when the ringing in Henry's ears died down. "Still, you pulled through surgery in record time. Your will to live is astounding!"

The memories of what he'd just been doing came rushing back, and Henry gasped, stumbling for the door.

ELLIE!

"Oh-! What did I just say?" the woman said, exasperated.

Henry could only gawk at the open ocean outside the boat he found himself on.

The woman cleared her throat to get his attention. "I could tell from bullet patterns- you had run-in with Wall, да? Brutality of their methods is rather unique."

Henry nodded, glancing over at her pleadingly before gesturing wildly at the bright daylight sky.

Thankfully, she got the message. "You have been on my boat for three and half days. First day was surgery."

Henry found himself ghosting his fingers along the metal side of his face. Right, surgery. The surgery that had apparently been necessary to save his life had ended with him becoming a freaking cyborg.

"Please, come back in," said the woman. "We can make introductions, then I can show you functions of cybernetic implants."

Henry swallowed, then nodded.

Maybe he'd be able to ask if she'd seen Ellie once he calmed down a bit.

~

In the Present

"That's a spaceship," said Hank's robotic voice.

Charles beamed and nodded. "Yeah!"

"That," said Hank again, gesturing with his whole body, "Is. A. Spaceship!"

Charles nodded even faster and bounced on the balls of his feet. "Yeah!"

"Pretty sweet ride, right?" Ellie agreed, slinging an arm over Charles's shoulder with an easy grin. "And this guy is gonna fly us up there."

"What can I say? I'm just that cool," Charles said, totally nonchalant and definitely not buzzing in excitement.

"When do we plan to leave?" asked Hank.

"With luck, we oughta be in the air by noon," Charles responded. "That'll give us time to eat, drink, use the room, that sorta stuff."

Hank glanced down at one of his implants on his left wrist, the only one that extended that far down his arm, and tapped a button. A digital readout of the current time appeared in front of him: 10:54.

"We'll wanna be back here in about half an hour to go over pre-flight checks and stuff," Charles explained. "In the meantime, was there anything you really wanted to do?"

Hank shifted his weight to one side and tapped at his chin for a moment.

A few yards away, one of the other doors to the hangar opened up, and Charles beamed. "Oh, hey there, Dr. V! What brings you over to the spaceship hangar?"

Hank stiffened and spun on his heel to look.

Dr. V smiled, though she did shoot Hank a distinctly unimpressed look for some reason. "I heard one of my patients was on base. Thought I would give him checkup before he launched into space. That is not problem, да?"

Hank shook his head. "That's no problem. I wasn't expecting to see you again, but since you're here, I kind of have a few questions to ask, too."

"Come along then," Dr. V said. "Let us make sure cybernetics are at full function."

"Meetcha back here in half an hour, Hank!" Charles chirped.

Dr. V's eyebrows shot up, but she wordlessly led Hank outside, likely going to the medical center for his impromptu checkup.

"We're spying on them," Ellie said matter-of-factly.

"Wh-? No?" spluttered Charles.

"C'mon, man, that whole interaction was weird, you gotta admit," pushed Ellie. "Besides, I wanna know a bit more about Hank anyway. This way you get to supervise!"

Normally, Charles would be completely against eavesdropping.

However, Charles had been working with Ellie for the past couple of weeks.

"Okay, but if we're spotted, I'm not taking the blame," he stated.

Ellie shrugged. "Fair enough. C'mon!"

The two of them darted after Dr. V and Hank, and they came to a stop just under a window as they heard the doctor's voice.

"…and I just can't take this seriously. Hank?" she demanded, as if the name itself was more of a question than anything else. "When you were on my boat, didn't you tell me-?"

"I know, I know," said Hank. "I know what I said. It's still true, I just…"

Hank's actual voice groaned before he continued. "I screwed up, Doc. They didn't recognize me at first, and then by the time I realized I should just get over myself and say it, I'd already dug myself into a hole. If I tell them now, they'll just be mad at me for keeping this to myself!"

"As they very well should be," sniffed Dr. V.

Metal clanged, and Hank squawked.

"However," the doctor continued, her voice softening, "I believe they will be happier to know who you are and that you yet live. I've been here week now, you see. They have bonded over shared experience, this is true, but there is hole in each of them. You know how hole can be filled."

Hank didn't speak for a moment, then swallowed. "I'm not sure I can, but…for them, I'll try."

