The idea of time travel is that there are millions upon millions of timelines all lined up next to each other. There are small pathways in between each timeline that allow someone who can access the timestream to travel into another timeline. A time traveler can move in 6 ways in time. Back and forth, left and right, and up and down. Using this method, a time traveler has access to every possible outcome of an event. Therefore, while one time line was saved from destruction, an adjacent timeline may not not have been saved from the same destruction. One problem, two different outcomes. The following is a story that depicts Step's travels through the timestream and what he has seen. It could be classified as an origin story because it explains the horrors he saw that made him travel to 2008 to warn Repeater.

Note: Step was born in 2250, therefore, the present is set in 2250, not 2008.

Up

Timeline A: April 5, 2250

It was Mike's birthday. He had been training and honing his powers for 15 years now. He was a mutant like the rest of his family, except he was more powerful thanks to his Ouroboros Crystal heart. When his family had found out about this mutation they decided that he would be an excellent field agent with his ability to travel through time and foresee dangers and ways to prevent them. Today was the day that he would be given his first mission. Now that he was 15, he was old enough to assume responsibility. He waited anxiously in the meeting room of the Manor. The Manor was a sprawling labyrinth of a house that the Mitchells built when the family became to big. It was a miracle of technology that laid on the outskirts of Paragon City. Just then, several members of the family entered the room. The only people that Mike recognized were his parents. They walked over and stopped in front of him.

"Michael, we have decided on your first mission." said one of the men.

"Oh yeah? What do I have to do? Do I get to go back in time and crush Hitler? Or am I going back and making sure Martin Luther King Jr. doesn't get shot?" Mike asked eagerly.

"No and no. We have decided that your first mission should be relatively easy. There fore, we are sending you on a series of missions each to a separate timeline. You will journey in six different directions in the timestream and report what you find."

"Oh, okay." Mike said. He was somewhat disillusioned with the thoughts of his first mission. Why didn't he get to do something that was actually helpful?

"Your first mission is to travel to the timeline directly above ours in the timestream. You will bring something back to prove that the journey was successful. Are you ready?"

Mike was ready, "Yup, I'll be back in a snap." With that, he stepped into the timestream to begin his journey.

Up

Timeline B: December 20, 2008

Down

Timeline C: December 20, 2008

Left

Timeline D: December 20, 2008

Right

Timeline E: December 20, 2008

Backwards

Timeline A: May 14, 1980

Forwards

Timeline A: August 10, 2400