Mutant X Transcripts: Ep 203 "Time Squared"
Mutant X Episode Transcripts
Mutant X Episode #203 Transcript: “ Time Squared”
[Opening Scene: It’s mid-day on a sparsely populated highway. Gabriel Ashlocke, wearing sunglasses, races down the highway behind the wheel of a red Camaro. He glances in the rear view mirror to see Jesse in close pursuit, driving one of Mutant X’s black cars. Over his comlink, Jesse calls Adam, who waits at a computer in Sanctuary’s main room.]
Jesse: I’m on Ashlocke. He’s alone, heading west on Route 17.
Adam (tracing the route on his computer map): All right, where’d you pick him up?
Jesse: Coming out of the old Strand building. He left with some kind of a vial, filled with a blue liquid.
Adam: All right, stay on him, Jesse.
Jesse: Yeah, I’ve got him.
Emma (coming up behind Adam): What do you think’s in the vial?
Adam: No idea. Maybe it’s something he manufactured in his lab.
Emma: Well, whatever it is, it can’t be good. And what the hell is Ashlocke doing alone? He’s always surrounded by a swarm of people.
Adam: He’s dying, he’s desperate. You know, anything is possible. Now where are Brennan and Shalimar?
Emma: In the Mustang. [She checks another computer.] About 10 miles south of Jesse.
Adam: All right. Get them on the move.
Emma: Looks like they already are.
[Gabriel weaves dangerously around highway traffic, trying to lose Jesse. When a young woman pushes a baby stroller into the street in front of him, Gabriel grins. She freezes in horror as Gabriel’s car speeds up rather than slowing down, forcing her to swerve out of his way. Behind him, Jesse brakes to a halt to avoid hitting the woman, and watches in frustration as Gabriel races off.]
Opening Credits. “Time Squared”
[As a second woman helps the mother across the street, Jesse calls Brennan and Shalimar over his comlink.]
Jesse: Brennan!
Brennan: What’s up, Jess?
Jesse: He lost me.
Shalimar: Where?
Jesse (looking at the street signs around him): Uh...Mackenzie, heading towards 6th and Main.
Brennan: Well, we’re on it. [He spins the car around and heads back down the street.] What’s around there?
Shalimar (consulting the dashboard computer's map): Um...parking lots...commercial buildings...Ellison Psychiatric Hospital....
Brennan: Well, maybe Ashlocke’s about to check himself in.
[Sure enough, Gabriel pulls up in front of Ellison Psychiatric Hospital, rides up the elevator and stops at the nurse’s station. The receptionist looks up from her phone call.]
The Receptionist: Can I help you, sir? [Gabriel hurls an energy ball at her, sending her flying across the room. Reaching over the desk, he searches for Diana Moller on her computer, buzzes himself in and heads down the hallway to Ward Six. Gabriel blasts the doors open and sticks his head inside, looking around until he spots Diana, crouched on a couch across the room.]
Gabriel: Diana! You’ve been hiding from me. [The other residents flee the room as Gabriel approaches Diana.]
Diana: Stay away from me.
Gabriel: I need you to do this.
Diana: I told you, I can’t.
Gabriel: I don’t have time to play games. I’m dying.
Diana: You don’t really think I care, do you?
Gabriel: I've found a way to stay alive. Help me or die.
[Outside the hospital, Brennan and Shalimar pull up next to Gabriel’s car and ride the elevator up. Shalimar runs over to the receptionist’s smoking body.]
Shalimar: He killed her.
Brennan (glancing at the computer screen): Ward Six. [He buzzes them in.]
[Towering over her, Gabriel tells Diana what he needs.]
Gabriel: October 13th 1978. Take me back.
Diana: You can’t tell anyone who you are, or it will affect the continuum.
Gabriel (playing with her hair): Have I ever let you down before?
Diana: All the time.
Gabriel: When I get back, I’ll make it up to you.
Diana: Goodbye, Gabriel.
[Brennan calls Jesse over his comlink as he and Shalimar hurry down the hallway.] Brennan: Hey, Jess, we’re at the psych hospital. Ward Six.
Jesse (in his car): I’m seconds away.
[As Diana creates a large circular portal in the air, Shalimar and Brennan run into the room. Gabriel keeps them at bay with energy balls, then disappears into the portal. Brennan and Shalimar immediately leap in after him. Gabriel emerges in the middle of an alley, picking himself up just in time to avoid being hit by a Mack truck barreling towards him. Brennan and Shalimar, tumbling out shortly thereafter, also find themselves in the path of the honking Mack truck, and scramble out of the way. Back in the psych hospital, Jesse finally makes it to Ward Six, only to find it empty except for Diana.]
Jesse: What happened? [He stops Diana as she tries to escape.] Hey! What happened? Where are they?
Diana: They went in after him; that wasn’t supposed to happen!
Jesse: Where are they?
Diana: It was an accident! I sent Ashlocke back and they jumped in after him.
Jesse (frowning): Back?
[1978: Dusting themselves off, Brennan and Shalimar take in their new environment.]
Brennan: Are you all right, Shal?
Shalimar: What just happened?
Brennan: I don’t know. I just feel like my stomach got punched into my eyes.
Shalimar: Oh my God! [She walks up to a sign which says: “Future Home of Ellison Psychiatric Hospital, To Be Completed, 1981.] Completed in 1981?
Brennan: Woah, we’re at the psych hospital before it was built? We just went back in time.
Shalimar: That’s crazy!
Brennan: Hey, just don’t freak out, all right?
Shalimar: What, we went back in time and you’re telling me not to freak out?!
Brennan: Okay, Ashlocke is around her somewhere. We need to find him. So can you track him? Can you sense him or something?
Shalimar (feral eyes flashing as she concentrates): He went this way. [They head off.]
[Present Day: Jesse hauls Diana into the parking lot by her arm.]
Diana: There was nothing I could do; they’re on their own now. [She jerks out of his grasp, but he pushes her into his car.] Let go of me! I’m not crazy, I was just hiding from him in there.
Jesse (calling Sanctuary over his comlink): Adam.
Adam (in the lab): Jess, what’ve you got?
Jesse: Run a scan on a Diana Moller. She must be a molecular-psionic mix.
Diana (sarcastically): Someone knows his mutations.
Jesse: Yeah.
Emma (joining Adam): Who’s with Jess?
Jesse: She made Ashlocke, Shalimar, and Brennan disappear into thin air. She’s not cooperating. [He gets into the car.]
[1978: Shalimar and Brennan walk down the street, grinning at the bellbottoms and afros.]
Shalimar: How much do we stand out?
Brennan: Well, this was the me generation, so there’s a very good chance that none of them are paying any attention to us. [He throws up his arms.] Which way? [Shalimar’s feral eyes glow again, but she searches for Gabriel’s scent in vain.]
Shalimar: I’m not picking up anything. I lost him.
[Present Day: Jesse drags Diana along by the hand through the forest towards Stormking Mountain as a sudden thunderstorm drenches them.]
Diana: Where are we going? You didn’t tell me I was gonna need a raincoat.
Jesse: It’s not much further.
Diana: Yeah, well, we’re in the middle of nowhere! Is Sanctuary a building or is it a beach shack?
Jesse: Actually, it’s in the mountain.
Diana: I’m not going in any cave.
Jesse: I’ll get you there.
Diana: You’re not gonna do some molecular thing, are you?
Jesse (stopping to face her): I know where the door is.
Diana (pulling away): Look, I’m really sorry about your friends, okay? But right now you are blaming me for something I have no control over. You don’t know Gabriel Ashlocke.
Jesse: I know him pretty well.
Diana: Well then you know how he is. He’s overwhelming. When he and I were together, he was using me, and I knew it. He knew about my powers; he knew what I could do. That’s why I was hiding in the psych hospital.