"Good. That is all anyone can ask," said Dr. V decisively. "Now, let me see your throat. You told me yourself you do not speak aloud much, but I can already tell TTS has had workout. Let's tune that up, да?"

Hank chuckled at that, but Charles put a hand on Ellie's shoulder and gestured back with his head.

Ellie swallowed silently, her eyes wide, then nodded.

They crept away, only feeling brave enough to speak once they were all the way back in the hangar.

"So," Charles croaked.

"So," Ellie stated.

"There's no way."

"Absolutely none."

"Just a coincidence."

"Definitely."

"People don't just un-die."

"Of course not."

There was a moment where neither of them spoke, then Ellie forced out in a rather high voice, "…but Dr. V is the greatest at her craft-"

Charles immediately crumpled into a ball, barely balancing on the balls of his bouncing feet as he stifled a wordless shriek of excitement with his knees.

"You good, buddy?" Ellie managed. Then, before Charles could answer, she groaned and slapped her hands to her face. "Oh, who am I kidding, of course you aren't! I'm not either! I've got half a mind to pummel that man-!"

"No, you don't," squeaked Charles.

"No, I don't," agreed Ellie without hesitation as she began to pace. "How long has he been out and about? Why was his default reaction to lie even though he wants to tell us the truth?!"

Charles took a shaky breath and pushed himself back into a standing position. "Well, he was presumed dead for the better part of a month, and he was still in the Wall's territory. Maybe that had something to do with it?"

Ellie nodded thoughtfully. "Probably a reflex, then. And do we know if he's got any kind of anxiety?"

"He's selectively mute, but I don't think that counts," Charles tried. "Um, he always seemed really confident in the airship on that one mission? But I don't think I actually saw him relax until it was all over and everybody but me had left the helicopter, so I dunno."

"And he seemed pretty cool-headed at the Wall, at least right up until he took two freaking bullets for me," Ellie added. "Ugh, self-sacrificial idiot's gonna be the death of me, gonna give me a heart attack-!"

"We should probably let him tell us when he's ready," Charles suggested.

"Hopefully he tells us soon, otherwise I think I'm gonna have to just wring it out of-" Ellie began.

The hangar doors opened, and Charles and Ellie scrambled to compose themselves.

"Hank" glanced at them, his head tilted questioningly, but he simply said, "The doc cleared me to fly. Uhhh, what's with him?"

Charles wasn't quite sure what "Hank" meant for that last part, but then Ellie jammed an elbow into his gut and-

-oh, he'd started beaming uncontrollably at the sight of their friend. That'd do it.

"Ignore him," Ellie lied coolly with a roll of her eyes. "He's just becoming a space case as we speak."

Charles rolled with it. "I'm just so excited! Can you imagine it? Fly me to the moon, let me PLAAAY amongst the stars-!"

"Hank" tried and failed to stifle a laugh.

Charles's beam returned in full force.

~

2 weeks earlier

Well, the good news was that Henry's new implants were absolutely baller.

The bad news was that he had no idea if Ellie had managed to get away.

Even if she had, it was likely she thought he was dead. According to Dr. Vinschpinsilstien, the bullet he'd gotten to the head had skimmed his cranial cavity closely enough to actually send some of the fluid flying. Miracle of miracles, his brain had survived unscathed, but since Ellie had only had dark silhouettes and bloodied prisonwear to go by, she probably didn't know.

And even if she did, most people who got shot in the head and fell in the ocean didn't live to tell the tale anyway.

He would probably never see her again.

He probably couldn't go back to find Charles without his condition and overall health sparking an international incident, and knowing how touchy people in power could be with their weapons of mass destruction…it wasn't worth it.

One man's happiness wasn't worth the world. Not when it was Henry Stickmin's.

Henry looked up at the sky- a stormy white now, not the clear blue of the day he'd first reawakened- and ran one last diagnostic, the text flashing in his right eye's field of view as it ran.

Shoulder online.

Throat online.

Heart online.

Brain online.

Weapons systems online.

Flight systems online.

Chaos systems online.

Henry took a deep breath, then let it out.

The good doctor came up next to him and leaned on the railing. "You are planning to leave now."

It wasn't a question, but Henry nodded anyway.

"What will you do?" asked Dr. V.

