Jonny and Bonny looked in on Mercy who was watching TV in the living room. Mercy tried to find a way out of the castle earlier, but found that there was no way to get to the ground. Defeated she decided to watch a little TV. Hopefully her two captors...parents would reach the guys soon, and they would get her out of there.
"It's obvious our little dear isn’t going to help us willingly." Bonny said. "Good thing I didn’t tell her her real name yet, Ronny."
"Fortunately I have prepared for such a thing." Jonny said holding up a small device in his hand. "Watch this." He clicked a button.
"What’s going to happen?" Bonny said curiously excited.
"You'll see." Jonny promised.
Mercy sat glumly and tried to get into an episode of "Laugh In" that was on. A woman she recognized as a young Goldie Hawn danced around to some trippy music. She had different sayings painted onto her. She shook her head.
"I wonder why they thought this was funny. Probably all the drugs." She decided. A flashing light on the screen caught her attention. It only appeared for a second. She stared it for a second and tried to change the channel. She felt herself drop the remote on the ground. She bent over to pick it up but she found that she no longer had control over her own body. It almost felt like something was trying to take control. She tried to fight it but whatever if was, was more powerful than her. She stood up and looked around, everything seemed to be hazy and blurry, as if she was looking through a prism of some sort. She felt her head getting light on her shoulders. It almost like she was drifting away. Suddenly it all went black as her eyes shut. They suddenly opened back up. She looked at Jonny and Bonny.
"What did you do?" Bonny asked Jonny as he pocketed the small device he had.
"When our little darling was looking for a place to escape us, I figured that she would eventually give up and watch TV. So I implanted something in the tv that would hypnotize her, and hopefully bring her over to our side." Jonny said. "Remember we want the device, but I know you would never want to give up our daughter, so this is the perfect solution."
"You are smart...and handsome." Bonny gushed.
"I know." Jonny said.
"Did it work? She’s just standing there in a daze." Bonny said.
"You'll see." Jonny said pointing at her as she started to undergo a transformation. Mercys expression slowly changed from scared to a grin. Her eyes brightened. She looked at Bonny and Jonny with a look of joy on her face.
"Wait for it..." Jonny said.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Mercy said running to them. "I thought I would never see you again!" She ran up to them and gave them both a hug. "I missed you Mommy dearest."
"Mommy Dearest?" Bonny asked.
"Your fault, I thought it would be cute." Jonny said.
"We missed you too Ronny." Bonny said deciding to use that name after all.
"Can I have some Chocolate Banana Swirl Ice Cream?" She asked. Bonny looked at Jonny with a puzzled look.'
"Okay, it has a few bugs but its a virtual 180." He said.
"You can some ice cream." Bonny said.
"Yay!" Mercy/Ronny said.
"But first you must help mommy and daddy."
"Okay." Mercy/Ronny said with a pout.
"If you help mommy and daddy, then we can have ice cream." She promised.
"With rainbow sprinkles?" Mercy/Ronny nodded excitedly.
"And a cherry!" Bonny said tweaking her nose.
"All right!" Mercy/Ronny said.
"First, you gotta help mommy and daddy, in order to do that, we gotta do your hair." Bonny said. "We want you to look good when you help us,"
"What am I doing?" Mercy/Ronny asked.
"You'll find out. First we have to tell you a story about some very baddd people."
"Boooo!" Mercy/Ronny said.
"Yes, bad people." Jonny said. "Go off with mommy, I'll see you in a few minutes."'
"Okay daddy." Mercy/Ronny said kissing Jonny on the cheek.
Mercy felt like she was watching herself on the outside. She shook her head as she watched them lead "Ronny" away.
"What happened?" She asked herself as she felt like a bystander in her own body. "What did they DO?"
The Pad
Karen handed the time gadget over to Chea who looked at it. Where there was once a pad of confusing numbers was now a small screen, another adaptation Micky might have made in the future. On the screen there was an image that almost knocked her on the ground. It was herself, only a few years older. Chea noticed that there was virtually no difference in how she looked. Her blonde hair was shorter, but there was no gray hair visible. There was wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, possibly laugh lines from years of living with Micky. It was like she looked when they visited her icky future.
"Chea?" He future self asked.
"Yes?" She responded.
"I'm so glad this works!" She cried out. "We can talk to them."
The picture changed. Chea was not looking at Karen, who had gray hair streaked among her bangs.
"Where is everyone? I'd like to see my son." Karen said.
Chea passed the device over to Roark who looked into it. "I'm fine mom, everything is fine."