Jesse: Sounds like that was the perfect place for you.
Diana: Look, I thought I was gonna be safe there, okay? I thought he couldn’t find me, but he did.
Jesse: What did you do to him?
Diana: I sent him away from me. Forever.
Jesse: Brennan and Shalimar. Are they with him?
Diana: It’s a possibility. I don’t really know. [Jesse grabs her arm again, taking her towards Sanctuary.]
[1978: Getting into a yellow car parked on the street, Gabriel picks up the book “I’m Just Fine - You’re Just Fine” on the seat next to him and tosses it into the backseat.]
Gabriel: And I’m just perfect. [He jump-starts the ignition with an electric charge from his fingers and takes off, driving right past Shalimar and Brennan.]
Shalimar: Ashlocke! [Brennan finds a motorcycle on the street, starts it with a zap of his own and races after Gabriel.]
[Present Day: Jesse escorts Diana into Sanctuary’s lab, where Adam joins them.]
Adam: Are they still alive?
Diana (jauntily): You’re Adam. I know all about you.
Adam (grabbing her arm): Answer my question.
Diana: Of course they’re still alive. But I can’t control what they’re doing, and that could change everything. I didn’t know that they were gonna follow Ashlocke back, okay? I’m so sorry.
Emma (coming in): Well, you were right about her, Jess. Diana’s on the database as a psionic molecular. She can change the shape of atoms, alter the space-time continuum...
Diana: I affect the gravitational dilation of time. I connect psionically with someone and--
Adam (interrupting her): All right. Where are they?
Diana (shaking her head, smugly): Not where. When. October 13th, 1978. Ashlocke went back to find you. [Adam glances at Emma and Jesse, disturbed.]
[1978: Brennan chases Gabriel down the street until a truck backs up against a wall, cutting off Brennan’s path.]
Brennan: Hey! Come on, move it! Hey! [The truck slowly moves forward again, but Gabriel’s long gone. Meanwhile, Shalimar’s walking past a magazine kiosk when she spies a very young Adam on the cover of World Science Magazine under the heading: “Young Geneticist, Adam Kane, joins Genomex at new facility.”]
Shalimar: Adam?
[Present Day: Emma confronts Adam as he works at the lab table computer.]
Emma: Why did Ashlocke choose that day in particular? [Adam sighs.] Adam?
Adam: In October 1978, I arrived at Genomex to work on the Patient Zero Project. [He turns on the computer to show her the World Science Magazine cover.] I was the bright young star working at the hottest developmental facility in the world. And then, two weeks later, on October 13th, Gabriel Ashlocke’s parents brought him back into Genomex. [The screen switches to a picture of young Gabriel Ashlocke.] They were convinced that Genomex was responsible for his extreme aggression. And they were right. You know, Genomex had no idea what kind of a child he was until after they’d given him unlimited powers. Take a look at this. [He shows her a video of young Gabriel playing with a toy as his smiling parents look on. Suddenly, the boy starts to rip the toy to pieces in a rage. Two scientists try to tackle him, but the boy raises his arm and sends one flying across the yard. The second scientists backs away in fear as Gabriel walks menacingly towards him.] Hum? He’s out of control. Nobody knew what to do. And then I came along, right? I was the savior. I designed a procedure, a procedure to make him more humane, you know, give him a conscience. I had no idea that my procedure would cause his genes to mutate and make him into more of a monster. 6 months later, Gabriel Ashlocke killed both his parents. [He walks out of the room; Emma runs after him.]
Emma: So Ashlocke went back to change something you did.
Adam: Yeah. He’s figured something out. He’s engineered a way to keep himself alive. [He looks around.] Now, where’s Diana?
Emma: You’re gonna go back there, aren’t you?
Adam: Yeah.
Emma: But you already exist back then. How do you even know if it’s possible to --
Adam: Well, Ashlocke’s gone back to his own past. And if he figures out a way to cure himself, he’ll come back invincible. I have to stop him.
[1978: Shalimar strolls onto the grounds of Genomex just as young!Adam pulls up in the parking lot. She stops to look when someone calls out "Adam, how's it going?" As young!Adam passes Shalimar, he looks her up and down appreciatively. Shalimar purposefully bumps into a blonde employee, stealing her ID badge in the process.]
Shalimar: Oh, sorry. Excuse me, I’m sorry. [Pinning on her new ID, Shalimar waltzes into the building. Meanwhile, Gabriel pulls up to his old childhood house and knocks on the door until his younger self answers.]
Gabriel: Huh. You’re smaller than I remember.
Young!Gaby (peevishly): Do I know you?
Gabriel’s father: Gabriel, who’s at the door?
Gabriel (feral eyes flashing): Daddy. [His younger self smiles, flashing his own feral eyes in response. Gabriel's father comes to the door.]
Mr. Ashlocke: We’re not buying anything you’re selling, buddy. [He bends to scold young Gaby.] Now, how many times have I told you not to let in strangers?
Gabriel: Hey, don’t talk to him that way.
Mr. Ashlocke: Excuse me? I’m his father.
Gabriel: Don’t I know it.
Mrs. Ashlocke (in the next room): Is there a problem, honey?
Mr. Ashlocke: I’m dealing with it!
Gabriel (stepping in): No. I am. [He creates a force field with one hand, lifting his father off the ground and propelling him across the room, smack into his mother. Both scream as they crash through the back window to land on the sidewalk outside. Young!Gaby grins up at him.]
Young!Gaby: Nice shot!
Gabriel (ruffling the boy’s hair): There are days when I wish I had more patience.
Young!Gaby: I know just what you mean.
Gabriel: I’m from Genomex. They sent me to pick you up. We’ll take your dad’s car. [He tosses the keys to Young!Gaby.] You drive.
Young!Gaby (beaming): Cool!
*********Commercial Break*********
[As Brennan searches the neighborhoods for Gabriel’s stolen yellow car, Young!Gaby drives Gabriel towards Genomex. Seeing his younger self put a cigarette into his mouth, Gabriel reaches over and snatches it.]
Gabriel: It is a filthy habit!
Young!Gaby: What do you care?
Gabriel (tossing the cigarette out the window): I still have this hacking cough!
Young!Gaby: What are you talking about?
Gabriel: You know how you can walk through walls? Jump off the Hallian’s roof without ever getting hurt?
Young!Gaby: How’d you know about that?
Gabriel: You know about Genomex, what they did to you, right?
Young!Gaby: Just what I stole from my file. I’m supposed to have an appointment there today.
Gabriel: They’re gonna do this procedure. It’s supposed to make you nicer, give you a conscience. The whole thing backfires. Turns you into some kind of freak. [He pulls the vial of blue liquid out of his pocket.] But this? This is going to make you invincible. [Young!Gaby tries to grab it out of his hand, but Gabriel anticipates his action and stows it back in his pocket. Then the two simultaneously run their hands over their hair in the same way. They smile at each other.]
[Inside 1976 Genomex headquarters, Shalimar, now wearing a lab coat, lets herself into young!Adam’s office and starts to rifle through the file cabinet.]
Shalimar: Gabriel Ashlocke. [She rips the name and address tab off the folder just as young!Adam walks in the door.]
Young!Adam: Oh, hello again. You must be new here. Are you on the project now?
Shalimar (thinking fast): I’m with...Dr. Breedlove’s office.
Adam: Oh. He’s, uh...he's one lucky scientist. It’s funny that you’re here. I was hoping we’d run into each other again.
Shalimar (giggling uncomfortably): Really? Um...has Gabriel Ashlocke been in yet?
Adam: No, his parents are bringing him in later.
Shalimar (surprised): Today? Oh. [She heads towards the door.]