Using the text-to-speech feature in his implants rather than his altered voice, Henry said, "I don't know. Let my friends know I'm alive once tensions with Russia die down? Find something I'm good at that isn't illegal, maybe."

Dr. V. nodded, then glanced at him. "Good luck, Henry. In whatever you choose."

Henry smiled, then did one of the few signs he'd managed to teach her over the past few days. "Thank you."

"It was no trouble," Dr. V. said with a smile of her own. "Now, go find yourself, кибервор."

Henry grinned and activated the jet wings in his back, taking flight and slicing through the sky.

He'd find land, first.

After that…

…well, he'd work it out.

~

In the Present

"There it is," Charles breathed.

Henry couldn't help but nod in agreement. The Toppat's base would be going down in flames if they had anything to say about it, but dang if it didn't look cool.

"Alright, how're you bringing us in, Charles?" asked Ellie, leaning over his shoulder to peer at their destination.

"You're both in your suits, right?" asked Charles by way of answering.

Henry nodded, as did Ellie.

"Great! Get in this ball of trash!"

Henry glanced at Ellie, who looked just as unimpressed as he felt.

"What."

"What."

Charles grinned back at them. "It's a good idea, trust me."

Well, Henry trusted him, and clearly Ellie did, too, because she shrugged. "Welp, guess we're garbage now."

Henry snorted and nodded, burrowing into the side of the trash ball opposite Ellie. Once they were both secure, Charles started hitting buttons. "Once you're there, I'm gonna fire a super accurate laser shot in the hull to make an entry hole for you. Get in, sabotage the engine, and get out of there so I can pick you back up."

"You got it, Charles," Ellie said, her voice muffled.

Henry lifted a thumbs-up from within the ball of garbage before pulling it back in.

The trash ball bounced, then shuddered…and then it was like he wasn't even moving.

"Testing comm frequency A113, come in Trash Pandas," said Charles's voice from Henry's ear.

"Trash Panda Red standing by," said Ellie with a giggle.

Henry stifled a snicker, but still radioed in. "Trash Panda, um, Robot standing by."

"Aw, c'mon, man, can't you think of anything better?" groaned Ellie.

"Wait, wait, wait, hang on, I got it!" Charles exclaimed. "You can be Trash Pandaborg!"

Henry grinned. "Sounds good, Trash Can."

Ellie burst out into laughter (possibly hysterics? Maybe she was just nervous about the mission) at that while Charles spluttered.

Henry let the moment take root in his chest like a warmth that would never go out. His two closest friends were playing off each other like they were made to be a team, and even though they didn't know who he was, it was easy to fall back in step with them.

He would tell them after the mission, he decided.

The moment came to an abrupt halt when the trash ball hit the Toppat station, and Henry quickly grabbed onto the nearby light to steady himself.

Ellie wasn't quite as lucky.

"Woah, woah woah woah-!"

Henry gasped at the sight of her floating away, then glanced down at his besuited left hand. His arm wasn't fully cybernetic, but Dr. V had clearly put in a good word at the last second because the suit had a port connected to the wrist-integrated grapple hook in his implants.

He grabbed tighter to the light with his right hand, then shot the grapple at Ellie.

The moment it hit her arm, he closed the hook and reeled her back in. Only once she was able to grab onto the light under her own power did Henry allow himself to relax. "You okay, Red?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," Ellie panted. She gave herself a little shake, then shot him an oddly-heavy smile. "Thanks for the save back there."

…why had she said it like that?

Before Henry could ponder it for too long, Charles piped up. "Good catch, Borg! Now, lemme just find a good spot to…actually. Y'know what? Naw. This calls for some bold action."

Henry knew in an instant what Charles was planning to do. He'd only gotten to hear him talk about it countless times before his brief tenure at the Wall, after all.

Their UFO came barrelling in to Charles's excited fanfare.

"I'm the bold action MAAA-!"

Metal squealed (probably) and Henry found himself clinging to Ellie's wrist as they went flying into the rocket and tumbled to the catwalk inside.

"WARNING: CRITICAL DAMAGE TO CORE. PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

The world grew fuzzy for a moment, but Henry quickly shook himself back to the present and pushed himself to his feet.

Ellie groaned and rolled onto her side. *"Charles, I take back what I said earlier. You're the idiot."

"I'll take that as a compliment!" Charles declared, laying facedown on the ground for a moment before shakily standing. "I've always wanted to do that."

