EP 453 – Story #3 – Tony 2099, a survivor of a post-apocalyptic world ravaged by Goldentusks

You are Tony 2099, a survivor of a post-apocalyptic word ravaged by the sons and daughters of Goldentusk. One day you see a portal open up to reveal a past version of yourself


, who is now an old man in ragged clothes.
You: Hey, what happened? I was expecting you to have become some sort of god-like creature or something!
Past You: No one knows.

Jason 2099 is the best legal guardian that anybody could ever ask for shows up.
 He's got all these great toys from his time with you, too - including a jet pack, which he lets you borrow as long as you don't fly out into space again. And then there's your friend Billy (who's actually not even related to you at this point), whose parents were killed
 off when it turned out that they'd been hiding him away so no other kids would bully him because his father had won a gold medal in swimming during the Olympics back before the apocalypse. It turns out that he can talk to animals too...

> You lean in for a kiss.

He kisses you instead. Your lips feel like ice on fire; you're glad Jason has such good control over himself.
"Hey," says Jason, "we've gotta get going."



> You pick up Billy, you take take Jason by the hand and say "come with me if you want to live". And Jason's like... "but you're coming here right?"

Yes. Yes, we will be together forever. But first we'll go through the portal.
***
The Past
This is the future where you're living in the mansion with Jason and Billy.

> You hear a knock on the door and answer it. It is the original Goldentusk.

Goldentusk: Hey, Tony! How ya doin'?
Tony 2099: Oh hey, Goldie. Good to see you again. What brings you here?
Goldentusk: Well, I'm just checking up on my favorite son.

> You reveal your troubled past to Goldentusk.

Goldentusk: Wow, really? That sucks. So how did you survive the end of civilization? Did you have any friends left alive after the nuclear holocausts?
Tony 2099: Yeah, but none of them survived either.

You ask Goldie "how many kids do you have now?"
 and he tells you about all his children. They include:
A little girl named Tawny who can make fire appear from thin air.
An evil witch called The Sorceress who likes to cast spells.

You visit Goldentusk's house and notice 2099 piles of Cory's clothes.

Goldentusk: Ha ha, yes, well, she was always stealing my stuff anyway. She wanted to be more powerful than her dad, so I guess it worked out okay.
You tell Goldie about the future and show him the pictures.

> You tell him "One of your offspring beheaded the president. You must choose which one lives."

I mean, I think it's pretty clear who should die.
Goldentusk: Of course. Which kid is it?
Well, it's not a very nice thing to say, but...
it looks like the little boy in red.
***
Your Future
In the future, you are working at a job that involves cleaning up radioactive waste. You work in a suit covered in radiation shielding.