Adam: Wait, wait. Hold on. I was, uh, I was hoping maybe we could spend some time together, get to know each other a little?
Shalimar (backing away as fast as she can): Yeah, I think that we’ll have a lot of time to do that. But um, I should go and inform Dr. Breedlove, and, um...yeah, so I’ll do that. [She runs. Young!Adam looks after her, disappointed.]
[Present Day: In Sanctuary's lab, Adam comes back into the lab, dressed in 1970s wardrobe.]
Emma (smiling): Very retro.
Diana: I can’t let you do this.
Jesse: Adam, it’s too much of a risk, you know this. You interfere, you might create a--
Diana: A break in causality, please listen.
Adam: If you send Ashlocke back, you can send me back.
Diana: I didn’t have a choice with him.
Adam: Well, you don’t have a choice with me; it is my job to stop him.
Diana: I’m not gonna do it.
Adam (walking over to Emma): Emma. [Emma shoots a psionic blast at Diana’s head.]
Emma: She’s good to go.
Adam: Thank you. [In a daze, Diana creates a new portal.] Keep your eye on her! Don’t let her out of your sight! [Reaching an arm in to test it, he walks hesitantly into the portal. Emma quickly follows him before Jesse can stop her.]
Jesse: Emma! [Emma and Adam both come tumbling out on the other side in the middle of the forest in 1978.]
Adam: What are you doing here?!
Emma: I thought you needed company.
Adam (helping her up): You okay?
Emma: Yeah.
Adam: What made you think that?
Emma (pointedly): The temptation to change things I did would be incredibly tempting, but...that’s just me.
Adam: Well, you’re right. There’s plenty back here that I would like to change. Not so sure I can. Come on. Let’s see if we can find Genomex. Meanwhile, in the Genomex parking lot, Shalimar wraps her lab coat around her hand to smash in the window of one of the cars. She grins when she realizes the door's already unlocked, hops in and hotwires the car.]
Shalimar: Sweet! [She drives off.]
[Present Day: Jesse and Diana are at the lab computer when he comes across a newspaper article about young Gabriel: “Young son suspect in death of parents.”]
Jesse: April 16th, 1979. Gabriel killed his parents when he was ten!
Diana: Why does that not surprise me?
Jesse: Huh.
Diana (massaging her head): Look, can we go somewhere? I’m going crazy in here.
Jesse: Nah, we have to stay until they get back. [As he reads the article, the screen suddenly flips, showing a new lead article on April 16th 1979: “Mayor Bloom denies allegations of sexual affair.”] Look at this! What date did you send them back to?
Diana: October 13th, 1978. [When Jesse inputs that date, the lead article comes up with a photo of the Ashlocke’s house: “No suspect in bizarre murder.”] Oh my God. I warned him not to change anything.
Jesse: What did you think he was gonna do?
Diana (shaking her head): Ashlocke's affected the timeline too much. Your friends aren’t coming back.
Jesse: Diana!
Diana: I’ve been back plenty of times myself, but I’ve never sent anyone else. [She shrugs.] I don’t know how they’re gonna get back. I don’t know.
[1978: Finally finding Gabriel’s car, Brennan lets himself into the Ashlocke house and sees their bodies on the ground outside. Meanwhile, at Genomex, young!Adam is in his office watching a nurse sedate young!Gaby. When she leaves, Gabriel enters.]
Gabriel: Hello! I’m Dr. Fischer. [Shaking his hand, he releases a psionic blast at Young!Adam’s head.]
Young!Adam: Dr. Fischer, sure! I remember your work from MIT.
Gabriel: Of course you do! I was instrumental in getting your research grant approved. And I’m here once again. This time to save your ass.
Young!Adam (scoffing): I don’t think I need saving, do I?
Gabriel (holding up the vial of blue liquid): Aaah. I brought you something.
Young!Adam: What’s that?
Gabriel (pouring some onto a glass slide under the microscope): Well, why don’t you take a little look? Site directed mutagenesis. This will strengthen existing DNA to withstand any genetic manipulation.
Young!Adam: Where’d you get this?
Gabriel: My lab. Once again, I’m two steps ahead of you. [He looks at his sleeping younger self.] You plan to do a genetic treatment to Patient Zero, but you failed to consider the impact of that purified genetic material on his existing DNA.
Young!Adam: This site-directed mutagenesis...
Gabriel: Stabilizes genes. Why don’t you have a look at strand 19? [Young!Adam grabs a chart and starts to read.] You missed the weakness, Doc. You didn’t take time to consider the possibility of new mutation.
Young!Adam: I can’t believe I missed this.
Gabriel: It was an honest mistake. But watch yourself. This place is full of jealous researchers just waiting for you to screw up. Now, in about 20 minutes, his body temperature will be low enough for you to add this. [Handing him the vial, Gabriel pats his shoulder and walks out.]
******Commercial Break*********
[A police car pulls up at the Ashlocke's home, and two policemen run in to find Brennan looking at a picture frame of the Ashlocke family. They draw their guns.]
Cop #1: Hold it!
Brennan (pointing to the backyard): Oh, man, am I glad you guys are here! I just found them like that.
Cop #1: Sure you did. Put your hands where I can see them! What’s your name?
Brennan (holding up his hands): I’ve got lots of names. [The cop grabs his arms behind his back to handcuff him.] This is gonna hurt a little. [He electrocutes the cop through the handcuffs, knocks the other cop against the wall and dashes out. As a second police car speeds towards the house, sirens blaring, Brennan throws himself into the back seat of Shalimar’s car.] What are you waiting for? Drive!
Shalimar: It doesn’t matter what decade we’re in, they find you. Like sharks to surfers.
Brennan (climbing into the front seat): Yeah, well, let’s just say they were very shocked to see me.
Shalimar: What happened?
Brennan: Looks like Ashlocke killed his parents and took his ten-year-old self somewhere.
Shalimar: Genomex.
[Arriving at Genomex, Adam shows Emma his Genomex ID badge as they head into the building.]
Emma: Where’d you get that?
Adam: I work here.
Emma: Oh, right. So what do we do now?
Adam: Well, why don’t you see if you can find Brennan and Shalimar. But watch out for Ashlocke, don’t let him recognize you.
Emma: Okay. What about you?
Adam: Well, I have to go find myself. [Young!Adam is just about to add the blue liquid to young!Gaby’s IV drip when Adam bursts through the door.]
Adam: Adam!
Young!Adam: I’m sorry, sir, this is a restricted area.
Adam: Have you done the procedure yet?
Young!Adam: I said this is a restricted area, sir!
Adam: Now, look. [Hearing the commotion, Gabriel returns.] I’m here to protect you.
Gabriel: What a nice surprise. You’re too late.
Adam (to his younger self): Do the procedure exactly as you planned. He’s trying to get you to drastically alter the outcome of your project.
Gabriel: Ah, the poor guy is sick with jealousy!
Adam: I know how incredibly important this project is to you. [Gabriel grabs him and throws him against a cabinet.]
Young!Adam: Hey, hold on a second!
Adam (getting up): Do the procedure! Then put the child in stasis! [Gabriel shoots a psionic blast at Adam’s head. Adam slumps against the cabinet, holding his head.]
Gabriel (to young!Adam): This is what you call a security breach! And that should never happen at Genomex. Can you imagine what would happen if your technology fell into the wrong hands? He’s sick. And I’m gonna make sure he gets some help. You know what you have to do, Doc. [He drags Adam out the door. Young!Adam returns to young!Gaby’s room and places the needle into his IV bag.]
[Brennan and Shalimar walk up the path towards the Genomex building.]
Brennan (holding up a tesla coil): So how’s this gonna work? We get to have a little fun?
