A oneshot challenge between RedHawkdude, RedLegomaniac, Dragon1010, Thearizona and I
Date: 16th July 2017
Prompt: You are housesitting for your boss who is on vacation. The daily duties are easy. Water the plants- check, successfully receive amazon deliveries- check. Find a semi-conscious woman in the basement? Nope, this was definitely not on the list. You checked-twice.
Rules: 7000 words max, no Horror allowed.
Temporal Mystique
Hiccup let out a yawn as he checked the list he had been handed. He walked through a large mansion which belonged to his boss who was currently on vacation and asked him to housesit. Hiccup grumbled as he really didn't want to housesit for the man. His boss was….. manipulative and had basically threatened him with termination if he didn't do this.
He checked the daily duties, water the plants…. Hiccup looked around at all the ferns in the house in case he missed one. He checked that off the list then. Successfully receive amazon deliveries…. He looked at the pile of packages in a nook. It seems his boss is a bit of a shopaholic. It was then that he heard a loud rumble coming from the basement.
"What in the world?!" He muttered to himself as he opened the door to the basement and descended down the stairs. It was there that he found a semi-conscious woman laying on the ground. Hiccup checked the list and then checked it again just to be sure. Nope, this most definitely wasn't on the list.
Hiccup took a couple of tentative steps towards the woman as he didn't know what she was doing here. For all he knew she could be a burglar.
"A….Are you alright?" He asked as he rolled her onto her back to check for any injuries. She appeared to have slipped back into an unconscious state. It was then that he got a better look at her. The woman's brunette hair was disheveled as her bun had come undone, she wore what Hiccup recognized as a military dress uniform along with heels. 'Surely a robber wouldn't wear heels' He thought to himself as the woman regained her bearings. She slowly sat up and looked at her surroundings while rubbing the side of her head. It seemed that she hadn't noticed Hiccup at all.
"Are you alright?" He asked again only this time the woman startled and before he could blink he was pinned down in a choke hold.
"Who are you?!" The woman asked menacingly as Hiccup tried to breathe. "Are you one of Xandre's men?!"
"Can't…. breathe" Hiccup rasped as he tried to get out of the choke hold.
"Who are you?!" The woman asked once more tightening her hold.
"Hiccup!" He rasped "Hiccup Haddock!" and just like that the woman let him go as if she had been burned. Hiccup coughed and tried to catch his breath. He looked up from where he was sprawled on the floor to the woman who was watching him with a look of incredulity.
"What?" He asked as he coughed.
"You're Hiccup Haddock?" The woman now asked as she pinched him as if he couldn't be real.
"Ouch!" Hiccup yelped as he backed away.
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd?!" She asked still looking in disbelief and Hiccup thought he saw something like awe in her eyes, but that couldn't be right he reasoned.
"Yes" He answered eyeing the woman suspiciously. "Just who are you, how do you know my name and what in Thor's name are you doing in my boss' basement?!"
"You may call me…. Mystique, may I ask what year this is?"
Hiccup looked at her as if she was crazy for not knowing that. "2017"
"So the procedure actually worked." He heard her mumble to herself.
"You really haven't answered my other questions."
"Oh right. How I know who you are and what I'm doing in your boss' basement right." Mystique stated. "It's quite simple, everybody knows who you are from where, no, when I come from. As for me landing in this basement, I come from forty years in the future in pursuit of a Jumper."
"Riiiight" Hiccup muttered skeptically. Like he was going to believe that. "Let me just go…" He didn't get to finish that sentence as Mystique put a hand on his shoulder stopping him.
"Now now…. No calling the police." She smiled. "They wouldn't believe you anyways."
Hiccup gulped nervously. "Eh…."
"I just need your help."
"M….My help!" Hiccup mumbled.
"Let's talk about this upstairs" She told him as she indicated to the stairs. For now Hiccup decided to play along until he could get away from this strange woman.
"So…. what are you? Some intergalactic police woman?" He asked as they walked to the living room.
"Close" Mystique said. "Intergalactic police are an entirely different branch of the force however. I'm from the Time Enforcement Division. What you might call a time traveler."
"Right" Hiccup mumbled as they took a seat on the couch.
"I see you don't believe me." Mystique said before pulling out a black metal cube and placing it on the glass coffee table. The cube opened up and out came a holographic image of the galaxy.
"What in the world!" Hiccup yelped in surprise as the hologram startled him.
"This technology doesn't exist yet." Mystique stated. "Do you believe me now?"
Hiccup cautiously poked the hologram and inspected it from every angle. In the end he had to conclude that the woman must be telling the truth.