"Of course you have," grumbled Ellie as she tugged her helmet off. "C'mon, we gotta get outta here before it blows."

Henry detached himself from his own suit, grimacing as his helmet caught on his facemask.

The right side came a bit loose, but he was fine.

Really, he was.

"Charles, your headset!" Ellie gasped.

Henry turned to look and stiffened.

Charles's headset was beaten in, dented, and broken. The microphone dangled by just one wire, but as Henry watched, the wire snapped.

"Eh, better my headset than my head," Charles said simply. "Now let's beat feet!"

Henry nodded and ran after the other two as they sprinted from the core of the station. They quickly skidded to a stop in front of a mostly-shut door, however.

"Don't tell me. This is our only way through," deadpanned Ellie.

"Got it in one, sister," Charles said with a grimace. "Anybody have any ideas?"

Henry considered brute-forcing their way out, or maybe having one of them hack the nearby keypad, but then something else caught his eye.

"What about the vent?" he asked, gesturing to the air duct in question.

"Ooh, good thinking!" Charles declared.

Henry reached down and pulled the grate clean off with his cybernetic strength, setting it aside, then stepped aside and gestured grandly to the opened vent. "Official government agents first."

"Why, thank you, my good man," said Ellie in an overly-posh voice as she clambered in.

"Most gentlemanly of you," added Charles with a giggle as he followed.

Henry grinned, then crawled in after them.

After a short while of wriggling through the vents, the alarms blaring outside, Charles started singing under his breath. "Craaawling throoough the veeents…"

"This staaation's gooonna blo-ooow…" chimed in Ellie.

Henry pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, but when the metal beneath them bucked in time with a loud bang elsewhere on the station, it became a lot easier to keep the giggles in.

They came to a stop, and Ellie hissed, "Toppats in the hall, give it a second."

After the promised second, she scrambled from the vents and turned around to pull the other two out and up. "There's gotta be escape pods around here somewhere, right? Every self-respecting space station's gotta have escape pods."

Charles glanced around for a second, then nodded. "I know where they are. Follow me!"

Henry found himself running after Charles and Ellie as they darted through the station, then came on a row of three still-unsent pods.

As they watched, a Toppat fled into the furthest one still usable, but between the one labelled "Luxury" and the one with a cracked window, they didn't really have the best options to choose from.

"I ain't dealing with the Toppat elites today," said Ellie, walking right up to the pod with a cracked window.

Henry shrugged and stood next to her as she pressed, then smacked, then punched the button to open the pod's door. He did his little 'operatives first' gesture again, but Charles and Ellie pushed him in front of them, situating him in the seat opposite the door before they went to sit down.

…weird, but okay.

"Man, what a rush!" said Ellie, sinking into her seat.

"Can't wait to get back to-" Charles started.

"Heh…" snickered the Toppat in the hall as he yanked Charles out of the escape pod.

Henry was moving before he even fully realized what had happened.

Body-check the Toppat-

Grab Charles under his arms-

Hurl Charles back in the pod-

Realize distantly that his mask came off-

Taze the ever-living daylights out of the Toppat, no mercy-

Watch the escape pod's door slam shut-

"HENRY STICKMIN, DON'T YOU DARE!"

Ellie's furious shriek snapped him back to himself, and Henry whirled around, wide-eyed.

Ellie and Charles were both pounding on the door now, but neither of them seemed surprised to see Henry standing there. They mostly seemed terrified.

Oh, right, they were in the only escape pod in reach and-

-yep, there it went.

Henry's earpiece crackled, and Ellie's voice came back. "DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME AGAIN, STICKMIN, DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Seriously, dude, you gotta find another way outta there!" added Charles.

Henry took a shaky breath and spoke. "You…you knew?"

"Only since Dr. V gave you a checkup," Charles said mournfully.

"It was my idea to eavesdrop," said Ellie. "We wanted to let you tell us in your own time, not-"

A choked sob.

"Not this!"

The computerized voice of the satellite spoke. "T-minus 30 seconds to self-destruct. Better hurry."

"If you die on us again, I'll, I'll strangle your ghost!" Ellie snapped.

Henry scrubbed at his eyes and sniffled. Before he could say his goodbyes, however…

"T-minus 20 seconds."

Henry squinted at the metal on his arm, then gasped.

His implants!

Dr. V, you mad genius!