Shalimar: Put it away. There’s an emergency exit on the south side. I’ll let you in.
Brennan: So what’s young Adam like, anyway?
Shalimar: He’s not what I expected. He’s naive and...sweet.
Brennan: Must be before his fall from grace.
[In the supply room next to young!Adam’s lab, Gabriel shoves Adam against the wall.]
Gabriel: I offered your younger self redemption. And he took it. I’m sorry you can’t handle that.
Adam (holding his head in pain): You don’t know what you’re doing.
Gabriel: You made me who I am. And now you want to deny me the chance to try and save myself?
Adam (getting up): We thought we were saving you.
Gabriel: No, you thought, Adam. Then your ego got out of hand. You thought you had a chance to create a race of superhumans and you took it.
Adam: That’s not the way it was!
Gabriel (creating an enormous energy ball): Oh? I was your one big mistake. And now you’re gonna die knowing I’m gonna live on and on and on. [Coming in behind Gabriel, young!Adam stares in horror.] And everything I do, I’ll do in your memory. [Gabriel sends the huge ball at Adam’s chest, throwing him across the room. Adam’s open eyes gaze sightlessly upwards as Gabriel laughs.]
*********Commercial Break***********
[Present Day: Jesse’s standing in Sanctuary's hallway when the floor begins to quake under his feet, the walls melting away as the surrounding mountain grows inward.]
Jesse: Diana! We’ve gotta move fast!
Diana: What’s happening?
Jesse (pulling her down the hall towards the exit): Sanctuary’s disappearing! Go! Take us back!
Diana: No!
Jesse: Take us back now; there’s no other way!
Diana: What if we make it worse?
Jesse: It can’t get worse! Take us back!
[1978: Emma finds young!Adam’s lab empty except for young!Gaby sleeping peacefully in his bed. Receiving short psionic flashes of Adam falling, she goes to the next room and discovers Adam’s crumpled body.]
Emma: Adam! Oh my God. [She runs out to get help. Young!Adam, looking green at the gills, stumbles headlong down the hall past Shalimar and Brennan.]
Shalimar: Hey! Adam?
Brennan (smirking): Woah, wait, that’s Adam?
Emma (running up to them): Shalimar!
Shalimar: Emma?! What are you...
Emma (in tears, grabbing their hands): Adam’s dead! Ashlocke must have killed him.
Brennan: What?!
Emma: We’ve gotta stop Ashlocke.
Shalimar: I’ll go get him. [She runs after young!Adam.]
Brennan (to Emma): Show me where the kid is, come on. [They head back to the lab.]
[Jesse and Diana tumble out of the portal onto the 1978 beach next to Stormking Mountain.]
Diana: Are you gonna be able to find Genomex?
Jesse: Hope so.
[Young!Adam is hurrying towards his car in the Genomex parking lot, when Shalimar catches up to him.]
Shalimar: Adam!
Young!Adam (fumbling with his car door): I can’t talk right now.
Shalimar: What happened?
Young!Adam: I’m not sure.
Shalimar: Tell me.
Young!Adam (hitting the door in frustration): Some guy just died in there because of me. He used this...um... This is insane. I’m not going back in there. [He finally gets the door open, but Shalimar slams it shut.]
Shalimar: You have to.
Young!Adam: I can’t!
[Brennan and Emma reach young!Gaby’s bed; Brennan lights up a tesla coil.]
Emma: Don’t.
Brennan: If I do it now, he won’t feel a thing.
Emma: He’s Adam’s research. If you destroy him, you might destroy us. [Brennan extinguishes the spark. They both spin around at the sound of Gabriel's voice behind them.]
Gabriel: You're so weak, Brennan. [He knocks Brennan unconscious with an energy ball.] Emma. Emma, Emma.
Emma: It’s not gonna work, Ashlocke. Adam wouldn’t adjust the procedure.
Gabriel: You’re right. That’s why I did it myself. [Emma whirls to see that young!Gaby’s IV bag is now blue. Waking up, Brennan zaps the bag with an electrical arc, destroying it. Emma dives to the ground to avoid Gabriel’s energy ball, then Brennan electrocutes him. Gabriel falls the floor and lies still. Jesse runs in with Diana.]
Jesse: What happened? [He helps Brennan pick Emma up.]
Brennan: Adam’s dead. Young Adam’s on the run.
Jesse: How’d he die?
Emma: Ashlocke blasted him.
Jesse: When?
Emma: About five minutes ago.
Jesse: Five minutes ago. [He returns to Diana.] Okay, send me back to just before he died.
Diana: That could mess things up even more.
Jesse: Adam can’t be dead! Send me back.
Diana: It’s gonna be fast. [She creates a portal. She and Jesse tumble out at Adam’s feet just as Gabriel’s throwing his huge energy ball at Adam’s chest. Jumping up, Jesse masses in front of Adam, deflecting the energy ball back at Gabriel. Gabriel crashes against the wall behind him and lies still. Adam nods his thanks to Jesse.]
*******Commercial Break*********
[Hearing the ruckus, young!Adam enters the supply room just as Adam, Jesse, and Diana are walking out. Adam quickly blocks his view of Gabriel's body.]
Adam: Hi. It was just a misunderstanding. Dr. Fischer didn’t quite grasp my position. It's uh... [Emma, Shalimar, and Brennan, running down the hallway towards them, stop dead in their tracks to see the two Adams together.]
Shalimar (hesitantly): Adam?
Adam: Yeah. [He takes the blue serum from his younger self.] Uh...here, why don’t I take that. Don’t you have a procedure to do?
Young!Adam: I do. Excuse me.
Adam: Hey. Hang in there.
Young!Adam: Thank you. [Staring at Emma, Shalimar, and Brennan, he backs into his lab. Adam leads them into the supply room to join Jesse and Diana.]
Adam: Okay. Get us out of here. All of us.
Jesse (pointing to Gabriel's body): And him?
Adam: Yeah, him too. [Diana creates a portal. Jesse starts to pick Gabriel up, but he wakes up and shoves Jesse away, leaping into the portal first. Following behind him, Mutant X and Diana tumble out in the middle of a large warehouse, in the present day.]
Shalimar (feral eyes flashing): I can feel him. He’s here. He’s alive.
Brennan: Yeah, but would you take a look at this place? He could be anywhere.
Adam: We’ll find him. All right, come on. Let’s get outta here. Let’s not give him another chance to get to Diana. All right, everybody stay alert. As long as he’s alive, nobody’s safe. [They leave, looking over their shoulders.]
[Later that night, Emma tosses and turns in bed, hearing Gabriel’s laughter in her head. Getting up, she walks into the lab to find Adam working at the computer.]
Adam: Hey.
Emma: I need to ask you something.
Adam (turning off the computer to face her): Sure.
Emma: When we were back there, something terrible happened to you.
Adam: I know. Jesse told me.
Emma: Oh. Well, after that, after I saw you dead, Brennan wanted to kill young Ashlocke and I stopped him.
Adam (standing up): Wait, so are you asking me if you did the right thing?
Emma: I couldn’t let him do it. He was still just this little boy lying there. But if I hadn’t stopped him, if Brennan had killed him, then what would have happened with you?
Adam: That’s a good question, I don’t know.
Emma: Well, would you have left Genomex? Stopped all your research?
Adam: Oh, c’mon, Emma. You saw what kind of person I was then. I thought everything I did was the solution to a lot of problems. And I didn’t think about the ramifications because I didn’t think I had to. But would I have left Genomex? I don’t know. Ashlocke was the first new mutant. And I learned a lot. And if I hadn’t made the mistakes with him, I might have made them with you.
Emma (shaking her head): I’m not a psychopath.
Adam: No. If you had been given all those powers, you might have become one. [Smiling, he kisses her forehead.]
