Garfield had originally come to inspect the strange crack in space… but did not expect to find… whatever this was.
Inside the shimmering rift, several small humanoid silhouettes were darting around chaotically.
Running in.
Running out.
Hugging.
Tackling.
Screaming.
Colliding.
Rinse and repeat.
Garfield stuck only his head forward, watching with great feline suspicion. "…What is this?"
"Are they making some kind of movie?"
He had absolutely no intention of touching the anomaly.
Garfield… did not follow the idiotic habits of those 'protagonists' in third-rate novels who always poke mysterious things and then die like clowns.
He backed up, tail flicking. "Mm, no touching. My lifespan is too precious."
Instead, he raised his paw and erected a defensive spell around the crack, if treasure fell out, he would claim it, if a monster fell out, he would… well, also claim it, but carefully.
The figures inside the rift clashed again and then a sharp colliding sound and everything inside abruptly stopped.
A moment later… the space crack trembled violently.
PLOP.
A small body was violently spat out and hit the ground with a thud.
Garfield jumped back with a startled hiss. "…What now?"
He approached cautiously. It was a little girl. Not tall at all, maybe seven or eight.
Short brown hair, big dark-brown eyes half-closed in pain, a pink skirt soaked with blood, dark red knee-socks, a medical satchel strapped to her right thigh, a red bracelet on the left wrist.
On her cheeks were two purple markings.
"…She looks familiar." Garfield squinted at her.
He leaned closer. Sniff… lightning energy.
His eyes widened. "Lightning chakra…? Wait… the forehead protector…"
He saw it… A Leaf Village headband.
"Ah, hell." Memory slammed into him.
This was Uzumaki Karin's mother's friend's cousin's neighbor's…
No.
No.
This was…
"Rin Nohara… the damn catalyst for half of Naruto's Fourth War mess!"
He stared at the unconscious girl. "Why is she here?!"
Her heartbeat was fading…
Garfield slapped a healing spell over her chest with expert handling.
"Hold on, brat. Dying before plot relevance is forbidden."
Her pulse stabilized, briefly.
Garfield placed a layered protective ward over the entire area. Then, without wasting a second, he teleported straight into his shop, High Claw.
…
High Claw Shop
Queenie and Baima were in the middle of reorganizing potions when Garfield materialized with a limp child in his jaws.
"Garfield!!"
Queenie rushed over, wand in hand. "Oh sweet Circe… she's dying!"
Baima grabbed towels and cleared a space on the counter.
Queenie examined the wounds. "Her heart is damaged. The lightning injury is… magical and tangled with time-distortion."
"Can she be saved?" Garfield demanded.
Queenie bit her lip. "Yes, but I need regenerative spells, precision hemostasis… and a short-term time regression."
She shook her head. "I can't do that alone. I need Tina."
Garfield nodded sharply. "Okay, go get Tina, Baima stabilize her."
"Don't let her heart stop. Lilith, Vivian guard the perimeter."
He vanished in a swirl of orange light.
…
Garfield burst into the living room, perfect timing.
The Ancient One was standing there, faint traces of spellwork still shimmering over her robes.
"You just returned," Garfield said. "Master, urgent request for aid 10,000 miles away!"
The Ancient One sighed and patted him on the head. "I've already sealed the space crack, Garfield."
"…" Garfield stared.
Then he puffed up proudly.
"Master, your power flows like a mighty river—no—like a bladder bursting uncontrollably~"
"…" She paused mid-blink.
"Garfield… your compliments are always so… uniquely unpleasant."
Garfield coughed into his paw. "Anyway. Master. There's a little girl who needs your help."
The Ancient One shook her head. "I cannot interfere too deeply in the karma of other worlds."
"What is this situation then?!" Garfield exclaimed.
"The rift threw her INTO mine!"
The Ancient One sighed… then removed the Time Stone from her necklace.
She placed it around Garfield's neck. The chain shrank automatically until it fit snugly.
Garfield's eyes sparkled with dangerous curiosity.
He wondered… what would happen if he ate it?
