The time traveler

It was another normal day in Swellview. Well, as normal as could be with all those criminals and villains running around. Fortunately, there haven't been a lot of crimes the past few days, allowing Captain Man to take a well-deserved break for as long as the big criminals decided to stay away.

As for Ray Manchester, he was stuck behind the check-out of Junk N' Stuff. Gooch was on vacation to visit his family, so someone had to watch the check-out. Schwoz and Charlotte wouldn't do it, since they were much needed downstairs. And after recent events, Ray had decided to stay upstairs while Henry kept his friend busy. The shop closed an hour ago, but that didn't stop Ray from staying in his store, away from that annoying bucket lover.

He heard the doors of the elevator open. Ray held his breath, hoping it wouldn't be him. And fortunately, it wasn't. He released the breath he's been holding - it was just Henry. He walked until they were face to face, each at one side of the counter. When he turned to Ray, he was glaring.

"Jasper is cleaning the bathroom," he said. So, he noticed, Ray thought. That kid had to be of some use.

"Yes, he is," Ray said.

"Apparently Captain Man told him to do that," Henry continued. Ray nodded.

"Yes, I have," he said. Henry wasn't too happy with the situation, but thinking about Jasper cleaning the bathroom put a smile on Ray's face.

"Why are you letting Jasper do the chores?" Henry then asked him, sounding rather annoyed with the situation. He thought of everything Jasper already had done for Captain Man the past week. Those were all simple chores, like cleaning the the Man-Van and Man-Copter, as well as taking out the trash.

"What, do you want to do them?" Ray asked him. It took a while before Henry responded.

"No."

"Thought so." The image of Henry doing all those chores was amusing to think of, even if Henry would never do it unless he had no choice. Then, he realized he hadn't answered Henry's question. "About your friend: he has to make himself useful around here. Besides, it's your fault he's doing the chores."

"How can it be my fault?" Henry wondered. Ray folded his arms.

"Well, you were the one who told Jasper you're Kid Danger. You are the one who showed him the location of the Man Cave. So, it is your fault Jasper is doing chores down there."

"You were going to wipe my best friend's memories. What was I supposed to do?" Henry said in return.

"Well, you shouldn't have brought him here," Ray responded. Sure, Henry was trying to protect his friend and all, but now Ray was stuck with yet another teenager who knew the location of the Man Cave. I mean, they already proved Jasper couldn't keep a secret. Really, everyone in the building was in trouble if that kid couldn't keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately, he had promised Henry he wouldn't wipe Jasper's memories. He had asked Schwoz if there was any way of making a memory wiper which targeted specific memories, but he had yet to hear of any result.

Before Henry could say anything else, Ray's attention shifted from him to the front door. A woman was standing at the door, trying to look inside. She had been standing there for quite some time now, from even before Henry came upstairs. Ray sighed and stood up from his spot.

"We'll continue this later," he said while he walked to the door. Once he opened it, he couldn't take his eyes off of the woman standing in front of the shop. He had to admit she was rather pretty with her black hair and chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm sorry, miss," he eventually stammered, "but we're closed." The woman nodded.

"Okay then," she said. Ray was about to close the door again, but she wasn't done talking.

"It's weird, isn't it?" she said, looking into the shop and at his face, "I've walked past this store every day going to work and going home and not once have I bothered coming here." She then smiled at him. What a lovely smile, he thought. Ray decided to stick around for a while and talk to her. Talking never hurt anyone, right?

"Until tonight," he then said and she nodded.

"Yes, until tonight," she said after laughing with him.

Both of them seemed to ignore the teenager inside the shop who followed the conversation with much interest. Henry was just glad Ray spent time talking to a woman and showing interest in her instead of his mother. Other than that, he thought it was kind of weird for two complete strangers to talk to one another like that, as if they have known each other for a long time.

"This is a very interesting shop," the woman then said, looking past Ray into the shop. Henry folded his arms.

"It is," Ray said. Neither said anything for a few seconds, but Ray soon broke the silence again. "We're closed now but, if you want to, you can take a look around for a couple of minutes." Henry's mouth fell open. Normally, Ray wouldn't let anyone in the store, only those who had to be downstairs and Piper, if she wanted to. (It's not like anyone would stop her.)

The woman pressed her lips together and then sighed. "I'd love to, but I can't," she said, "my brother's back in town and I promised I'd go see him in…" she looked at the expensive watch around her wrist, "ten minutes. He doesn't like waiting, so…" she trailed off and Ray nodded, understanding the situation. It didn't mean he was happy with it.

"Oh," he said, then nodded, understanding the situation. "Goodnight, then." He slowly closed the door, wishing she wouldn't be gone so soon.

"But maybe…" she said, prompting him to quickly open the door again and listen to what she had to say. "Maybe I'll have some time to spare tomorrow. I can come back then."

"Yeah, sure," Ray nodded, a big grin appearing on his face, "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," she said, a smile appearing on her face as well. She started to walk away from the store, away to her brother. Ray watched her leave and caught her looking back one more time. He shut the door and then jumped up in joy and laughed.

"Did you see that?" he asked Henry, half-shouting and pointing at the door. He was a little disappointed Henry merely nodded.

"It was hard not to see," the blonde said.

"I know, right?" he said, "This is the first time such a pretty woman has showed interest." He failed to specify whether he was talking about the store or about himself – it was probable he was talking about both. Most women didn't really like junk and stuff, and only ever showed interest in Swellview's own Captain Man.

"Yeah," Henry said, finding no other way to respond. He and Ray walked to the back to the store, at the elevator. Ray took some bubble gum and put it into his mouth while Henry continued talking. "But, about Jasper—"

Ray didn't let him finish. He groaned loudly when he heard that name. Henry stopped talking. He knew what Ray was thinking right now.