Closing Credits.
Mutant X Episode #203 Transcript: “ Time Squared”
[Opening Scene: It’s mid-day on a sparsely populated highway. Gabriel Ashlocke, wearing sunglasses, races down the highway behind the wheel of a red Camaro. He glances in the rear view mirror to see Jesse in close pursuit, driving one of Mutant X’s black cars. Over his comlink, Jesse calls Adam, who waits at a computer in Sanctuary’s main room.]
Jesse: I’m on Ashlocke. He’s alone, heading west on Route 17.
Adam (tracing the route on his computer map): All right, where’d you pick him up?
Jesse: Coming out of the old Strand building. He left with some kind of a vial, filled with a blue liquid.
Adam: All right, stay on him, Jesse.
Jesse: Yeah, I’ve got him.
Emma (coming up behind Adam): What do you think’s in the vial?
Adam: No idea. Maybe it’s something he manufactured in his lab.
Emma: Well, whatever it is, it can’t be good. And what the hell is Ashlocke doing alone? He’s always surrounded by a swarm of people.
Adam: He’s dying, he’s desperate. You know, anything is possible. Now where are Brennan and Shalimar?
Emma: In the Mustang. [She checks another computer.] About 10 miles south of Jesse.
Adam: All right. Get them on the move.
Emma: Looks like they already are.
[Gabriel weaves dangerously around highway traffic, trying to lose Jesse. When a young woman pushes a baby stroller into the street in front of him, Gabriel grins. She freezes in horror as Gabriel’s car speeds up rather than slowing down, forcing her to swerve out of his way. Behind him, Jesse brakes to a halt to avoid hitting the woman, and watches in frustration as Gabriel races off.]
Opening Credits. “Time Squared”
[As a second woman helps the mother across the street, Jesse calls Brennan and Shalimar over his comlink.]
Jesse: Brennan!
Brennan: What’s up, Jess?
Jesse: He lost me.
Shalimar: Where?
Jesse (looking at the street signs around him): Uh...Mackenzie, heading towards 6th and Main.
Brennan: Well, we’re on it. [He spins the car around and heads back down the street.] What’s around there?
Shalimar (consulting the dashboard computer's map): Um...parking lots...commercial buildings...Ellison Psychiatric Hospital....
Brennan: Well, maybe Ashlocke’s about to check himself in.
[Sure enough, Gabriel pulls up in front of Ellison Psychiatric Hospital, rides up the elevator and stops at the nurse’s station. The receptionist looks up from her phone call.]
The Receptionist: Can I help you, sir? [Gabriel hurls an energy ball at her, sending her flying across the room. Reaching over the desk, he searches for Diana Moller on her computer, buzzes himself in and heads down the hallway to Ward Six. Gabriel blasts the doors open and sticks his head inside, looking around until he spots Diana, crouched on a couch across the room.]
Gabriel: Diana! You’ve been hiding from me. [The other residents flee the room as Gabriel approaches Diana.]
Diana: Stay away from me.
Gabriel: I need you to do this.
Diana: I told you, I can’t.
Gabriel: I don’t have time to play games. I’m dying.
Diana: You don’t really think I care, do you?
Gabriel: I've found a way to stay alive. Help me or die.
[Outside the hospital, Brennan and Shalimar pull up next to Gabriel’s car and ride the elevator up. Shalimar runs over to the receptionist’s smoking body.]
Shalimar: He killed her.
Brennan (glancing at the computer screen): Ward Six. [He buzzes them in.]
[Towering over her, Gabriel tells Diana what he needs.]
Gabriel: October 13th 1978. Take me back.
Diana: You can’t tell anyone who you are, or it will affect the continuum.
Gabriel (playing with her hair): Have I ever let you down before?
Diana: All the time.
Gabriel: When I get back, I’ll make it up to you.
Diana: Goodbye, Gabriel.
[Brennan calls Jesse over his comlink as he and Shalimar hurry down the hallway.] Brennan: Hey, Jess, we’re at the psych hospital. Ward Six.
Jesse (in his car): I’m seconds away.
[As Diana creates a large circular portal in the air, Shalimar and Brennan run into the room. Gabriel keeps them at bay with energy balls, then disappears into the portal. Brennan and Shalimar immediately leap in after him. Gabriel emerges in the middle of an alley, picking himself up just in time to avoid being hit by a Mack truck barreling towards him. Brennan and Shalimar, tumbling out shortly thereafter, also find themselves in the path of the honking Mack truck, and scramble out of the way. Back in the psych hospital, Jesse finally makes it to Ward Six, only to find it empty except for Diana.]
Jesse: What happened? [He stops Diana as she tries to escape.] Hey! What happened? Where are they?
Diana: They went in after him; that wasn’t supposed to happen!
Jesse: Where are they?
Diana: It was an accident! I sent Ashlocke back and they jumped in after him.
Jesse (frowning): Back?
[1978: Dusting themselves off, Brennan and Shalimar take in their new environment.]
Brennan: Are you all right, Shal?
Shalimar: What just happened?
Brennan: I don’t know. I just feel like my stomach got punched into my eyes.
Shalimar: Oh my God! [She walks up to a sign which says: “Future Home of Ellison Psychiatric Hospital, To Be Completed, 1981.] Completed in 1981?
Brennan: Woah, we’re at the psych hospital before it was built? We just went back in time.
Shalimar: That’s crazy!
Brennan: Hey, just don’t freak out, all right?
Shalimar: What, we went back in time and you’re telling me not to freak out?!
Brennan: Okay, Ashlocke is around her somewhere. We need to find him. So can you track him? Can you sense him or something?
Shalimar (feral eyes flashing as she concentrates): He went this way. [They head off.]
[Present Day: Jesse hauls Diana into the parking lot by her arm.]
Diana: There was nothing I could do; they’re on their own now. [She jerks out of his grasp, but he pushes her into his car.] Let go of me! I’m not crazy, I was just hiding from him in there.
Jesse (calling Sanctuary over his comlink): Adam.
Adam (in the lab): Jess, what’ve you got?
Jesse: Run a scan on a Diana Moller. She must be a molecular-psionic mix.
Diana (sarcastically): Someone knows his mutations.
Jesse: Yeah.
Emma (joining Adam): Who’s with Jess?
Jesse: She made Ashlocke, Shalimar, and Brennan disappear into thin air. She’s not cooperating. [He gets into the car.]
[1978: Shalimar and Brennan walk down the street, grinning at the bellbottoms and afros.]
Shalimar: How much do we stand out?
Brennan: Well, this was the me generation, so there’s a very good chance that none of them are paying any attention to us. [He throws up his arms.] Which way? [Shalimar’s feral eyes glow again, but she searches for Gabriel’s scent in vain.]
Shalimar: I’m not picking up anything. I lost him.
[Present Day: Jesse drags Diana along by the hand through the forest towards Stormking Mountain as a sudden thunderstorm drenches them.]
Diana: Where are we going? You didn’t tell me I was gonna need a raincoat.
Jesse: It’s not much further.
Diana: Yeah, well, we’re in the middle of nowhere! Is Sanctuary a building or is it a beach shack?
Jesse: Actually, it’s in the mountain.
Diana: I’m not going in any cave.
Jesse: I’ll get you there.
Diana: You’re not gonna do some molecular thing, are you?
Jesse (stopping to face her): I know where the door is.
Diana (pulling away): Look, I’m really sorry about your friends, okay? But right now you are blaming me for something I have no control over. You don’t know Gabriel Ashlocke.
Jesse: I know him pretty well.
Diana: Well then you know how he is. He’s overwhelming. When he and I were together, he was using me, and I knew it. He knew about my powers; he knew what I could do. That’s why I was hiding in the psych hospital.