"It's not fine." Bethany broke in. "Jonny and Bonny kidnapped Mercy."
Karen sighed. "Not those two." She looked up at Mike. "They have Davy and Briannas’ daughter."
"Oh no." Mike said. He thought for a moment. "Wait, if its happening in the past, then why don't we know already?"
"They must have done something to keep us from knowing somehow." Karen shrugged. "What can we do here about it?" She asked.
Roark passed the device back to Chea. "I don't know. If thats the emergency gadget you have, then you cant use it. It might backfire like last time." She said. She thought for a moment. "How many kids do I have?" She asked, suddenly curious about whether or not she had seven kids.
The picture started to break up, Chea shook the gadget around, as if that would do anything. "We've lost them."
2001
The power shut off of the device. Karen cursed contemplated tossing it to the ground. Micky grabbed it.
"Don't! We'll need that stupid thing." He said. "Its short on power. Whoever used it the last time didn’t charge it right. It might be hours before we talk to them again."
"By then it might be too late." Mike said. "Jonny and Bonny out again, we knew that but who thought she would take Mercy? Why she?"
The pad
Chea moaned. "Now I'll never know how many kids I had." She said with a pout.
"Just me, mom. The one and only." Bethany said.
"Ahhh," Chea said. "Maybe seven kids wouldn’t be so bad after all."
"Trust me, ma, I was a handful." She laughed.
"Plus with Micky you really have two kids." Mike added.
"Yeah, ah hey!" Micky protested.
Chea started to hand the device over to Karen again when the screen came on. Two blonde people were in front of them.
"Jonny and Bonny. What do you want?" Brianna said roughly taking the device from Chea.
"You have something we want. We have something you want." Jonny said with her hand on a slightly shorter blonde woman. "Your foster daughter."
"Foster daughter?" Brianna said as the girl turned around. She was unrecognizable at first but then Brianna and Davy looked closer at her.
"Mercy." Davy said.
"Ronny." Bonny said. "You remember how you got her don't you? I left her on your doorstop so long ago. I'm her mother."
"If that’s not scary I don't know what is." Peter said, possibly speaking for everyone.
"A simple trade. Mercy/Ronny for all the gadgets." She said. "Send someone to meet us at Pago Tibu in ten minutes, the first survivor set, and we'll trade loved one for the time gadget. If you dont come, then gosh a roony I just don't know what I will do. Ciao." She said lightly. The screen vanished. The image of Mercy, or Ronny as she was being called, was burned into Davy and Briannas memory.
"What can we do?" Brianna asked.
"What can we do?" Mike said. "We gotta do a trade."
"But we can't do that." Roark said. "We won't exist if you change the way things go."
"Thats right, if you change the time line, then its possible that you split continuity into two pieces, real future and the real real future." Livvie said making a diagram on a chalkboard. She spent a few seconds writing on it. she turned and smiled. "See?"
Everyone looked at her with mouths agape. "In other words if we don't fix it, it will hit the fan."
"Smart and beautiful." Peter said.
"Yeah." Davis said. "That’s my mom."
"Just hear me out. We'll be giving them something, but they won't know what it is. Okay?" Mike said to Roark.
"Okay, then who gets to go?" Peter asked.
"The kids should go." Karen thought for a minute. "They get the device and Ronny, I mean Mercy, I mean Ronny..." She shook her head. "I'm confused already. If they get her, then they can move right back to the future like nothing happened."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Mike said. "Let's vote."
"No need." Karen said looking around. Roark and Bethany were gone. "I think someone already decided for us."
Roark and Bethany stood on the beach together with the time gadget in his hands.
"I think we should wait and see what they plan to do, Roark." Bethany said as Roark tried to figure out the intricate features on the gadget.
"By the time fifteen minutes is over, they wont be any closer to a solution. It's time to take action for our best friend." He said. "If you want to stay, then stay. But I'm still going to go." He said as he input the information.
"How would we get home if we give this up?" Bethany said grabbing his hand.
"I'm not too concerned with that right now." He said hitting the red button. "Hold on, girl. Here we go." Bethany gripped his hand tight as a bright light surrounded them. Instantly they were gone.
From inside the house they saw the flash appear and vanish.
"Oh no, they're gone." Chea said.
"I don't there was no stopping him, if Roark is anything like his dad." Karen said looking at Mike. "I think she went along to make sure he’s all right."
"Let's hope so, I dont want to lose two more kids in one night." Micky said.