"So…. why are you after this Jumper-thingy?"
The woman stifled a laugh at how Hiccup described it. "A Jumper is a person Hiccup. Someone who illegally timetravels. This one is a mercenary who has taken a job to undo our future. I was in pursuit but he entered the time stream before me. Unfortunately I can't tell you his target, I've told you much more than is originally allowed but I need your help. He should have arrived in this time period a couple of weeks ago."
"Why would anyone want to undo their future?" Hiccup now asked more confused. "And what is so important to the future in Berk? It's Berk…. The town where nothing interesting really happens."
"From what I can tell it's to take out a competitor." Mystique mused as Hiccup gave her an incredulous look. "Now I might still be able to track the Jumper's time particles if they haven't degraded." It was then that Mystiques stomach let out a loud growl.
"I think I might need to track down some food first." She laughed.
"Well there is a diner not so far away that has a great lunch menu." Hiccup suggested.
"Right. I can scan the surrounding area while we travel." Mystique stated as she took out another odd looking small device. She then noticed how Hiccup was watching her. "Is something wrong?"
"Ehm… your outfit. Aren't people going to find it strange?" He gestured to her military dress.
"Hold on" Mystique said as she pushed a button on her clothing that he hadn't noticed before. Suddenly her military clothing changed into a floral sundress. Hiccup's mouth fell open as he gawked at the woman as she undid her bun.
"There I should fit right into this time period now." She stated while giving Hiccup a pat on the shoulder. "Perception filter Hiccup. A Time agent's best friend."
They walked towards the diner a few blocks away as Mystique kept the little device in her hand. "It's faint but there are still some time particle traces." She mumbled.
They soon came to a diner called The Forge and Hiccup opened the door for Mystique. "Ever the gentleman" She teased as they picked out a booth.
The diner was empty, as rush hour was already over, and Mystique took the opportunity to observe Hiccup. "So what are you working on now?" She asked out of the blue.
"Excuse me what?" Hiccup asked.
"What invention are you working on?"
"How did you even know that?!" Hiccup mumbled. Mystique merely gave him a wink.
"I'm just working on a theory. It'll probably lead to nowhere again." He sighed.
"Oh don't be a downer Hiccup. I'm sure your theories will work out." She encouraged.
"That's easy for you to say. I honestly don't see my inventions going anywhere." Hiccup sighed. "I mean look at me. I work an entry level job at an engineering company but my boss doesn't even want to take a look at my ideas. I'm practically invisible to my coworkers and the person I like…."
"Hi what can I get you?" Hiccup startled from his rant and looked up at the familiar blond waitress.
"H….H….Hi Astrid!" He stuttered while blushing a bit. This didn't go unnoticed by Mystique.
"I see you brought a friend today Hiccup." Astrid smiled.
"Uhm… well… ah…."
"I'm Mystique" The woman introduced. "Hiccup's second cousin twice removed. I'm just visiting Berk for a bit."
"I'm Astrid, pleasure to meet you." The waitress smiled. "And welcome to Berk. Gobber here makes the best burgers in town."
"Well then, why don't we give them a try." Mystique told Astrid as Hiccup mutely nodded.
"Right two burgers, and two smoothies coming up." She repeated the order before heading to the kitchen.
"So she's the girl you like." Mystique didn't ask she stated.
Hiccup was quiet as a blush darkened his face. "So why haven't you asked her out yet?"
"B...Because!" Hiccup squeaked.
"Come on Hiccup. I know you want to ask her."
"What's the use. I doubt she'll go for someone like me and she already has a boyfriend."
"She does?" Mystique suddenly asked and then murmured under her breath "That's weird"
"Yeah, she's been dating some british guy for a week or so now." He explained. "I was here in the diner when he asked her out."
"It's weird" Mystique mumbled as their food arrived.
"Here you go!" Astrid said as she placed the food down. She also placed two slices of apple pie on the table. "It's on the house." She told them.
"Thanks Astrid" Hiccup shyly said.
They ate their lunch and then Mystique excused herself to go to the ladies room. Hiccup went to the counter to pay for their meal. Gobber stuck his head out and greeted him.
"Well hiya lad!" He happily said while waving his spatula around. "Heard ya brought a pretty girl with ya."
"Yeah….. Cousin." Hiccup told Gobber. He might as well stick with Mystique's cover story. He doubted telling Gobber that the pretty girl was a time traveling cop from the future would go over well.
The little bell above the diner door jingled and Hiccup heard "Astrid babe" Said with a british accent. He turned slightly and saw Eret, Astrid's boyfriend give her a kiss as she walked by.