Jesse: Sounds like that was the perfect place for you.
Diana: Look, I thought I was gonna be safe there, okay? I thought he couldn’t find me, but he did.
Jesse: What did you do to him?
Diana: I sent him away from me. Forever.
Jesse: Brennan and Shalimar. Are they with him?
Diana: It’s a possibility. I don’t really know. [Jesse grabs her arm again, taking her towards Sanctuary.]
[1978: Getting into a yellow car parked on the street, Gabriel picks up the book “I’m Just Fine - You’re Just Fine” on the seat next to him and tosses it into the backseat.]
Gabriel: And I’m just perfect. [He jump-starts the ignition with an electric charge from his fingers and takes off, driving right past Shalimar and Brennan.]
Shalimar: Ashlocke! [Brennan finds a motorcycle on the street, starts it with a zap of his own and races after Gabriel.]
[Present Day: Jesse escorts Diana into Sanctuary’s lab, where Adam joins them.]
Adam: Are they still alive?
Diana (jauntily): You’re Adam. I know all about you.
Adam (grabbing her arm): Answer my question.
Diana: Of course they’re still alive. But I can’t control what they’re doing, and that could change everything. I didn’t know that they were gonna follow Ashlocke back, okay? I’m so sorry.
Emma (coming in): Well, you were right about her, Jess. Diana’s on the database as a psionic molecular. She can change the shape of atoms, alter the space-time continuum...
Diana: I affect the gravitational dilation of time. I connect psionically with someone and--
Adam (interrupting her): All right. Where are they?
Diana (shaking her head, smugly): Not where. When. October 13th, 1978. Ashlocke went back to find you. [Adam glances at Emma and Jesse, disturbed.]
[1978: Brennan chases Gabriel down the street until a truck backs up against a wall, cutting off Brennan’s path.]
Brennan: Hey! Come on, move it! Hey! [The truck slowly moves forward again, but Gabriel’s long gone. Meanwhile, Shalimar’s walking past a magazine kiosk when she spies a very young Adam on the cover of World Science Magazine under the heading: “Young Geneticist, Adam Kane, joins Genomex at new facility.”]
Shalimar: Adam?
[Present Day: Emma confronts Adam as he works at the lab table computer.]
Emma: Why did Ashlocke choose that day in particular? [Adam sighs.] Adam?
Adam: In October 1978, I arrived at Genomex to work on the Patient Zero Project. [He turns on the computer to show her the World Science Magazine cover.] I was the bright young star working at the hottest developmental facility in the world. And then, two weeks later, on October 13th, Gabriel Ashlocke’s parents brought him back into Genomex. [The screen switches to a picture of young Gabriel Ashlocke.] They were convinced that Genomex was responsible for his extreme aggression. And they were right. You know, Genomex had no idea what kind of a child he was until after they’d given him unlimited powers. Take a look at this. [He shows her a video of young Gabriel playing with a toy as his smiling parents look on. Suddenly, the boy starts to rip the toy to pieces in a rage. Two scientists try to tackle him, but the boy raises his arm and sends one flying across the yard. The second scientists backs away in fear as Gabriel walks menacingly towards him.] Hum? He’s out of control. Nobody knew what to do. And then I came along, right? I was the savior. I designed a procedure, a procedure to make him more humane, you know, give him a conscience. I had no idea that my procedure would cause his genes to mutate and make him into more of a monster. 6 months later, Gabriel Ashlocke killed both his parents. [He walks out of the room; Emma runs after him.]
Emma: So Ashlocke went back to change something you did.
Adam: Yeah. He’s figured something out. He’s engineered a way to keep himself alive. [He looks around.] Now, where’s Diana?
Emma: You’re gonna go back there, aren’t you?
Adam: Yeah.
Emma: But you already exist back then. How do you even know if it’s possible to --
Adam: Well, Ashlocke’s gone back to his own past. And if he figures out a way to cure himself, he’ll come back invincible. I have to stop him.
[1978: Shalimar strolls onto the grounds of Genomex just as young!Adam pulls up in the parking lot. She stops to look when someone calls out "Adam, how's it going?" As young!Adam passes Shalimar, he looks her up and down appreciatively. Shalimar purposefully bumps into a blonde employee, stealing her ID badge in the process.]
Shalimar: Oh, sorry. Excuse me, I’m sorry. [Pinning on her new ID, Shalimar waltzes into the building. Meanwhile, Gabriel pulls up to his old childhood house and knocks on the door until his younger self answers.]
Gabriel: Huh. You’re smaller than I remember.
Young!Gaby (peevishly): Do I know you?
Gabriel’s father: Gabriel, who’s at the door?
Gabriel (feral eyes flashing): Daddy. [His younger self smiles, flashing his own feral eyes in response. Gabriel's father comes to the door.]
Mr. Ashlocke: We’re not buying anything you’re selling, buddy. [He bends to scold young Gaby.] Now, how many times have I told you not to let in strangers?
Gabriel: Hey, don’t talk to him that way.
Mr. Ashlocke: Excuse me? I’m his father.
Gabriel: Don’t I know it.
Mrs. Ashlocke (in the next room): Is there a problem, honey?
Mr. Ashlocke: I’m dealing with it!
Gabriel (stepping in): No. I am. [He creates a force field with one hand, lifting his father off the ground and propelling him across the room, smack into his mother. Both scream as they crash through the back window to land on the sidewalk outside. Young!Gaby grins up at him.]
Young!Gaby: Nice shot!
Gabriel (ruffling the boy’s hair): There are days when I wish I had more patience.
Young!Gaby: I know just what you mean.
Gabriel: I’m from Genomex. They sent me to pick you up. We’ll take your dad’s car. [He tosses the keys to Young!Gaby.] You drive.
Young!Gaby (beaming): Cool!
*********Commercial Break*********
[As Brennan searches the neighborhoods for Gabriel’s stolen yellow car, Young!Gaby drives Gabriel towards Genomex. Seeing his younger self put a cigarette into his mouth, Gabriel reaches over and snatches it.]
Gabriel: It is a filthy habit!
Young!Gaby: What do you care?
Gabriel (tossing the cigarette out the window): I still have this hacking cough!
Young!Gaby: What are you talking about?
Gabriel: You know how you can walk through walls? Jump off the Hallian’s roof without ever getting hurt?
Young!Gaby: How’d you know about that?
Gabriel: You know about Genomex, what they did to you, right?
Young!Gaby: Just what I stole from my file. I’m supposed to have an appointment there today.
Gabriel: They’re gonna do this procedure. It’s supposed to make you nicer, give you a conscience. The whole thing backfires. Turns you into some kind of freak. [He pulls the vial of blue liquid out of his pocket.] But this? This is going to make you invincible. [Young!Gaby tries to grab it out of his hand, but Gabriel anticipates his action and stows it back in his pocket. Then the two simultaneously run their hands over their hair in the same way. They smile at each other.]
[Inside 1976 Genomex headquarters, Shalimar, now wearing a lab coat, lets herself into young!Adam’s office and starts to rifle through the file cabinet.]
Shalimar: Gabriel Ashlocke. [She rips the name and address tab off the folder just as young!Adam walks in the door.]
Young!Adam: Oh, hello again. You must be new here. Are you on the project now?
Shalimar (thinking fast): I’m with...Dr. Breedlove’s office.
Adam: Oh. He’s, uh...he's one lucky scientist. It’s funny that you’re here. I was hoping we’d run into each other again.
Shalimar (giggling uncomfortably): Really? Um...has Gabriel Ashlocke been in yet?
Adam: No, his parents are bringing him in later.
Shalimar (surprised): Today? Oh. [She heads towards the door.]
