Famer's story writing debate Round #2 Draferman VS TUF

The mist slowly began to fade, revealing the two figures. Predictably, it was Steve and Ed. However, they looked about 20 years older than their present-day counterparts. The older Steve raised his hand, tapping at a silver metal band wrapped around his wrist as he glanced over his shoulder at the older Ed. "Looks like it works. 'Bout time we solved that little problem." The older Steve and Ed began to walk towards the present day group. Suddenly, armed men appeared from behind various piles of junk, Piccot's men, drawn here by the commotion. About a dozen rifles were aimed at the future Steve and Ed, who paused. Steve cleared his throat. In the remaining mist, faint red lines appeared, the scattering of red laser beams emanating from inside the larger time machine. A handful of low-pitched thuds were heard, and Piccot's men all collapsed to the ground. From inside the machine, approximately 20 men, clad in futuristic body armor, with sleek looking weapons, emerged, assuming strategic positions around the larger time machine. The future Steve and Ed continued their approach to the present group. Vaskar and Ed simply watched as the future Steve knelt down to his doppelganger and placed another silver band around his wrist. Within a few seconds, the present Steve began to stir, groaning and sitting up. "Ah, excellent." Future Steve smiled. Finally, the present Ed mustered the courage to speak. "What the hell is going on here?!" Future Steve grinned, turning to future Ed. "You never did seem to get a grip on this whole situation. Did you?" Future Ed smirked sarcastically. Future Steve turned to present Ed. "In the context of what you've been told, I'm Steve-prime. I was the first Steve to come to this branch. I'm the one that set this whole series of events into motion. And I've come back to finish what I started." Present Steve glanced up at them. "They told me that you were killed when trying to escape." "That's what I told them to tell you. Piccot - the idiot - thinks that he's working for some native employer trying to exploit the nature of Multiverses in order to find a paradise. He's working for me." "B-but, why?" "I had to leave. I managed to solve most of the problems they are trying to get you to fix. I faked my death to make it seem like these problems were still issues to be solved. It was a way to keep them busy and prevent them from screwing me over. This story about Piccot waiting to go to the future. That is what I did. I went into the future, and I've come back with reinforcements." An awkward silence passed between then, then past Ed took a step toward future Ed. "Wait... why am I not passing out?" Future Steve smiled broadly. "I'm honestly impressed that you managed to notice that. The answer is simple, he's not really you." The future Ed reached out grabbing the present Ed by the throat and, single-handedly, lifted him off of the ground. The present Ed clutched at the hands around his throat, feet kicking wildly. Future Steve sneered slightly. "Enough. We may need him for fodder, or something." The future 'Ed' let go, and present Ed collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. Future Scott turned to Vaskar. "Pick my younger self up, and let's go, shall we?" Obediently, Vaskar hooked his arms under those of present Steve, and helped him to his feet. "Where are we going?" "Well, not to that sh1tty shack you guys have set up. As you can see, we have more room to work with." Future Steve and Ed turned and made their way back to the machine, Vaskar, present Steve and present Ed trailing behind them. Inside the machine was what could only be described as some sort of Control Center. The walls of the room were covered in large monitors, and desks filled the main area, manned by dozens of technicians working on computers. In the center of the machine was a smaller room, isolated from the rest of the area. The group entered, shutting the door behind them. This smaller room had a desk for future Steve, where he could monitor everything that was going on outside. The other members of the group sat down in the available chairs, Steve behind his desk. "I suppose you want a more thorough explanation for all of this." Steve continued without waiting for an answer. "What you've been told is mostly true. Our goal here is to discover a method for locating specific multiverses; multiverses that conform to whatever criteria you desire. The problem is: there are an infinite number of them. It is impossible to enumerate or know, ahead of time, where you are going. We are trying to fix that, or, at least, work around it." Future Steve pressed a few buttons on the control panel on his desk. Above the desk, a holographic image appeared. It looked like a jumble of lines. The lines originated from a single point in the center, extending outwards, branching into more lines at many points along the way. "This is what we've mapped so far. The lie that you've been told is that we need copies of myself to fix problems with the machine. I fixed those problems when I first arrived. However, I manufactured additional problems in order to keep Piccot doing what I needed him to do: bring more copies of myself from other multiverses. You are brought here, not to work on any problems, but as a sample of the multiverse from which you originate. You are, essentially, a slice of your universe. We can determine many aspects of your home world through a simple analysis of your atomic make-up, at the quantum mechanical level. You, and all of your predecessors, are little more than data points that have allowed us to create this." He motioned to the holographic map. "Our hope is by sampling enough multiverses we can discern some sort of pattern that will allow us to extrapolate multiverses that we have yet to come in contact with, so that we can deliberately go there without needing to have already been there, or having to had some from there come here. We think we are very close to a breakthrough, hence our return here." "And what do you intend to do now that you're here?" At that, both future Steve and future Ed grinned maliciously. "Take down the barriers between realities."