"Well if it isn't little Hiccup!" Eret laughed as he caught sight of Hiccup near the counter. Eret slung his muscled arm over Hiccup's shoulder.
"Hello Eret" Hiccup mumbled. For some reason he didn't like the guy, and no that was not his jealousy talking. Okay, maybe it was his jealousy talking but everytime the guy was around the hairs on the back of Hiccup's neck shivered. The guy was muscled while Hiccup was build like a twig. A twig that would be snapped in half.
"Eret don't bother Hiccup." Astrid admonished as she pointed her coffee pot towards him.
"Awe babe, just saying hi." Eret laughed. He was about to let go of Hiccup when Mystique came out of the ladies room. Eret stilled as he caught sight of the woman and Mystique also stared wide-eyed at him before her little device started beeping furiously.
"Freeze Eretson!" Mystique suddenly shouted as she drew a tiny gun from Thor knows where. Eret who still had his arm around Hiccup grabbed him in a choke hold and pointed his own small weapon at Hiccup's head.
"I don't think so missy." Eret smirked. His smile becoming more sinister. "One wrong move and the doc gets it."
"L….Let me go" Hiccup rasped as he clawed at Eret's arm. The muscular man simply lifted him off the ground and began dragging him backwards to the door. Mystique bit her lip as she kept her weapon trained on Eret.
"No can do Hiccup." Eret muttered. "You're the best bargaining chip I hav-" He didn't get to finish that sentence as a coffee pot suddenly hit him on the side of his head. The pot fell to the floor and shattered.
"I don't know what is going on here Eret but how dare you take my friend hostage!" Astrid shouted red faced and furious.
"Babe" Eret warned as his eyes got a cold look. He was momentarily distracted and Mystique took the chance to shoot his weapon out of his hand.
"AARG" Eret shouted as he let go of Hiccup to nurse his bleeding hand before running out of the diner.
"Stay here!" Mystique ordered towards Hiccup and Astrid as she raced out of the door.
"Hiccup are you alright!" Astrid asked as she inspected him for injuries. "I don't know what Eret was thinking! And how did your cousin know him? What was that weird weapon?" She frantically asked not comprehending what happened.
"I'd like to know that as well." Gobber mumbled as he came to check on Hiccup and asses the damage.
"It's a long story. I doubt you'll believe me." Hiccup stated.
Meanwhile Mystique was chasing after Eret. He turned down an alleyway and she followed. That alley however was a dead end and Eret cursed as he turned to face the time agent.
"Give it up Eretson. I'm taking you into custody for illegal temporal manipulation." Mystique stated as she trained her weapon on him.
"Why do filthy time cops have to butt in." Eret growled as he threw down his weapon. Mystique ignored the insult as she cuffed him.
"What were you even thinking!" She admonished. "You'd have doomed everyone's future if you continued with your plan."
"Honey I just do what I'm being paid for." Eret grumbled.
"And I suppose Xandre is footing your bill." Mystique reasoned. "That xenophobic old man is going to get what's coming to him. He's gone way too far this time and no amount of credits will buy his way out of this."
Eret huffed. "You don't know the old man."
"I know you would have undone everyone's future if you went through with it. Honestly, trying to make sure Hiccup never married Astrid!" Mystique stated. "The time agency can't overlook Xandre's schemes now."
Mystique took out a small device and placed it in her ear "This is Agent Mystique calling for a prisoner pick up stream at these coordinated."
"Acknowledged" Came over the communications device. Soon a portal opened up in the alley way and she tossed the cuffed Eret through.
"Prisoner received." Came from the comm.
"Roger. I'll be repairing the time stream now." She stated. "Get an arrest warrant for Xandre processed in the meantime."
"Acknowledged." Came over the comm. "We shall look forward to your final report. Excellent work Agent Mystique."
The comm went out as Mystique opened the holographic cube. "Show me historical data, Berk, Haddock."
"Acknowledged" the cube responded and Mystique smiled as she read the archives. She came across a wedding picture of Hiccup and Astrid as well as various news articles about Haddock Industries which was born when Dr. Hiccup Haddock invented the first working anti-matter drive, allowing for faster than light propulsion and ensuring humanity made contact with alien species throughout the galaxy. Astrid Haddock was a force in her own right, becoming the ambassador of Earth in the new Pan-galactic alliance and fighting for equal rights for all species."
"Looks like history is still on track." She smiled before closing the holographic cube. She made her way back to the diner. Mystique hated this part of her job however. Having to erase the memories of herself and her mission from the minds of those she had met. The bell of the diner jingled and she smiled one last time.
-The End-