"Why do you have to be such a buzzkill?" he said. The joy he had felt when and after he talked to that woman was gone now, replaced by the annoyance he felt whenever they were talking about or were close to Jasper. He chewed on the gum.

"Tell him to stop doing those chores," Henry said. Ray popped the bubble and transformed into Captain Man before he and Henry stepped into the elevator.

"And what are you gonna do if I don't?" Ray asked him. They looked at one another and Henry shrugged.

"Still working on that." He hit the button. The elevator went down at the high speed both of them had gotten used to after using the elevator so many times. Neither spoke until they had landed and the doors slid open. Henry and Ray walked into the Man Cave. Schwoz was looking at the computer screens, looking for even the slightest sign of criminal activity. Charlotte was helping him, but was sitting on the couch. There was no sign of Jasper.

"Is he still in there?" Henry asked Charlotte. Charlotte opened her mouth to answer, but Schwoz was faster.

"Yes," he said, sounding rather happy. He was just glad someone other than him had to clean the bathroom.

"I told him to stop working, but he won't!" Charlotte said, then turned her head at Ray and glared at him. Henry followed her example, folding his arms again and glaring at Ray.

"Really?" Ray said, "You're just gonna stare at me until I make him stop?" There came no reaction. Henry and Charlotte only stared. Eventually, Ray sighed loudly.

"Fine! I'll do it," he said, and the two stopped glaring at him. Henry and Charlotte celebrated this victory with a high five.

"Jasper!" Ray yelled. Not much later, Jasper ran into the main room of the Man Cave, still holding a cleaning brush in one of his gloved hands. He stopped running once he stood in front of his favorite superhero.

"Yes, Captain Man?" he asked, waiting for new orders. Captain Man opened his mouth to tell Jasper to stop cleaning the bathroom.

He never got his chance to say it. Something else, something much more important caught their attention. Without any warning, they heard a loud crack and a bright flash of light appeared. Within that light, about two yards away from the elevator, something started to materialize. It took a while before the thing gained a true shape, even if that shape wasn't too clear at first either.

While the thing was getting a shape, Henry popped a gum and with Ray assumed a fighting stance, ready to battle, whatever would happen after the process was done. Schwoz had noticed the event, too, but remained in seat, merely looking at the light, covering his eyes. Charlotte had stood up, moved herself to behind Captain Man and Kid Danger. Jasper, frightened by this peculiar event, was content with hiding and watching behind Charlotte.

Eventually, the light faded away and it left a construction. It could be best described as a fancy futuristic contraption. It couldn't be taller and longer than two yards. It was an oval pod, with at the side a small ladder. Part of it was covered with glass, and through there they could see someone sitting inside.

Henry squinted his eyes, looking at the man inside. "Wait a minute… is that—"

He couldn't finish what he was going to say, even if he wanted to. The man put his finger at a place on what could be that thing's dashboard and the pod emitted some orange gas at a rapid rate. Before Henry could finish, the five were breathing in the gas. Soon, everyone was coughing violently. Luckily, the gas was gone as soon as it came and not one minute later, they weren't coughing anymore. Henry did forget what he was going to say, but it must not have been that important if he forgot.

Some of the gas was released into the pod as well. The glass, which appeared to be the pod's door, opened and the man climbed out of it. Once he was standing on the ground, he almost stumbled over his feet while coughing violently. This allowed them to take a good look at their visitor. He had short brown hair and wore a long coat. They guessed he was in his late thirties. Other than that, they never met him before. He did look familiar, but maybe he just has one of those faces.

Eventually, he too was done coughing and ready to face Captain Man and Kid Danger. The man lifted his head. He looked around in the Man Cave with excitement.

"Freeze!" Captain Man yelled, "put your hands in the air!" Only when he said that, the man noticed the five people who were staring at him. The man looked at every individual for a second before he completely ignored the hero's order. Instead, he started to laugh out of joy, thrusting his fist into the air.

"Oh, yes!" he shouted, leaving everyone confused, "It worked! Oh, it actually worked! Finally! Schwoz, you're a genius."

"Thank you," Schwoz said. He appreciated it when someone appreciated his intellect, no matter who it was. Ray turned his head and shot a glare in Schwoz's direction before focusing back on the man. He turned his head to the five and shook it.

"N-No, that's not what I… I was talking about another you, the fut—" He interrupted himself, but immediately continued talking. "Say, which month of what year is it? I'm a little disoriented." Ray and Henry looked at one another, wondering what the meaning was of this. Ray nodded, giving Henry permission to tell him.

"It's early September 2016. Why do you want to know?" he added, but his question wouldn't get an answer immediately. The man was too busy cheering for a reason unknown when he heard the date.

"I made it," the man then said, astonished by this accomplishment. "Oh, this is great!" He continued to laugh and look around, even waved at the five confused people who just met him.

Ray couldn't take it anymore. A stranger somehow was able to enter the Man Cave with that pod, whatever it was, sprayed them with some orange gas and was for some reason excited he was in the present. Plus, he called Schwoz a genius. Nobody calls Schwoz a genius.

"What the heck is going on here?" Ray shouted. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" This drew the man's attention. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"I'm sorry for breaking in and everything, but I'm on your side. I really am. I get this is confusing, but I'll try to explain," the man said. He paused, looking at them all, especially at the scared boy watching behind the girl. I'm not that scary, am I? he thought before starting to talk again.

"My names is James and I come from twenty-five years into your future."

Hello everyone and welcome to my new Henry Danger story. I've been playing with this idea for a while and I hope you liked this first chapter. It would make me very happy if you'd stick around. Also, it may take a while before I update. It'll take at most/least a week, but never longer than two. That's all I had to say, so... until next time!

-Writer207