Adam: Wait, wait. Hold on. I was, uh, I was hoping maybe we could spend some time together, get to know each other a little?
Shalimar (backing away as fast as she can): Yeah, I think that we’ll have a lot of time to do that. But um, I should go and inform Dr. Breedlove, and, um...yeah, so I’ll do that. [She runs. Young!Adam looks after her, disappointed.]
[Present Day: In Sanctuary's lab, Adam comes back into the lab, dressed in 1970s wardrobe.]
Emma (smiling): Very retro.
Diana: I can’t let you do this.
Jesse: Adam, it’s too much of a risk, you know this. You interfere, you might create a--
Diana: A break in causality, please listen.
Adam: If you send Ashlocke back, you can send me back.
Diana: I didn’t have a choice with him.
Adam: Well, you don’t have a choice with me; it is my job to stop him.
Diana: I’m not gonna do it.
Adam (walking over to Emma): Emma. [Emma shoots a psionic blast at Diana’s head.]
Emma: She’s good to go.
Adam: Thank you. [In a daze, Diana creates a new portal.] Keep your eye on her! Don’t let her out of your sight! [Reaching an arm in to test it, he walks hesitantly into the portal. Emma quickly follows him before Jesse can stop her.]
Jesse: Emma! [Emma and Adam both come tumbling out on the other side in the middle of the forest in 1978.]
Adam: What are you doing here?!
Emma: I thought you needed company.
Adam (helping her up): You okay?
Emma: Yeah.
Adam: What made you think that?
Emma (pointedly): The temptation to change things I did would be incredibly tempting, but...that’s just me.
Adam: Well, you’re right. There’s plenty back here that I would like to change. Not so sure I can. Come on. Let’s see if we can find Genomex. Meanwhile, in the Genomex parking lot, Shalimar wraps her lab coat around her hand to smash in the window of one of the cars. She grins when she realizes the door's already unlocked, hops in and hotwires the car.]
Shalimar: Sweet! [She drives off.]
[Present Day: Jesse and Diana are at the lab computer when he comes across a newspaper article about young Gabriel: “Young son suspect in death of parents.”]
Jesse: April 16th, 1979. Gabriel killed his parents when he was ten!
Diana: Why does that not surprise me?
Jesse: Huh.
Diana (massaging her head): Look, can we go somewhere? I’m going crazy in here.
Jesse: Nah, we have to stay until they get back. [As he reads the article, the screen suddenly flips, showing a new lead article on April 16th 1979: “Mayor Bloom denies allegations of sexual affair.”] Look at this! What date did you send them back to?
Diana: October 13th, 1978. [When Jesse inputs that date, the lead article comes up with a photo of the Ashlocke’s house: “No suspect in bizarre murder.”] Oh my God. I warned him not to change anything.
Jesse: What did you think he was gonna do?
Diana (shaking her head): Ashlocke's affected the timeline too much. Your friends aren’t coming back.
Jesse: Diana!
Diana: I’ve been back plenty of times myself, but I’ve never sent anyone else. [She shrugs.] I don’t know how they’re gonna get back. I don’t know.
[1978: Finally finding Gabriel’s car, Brennan lets himself into the Ashlocke house and sees their bodies on the ground outside. Meanwhile, at Genomex, young!Adam is in his office watching a nurse sedate young!Gaby. When she leaves, Gabriel enters.]
Gabriel: Hello! I’m Dr. Fischer. [Shaking his hand, he releases a psionic blast at Young!Adam’s head.]
Young!Adam: Dr. Fischer, sure! I remember your work from MIT.
Gabriel: Of course you do! I was instrumental in getting your research grant approved. And I’m here once again. This time to save your ass.
Young!Adam (scoffing): I don’t think I need saving, do I?
Gabriel (holding up the vial of blue liquid): Aaah. I brought you something.
Young!Adam: What’s that?
Gabriel (pouring some onto a glass slide under the microscope): Well, why don’t you take a little look? Site directed mutagenesis. This will strengthen existing DNA to withstand any genetic manipulation.
Young!Adam: Where’d you get this?
Gabriel: My lab. Once again, I’m two steps ahead of you. [He looks at his sleeping younger self.] You plan to do a genetic treatment to Patient Zero, but you failed to consider the impact of that purified genetic material on his existing DNA.
Young!Adam: This site-directed mutagenesis...
Gabriel: Stabilizes genes. Why don’t you have a look at strand 19? [Young!Adam grabs a chart and starts to read.] You missed the weakness, Doc. You didn’t take time to consider the possibility of new mutation.
Young!Adam: I can’t believe I missed this.
Gabriel: It was an honest mistake. But watch yourself. This place is full of jealous researchers just waiting for you to screw up. Now, in about 20 minutes, his body temperature will be low enough for you to add this. [Handing him the vial, Gabriel pats his shoulder and walks out.]
******Commercial Break*********
[A police car pulls up at the Ashlocke's home, and two policemen run in to find Brennan looking at a picture frame of the Ashlocke family. They draw their guns.]
Cop #1: Hold it!
Brennan (pointing to the backyard): Oh, man, am I glad you guys are here! I just found them like that.
Cop #1: Sure you did. Put your hands where I can see them! What’s your name?
Brennan (holding up his hands): I’ve got lots of names. [The cop grabs his arms behind his back to handcuff him.] This is gonna hurt a little. [He electrocutes the cop through the handcuffs, knocks the other cop against the wall and dashes out. As a second police car speeds towards the house, sirens blaring, Brennan throws himself into the back seat of Shalimar’s car.] What are you waiting for? Drive!
Shalimar: It doesn’t matter what decade we’re in, they find you. Like sharks to surfers.
Brennan (climbing into the front seat): Yeah, well, let’s just say they were very shocked to see me.
Shalimar: What happened?
Brennan: Looks like Ashlocke killed his parents and took his ten-year-old self somewhere.
Shalimar: Genomex.
[Arriving at Genomex, Adam shows Emma his Genomex ID badge as they head into the building.]
Emma: Where’d you get that?
Adam: I work here.
Emma: Oh, right. So what do we do now?
Adam: Well, why don’t you see if you can find Brennan and Shalimar. But watch out for Ashlocke, don’t let him recognize you.
Emma: Okay. What about you?
Adam: Well, I have to go find myself. [Young!Adam is just about to add the blue liquid to young!Gaby’s IV drip when Adam bursts through the door.]
Adam: Adam!
Young!Adam: I’m sorry, sir, this is a restricted area.
Adam: Have you done the procedure yet?
Young!Adam: I said this is a restricted area, sir!
Adam: Now, look. [Hearing the commotion, Gabriel returns.] I’m here to protect you.
Gabriel: What a nice surprise. You’re too late.
Adam (to his younger self): Do the procedure exactly as you planned. He’s trying to get you to drastically alter the outcome of your project.
Gabriel: Ah, the poor guy is sick with jealousy!
Adam: I know how incredibly important this project is to you. [Gabriel grabs him and throws him against a cabinet.]
Young!Adam: Hey, hold on a second!
Adam (getting up): Do the procedure! Then put the child in stasis! [Gabriel shoots a psionic blast at Adam’s head. Adam slumps against the cabinet, holding his head.]
Gabriel (to young!Adam): This is what you call a security breach! And that should never happen at Genomex. Can you imagine what would happen if your technology fell into the wrong hands? He’s sick. And I’m gonna make sure he gets some help. You know what you have to do, Doc. [He drags Adam out the door. Young!Adam returns to young!Gaby’s room and places the needle into his IV bag.]
[Brennan and Shalimar walk up the path towards the Genomex building.]
Brennan (holding up a tesla coil): So how’s this gonna work? We get to have a little fun?
Shalimar: Put it away. There’s an emergency exit on the south side. I’ll let you in.
