Captain Clockwork watched with wicked glee as the transformation of Alex and Carl continued, but now it wasn’t just their bodies that were being warped by time—it was their minds.
Carl, who had been the sharp-witted tech genius of the team, now looked down at his aged, heavy frame. His thoughts, once rapid and focused, were becoming foggy, slow. The sense of urgency, the instinct to fight back—it was all slipping away. Instead, his mind was filled with aches, weariness, and the confusing thought that this had always been his life.
He blinked a few times, scratched is bearish belly. “What… what was I doing?” Carl muttered, his deep, raspy voice almost unrecognizable to him. He reached out with trembling, pudgy hands, but his once nimble fingers struggled to grip anything properly. “I was… someone else. Wasn’t I?”
Captain Clockwork’s eyes gleamed as he took a step closer. “Oh, you’re not remembering wrong, old man,” he said with a mocking tone. “You were once a clever young warrior. But now? You’re just a tired, out-of-shape fifty-year-old fart who’s forgotten what it’s like to be quick and sharp.”
Carl looked at Alex, or the small boy he barely recognized now. “Alex, we need to… we need to stop him… right?” But even as he said it, the determination in his voice wavered. A creeping sense of responsibility took hold in his mind—responsibility for the child now standing before him.
Little Alex, now fully regressed to an 8-year-old boy, stared up at Carl with wide, innocent eyes. “Grandpa?” Alex asked, his voice small, soft, and uncertain. His memories of being the fearless Red Cyber Space Warrior were vanishing fast, replaced by thoughts of running around outside, playing with toys, and looking up to this now unfamiliar man in front of him as if he were now and authority figure.
Carl frowned, his wrinkled face deepening into a concerned expression. “Grandpa?” he echoed, his mind swirling with confusion. A part of him still clung to the truth—he wasn’t Alex’s grandpa; they were teammates, warriors, pals. But that part was fading fast, slipping into the recesses of his aged mind.
Captain Clockwork chuckled darkly, walking in a slow circle around them, his metal gears clinking ominously. “Oh, how delightful this is,” he said, his voice dripping with satisfaction. “The mighty Cyber Space Warriors, reduced to a confused old fatso and a helpless little boy. You don’t even remember who you were, do you?”
Alex, now completely lost in his new identity, clung to Carl’s leg like a scared child. “I don’t wanna fight monsters, Grandpa,” he whimpered. “Can we go home now?”
Carl, feeling the weight of his age and the protective instinct settling in, placed a hand on the boy’s head, patting it gently. “Yeah, kiddo… it’s okay. We’ll… we’ll figure it out.” His voice was slow and unsure, as if he was trying to convince himself more than Alex.
Captain Clockwork’s laugh echoed through the locker room. “Look at you, Carl. No longer a brilliant, tech-savvy hero. Now you’re just a confused hairy old man, trying to take care of your ‘grandson.’” He leaned in closer, his glowing red eyes locking onto Carl’s. “And it feels natural, doesn’t it? Like this is who you’ve always been. All those memories of being a warrior, fighting beside your friends… they’re slipping away, fading into nothing.”
Carl frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion. “I… I think I used to… build things, didn’t I? Something about technology?”
“Technology?” Clockwork sneered. “You don’t have the hands for it anymore. Those days are long behind you. Now, you can barely get off the couch without groaning from all that extra weight.”
As Carl’s mind continued to succumb to the spell, the memories of his life as the Blue Cyber Space Warrior became more distant, clouded by the slow, lethargic thoughts of a middle-aged man. He scratched his bald head and mumbled, “Guess I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Captain Clockwork turned his attention to Alex, who was now sitting naked on the locker room floor, playing with the laces of his oversized shoes, completely unaware of the danger around him. “And you, little Alex. You don’t even know what’s happening, do you?”
Alex looked up, his innocent blue eyes wide with curiosity. “Happening? Are we playing a game?”
Clockwork crouched down to Alex’s level, his cold mechanical hand resting on the boy’s shoulder. “Oh, yes. A very long game. But don’t worry, you’re much too young to understand. Just a little boy now, full of childish wonder. No more fighting, no more saving the world.”
Alex giggled, his small frame shaking with the carefree laughter of a child. “You talk funny, mister.”
“Indeed I do,” Clockwork grinned. “And you, my dear, have lost all those warrior instincts. No more power, no more strength. Just a little boy who relies on his ‘grandpa’ to take care of him.”
Alex smiled up at Carl, “Grandpa, can we get dressed and go to the park now? I wanna play.”
Carl, his mind hazy and slow, nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah, sure, buddy… we’ll go soon.” His knees creaked, and he groaned in pain, rubbing his aching back.
Captain Clockwork stood tall, his triumph complete. “There it is. The mighty Cyber Space Warriors, reduced to nothing but a couple of helpless fools. A fat old man too weak to fight, and a child too silly and stupid to understand.”
He turned, his metal gears clicking in satisfaction as he began to walk away. “Enjoy your new lives,” he said, his voice fading with a cruel edge. “You won’t be needing those watches anymore. Not that you’d remember how to use them.” Captain Clockwork teleported the watches away.
As Captain Clockwork disappeared into the shadows, Alex continued to tug on Carl’s leg, completely oblivious to what had just happened. “Grandpa, let’s go! I wanna swing on the swings!”
Carl, now fully immersed in his new role as a tired, overweight grandfather, smiled softly down at the boy. “Alright, alright… let’s go, kiddo.”
And just like that, the two former warriors—once brave protectors of the world—shuffled toward their lockers, their memories and powers lost, replaced by a quiet, mundane life that felt all too natural. They fumbled and puzzled over the wrong-fitting clothes, Carl now far too fat to fit into his teen clothes, and Alex now far too puny.
Somewhere deep inside, in the back of their minds, a spark of who they had been remained, waiting to be reignited… if only they could remember.