Easier Said

Familiar territory. A green O’Raes home world was a pleasant sight. Their Breacher synchronised with the local time zone. They had an hour until their fateful encounter with Famine. After preparing in their quarters, Lore and Char joined the others in the cargo bay.
“What’s the plan then?” Alodrass secured Brian’s gauntlet.
“Famine will be in this square here in about an hour.” Lore summoned a holographic map. “We’ll need to keep out of sight so I recommend we stick to these roof tops either side of the park.” They pointed to a pair of towers that flanked Famine’s chosen arena. “We won’t have long. Once she’s done her thing, time becomes fluid and we can attack.”
“Okay but what about the planet’s restoration?” Brian wiggled his fingers.
“Once Char and I leave, you can get started.” Lore looked confused. “I thought this would be harder. We must be forgetting something.”
“You are.” Tay said in passing, clipping down her own armour.
“Care to share?” Char already knew the answer.
“Nope.” They said together.
“Alright then, let’s get going. We’ll take the left building, you’ve got the right.”
The soft roads were a godsend given how far out of town they had to park. They travelled in their Paragon groups, paranoid that the locals would think something wrong given the sudden increase in the humanoid population. Lore, as usual, set the walking pace at a brisk five miles an hour which was no problem for them or Tay but created a sizable gap between them and Char. Seeing this, they decided to slow down and match her pace. Tay smiled knowingly, unsettling Lore as the two groups reformed their original whole. Walking at Char’s pace had its advantages, since slowing, the amount of strange stares from the locals had dramatically decreased but time was moving ever on. With only five minutes to spare, they reached the base of their building. On the other side, they would soon stand. The lift to the roof impressed Lore with its speed as they stood in its corner watching their Breacher the whole time.
“Are you alright darling?” Lore sidled over to their wife in the crowded lift. “Not like you to lag behind.” They rested their arm on her shoulder. For the most part, physically, she appeared fine but her eyes were puffed and watering.
“Just a touch of hayfever I think. Took something for it on the ship. Pills should kick in any time, I’m fine though.” She smiled.
The last of the civilians departed at the second to last stop leaving just the three of them in the lift together. Tay stood at the opposite side of a snivelling Char and a somewhat worried Lore with the same knowing smile she wore earlier. Lore repeatedly mouthed ‘what?’ in her direction but to no avail. The doors parted leaving them with mere seconds before Famine’s big moment.
They weren’t close enough to hear what was being said but it didn’t matter too much given that they were there for the original conversation. Lore watched as Char tried to slap away their hand from shaking Famine’s as they mentally replayed the conversation in their head. Famine withered the plants at their feet then extracted the clouds from the sky. Lore prepared themselves to descend on the scene below but before they could, they watched as Famine fell back into the floor and disappeared completely.
“Is that by any chance the thing you was forgetting?” Alodrass’ voice came over their Breacher.
“I would think so.” Lore replied scratching their head. “What was Plan B again?” They stood in silent contemplation.
“I’ve got it!” Char held up her hand to break the silence. “When we were The Reaper, we could reverse time in a localised zone. If we could do that before we became the Paragon of Time then imagine what we could do together now.” Lore glanced over to Tay.
“She has a point. With the two of you, you should have no problem turning back the clock on one planet.”
Lore and Char slapped their rings together. Orange light poured from her hand to theirs as she dissolved into their veins. Wings of gold spread from their shoulders and golden energy poured from their wrists. The Reaper held up their hand and pointed it towards Famine’s last location. A web of lime green weaved itself between their fingertips. Fighting its resistance, The Reaper turned their hand anti clockwise and with it, the whole of time. They watched as Famine’s portal reopened and from it, she rose; her hand raised in the air as if creating the clouds above before breathing life into the floor below. They returned their hand back to its starting position as Lore’s shook Famine’s. They were now met with the same problem as last time, to capture Famine without them seeing. The Reaper watched as the past Lore rubbed their neck. They had sensed their intervention. Famine took from the skies and earth once more but as she was about to escape, Tay grabbed The Reapers hand. Their golden glow flashed blue before settling on the same lime green as the webbing of time. At that moment, The Reaper knew exactly what to do. Famine’s portal opened and as she began her dive, time slowed and The Reaper dived too. Their glowing green wings carried them closer to their goal as they sailed through the air. For all but them, time had stopped. They had only one option to make sure that it wasn’t broken when it was resumed. The Reaper extended their arms as they pushed Famine into her own portal. With Famine on the other side it closed and time resumed as normal. Neither Lore nor Char were any the wiser that their future selves had flown by and knocked their adversary into an unknown portal; contented with this and with a bright white flash, they continued along their expected timeline none the wiser.
“Lore? Char? Tay? Are we good to go?” Brian shrugged his shoulders at the silence that responded.
They were in a place they recognised yet didn’t expect to see. Blue stars swirled around them in the tunnel that they knew was Null Space. The Reaper separated in a brilliant display of gold, green and blue. At the other aperture, a sandy wasteland lay.
“I’m sorry, what?” Famine picked herself up from the tunnels floor and eyed up her fellow travellers.
Beyond Null Space, Brian and Alodrass remained on their roof, both Lores and Chars out of sight.
“Shall we get to work then?” Alodrass held out her hand.
“Indeed we shall.” Brian took it into his own and together they formed a being of pure white light. They slowly descended onto the park below and did as Famine had done. Their collective hand reached the floor, its light spread, breathing life anew into the planet’s soil. With a hand raised high, clouds twirled from their sleeves. O’Raes had been restored. Famine’s End.