A couple of minutes later, Tyrone and Sprite aligned their stories and approached the check-in desk of the motel…

There were almost no cars in the parking lot, so where better to lie low for a couple of days…

Or at the very least, until the soldiers swept the entire area and left…

Based on the battle an hour ago, the soldiers were obviously funded by a larger corporation that wasn't afraid to expend whatever resources necessary to recover the Mutant Children – dead or alive…

Although Sprite and Tyrone did not discuss it, they were both very concerned about the mutant children that the soldiers were chasing…

Who wouldn't be when it involved children?

"Names?" The Obese Receptionist asked, not raising her eyes from the compelling game of tic-tac-toe on her desk…

She didn't care for Tyrone's and Sprite's presence as she lit her tenth cigarette for the day…

Sprite had the urge to turn the cigarette into something that would actually crawl down the Receptionist's throat and ignite her lungs…

The cigarette would perform that action anyway, but at least this way, the receptionist would be aware of what was actually going on inside her body…

"Tyrone and Sprite…" Tyrone responded before Sprite could get any mischievous ideas…

The Obese receptionist wrote their names on a piece of paper and raised her head to examine the duo for the first time…

"Age?" She questioned, glancing at Tyrone and Sprite suspiciously…

Tyrone was about to answer but Sprite suddenly had an epiphany and recalled her true age… before she even had time to process the information, Sprite already blurted it out…

"Seven Thousand Three hundred and forty-Five…" Sprite shouted and Tyrone choked on his saliva…

That was definitely a large number…

The Obese Receptionist seemed confused for a couple of seconds until Tyrone placed an arm around Sprite's shoulder and cleared up the misunderstanding…

"She is my daughter…" He explained, patting Sprite on the head as if she was a docile kitten…

"I'm old enough to be your grandmother…" Sprite argued, brushing Tyrone's hand away…

Tyrone continued his genuine smile as he spoke to the Obese receptionist "And my daughter is mentally challenged… just look at her…" he pointed at Sprite "She doesn't even grow…"

"What does my physical appearance have to do with mental illness?" Sprite questioned, causing Tyrone's mouth to twitch in frustration…

Still, the Obese Receptionist just examined them hesitantly the entire time… unlike what Tyrone and Sprite thought, the receptionist was concerned for another reason entirely…

The Receptionist frowned at pointed at Sprite "This is your daughter?" She questioned disbelievingly…

It was only then that Tyrone and Sprite noticed their very obvious contrasting colors… Tyrone was brown – a darker shade of brown, while Sprite was as white as snow…

Tyrone shrugged "Her mother was an Albino… so our colors merged and she came out like this…"

It was Sprite's turn to choke at the nonsense Tyrone so calmly spouted…

Any idiot would know that genetics didn't work that way, but it seemed the Receptionist was in the one percent of the population that believed Albinos were magical…

"Of course, sir!" The Receptionist bowed and passed Tyrone a key over the table…

Before Tyrone could recover the key, Sprite grabbed it from the counter, cursing beneath her breath that people always thought the male was in charge when she was the actual boss…

"Are you sure you can handle what you are about to get, little girl?" The Receptionist question, hidden implications in her statement…

Sprite scoffed "I can handle anything this loser does…"

Tyrone smacked his head in frustration because Sprite clearly didn't understand what the Receptionist was implying… or maybe, she pretended not to understand…

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

After Tyrone and Sprite left for their assigned room, the Receptionist made a very important call…

"Yeah…" She talked into the phone "I found another one…"

"Yeah… she is definitely albino… the whitest I have ever seen… come get her tomorrow, and bring my money along…"

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

Tyrone and Sprite were on their way up the stairs…

"I feel like something is fundamentally wrong with the world…" Sprite murmured, not knowing what was giving her the ache in the pit of her stomach…

Tyrone glanced around and did not notice anything "I thought you quit drugs, but obviously you can get high on your own…"

Sprite snorted and let the snide comment pass…

Tyrone inserted the key and pushed open the door to their shared room…

An hour later, Sprite and Tyrone were out of the shower and slumped on the bed…

Of course, there was an intense battle to decide who would rest in the bed, but all the battle accomplished was tiring them both…

It had been some time since either Tyrone or Sprite slept in a bed so sharing was not a big deal for them…

Tyrone was sure that nothing would happen, especially with Sprite's less-than-busty body…