He raced forward and started beating on the door that had sealed once Ellie and Charles had been ejected.

"15, 14, 13,"

He was denting the metal, but it wasn't enough-!

"12, 11,"

Henry roared from the effort, from the fear, from the determination he felt welling up in his chest-

"10,"

He broke through to the outside.

"9,"

He tore the hole he'd made open even wider.

"8,"

He stepped back to get a running start.

"7,"

Further…

"6,"

Further…

"5,"

NOW!

"4,"

Henry slapped a button on his arm and sprinted for his life.

"3,"

Mechanisms in his back and arm unfolded rapidly.

"2,"

A handlebar extended from his left wrist, and a steering column shot down from its middle.

"1,"

Henry leapt from the station and grabbed the other side of the handlebars while a thin platform folded out from the steering column.

"0."

He revved the engine.

"Goodbye."

And then there was light.

~

3 weeks ago

Charles had been on a routine patrol (and definitely not another search for Henry) when he saw the Russian military corralling a redheaded woman.

Considering the fact that he was currently flying over American soil, that was a big no-no.

He pressed his intercom button and descended. "Hey, there, neighbors! Can't help but notice, uh, you're on American property. Um. Why?"

Instead of answering, the Russians fled. One of them tried to grab the redhead, but she jabbed an elbow into his gut and made a break in Charles's direction, waving her arms frantically.

Well, Charles would be happy to oblige.

He dropped lower to the ground and opened the door. "Quick, get in!"

The redhead leapt up into the helicopter and rolled all the way to the other side.

"Pilot, if you take girl, you take prisoner of Wall!" barked one of the Russians.

Charles glanced back at his new passenger, noting how bloody and roughed-up she seemed, then zeroing in on a familiar-seeming face.

He hit the intercom.

"Actually, I think I'm bringing long-lost American citizen and information specialist Ellen Rose back home," Charles quipped lightly. Then, with forced cluelessness, "You guys wouldn't happen to know how she disappeared off the face of the earth, would you?"

That got the Russian leader to back off. He was visibly seething, but he didn't make any further moves to stop them.

Charles flicked off his intercom with a self-satisfied, "That's what I thought."

He turned on the autopilot and set a course for the base, then hopped from his seat and helped Ellen sit up. "You alright, ma'am? You look pretty beat-up."

"Blood's not mine," Ellen said shortly. Then she shook herself and offered a weak grin. "Thanks for the assist, flyguy."

Charles swallowed, but decided to hold off on asking whose blood it was that stained her prisonwear. Instead, he gave her a light slap on the back. "No prob. Just doing my job."

The radio crackled, and General Galeforce's voice came out. "Charlie, why're you coming back so soon? Your patrols are usually longer than this."

"Ooh, I gotta take that," Charles said with a grimace.

"Go on, I'll be fine," said Ellen, waving him towards the cockpit.

Charles squeezed her shoulder, then headed back up. "Oh, uh, heya, General. I didn't, um, find Henry, but I did find somebody else who'd gone missing. Apparently the Russians had her in custody and-"

Ellen's voice was almost too quiet to hear. "You knew Henry?"

Charles's heart sank like a rock, and he slowly turned back around. "Why did you say it like that? Why the past tense?"

"Henry Stickmin, right? He got captured and taken to the Wall," Ellen choked. "He helped me break out, but, but-!"

The world shattered.

"No," Charles breathed.

"The blood on my clothes isn't mine," repeated Ellen. Her face screwed up in a valiant effort to keep herself from breaking down, but it didn't help. "I'm, I'm so sorry-!"

"Dear God," breathed General Galeforce, who had apparently heard every single word.

Charles stumbled to the side of the helicopter and crumpled to the ground, unseeing and unhearing.

Ellen scooted over and placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, and he broke.

~

In the Present

The Toppat station exploded in a burst of light that was as beautiful as it was terrible.

Ellie couldn't look away.

"C'mon, Henry, you've beaten death before, c'mon!" chanted Charles under his breath.

Ellie searched the wreckage frantically, begging to see some flicker of motion going against the flow.

For a long, horrible moment, there was nothing.

Then-

"I see him," breathed Ellie. Then, louder, as she shook his shoulder, "Charles, I see him!"

"What?! Where?!"

"There!"

