An aberration in time.
That's what Fukushu had called Darren and his friends, an aberration. It still seemed improbable to the teenage Catalyst, somehow he had prevented himself and his friends from being erased from the timeline. They were all that remained from a future the Normal had strived to erase completely; and the Normal had been quite thorough.
It was hard to say when things had reached a breaking point. Fukushu described how over a period of time the Normal had gone about eliminating their enemies. A car crash here, a random shooting there, an explosion mixed in for good measure. Individually they could be summed up as bad luck, a cloud of misfortune that hung over the wizards. It wouldn't be until it was too late that the wizards realized they were being systematically executed.
Darren had learned of the first few deaths. In one timeline, (Kellie and Jack's) anthros, magical races, and wizards were targeted by the predecessor of the Normal, the One Humanity. These fanatics, under the secret leadership of the Boss and his lieutenants, targeted the most dangerous magical beings namely Akira and Mia and Zacks friends. Once they were out of the way the timeline was easy pickings. The Boss himself personally ending the lives of Kellie and Jack before they obtained their immortality.
In Darren's timeline, things were more subtle. The Normal moved in secret, spying on the former Catalyst and her allies. Quickly they discovered their identities and discovered a way to weaken them. It started when the Normal learned of the existence of the son of Life and Death.
The teenage boy would prove to be everyone's undoing, not because of anything he did but because of the power he possessed. The Normal captured him, draining him of his powers and perverting them to their own needs. Still, even with a limited power to control life and death the Normal needed to thin the ranks of the wizards.
A car accident claiming Mika Harris, a civil war within the vampire kingdom that caused the death of Caleb Moreland and his girlfriend Gloria, an explosion in an automobile shop that claimed the life of the great grandson of Dracula and his girlfriend. Even a school shooting that claimed several teenagers and Miss Yurikos master Mary Elise McKinnon. These incidents may have seemed like random events but in actuality it was part of the Normals plan to eliminate the wizards. Once the wizards had been significantly weakened, the Normal unleashed their attack.
Aaron had told of these events in chilling details. How a strike team from the Normal had broken into his home, killing his mother and sisters. Aaron only managed to escape because of Nat and Connor, the dhamphir teen and her demon hunting friend taking the boy to the Moreland home. Once there the wizards tried to regroup, finally realizing what was wrong. By then though it was too late.
The kitsune and tanuki were wiped out in the ensuing chaos. The Davis family murdered by Choon Hee as they tried to rally the Dragons to their side. Fukushu, regrettably, had remained on the sidelines this entire time. His hatred for the wizards clouding his judgment. It was only when Casseus and the Boss killed Abolith and Raiden did he finally act but it was too late.
The Morelands were killed, along with the Katie and her family. Aaron barely escaping with Nat and the Morelands fairy Spark. Fukushu arrived to take them all into hiding as the Normal began to strengthen their iron grip on the magical community without the human population being the wiser.
These were the dark times, Fukushu trying to organize a resistance as the Normal wiped out magical race after magical race. The human world though was unaware of the Normals genocidal activities. The Boss had attained political power, keeping the masses happy and oblivious of their motives. It made it possible for the Normal to not have to worry about humans and focusing on destroying magic a much easier task.
Fukushu tried to save the magical world but it was a losing battle. The Normal worked in secret, manipulated and lied to everyone. It was how they destroyed the fae, tricking the Morelands fairy Spark into thinking her beloved Connor was still alive. It ended in Sparks death and the realm of the fae reduced to ash. It was how Nat died and Zsck was captured. A rumor that Yuriko was being held as a prisoner on the lunar colony Apollo, led to a rescue. It turned out the Normal were waiting, capturing and torturing Nat and Zack. Eventually Mia and Fukushu rescued Zack but it came at a cost. Zack had been reduced to a nearly mindless beast with only Mia able to calm him.
As Darren now returned from a mission to destroy a Normal outpost he sighed. Yes they had succeeded but this was a losing effort. Even with the teenage Sachikos help (Darren learning she had been magically aged since Fukushu came to care for her. She aged at twice the rate as a normal kitsune making her 16 instead of 8) he saw little hope.
"How did it go?"
Darren paused, glancing at Gail as the teenage girl gave him a concerned look. In the month they had been here, the teenage prodigy had used her talents for math to try and help by coordinating with Steph and Hannah to hack into the Normals mainframe. The task was a proving to be colossal effort. "Another dead end," he sighed. "All we found were Soul Drive blueprints."
"Sorry," Gail sighed. "I thought we might have found something to help fix this." Darren smiled, thanking Gail for her efforts as he moved on. Fukushu was waiting for their full report.
Entering Fukushu's war room, Darren could see the kitsune carefully studying his battle plans. Morale was low, the loss of the dragons making supplies hard to come by. "Fukushu?" The kitsune now glanced up, studying the teenage Catalyst carefully. "How did it go?"
"A dead-end," Darren sighed. "We weren't able to find anything useful on the Normal." Fukushu nodded, taking a deep breath before speaking. "We keep searching," he said. "Your existence proves that the Normal have a weakness."
"You really think so?"
"The fact that you exist shows that the Normal have the ability to travel thru time," Fukushu stated. "If we can find it then we can finally stop the Normal. The fate of our past, our present, and our future is in the balance Darren. We can not afford to fail."