Sprite reached for the remote and flicked on the television… switching the channels until she arrived at the only thing worth watching – The Evening News…

"We are here at *****… a mutant just went on a rampage that caused several civilians to lose their lives… This is the first mutant incident in four years, ever since the mutant population mysterious disappeared five years ago… with the loss of the X-Men, we are forced-"

Sprite changed the channel… and continued to change the channel again and again… she flicked and flicked until there were no more channels to browse through…

Suddenly, her heart sank as she came to a startling realization…

"We have a problem…" Sprite whispered in a voice so soft yet so heavy "Look at the TV, Tyrone… tell me what you see…"

Tyrone raised his head and glanced at the television in confusion, not noticing anything out of place…

And that was precisely the problem…

"It seems normal to me…" Tyrone snorted "A regular flat screen…"

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Sprite went ballistic, tossing things around the room with her golden energy "The TV is FLAT! And the channels have colors!"

"Yeah, AND-" Tyrone paused…

It was like a rude awakening, or maybe the continuation of a vicious nightmare… but he finally realized what had Sprite so terrified…

"This is the 1940s, right?" Tyrone swallowed his saliva "This shouldn't exist at this point in time…"

Sprite stopped rampaging and thought deeply "I think I understand why your powers behave strangely… why you can't control it… I think, if anything, the curses placed on your body is helping you…"

Tyrone frowned "Helping me how?"

"Think, Tyrone, THINK!" Sprite urged "The Curse redirects your MUTANT ability… diverting power from its primary purpose… and from what I understand, your main ability is not teleportation…"

"But…" Tyrone choked, fully realizing the gravity of the situation "That's impossible…"

"When you teleported us from Arro and his men… you didn't simply teleport us away…"

"I jumped us into the future?" Tyrone questioned, both anxious and somewhat relieved…

After all, he had yet to gain vengeance for Jessica's and Xandra's deaths, and this could be an opportunity to do so…

And with Sprite's help, there was little that could stop them…

"You don't understand…" Sprite urged, flicking more channels on the television…

Each channel showed Landmarks that were unknown to Sprite… Channels discussed the Extinction of Mutants and possible causes…

Nothing was the same as it should have been… even the documentaries on war showed a different History…

Sprite waved her hands in the air and created illusions that quickly waned as if the power source was nearly empty…

"I draw power from Cosmic Energy…" She explained, "This is an energy that is all around us, all the time… As long as the Universe exists, my power is almost limitless, so why am I feeling weak?"

When Tyrone was stumped for a reply, Sprite answered "It is because the Cosmic Energy here is different somehow… you didn't jump us into the future, Tyrone… you jumped us into an entirely new Universe…"

"You're saying my main ability is to what?" Tyrone held his head in frustration "Take me from one Universe to another without ever finding a home!?"

Sprite nodded and pulled Tyrone's hand into her own, showing him the disappearing black veins that ran under his skin…

Obviously, he was becoming healthier…

"Every time your ability builds up enough energy, your emotions heighten until it becomes powerful enough that you jump across timelines… and you don't just jump across a single timeline… you jump so far away from the Sacred Timeline that we are undetectable…"

Tyrone sighed "How can you be so sure about this?"

It was a heart-wrenching thought – the possibility that he didn't jump to the past as he originally surmised; instead, he jumped to an entirely different Universe…

More than once, he had the thought to wait until the 2000s and save Jessica and Xandra from their horrible fate, but as it turned out, that wouldn't have been possible in the first place…

"You can feel it, can't you?" Sprite asked and Tyrone nodded…

Even as he just stood with his entire body relaxed, h could feel the faint thug of something in the void, beckoning for him to return, but he didn't have the energy reserves to respond…

However, Tyrone sensed that if he had enough energy, he and Sprite would be pulled back to their original Universe without the power to resist…

"I know we are far from our Universe because the Time-Keepers have yet to show up…" Sprite murmured, and suddenly clutched her head in pain "YOU NEED TO TAKE ME BACK NOW!"