Ellie jabbed a finger at the window, and Charles crowded in to look-

-and there he was, weaving between scraps of metal and heading straight for them. There was a faint blue glow from his right eye that only grew brighter as he approached, and-

Charles laughed breathlessly. "His dumb scooter from the Tunisian Diamond heist! Dr. V must have souped it up and put it in his implants or something!"

"I am never gonna underestimate that lady ever again!" Ellie crowed.

Henry got close enough to the pod to be visible as more than a dot, and he immediately shot them a teary, cheesy grin and started doing scooter tricks in the sky.

"Henry, do a flip!" cheered Charles, stealing Ellie's comm.

Henry did a kickflip. Then he did an aileron roll, just for the heck of it.

Charles whooped and fell back onto his seat with his arms in the air.

Ellie laughed until she cried, only stopping when the escape pod began to rumble from re-entry. She took her comm back. "Wait, Henry, the atmosphere-!"

Henry flashed them a thumbs-up, then hit a button on his souped-up scooter. Metal plates rose up around him, and suddenly his scooter was a very small, very sleek pod of its own.

The two pods fell to the Earth together, with Henry's orbiting slowly around the other.

"He's alive, he's alive!" Charles repeated, his hands flapping fast enough to blur in Ellie's vision.

Ellie could only laugh.

The Toppat pod ejected a parachute after a few minutes of falling, and Henry quickly pulled his own back up to rejoin them. Now that they weren't falling at terminal velocity, he had the scooter-pod retract back into his implants in favor of the jet wings he apparently had, the better to do loop-di-loops in front of the window.

Ellie snorted thickly. "Henry, the General's gonna have your head."

"Eh, not if we get it first," remarked Charles conversationally.

Henry managed to sign to them as they fell- ooh, had he been avoiding signing to try and act like a different person?- with a cocky smirk. "You'll have to catch me, first!"

"You're on!" Ellie cheered.

They came to a landing in the forest, and Ellie downright kicked the door off its hinges and tackled Henry clean out of the air before he had the chance to even pretend to fly off. "Gotcha!"

"Ooh, yeah, dogpile!" Charles whooped, leaping on top of both of them.

Henry laughed, and he laughed, and he laughed a bit more, tears starting to fall. The TTS voice he'd been using kicked back into gear, though distorted and damaged-sounding. "You'rrre not m-m-mad?"

"Oh, I'm downright furious!" said Ellie brightly. "You should have just told us, you dweeb, absolute peabrain, empty-headed, no thoughts-!"

"I'll probably be annoyed later," Charles said. He tugged Henry to his feet ("Hey-!" protested Ellie as she fell to the ground) and engulfed him in a bear hug. "Right now, I'm just glad you're alive."

Ellie gulped down the lump in her throat and nodded, throwing her arms around both of them and burying her face in their combined shoulders.

When the General came to find them, he'd learn Henry's identity and alive status, and Henry would get ripped a new one.

For the moment, though, Ellie just clung to her two closest friends and didn't let go.

~

3 weeks and 1 day ago

"If we could get you up there, you could get in and open this door," Ellie said, tapping the door to the security office for emphasis.

Her silent companion nodded thoughtfully, then gestured for Ellie to lift him with the Force.

Ellie nodded and focused, levitating him to the ceiling and letting him drop.

A second later, he fell face-first onto the ground. Ellie winced, but he just beamed at her before scrambling to his feet and inspecting the buttons.

After taking a moment more to check the buttons over, he pressed one, sliding open the door to the security office.

Ellie glanced back, but the guard on the next floor up didn't seem to have noticed.

She hurried into the security office with a grin and followed her fellow escapee to an empty elevator shaft. "Good job, dude."

Her friend smiled, then cautiously moved his arms in-

"Ooh, sign language?" Ellie realized.

The other prisoner nodded in relief and repeated himself. "My name is H-E-N-R-Y."

Ellie grinned. "Nice to meet you, Henry. I'm Ellie, and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Henry beamed.

MISSION COMPLETE

RANK:

UNREAL SUPERHERO THREE

[attibar]

Fear not the man that has everything. Fear the man that lost everything.

The timelines that involve the destruction of the Toppats are always some fun timelines. Triple Threat, Capital Gains, Free Man, Special Brovert Ops, Valiant Hero, etc. But I feel like we tend to forget one detail in the end: Reginald Copperbottom.

