Over and over

Chrona had to do their song and dance once again.

The matte black cat once thought that mortals would’ve gotten smarter by now, but they were used to it at this point. Some would never learn their lesson. They’d just keep endangering the world over and over, all in pursuit of, what, knowledge? The ability to turn back time and change their own fate? What idiots. Now Chrona would have to kill yet another one of them, all to keep the rest safe. Maybe they were the real idiot for caring so much about a bunch of fools.

The fool behind this timeline distortion was a scientist. Many of them were. The one they were targeting this time was a dark gray cat, who happened to look a lot like Chrona themself. Or at least, a version of them in a large white lab coat. The scientist wasn’t alone; he had a large team of researchers by his side at almost all times, a whole parade of idiots. At least Chrona only had to kill one of them to fix the timeline. For a bunch of people in pursuit of knowledge and truth, they didn’t seem too bright; anyone else would’ve figured out that their time-travel antics would end the world by now. Alas, none of them paid attention to the distortions caused by their antics. Chrona caught their tail poking out of the shadows of the hidden hall, so they pulled their body back, waiting for the time to strike. Unfortunately, they’d have to wait a bit longer than they wanted to, especially since they were waiting in a separate room near the bathroom door.

Just wait until he’s away from the other scientists, Chrona thought. Then, I can kill or incapacitate him, and this entire project will fall apart.

Chrona glanced around the area, looking over every heavy looking object in their vicinity. There was a large table not far from where they were, but that wouldn’t work. They needed something more convenient to carry. They spotted a glistening crowbar to their left, within a distance where they could grab it without being caught if anyone walked in. They then rolled up their dull green sleeves before they snatched the crowbar up in a second and tightened their iron grip around it.

I’ll need this soon, they thought.

Chrona continued to wait in silence, keeping their body as still as a statue, and resisting the urge to swish their tail back and forth. Their ears twitched whenever they heard something shift or clink. Maybe now it was time? No, maybe it was now? Chrona felt their grip on the crowbar harden as their wait extended for much longer than expected. Their knuckles felt like they’d turn white if they weren’t covered in fur.

“I’m going to the bathroom, we can continue testing the machine in about 5 minutes.” a faint voice rang out from the other side of the building; someone clearly forgot to add proper soundproofing. 

That’s him, Chrona thought. Finally, I can end this.

The scientist started walking in Chrona’s direction. The clanking of his steps was still distant, however. Too distant. Chrona’s tail flicked back and forth in anticipation.

Just another second…

Chrona drew back their feet in preparation. They were able to sneak in a brief glance outside of their hiding place, confirming that the scientist hadn’t reached the room yet. Clank, clank. The clanking drew closer.

Any moment…

Chrona heard a door open near where they were, drawing their eyes and ears in. They were now alone with the scientist, and he had started to walk in their direction. The clancking grew louder than it had been, and a flash of gray fur poked around the corner.

Now!

Chrona charged forward with the crowbar in hand, and rammed it into a pair of knees as fast as they could. A loud clank and a cracking sound rang out. Chrona wished that they had a free hand to cover their ears. The scientist let out a cry of pain before he crumpled to the ground at Chrona’s feet; right where he should be. He was still reeling from the sudden attack, so he didn’t even notice Chrona hovering above him until he looked up. His eyes were wide, presumably with either fear or confusion. Chrona could never tell what mortals were feeling.

“Intruder! Tell me who you are!” he said.

Chrona released one of their hands from the crowbar and dug through their shirt, searching for the thing they’d tucked in before coming to the lab. Maybe they should’ve just left it out and saved themself the awkwardness. They fished out their bronze necklace, which had a clock in the center, and held it up to the scientist's face. It glistened in the dark silence.

‘Who do you think I am?” Chrona asked.

The scientist pulled his ears back.

“A Chronist? How did you find our location? It’s classified!” 

The gray cat had some kind of purple magic coming out of their hands; Ira magic, if Chrona remembered correctly. At least the scientist knew to be afraid of them.

“If you think I’m just a mortal like you, you clearly aren’t familiar with Chronist doctrine,” Chrona responded.

The scientist stared up at them with blank eyes.

“...Chrona? You’re actually real?” he asked.

He doesn’t seem as shocked as most mortals do, Chrona thought.

“Yes, you finally figured it out,” Chrona said. “Do you know why I’m here?”

“...To stop our experiment, by any means necessary.”

Chrona nodded.

That means your time is up, they thought. Unless…

“I have a deal for you, since you’ve been listening to me,” Chrona said. “If you stop here, give up your little experiment and destroy any technology you’ve developed, I’ll let you live.”

“And if I don’t agree?” asked the scientist.

“I’ll have to finish what I’ve started.” Chrona tightened their grip on the crowbar.

The scientist sat in thought for what almost felt like an eternity. Maybe, for once, someone would actually heed Chrona’s warnings. Maybe he’d give up. Chrona’s hopes were dashed the instant the scientist looked up at them with his fists clenched. His eyes seemed to have a certain defiance to them, one Chrona had seen many times.

“I’m not giving up on my work,” the scientist responded. “Not now. I’m not going to just stand by and let you destroy my research.”

The scientist lunged at Chrona. However, he collapsed before he could land a hit on them, knees giving out from being bashed earlier. How a mortal could forget about such a painful injury, Chrona didn’t know. Chrona raised the crowbar from earlier, ready to strike, but the scientist was somehow able to crawl away.

“Fighting me is futile,” said Chrona. “You can’t outrun me forever. You’ll die fighting when this could’ve been resolved easily.”

“Then so be it,” the scientist said.

The scientist sent out a wave of Ira magic, since he had no way else to fight. It made contact with Chrona’s legs, causing a bit of a pricking sensation as blood started to leak out. It didn’t matter, though. Nothing could hurt them in a way that mattered, since they’d adjusted to walking injuries off long ago. The scientist sent out more, increasingly frantic waves of Ira magic upon realizing each one had minimal effect. Chrona kept walking forward, quickly catching up to the crawling scientist.

“This ends here,” said Chrona.

Chrona released one of their hands from the crowbar and clutched onto the clock on their necklace. They drew in a deep breath before they closed their eyes and held it, focusing only on what they were trying to do. The world around them seemed to grow still. When Chrona opened their eyes, time was frozen; there was no longer any way for the scientist to escape. Chrona grabbed back onto the crowbar and swung it straight at the scientist's face. Nothing seemed to happen. Not even a sound escaped when the bar made contact. Chrona grabbed back onto the necklace and unfroze time, figuring that their job was done. 

Everything happened all at once. The awful, yet delayed sound of the crowbar rang out as blood splattered everywhere. Chrona didn’t even have to look down to know that it had gotten all over their shirt, with the warm sensation of it sticking to their body. They did glance down for a moment, but the glimpse of a smashed and distorted head was enough to make them look away again. It almost made their stomach twist, despite the sight being a familiar one. A metallic smell was also starting to overwhelm their senses.

“What a waste…” Chrona muttered under their breath.

Chrona threw the crowbar somewhere towards the body and walked away. They had better things to do than linger around. Besides, they couldn’t risk being caught by another one of the researchers. They grabbed onto their clock necklace yet again and closed their eyes, only opening them when they sensed that everything around them had disappeared. They were now surrounded by a darkness, which was only broken by a few bronze clocks spinning around in the void. Tick tock, tick tock. Time was always running short; they wouldn’t be there for long.

Now I’ll have to do it again, Chrona thought. I’ll have to keep fighting, keep killing, until I’ve secured the safety of the universe.

But, to protect this universe, to protect my only friend, I’ll do it as many times as necessary.