At first, Sprite was hysterical, but then she calmed down a bit, and now she was hysterical once more…

Tyrone had a hard time keeping track of all her shifts in mood…

Sprite leaped on Tyrone and pinned him to the bed, her eyes were a golden-blaze that made Tyrone's breathing difficult…

He instantly became aware that she was not messing around… He felt like the God of Death was pressing a dagger against his neck, ready to take his life at the slightest hint of disobedience…

Sprite curled her hand around Tyrone's neck and pressed… she possessed immense strength for a body so small…

It wasn't until Tyrone's eyes reddened, moments away from passing out did she release him with a sigh of disappointment…

"It doesn't work…" Sprite grumbled, disappointed "Even if your life is in danger, you don't have the capability to jump again…"

Tyrone coughed and rolled on the ground, trying desperately to get enough air into his lungs…

"Why are you so desperate to get back… you seem happier here…" Tyrone pointed out, noticing the pep in Sprite's step since they arrived in this Universe "You don't walk like you have the weight of the world on your back anymore…"

Sprite shook her head "I don't remember everything entirely, but… I do know that me being on Earth, our Earth, prevents something very bad from happening… like something will begin to awaken if I am not there… and that something is powerful enough to destroy a planet…"

"What is it?" Tyrone gulped, fully believing Sprite's story because… well, they were already in another Universe – nothing was outside the realm of possibility at this point…

"I don't know but it must be bad because…" Sprite paused with a frown on her face "I can feel its irritation even now… many Universes away and I can still feel it…"

"Then… do you have an idea of how we get back?" Tyrone questioned, thinking about the fact that he had yet to apologize to Betty for possibly being the cause of Anthony's death…

Silence reigned as Sprite and Tyrone tried and failed to come up with ideas that would take them home…

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

Two hours passed, and Sprite and Tyrone shifted positions on the bed for the hundredth time…

Each new position gave birth to a new idea, but no idea was notable enough to move into the planning phase…

The morning was a couple of hours away, and just as Tyrone was about to suggest they take the time to recover some energy, Sprite had an idea that would lead to more ideas…

Without asking Tyrone's permission, Sprite flicked on the television and rented several movies on the room's tab…

"We should gain inspiration from the greats…" Sprite justified, but from the wiggling of her toes, Tyrone could tell she was just happy to watch tv…

The next thirty minutes were spent watching Korean Dramas – apparently, it was a big deal on Television on this Earth…

Both Tyrone and Sprite were relieved to see television again…

They continued to watch the Korean Drama in silence until the main actors shared their first kiss, and then things got a bit awkward…

Sprite turned to Tyrone, ready to puff her lips out to receive a kiss, but Tyrone shook his head with a laugh…

"Child Molestation…" He whispered and what started as a joke for Sprite turned into a mission to get Tyrone to kiss her…

It was one thing to reject a kiss… it was another thing for Tyrone to reject her kiss because she looked like a child…

They continued watching television, switching from Korean Dramas to Sci-Fi movies… specifically, Back to The Future…

Suddenly struck by inspiration on how to get home, Tyrone opened his mouth to share "Maybe we can-"

"That's not how time works…" Sprite corrected before Tyrone could propose something as stupid as time travel…

After all, she didn't like their chances if Tyrone got his idea about time travel from a movie that makes no sense…

Sprite changed the movie, settling for something a bit more futuristic – STAR WARS…

After a couple of minutes, Tyrone opened his mouth once more "Maybe, we can-"

"Alien Civilizations are usually not that Advanced!" She pointed out before Tyrone could propose another useless idea…

Actually, she was half-annoyed about the fact that he rejected her kiss, so maybe, shooting down his ideas had become a bit fun…

Tyrone stole the remote from Sprite and switched the movie to something more romantic, hoping to find an answer from where he expected none to be…

It was called 'Thinking outside the box…'

And the movie in question was ENDLESS LOVE…

The movie brought tears to both their eyes… Sprite experienced something similar, while Tyrone imagined what it would have been like if Jessica hadn't died…

"Maybe love is the answer…" Sprite suggested, wiping her face clean of all tears…

Tyrone sighed "All love brings is more pain…"

Disappointed with Tyrone's answer, Sprite retrieved the remote and selected a random film that held no significance whatsoever…

Thirty minutes into the movie…

"Maybe, we can-"

Without waiting to hear Tyrone's suggestion, Sprite waved her hand, and Tyrone's mouth was gone…

It wasn't until Sprite heard intense wheezing from Tyrone did she cancel the illusion and restored his ability to speak…

Confused, she glanced at Tyrone "You still had your nose to breathe… why were you choking?"

"I am a Mouth-Breather…" Tyrone justified, blushing a bit when Sprite directed a wink in his direction…

It didn't take a genius to guess the dirty things that were on her mind…