 He is the leader of one of the strongest crime groups in the world, bringing it back from the brink due to his predecessor leading so poorly. He put his blood, sweat, and tears into the powerhouse it is today. It is his baby. The Toppat Orbital station was to be his magnum opus, the solution to enemies potentially closing in on the clan. It was to bring the clan to literal new heights a new golden era for them.

Planning that whole thing out, from designing, idiot proofing, gathering the materials, had to have taken years and millions of dollars. Then finally it’s only a few months left until the launch. Everything is going perfectly. A new dawn was coming, and Reginald was the one to usher it.

Within months everything Reginald worked for, lived for, is gone. He is in jail, his right hand is in jail or dead, the Toppat Orbital Station either stopped or destroyed. The Toppat Clan, the clan he swore to lead and protect, is no more either imprisoned, scattered, or dead. Years of work, meaningless. The outcome of his leadership ended even worse than his predecessor.

Yet he lives, in jail, a place where you can do nothing but dwell on your failures. Playing the events over and over wondering how did everything go so wrong. Among the maelstrom, one thought always stuck out. The one thing that brought it all down. The one thing that ruined everything. The one thing that took his life away.

Henry Stickmin

The Reginald that leaves that jail isn’t going to be the same as the one that entered it...

[jazzstarrlight]

Dose Henry dreams of other happy or natural timelines.

Like other timeline where Henry sided with Government

Special BROvert Ops: Where he and Charles have been working together throw the three games. Pardoned Pals: Henry and Ellie decide to help Charles to take down the toppats. Master Bounty Hunter: Where Henry become a Government's bounty hunter and it's seem that he and Charles will work together.

The Timelines where Henry become very rich

Cleaned 'em Out, Capital Gains, Little Nest Egg: He steal all the Toppat's riches.

Or the ones that did both of helping government and getting rich

Stickmin Space Resort: When Henry steal the rocket to made it his space resort, he allowed the Government to arrested the toppats on earth. He reform the toppats on the rocket to be his work stuff.

Jewel Baron: Henry did the Government favor. He destroy the toppat space station, leave the Toppat Clan leaderless and got the got them arrested while steal a giant gem.

Free Man: Henry did not get rich but he got his freedom when he leave the toppats stranded on space when he destroy their power source.

Yeah. He has dreams of them all. It's just tragic endings play for him more often and linger for longer.

And any timeline where Henry doesn't befriend Charles and/or Ellie, he tends to feel very empty inside, like there's something missing. He recognizes them from his dreams, but can't place names.

[askstickmin-magicau]

I know this is going to sound kinda stupid, but, this timeline is "Triple Treath"? I Just want to know more of this AU

//It's not stupid at all! And yes, this AU is set on the "Triple Threat" with elements from "Pardoned Pals" and "Special BROvert Ops" 'cus i thought they are kinda similar and could work pretty well for this AU.

[ask-thsc-blog]

'Hugs back and looks a bit at the drawings she took off the other ones' (trou which timelines Henry already did go trou again?)

He went through every one of them... Special Brovert Ops, Master Bounty Hunter, Toppat King-

[jaytoons7]

May you do Scottie's fate next, please?

Alright! Scottie's fates under the cut! Same disclaimers: None of it's canon to Shifted Timeline and not all of em end happily.

Toppat King: Alive. They respect Henry and Ellie well enough as leaders.

Cleaned 'em Out: Alive but pissy about what happened to the valuables.

Stickmin Space Resort: Alive and the (very reluctant) chef for the resort.

Little Nest Egg: Alive and still pissy, This time about the money and what happened to Macbeth.

Special BROvert Ops: Arrested. F in the chat bois.

Master Bounty Hunter: Arrested once again.

Jewel Baron: Killed by the blast.

Valiant Hero: Killed in the explosion.

Free Man: Stuck in the rocket. Scottie now holds a grudge towards RHM.

Revenged: Barely escaped with their life. But with their found family now dead, They would likely spiral.

Toppat Civil Warfare: Alive and chose Ellie's side.

Pardoned Pals: Arrested thrice.

Toppat Recruits: Alive. Kinda just neutral on Henry and Ellie.

Capital Gains: Alive and very angry about what happened to the money cart and RHM.

Toppat 4 Life: Mostly the same as Toppat King.

Triple Threat: Escaped and that's all I'll say.