Brennan: So what’s young Adam like, anyway?
Shalimar: He’s not what I expected. He’s naive and...sweet.
Brennan: Must be before his fall from grace.
[In the supply room next to young!Adam’s lab, Gabriel shoves Adam against the wall.]
Gabriel: I offered your younger self redemption. And he took it. I’m sorry you can’t handle that.
Adam (holding his head in pain): You don’t know what you’re doing.
Gabriel: You made me who I am. And now you want to deny me the chance to try and save myself?
Adam (getting up): We thought we were saving you.
Gabriel: No, you thought, Adam. Then your ego got out of hand. You thought you had a chance to create a race of superhumans and you took it.
Adam: That’s not the way it was!
Gabriel (creating an enormous energy ball): Oh? I was your one big mistake. And now you’re gonna die knowing I’m gonna live on and on and on. [Coming in behind Gabriel, young!Adam stares in horror.] And everything I do, I’ll do in your memory. [Gabriel sends the huge ball at Adam’s chest, throwing him across the room. Adam’s open eyes gaze sightlessly upwards as Gabriel laughs.]
*********Commercial Break***********
[Present Day: Jesse’s standing in Sanctuary's hallway when the floor begins to quake under his feet, the walls melting away as the surrounding mountain grows inward.]
Jesse: Diana! We’ve gotta move fast!
Diana: What’s happening?
Jesse (pulling her down the hall towards the exit): Sanctuary’s disappearing! Go! Take us back!
Diana: No!
Jesse: Take us back now; there’s no other way!
Diana: What if we make it worse?
Jesse: It can’t get worse! Take us back!
[1978: Emma finds young!Adam’s lab empty except for young!Gaby sleeping peacefully in his bed. Receiving short psionic flashes of Adam falling, she goes to the next room and discovers Adam’s crumpled body.]
Emma: Adam! Oh my God. [She runs out to get help. Young!Adam, looking green at the gills, stumbles headlong down the hall past Shalimar and Brennan.]
Shalimar: Hey! Adam?
Brennan (smirking): Woah, wait, that’s Adam?
Emma (running up to them): Shalimar!
Shalimar: Emma?! What are you...
Emma (in tears, grabbing their hands): Adam’s dead! Ashlocke must have killed him.
Brennan: What?!
Emma: We’ve gotta stop Ashlocke.
Shalimar: I’ll go get him. [She runs after young!Adam.]
Brennan (to Emma): Show me where the kid is, come on. [They head back to the lab.]
[Jesse and Diana tumble out of the portal onto the 1978 beach next to Stormking Mountain.]
Diana: Are you gonna be able to find Genomex?
Jesse: Hope so.
[Young!Adam is hurrying towards his car in the Genomex parking lot, when Shalimar catches up to him.]
Shalimar: Adam!
Young!Adam (fumbling with his car door): I can’t talk right now.
Shalimar: What happened?
Young!Adam: I’m not sure.
Shalimar: Tell me.
Young!Adam (hitting the door in frustration): Some guy just died in there because of me. He used this...um... This is insane. I’m not going back in there. [He finally gets the door open, but Shalimar slams it shut.]
Shalimar: You have to.
Young!Adam: I can’t!
[Brennan and Emma reach young!Gaby’s bed; Brennan lights up a tesla coil.]
Emma: Don’t.
Brennan: If I do it now, he won’t feel a thing.
Emma: He’s Adam’s research. If you destroy him, you might destroy us. [Brennan extinguishes the spark. They both spin around at the sound of Gabriel's voice behind them.]
Gabriel: You're so weak, Brennan. [He knocks Brennan unconscious with an energy ball.] Emma. Emma, Emma.
Emma: It’s not gonna work, Ashlocke. Adam wouldn’t adjust the procedure.
Gabriel: You’re right. That’s why I did it myself. [Emma whirls to see that young!Gaby’s IV bag is now blue. Waking up, Brennan zaps the bag with an electrical arc, destroying it. Emma dives to the ground to avoid Gabriel’s energy ball, then Brennan electrocutes him. Gabriel falls the floor and lies still. Jesse runs in with Diana.]
Jesse: What happened? [He helps Brennan pick Emma up.]
Brennan: Adam’s dead. Young Adam’s on the run.
Jesse: How’d he die?
Emma: Ashlocke blasted him.
Jesse: When?
Emma: About five minutes ago.
Jesse: Five minutes ago. [He returns to Diana.] Okay, send me back to just before he died.
Diana: That could mess things up even more.
Jesse: Adam can’t be dead! Send me back.
Diana: It’s gonna be fast. [She creates a portal. She and Jesse tumble out at Adam’s feet just as Gabriel’s throwing his huge energy ball at Adam’s chest. Jumping up, Jesse masses in front of Adam, deflecting the energy ball back at Gabriel. Gabriel crashes against the wall behind him and lies still. Adam nods his thanks to Jesse.]
*******Commercial Break*********
[Hearing the ruckus, young!Adam enters the supply room just as Adam, Jesse, and Diana are walking out. Adam quickly blocks his view of Gabriel's body.]
Adam: Hi. It was just a misunderstanding. Dr. Fischer didn’t quite grasp my position. It's uh... [Emma, Shalimar, and Brennan, running down the hallway towards them, stop dead in their tracks to see the two Adams together.]
Shalimar (hesitantly): Adam?
Adam: Yeah. [He takes the blue serum from his younger self.] Uh...here, why don’t I take that. Don’t you have a procedure to do?
Young!Adam: I do. Excuse me.
Adam: Hey. Hang in there.
Young!Adam: Thank you. [Staring at Emma, Shalimar, and Brennan, he backs into his lab. Adam leads them into the supply room to join Jesse and Diana.]
Adam: Okay. Get us out of here. All of us.
Jesse (pointing to Gabriel's body): And him?
Adam: Yeah, him too. [Diana creates a portal. Jesse starts to pick Gabriel up, but he wakes up and shoves Jesse away, leaping into the portal first. Following behind him, Mutant X and Diana tumble out in the middle of a large warehouse, in the present day.]
Shalimar (feral eyes flashing): I can feel him. He’s here. He’s alive.
Brennan: Yeah, but would you take a look at this place? He could be anywhere.
Adam: We’ll find him. All right, come on. Let’s get outta here. Let’s not give him another chance to get to Diana. All right, everybody stay alert. As long as he’s alive, nobody’s safe. [They leave, looking over their shoulders.]
[Later that night, Emma tosses and turns in bed, hearing Gabriel’s laughter in her head. Getting up, she walks into the lab to find Adam working at the computer.]
Adam: Hey.
Emma: I need to ask you something.
Adam (turning off the computer to face her): Sure.
Emma: When we were back there, something terrible happened to you.
Adam: I know. Jesse told me.
Emma: Oh. Well, after that, after I saw you dead, Brennan wanted to kill young Ashlocke and I stopped him.
Adam (standing up): Wait, so are you asking me if you did the right thing?
Emma: I couldn’t let him do it. He was still just this little boy lying there. But if I hadn’t stopped him, if Brennan had killed him, then what would have happened with you?
Adam: That’s a good question, I don’t know.
Emma: Well, would you have left Genomex? Stopped all your research?
Adam: Oh, c’mon, Emma. You saw what kind of person I was then. I thought everything I did was the solution to a lot of problems. And I didn’t think about the ramifications because I didn’t think I had to. But would I have left Genomex? I don’t know. Ashlocke was the first new mutant. And I learned a lot. And if I hadn’t made the mistakes with him, I might have made them with you.
Emma (shaking her head): I’m not a psychopath.
Adam: No. If you had been given all those powers, you might have become one. [Smiling, he kisses her forehead.]
Closing Credits.