Like Goose swallowing the Tesseract…
"Garfield. What are you thinking?" The Ancient One immediately sensed it.
Garfield. "…I wonder if I should eat it."
(￣～￣) Chomp-imagination noises
Ancient One pinched the bridge of her nose. "That is entirely up to you. But learn to use it BEFORE you try something catastrophic."
She placed her hand over his paw.
A green energy serpent appeared, coiling around the Time Stone's glow… its head bit its own tail.
Ouroboros, a serpent swallowing its own tail, an endless ring.
Infinity. Cycles.
Time devouring itself.
The glowing symbol wrapped around Garfield's paw like an elegant ribbon of green light.
Curious, he poked the chair beside him.
Time accelerated instantly.
The chair aged decades… its wood greyed, legs warped and then~
Garfield tapped the air again.
Time reversed.
The chair straightened… brand new.
Garfield nodded in deep feline satisfaction. "Perfect."
"Now for the child. Right, Master?"
The Ancient One raised an eyebrow. "You are the one who said you were going to save her."
Garfield blinked. "Ah. Yes, on it."
He opened a portal and pounced through it.
…
Under Baima's steady hands, Garfield's prior healing spell continued holding the girl's ragged heartbeat together.
Queenie had already fetched her sister Tina from the Ministry of Magic.
Tina didn't waste a second, human life came first.
"Information later," She said firmly. "We stabilize her now."
Garfield now landed beside them, Time Stone glowing on his chest.
Baima's eyes widened.
The Eye of Agamotto.. the signature relic of the Supreme Sorcerer now hung from Garfield's neck.
That could only mean one thing… Garfield was destined to be the future Master of Kamar-Taj.
Baima stared at him with awe and absolute loyalty.
"Baima, lift the restraining circle." Garfield commanded.
"Yes."
"Queenie, Tina… prepare for synchronized healing."
"Ready."
"Understood."
"Clear." The magic circle collapsed under Baima's touch.
Garfield extended his paw.
The green ouroboros unfurled like a serpent of light, wrapping his leg and pulsing in rhythm with the Time Stone.
Time spilled out of him in shimmering waves.
Rin's personal time froze in place… her blood halted mid-spill… her fading heartbeat suspended like a paused note.
Tina and Queenie immediately began chanting, weaving regeneration into the stillness Garfield created.
As their spell crescendoed~
Blood crept back into Rin's body, wounds un-peeled and sealed… her clothes rewove themselves stitch by stitch.
Blue lightning chakra burst from her body, swirling wildly!!
Garfield opened his mouth.
CHOMP
He swallowed the lightning whole. To him, it was at best an amuse-bouche.
The healing spell ended.
Tina and Queenie let out shaky breaths of relief.
"She's stable…" Tina exhaled, wiping her forehead. "That was close."
Then she glanced at the unconscious girl. "Garfield… where did you even find her?"
"These injuries weren't ordinary."
"Oh, her? She's a ninja from the ancient land." Garfield shrugged grandly.
"Not from your magical world. I met her on my way back and couldn't just leave her, right?"
Tina nodded solemnly. Garfield sounded very serious and heroic.
"So… what about her family? Anyone we should contact?"
Garfield launched into his story.
A tragic tale of a poor girl, family murdered by villains, best friend deceived… betrayed at the last moment and chose to die rather than be used by the enemy…
It was devastating… heart-wrenching… Cinematic.
"Th-that poor child!" Tina, Queenie, and even Baima burst into tears.
"A betrayal like that, how could fate be so cruel?!"
"We must take good care of her!"
"…" Only Lilith and Vivian… the two succubus sisters raised skeptical eyebrows.
Their demonic instincts sniffed out lies like bloodhounds
But they were clever enough to say nothing.
After finishing her work, Tina had to return to the Ministry. She left with Lilith and Vivian to buy ingredients for dinner.
The shop quieted.
Only Garfield and Baima remained.
✦••┈┈••✦••┈┈••✦
After some time…
"Ahhhh…" A flutter of eyelashes.
Rin Nohara opened her eyes.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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