[thesoulesscollection]

Rogue Charles Au Timeline

Heya, again I hope everyone is having a good day/night so far. So I was wondering what to do next for this Au and decided to do a little, somewhat simple timeline. Although this is never my forte so it may not be good and might not make sense. So if there's any question, please, don't hesitate to send in any questions you may have. 

Down below is the current timeline. It's not all finalized yet, some things may change entirely, be updated and so on. As well, as this Au goes along, it will be lengthened out with more details and important events along with better quality. 

Timeline:

Charles begins to remember the alternate timelines as well, visions that are messily incoherent. Occurs likely during the BROvert Ops timeline. Small flashes of 'visions' and deja vu are easily ignored at first

Soon it gets worse when Henry starts flipping between timelines, mostly retrying his options a few multiple times leaving Charles bewildered, nearly considering it to be an out of body experience for him

From there attempting to tell anyone about it was hopeless, nobody believed him nor could he piece it together through the broken memories. 

Eventually he was able to pick up just enough of the pieces as small as they were, Charles started to know what's going on and that it all started with Henry (Though he never confronted Henry at the time) 

It all comes to a head right before (Infiltrating the Airship never occurs in this Au) when Henry is just about to be sent out to the Toppats Airship 

Charles goes rogue - Betrays the government - basically drop kicks Henry, Rupert, and Galeforce out of his plane right dab middle into the unforgiving arms of the hot desert 

All of them but Henry in particular is the most shell shocked - none of this was supposed to happen, it had never occurred before he went through every timeline again and again so he knows every single detail - and to his further shock his abilities are now out of whack leaving him powerless, vulnerable 

Now the three have to track their way back home at least towards the nearest government base around which unfortunately for them can take hours at the best but likely days at the worst

All the while Charles is panicking, not expecting to go this far unsure if it was the right choice. Not when another vision comes, just as confusing as the others but a familiar face, Ellie Rose may be able to help

Soon Charles decided to break into the Wall, taking an unwilling Ellie with him for his great plan which in his wake leave the Wall in near disrepair 

During their time together, it's a tense and complicated situation and relationship between the two, Ellie didn't trust him at all, secretly thinking of a way to escape

Then the military, Henry finds them again flying over the ocean to an unknown destination and a nasty fight goes down between Charles & Henry, Henry makes a fatal choice 

In the aftermath, Charles' plane is shot down, Charles is heavily injured close to death in the process, where they seemingly can't find him 

Dr. V finds him floating, limbs turned black and spine nearly deteriorating into nothing. From there months of recovery takes place here. 

^ Where Charles gets his cybernetics from, and learns how to use them

Eventually, in time after recovering just enough, maybe six to eight months, Charles decided to leave again for his great plan after seeing the Toppat Airship

[thesoulesscollection]

I’ve been wondering about Ellie in your AU. I guess she is still at the Wall, since I think (but could be wrong) that this is the BROvert Ops timeline. Has Charles seen her in the Choice visions he gets?

Heya, thank you for the ask as I've been meaning to answer this sort of question for a while now. Hopefully this makes sense to everyone. Especially, when it comes to Ellie as I do plan for her to have an important role in the Au and I wouldn't want to erase her in any shape, way and form here. 

I don't set this Au in any particular timeline though I do get inspired by them. I do try to use small references to almost all of them here every once in a while. Now for a little bit more detail when this Au starts; Charles going rogue, I mean, it begins right before Infiltrating the Airship were to even start. So canon wise that never happened nor does anything else that occurs afterwards either so it heavily affects the timeline. 

So, that means Ellie unfortunately would still be stuck in the Wall. But I don't plan for her staying there for all too long anyways as she may get the unwanted help of a certain ex-pilot intending to break her out. (Which is where I plan as well to where Charles gets Dimitri's jacket). It all goes to shit for the Wall in the long run as Charles makes one of his 'greatest plans' to break her out with his mighty - stolen - military plane. 

In the involuntary, painful visions he gets, he does see her among many other faces. When it becomes too much for him it all blurs into one disorienting picture, mixing up multiple timelines, both the failures to successes, the ends and even familiar faces. But when it clears up to something more visible, a little understandable he goes for it like thinking Ellie might be able to help him in his mission. Although Ellie, a stubborn fiery soul that she is, isn't so welcoming about the whole ordeal in itself and again may bring a bit of more pain for the pilot among the military and Henry coming to pay him a near literal body deteriorating visit.