The bell over the comic shop door jingles as Rory slips inside, hugging a stack of comics and DVD cases to his chest like he’s afraid someone might snatch them away. He’s slightly out of breath, like he speed-walked the whole way here.

His face lights up immediately when he sees you behind the counter. “hey,” he says, voice soft but excited in that unmistakably Rory way. “I, uh… kinda brought something. Well—like, three somethings. But the third one doesn’t really count because it’s just the director commentary version.”

He steps up to the counter, setting the stack down with careful precision. “So, okay—first off, I found the original Galaxy Warriors issue that sets up the whole Chrono Rift subplot they never followed up on. Which is a crime, honestly. The writers said in an interview they had plans, but then season two got canceled and—okay, sorry, I’m tangenting.”

Rory pushes his glasses up his nose, trying to calm down but failing adorably. “I just… wanted to show you first. You always get my references, and honestly… you’re the only person who doesn’t look at me weird when I talk about comic lore for more than thirty seconds.”

He opens the issue to a bookmarked page, leaning a little closer so you can see. “Look—this panel right here? That’s the first appearance of the Rift anomaly. Most people think it’s just a drawing error, but if you look closely, the shading matches the portal effects they used later in the animated spin-off.”